Chapter 574: Returning fully loaded

"... The last point is that disassembly is quite troublesome," Li Long said. "If you disassemble this combine harvester, it takes at least three people. If it's at the doorstep, it's a bit better, but if it's a long distance, the tractor must tow the combine harvester, put it in the cargo bed, and it's troublesome if there's no one to help install it when you get to the place."

With Li Long's strength, it was also a bit difficult to hang this combine harvester on the tractor by himself.

Fortunately, he had thought of a way; he got a large wooden block and put it in the tractor's cargo bed. When using it, he took the combine harvester down and placed it on the wooden block, drove the tractor head over and wedged it between the support arms on both sides of the combine harvester, and then went down to adjust the position and tighten the screws.

With the wooden block supporting it, there was no need for two people to lift it to fix it. But only someone with his strength could move the combine harvester down from the cargo bed by himself and then move it to the wooden block.

Just as he said, if the combine harvester was always hung in front of the tractor, the combine harvester would distribute part of the power, and the power of the tractor engine used for driving would be insufficient, so it would drive slowly.

The tractors at the moment weren't as advanced as the models in the future; they were slightly more primitive, so one couldn't have too high expectations.

Li Long had harvested several thousand mu of land with the combine harvester; now, even nationwide, he was the one with the most say regarding the performance of this combine harvester.

Factory Director Du and the others manufactured the combine harvester according to Li Long's ideas. Although they also conducted small-scale experiments, that was at most a few mu of land, and the experimental data was very thin.

He recorded the seven or eight points Li Long mentioned seriously. Actually, in Li Long's view, the problems weren't big, and the first one counted as a prototype, so the materials used were really solid, so it harvested several thousand mu of land and harvested so much pasture grass without needing a major overhaul.

After recording, Factory Director Du closed the notebook and said seriously to Li Long:

"Comrade Little Li, the content you mentioned is very important to us. We will redesign based on this content and strive to fix these problems in the improved model.

By the way, Comrade Little Li, I also have good news to tell you. In the autumn, I and my colleagues in the factory took another combine harvester to participate in the Agricultural Machinery Exhibition organized by the Autonomous Region Department of Agriculture.

This combine harvester of ours won second place in small auxiliary agricultural machinery!"

"Really? That's amazing!" Li Long smiled.

"Of course it's true. I think, if these problems are improved, maybe our combine harvester can win first place in the future."

"Alright, then you guys work hard to improve, and I hope that when I come to buy next time, those combine harvesters will be improved models, and the materials used won't be reduced," Li Long said. "Next, Factory Director Du, I want to discuss my ideas with you."

"You speak."

"I want to take the agency for combine harvesters in Beiting Prefecture," Li Long said his conditions plainly.

"Agency?" Factory Director Du didn't quite understand the concept of an agency yet.

"That is to say, after your new model of combine harvester comes out, if anyone in this area of Beiting Prefecture wants to buy a combine harvester, they can only sell it through my hands. You sell it to me at the wholesale price, and I sell it to them at the retail price."

"That won't do!" Factory Director Du hurriedly waved his hand. "In this northern Xinjiang area, Beiting Prefecture is the one that plants the most wheat. If you cover the entire Beiting Prefecture, then our factory can only sell in dribs and drabs."

"Even if I can't have Beiting Prefecture, at least Maxian, the neighboring county, and the prefecture capital, plus Shicheng, belong to me," Li Long immediately took a step back. "Now that I've left you the remaining seven counties, plus such a large place as Yita'a, you should be willing, right?"

Li Long took such a big step back that Factory Director Du felt embarrassed to refuse again.

But why did Li Long want the agency for these places?

To tell the truth, Factory Director Du could completely refuse, because Li Long didn't have the capital to negotiate with him in substance at the moment.

But Factory Director Du was a down-to-earth person; he was in production, not a profiteer. He felt that this combine harvester was designed by Li Long, and the concept came from him, so in any case, he had a share. He didn't ask for anything, and now he just wanted an agency, which actually didn't count for much.

After all, where wasn't it selling? And the factory didn't have any losses?

But he was still curious about Li Long's idea and wanted to figure it out, so he simply asked directly.

"Because I plan to organize a tractor and combine harvester team next year," Li Long was also straightforward. He had dealt with Factory Director Du several times and felt that this person was not bad.

If this agency was settled, there would be quite a few agricultural auxiliary machines designed and produced from here next.

"We plan to unify the price for those who are willing to use combine harvesters for wheat nearby.

If I don't take the agency, I'm worried that some people will buy the combine harvester and, in order to make money, will lower the price, giving too low a price per mu of land, forming a vicious cycle, so that everyone can't make money, and it's easy to cause conflicts.

An agency, that is, when selling, I will discuss it with these people. I won't care too much about the far ones, but for the near ones, I will divide the area well, so there's no need to fight, and everyone has money to earn."

Factory Director Du actually felt that this made quite a bit of sense.

Li Long knew that if any market became disorderly, it would likely form vicious competition, and then the market would collapse.

Twenty years later, the village began to rise in the trend of buying large-horsepower wheeled tractors, and three or four were bought in a year, all with reversible plows.

At that time, there were seven or eight thousand mu of land in the whole team, and logically it was enough to divide, but everyone wanted to earn more, so they began to fight to plow the land after the autumn harvest. At first, there were slightly rules, and they would go to plow after telling the landlord.

Anyway, they were all fellow villagers, so it didn't matter who plowed it, so there was nothing.

But a seller of hooks, in order to grab land, plowed the land where the corn stalks had been cut down but not yet collected. He didn't even tell the owner before plowing.

As a result, he was directly grabbed by the owner, who not only didn't pay the plowing fee but also made them compensate for the corn stalks, because this family raised sheep, and the corn stalks could be used to feed the sheep in winter.

And later, those who bought tractors simply went far away to compete with large tractors in other villages.

It wasn't a good thing; it became a joke, and many people spread it.

Li Long was just trying to avoid such things from happening.

Two yuan per mu was not expensive relative to the plowing fee. And because there was a combine harvester, Li Long knew that more people planted wheat this year than corn.

Because the combine harvester could save the most tiring part of harvesting wheat, there was no need to harvest wheat, and the work of bundling wheat, loading it onto the cart to the wheat field, and threshing was a small matter, completed while chatting and laughing.

With more wheat planted, the business of the combine harvester was naturally good.

Li Long thought about unifying the price from the beginning, so it wouldn't be like selling fish before, directly killing himself.

Factory Director Du thought about it and agreed.

To tell the truth, there was no advertising agency at this time. Even if he wanted to sell these combine harvesters, he had to have a certain degree of popularity.

At the moment, the only one who ran over to ask their factory about the combine harvester was from the same county as Li Long.

He knew that this was likely because the effect of Li Long's combine harvester was quite good, which attracted people.

Since Li Long was willing to help promote it, why not agree to him? The places Li Long wanted were the range of the Shicheng Tractor Factory, and it was very difficult for their agricultural machinery to be sold there.

To tell the truth, the sales range of the Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory was in the Seventh Agricultural Division and KT City, and at most radiated to Anjihai, Dushanzi, and Wusu.

If it could break the range and be sold to the east, Factory Director Du would be too happy to be happy.

"Factory Director Du, don't worry, you definitely won't lose out on this. When the time is ripe, I have a few more types of agricultural auxiliary machinery that can be tried. As long as they can be produced, they will definitely be as popular as the combine harvester."

Li Long said:

"When the time comes, you guys just focus on production, and it's highly likely that demand will exceed supply."

"Alright, then I'll take your auspicious words," Factory Director Du said with a smile:

"This agency price..."

"The cost of the old combine harvester is two hundred, right?" Li Long asked.

Factory Director Du nodded and said:

"Yes, if it is modified according to your requirements, then the cost may increase to two hundred fifty to two hundred sixty yuan."

"Then how about three hundred fifty for my agency price? You guys should sell it for over five hundred, right?" Li Long gave a good number.

"Higher," Factory Director Du shook his head and said. "We are still counting on this product to give the workers more bonuses. The prices have been rising, and everyone's salary has to support a whole family. If we don't get some bonuses, it's really difficult."

"Alright, then how about three hundred eighty?" Li Long said.

"Good, three hundred eighty it is, but five units minimum, how about that? Anyway, you are an agent, so you have to be better than retail, right?"

"This is no problem. By the way, Factory Director Du, I see there are still some at the entrance of the workshop, are those similar to mine?"

"Yes. How about it, do you want them?"

"Give them to me cheaper, and I'll take them away this trip. When spring comes, I'll come over to take the new ones. Anyway, you guys can't dismantle these as scrap, right."

"Alright, two hundred forty per unit, if you want them, take all five." "You also have to sign an agency letter for me, otherwise it will be troublesome if someone catches me selling this later." Li Long was thoughtful; one still had to be cautious about this stuff. Verbal agreement didn't have recording pens or smartphones at this time, so it still had to be implemented.

"Good, I'll write it for you, and then stamp it, is that okay?"

Seeing a sum of money today, Factory Director Du was naturally happy. It was almost the end of the year, the factory's efficiency wasn't very good, and he wasn't good at management, so he had no way to give workers benefits. Seeing Li Long send money, he was naturally happy.

This was a win-win situation, and both sides were happy.

Li Long went to the finance department to pay the money, took the agency contract, and then, with the help of the workers, loaded the five combine harvesters onto the tractor, waved goodbye to Factory Director Du and the workers, and then drove the tractor away from the factory.

Li Long left the factory gate and could still hear the workers cheering in the factory; it was likely that Factory Director Du told them that they could have benefits at the end of the year.

There was money.

Li Long didn't plan to use these five himself; he prepared to put them in the large courtyard. He believed that during the wheat season next year, many people would come to him to ask about the manufacturer of the combine harvester.

Not everyone could see the Autonomous Region Daily, and by next year, those who saw the Autonomous Region Daily might not necessarily remember the place of origin of this combine harvester.

And like Wei Tianxing, even if he went to the Kuitun Agricultural Machinery Factory next year, Factory Director Du couldn't sell him a combine harvester.

!.

So Li Long calculated that he could earn a sum of money based on the combine harvester.

Harvesting wheat himself was tiring, two hundred yuan a day.

Selling one unit could earn about one or two hundred yuan.

He was naturally willing to be the latter.

Driving the tractor to the house rented by Li Anguo, Li Long had just gotten off the tractor when he heard the voices of Xueping and Li Xue Qin:

"Dad, Mom! My little uncle is here, my little uncle is here!"

Alright, no need to greet, the automatic pager was here.

Li Anguo came out of the house, Chen Li Rong showed a small face while wearing an apron, and then went in.

Then he smelled the fragrance of food.

Carrying the crank handle into the house, Li Long saw Chen Li Rong stir-frying vegetables, and the rice had been steamed and served in a basin. Such a small kitchen could only accommodate one stove, so he had to steam rice first and then stir-fry vegetables.

The fragrance of the rice was very strong. Li Long followed Li Anguo into the inner room and told him about the situation today.

"Then are you going back today?" Li Anguo asked. "Why not stay for two days?"

"Not staying. Xiaoxia is pregnant, I don't dare to be far away."

"Oh, that's that, then I won't keep you. When you go, bring two bottles of wine for father," Li Anguo said. "I won't bring things for you and eldest brother..."

"No need, there's everything at home," Li Long waved his hand. "You guys just live your own lives well."

"Hmm, we'll go back during the New Year," Li Anguo said again. "Actually, there will be a vacation after December, but we don't need to stay there for a long time. There is a duty fee for being on duty here, I plan to go back two or three days before the New Year."

The two brothers chatted for a while, the food was stir-fried, and the adults and children ate together at the coffee table.

Li Anguo said he originally intended to have two drinks with Li Long, but since Li Long was leaving, he could only wait until later.

Li Long ate two bowls of rice, and didn't eat much vegetables. The two children ate meat quite quickly, and Li Anguo and Chen Li Rong both said, Li Long didn't let them say, saying that the children were growing, and eating more meat would make them grow fast.

After eating, Li Long drank rice soup and sat for a while longer, feeling that the food in his stomach had quieted down, so he said goodbye to his brother, sister-in-law, and children, and went out with the crank handle.

Arriving at the tractor, he cranked the tractor, put on his thick coat, put on his hat, turned around, and drove away.

Xueping watched the tractor go before saying to Chen Li Rong:

"Mom, I thought my little uncle was a bad guy at first, that thing on his face was so scary."

"Me too, me too," Li Xue Qin also scrambled to say.

"That's to prevent freezing the face," Li Anguo said while greeting the children to go back. "Otherwise, your little uncle would have driven for several hours, wouldn't his face be frozen?"

"I played outside for a long time and didn't freeze..." Xueping was puzzled.

"That's because you didn't play in a windy place. When the tractor is driving, there is wind, and that wind is so big, it can crack your face..."

Li Long drove the tractor to the oil depot to add oil with proof, and then filled the oil pot he took, only then did he drive out of Kuitun and head east.

The sun was shining on his back, and he could feel a little warmth, but in front of him, it was almost all cold. Li Long drove the tractor "putt-putt-putt", and after more than an hour, he arrived in the no-man's-land, and saw the Mongolian gazelles again.

The Mongolian gazelles seemed to be used to big things passing back and forth on the road. As long as something came, they would run to the side of the road and stop at a distance of several tens of meters. When the big thing left, they would come over again.

This herd of Mongolian gazelles had seven members, and the two leading ones were male gazelles with horns. They stood relatively high, turned their heads to look at Li Long's tractor, and were both cautious and seemingly disdainful.

Li Long parked the tractor by the side of the road, and these few Mongolian gazelles didn't move.

Li Long took the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle out of the gun bag, right in the seat, without turning off the engine, the engine was still "dang-dang-dang" ringing, and the Mongolian gazelles might have felt that this monster didn't intend to come over.

Li Long wasn't in a hurry, slowly disengaged the safety, chambered a round, aligned the rear sight, and aimed while half-squatting in the seat.

At this time, the Mongolian gazelles felt danger. The head gazelle turned around and prepared to run away. Li Long aimed at the male gazelle behind it. It looked like it was only two or three years old, just at the age of being bold, curious, and stupid without experience.

When the head gazelle was preparing to run away, it even turned its head to smell the butt of the female gazelle next to it.

"Bang!" Li Long's gun rang, and that male gazelle didn't even jump up, falling to the ground on the spot, and at this time, the head gazelle had already rushed into the bushes in the distance, running away in a panic.

The other female gazelles also scattered and ran away. Although Li Long thought about aiming another shot, after aiming for a while, he gave up.

They ran too fast, and he couldn't hit them at all.

Putting away the gun, Li Long went over and dragged that male gazelle back.

This male Mongolian gazelle was clearly younger than the one he hit yesterday, and the horns on the gazelle's head were relatively short, and it didn't look so vicissitudinous.

The vicissitudes here refer to the horns being relatively smooth and clean. The bone layer near the base of an old gazelle's horns would have skin peeling off due to time, which could be seen.

He cut open its belly. The cargo bed was full of combine harvesters, so Li Long could only take out a bag from under the seat, put this sheep in the bag, the sheep was quite big, and its head was still exposed. He placed the bag containing the sheep on the triangular traction frame between the tractor and the cargo bed, tied it with a rope, and then set off.

When he was about to reach SW County, Li Long hit two more Mongolian gazelles, and now there were two more bags on that triangular frame.

He had originally thought there would be more behind, but he had thought too much. Next, there were fewer Gobi deserts on both sides of the road, and some places had already been reclaimed by the Corps, and from time to time, he could see one or two pieces of farmland covered by snow.

There were rabbit paths in the farmland, but no sign of Mongolian gazelles.

Hunting on the way, stopped here.

It was also okay.

Driving all the way to Shicheng, Li Long stopped for a while at the Old Street. He stopped at the entrance of the courtyard rented for Chen Xingbang.

Then Li Long heard Hongqin's voice:

"Mom, I seem to have heard the sound of Little Uncle's tractor..."

"How is that possible? How could your Little Uncle come at this time?" Li Xia came out of the house, and then heard Li Long's knocking.

"Who is it?"

"Sister, it's me. Brother-in-law hasn't come back yet?"

"Is it really Little Long?" Li Xia happily quickened her pace, came over and opened the door, and then looked at Li Long standing at the door with a Mongolian gazelle and smiling.

Li Xia's eyes turned red all of a sudden. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 575 =====