Chapter 539: Enthusiastic Qingshuihe villagers, and Zhang Qiang who is grasping at straws

In Qingshuihe Village, the team leader and several village cadres treated Li Long as an honored guest.

In the brigade headquarters, watermelon was cut, apples were displayed, and a plate of wild strawberries, which Li Long rarely saw even when entering the mountains, was brought out from somewhere.

Li Long could see that the apples should have been picked from someone's tree temporarily, and one even had leaves on it, quite fresh. However, local apples are sweet only after being hit by frost, and they are relatively sour now.

As for the wild strawberries, they were quite fresh; they were rare even in the mountains, and being able to find them here was also an ability.

It's not easy to eat some fruit other than watermelon in this day and age, which shows that these team cadres really put their hearts into it.

"Comrade Li Long, should you be satisfied with the previous one thousand large brooms?"

"Satisfied, really quite satisfied." Li Long nodded; to be honest, he was really satisfied. This side might not have taken on such profitable work, except for a very few who wanted to muddle through, the vast majority were tied very standardly, the quality was very good, and the average level actually exceeded that of the Fourth Team.

"Look, our villagers cut quite a lot of Jiji grass and cut quite a lot of poles. We have cooperated quite well on both sides, Comrade Li Long, look, can you distribute some more to us, even if it's another one thousand, no, five hundred is fine!"

The team leader was also afraid of poverty. This village really didn't have any resources, it was far from the county, the villagers' thinking was still relatively conservative, and there wasn't a single person in the whole village who set up a stall in the county, let alone doing any business.

Just relying on the average of five mu of ration land per person, plus the ten mu or so of contracted land, it was no problem to be full, but they couldn't be rich!

The old saying goes, rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, but the villagers' ideas hadn't matured yet, and the forestry team was established in the county, catching many people in one Fritillaria season, passing through the village every day, so the fire of the villagers who had just risen to go into the mountains to get something and make a small fortune was directly extinguished.

Don't say they are timid, having just experienced the chaos of those years, right now no one dares to say they are not afraid. If they were really caught and locked up, who knows when they would be released?

It's good to be honest and at least have enough to eat at home.

It's just that there's no money.

So Li Long gave a job of one thousand brooms at once, which really gave everyone a big opportunity.

The team leader and team cadres had discussed it; they didn't want the one hundred yuan Li Long said he would give to the team. As long as they could be given some more tasks for the team, they could all earn some money—not to mention the team leader himself, those few team cadres also earned dozens of yuan by tying large brooms these past two days!

This money was really easy to earn!

Li Long calculated that he was really short of over one thousand large brooms. Yesterday, it was announced on the loudspeaker at Xu Chengjun's house that the acquisition task for large brooms in the Fourth Team had stopped and would not be collected anymore. Villagers should not tie large brooms anymore.

Actually, it was also because the Jiji grass at older brother Li Jianguo's place was tied up. Although there were still some poles in the courtyard that weren't used, it didn't matter. Anyway, keeping them for next year would also work.

As for what Zhang Qiang thought, what did that have to do with Li Long?

He pulled the last two hundred plus large brooms collected from the Fourth Team back to the big courtyard yesterday, and came to Qingshuihe Village today.

Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the brigade headquarters, the team cadres were all there, waiting for him.

"Since you are so enthusiastic, then I won't say polite words either. There is indeed a batch of work, 1,500 brooms, not one more." Li Long made it clear, "The requirements are still the same requirements, the quality must be strict. The quantity is also the same, if it exceeds, I won't collect it, because I can't use it even if I collect it, and I can't keep it at home waiting for appreciation, right?"

This joke was a little cold, and several team cadres didn't hear it, but they could hear that Li Long gave a job of 1,500 brooms, and they all stood up at once, guaranteeing with their chests:

"Comrade Li Long, don't worry, we can absolutely guarantee the quality of this broom!"

"Exactly! We will hold the first pass, and we will let them take back the unqualified ones!"

"Guarantee it's brand new Jiji, poles, red willow is absolutely enough..."

Seeing this, the team leader said all the good words, and he also stood up to express his position:

"I don't want any other inspection... don't say it, as long as you really want 1,500 brooms, we absolutely guarantee the quality!"

Li Long was happy; all the previous work was given to the team, so he didn't feel it deeply. Now that he occasionally contracted a little to the outside, he found it so fragrant!

"Okay, then starting tomorrow, I will come to collect brooms every day until 1,500 are collected."

"Good, good, good, then Comrade Li Long, can you collect them today? There are still quite a few large brooms left tied by people in our village. If you want to collect them today, I will call them over with the loudspeaker now."

"Okay." Li Long smiled; these people were really flexible.

"Then Comrade Li Long, after collecting the brooms today, eat lunch before leaving, I will let my wife slaughter a chicken now..." The team leader said.

"Team Leader, I can't let you entertain me today. Comrade Li Long is here, we all have to express our feelings, go to my house today! I have geese raised at home! I will slaughter a goose today..." The militia company commander said.

"Go to my house, go to my house, my child caught two rabbits in the field yesterday, just right to eat rabbit meat..."

"What's good about that rabbit meat? Skinny, and all bones, my family will slaughter a chicken!"

In order to entertain Li Long, they actually started arguing!

Li Long hurriedly raised his hand and said:

"Don't argue, everyone, look, is this okay? I'll pay, let's buy two chickens, go to whoever's house has a large courtyard and good cooking skills to eat, and I'll chat with everyone, just chat while eating, deepen the feelings..."

"No, how can that work?" The team leader directly denied it, "How can I let you pay? Company Commander Meng, your courtyard is large, so go to your house. I'll bring a chicken, Accountant Liu will bring a chicken, your wife has good skills, let her do it, my wife will go over to help, how about that?"

"Okay." Company Commander Meng naturally had no opinion.

"Then I'll bring wine, there are two bottles of Gucheng at home, I'll bring them over in a while."

"Good, good, I've been craving that bottle of wine for a long time, if it weren't for Comrade Li Long coming, you wouldn't have taken it out."

So it was decided in such a noisy way. The team leader turned on the microphone, and the loudspeaker started announcing that large brooms could be sent to the troops today.

Next, he let the militia company commander preside here, and he had to go home to catch chickens.

Every household raises quite a few chickens in this day and age. On one hand, it supplements nutrition for children and the elderly, and on the other hand, people often come to the township to collect eggs, a few cents each. Those who raise many chickens can collect seventy or eighty eggs a day, save a basket, sell it once, and the pocket money for the family for a month is almost enough.

So it's normal to slaughter a chicken when relatives come, and Qingshuihe Township is close to the mountains, and there is a river on the side, so there is a lot of water and grass, and it's quite convenient to manage chicken feed.

As soon as the loudspeaker announced, people pushed carts over to send large brooms in a few minutes. Here, Company Commander Meng and Li Long checked strictly; to be honest, everyone was really enthusiastic, and the degree of importance was very high.

This batch of fifty-five brooms pulled by seven or eight people actually didn't have a single unqualified one!

Li Long was very happy.

The team leader returned, let Company Commander Meng go back, Company Commander Meng asked clearly that the team leader had already sent the chicken over, and his wife had also gone over to help, so he said:

"Why should I go back? Helping Comrade Li Long check brooms here is the real business!"

"Then why don't you go back and tie them yourself? You still have quite a bit of Jiji grass left at home, right?"

When Company Commander Meng heard the tone, he paused, thought about greeting Li Long, and went back.

Earning money is also an urgent matter.

The team leader's surname is He, called He Yuqing, thinking in his heart that I can't cure you.

He had the one hundred yuan Li Long gave twice as a base, had confidence, naturally didn't need to be in a hurry to tie large brooms, so he accompanied Li Long to accept and check here.

Li Long still wanted to give He Yuqing an inspection fee, but He Yuqing refused. When no one came to send large brooms, he said seriously:

"Comrade Li Long, I didn't feel at ease taking the money collected earlier, you gave us a job of 1,500 brooms later, and only then did I feel relieved.

As a team leader, I can't lead the team members to get rich, and I'm actually quite anxious in my heart. Right now with your job, at least the people in our team can live more loosely this year.

So I won't take this money, I just hope that if there is such a job next year, you can think of us, and I will be very grateful!"

In this day and age, at least in the Maxian area, the village cadres Li Long saw were really quite serious and responsible. It is also possible that some had strong personal authority, but their hearts were still towards the collective, towards the villagers.

Some of them might not have the ability to lead villagers to get rich, but they managed the team well and wouldn't have any trouble.

A good feature of rural areas in the north is that it is not easy to form village bullies in some places in the interior—because they are almost all villages formed by people who have gathered together from the interior in the past twenty or thirty years, so there is no way to form large family-style groups like in the interior.

Then there is no way to form village bullies, after all, there is no such foundation.

Of course, there are some in individual places, some places involve ethnic issues, so I won't expand on them.

Before lunch, Li Long collected over two hundred large brooms, the tractor bucket was full, and it was still high. He Yuqing helped Li Long tie it with a rope and said enviously:

"It's still convenient to have a tractor. It arrives at the county in a while with a 'chug-chug-chug'. Unlike us, except for the Dongfanghong 75 for plowing, there is no other machinery in the village. It takes two or three hours to go to the county by horse cart, which is very troublesome."

"Soon, in two more days, everyone will have saved money, and someone will buy a tractor." Li Long could only comfort them. Right now, farmers can only plant food, and no one dares to guarantee that there will be someone to collect economic crops, and there will be prices that can lead to wealth.

Even the melon he told his older brother to plant hasn't found a sales channel yet.

After the large broom job is finished, he still has to help find sales channels. Of course, sales channels are also easy to find, seed companies, fried goods factories, if it really doesn't work, go to Wucheng.

The city is big, so it has an advantage; as long as you are willing to find, nothing will be unsellable.

At noon, he ate chicken at Company Commander Meng's house. Company Commander Meng's wife asked the women and children to come over to eat, but Meng Hai didn't let them, saying that the women and children were eating in the inner room, which wouldn't affect drinking here.

Li Long didn't drink, but the others didn't agree unanimously. He said he had to drive the tractor, and He Yuqing gave a compromise idea:

!.

"Drink a little, drink honey water after drinking in a while, and then go to the brigade headquarters to rest for a while, it won't be too late to leave when you are sober."

Li Long had no choice but to drink two cups, but he had a preparation, at most one cup per person, and wouldn't drink more.

There really has to be preparation, otherwise these animals can change into various excuses to toast you, basically they won't stop until they pour you down.

Although Li Long was prepared, he still drank over one hundred grams, which was more than two taels, a little dizzy, and now the tractor definitely couldn't be driven.

Meng Hai's wife brought honey water, and Meng Hai smiled and said:

"Pure mountain honey, cut when the flowers are in the best bloom, sealed honey, ripe."

Listening to the terminology he said, Li Long knew that this honey wouldn't be bad.

Take a sip, sweet with a little sour, a little astringent, and very fragrant.

"Bring a cage when you leave, this is not much, it's a heart." Meng Hai saw Li Long drinking very carefully, still savoring, and said.

"No, no..." Li Long hurriedly waved his hand.

"What no, I tell you, this is not worth much. You also saw, I am also tying large brooms in the courtyard, I tie fast, these few days I can tie twenty or thirty brooms, the child's school bag, pencil, tuition and miscellaneous fees are there. This has to thank you..."

"Take it, take it!" He Yuqing also opened his mouth, "It's Company Commander Meng's heart, Comrade Li Long, don't push it away."

So he took it.

Plastic cage, the universal kind, five-liter capacity, Li Long saw it was so familiar when he finished eating and left, and put five yuan under the bowl.

It's not easy for people to raise bees, and it's relatively simple for him to earn money, so it's better not to take advantage of others.

After Li Long and the others left, Meng Hai and the others went to sleep—the whole table was Li Long who drank the least, and the others drank quite a bit, fortunately there were no drunks, one by one went to sleep.

When Meng Hai's wife was cleaning the table, she found the five yuan, and saw from the seat that it was left by Li Long, she didn't know what to do, Meng Hai couldn't be woken up at this time, so she had to keep it, and wait for her husband to wake up before talking.

Li Long squinted for a while at the brigade headquarters, the wine intent quickly passed, and after more than an hour, he drove the tractor and rushed to the county.

Returned to the big courtyard, unloaded the large brooms, put the honey in the storage room, and started to calculate and count.

The day to deliver the large brooms is still far away, but right now the large brooms are almost ready.

He doesn't consider the two thousand plus brooms at Zhang Qiang's side anymore, whoever wants them can have them.

As for Qingshuihe, he really thought about taking care of it next year if there is work.

It's much stronger than those wavering goods in the team.

People are really grateful.

Zhang Qiang is really in a hurry.

Li Long doesn't collect anymore here. He inquired, the next day someone sent large brooms to the Li family, but the Li family didn't want them, saying Li Long had said it, and wouldn't collect anymore.

Zhang Qiang actually thought about the second road, that is, if Li Long really didn't collect his brooms, and his brooms couldn't be sold, then secretly transfer them to other families, and then send them to Li Long's place.

At least this way some brooms could be digested.

Even if he breaks even at the original price, it's fine.

But Li Long really doesn't collect anymore!

He inquired in various villages nearby these two days, and didn't hear that Li Long had collected large brooms in any village.

When people heard him ask like this, some people also said sarcastically:

"The Jiji grass nearby has all been cut by the people in your team, even if someone gives us work, we have to have things to tie!"

Since it's not from the nearby townships, where could it be?

He calculated very clearly, the large brooms Li Long collected in the village definitely didn't reach three thousand.

After all, the poles Li Long pulled back were numbered, and now the Li family still stored quite a few poles.

Then where did he go to get large brooms to complete the task?

Zhang Qiang actually understood, it's not important where Li Long completed the task, what's important is the two thousand plus large brooms piled up at home, if Li Long doesn't collect them, then they really smashed in his own hands!

Does he really have to take the large brooms to the market to sell them?

He really might not be able to pull down that face!

Zhang Qiang had no choice but to find Xu Chengjun. Xu Chengjun didn't care about this matter, listened to Zhang Qiang, and shook his head directly:

"I wanted to adjust this matter two days ago, and went to the Li family to ask. The conditions given by others were also passed to you, you didn't take it at that time, who to blame?

I tell you, this matter is your fault, too greedy. At that time, if you took this word, Li Long would definitely give you some hard work money afterwards, but you, you just wanted to earn big money from others' hands, right now the money wasn't earned, people were offended, things... go sell them yourself!"

"Then you can't ignore it, you are the team leader..."

"I am the team leader, not your father!" Xu Chengjun's bull temper also rose, and scolded: "I originally had the intention to adjust for you, at that time you were arrogant, right now you are coming to find me when you are going to suffer, I can't manage it!"

He is a militia team leader, although he hasn't been on the battlefield, he was really trained with real knives and guns in the army, this stare and this temper directly scared Zhang Qiang away.

Xu Chengjun's family has guns hanging!

There is no way.

Zhang Qiang didn't think about finding village elders to mediate.

But his brother Carpenter Zhang left very resolutely, if his brother went to find village elders, maybe there would still be some face, he followed Carpenter Zhang before, and didn't have any feelings for the people in the village, right now he didn't know who to find for a while.

Tried to find two people, even found Old Luo Shu, and was directly driven out by Old Luo Shu.

"Cowardly thing, don't do human things! Now that you suffer, you think of finding others, what were you doing at that time?" Old Luo Shu took a stick and chased Zhang Qiang to the big gate, scolding:

"Dare to come again, break your leg!"

This time, Zhang Qiang is completely grasping at straws.

This matter, it's not easy to handle! (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 540 =====

It wasn't that Zhang Qiang hadn't thought about finding the village elders to mediate.

But his brother, Carpenter Zhang, had left very resolutely. If his brother went to find the village elders, he might still have had some face, but he had always followed Carpenter Zhang before and didn't have much of a connection with the villagers, so right now, he didn't even know who to turn to.

He tentatively went to find two people, even finding Uncle Lao Luo, only to be directly chased out by him.

"You spineless brat, doing such shameful things! Now that you've suffered a loss, you think of finding people? What were you doing back then?" Uncle Lao Luo held a stick and chased Zhang Qiang all the way to the gate, cursing:

"If you dare to come back, I'll break your legs!"

This time, Zhang Qiang was completely at a loss.

This matter was not going to be easy to handle! (End of chapter)