Chapter 872: This Representative Position Is Secure

Li Xiang Qian had never seen Li Long so agitated; he glanced at the silver dollars Li Long had slapped onto the table and asked:

"Don't rush, sit down and speak slowly, what major event is this?"

"Today I went into the mountains and discovered someone who had damaged my wooden cabin; as it turned out, this person was carrying a gun and had brought out a treasure trove from the mountains..."

Li Long briefly recounted the matter of Xie Youcai.

"Is what you're saying true?" Li Xiang Qian stood up upon hearing this, and immediately asked after finishing: "Are there really weapons and silver dollars in that cave?"

"Mm." Li Long pointed at the silver dollars on the table and said: "I went in and took a look; there are several dozen boxes inside containing guns, sabers, and this..."

"What about that Xie Youcai?" Li Xiang Qian asked again.

"Handed over to the Forestry Team—I don't have law enforcement authority, so I can't arrest people, can I?"

"..." Li Xiang Qian stared speechlessly at Li Long; at a time like this, you're still thinking about law enforcement authority? You should have brought the person back first...

"Director, rest assured, it will take them a while to finish interrogating the person over there. Moreover, my friend Hearing Hearing Bolati, who rode a horse to bring the person back, is much slower than I am; I'm faster!" Li Long's meaning was: Director, stop hesitating here and worrying about these trivial matters; let's secure the treasure first!

"I'll make a call to Director Qian first." Prompted by Li Long's words, Li Xiang Qian immediately made up his mind: "Then we'll go to the county seat."

The Supply and Marketing Cooperative was under dual management: vertical control by the higher-level cooperative and jurisdictional oversight by the county. Li Xiang Qian first called Director Qian, who took the matter quite seriously and instructed him to go directly to the county's supervising leader; after all, this matter did not actually fall under the Supply and Marketing Cooperative system, but since it had landed in their lap, failing to seize the opportunity would be somewhat unfair to Li Long's hard work.

After hanging up the phone, Li Xiang Qian waved his hand broadly: "Let's go!"

Li Long drove the jeep to take Li Xiang Qian to the county compound; Li Xiang Qian got out and led Li Long into the office of a certain deputy county head.

After listening to Li Xiang Qian's report and asking Li Long some detailed questions, this supervising deputy county head stood up, paced twice around the office, and then began making phone calls.

Li Long could tell that this deputy county head, named Tan Yaohui, called directly upon the Public Security, Transportation, and other departments; after coordinating with them, he said:

"Let's go, pay a visit to County Head Hao."

County Head Hao?

Li Long felt somewhat puzzled; as he followed along, Li Xiang Qian whispered an explanation from behind:

"County Head Hao is the deputy county head in charge of forestry."

Understood.

This required coordination.

So complicated?

Li Long had originally thought he could simply report the situation to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, have them send a vehicle to haul everything back, and be done with it.

He hadn't expected it to involve so many departments and so many people!

"County Head Youlin, regarding the matter in Nanshan, have you received any report on your end?" Tan Yaohui asked after entering Deputy County Head Hao's office.

"What matter?" Hao Youlin was somewhat bewildered. "I haven't received anything yet."

"Here's the situation; come here, Xiao Li," Tan Yaohui beckoned Li Long to enter. "This Xiao Li of ours is an employee of our county's Supply and Marketing Cooperative and also a part-time forest ranger for our Forestry Team." Upon hearing Tan Yaohui say this, Hao Youlin glanced at Li Long, thought for a moment, and said:

"Is he the individual advanced in ethnic unity from the Autonomous Region?"

"Yes, yes, yes, haha, I knew you would definitely have an impression," Tan Yaohui said with a smile. "Today he discovered a supply cave left behind by bandits in the mountains. Come, Xiao Li, tell County Head Hao about it."

Li Long was not timid; after all, having attended the meeting in the Autonomous Region, he had met even higher-ranking leaders. He stepped forward and recounted the matter once more, this time with greater organization—he particularly emphasized the matter of handing the person over to Hearing Hearing Bolati of the Forestry Team.

After all, Hao Youlin was in charge of forestry, and since this incident occurred in Nanshan, it necessarily had to be reported to him.

"Mm, Xiao Li handled this matter well. However, the Forestry Team side may still need some time; Deputy County Head Yaohui, what is your intention..." Hao Youlin asked Tan Yaohui.

"My intention is to gather personnel from Public Security, Transportation, and other departments to go into the mountains together and take a look. To be honest, I am also somewhat curious; I knew about Wusiman and Xie Erman from back then, but I didn't expect they had actually left a backup plan..."

"It's just the time..." Hao Youlin looked outside. "Will there be enough time?"

"There are guns inside, and quite a number of them," Tan Yaohui said. "Even if we have to work through the night, we must retrieve these items."

The events of 1983 had not passed long ago; the situation in Northern Xinjiang was relatively sensitive, and no one dared to leave a large quantity of guns in an uncontrolled area.

"Should we report this to the top two leaders?"

"I came over intending to go with you; after all, this matter concerns both our departments."

Hearing this, Hao Youlin smiled.

After the two deputy county heads went together to report to the county's first and second-in-command, they had Li Long lead them into the mountains.

The contingent was very large, giving quite an imposing and majestic impression.

The Transportation Company sent two large trucks; one carried armed police officers dispatched from the Public Security Bureau, while the other was empty, evidently prepared to haul goods.

After entering the mountains, the sun was already slanting westward; Li Long drove the jeep carrying Deputy County Head Tan and Li Xiang Qian, while Deputy County Head Tan asked Li Long about various matters.

"Xiao Li, you said you have a wooden cabin in the mountains?"

"Yes," Li Long said. "The herder friends in the mountains built it for me; two days ago, a friend who entered the mountains told me that my cabin here had been damaged, so I came over to check and happened to discover this matter."

"The friendship between you and the herders is truly moving." Deputy County Head Tan nodded. "Excellent, excellent..."

When the jeep had driven to within two or three hundred meters of the wooden cabin, Li Long pointed and said: "We've arrived over there, but let's park the vehicle here; it's closer to enter the mountains on foot."

"Then let's park here." Deputy County Head Tan readily agreed. "Depending on the situation, if we can't finish the matter today, we'll go to your wooden cabin then."

"Alright." Li Long stopped, and the convoy behind him came to a halt as well.

In addition to the vehicles from the Transportation Company, the county had also dispatched a jeep—the County Head's—occupied by Deputy County Head Hao Youlin, along with a cadre from the county forestry department; two cadres from Public Security and the Transportation Company rode in the trucks with the vehicles.

At this moment, the sound of hoofbeats came from the distance, and the Public Security comrades became alert.

When the riders arrived before them, Li Long was somewhat surprised; it was Hearing Hearing Bolati and Captain Captain Aili with their group.

"These are forest rangers from the Forestry Team," Li Long hurriedly explained loudly. "I handed that person over to them..."

"The Forestry Team is also very responsible," Tan Yaohui said with a smile.

Hao Youlin also smiled; although the Forestry Team's actions were a bit slow, at least people had arrived by this time, so it wasn't too late.

Li Long chatted briefly with Hearing Hearing Bolati and Captain Captain Aili; they tethered their horses and then joined the contingent.

Li Long then led the group deeper into the mountains.

By the time the contingent reached the vicinity of that cave, the sunlight was blocked by the mountains and trees, and the light dimmed.

Upon approaching the cave entrance, Tan Yaohui looked around in all directions and said with a sigh:

"If no one had led the way, this place would truly be hard to find."

The comrade in charge from the Public Security Bureau led people downward; just halfway down, they saw a fox darting out, baring its teeth, but it only bared them once before being struck down by the Public Security officer ahead.

No one wants to be bitten by such a creature; although rabies wasn't being publicized here at this time, everyone knew clearly that being bitten would be unpleasant.

Vice County Heads Tan and Hao descended in the middle; inside, the Public Security comrades were already shining flashlights, and when the two leaders entered, looking at the arranged boxes and then at the contents inside, they were also extremely surprised.

"These guns are old, but sealed with grease; they will certainly still fire," said a Public Security comrade, wearing gloves to inspect the firearms. "The sabers are also very sharp, all honed; some even bear old bloodstains, likely from previous battles."

As for the silver dollars and foreign currency, they had not yet been counted here.

However, seeing the loose and sealed stacks of silver dollars in the boxes, along with bundles of foreign currency, the two leaders truly had their eyes opened.

"Comrade Xiao Li has very firm convictions," Tan Yaohui sighed. "Facing so much wealth, he did not waver in the slightest before reporting to his superiors; he is a good comrade capable of bearing great responsibilities!"

He then spoke to Li Xiang Qian:

"Comrade Xiang Qian, your Supply and Marketing Cooperative has trained a fine comrade; excellent, excellent, you too have earned merit."

With such a major discovery, let alone the county, it could be reported to the prefecture, or even to the Autonomous Region. Regardless, there was definitely merit to be claimed.

For the remainder, Li Long basically remained silent throughout; there was no need to say too much at this point, he just needed to follow along and help carry.

Professional personnel handled the carrying and counting; he only found a moment to chat with Hearing Hearing Bolati. Regarding Li Long reporting the matter to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative side, Hearing Hearing Bolati didn't mind, but Captain Captain Aili felt somewhat resentful; after Li Long quietly explained, Captain Captain Aili understood.

Li Long held two positions; this matter certainly couldn't involve only the Forestry Team, otherwise he would be in an awkward position. Now that both sides were involved, both sharing the merit, that was sufficient.

Actually, Captain Captain Aili had only said that in passing; unlike Hearing Hearing Bolati, he knew Li Long could have simply led the people to the county and handed them over to Public Security. That would have left the Forestry Team in a passive position; now that Li Long had first brought the people to them, at least this Yi Fen Gong could not be shaken off.

"Our warehouse is nearly full again; come over and haul some away when you have time," Captain Captain Aili whispered to Li Long.

"Good, good, good; I'll go over after this is finished," Li Long replied softly.

The boxes were made of good timber and nailed quite tightly; boxed items were basically opened for inspection, then re-nailed before being carried out, to be counted again upon returning to the county.

However, the weight of the contents varied; silver dollars were the heaviest, while foreign currency was the lightest; deep inside this stone hall were also several boxes of machinery, reportedly capable of simple firearm repair and bullet processing.

If these fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, it would be very troublesome.

There were old guns and new guns; some had never been fired, wrapped in grease and oil paper, while others already showed signs of rust.

All in all, taking everything into account, it was not an especially large warehouse.

Li Long possessed great strength, but he did not show off at this moment; following Hearing Hearing Bolati, he lifted a box and moved it out with the main group.

Li Xiang Qian was also carrying things, but his load was simpler: a single machine part stored separately, weighing seven or eight kilograms, much lighter than what Li Long and the others carried.

By the time they carried everything back to the transport vehicles, the sun was showing only half its face.

Fewer people had come on this trip; at least one more trip would be needed.

"Xiao Li, come here for a moment; I have something to tell you," Li Xiang Qian said, putting down his load and calling Li Long over.

Hearing Hearing Bolati and the others continued carrying; regardless, with the supervising leader of the Forestry Department present, they had to show some effort. Having worked as a forest ranger in the Forestry Team for these past few years, Hearing Hearing Bolati certainly had this much awareness.

"Xiao Li, your status as a representative is secure this time," Li Xiang Qian said softly. "This merit is significant!"

"Hehe, I hadn't thought that far."

"You are truly formidable..." Li Xiang Qian sighed with emotion. "If I had encountered so many items, I wouldn't dare say whether I could bear to hand them over—those are silver dollars; with so many, converted to money, it would surely amount to over ten thousand."

It should be even more than that; Li Long guessed these silver dollars amounted to at least ten thousand pieces. At the current acquisition rate of two or three yuan per silver dollar, that would be at least fifty thousand yuan.

Having handed over the items now, Li Long certainly felt a tiny bit of regret, but thinking of the numerous guns, he felt fortunate instead; fortunately, he had handed them over.

"And that foreign currency..." Li Xiang Qian continued. "Those are US dollars... Our country does not have much foreign exchange right now; this stuff is extremely valuable!"

Li Long agreed. It was said that to obtain more foreign exchange, the state had even opened cultural relic shops in several major cities, specifically selling domestic artifacts to foreigners, purchasable only with foreign exchange.

He suddenly remembered the two bundles of foreign currency he had taken; they were still in his backpack.

If he took these to a cultural relic shop in a major city, could he buy some good items to bring back?

While Li Long was lost in such random thoughts here, the people carrying goods had already vanished from sight.

Several armed Public Security officers remained here on guard; after Li Xiang Qian and Li Long chatted a few more words, the two of them headed together into the mountains.

They had only walked halfway when they saw the main group returning with the goods; Hearing Hearing Bolati even called out to Li Long:

"Li Long, no need to go over; the moving is finished..."

Li Long broke out in a sweat; following Li Xiang Qian to slack off a bit had resulted in having no work left to do.

Vice County Heads Tan Yaohui and Hao Youlin were also carrying goods; Li Xiang Qian and Li Long hurried over to relieve them.

Both were beaming with joy; this trip had truly broadened their horizons.

By the time all the spoils were packed into boxes, the sky was already nearing darkness.

Each vehicle switched on its headlights; Li Long waved goodbye to Hearing Hearing Bolati and the others on horseback, then drove the vehicles toward the county town.

After dropping everyone off, Li Long drove the jeep back to the large courtyard; Han Fang quickly came over to open the gate as usual, her face filled with a delighted smile.

Sister Yang had also come out to the kitchen doorway, ready to prepare a meal for Li Long.

After Li Long securely closed the main gate and went to change his clothes, he briefly recounted the events to Gu Gu Xiaoxia.

"There really was a treasure trove?" Gu Gu Xiaoxia was also somewhat surprised. "Were you injured? That person... was so disgusting!"

"It's fine; I'm quite formidable," Li Long smiled. "When there was danger, I fired my gun long ago."

Sister Yang had cooked noodles; after finishing his meal and returning to the room, Li Long told Gu Gu Xiaoxia what Li Xiang Qian had said.

"Then you are truly formidable—a representative; our bureau has only one."

The two chattered excitedly for quite a while; then Li Long remembered the two bundles of foreign currency in his backpack, got up from the bed, went out to the west room, turned on the light, took them out of his backpack to examine, and confirmed they were indeed US dollars.

Moreover, they were the hundred-dollar denomination!

These two bundles must amount to nearly twenty thousand US dollars?

Exchanged at the current state official rate, they would yield thirty or forty thousand, but if exchanged privately, they could surely fetch over a hundred thousand.

Of course, that was just thinking. Li Long thought for a moment, then grabbed a handful of silver dollars from his backpack, wiped them clean, and took them to show Gu Gu Xiaoxia.

Having lived two lives, he would speculate with the utmost malice about those outside supplying materials to the bandit gangs; who knew what might be stained on them?

"So this is US dollars?" Gu Gu Xiaoxia looked at the two bundles of US dollars, her eyes wide. "They say it's very valuable... but we probably can't use it here, can we?"

Although the trend of going abroad was very popular in the 1980s, here in Northern Xinjiang, there truly wasn't such a big wave of it. To be honest, some people did go abroad at this time, mostly to Australia and New Zealand. How to put it? You could say it was due to information isolation, or you could say it was the success of ideological education; regarding going abroad, the people here really didn't have such a Da De Xiang Fa.

At this time, there were also those who went west to do business in the Soviet republics—of course, doing business on behalf of the public sector, but these were all official matters; as for staying there long-term, basically no one was willing.

Reform and opening-up had already begun; one could clearly feel that life here would get better and better, so why go abroad?

You can't speak the language, and you can't understand it when others speak; it's troublesome.

Of course, there was also the ideological factor of being content with the status quo.

So Gu Gu Xiaoxia was merely curious; then she stopped paying attention to those US dollars, flipped through the silver coins, and went to wash her hands: "Who knows if they've been sitting there for so many years and have dirty stuff on them? I still have to hold the baby tomorrow morning, so I need to wash up."

Hey, she and Li Long had thought along the same lines.

Nowadays, Haohao could already sleep through the night; when Sister Yang was looking after him, Li Long often instilled in her the need to cultivate good living habits: a nap at noon during the day, trying to avoid sleeping in the morning or afternoon, so that the child could sleep through the night as well.

This made things quite convenient for Li Long and Gu Gu Xiaoxia; at least they didn't have to deal with the trouble of getting up frequently during the night.

At this time, there were no diapers, nor were there chamber pots for urine, though there were urine basins. Anyway, it was summer; wearing split-crotch pants, the two little boys had quickly learned to stand up to urinate.

They learned quite fast, indeed.

Gu Gu Xiaoxia asked Li Long to put these things away; after thinking for a moment, she asked:

"This matter, is it something that shouldn't be spoken of outside?"

"Mm, for now it's best not to say anything," Li Long said. "Let's see how the county handles it. I estimate they probably won't make a fuss either; this kind of thing is still relatively sensitive at this time."

The year 1985 marked the third year since the start of the Ethnic Unity Education Month; Wusiman had at that time declared himself a Kazakh hero. Although he had done many things that aroused universal indignation, in the minds of some older Kazakhs, he was a hero who resisted the tyrannical rule of Sheng Sheng Shi Cai.

This sort of thing was still quite sensitive.

Therefore, Li Long did not know what the prevailing wind from above regarding the handling of this matter would be.

However, for him, handing the matter over already meant it was settled; as for how those above would handle it, that was their affair. On their end, getting the people who destroyed the wooden house into prison—that Xie Youcai would definitely not have an easy time of it—was sufficient.

Thinking that both of them had to work the next day, and that Li Long still needed to go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to inquire about the situation, the two of them went to bed early. (End of Chapter)