Chapter 632: So, this counts as having a big backer now?

Buying a tractor isn't particularly troublesome; driving it back takes some time, but it's just a matter of time.

When they returned to the big courtyard, they ran into someone else from the Corps who had come to buy a harvester. Li Long's courtyard was already out of harvesters, so he had no choice but to let the farm machinery operator from the Corps company take one away. Xie Yun took one, but Liang Dacheng didn't.

Li Long promised to deliver one to him in a few days, but Liang Dacheng refused, saying he would drive a tractor over to pick it up in two days, and that it would be too much trouble for Li Long to deliver it.

Originally, he had wanted to keep the two of them for a meal, but since someone was buying a harvester, that didn't happen. Xie Yun and Liang Dacheng, having just acquired their "big toys," were too excited to stay and just wanted to hurry home.

When the two tractors drove back to the Fourth Team one after the other with a "putt-putt-putt" sound, even though a small circle of people already knew, the sight of the brand-new tractors driving into the courtyard still stirred envy in many.

Once they learned that both tractors were bought with Li Long's help, that they would both be equipped with harvesters, and that they would go to other townships to harvest wheat and earn money later, the true colors of those in the village were revealed.

In fact, the few people who had followed Li Long to weave carrying poles several times all had the potential to become like Xie Yun and Liang Dacheng.

As soon as the tractors were driven into the courtyard, Liang Dacheng's parents brought out water and started wiping the vehicles, even though the engines had just been turned off and the bodies were still scorching hot.

They couldn't be stopped; Liang Dacheng couldn't stop them at all.

At Yang Hua's house, he sat on a small stool, smoking a cigarette, wondering what he was thinking about.

His wife sat on the threshold, muttering as she tidied up a tangled mess of hemp rope:

"The Xie family and the Liang family both have tractors now. If our Yongqiang hadn't gone to be a worker, we would definitely be able to drive a tractor today too."

"What's the point of driving a tractor? Working in the fields day after day, getting baked by the sun—is that comfortable? Yongqiang is a worker, he eats commodity grain. How many people in our whole team can be like him?" Yang Hua retorted. "Why didn't you say anything when others were envious of Yongqiang eating commodity grain?"

"That... that doesn't earn much money either. Forty or fifty yuan a month—how many years would it take to buy a tractor?" Yang Yongqiang's mother said, unconvinced.

"Still doesn't earn much? Are you saying forty or fifty yuan isn't money? You've had it good these past two years, have you forgotten the times when we couldn't even save ten yuan at the end of the year?

If it weren't for Li Long bringing work to earn money for the team every year these past two years, could we be living this well? Think about what kind of life Yongqiang's uncle's family is living! They can't even afford a bicycle... That's enough!"

Mother Yang stopped talking.

It was true; in the last two years, the Fourth Team had three or four opportunities a year to earn big money. As long as one worked honestly, even if one's relationship with Li Long was just average, a family could still make about a thousand yuan a year.

What about the villagers in other teams right now? Although they had all divided the land among households and contracted the land, given the current prices of agricultural products, it was still a bit difficult to get rich directly from the soil.

Although it was much better than before the household contract system, they could eat their fill, the family could eat fine grain, and they could save a little money by the end of the year.

But at most, they would end up with a hundred or eighty yuan; two or three hundred yuan was considered a lot.

Those who could afford tractors either had family savings from before or were like Li Jianguo, who started animal husbandry as soon as the reform began and became a specialized household.

Why did almost all of the nearly ten thousand mu of land in the Fourth Team grow cotton thirty or forty years later? Wasn't it because growing grain didn't make money?

Even if the corn yield was one ton per mu, the price at the time seemed quite high—two yuan per kilogram. Calculating it that way, one mu of land only brought in two thousand-plus yuan.

By that time, the land had already been transformed and was entirely drip-irrigated. An income of two thousand yuan was just enough to cover the cost of farming. And that was assuming the land was one's own, not contracted. Otherwise, the contract fees would be unaffordable.

So they could only grow cash crops. One mu of drip-irrigated cotton land could yield four hundred to five hundred kilograms, and the national protection price per kilogram was between six and seven yuan. So even if the cost of growing cotton was higher, at least there was a profit.

As for wheat, that was even worse. In the later years, after almost all the land in Maxian was drip-irrigated, wheat with a yield of four hundred kilograms per mu sold for three or four yuan per kilogram—it was a guaranteed loss.

The more you grew, the more you lost; there was no way around it.

Although there were subsidies for improved seeds and wheat, unless the large-scale grain growers thoroughly researched those subsidies, they would only lose money.

In his previous life, Li Long hadn't thoroughly researched what subsidies those large-scale growers relied on to make money even until he fell ill. How should he put it? Some good policies were never publicized to the ordinary people.

Therefore, Yang Hua was still quite clear-headed, knowing that Yang Yongqiang being a worker in the city was actually quite good.

It was just that he actually envied those families who had bought tractors. After all, a tractor wasn't just loud and impressive to look at; it could haul more things than a horse-drawn or donkey-drawn cart. And it only drank oil and didn't need to be pampered. In winter, you just covered it with something, and it wouldn't move. When spring came, you filled it with water and oil, cranked it, and it would still run with a "putt-putt-putt."

How nice.

But he couldn't say this to the old woman; if he did, she would start complaining about Yongqiang again.

In fact, when Yang Yongqiang came back for the New Year this time, he also had some regrets.

After all, when he worked with Li Long before, he could earn dozens of yuan a day, but now it took a month. And the work at the construction and installation company was quite tiring; it wasn't easy.

Life in the city was certainly wonderful, but after staying for a long time, one realized that to possess those wonderful things, one needed money. And right now, he only had that little bit of money a month, and he still had to think about saving for a house and a wife, so his quality of life had dropped significantly.

But regret was useless; he was already a formal employee, and he couldn't just leave if he wanted to.

Moreover, if he were to express such thoughts, he would be scolded.

Although almost every family in the Fourth Team now earned more money than a worker earned in a year, more people still hoped to become people who ate commodity grain; this seemed to have become a kind of obsession.

In their view, eating commodity grain didn't just mean living in the city; it mainly meant having a monthly pension after retirement—it was a guarantee.

Farmers only had the land as a guarantee. When they couldn't work anymore, where would the money come from? By looking at the expressions of their children?

No one could imagine what it would be like forty or fifty years later; they could only imagine it based on their current lives.

That night, there were many people in the Fourth Team who couldn't sleep.

What surprised Li Jianguo was that early the next day, someone came to his house wanting to borrow money.

The person who came to borrow money was Jiang Huaizhou, who had been among the first to pave the way for the village with Li Jianguo and Gu Bo Yuan. His hometown was in the province next to Li Jianguo's, and he had two sons and one daughter.

The eldest son was now just thirty, married with children, but they hadn't separated the household; they had just built a row of small houses on the west side of their own courtyard gate.

The second son had gone to be a soldier and was currently a volunteer soldier who hadn't returned yet; it was unknown if he could stay.

Jiang Huaizhou had come to borrow money to buy a tractor for his eldest son.

"So how much is your family borrowing?" Li Jianguo asked. "How much do you have yourself?"

"In the last two years, following Li Long, I've saved a thousand or eight hundred," Jiang Huaizhou said quite casually to Li Jianguo. "Just lend me three thousand, and I'll go find others to scrape together the rest."

"Can't lend it." Li Jianguo spread his hands. "No money. If you were talking about borrowing three or five hundred, I could scrape that together, but you're asking for three thousand right off the bat—where would I get that?

Besides, spring plowing is coming up soon; buying fertilizer and seeds all takes money. No, no."

"How can you not have any?" Jiang Huaizhou looked disbelieving. "Your Li Long bought two tractors for the Xie and Liang families—that's ten thousand right there. How can you have no money?"

"That's Li Long's money. Don't you know Li Long has separated the household and is living on his own?" Li Jianguo wasn't angry; after all, there was the bond of having been together in the beginning, so he explained slowly. "Besides, Li Long spent all that money on buying tractors to set up this small cooperative. If he still had money to buy tractors, wouldn't he buy them for the others who follow him?"

"Who else is there?" Jiang Huaizhou couldn't help asking.

"Doesn't that count little Jia?" Li Jianguo said slowly. "He's also followed Li Long for a long time. And what about Yang Hua? Yongqiang has followed Li Long even longer. If there really were money, wouldn't he help the Yang family buy one?"

Li Jianguo's words were very clear: even if there were money to lend, that was Li Long's business. If Li Long wanted to lend money to buy a tractor, he would have to consider the closeness of the relationship.

Jiang Huaizhou and Li Jianguo had a good relationship, but it was just a good relationship because they had come over in the same batch. They could drink together during the New Year, and usually chat together to recall the hardships of the past, while mentioning that life was good now.

Nothing more.

Li Jianguo was at least a former middle school student, and he liked to read books, so he had theory and experience. Gu Bo Yuan was an even more genuine university student, and his theoretical level was even more different.

Li Jianguo and Gu Bo Yuan had a better relationship because they could talk to each other and had their own opinions.

Even if they occasionally had an argument, it was normal; as the Premier said, seek common ground while reserving differences.

When he said this to Jiang Huaizhou, he didn't understand, and said with an indifferent face:

"That's different. Can we brothers be compared to them? Can't you, the big brother, just say the word?"

"That's not for me to say." Li Jianguo immediately waved his hand. "He's married and has his own household; I can't be the head of his house anymore. Besides, Xiao Long is more capable than me now, so what right do I have to be the head of his house?"

Liang Yuemei, who was busy in front of the stove holding a basin, looked at Li Jianguo and wanted to laugh.

Everyone admitted that Li Long was more capable than Li Jianguo.

But to say that Li Long wouldn't listen to Li Jianguo was a lie.

She believed that as long as Li Jianguo said the word, Li Long would definitely lend the money without asking for a reason. But Li Jianguo wouldn't cause Li Long that trouble. Being a big brother meant shielding the younger siblings from wind and rain, not causing them trouble.

You, Old Jiang, knew how to drag your old face to find someone to plead for your son, and Li Jianguo was the same; that little brother Li Long had been raised like a son before, so if he dragged his old face to make Li Long lend money to others, he couldn't cause him trouble either.

Jiang Huaizhou left with a disappointed face.

After he left, Li Qing Xia asked Li Jianguo:

"How is the relationship? If it's really a close relationship, I still have some money here, no need to disturb Li Long..."

"Close my foot." Du Chunfang was sitting on the side twisting wool; the wool was brought back from the mountains by Li Long. This was a trivial job: washing the dirt out of the wool, twisting it into thread, dyeing it, and then setting it aside.

"Didn't see him come over during the New Year—can it be close? Who among the team doesn't come to pay a New Year's visit? Didn't see him, so it's not a close relationship."

"Mother is right!" Liang Yuemei hadn't expected her mother-in-law to usually look like she didn't care about anything, but her eye was quite sharp. "It was just that they were the only ones working in the team at the beginning. To talk about the relationship, it was just average."

Li Jianguo didn't speak, but he tacitly agreed.

Relationships were cultivated. Jiang Huaizhou and the others had indeed come over together at the beginning and had the shared experience of starting a business. But later, they rarely sat and chatted together.

Even if Lu Yingming from next door came to borrow money, Li Jianguo would carefully consider it, because the relationship was truly good.

【Missing text/p>】

Two more batches of people came to borrow money in the last two days, but they were all sent away by Li Jianguo.

Later, people in the team also knew that the Li family didn't lend money, and the matter passed just like that.

As for what was said behind the Li family's backs, Li Jianguo and the others didn't care; who wasn't talked about behind their backs? Just live one's own life well.

Besides, spring had arrived, and it was time to prepare for sowing. This year, in addition to grain and oil crops, they also had to plant twenty mu of melon seeds; this was no light work. Just the point-sowing alone would take several days of work.

Li Qing Xia rarely didn't go to set nets at Little Haizi, holding a point-sower in his hand and testing it in the vegetable garden from time to time.

Du Chunfang couldn't stand it and retorted directly:

"If you have nothing to do, just take this sowing thing and go to the front courtyard to plant Li Long's vegetable garden."

Li Qing Xia chuckled and really went.

Before planting in the vegetable garden in spring, it had to be turned over again, the soil raked flat, and then ridges made to divide the plots for planting.

Things planted the previous year that could still grow this year, such as chives, celery, etc., had to have their plots left aside.

At the moment, the soil moisture in the fields wasn't enough, and the soil temperature hadn't risen yet, so the fields couldn't be planted.

But the vegetable garden could already be worked on.

By this time, Li Long had already made two trips to bring harvesters to the big courtyard, while he himself was at the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Let me tell you, the State Federation has changed its leadership this time. Although Director Qian is still the deputy director, he is basically in charge of everything. The director is said to have other plans. Although he hasn't left yet, he is already contacting connections in the Corps."

Li Xiangqian said this quietly to Li Long.

He was happy, and he was happy for Li Long too.

Director Qian and Li Xiangqian had a solid relationship, and now the relationship with Li Long was also quite good. With him presiding over the work at the State Federation, both of them would have an easier time.

"Did you go to pay a New Year's visit to Director Qian?" Li Xiangqian asked suddenly.

"No," Li Long shook his head. "I don't think it's appropriate for me to go."

"What's inappropriate about it? This relationship needs to be maintained by frequent visits. You can't count on that tiger skin to be useful forever." Li Xiangqian still hoped that Li Long would be closer to Director Qian. "No matter what, he is a leader; you have to take the initiative to express your intentions."

From this point of view, Li Xiangqian was truly good to friends and people he had a good relationship with.

Li Long smiled and didn't take the bait.

Seeing that Li Long was a bit like a blockhead, Li Xiangqian felt a bit of "hate that iron doesn't become steel." Well, when he called Director Qian privately, he would say a few good words for this kid.

During the New Year, he had made a special trip to the state to pay a visit to Director Qian, and the things he brought were much better than the benefits issued by the state.

Of course, it was mainly the sentiment; at Director Qian's level, would he still care about those little things?

Li Xiangqian didn't tell Li Long this, but changed the subject.

"How is the situation in the mountains? Can you get in? The director has been asking these past two days."

"It will take a few more days," Li Long shook his head. "The snow here has melted, but it's still a mud pit in the mountains, and the ice and snow on the shady slopes haven't melted yet. We are going to dig ditches, and it's hard to dig if it hasn't melted; it's a mud pit and hard to work in."

"Then let's wait a bit longer." Li Xiangqian nodded. Anyway, he wasn't in a hurry; the one in a hurry was Wei Zhuren. "You go tell the director in a while."

Li Long got up and went to find Wei Zhuren.

After hearing Li Long's words, Wei Zhuren only indicated that he should keep an eye on that side from time to time, and notify him in advance when work could start so the cooperative could make preparations.

Li Long could feel that after so many days, Wei Zhuren was still quite persistent and attentive to this matter.

That was good.

Then he went to the Education Bureau to pick up Gu Xiaoxia.

By this time, Gu Xiaoxia's belly already looked very big, like a basin turned over on her lower abdomen.

They had already been to the county hospital for an examination and confirmed it was twins.

Li Long hadn't told his family about this news yet; only Gu Bo Yuan knew.

He didn't dare to say it, fearing the land was evil. In his previous life, Li Long had experienced too many similar metaphysical things, so he was more cautious in this life.

Gu Bo Yuan was obviously dissatisfied that Li Long hadn't told the in-laws about this news, but fortunately, Gu Xiaoxia agreed. She smiled and said:

"When the time comes to give birth, and two are born, let my father-in-law, mother-in-law, and brother and sister-in-law be pleasantly surprised!"

"Pleasantly surprised? More like shocked!" Although Gu Bo Yuan was dissatisfied, since his daughter had spoken, there was nothing he could do.

The matter was settled like this, and Li Long became even more dedicated to picking up and dropping off Gu Xiaoxia.

After all, it had reached the time of "seven up, eight down," and a slight fall or bump could be life-threatening.

Gu Bo Yuan was satisfied in his heart that Li Long picked up and dropped off Gu Xiaoxia every day, but on the surface, he still lectured Li Long, telling him not to spoil his wife.

After all, in this day and age, let alone seven or eight months, there were plenty of people who were still going to work a few days before giving birth.

Li Long didn't care about that much; he cherished his own wife. In the first half of his previous life, he didn't understand this, but later, when smartphones became popular, he saw too many pregnant women having accidents because of carelessness, so it was better to be careful.

Gu Xiaoxia therefore joked that she was a national treasure now.

Sister Yang was also more attentive to cooking during this period, asking Gu Xiaoxia every day what she wanted to eat. Of course, this was also after seeking Li Long's opinion.

Regarding this, Sister Yang envied Gu Xiaoxia very much. Back then, Han Fang's father was quite attentive to her, but to be honest, he was far worse than Li Long.

Although Gu Bo Yuan complained a few words on the surface, he was still quite gratified in his heart; he hadn't chosen the wrong son-in-law.

Over the next half month, Li Long was relatively free. In the courtyard, besides planting things in the flower field and vegetable garden, he was only busier when people occasionally came to buy harvesters.

At the moment, the frequency of buying harvesters was slower than before, with one being sold every three to five days, so Li Long wasn't in such a hurry to pull harvesters now.

Of course, on-site training was still done with care, the kind that guaranteed teaching until they learned.

After all, once they were pulled away, it was dozens or hundreds of kilometers away; if they really ran into any problems, it would be quite troublesome for them to come looking for him.

Days passed one by one, and soon, it was April.

The snow in the mountains had also melted. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 633 =====