Chapter 630

Throughout the latter half of February to the first half of March, Li Long was busy selling harvesters.

The surface of the village roads had dried, and the children could happily walk on clean roads when going to school.

Reed buds had already sprouted on the side of the road, but they were basically plucked by these children as soon as they appeared. On the way to or from school, from home to school or from school to home, every boy basically had a large handful of reed buds in his hand.

As for what was fun about getting this stuff—there really wasn't any; after all, this thing looked pointed at one end like an arrow, and at most, it could be thrown as a projectile, but because it wasn't balanced, it easily tumbled.

But boys, at seven or eight years old when even dogs dislike them, see others doing it, so they do it too.

Fortunately, Li Qiang set an example for the other children; the handful of reed buds he brought back when he returned, he took to the Old Horse Station and fed to the roe deer in the pen.

Currently, the number of roe deer and red deer in the pen was already quite large, and Li Qiang and Li Juan especially liked the few small ones born in winter.

When they were free, they would take reed buds and feed the greedy little roe deer and little red deer one by one. Squatting by the edge of the pen, they could watch for half an hour.

Other children didn't dare to enter the Old Horse Station at first, mainly because when Old Uncle Luo first started raising wild boars, he was worried that these things wouldn't lose their wild nature after growing up, and those children were too mischievous, climbing high and low; if they climbed into the wild boar pen and were gored, or climbed into the red deer pen and were butted, it wouldn't be a small matter.

So the children who snuck over were lectured a couple of times, and once this spread, they didn't dare to come anymore.

Li Juan and Li Qiang were not included in this. From the time Li Long lived here, to later when Li Anguo and the others lived here, and then later when Xueping and Li Xue Qin lived here, Li Juan and Li Qiang never regarded this place as a strange place.

And to them, Old Uncle Luo was like a relative of their own; they would often come over to greet him and help feed the deer—as for whether it was helping, it was hard to say.

With Li Juan and Li Qiang following, other children dared to come over to see the deer and roe deer here. When a group of children came over, Old Uncle Luo still had the patience to receive them.

So these days, the roe deer, red deer, and even the wild boars all had some extra reed buds as snacks. Although the quantity of these reed buds wasn't large, they tasted much better than that dry grass.

Seeing that they could come over to see the deer with reed buds, the children immediately started plucking reed buds with great enthusiasm; this activity lasted until the reeds grew long.

By then, it wasn't easy to pluck them; the reeds had become tough, and the children's interest in the wild boars and red deer wasn't as strong as before.

It was mainly because these guys grew too fast and weren't as cute as when they were small.

These days, Li Long could sell two harvesters on average every three days, which forced him to go to Kuitun every week.

Factory Director Du even said that the sales speed at the farm machinery factory wasn't as fast as Li Long, the agent.

Of course, Factory Director Du was also very happy; at this rate, he would soon have to build a new workshop.

When Tao Daqiang found Li Long, Li Long was teaching a buyer who had come from Wujiaqu of the Sixth Agricultural Division how to use a harvester.

Tao Daqiang waited quietly on the side. Not only him, but also his father, Tao Jian She.

Li Long greeted Tao Jian She and Tao Daqiang, and after finishing the customer's business, he wiped his hands and asked:

"Uncle Tao, Daqiang, why are you here?"

"Isn't the land almost dry?" Tao Jian She said with a smile. "The two of us were thinking of buying the tractor back quickly, getting familiar with it, and then it'll be time to farm."

Li Long smiled and said:

"Yes, yes, yes, I almost forgot about this." He looked at the sky; it was only past eleven o'clock, so he said: "If you are ready, then let's go now. Let's go to the Shicheng Tractor Factory now, buy the tractor, and we can still make it back to the county seat for lunch."

"Sure." Tao Jian She and Tao Daqiang were waiting for these words.

Of course, they could go buy it themselves, but Li Long had bought one before, so following someone with experience was never wrong—besides, Li Long had mentioned this to them too.

The two of them came by bicycle, Tao Daqiang carrying his old man. Now that they were going to Shicheng, they couldn't ride bicycles, so Li Long had them leave their bikes in the courtyard, Li Long went to the inner room to get money, put it in a black leather bag, and the three of them went out together.

After Li Long locked the courtyard gate, the three of them went to the bus station together.

In the waiting hall, one could see many people carrying large and small bags. If they were alone, they were silent; if they were in groups of three or five, they were loudly discussing things together.

One could tell they were migrant workers who had come from the pass, or at this time, they were still called "blind flows."

Or "rogue flows." Explained in ancient terms, they were people without houses or land.

Floating population.

The sources were quite complex; there were some from Shaanxi and Gansu, some from Henan and Anhui, and some from Sichuan and Chongqing.

There were those leaving the station and those entering. Li Long bought three tickets, and they took a minibus to Shicheng.

From Shicheng, they went to the tractor factory; by the time they arrived, it was already past twelve o'clock.

There weren't many people buying tractors, but there were some. The site was large, and several people were test-driving; the "tut-tut-tut" sounds were louder than one another, and one person was scolded by the salesperson.

Li Long listened for a moment; it turned out he had floored the accelerator and almost ran someone over.

In Li Long's view, there wasn't much to pick with this stuff. Assembly line work, quality qualified before leaving the factory. Of course, there was the occasional bad luck, running into that one-in-a-hundred or one-in-a-thousand tractor that was prone to problems, so you'd just have to find the manufacturer.

At least based on Li Long's experience from two lifetimes, if a tractor here had problems, the manufacturer was still quite cooperative; they would replace what needed replacing and repair what needed repairing.

A large-horsepower wheeled tractor worth over three hundred thousand, and the engine had problems in less than half a month; the manufacturer directly shipped a new engine over to replace it.

Very efficient.

That was how it was said, but Tao Jian She and Tao Daqiang still picked and chose, set their sights on a tractor, and decided on it.

Li Long also chose one; he planned to buy this tractor and drive it to the Liang family's place.

This was promised. Next, he would buy a few more, some for Xie Yun Dong and some for Liang Dacheng.

As for the harvester for his eldest brother, Li Long had already hauled it back.

He was thinking of letting Tao Daqiang use the tractor to transport the harvester back today as well.

Calculating this way, he still had to make a trip to Kuitun the day after tomorrow to haul another load of harvesters back.

Not enough to sell!

Pay the money, issue the invoice, collect the tools, and then drive the tractor away.

Li Long was in front, Tao Daqiang was behind.

Tao Jian She sat in the trailer—Tao Daqiang wanted his father to sit on the fender, but Tao Jian She refused, saying sitting in the trailer felt good, and told Tao Daqiang not to drive too fast.

Consequently, Li Long was originally driving in fifth gear, "tut-tut-tut," in front, but when he turned his head to look, Tao Daqiang was moving slowly back there, so he had to stop and wait.

When Tao Daqiang drove the tractor over, "tut-tut-tut," Li Long could tell it was fine; he was using third gear.

The tractors they were driving now had four real gears, but there was a power-boost lever on the side.

That is to say, using this gear between the legs, pressing the clutch, you could only shift to third, fifth, sixth, and reverse gears.

But if you wanted other gears, after shifting, don't release the clutch, then shift the power-boost lever on the side, and that third gear would become first gear, fifth gear would become second gear, and sixth gear would become fourth gear.

Reverse gear of course remained unchanged, only the power increased.

Going up a thirty-degree slope, if not pulling anything, third gear could climb up; if pulling something, then shift to first gear or fifth gear to second gear, otherwise it would stall halfway.

Experience talking.

"Daqiang, why are you driving so slow? Drive for another two minutes, and if you don't reach the fuel depot, you'll burn up all that fuel," Li Long shouted. "Faster, shift to fifth gear, drive faster to the fuel depot and add fuel!"

"How can driving slow still waste fuel?" Tao Jian She didn't understand.

"This tractor is different from a person pulling a cart; it has a fuel-efficient speed. When you run in fifth gear, listen to that 'tang-tang-tang' sound, and see that the chimney isn't emitting black smoke; that's not wasting fuel."

After Li Long explained, he said: "You have to run a bit faster, not the fastest, just follow me."

The last sentence was for Tao Daqiang.

Tao Jian She stopped talking, and the two tractors "tut-tut-tut" ran to the fuel depot, added fuel, and then drove east toward Maxian.

When they arrived at Li Long's courtyard, it was almost time for dinner. Li Long asked Tao Jian She and Tao Daqiang to stay for dinner; Gu Bo Yuan and Gu Xiaoxia had both arrived, and they said the same.

But Tao Jian She and Tao Daqiang refused to stay no matter what; after loading the harvester, they ran off.

Li Long could probably guess that they were worried there wasn't enough food prepared. After all, two grown men, how much could they eat in one meal—they had an idea. If they ate, what would the Li family eat?

It was mainly because rice was made, and they were worried about this—they couldn't let the people in this courtyard go without food.

In this era, every family had encountered similar situations: guests came, food was made just right, and as a result, the guests were full, but the women and children in the family weren't.

Why weren't the men full? Because the men had to accompany the guests. No way, at this time, it really was like this. After lunch, Li Long and Gu Bo Yuan lifted a harvester and placed it on the tractor trailer, and he drove it eastward.

The snow had melted completely, the road was easy to travel, and Gu Xiaoxia could ride her bicycle to work. It was no problem to be careful, and she didn't let Li Long pick her up or drop her off.

Calculating the time, it was still a very important period, and her belly was also very obvious. Li Long insisted on sending her, and Gu Xiaoxia threw a little tantrum.

Alright, Li Long backed down.

The tractor drove to the Liang family's place, and Liang Donglou and Liang Wenyu, father and son, were tidying up farm tools in the courtyard.

It was almost time to farm, and various farm tools needed to be tidied up.

The brand-new tractor still attracted the attention of many people.

Li Long drove the tractor into the Liang family's courtyard, which made many people mutter.

Li Long had driven a tractor over before, and Li Jianguo had also driven a tractor over.

The tractors back then weren't like this; how could there be one so new?

What does this mean? It's only been a year, and they're changing to a new one?

After checking one by one/p>

Seeing the new tractor, the Liang family understood what it meant.

This matter had been agreed upon before, but when Li Long really drove the tractor over, Liang Donglou was fine, but Liang Wenyu was really excited.

Li Long got off the tractor, didn't turn off the engine, and said with a smile:

"Wenyu, do you want to drive it now? Practice more in the open space later when you're free; it'll be time to farm soon, and you can use it immediately."

Neighbors had already entered the Liang family's courtyard, and after greeting Liang Donglou and Li Long, they looked at this tractor with burning eyes.

The village here had little land, and until now, the village didn't have a small four-wheeled tractor like this. The team did have large tractors, but like the Fourth Team, they were historical remnants, old, and frequently repaired.

Although they were larger than this one, for an ordinary family, this tractor was more attractive.

"Twelve horsepower, small four-wheeled, comes with a set of accessories," Li Long introduced. "This can pull a small plow behind it, but those farm tools aren't of much use, so I didn't buy them. Right now, it's mainly for hauling goods, and after the wheat is ripe, it can pull a harvester to harvest wheat."

With neighbors coming over, Li Long intentionally promoted the wheat harvesting matter.

Sure enough, the neighbors were very interested, and Li Long took the opportunity to introduce the harvester pulled on the tractor trailer.

Liang Wenyu also knew that this harvester was related to whether he could truly get this tractor this year, so listening to Li Long's explanation, his attention shifted to the harvester.

Li Long called him over to lift the harvester down together, turned off the tractor, and taught him on the spot.

His eldest brother's brother-in-law, and the things Uncle Liang had done to help the family before, made Li Long teach him with all his heart.

The neighbors knew it was useless for them to learn, but they noted down that this thing cost two yuan per mu to harvest wheat, and ten mu of wheat could be harvested in less than an hour.

How fast that must be!

Two yuan... thinking that their family had planted eighteen mu of winter wheat this year, they thought it would take a few days to harvest.

If they let the Liang family's harvester harvest it, wouldn't it be finished in half a day?

It's just this money... calculating it, it's quite cost-effective.

Liang Wenyu learned very seriously; after installing the harvester's belt onto the small four-wheeled engine, he personally tried to crank it with the handle.

The new car wasn't broken in enough, so it was quite strenuous to crank, but Liang Wenyu wasn't weak, and because it was the first time cranking his own tractor, he used too much force, causing the chimney to puff out black smoke.

At least he didn't lose face; he got it started.

When Liang Wenyu sat on the tractor seat, he was truly excited, and even didn't know how to move his hands and feet.

Clearly, he had driven it at his eldest brother-in-law's place and was very proficient, so why did he become clumsy now?

At least with Li Long's prompt, he pressed the clutch, shifted gears, drove forward a short distance, and then started the harvester.

He didn't continue driving; if he continued forward, he would hit the wall; his reversing skills weren't very good.

Li Long had Liang Wenyu stop, he got on the tractor, slowly reversed the tractor until it was close to the gate, and asked:

"Do you want to drive it out and practice outside? You should practice entering the gate more, right?"

"Alright," Liang Wenyu hurriedly nodded. This tractor would be used often in the future; if he couldn't drive in and out of the gate well and hit his own wall, what would he do?

Taking advantage of Li Long being here, Liang Wenyu thought he should practice more, so he wouldn't lose face if he couldn't drive well alone after Li Long left.

So he started practicing.

Anyway, there was nothing specific to do, so Li Long stood at the gate and guided Liang Wenyu on how to turn in relatively narrow places and how to reverse.

In his view, as long as the speed was slow enough, there was enough time to adjust.

Liang Wenyu quickly adjusted his mindset and practiced following Li Long's rhythm; in less than an hour, his reversing was decent, and he could enter and exit normally.

Li Long checked that it was about enough, so he prepared to return. When he was about to return, he suddenly thought of something and asked:

"Uncle Liang, now that you have the tractor, I'll take number seventy-six back."

"Take it back?" Liang Donglou was a bit surprised.

"Hmm, if you don't use it, I'll take it back and put it at our Old Horse Station. This old horse has put in a lot of effort for me. Now that all three of our families have tractors, this old horse should retire."

"That's true. It has also put in a lot of effort for our family," Liang Donglou nodded. "Then take it away; it should have a good rest. Xiao Long, you are thoughtful."

When Liang Donglou went to harness number seventy-six with the carriage, Li Long told Liang Wenyu how to handle the procedures and that he also needed to take a test for a license. At this time, the tractor driver's license was very easy to get, and Li Long also urged him that if he could upgrade to a class B automobile driver's license later, he must upgrade.

But that was a matter for several years later.

Such an opportunity could not be missed. At that time, upgrading the license cost eight hundred yuan, and then after training, it was possible to pass. But there would be no such opportunity in the future.

Many people probably know how difficult it was to take the class B automobile driver's license test later.

Liang Wenyu also knew this was quite important, and he also said that before farming started, he would handle the procedures first.

Li Long left the tractor invoice and other things with him, telling him to handle the procedures himself; this wasn't difficult.

Liang Donglou brought out number seventy-six with the carriage; the old horse saw Li Long and snorted, not knowing if it was complaining or greeting him.

Chen Xiuzhu asked Li Long to stay for porridge in the evening, but Li Long refused, saying the sun was still high, and he had to drive the carriage back to the Fourth Team.

Going from here to the Fourth Team required a detour to the county seat. Li Long still had to go to the county seat to put his bicycle on the carriage, so it would be more convenient to return to the Fourth Team and then turn back to the county seat.

It would take at least two hours for the carriage to get from here to the Fourth Team, so he had to leave quickly.

Even so, when Li Long arrived at the Fourth Team, the sun had already set.

When he took his bicycle, he told Sister Yang that he wouldn't return to the county seat in the evening and would stay at the Fourth Team.

When Tao Daqiang drove the tractor back to the team, it caused a stir.

After all, everyone knew what the Tao family's situation was two years ago; in just two years, they became the first in the team to buy a tractor after the Li family.

Some people already understood, and some were still not used to it.

Some of those watching the excitement at the Tao family's place were envious, some were jealous, and there were quite a few people making sour remarks. When Tao Daqiang almost fell into a ditch while turning the tractor into the courtyard, some people even laughed out loud.

But no matter how they laughed, they couldn't hide the envy, jealousy, and hatred within.

A tractor cost over five thousand, equivalent to ten years of wages for an ordinary worker; how many families in the team could afford it?

They bought it; this is strength!

When Li Long led number seventy-six to the Old Horse Station, Old Uncle Luo was chatting with an old friend about Tao Daqiang driving the tractor.

Seeing Li Long leading number seventy-six in, Old Uncle Luo immediately became excited. He stood up, walked over quickly, took the reins from Li Long's hand, and asked:

"This is... no longer needed?"

"Hmm, Uncle Luo, number seventy-six will be handed over to you from now on," Li Long said with a smile. "It's equivalent to retiring."

"Hey, hey, retirement is good, retirement is good!" Old Uncle Luo sighed with emotion.

He had feelings for all the horses and donkeys he had raised for a long time. Those distributed to other families were still working, and this number seventy-six was the first to retire.

He guessed that maybe this was the only one that could "retire," and the others would basically have to work until they died. (End of chapter)