Chapter 800: Entering the mountains or chasing college students: Xu Haijun is worried

When Li Long left the Tao family, the sun was almost setting, but Tao Jian She started to pack the net.

Tao Daqiang saw it and said to his father:

"Dad, are you still going to cast the net? Don't cast it, it's so late, it will be dark after casting... the road is not easy to walk."

"The professor and college students are coming tomorrow, no matter what, we have to get something delicious to send over, right?" Tao Jian She continued to set the net, "Our family doesn't have good meat, getting some fish over is also a heart."

Yang Pingping said while feeding the child:

"Dad, that's the professor and college students invited by Li Long. Li Long has already slaughtered a pig, this treatment is enough, let's not get involved, right?"

"That's not getting involved," Tao Jian She explained seriously, "Xiao Long brought these experts and professors, not just for himself alone, but to pave the way for the saline-alkali land in our team. If it's done well, this saline-alkali land can plant things. Then isn't whoever reclaims the wasteland whose? Xiao Long is exploring the way for us, then we can't just wait for ready-made things. You look at it tomorrow, we send fish, others will certainly bring things too."

Tao Daqiang was skeptical, but he didn't stop his old father from casting the net. He told Yang Pingping and then followed his old father to help.

The next day, before the sun came out, these few people Li Long greeted went out to hunt.

Wucheng, Agricultural College. When getting on the bus with luggage, He Lijuan was no longer so optimistic.

After Xu Hongxia's brainwashing for a day, He Lijuan had a true understanding of the current countryside life. She even felt that she might not be able to persist until the end of the month.

To verify the authenticity of what Xu Hongxia said, she asked several other students from the countryside in the class yesterday and had some words in her mind that she hadn't heard before.

Water from the dam, dry rammed earth, earth nests, local diseases...

Overall, the countryside in Northern Xinjiang is better than Southern Xinjiang and the neighboring province, but it's limited. According to the current situation, one can be full, but wanting to eat well is impossible. Now it's spring, there are almost no fresh vegetables, and there are pickles or something.

Don't even think about meat. Locals might eat meat three or five times a year. Of course, as a guest, maybe eat once when arriving, eat once when leaving, which is already a very ideal state.

On the bus, except for Professor Luo who was writing and drawing, the expressions of the others were mostly not very good—obviously, not only He Lijuan had inquired about the specific situation, but the others were also about the same.

Li Qingyuan was from Wucheng. His understanding of the countryside was the same as He Lijuan's. Now his mood was a bit complicated.

Zheng Zhiguo's home was in Southern Xinjiang. He was one of the few Han people in the village. He was the most optimistic. No matter how bitter Northern Xinjiang is, it's better than Southern Xinjiang—at least it looks green now. Unlike Southern Xinjiang, where the wind and sand are big at this time, the sky is full of yellow sand and people can't be seen, that's scary.

Zhu Yuechan was from the interior. She wasn't worried about the arduous conditions. Yesterday, a classmate told her to be careful not to be caught by the bachelors at that time to be a wife.

Zhu Yuechan's family conditions were poor, and she was frugal when coming to school. Although there were subsidies, her family couldn't provide much money, so she had to save. Although the conditions in Northern Xinjiang described by classmates were arduous, in her view, they were actually quite good.

But decades ago, eight thousand Hunan women entered Tianshan, which caused some people to misunderstand, feeling that in the countryside here, men might be more overbearing, which made Zhu Yuechan a bit worried.

There was also a classmate named Hu Dongfeng, whom classmates jokingly called Mahjong. This was a proper Northern Xinjiang person. Although his home wasn't in Ma County, the distance wasn't very far—in Fuhai to the north, so he was the calmest.

His own home was also in the countryside, and he knew the countryside of Northern Xinjiang very well, so he wasn't worried at all, but a bit curious. The curiosity was, what would be the difference between this countryside and his own?

"Alright, everyone be quiet, we will arrive at Bayi Bus Station soon. Now I will briefly tell you. After we take the bus to Ma County, someone will pick us up and send us directly to the village where we do the topic. The rooms for accommodation have been arranged, and there are people cooking for us. This point doesn't need everyone to worry.

Of course, everyone must be clear about the conditions in the countryside. It won't be that good, but since you have already got on the bus, there is nothing to regret. After arriving at the place, those with strong abilities should help those with weak abilities, and those who adapt quickly should help those who adapt slowly.

Remember, we are going to study and work, not to play and spring outing, so we must enter the situation as soon as possible, build the framework of this topic as soon as possible, and then solve problems item by item.

Hu Dongfeng, you are from Northern Xinjiang and are most familiar with this side, so you will be the group leader for the time being. Usually, it is mainly me communicating with the local people. If I have something, then you will be responsible, understand?"

"Understand!" Hu Dongfeng was a bit excited. Usually, his academic performance in the college wasn't good, and there was basically no time to be solely responsible for a project, and he couldn't even be a group leader. Suddenly becoming a group leader today, how could he not be excited?

"There are two girls in our group. Although we pay attention to gender equality, it will naturally be inconvenient for girls to go over. Boys should take the initiative to help girls to avoid problems, understand?"

"Understand!"

On the school bus, Professor Luo said everything that should be said. His meaning was to wait until the bus, where there were many people and many mouths, so he wouldn't say anything, just take care of each other when the time comes.

Because they came early, there weren't many people at Bayi Bus Station. Professor Luo and Hu Dongfeng bought six tickets very smoothly, and with the help of the school driver, moved the students' luggage and instruments onto the bus and put them on the luggage rack.

He Lijuan and Zhu Yuechan sat in the double seat. After sitting down, He Lijuan took out a bag of egg cakes from her small backpack, opened it, and distributed them to Professor Luo and classmates one by one.

After eating breakfast today, they gathered and rushed here. Everyone was a bit hurried. They weren't very hungry, but having egg cakes, they still wanted to eat.

Professor Luo didn't decline, and the others naturally took them.

"Thank you." Zhu Yuechan said in a low voice, and then ate in small bites, one hand catching the crumbs.

"You're welcome... I don't know what kind of car will pick us up when we get off the bus later. Horse cart, donkey cart? Is there a tractor?"

"Anything is fine." Zhu Yuechan felt that the possibility of a tractor was the greatest. In her hometown, there were few tractors, but in Northern Xinjiang, she had been in college for several years and had some understanding of this side. While eating, she said in a low voice, "Maybe it's a tractor, isn't it said that agricultural machinery here is relatively developed?"

"Fine, anyway, for me, it's also a kind of experience." He Lijuan also said in a low voice, "I haven't sat in any good car in the county. Usually, I ride a bicycle, take a bus, take a bus to school... I haven't sat in a horse cart yet."

"I haven't sat in one either." Zhu Yuechan finished eating the egg cake, faced the piece He Lijuan handed over again, waved her hand and said, "Not eating anymore, full. My family only has a handcart, our village doesn't have horse carts or donkey carts, but there is a walking tractor."

"That's also quite good." He Lijuan nodded.

Zhu Yuechan turned her head to look at her, then confirmed that she wasn't laughing at her, and knew that this "colleague-to-be" really didn't know much about the countryside, so she also nodded and didn't continue this topic.

Two hours later, the bus stopped at Ma County Bus Station.

Hu Dongfeng and Zheng Zhiguo took the initiative to take things from the luggage rack. Li Qingyuan and Professor Luo helped to receive them below, preparing to take them down slowly and then relay them out.

"Professor Luo, hello!"

Li Long had already seen Professor Luo and the others, walked quickly to the bus, greeted Professor Luo first, and then moved things with the students.

"This is heavy, it needs two people to lift..." Hu Dongfeng shouted on the luggage rack of the bus.

At this time, the bus's luggage rack was on the roof of the car. These large items that couldn't be put inside the car were placed on it and then tied with a rope net.

Li Long received a large cardboard box wrapped tightly one after another. Hu Dongfeng was afraid that he couldn't receive it alone, reminding him.

"It's okay, I have enough strength." Li Long received the cardboard box and put it gently on the ground, then continued to help.

"Strength is really enough."

"Comrade Li Long, didn't expect you to have such strength." This cardboard box contained scientific research instruments, which Professor Luo packed and wrapped himself. He naturally knew its weight, and at this time said in surprise.

"From the countryside, trained."

The driver of the transport section of the supply and marketing cooperative who followed Li Long also moved things together, and then carried the light luggage out, preparing to put them on the truck.

"Our things are a bit many." Professor Luo said to Li Long while carrying the bag.

"It's okay, I'm driving a jeep and brought a large truck, enough for transport." Li Long smiled, carrying two large bags and walking out.

Several classmates looked at Li Long in surprise—this was a large bag that required them to lift with effort, Li Long carried two alone!

Is this a born strongman?

"Hurry up and move things, don't let people laugh at us." Hu Dongfeng, who reacted, said in a low voice, "This person is really amazing!"

Everyone was moving, and the two girls stayed to watch the remaining luggage and materials.

"He said he was driving a jeep... really or fake?" He Lijuan thought of what Li Long said just now, "Can we sit in a jeep?"

"There is really a jeep parked outside!" Zheng Zhiguo, who moved things over one step earlier and ran back, said in a low voice, "It's a 212 jeep, and a Dongfeng large truck... Our conditions this time are not bad!"

He Lijuan was a bit surprised. Didn't Xu Hongxia say that she took a tractor and a horse cart, and maybe had to be carried by someone for a section of the road?

How is the painting style different from what was imagined?

After sitting in the car, Li Long had already started the car. Only then did He Lijuan ask a bit foolishly in the back:

"Comrade Li Long, this car... is it yours?"

She didn't believe it herself when she asked this.

"This is from the Beiting Prefecture Supply and Marketing Cooperative. I am an employee of the cooperative. This car was approved by the cooperative for me to complete the task. It belongs to me to drive during this period," Li Long was the old set of explanations, "The truck behind is from the county supply and marketing cooperative."

"So that's how it is." Hu Dongfeng, who was sitting in the passenger seat, nodded.

Professor Luo sat in the passenger seat of the truck behind. He couldn't rest assured about those equipment and instruments, and also saw that the students were curious about this jeep, so he sat in the back with Zheng Zhiguo, and the others sat in the jeep.

"The road here is quite good." He Lijuan looked out, feeling that the road conditions were not bad, different from what was imagined and what Xu Hongxia introduced.

Although He Lijuan wasn't as pretty as Gu Xiaoxia or Wu Shufen, she won out because of her university student temperament and extraordinary way of speaking, which was very attractive to Xu Haijun.

However, the two had only just met, and they were still far from talking about marriage. Now was the critical period for getting to know each other, and Xu Haijun felt that if he worked hard, he might be able to deepen the relationship.

At this time, should he go or not?

"You consider it. I still have to go to the south to notify Liang Wenyu and the others." Li Long didn't urge Xu Haijun; this matter indeed required careful consideration.

Regarding Xu Haijun chasing the female university student, Li Long didn't think about evaluating it. To be honest, he could see that among the two female students, He Lijuan was indeed a bit naive and innocent, had experienced little, hadn't encountered many bad people, and felt that people outside were all quite good.

As for whether there was any fate with Xu Haijun, it was hard to say.

He didn't participate either; at this time, the main thing was to get the real work done well.

Of course, he wouldn't go and remind Professor Luo about this matter either. These university students were all adults and would have their own judgments.

Li Long drove the jeep to the Liang family.

Liang Donglou and Liang Wenyu were repairing farm tools. The village here had little land, and the economic benefits of growing grain couldn't be raised, so they had already started to slowly plant cash crops—this year, they were planting green onions. Green onions needed long, white stalks to be good, heavy, and valuable. This required "hilling," which meant burying the main body of the onion with soil, leaving only the leaves above exposed, allowing it to continue growing upward. The part buried in the soil would become the white stalk, and the longer it grew, the longer it would become.

Hilling used a narrow, thin iron shovel, different from ordinary ones. Although this place was only two or three kilometers away from the Fourth Team, the commonly used farm tools were truly quite different.

There was also a tool here called a "scratch rake," which was actually a rectangular hoe, completely different from the mattocks and round hoes used by the Fourth Team.

Seeing Li Long arrive, Liang Donglou, Liang Wenyu, and Chen Xiuzhu, who was working in the vegetable garden, all came over to greet him.

"Uncle Liang, I came over just to tell Wenyu that the work for weaving 'lifting-poles' has come down this year. I thought if Wenyu doesn't have much to do, he could go on a trip like last year. The 'lifting-poles' are five yuan each this year, and there might not be this work next year."

This production team had relatively few natural resources and no reeds or wild grass, so the work Li Long could help the Liang family with was the 'lifting-pole' work.

Of course, Li Long would definitely be able to find other work later to help the Liang family.

If it weren't for the fact that Liang Wenyu had a bright future ahead, Li Long even thought about whether he should bring him to the acquisition station to help him watch the store.

This was also a person worthy of trust.

"Great," Liang Wenyu stood up all at once. "I'll go notify the others right now... They came looking for me two days ago, asking if there was any 'lifting-pole' weaving work this year. They earned money last year, and they speak differently at home now."

"Go, go." Liang Donglou knew his son's mind and waved his hand. "Your mother and I can handle the work at home. You go and work hard; don't let down this opportunity Xiao Long gave you."

"Don't worry, Dad, I won't." Liang Wenyu left in a hurry.

After chatting with Liang Donglou for a few more sentences, Li Long drove the jeep away. He still had to go tell He Yuqing and Meng Hai about this matter.

Qingshuihe was also considered one of Li Long's basic strongholds. He Yuqing and Meng Hai were quite good to Li Long, so he definitely wouldn't leave them out.

When Li Long found He Yuqing, he was discussing matters with Meng Hai at the team headquarters.

"Hey, Comrade Li Long, we were thinking you should be coming over." Meng Hai watched Li Long's jeep drive into the courtyard, smiled, and came out to greet Li Long as he got out of the car. "Is the 'lifting-pole' work here?"

"Yes." After shaking hands with both of them, Li Long said, "The standards and scale haven't changed. I'll do the same as before: I'll come over to haul them once every three days. Five yuan each. The 'lifting-poles' will only be for this year; next year, we'll only be able to wait to weave large wild grass brooms."

"Being able to earn for one year is one year; one year is fine too." Five yuan—if one person weaves one hundred 'lifting-poles', that's five hundred yuan, which tops some workers' annual salary!

That's not a small amount!

"That's fine. I just came to notify you. I'm going back now; I have to prepare a bit too..."

"How can that be? Since you're here, you have to eat a meal... Go, go, go, go to my house!" Meng Hai pulled Li Long and walked out, then was stopped by He Yuqing: "Since you're at my place, how can you go to your house? Leave him with me; eat at my place! By the way, Comrade Li Long, your child is almost one year old, right? Just right, I have some eggs here; take them back for your wife and child to eat and supplement their nutrition."

"Then I'll go back and catch two chickens," Meng Hai said sincerely, "and come over in a little while."

Li Long also knew he couldn't leave. Anyway, he had notified everyone he needed to notify today, and eating a meal here was nothing.

On the Fourth Team's side, Jiang Zhiyu had already interviewed Professor Luo and several university students. She discovered that one of the key links was Li Long. Therefore, Jiang Zhiyu wanted to interview Li Long about his plans for this saline-alkali land and the Old Ma Hao.

It was just that Li Long had hunted a wild sheep and left this morning. By the time she came over, Li Long had already returned to the county. Although she saw the jeep later, she only saw it from afar, and if she wanted to chase it, she couldn't catch up at all.

Helpless, she could only inquire about Li Long from Uncle Lao Luo.

At this time in the team, Xie Yun Dong and the others had already started packing their luggage. Since the 'lifting-pole' work had come down, they couldn't wait. They had to gather people quickly, prepare the supplies, and then head into the mountains to start earning money.

This was the real business.

"Xiao Long, his brain has been very active these past two years," Uncle Lao Luo said happily. "He leaves the land for his older brother to farm, lets us raise the livestock, and pays wages to us 'five-guarantee' households—hey, we can get wages too.

Every year, he solicits work for the team—weaving 'lifting-poles', weaving large wild grass brooms—just these jobs can make our team much richer than others.

Furthermore, this saline-alkali land—our team must have several thousand mu of saline-alkali wasteland. If it can be improved, what a big deal that would be! I just say, Xiao Long is a person with a big heart; the things he thinks about are different from us ordinary people... He, he's really amazing!"

After Jiang Zhiyu finished interviewing Uncle Lao Luo and the others, she found Xu Haijun. Xu Haijun was worrying about whether to go into the mountains or seize the current opportunity to properly chase He Lijuan, when he was caught by Jiang Zhiyu.

She was a cadre from the township, so he couldn't refuse, and then they talked about Li Long—Xu Haijun felt miserable. It was one thing for university students to find him to ask about Li Long, but for a township cadre to ask too, that was a bit of a blow to one's ego.

But he couldn't not speak, so he had to patiently talk about some of Li Long's past situations—after all, he had gone to be a soldier for two years and hadn't participated; he was talking about the past.

Xu Haijun even beautified it a little, but the things Li Long did before were indeed not very reliable. It could be said he was enthusiastic, but his enthusiasm wasn't directed at the right points.

There had been changes in the last two years, but this transformation was a bit too fast.

After interviewing Xu Haijun, Jiang Zhiyu was a bit confused. Was this Li Long a prodigal son who had turned over a new leaf after being expelled, or was his previous enthusiasm not used on the right path and later corrected?

She couldn't figure it out either.

But Li Long wasn't there, and she couldn't catch him, so naturally, she had no way to get an answer.

In the evening, He Lijuan and Zhu Yuechan, tired from a day's work, soaked their feet and lay on the communal bed, chatting in low voices.

It had to be said that young people's adaptability was truly strong. After only a few days, the two of them had already gotten used to the life here, and even felt that continuing to work like this was quite good—better than being at school.

"Lijuan, that Xu Haijun seems to look at you differently these past two days. Is he chasing you?" Zhu Yuechan turned on her side to look at He Lijuan beside her.

"No way, right?" He Lijuan was a bit dull in terms of emotions, the type who was slow to react. She shook her head and said, "Isn't he also quite polite and enthusiastic toward you?"

"I feel it's different. He's more enthusiastic and proactive toward you. I think he wants to chase you to be his girlfriend."

"If he were to chase someone, he should chase you, right?" He Lijuan didn't take it to heart and said with a smile, "You are prettier than me, petite and exquisite, and you can do so many household chores, and your studies are good too. If it were me, I would definitely chase you."

"That's different. My home is across the border; he might think that after graduation, I'll return to my hometown," Zhu Yuechan analyzed. "You're different. You are both in the same state, the distance is relatively close... Besides, you are also pretty, and your family conditions are good..."

"Hee hee, let's not brag about each other. Maybe he doesn't have that intention at all... Actually, I think that Li Long is quite amazing. He could build such a big business without even graduating from middle school, and his age is about the same as ours. Among our male classmates, there's no one as amazing as him."

"Lijuan, you wouldn't have fallen for him, would you? He's already married..." Zhu Yuechan hurriedly reminded her.

"No, no, I'm just comparing. By the way, I feel this Xu Haijun also has more of a masculine spirit than our classmates...

It's just that he's a bit vulgar."

If Xu Haijun knew the female university student's evaluation of him, he would probably be angry. (End of chapter)