Chapter 568: People also need a little ambition

"I originally planned to bury a water pipe for each family next spring, to lead the water down from the mountain, so that it would be convenient for them to use water, and they wouldn't have to run dozens or hundreds of meters to the river to fetch water, and the water would be clean."

Li Long finally said his plan.

He could see that Wei Zhuren wanted to achieve some political achievements in this regard.

There was only one Supply and Marketing Cooperative in the whole county, so there was no way to compare horizontally, but Wei Zhuren wanted to advance, so he had to think of ways to achieve results from other aspects.

Li Long's appearance, especially this "Advanced Individual in Ethnic Unity," gave him an inspiration.

And several reporters were very respectful, specifically mentioning their Supply and Marketing Cooperative when writing about Li Long, saying Li Long was a staff member of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

The Supply and Marketing Cooperative followed to get some light, but not much.

Wei Zhuren felt that being passive like this wasn't good either. Now that the herdsmen had sent things over, it was just the right opportunity to help the herdsmen solve difficulties and do some practical things; wouldn't the results come then?

Li Long didn't feel that Wei Zhuren's idea was a problem. At this time, it was about judging by deeds, not by heart. No matter what, if he could truly help herdsmen friends solve difficulties, that was doing good things.

How could it not be?

That was why he proposed such an idea.

It would be good if the Supply and Marketing Cooperative could handle it. If not, he had to handle it anyway. To tell the truth, that hard plastic pipe cost a few cents per meter, and the total amount needed for a dozen herdsmen families wouldn't exceed one kilometer; he could afford a few hundred yuan.

Besides, people had sent so many sheep and hides.

The capital was enough.

"Alright, alright, alright, it's a hard plastic pipe, right?" Wei Zhuren's eyes lit up when he heard it, and he turned his head to look at Li Xiangqian:

"Old Li, do we have pipes in the warehouse? The kind used for pressure wells."

"Yes, yes, yes, we have a few hundred meters, right?" Li Xiangqian thought for a while and said, "I don't know how many meters have been sold. But it's fine, this pipe is easy to purchase, and not many people use it currently. If it's not enough, we'll just purchase another batch."

Li Xiangqian turned his head and asked Li Long:

"How many meters are needed?"

"One thousand meters, right?" Li Long estimated that one thousand meters should be enough.

"That's fine, I'll let them purchase some more before the end of the year."

"Alright!" Wei Zhuren knew this matter was settled, so he asked Li Long:

"Little Li, when do you plan to implement it?"

"It can be done once the snow melts in early spring. It's mainly because it's frozen now, so it's not easy to handle," Li Long said.

"Alright." Wei Zhuren was a bit helpless, couldn't wait, but had to wait. He thought for a while and asked again:

"Then is it suitable to go and comfort some herdsmen now, and by the way... call Clerk Ma from the county propaganda department?"

"Director, it's really not suitable now; it's mainly because it's too cold in the mountains," Li Long said, "And after they finish the winter slaughter, they basically start to hibernate, and they don't like being disturbed by people they aren't familiar with."

Politely declined.

Wei Zhuren also knew that going into the mountains with great fanfare at this time, without a good reason, wouldn't be able to write news even if they created momentum, so he retreated to the next best thing:

"Then when the time comes to lead water with pipes, Clerk Ma should be able to be contacted, right?"

"Yes," Li Long thought to himself, Clerk Ma Xiao Yan should be eager to do so, right?

The matter was discussed, and next was distributing the meat.

The Director and Deputy Director each got a sheep, the Director got a deer hide, and the Deputy Director got a wolf hide—the deer hide was a male red deer hide, much larger than a wolf hide.

The rest of each division got a sheep, not according to the number of people, but according to the division.

In addition, a wolf hide was given separately to Section Chief Hou and Li Xiangqian each.

This special favoritism made some people have opinions, but some were very clear.

"People are from the Procurement Division themselves, and the various directions are taken care of by Section Chief Li, so naturally, they get an extra wolf hide."

"Then why does Section Chief Hou get an extra hide?" At this time, a hide was worth a month's wages, much more valuable than in later generations, so naturally, some people were dissatisfied, mainly because they felt it was unfair.

"Don't you know Section Chief Hou gave him so many bullets twice to give to those herdsmen? Without those bullets, could there be so much meat to eat?"

"Wasn't that approved by the Director?"

"The Director approved it, but Section Chief Hou had to give the bullets."

The matter was settled like this.

Although some divisions had many people and the meat they got wasn't much, they could at least get a few kilograms of meat. In this era, although 99% of farmers nationwide wanted to eat commodity grain, these people who ate commodity grain couldn't eat meat every day either.

It was mainly because materials weren't sufficient. First, wages had to be used to support the family, and second, even if they had money, they couldn't buy too much meat at once; there weren't that many meat coupons, and the price of meat in the free market was high.

Who wouldn't want to eat this meat obtained for free?

So no matter what, everyone looked at Li Long much more favorably. This kid was at least not someone who ate alone; he was easy to deal with.

Although most people were selfish and thought that if they made money, they wouldn't distribute it like this, they all liked to make friends like this.

So when one is rich and generous, one has the most fair-weather friends.

When Li Long sent meat to each division, he said it was the herdsmen friends' heart, but everyone knew it clearly in their hearts. Who among the herdsmen knew them?

This was clearly Li Long taking those big jobs from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, making money, and then feeding it back to these people in the cooperative.

To put it vulgarly, it was to block everyone's mouths.

They had experienced such things more than once, but not as generously as Li Long.

After the meat and hides were distributed, Li Long chatted with Li Xiangqian for a few more sentences, then drove the tractor and left.

He still had to send a sheep leg to Ma Xiao Yan, and by the way, tell her about what to do in early spring.

Ma Xiao Yan was stunned for a moment when the gatekeeper said someone was looking for her. Her family was also in the county seat, but they almost never came here to look for her; this was something she strictly restricted.

After all, the county compound was quite strict about these things at this time.

"Li Long? You're looking for me?" Ma Xiao Yan was a bit surprised after seeing Li Long.

"Hmm, I just came back from the mountains. My herdsmen friends in the mountains have already returned from transhumance. They had a winter slaughter during this period. Because you wrote the manuscript, the pastoral team paid a lot of attention to them, so they are very grateful to you, and asked me to help send you a sheep leg."

He didn't send a whole sheep to Ma Xiao Yan; that thing was too eye-catching. This sheep leg was placed in a plastic woven bag, and after the bag mouth was tied, no one could tell what it was when carrying it.

Ma Xiao Yan was very surprised and also very happy. She quickly reacted that this was actually a sheep leg sent to her by Li Long.

It didn't matter; this kind of gift was received openly and honestly.

There were many people in her family, and she wasn't married yet, so she had to pay for her board to her family. The manuscript she wrote last time didn't have much manuscript fee, and the department rewarded her with two yuan.

Two yuan could buy one kilogram of meat now, which was dispensable to her.

But this sheep leg Li Long brought over had at least four or five kilograms, which was quite a lot.

She felt a bit embarrassed and pretended to decline, saying:

"I did that for work, actually I didn't do anything..."

"Clerk Ma, just accept it. In early spring, our cooperative plans to go to the herdsmen's side to help them solve water difficulties. When the time comes, it might be troublesome for you to go over..."

"Solve water difficulties? How do you plan to do it?" Ma Xiao Yan became interested as soon as she heard it, "Drilling wells?"

"Drilling wells in the mountains isn't realistic; it's mainly about pulling water pipes. There is a water source at a high place, leading water down from the high place with plastic pipes, all the way to the front of the herdsmen's winter shelter," Li Long explained simply:

"There is a certain amount of engineering, mainly requiring quite a few hard plastic pipes."

Ma Xiao Yan understood. These kinds of materials could basically be found in the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and then she confirmed:

"This time it's handled by your cooperative?"

"Hmm, I'm handling it alone, the engineering volume is a bit large," Li Long said vaguely, not saying he couldn't handle it.

Ma Xiao Yan was, after all, working in a propaganda unit, and immediately understood.

She nodded, indicating she already knew.

After saying this, Li Long bid farewell to Ma Xiao Yan and still had to go to the radio station.

Ye Laya was currently working at the radio station. Li Long wanted to send her a sheep leg; this time it was sincere gratitude. Without her translating for Reporter Zhang Xin Hua at that time, this matter wouldn't have been so big, and wouldn't have had such a big influence.

Li Long now already knew that fame was big, and there were truly benefits.

At least many people were still willing to give face.

Ye Laya was very surprised. Her parents were also in the pastoral team and had just returned from transhumance. Although they were also having a winter slaughter currently, they had no way to send her meat.

For these herdsmen, the county seat was too far, and there were too many people in the county; it was too difficult to find her.

Also, the pastoral area where her parents were wasn't in the same place as Halimu and the others. After all, the places that could graze in the southern mountains of Ma County were all small pieces of grassland, which couldn't be compared with the grassland in Ili.

In the county, she was considered seconded, and she had to pay for her own meals when eating in the cafeteria, which was truly very expensive.

Li Long sending her a sheep leg could truly solve her big problem. She had her own dormitory, and the dormitory had a public stove, so she could cook.

Li Long didn't use such official rhetoric with Ye Laya; he just expressed his gratitude to her, and also told her that if she had any difficulties, she could find him at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Ye Laya had a feeling of wanting to cry. Although she tried hard to get to the county seat, she only knew after arriving that the competition here was also very fierce, and there were very few ethnic people in the radio station; she truly didn't have too many advantages.

It was only because she often followed Clerk Ma to conduct interviews and engage in propaganda work that she could stay.

Otherwise, she would have returned to the team long ago.

Li Long couldn't say much about Ye Laya's matter. Promising to take care of her was also because she was from the pastoral team, and Li Long felt he had the responsibility to help her—of course, within his capabilities.

The remaining two sheep legs were sent to Chen Hongjun and Zhong Guo Qiang.

Just because they could rush from the county to the team when he got married, this friendship had to be maintained.

After sending a round, Li Long left a sheep in the compound, and he planned to pull two sheep to the team tomorrow, and by the way, tell his eldest brother about the tiger bone matter.

!.

This matter, except for his wife and eldest brother, he wasn't prepared to tell anyone else.

Even if it was discovered later, he would only say it was lynx bones.

However, Li Long hadn't returned to the team yet. The next morning, Li Jianguo drove the tractor, pulling Li Qing Xia, Du Chunfang, Liang Yuemei, Li Juan, and Li Qiang to the county seat.

This surprised Li Long a bit, and Gu Xiaoxia was also a bit surprised.

After all, among these people in the Li family, Du Chunfang rarely moved.

Li Juan and Li Qiang could come because it was Sunday.

As soon as they came over, Li Long immediately went over to call Gu Bo Yuan over as well, and now the two families were basically all there.

Fortunately, the courtyard was large and the rooms were large, so they could stay.

Li Juan and Li Qiang ran from this room to that room, looking curious.

Du Chunfang held Gu Xiaoxia's hand and asked about the situation slowly. The daughter-in-law was pregnant, and the mother-in-law came over to ask only now; Du Chunfang actually didn't feel very settled in her heart either.

Fortunately, Liang Yuemei was on the side, interjecting a word from time to time, making both Gu Xiaoxia and Du Chunfang feel more at ease. Liang Yuemei had once acted as a maternal elder for Gu Xiaoxia at certain times, and she herself was a straightforward person, so she asked quite a few questions.

Gu Xiaoxia mostly said them with a blushing face.

Li Qing Xia had lived in this courtyard for one night, and looking at it again now, he felt that this courtyard was still a bit too large.

Sister Yang and Han Fang were also there. The Li family knew them, so they weren't strangers. On the contrary, although Sister Yang and Han Fang had heard of these people in the Li family from Gu Xiaoxia's mouth, and they had lived in the compound for a longer time.

But at this moment, others were the masters, and they were at most guests, so they were still a bit uncomfortable.

Liang Yuemei soon came out of the bedroom, then held Sister Yang's hand, mainly expressing gratitude.

"Our family is all in the countryside, and Xiaoxia is working here, so we can't take care of her; it's all thanks to you," Liang Yuemei's words were realistic, and Sister Yang felt comfortable listening to them.

"If it weren't for Uncle Li's help, my little Fang would be gone; I'm too late to thank him," Sister Yang was also speaking from the heart.

As the two chatted, they talked about their hometown. Once they talked about it, they were actually not far apart, neighboring counties, about dozens of kilometers away.

This was quite far in their hometown, but in Northern Tianshan, dozens of kilometers didn't even leave the county, so they were considered close fellow villagers.

The more they talked, the closer they felt, and Sister Yang also felt intimate.

So they cooked together.

Liang Yuemei also sighed at the kitchen in this courtyard; this was much better than the stove at home.

Although Northern Tianshan people were particular about building large houses, at this time, the kitchen, storage room, and stove room were usually in one room, and clutter was inevitable.

Unlike here, the kitchen was the kitchen, the storage room was the storage room, and the dining room was the dining room. Although the rooms weren't large, it was easy to tidy up after separating them.

Liang Yuemei was even thinking that when they built a house again, they would also make the kitchen like this.

It was better to separate them.

It was much easier for the men to chat. With Sister Yang here to take care of Gu Xiaoxia, whether it was Gu Bo Yuan, Li Qing Xia, or Li Jianguo, they were actually relieved.

They just advised Li Long to run out less next year and stay at home for a few more days. After all, a pregnant woman needed more care.

And that was all. In this era, most men still had male chauvinism; they valued giving birth, but not as much as in later generations. After all, family planning had only been implemented here for a few years.

Li Long mainly talked about the winter slaughter. Seeing that Li Jianguo had come, he asked him to take the meat back.

Li Qing Xia and Gu Bo Yuan started chatting about his plan to break the ice and catch fish again. Li Long took Li Jianguo to move the sheep, and by the way, let Li Jianguo take a look at that tiger.

The tiger's head was still there. Li Jianguo really went to move the sheep with Li Long, and caught off guard, saw a tiger head, and screamed in surprise:

"Tiger!"

Li Long hurriedly took a bag to cover the tiger's bag, and at the same time moved a sheep *kelangzi* and gave it to Li Jianguo.

"What's wrong? What tiger?"

Li Qing Xia asked from outside.

"Nothing, my eldest brother saw a tuft of hair and thought it was a mouse," Li Long explained inside, and then the two of them moved a sheep each out of the side room and placed the sheep on the cargo bed.

"So big, yet still making a fuss," Li Qing Xia scolded Li Jianguo, and continued to talk to Gu Bo Yuan about the fish.

They were the true in-laws. Although Gu Bo Yuan was young, Li Qing Xia still took the matter of seniority very seriously, so he had to have a good talk with his in-law.

Li Long took Li Jianguo into the side room again.

"How did you get it?" Li Jianguo saw that Li Long didn't want others to know, so he asked.

"Halimu shot it and gave it to me," Li Long said in a low voice, "I plan to hide it, and then in a few days, when it thaws, I'll remove the bones, store some, and soak some in wine. I'll just say it's lynx bones, and won't tell anyone."

"Hmm." Li Jianguo thought about it and nodded. He hadn't heard that there were tigers in Northern Tianshan, let alone seen one. The reason he didn't say anything when Li Long explained just now was that he was digesting this news.

This matter of a tiger really couldn't be told. Li Jianguo's father-in-law Liang Donglou knew traditional Chinese medicine, and Li Jianguo also knew a little, knowing that this thing was precious.

This wasn't like in the Northeast, where it was easy to get; it was hard to get here, so it was even more precious. Once it leaked out, there would probably be many people who wanted it, and then it couldn't be kept.

"This matter must not be leaked out," Li Jianguo felt more and more frightened the more he thought about it, "Who else knows about this?"

"Xiaoxia, me, you," Li Long said with a smile, "I've already told Halimu and the others not to tell outsiders; they are reliable."

"That's fine. Handle the head as soon as possible, peel off the hide, and don't let it be seen directly. As long as the hide is peeled off, just the bones and meat, no one will be able to tell."

Li Long nodded; this was exactly what he was going to do next, and he also joked:

"Eldest brother, do you want to take the tiger penis?"

"Why would I take that?" Li Jianguo glared at him, "You keep it yourself."

When walking out, Li Jianguo hesitated for a moment and said again:

"If you can get a deer penis, it would be fine to give me one."

Li Long took a red deer penis, put it in a bag, and handed it to Li Jianguo.

Halimu and the others knew Li Long wanted the penis, so after shooting the deer, they all kept the penis.

Li Long had some here, but he didn't send them out anymore.

For him, these things weren't rare, but for others, it was different.

Just like hides. Yellow sheep hides were easy to shoot because this fellow was in groups on the Gobi Desert and would run near the villages near the mountains from time to time.

Wolves were also easy to shoot; they were on the Gobi Desert, and could even be seen on the edge of the sparsely populated basin. There was a period of time when they were almost wiped out, but now the ecology was good, and they were starting to increase again.

In the 2020s, packs of wolves often appeared in winter by Sailimuhu.

But red deer were hard to shoot; this thing was only in the mountains, and mostly deep in the mountains, so ordinary people couldn't get them.

So when he sent a red deer hide to Wei Zhuren, he was happy.

Coming out of the side room, Li Long turned to lock the door and started discussing next year's plan with Li Jianguo.

He had some ambition. These two years were considered small-scale, but next year he couldn't do it like this.

It needed certain rules to be good.

However, after hearing his plan, Li Jianguo was also startled.

Was this a bit too big? (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 569 =====