Chapter 824

Li Long drove the jeep back from the mountains, rested briefly at the large courtyard, and then went to the Fourth Squad in the afternoon.

The jeep first stopped at the Old Horse Station. After turning off the engine and getting out, Li Long carried some items into the Old Horse Station to visit Professor Luo and the others.

The university students were busy with something in the fields. They saw the jeep when it arrived, but they didn't come over.

Old Luo Shu and the others were busy with their own tasks in the courtyard: some were feeding the livestock, some were clearing grass stalks from the sheds, some had already let the sheep out, and others were preparing the evening meal.

After greeting them one by one, Li Long went to find Professor Luo.

Professor Luo was inside the makeshift laboratory, using a shovel to mix something into a pile of soil. This action surprised Li Long a little.

"Do you think that when we conduct experiments, we should be more refined, wearing white coats and using test tubes, beakers, and the like?" Professor Luo asked with a smile when he saw Li Long's expression.

"Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking."

"In agricultural science, especially in soil research, we can't do that kind of delicate work," Professor Luo said while mixing. "The improvement of saline-alkali land, especially soil testing and fertilization, isn't something that can be done with just a little bit of soil. Although the saline-alkali situation in this area is roughly the same, there are still differences when we take soil samples from a dozen points in a plot."

"When you fertilize this piece of land, you can't apply different fertilizers to every little patch, right? So, we need to take an average value. We are currently trying to measure this average value..."

"It's fine, you go ahead with your own approach." Li Long listened, half-understanding, and then said, "I was helping the herdsmen renovate their winter shelters in the mountains a while ago, and later I was busy with the 'lifting pole' business, so I didn't come over. I'm here today to bring you some things and see what else you need. I'll go to the county to buy them when the time comes."

"I don't need anything, everything is quite good," Professor Luo said with a smile. "My students might need something. I'll call them over in a while, and you can ask them."

"Alright, alright, alright." Li Long responded, "Should we give them a break and take them to the county for a tour? Although the county isn't as good as Wucheng, it's definitely better than the village."

"That works, but let's make it tomorrow," Professor Luo thought for a moment and said. "It's already afternoon today, and there wouldn't be much time if we rushed to the county. I'll tell them in a bit, and if they want to go, see if you can take them to the county for a tour early tomorrow morning."

"Okay."

Since Professor Luo was going to tell the students, Li Long didn't stay long. He went to see the wild boars, red deer, and roe deer raised by Old Luo Shu, and then drove the jeep to Xie Yun Dong's place.

Xie Yun Dong had returned with the large truck in the morning and was resting at home.

Hearing the sound of the jeep, he hurriedly got up to open the door and happened to run into Li Long, who was getting out of the car.

"Brother Yun Dong, I'm here to settle the accounts for our group's 'lifting pole' work," Li Long said straight to the point. "I'll give you the total account, and you can reconcile it with them one by one."

"Sure," Xie Yun Dong said with a smile. "Then I'll accept this favor."

This was, of course, a joke. Everyone knew that Li Long had secured the work of weaving the lifting poles; Xie Yun Dong didn't actually gain much of a favor, and it was easy to get scolded instead. After all, he was the one in charge of the people, and managing people was a thankless task that often drew complaints.

"What favor? You're lucky if you don't get scolded by others," Li Long said with a smile. "When I calculated it for you, I removed my older brother's share. I'll go deliver his money later."

"Alright."

Both of them took out their notebooks to reconcile the total.

"Brother Yun Dong, your total is 1,422 pieces. Removing my brother's 148 pieces, there are 1,274 pieces left. The lifting poles are five yuan each, which comes to 6,370 yuan."

"Hmm, let me calculate. 1,422 minus 148, yes, that's 1,274 pieces. Multiplied by five... 6,370, that's correct."

"I'll give you 6,500 yuan; that extra 130 yuan is your management fee." Li Long went to the jeep to get his backpack, took out stacks of money, and counted out 6,500 yuan for Xie Yun Dong.

When they were weaving the lifting poles last year, Li Long had said that if Xie Yun Dong managed the people, he would be paid a salary.

You can't expect people to work for nothing. Xie Yun Dong took the money and said with a smile:

"My salary for this half-month is really quite a lot." He didn't decline it either.

Working with Li Long, he had figured out the situation: take the money you're owed, and don't hold back when it's time to put in the effort.

"Brother Yun Dong, you rest first, I'm going to find Hai Jun," Li Long said, carrying his bag. "I reckon those of us from the mountains are all wondering when we'll get our money. I have to get this money distributed today."

"Alright, alright, alright. You go do your business, I'll go deliver the money to them one by one in a while."

Li Long drove the jeep to his older brother's courtyard first. Upon arriving, he saw his father, mother, older brother, and sister-in-law. His parents were mending nets, his older brother was sitting on a stool in the middle of the courtyard with a piece of clothing wrapped around his neck, and his sister-in-law was giving him a haircut with hair clippers.

At this time, ordinary farmers rarely went to barbershops. There was always someone in the neighborhood who had clippers; you'd borrow them and cut your own hair. Some cut it well, others just average—the manual clippers at the time would pull your hair if not used properly, and you just had to endure it.

Li Jianguo's family had a pair of clippers. The family's hair, including Li Long's in the past, was cut by his sister-in-law, Liang Wenyu. Liang Wenyu's haircutting skills were quite good; at least Li Long had never had his hair pulled, and it wasn't like some children whose heads were cut by their parents as if chewed by a dog—once, when Liang Wenyu didn't have time, Juan cut Li Qiang's hair, and he was laughed at when he got to school.

"Xiao Long is here." Du Chunfang was quite happy to see her youngest son. "Did you just come back from the mountains too? You must have been exhausted these past few days, right?"

"I'm fine, I've been driving around, not tired at all. My older brother is the one who's truly tired, weaving lifting poles there every day. Look, his hands and face are all blackened by the smoke," Li Long said with a smile.

"I'm used to it, used to it." Li Jianguo couldn't move, so he just spoke, "Everyone is about the same."

"My sister-in-law has also been working hard," Li Long said, putting down his bag. "The work in the fields isn't easy. It's getting hot now; anyway, if you asked me to do it now, I couldn't."

"What's that? There's something to look forward to standing here, and there's energy in the work," Liang Wenyu said as if it were a matter of course. "If you work until the end of the year, you can earn money. It's much better than the 'big pot' days of the past."

"I'm here to deliver money to my older brother." Li Long took a stack of money out of his backpack and looked around. "Older brother, sister-in-law, I'll put it in the room for you, on top of the chest of drawers. It's too conspicuous to leave it out here."

"Alright," Li Jianguo responded.

Li Long left 1,350 yuan for his older brother, rounding it up.

Less than ten minutes after he parked the jeep, Lu Tie Tou came over. Lu Tie Tou hadn't even cut his hair; he had just washed it simply, and it wasn't dry yet, with water stains still visible, though the beard on his face was shaved clean. Following behind was Lu Dasao, whose voice was still as loud as ever:

"Juan's mom, after you're done cutting, lend me the clippers. I'll cut Tie Tou's dad's hair too."

"Alright, I'll be done here in a second," Liang Wenyu said while cutting.

"The work is done. When I was working, I felt time passed so slowly, but now that it's over, I think, 'Hey, how did this half-month pass in the blink of an eye?'" Lu Tie Tou said, pulling over a wooden stump in the courtyard to sit down. "It's too fast."

"Brother Lu, I've handed the money for your group's lifting poles to Brother Yun Dong," Li Long said to him as he came out of the room and saw Lu Tie Tou. "He'll come find you one by one to settle the accounts and distribute the money in a while."

"What's the rush?" Lu Tie Tou said with a smile. "You haven't settled the accounts with the supply and marketing cooperative for this last truckload of lifting poles yet, right?"

"That's fine. Anyway, I'm a member of the supply and marketing cooperative, and the cooperative wouldn't delay my accounts," Li Long said. "Many people in our team are waiting for the money. You guys chat, I'm going to Hai Jun's place now to settle the accounts."

"Alright, alright, alright. You go do your business."

Li Long drove the jeep away, and Du Chunfang muttered:

"He's in such a rush, he didn't even say two words before leaving..."

"That's because your Xiao Long is promising and busy. Many people in the team want to be as busy as him, but they don't have the ability," Lu Dasao said with a smile. "So many people are counting on him to earn money, and your Xiao Long is responsible. If he didn't care, and delayed this money for three or five days, no one would dare to say anything to his face."

Du Chunfang was very happy when someone praised Li Long, and her previous unhappiness vanished. Lu Dasao was already calculating how to use the money once she got it. Although she was gossipy, she didn't ask Li Jianguo how much money he had settled. This was Li Long's own family, so the money they got was definitely different; everyone could think of that, and no one would ask.

Li Long arrived at Xu Haijun's house and saw Xu Haijun repairing his '28-inch' bicycle in the courtyard.

Watching Li Long get out of the jeep, Xu Haijun took the initiative to say:

"My bike hasn't been oiled for many days, the chain is a bit dry and squeaks when I ride it, so I'm oiling it."

"Didn't you go to the Old Horse Station to take a look?" Li Long asked half-jokingly. "You're quite fast; I see you've already finished tidying up your hair and beard."

After Li Long finished speaking, Xu Haijun blushed.

Li Long was a bit surprised; he had only said one sentence, why did he blush?

Immediately, Li Long realized that since Xu Haijun had finished tidying up his hair and beard and was now repairing his bicycle, he must be planning to go to the Old Horse Station later, right?

Seeing through it without saying it, Li Long didn't continue the topic and took out his notebook instead:

"I'm here to settle the accounts for your group. Come, let's calculate the money for the lifting poles woven by the five of you. I won't settle with them one by one; I'll settle a total account with you, give you all the money, and you can settle with them one by one."

"Alright." Seeing the girl is important, but receiving the money is equally important. Xu Haijun stood up, pulled a towel off the wire stretched across the courtyard for drying clothes to wipe his hands, and then went into the room to take out a notebook.

Li Long took out his previous notebook, and after Xu Haijun opened his, he said:

"The number I recorded here is that the five of you have woven a total of 617 qualified lifting poles these days. Five yuan each, which is 3,085 yuan. See if the number is correct?"

"Yes, yes, yes, no problem." Xu Haijun glanced at it and nodded.

Li Long glanced at his notebook; the total number and the amount of money had already been calculated on it.

The preparation work was done quite well.

"I'll give you 3,150 yuan," Li Long said while taking out the money. "The extra 65 yuan is your management fee."

"Management fee?" Xu Haijun was a bit surprised.

"Yes, management fee. You five went out to do things and work; these people need you to coordinate, you manage them, and don't let them do anything out of line. It takes effort and energy, so of course, there must be a management fee." Li Long was also doing things by the book; anyway, this was the last time, and he wouldn't organize such activities next year.

"Hey, Xiao Long," Xu Haijun took the money and said with emotion while counting it. "I used to be unconvinced by you. I thought you just caught a good time, grabbed a good opportunity, and were lucky to develop into what you are now. I thought if it were me, and I had so many opportunities, I could also succeed. Now it seems I was overthinking. Just this management fee thing, I wouldn't have thought of it."

"Let me tell you, I once thought about whether I could pry away a part of the lifting pole weaving work from the supply and marketing cooperative and lead people to do it separately. Now that I think about it, I was quite despicable."

"You trusted me so much, and I almost stabbed you in the back. To be honest, I really wasn't a good person."

Li Long didn't expect Xu Haijun to expose his own shortcomings and say all these things.

He could feel that Xu Haijun was speaking from the heart, and he was quite touched.

But to be honest, these so-called threats and backstabbing from Xu Haijun really couldn't hurt Li Long in the slightest.

The two of them were no longer on the same level.

Li Long said jokingly:

"It's nothing, wanting to earn more money, it's not shameful. This thing itself is about who has the stronger ability, who does it. I have to remind you, don't waste your energy on this. Starting next year, this lifting pole weaving work will be gone."

"Just because of what you said today, I'm telling you, you can also think carefully. If you want to go out and work, then collect your thoughts, collect your ambition, and I can point you to a job with a stable income."

"Of course, just because of the current situation of our team, there will also be a very good future working in the team. You have to consider this matter yourself."

Xu Haijun is a talent, and today he can be considered to have treated himself with sincerity, so Li Long thought that if he could pull him over to work for himself, it would be quite good.

He has several jobs outside, and he needs someone to manage them. Among those he trusts, whether it's Tao Daqiang, Xie Yun Dong, or Liang Dacheng, their hearts are mainly in the team, and they don't want to come out.

Asking them to come out to work, especially Tao Daqiang and Xie Yun Dong, who have families to support, they really aren't very willing.

This is also very normal. At this time, most of the team members' thoughts are actually similar to Li Jianguo's. Anyway, they can earn money in the team, and the grain produced in the fields is enough to eat. It's quite good for the whole family to live together.

Going out to work, unless you become a state cadre like Gu Xiaoxia, or a formal worker in a state-owned unit like Li Anguo, that is considered bringing honor to your ancestors and leaving the farmer class. Otherwise, doing business, working odd jobs, or being an apprentice, they really might not look up to it.

With a little money in hand, the vision and pursuit are different.

Maybe the special region of Northern Tianshan makes the people of the Fourth Squad think differently from other places in this era.

Li Long's words made Xu Haijun fall into deep thought. Li Long didn't bother him either; he let him sign the notebook and then drove the jeep away.

Liang Wenyu's side was relatively simple. In addition to the money for weaving the lifting poles, Li Long gave him another 100 yuan as a management fee.

Liang Wenyu was slightly embarrassed and didn't want it, but Li Long told him to accept it generously.

"There will be no lifting pole weaving work next year. If you still want to earn money, in August or September, if you are free, organize people to drive tractors to find places to cut 'jiji' grass and weave large brooms," Li Long said. "This large broom weaving work can last at least ten years. Each large broom is three yuan, and the cost is at most one yuan. If you are skilled at weaving, you can earn quite a lot."

Liang Wenyu will definitely be promising in the future. What Li Long is doing now is just pushing him, letting him gather connections in advance and improve his family's situation.

"If you can earn money by weaving large brooms, isn't cutting 'jiji' grass very simple?" Liang Donglou was quite interested in this topic. "I'm very familiar with this large broom weaving work. Weaving ten at a time, weaving seven or eight is no problem."

"Uncle Liang, my requirements are very strict, Wenyu knows this." Seeing Liang Donglou wanted to participate, Li Long immediately explained in detail, "You have to use red willow branches to bind the edges, otherwise the 'jiji' grass will fall off, and the handle must also be two meters long—but as long as the woven ones are qualified, I will collect as many as you weave."

Weaving 'jiji' grass large brooms is a long-lasting industry that can last from now until forty years later.

Now Li Long has occupied the local cleaning industry by relying on high standards, strict requirements, and quality that exceeds the ordinary, blocking the monopoly of imported bamboo large brooms. The demand will definitely increase.

This industry didn't break even when bamboo brooms had already occupied a dominant position; it supported many craftsmen in inconspicuous corners and also made many people rich and middle-class.

Now that the dominant position of bamboo brooms hasn't risen yet, it has been interrupted. Li Long feels that it can be done well, occupying the initiative of production while industrialization and branding haven't risen yet. When it really becomes market-oriented, he will have the first-mover advantage, and there will definitely be greater development.

Even if it's not for development, just to earn a few more dollars, he also wants to pull Liang Wenyu and the others to do it together. Anyway, it's the slack season for farming, and the Liang family has a tractor, so they have an advantage in cutting 'jiji' grass, and Liang Donglou knows how to weave. Isn't that everything ready?

Coming out of the Liang family, Li Long felt light. The money for the people who wove the lifting poles had all been given out, and the rest was his own profit. He had settled accounts with the supply and marketing cooperative twice; he wasn't in a hurry for this last time, but anyway, he was free in the afternoon, so he simply ran to the supply and marketing cooperative again.

At the supply and marketing cooperative, after Li Long saw Li Xiangqian, he went to the finance department. The warehouse manager had already handed the warehousing list for this time here; Li Long just needed to sign and collect the money.

The supply and marketing cooperative's actions were also fast. The woven lifting poles brought back weren't even unloaded from the truck; Li Xiangqian had the driver take them to the State Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives that day—anyway, they were inspected by their own warehouse manager, so the quality was definitely no problem.

Li Long collected the money for the last batch of 1,400-plus lifting poles, more than 10,000 yuan, and this was all his own.

With abundant cash flow at the moment, Li Long had an urge to do something.

But after thinking about it, forget it. Save the money and keep it to buy a high-horsepower tractor.

From the current point of view, the money he earned in the first three years might not be as much as the money he earned this year.

But even so, wanting to buy a high-horsepower tractor, at the current rate of earning money this year, it might not be enough.

A high-horsepower tractor, plus supporting facilities, even after removing the 13% agricultural machinery subsidy, would still cost more than 300,000 yuan.

It's truly powerful, but it's also truly expensive!

Having lived two lives, Li Long wasn't used to buying things on credit, so he planned to save enough money in advance.

To be honest, being able to buy the first high-horsepower tractor in the whole township or even the whole county, the money would really come in like flowing water—think about it, compared to the plowing speed of the Dongfanghong 75, which is less than 5 kilometers per hour, high-horsepower tractors like the 1024, 1254, and 1504 can plow 400 mu in one day and one night... if the plowing fee per mu is 10 yuan at that time, then...

Can't calculate it, it's so much!

Li Long remembers that at the beginning of the next century, when high-horsepower tractors just rose, the plowing fee had already reached 16 to 20 yuan. The problem is that farmers planting land don't just need plowing, but also cutting, harrowing, etc. Sowing doesn't need sowing, but just adding these three items together, recovering the cost in one year is very easy.

After all, in the end, after planting the land, a set of plowing, cutting, and harrowing, one mu of land has 50 or 70 yuan. Just the land on the surface of the Fourth Squad is 7,000 mu—how much money is this?

This is the era of mechanization.

But this is not the ultimate. A cotton picker costs 2 million yuan—how many years will it take to buy it? (End of chapter)