Chapter 798: The farmers here are very enthusiastic

Lunch was very full and very rich. In the eyes of all the students, dinner should be simple. After all, lunch was so rich, even if you just drink some porridge in the evening, it is understandable.

But the evening meal was still very rich—porridge was there, buns were there, Old Luo Shu and the others were at one table, and the professor and students were at another.

Originally, there was only one dining table at the old horse number, and several old people sat around eating. There was also a small low table, which was used for playing chess and cards.

Now they pulled another table—this was pulled from Li Long's courtyard, and this table was used for the professor and students to eat.

The evening meal was still eaten in the courtyard. In the middle of the table was a large basin of braised pork, a plate of stir-fried pork with pickles, cold-dressed alfalfa, and steamed elm money that wasn't finished at noon.

Really rich.

Professor Luo was a bit embarrassed. He was about to sit at the table to eat, and then went to Old Luo Shu's place and said sincerely:

"Uncle, we don't need to be so rich for meals. These students, including me, are basically people who have suffered, and ordinary meals can also be eaten."

"It's okay, it's okay, we eat normally like this." Old Luo Shu said with a smile, "Look, we eat like this too. Eat, dolls still need to grow their bodies, they will do big things in the future, can't treat their bodies poorly..."

"Then, this is our food and accommodation fee... it might not be enough." Professor Luo took out a hundred yuan, which was the food and accommodation fee for six people for a month. Now it seems that it is certainly not enough.

"Hey, Professor Luo, you are scolding people!" Yang Laoliu was holding a bun and preparing to eat. When he saw this stack of money, he smiled.

"That is." Old Luo Shu shook his head and didn't take the money, "Xiao Long said, you are here to help us improve saline-alkali land, then we want to collect money, that can't be done? We can't afford this scolding... If we really collect it, the whole team will scold us old men."

Professor Luo insisted on giving it, but Old Luo Shu firmly refused. Finally, Professor Luo's meaning was that meals later should be simple, no need to be so exaggerated, just eat like this now. He felt that no family could bear it.

Old Luo Shu agreed first—Li Long had already gone back to the county after eating lunch, so the acquisition station still had to operate, so the docking with Professor Luo at this time was Old Luo Shu.

Anyway, Li Long would come over tomorrow. If there is anything to say, just say it directly to Li Long.

Lunch was eaten well, but the evening meal was so delicious, everyone still ate it.

Going to university has subsidies, but it is almost impossible for students from ordinary families to eat like this every day in the college. Being able to improve a braised pork a month is already quite good.

So there wasn't much oil in the stomach. Eating a greasy meal at noon, and eating another meal in the evening, there was no problem at all.

This is not decades later. At that time, everyone had enough oil in their stomachs. After eating a very greasy meal at noon, they certainly wanted to eat something light in the evening.

In the 1980s, this situation didn't exist.

Several classmates were a bit surprised. Originally thought it was just a meal at noon, didn't expect there was another meal in the evening. According to Old Luo Shu's statement, it would be eaten quite well every day in the future.

Actually, after this meal at noon, these students already realized that the village they came to wasn't like that, and could even be said to be quite rich in the current countryside.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to slaughter a pig so generously to welcome the arrival of these people. They had already seen that at the old horse number, not only were there more than a dozen wild boars, but also many red deer, roe deer, cattle, and sheep.

These were all Li Long's alone. How rich must he be!

Even Li Qingyuan and He Lijuan, who claimed to have good family conditions, didn't dare to say that their family's living conditions were so good.

"It seems that life is no problem. People have provided us with such good conditions, we have to study it properly."

"It's just that the saline-alkali land next to it is really big." He Lijuan was a bit worried, "It has formed an alkali shell, and I don't know what the seedlings on it are..."

"Sugar beet." Zhu Yuechan studied well and could see that it was sugar beet, "Sugar beet is a relatively salt-alkali resistant crop, but the salt-alkali here is indeed a bit big. I think Professor Luo should already have ideas, right?"

After Professor Luo finished eating, he let Li Long take him to the saline-alkali land on the west side.

The salt-alkali here was indeed very thick, which also surprised Professor Luo a bit.

But then he felt relieved. If the degree of salt-alkali was very light, then they didn't need to come. Coming here is to overcome difficulties, otherwise, how can they be worthy of such good food?

At least half of a pig was left at the old horse number, which was the bottom of their food for the next period.

Explaining what, explaining that Li Long's guarantee was indeed done very well.

Then, next, it depends on how these experts from the Agricultural College do it. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 799 =====

"Since they've offered such good conditions, we can't just eat for free. Let's work hard tomorrow." Hu Dongfeng changed the subject. He truly hadn't expected the food here to be this good.

Originally, he had planned to endure hardship for this month, but now it was fine; he had come to enjoy life.

When Professor Luo was recruiting people, more than half of the twenty-plus students in the class gave up immediately. Most of them did so because they felt coming here would be quite arduous and would delay their studies.

If they knew the standard of living here was like this, they would probably regret it, right?

Professor Luo came in from outside, frowned, and said:

"Don't sleep yet. Go fetch water, boil it, and wash your feet. The elderly all know to soak their feet in hot water before bed, but you lot..."

"Yes, yes, yes." The three male students immediately climbed up. There was a fire in the stove here, and there were pots on the shelf to the side; boiling water was a very convenient matter.

Each student brought their own washbasin, which could also be used for washing feet.

"Using water here is quite convenient; this pressure pump is really good," Hu Dongfeng said. "When I go back for the holidays, I'll see if I can have one installed at my home too."

"Doesn't drilling a well require professional technicians?" Zheng Zhiguo said. "If it's easy to drill, I'll get one when I go back too."

With this thought, when their month ended and they went home for the holidays, everyone left carrying a pressure pump head.

Who could have imagined it?

He Lijuan and Zhu Yuechan had already soaked their feet and, after locking the door in the dormitory, went to sleep.

"Xiao Chan, did anyone say anything strange to you today?" Before coming, He Lijuan had received warnings from some classmates, saying that upon arriving in the countryside, there might be some bachelors, or family members of bachelors, who would say strange things to them, inducing them to stay behind or something similar.

"No, they've all been quite nice." Zhu Yuechan shook her head.

Her vigilance was much stronger than He Lijuan's. Her hometown had a large population, and there were human traffickers; the probability of all sorts of strange things happening was much higher than here in Northern Tianshan. She had heard and seen quite a lot.

"I haven't either. The people here are actually quite simple and enthusiastic," He Lijuan said with a smile. "It's much better than I imagined."

"I feel... the same."

Li Long returned to the county, went to the supply and marketing cooperative with the truck driver, reported this matter to Li Xiangqian, and then returned to the acquisition station.

There was a line of people at the entrance of the acquisition station. Li Long heard them say that the acquisition station at the market had opened again, but not many people went there. Although information didn't spread quickly now, after so many days, through word of mouth, many people knew that the other station suppressed prices and that some bad things had happened there, making many feel that the old acquisition station was better.

For most of the afternoon, Li Long collected a jeep-load of items, mainly hides and medicinal herbs. These natural resources were the easiest for ordinary people to obtain; on the contrary, things like copper coins and antiques were a matter of luck.

Li Long made a rough calculation; if he resold the items collected in the afternoon, he could earn about two hundred yuan or so.

That was not a small amount.

Li Long thought that after the situation on Professor Luo's side stabilized, he would have to find time to drive the tractor to haul away some of the things in the warehouse to sell; otherwise, no matter how big the courtyard was, it wouldn't be easy to store more.

Mainly, the smell of those hides was too strong, and he was afraid it would affect his own children.

"Are Professor Luo and the university students settling in well?" At the dinner table, Gu Xiaoxia, who had never been to university, was quite curious about these people.

"Very well, and they are also shocked," Li Long said with a smile. "They probably thought our team was very backward and were all prepared to endure hardship. They changed their minds the moment they sat in the jeep. They even asked me if they would have to ride in a donkey cart later..."

Gu Bo Yuan shook his head and said:

"Don't think university students are all that amazing... They are about the same age as you, and their life experience isn't much richer. Just treat them with a normal mindset. However, this Professor Luo is not bad; being able to bend down and come to the countryside to do soil improvement work shows he is truly a person who gets things done."

Hmm, only Gu Bo Yuan could say this without anyone complaining; after all, he was a real university student and truly had experience living in the countryside.

"We made 'pig-slaughtering stew' yesterday noon, and they ate it with such joy. I think they probably didn't eat this well at school."

"I suppose so." With Gu Bo Yuan and Li Long saying this, the halo around the university students seemed to fade a bit more in Gu Xiaoxia's eyes. However, she still planned to attend the TV University to raise her educational qualifications first—a university degree itself was a huge bonus for employment.

"Never mind all that. I'll have Uncle Lao Luo and the others handle the logistics well, and I'll just go over to check from time to time. I don't understand research or anything; I'll leave that to them." Li Long knew where his strengths lay; being able to provide an idea was already very good. For the rest, it still depended on the professional personnel.

The next day after breakfast, Li Long drove the jeep to the Fourth Team. He planned to go over to communicate with Professor Luo, hunt a wild sheep, and then come back to check on the situation at the acquisition station here.

The Old Ma Hao side had already finished breakfast. Morning was steamed buns, porridge, stir-fried potato shreds, and stir-fried eggs with chives. The number of dishes wasn't large, but the portions were sufficient—there were also two large plates of sliced braised pig head meat. With both meat and vegetables, it was very sumptuous.

When Li Long arrived, Professor Luo was leading the students in the dormitory to clear space to assemble experimental equipment. After Li Long arrived, Professor Luo pulled him aside and said in a low voice:

"Comrade Xiao Li, our food is a bit too good... It can't be like this. We should eat whatever everyone else eats; there's no need to be so troublesome. We came here to do research, not to go on vacation..."

"It's fine, Professor Luo. Regarding food and drink, just eat whatever Uncle Lao Luo and the others make," Li Long said with a smile. "I actually forgot an important matter; I didn't specifically clear a place for you to set up this experimental equipment..."

"No need, no need. These two dormitories have large spaces; we can just do the experiments inside."

"That won't do." Li Long thought for a moment and said, "At noon, I'll find some people to clear out a warehouse. It's better for you to do the experiments in the warehouse. Although I don't understand this, I know that some chemical reagents are bad for the body. It's better not to keep this stuff in the dormitory."

Professor Luo hadn't expected Li Long to be so thoughtful, and what he said was also very reasonable, so he didn't say anything more.

Professor Luo also wanted to pay the food expenses to Li Long, which Li Long refused. He said the same thing as Uncle Lao Luo: "Charging for food expenses is like scolding me."

The other students also learned of this, and they had a deeper understanding of the situation here.

There are differences in the countryside, too.

Just as Li Long was about to call for people, Team Leader Xu Chengjun brought Xu Haijun over.

"Biek's family's summer pasture has a piece of mountain land where snow lotus grows every year," Halimu explained, "A lot, that piece can pick hundreds of flowers!"

"Now it's made me, the team leader, very passive... People came to support us, and the team must show some gesture. Since you've done it yourself now, doesn't that mean you don't treat our production team as your own home?"

"No, no." Li Long smiled and didn't pick up on that, but instead introduced them to Professor Luo:

"Professor Luo, this is our village team leader... Oh, now he is the village director, Xu Chengjun, a retired soldier. Team Leader, this is Professor Luo, and these are his students who came along to do research. This is the group leader, Hu Dongfeng, from FH County; this is Li Qingyuan, from Wucheng; this is Zheng Zhiguo, a brother from Southern Tianshan; this is He Lijuan, from our Northern Tianshan Miquan; and this is Zhu Yuechan, who came from across the border—all of them are the pride of heaven!"

Whether it was Professor Luo or these students, none of them expected that Li Long had only been in contact with them for a few hours yesterday, yet he had remembered them one by one.

Xu Chengjun shook hands with them one by one and then said to Professor Luo:

"Professor Luo, thank you for being able to come to our team to provide support for our team's agricultural development.

Our team doesn't have any specialties, so how about this: I've brought Haijun over. He is also an outstanding young person in our village. He will come to guarantee your food supply.

Although we can't compare to the city here, having fresh vegetables every day and a meal of fish every week... that's no problem. At the moment, there aren't any fresh vegetables growing, but there are still chives, alfalfa, and elm seeds. In two days, the baby cabbage in the fields will also grow, which can supplement your nutrition.

As for the meat, I'm not worried. Xiao Long's family foundation is thick; he is considered the richest person in our village, and he can definitely guarantee that you eat meat every day..."

"That's no problem." Li Long still had confidence in this regard.

"Too thoughtful." Professor Luo said to Xu Chengjun, "Director Xu, you are so enthusiastic that we feel embarrassed. We were thinking that since we came, we should just eat the same food as everyone else..."

"That won't do!" Xu Chengjun waved his hand. "Guests from afar, and besides, you came to improve our soil here. Although we don't understand it, we know that science is productivity.

You don't need to worry about the logistics; you just focus on the research. If you have any difficulties, just go directly to Haijun when Li Long isn't here."

As he spoke, he turned his head and said to Xu Haijun:

"Haijun, just keep an eye on things here when you're free. Your work points will be recorded every day, and there's someone to do the work at your home... Understand?"

"Understand!" Xu Haijun answered very crisply.

Li Long always felt that with Xu Chengjun arranging things for Xu Haijun like this, he might have some other thoughts?

After all, there were two fair-skinned female university students here!

Of course, he didn't expose it, but there was a bit more playfulness in his gaze toward Xu Haijun.

Xu Haijun didn't dare to meet Li Long's eyes, so Li Long simply assigned him work:

"Haijun, Professor Luo and the others need a dedicated room for their experiments. I didn't consider this well. See if this works: you find a few people to help clear out the warehouse here. For the bags of sugar dregs inside, ask Uncle Lao Luo to find another place to store them. I see there are still unused pens in the horse yard; clean them up first and put the sugar dregs inside..."

"No problem." Xu Haijun didn't answer, but Xu Chengjun agreed directly: "Haijun, go find people now. Find Xu Fei Hu, Dejun, and the others. Remember, you must follow the professor's requirements and clean the room until it's spotless. Just move things however they tell you to; just be obedient!"

Professor Luo felt that the team leader's ability to take action was very strong. Thinking that this Director Xu Chengjun used to be a soldier, he felt relieved.

In terms of organizational ability and action, who could compare to them?

Not to mention individuals, just speaking of this collective, there were no opponents.

Seeing that the instruments and equipment couldn't be set up for a while, Professor Luo simply went with Li Long to observe the saline-alkali land.

And at this time, there were already seven or eight people gathered at the entrance of the Old Ma Hao—they had all heard last night that a university professor from Wucheng had brought university students to Li Long's saline-alkali land to conduct improvement research, and they were just here to watch the excitement.

The only university student in the Fourth Team was Gu Bo Yuan, and he was only half-baked. Now that five fresh university students who were still in college had arrived, how could they not be curious? In fact, when Professor Luo and the others were eating breakfast, some students on their way to school had already passed by to take a look.

"The sugar beet seedlings actually grew here." Professor Luo looked at the seedlings in the saline-alkali land and sighed, "The vitality is truly strong!"

"It's just that they look too thin and weak." Li Long shook his head. "The saline-alkali crust here is too thick. Last year, it was flooded with water, and a layer of alkali was washed away, but this year it has surfaced again."

"It's fine. We'll research it first, look at the soil situation, and then find a way to solve it." Professor Luo made up his mind.

The people here were so enthusiastic; if they didn't achieve some results, they would really feel a bit sorry! (End of chapter)