Chapter 987

Li Long liked to listen to the Northern Xinjiang News Broadcast because he felt the CCTV version was too far from him, and he often couldn't hear the one from Maxian, so he could only watch it on TV—this era didn't have it yet.

The things discussed in the Northern Xinjiang News Broadcast all happened in Northern and Southern Xinjiang. The cities were familiar, and the events could all be associated. Plus, there was a special program, "New Broadcast Style Line," which could solve many problems for ordinary people, so he liked it especially.

In the eighties and nineties, except for children's programs on weekends, there were no programs during the day, so he could only listen to the radio.

And listening to the Northern Xinjiang News Broadcast, one couldn't help but hear the names of the leaders of Northern Xinjiang of all sessions. Li Long once had a period of time where he remembered the names of those people as if they were his own family treasures.

The one in front of him was someone he heard little about, but whose memory was very profound. He had fought in wars, had high prestige in Northern Xinjiang, was among the first batch of generals after the founding of the country, and then turned to govern one side, with a resounding reputation.

Because of these additions, when Li Long looked at him for the first time, he felt that the leader had an aura of dignity without anger.

But when the leader saw him and waved with a smile, Li Long felt like he was a kind little old man—he was indeed very old.

"Comrade Li Long, right?" The leader sat there and said with a smile, "Come, sit. Actually, when we met last time, I wanted to chat with you. You are engaged in ethnic unity, after all, we still have some common topics in this regard."

Li Long sat down, inevitably a bit restrained, but of course, more curious, and even felt a bit dreamy.

In his previous life, he was nothing. The biggest leader he had seen with his own eyes was the county magistrate, and that was from afar while participating in county activities.

Being able to see such a high-level leader in this life, it would be impossible not to be moved.

The staff came over to pour water for Li Long, and Li Long placed the dried fruits and other things he brought on the coffee table, and there was also a small bag of air-dried meat—this was a little bit he had left for himself to chew on, which was cooked.

"You brought this?" The leader looked at the things Li Long put down and asked with a smile, "What is that?"

"Air-dried meat, I made it myself," Li Long said hurriedly. "I raise some sheep at home, and I often go hunting in the mountains. These include mutton, beef, venison, etc."

"Bring it over for me to taste." The leader actually became interested in this black air-dried meat.

Li Long hurriedly held the meat and handed it over.

The staff hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "Leader, your teeth and stomach... the doctor doesn't recommend eating such dry and hard things..."

"Haha, let me taste it, what's there to be afraid of?" The leader smiled and put a small piece of dried meat into his mouth. While eating it slowly, he said: "Little Li, I'm old. This meat, I ate it when I entered Xinjiang to fight in the war before, and I still miss it—you learned this method from the ethnic people, right?"

"Yes, those friends of mine are Kazakhs, I learned it from them," Li Long explained.

"Mm, in Northern Xinjiang, various ethnic groups live together and are mixed. Engaging in ethnic unity is necessary..." The leader thought of something, didn't continue, and just asked Li Long about some things in Northern Xinjiang.

"... After the household contract responsibility system, development has been very fast in recent years," Li Long said. "In Northern Xinjiang, if nothing else, we have a lot of land. Besides growing grain, we also grow a lot of cash crops. While eating our fill and paying the public grain, we can also make money..."

"What are the ordinary people most concerned about now? For example, in the village, township, and county where you are?" The big leader asked about the basic situation.

"Most concerned? Naturally, it's how to get rich faster," Li Long thought for a while and said with a smile. "Life is getting better and better, so everyone wants to live even better. When dirt roads become gravel roads, they will think about when they can switch to asphalt roads; and when walking to the county is too far, they have bicycles but still think about when they can drive tractors, ride in cars, etc."

"Mm, ordinary people pursuing a happy life, that's correct," the leader said while chewing the air-dried meat. "Then regarding ethnic unity, what do you think of the situation now?"

Li Long thought for a while and said, "In Maxian, where I am, this aspect is still not bad, because the Han nationality accounts for a relatively high proportion, and ethnic unity is highly valued. It is always the majority uniting the minority, but..."

He was thinking about whether to mention that problem.

After all, the signs of this matter had already begun.

"If you have any concerns, you can say them now," the leader saw Li Long's hesitant expression and said immediately, "If you can't say it here, then there's really nowhere else to say it."

"I have two friends with whom I have the best relationship," Li Long thought for a while and said. "They graze in the mountains, and their children go to school at the boarding point. The children of the two friends also have a very good relationship with me. I often buy them some stationery and toys, and they also tell me things."

"They say, the books used for teaching in their school, the content taught, is not quite the same as what I say to their fathers."

"You mean... the textbook problem after the branch school?" The leader frowned, and that aura of dignity came out again. "Shouldn't these things be reviewed by someone?"

Li Long shook his head and didn't speak.

"I see," the leader nodded slowly. "Mm, it's very good that you spare no effort to help ethnic friends open up roads in and out of the mountains."

"We must let the people in the mountains come out to communicate so they know what is good. We must unite the majority of people who are willing to unite and are worth uniting, and let them know that we are willing to help them live a better life..."

"It's not really sparing no effort," Li Long said with a smile. "Actually, the first sum of money I earned was obtained from them. There are many resources in the mountains. They didn't know these things were valuable. As a middleman, I just took their things to exchange for resources, and then used the money I earned to buy them daily necessities..."

"I've seen reports on this, but I agree very much with some of the things said in the reports. You made money, but you didn't continue to block the channels in the mountains, but spent money to build roads so they could come out of the mountains. This one point is enough. If you were greedy enough, you could completely continue to control this channel, and the money earned that way would be more."

"And you chose to open up this channel, let them come down the mountain to see, and let them choose for themselves. You really treat them as friends. Not bad, not bad, this conforms to our Party's ethnic unity united front, you have done very well..."

The leader asked Li Long some more questions, all of which were everyday talk, and even asked about Li Long's family situation.

Knowing that Li Long had opened a purchasing station in the county but his household registration was still in the village, he asked Li Long why he didn't move his household registration to the city. If needed, he could say a word—at this time, it was basically a consensus for everyone that eating commodity grain was better than farming in the countryside.

"Our leaders have also said so, but I didn't want it. I think I am a farmer by origin, so I must have land. This is more solid. Maybe after a few decades, rural household registration might become popular," Li Long joked.

The leader didn't force it, knowing that at Li Long's level, he disdained and didn't need to tell lies.

After chatting for a few more words, the staff came in to pour water twice, and Li Long knew he should go.

"Little Hu, leave your phone number for Comrade Little Li," the leader said to the staff when he saw Li Long was about to leave. "Also write down his contact information. If he has anything later, he can call you. Within the scope of principles, if it can be done, do it."

Li Long was moved all of a sudden. The favor the leader gave this time was really huge!

The staff immediately wrote down Li Long's phone number. After taking Li Long away, he gave him a note with his office phone number written on it.

"The leader was quite happy today," the staff member Little Hu said very sincerely. "It's rare to see him chat so relaxedly. If you come to Yanjing again in the future, call me. Maybe the leader will want to see you again. But next time, don't bring that air-dried meat; the leader's teeth and stomach are not very good..."

"Understood, understood!" Li Long was quite excited.

Coming out of this unit, holding that note in his hand, Li Long still felt a bit dreamy.

He didn't seem to have said anything, and the leader seemed to favor him quite a bit?

Xiao Wang was still waiting by the car. Seeing Li Long come out with a note in his hand, he leaned over and asked:

"Comrade Li Long, have you finished seeing the leader? This is..."

"The leader said to let me leave a contact method, and then gave me his secretary's phone number," Li Long raised the note. "Said if I have anything, I can call him..."

Xiao Wang was filled with awe!

Just met once, and gave the phone number? The leader is treating Li Long as one of his own!

It's not easy for the director of the Beijing Liaison Office here to see the leader even once.

Xiao Wang thought to himself, and the enthusiasm on his face became a few points stronger: "Let's go, let's go, the business is finished, let's hurry back. Director Dai is still waiting for news."

Li Long thought to himself, what news is Director Dai waiting for? Isn't he busy with other things?

Sure enough, Director Dai was not there. Li Long told Xiao Wang that his official business was finished, he had seen the leader, and next he was preparing to go back.

"Leave the matter of buying train tickets to us," Xiao Wang took it upon himself to take on this matter. "If the director were here, he would definitely say the same. Comrade Li Long, see if you have any other things to do in Yanjing. If you have, take the time to do them. By the way, which day's train did you book?"

"Tomorrow," Li Long thought it was a bit late today, and he still had to go see Gu Xiao Yu, tell her about this, and then leave. If possible, run to other places and buy some "specialties" or something.