Chapter 958

Before an hour of rest had passed, some people had already taken the initiative to stand up and go back to work. One after another, without Li Long needing to call them, everyone returned to their respective "work posts" and began their "shift."

Because of this initiative, by the time the sun was still half a pole high, the road to the next winter grazing site had already been cleared in the afternoon. Meng Hai drove the tractor from the entrance of Talihar's winter grazing site, rolled it all the way down to the winter grazing site of the Bieke family, and then on to the entrance of the third family, Ye Ersen's winter grazing site.

At this moment, the Dongfanghong-75 tractor was no longer a bulldozer, but was acting as a road roller.

After rolling back and forth a few more times, the ground was compacted. Talihar drove his small four-wheeled tractor and followed along for two trips. Li Long held onto the side railing and stood in the cargo bed; he could feel that the small four-wheeler was running along this road very easily.

Of course, a road like this would also have some problems, because half of it was built in a mountain gully. When a real rainstorm came, there might be mudslides. He thought that after the whole road was cleared, he would dig a drainage ditch along the roadside in the sections with gullies.

Just like the drainage ditches along the Duku Highway, by diverting the water, it wouldn't wash out the road.

Of course, the advantage here was that the vegetation in every mountain gully was very dense, making it difficult for mudslides to occur.

With the road finished, everyone cheered; some people started singing, and some started shouting work chants.

"Alright, alright, stop shouting, get ready to eat." After Li Long returned sitting in the small four-wheeled tractor, he waited for the tractor to stop and cut the engine. He didn't get down, but instead stood on the side board and shouted loudly:

"Everyone remember to take your own big bowl. This afternoon we're having mutton soup and eating naan. Eat your fill before heading back—hurry up, follow the order from this morning, don't make a mess."

It was called mutton soup, but in reality, the mutton had been boiled until it was almost dissolved into the broth. Everyone's bowl had a big chunk of meat—fatty if you wanted fatty, lean if you wanted lean. The bones had been stewed until soft; one bite and it crumbled, and the bone marrow inside tasted even better.

Finishing a day's work ahead of schedule, having a delicious bowl of mutton soup at this moment was truly refreshing and satisfying.

"Working like this, I'd be willing to do it for a month," Zhou Yuan joked. "Eating so well, I reckon my stomach will have an opinion tomorrow."

"Not at all. Look at your current energy; by the time you bounce back in the big truck, the food in your stomach will be mostly digested. You'll fall asleep the moment your head hits the pillow tonight, I guarantee you won't even get up to pee in the middle of the night," another section chief said with a smile.

"I have experience. Working like this, you sleep soundly at night, but just wait until you get up tomorrow—your arms and legs will definitely be sore."

"Come, come, there's beer here too. Whoever's finished eating and wants a drink, come over and take one." Someone took two cases of beer down from the truck bed and set them by the stove for people to take as they pleased.

A case of beer had twenty-four bottles, which worked out to one bottle per person. But surely some people wouldn't drink; at this time, most people wouldn't have any issues even if they drank two bottles—even if the beer was eleven percent alcohol at the time.

Someone went over and took a bottle of beer, and then others went to take some too.

Those taking beer included both staff and herdsmen. Some used their teeth to pop off the bottle caps and even clinked them together.

Drinking a bit of beer to relieve fatigue was also a good thing; in any case, this amount of alcohol wouldn't make anyone drunk.

By the time they finished eating and cleaned up the mess, the sun had already set behind the mountains, and the mountain wind suddenly turned cold.

"Alright, pack everything up. Herdsmen go home, staff get on the trucks, we're heading out of the mountains." Li Long shouted loudly once again.

The herdsmen insisted on seeing Li Long and his group down the mountain before heading back. Li Long didn't force the issue; he loaded everyone up, and once the headcount was complete, he drove away.

Some herdsmen rode their horses along the mountain slopes on both sides of the road, chasing the trucks, whistling as they ran. This was their way of seeing them off.

Although slowly, the horses couldn't keep up, but when they looked back, they could still see the herdsmen watching the convoy from the high mountain slopes.

At first, the people in the truck beds waved at the herdsmen and shouted their names. When they could no longer see them, someone started singing "We Workers Have Strength." After finishing that, someone else sang "Unity is Strength," and even someone led the singing of "Returning from Target Practice." For a while, the trucks were rowdy. The two trucks started off singing together, but later they each sang their own songs, and then they started a singing competition!

"It's been a long time since it's been this lively." Li Xiangqian, sitting in the jeep, wished he could get into the truck bed and sing along with everyone. He sighed with emotion, "We really need to come out more often."

"Once a week, striving for every staff member to be able to come out and do some work; that would be better." Li Xiangqian felt that the staff's spirit seemed to have returned to the years of the Great Production. Not to mention anything else, just that energy was better than the current lifeless feeling.

And they were more united.

Ma Xiao Yan recorded the staff singing, the herdsmen seeing them off on horseback, and even Li Xiangqian's reflections. She felt that today's harvest was truly very rich.

Returning to the county seat, it wasn't dark yet. After dropping everyone off at their homes, the staff scattered in twos and threes outside the gate. Li Long hurried back; he had to go into the mountains again tomorrow.

Ma Xiao Yan worked overtime that night, writing a five-thousand-word news report in one go, then smoothed it over once before resting with satisfaction.

Early the next morning, after Ma Xiao Yan arrived at her unit, she sent the draft to the executive deputy first thing.

"Hey, Xiao Yan, your level is getting higher and higher! This draft can be published. I'll sign it, you take it to get stamped, and then hurry and mail it out." The executive deputy praised it repeatedly after reading the draft. "Not bad, not bad, it should be able to get in."

Receiving the praise, Ma Xiao Yan even felt this was as it should be. This was the smoothest and most satisfying draft she had written in all these years.

She immediately rode her bicycle to the post office and sent it out as registered mail.

"The mail truck leaves for Beiting at eleven, and at noon at three, it goes from Beiting to Wucheng. At the latest, they'll receive it there tomorrow." The post office staff recognized Ma Xiao Yan and said to her, "It's very fast."

Ma Xiao Yan nodded. It was only due to work reasons; otherwise, she would have wanted to take a bus to Wucheng herself and deliver the draft directly.

After eating breakfast, Li Long drove the jeep directly into the mountains.

Mingming and Haohao also wanted to follow along. A while ago, when they took the jeep back to the Fourth Team, the two children had a novel experience of riding in a car.

It was just that Li Long was going to work this time, so he had no choice but to persuade the children.

Fortunately, the second-generation kids of the dairy goats attracted Mingming and Haohao's attention—the little lambs ran over and ambushed Mingming and Haohao—the dairy goats were very prolific; they gave birth to three in one litter after the Spring Festival, and because the milk supply was sufficient, they all survived.

Two lambs ambushed Mingming and Haohao, and one even thought about coming over to butt Li Long directly, but after standing up, perhaps fearing Li Long's large size, it shrank back.

Mingming and Haohao shouted "Bad sheep, bad sheep" and chased after them to get revenge. Only then was Li Long able to leave.

Today the staff in the supply and marketing cooperative didn't need to go to work. Li Long drove directly to the naan shop, first buying out all the naan in the shop. However, because he came a bit late, a third of the first batch of naan had already been sold.

The Uyghur young man making the naan smiled and said, "In a while, some Adashi will definitely come to complain that my naan is gone."

Li Long answered while loading the naan, "If they come to eat naan so late, then let them wait for the next batch. Anyway, they don't care."

"Hahahaha." The young man was very happy.

Sure enough, just as Li Long sat in the car and hadn't started it yet, two people came together to buy naan. Hearing there was no naan, they immediately started complaining.

They didn't curse, just asked how someone had bought all the naan again. The young man told them to come earlier next time.

Li Long smiled, drove the car out of the county seat, and went into the mountains.

Passing by Qingshuihe Village, there was a half-grown boy waiting by the roadside. When he saw Li Long's jeep coming, he shouted loudly. Li Long hurriedly stopped, and the big boy ran to the front of the car and said to Li Long:

"Changan's dad... oh, that is, Uncle Meng asked me to tell you that he has already driven the tractor and taken people into the mountains." Li Long smiled and said, "I know." He looked around in the car, fished a handful of candies out of the glove box, and handed them to the boy: "Here, take these and eat them."

The boy took the candies, and Li Long drove away.

After entering the mountains, Li Long drove all the way in. When he drove to Yushanjiang's winter grazing site, seeing the cattle and sheep still in the pen but the people gone, Li Long felt a bit strange.

He continued driving inward. After arriving at the place where they worked yesterday, he found Yushanjiang talking to Meng Hai about something.

Meng Hai had brought a tractor with about ten people, who were currently holding tools and waiting for tasks to be assigned.

Seeing Li Long's car arrive, both Yushanjiang and Meng Hai stopped their work.

When Li Long walked over, Yushanjiang said:

"I plan to call the other herdsmen over..."

"No need, no need," Li Long waved his hand. "Just let Meng Hai and the others do the work. Whichever family's place we reach, just have that family help prepare some tea and hot food. Right now you are also at a busy time, and there aren't many people to begin with, so it's better to finish your own affairs quickly."

"Right, right, right, Comrade Li Long is right. I heard him say that you now have to shear sheep, wash sheep, and prepare for the seasonal migration; there are so many things to do," Meng Hai said. "Leave the work to us. The ten people I brought today are to see the situation; tomorrow I might bring twenty people."

Yushanjiang looked at Li Long.

Li Long nodded and said, "You should hurry and get busy too. When I came over, I saw your cattle and sheep hadn't been let out yet. Your wife took the children to the guard point, and you're the only one here. Just shearing the sheep will take over half a month, right?"

Yushanjiang smiled and didn't speak, which was his tacit agreement.

"Alright, alright, leave this to us. You just tell everyone: whichever family's door the road reaches, that family helps make lunch—simple food is fine, pilaf, noodle soup, or Narin are all fine. Distribute the remaining meat from the sheep slaughtered yesterday to these families; it won't keep anyway, don't waste it."

Yushanjiang was a bit embarrassed, but Li Long smiled and said, "This is fine. They are coming over to work to earn money, not to eat and drink. It's different from the supply and marketing cooperative yesterday. If you make it too good, they'll be embarrassed to take the money..."

It was a joke, but it was also the truth.

Yushanjiang went to arrange these matters. Li Long then spoke to Meng Hai about the upcoming work tasks.

Because there weren't many people, they didn't divide into many groups. Meng Hai took two people and drove the tractor mainly to push dirt, widening the original "horse path" into a tractor road. The rest of the people either moved stones to fill pits or used sickles and axes to clear shrubs and small trees.

The supplies brought by the supply and marketing cooperative yesterday were all left behind, including two cases of explosives, a large roll of fuse, and dozens of pull-ring igniters. Meng Hai was the militia company commander, so tinkering with this was no problem. As for other supplies and tools, everyone used them as needed.

The wages were also agreed upon: eight yuan per person per day, which was a pretty good price. It was mainly manual labor, and it was done intermittently, so the ten young and strong men Meng Hai picked first were experienced.

What he said just now was also correct: try it out today, and if there were no problems, bringing twenty people in a tractor tomorrow was also feasible. At this time, the young and strong were the main force in the village; pulling out twenty people wouldn't delay preparations for spring plowing.

The roar of the tractor sounded, and the road construction work continued.

Li Long was still the general coordinator, running back and forth, solving difficulties at any time.

Lunch that day was pilaf, made with the meat and bones that weren't finished yesterday. The villagers who came from Qingshuihe to work were really a bit embarrassed. Not only was the pay for the work high, but the food was also so good—wouldn't they have to work their hearts out?

That evening, the wages were settled for everyone.

Sure enough, the number of people working the next day increased to twenty—twenty people were pulled in one tractor, with people standing on the side boards and the drawbar of the middle cargo bed. Li Long thought it was dangerous, but these people felt it was nothing.

They worked like this for four or five days. Although there were fewer people than the first day, the progress wasn't slow. Basically, every two days, the road to a winter grazing site was cleared.

While Li Long was working here, over at the Autonomous Region's Ethnic Affairs Commission, someone was holding a newspaper and discussing his affairs.

"Did you see it, Old Tu? I told you, this Li Long is definitely not simple. This time you won't say his materials are a bit thin, right?" The speaker was a middle-aged Han man wearing a Zhongshan suit, looking to be in his forties, with a square face and thick eyebrows.

"Hehe, I really didn't expect it. Sigh, if I had seen this report earlier, or known about this matter sooner, I wouldn't have hesitated at the time." The answer came from a middle-aged Uyghur man with dense stubble, shaved iron-blue. After looking at that newspaper, there was a look of embarrassment on his face, followed by some dissatisfaction. "Don't call me Old Tu, call me by my full name, Tursunjiang!"

"Fine, fine, fine, Old Tu. This is still a problem with their county. Sigh, I can only say that when the county was compiling these situations, they probably didn't even go find the person himself; they just took the materials from previous years, summarized them, and handed them to us. It's really a bit bureaucratic."

"It's also fortunate that you overcame all opposition and reported him to the National Ethnic Affairs Commission; otherwise, this matter would have been our dereliction of duty. This Li Long is really something—building houses, laying water pipes, and building roads. He's really doing practical things."

"Yes, there aren't many people like this, which is why we must report him to the national level, so that more people can know about him and learn from him."

"Old Song, I'm just worried about those old comrades..."

"What's wrong? Do they still have something to say? Let them come find me!" The Han man, Old Song, said with dissatisfaction. "Isn't it just because the candidate I chose this time is a Han comrade? But who stipulated that the advanced individuals reported for ethnic unity must be from ethnic minorities?

Besides, among the three candidates reported, one is a Uyghur who adopted over a dozen lonely old ladies, and one is a Kazakh youth who jumped into a river to save someone. Why can't there be a Han person?"

"Old Song, don't be angry, don't be angry. I support your idea; otherwise, this Li Long wouldn't have been reported up. However, we also have to consider the mood of the old comrades. After all, Li Long's deeds didn't look that outstanding originally..."

"Exactly, let Little Liu contact the National Ethnic Affairs Commission and say we have new materials on his deeds, and hurry to supplement them. This matter is a big deal, with extraordinary significance..."

"Does it really have such great significance? How come I didn't see it?" Tursunjiang said.

"Think about it. Look at the situation of Li Long helping this Kazakh tribe in the past—helping them survive the snow disaster, buying supplies, helping them lay water pipes, building winter grazing sites, repairing houses for their families, baling hay, helping buy tractors, etc. These are all considered ordinary good deeds.

The materials said that Li Long himself also gained some wealth through this matter. If you follow an ordinary person's thinking, as long as he does a good job in this role of intermediary, he will continuously obtain mountain specialties from the herdsmen and make money.

But he didn't. He directly built a road. Doesn't he know that once the road is built, the herdsmen themselves can drive tractors to pull specialties down the mountain to sell, bypassing him?

He must know, but he still did it. What does that explain? It explains that in his mind, letting the herdsmen live a good life is more important than him making money! So, just this point alone is of extraordinary significance!"

"Not bad, not bad. Now that you put it this way, I understand. I'll immediately have Little Liu organize these materials on his deeds and report them up again. By the way, I see the supply and marketing cooperative exists in this; could it be a unit action?"

"Look at these reports in the newspapers; they all have the supply and marketing cooperative. But if you sort out the timeline, at the beginning, there was no supply and marketing cooperative. It's highly probable that this Li Long, as a temporary worker for the supply and marketing cooperative, brought the cooperative along, letting the cooperative also gain some fame in this matter.

Actually, you can see that everything was led by this Li Long. Not bad, not bad. To have such thoughts, to become good friends with herdsmen, and to be able to help herdsmen friends improve their living conditions for several years in a row, moving toward a modernized life together—such a person must be commended!"

"Fine, I'll handle this matter now; it should be in time."

Tursunjiang called over the clerk, Little Liu, and asked her to hurry and reorganize Li Long's materials, contact the Ma County Propaganda Department when necessary to verify the authenticity and details of the materials, and then report them to the National Ethnic Affairs Commission as soon as possible.

Li Long was unaware that what he was doing was being sent to the National Ethnic Affairs Commission in written form, entering the ranks of candidates for the National Advanced Individual in Ethnic Unity.

As for whether he could be selected, that would depend on the richness of the advanced deeds in each candidate's materials. (End of chapter)