After taking the bus to the South Railway Station, Li Long took a look at Yu Sufu's stall and found that there was already a different person there.
Yu Sufu left?
Originally, Li Long wanted to wait until he had finished buying something and then come over to see what was available at other stalls. If there were good things, he would buy some more.
Now that Yu Sufu is away, Li Long vaguely remembers the two stalls next door at that time, one selling snow lotus and the other selling shoes, the kind of labor protection shoes, rubber shoes and so on.
Li Long gave up the idea of shopping and got out of the car with his things and walked to the Bayi Guest House.
When he arrived at the Bayi Guest House, Li Long bought a ticket back to Ma County, waited for a while, and got on the bus.
The bag containing melon seeds was tied and placed on the luggage rack. As for the bag containing jade, he held it directly in his hands. Li Long wrapped his coat tightly and looked out through the window.
There are "short-distance" buses to several cities in northern Xinjiang. The so-called short-distance refers to the kind that does not exceed 300 kilometers, such as Hu County, Ma County, and Shicheng. You can buy them from here. ticket.
If you want to take a bus to further places, such as Nanjiang and Kouli, you have to go to Nianzigou to take the bus.
Through the unfrozen car windows, you can see the flow of people outside. There are more people here than in the old streets.
The car drove quickly. Li Long was quite wary because of what happened when he arrived, but the return trip went smoothly and no accidents happened.
Get off the car and carry things back to the compound. Gu Xiaoxia has already got off work and is cooking.
Gu Xiaoxia was a little surprised to see Li Long coming back. When leaving, Li Long told her that he might stay in Wucheng for one night. She didn't expect to come back so soon.
"I'll eat two more steamed buns." Gu Xiaoxia said, "I didn't know you were coming back, but luckily I cut a lot of vegetables."
Li Long looked at the pickles cut by Gu Xiaoxia in the kitchen , then asked:
"Why don't you get more meat? It doesn't taste good just eating pickles."
Gu Xiaoxia said nothing. Li Long guessed that she was saving money, so he smiled and said:
"You can eat this meat, but if it's not enough, we have wild boars at home, and I can still go hunting in the mountains. We can live a good life. Just don’t worry.”
Gu Xiaoxia smiled.
Li Long knew that it was too late to defrost the meat now, but he still asked Gu Xiaoxia to scoop more of the burned oil. There would be some meat in it, so that the fried pickles would be fragrant.
After finishing these, Li Long took the melon seeds and put them into the house. He scattered the jade stones into the unused wing. Just save these things slowly. I don’t know when it will be useful in the future.
After Li Long changed his clothes and did some simple washing, Gu Xiaoxia also finished cooking.
"Is everything done?" At the dinner table
Because there was not much material for No. 76, Li Long drove the carriage back to the team the next day.
Because of fishing and chasing rabbits, people can be vaguely seen outside the village, and occasionally there are people shouting.
Li Long drove the carriage and laughed listening to the sound. This is the change he brought about - before him, or rather after him, the village was usually very quiet during the winter of 1949. Even if someone goes out, they only drop by and rarely move outside.
This situation will continue until the Chinese New Year. During those days, firecrackers or more powerful things will be set off, and then people will visit relatives to pay New Year greetings. Only then will the village become more lively.
The freezing temperature of minus 30 degrees is destined to prevent the villages in northern Xinjiang from being as lively as the rural areas in the mouth.
But there are also advantages to this. The whole village is not gathered together by clan or blood relatives, and the communication between everyone is also very measured. Each household comes from different provinces and regions, even during the New Year. The customs are not exactly the same.
In this way, you can keep some customs, remove some unnecessary customs, and live more freely according to your own family's situation and preferences.
When Li Long returned to Li's house, Li Qiang was beating Lao Niu outside the yard. He was not the only one, but also several children. They whipped the old cow. At this time, there are already rules for playing. Li Qiang spun his old cow very fast, and then fixed it at the place he chose. Another child whipped his old cow, causing it to hit Li Qiang's old cow hard. If Li Qiang's old bull can be knocked out and killed, then this kid will win. Of course, on the contrary, Li Qiang wins this round, and then it is Li Qiang's turn to counterattack the opponent. The rules are the same.
Seeing Li Long leading the carriage, the children sighed. Li Long said with a smile:
"You drive the old cows aside, I will try my best to prevent No. 76 from stepping on them. It depends on who has good luck. If he has good luck, he will stay, and if he doesn't, he will stay. There is no other way."
After hearing what Li Long said, they also showed interest, and Li Qiang said loudly:
"Okay, okay! Let's see who is lucky!"
< br>
Several children whipped their old cows hard, turning them to the maximum, and then dodged.
Li Long led No. 76 past these old cows. He controlled No. 76 to avoid the old cows as much as possible. There was enough space between the two wheels of the carriage to prevent these old cows from being hit. So when Li Long passed by, except for one old cow who bumped into other old cows while spinning, and then jumped out, hit the wheel and fell directly to the ground, the other old cows were still spinning.
"My good!" A child cheered and ran towards his old cow.
"Mine is fine too! Great! I'm so lucky!"
"Haha, my old cow spins the most steadily!" This was Li Qiang's voice.
There was only one child with a sad face and shouted:
"This time does not count, come again, come again!"
Li Long smiled and watched them arguing, and he led the carriage in The yard.
"Listen to the shouting outside, what's wrong?" Li Jianguo had already walked out of the house, saw Li Long leading the carriage, and asked, "Have you finished your work?"
"Qiang "Qiang and the others are beating Lao Niu," Li Long explained, and then said:
"After finishing the work, I went to the mountains to deliver the food, and hunted some wild animals and sold them. Then I went to Wucheng and bought some melon seeds." Li Long did not tell anyone about the bear hunt.
Actually, what he really wanted to say was that after all, hunting a bear is really a cool thing. This thing can last a lifetime - some people may not be able to get close to a bear in their lifetime, let alone Said he was beaten.
But Li Long finally decided not to talk about it yet. If so, there is a high probability that the eldest brother will not let him go hunting in the mountains again - Li Jianguo already felt that it was very dangerous when he shot a wolf before. Li Jianguo would not have allowed Li Long to enter the mountain if he didn't have five or six in his hands.
Now that it is a bear again, Li Jianguo will not let Li Long enter the mountain.
Li Long doesn't plan to stop hunting yet. He thinks it's good to go into the mountains from time to time. After all, meat can be obtained quickly in the mountains and can be exchanged for a lot of money.
"Did you get the melon seeds back?" When Li Jianguo heard about the melon seeds, he suddenly became curious: "How much did you get back? Where did you get it back?"
"I went to Wucheng and got more than 20 kilograms. , I met an expert there." Li Long and Li Jianguo unloaded the carriage together and said while unloading: "He is a professor from the Bayi Agricultural College, and he said that one acre of land requires two kilograms. Seeds, three or five seedlings in a pit, arrived Thin out the seedlings when they have three or five leaves... Anyway, I said a lot, and I have memorized most of them."
"Let's talk about it in detail when I put down No. 76." Li Jianguo was very happy and curious after hearing this. He said, "If you can really plant it, and there are people who recycle it, then let's plant it!"
You cannot get rich just by growing food, at least if there is little land, this is Everyone has actually seen it clearly.
But before the land was distributed last year, almost all farmers wanted to have enough to eat. With the land area and output in Northern Xinjiang, it is no problem to eat enough, but it is impossible to eat well in a short period of time. At least it’s not easy to eat meat.
But this matter has been completely resolved by the Li family after last year. What Li Jianguo wants to do now is to make a fortune.
Li Long’s ideas and measures made him make a lot of money. Li Jianguo was sincerely happy for his brother, but he was actually quite anxious himself.
He also wants to make more money and let his family live a better life through his own efforts.
Growing melons is indeed a good choice, at least it is much better than food crops in terms of making money.
It’s just that he has never grown it, and if he does, he doesn’t know where to sell it, so Li Jianguo has always been unsure.
Now that Li Long said that there is such an expert talking about how to plant, he will naturally be interested.
Li Long pulled the carriage to the shed and returned to the house with the bag. Liang Yuemei was collecting shoe soles when she saw Li Long coming in and said with a smile: "Everything is done? Why did you come back so soon? Didn't you stay with Xiaoxia in the county for a while?"
< br>"I'm out of luck on the 76th," Li Long said honestly. "I bought melon seeds from Wucheng and met an expert. He told me how to grow melon seeds, so I thought about coming back and giving them to melon seeds." My brother said it.”
"Meet an expert? What a coincidence? What a good thing!" Liang Yuemei was also surprised after hearing this, "What a good luck!"
"Yes, he is a professor at the Bayi Agricultural College. After a while, She went back to teach, and she even left her name for me to go to if I had anything to do." Li Long sighed, "It's her. Good teacher."
After settling down on No. 76, Li Jianguo entered the room and looked at the bag at Li Long's feet and asked:
"Is this melon seeds?"
"Yes." Li Long untied the rope at the mouth of the bag, took out a handful and said:
"There are two kilograms per acre, which is 21 kilograms. Let's save some planting, that is, plant 11 acres."
"How to plant? Can I use a seeder to sow it?"
"It's best not to broadcast on demand, one pit at a time."
"It will take time to order those ten acres of land." Liang Yuemei was a little worried, "This is not a vegetable field, ten acres of land. … ..."
"It's okay, brother, sister-in-law, I designed a jukebox, and I plan to make a few at that time, and the ordering will be fast." Li Long said his idea again, "The expert also said. We agreed, and asked me to find an agricultural machinery factory to see if we can produce a batch of this thing. If this thing is produced, it is estimated that many people can use it, and there is no need to bend down to grow things..."
Listening to Li Long's description, Li Jianguo thought it was feasible, but he still asked:
"Can this thing be made?"
"Yes." Li Long was a dismantler in his previous life. The ones that have been installed with this thing are really simple inside, with springs and the like. I believe that although big items are hard to find these days, this thing can still be found.
Although Li Jianguo had doubts, given Li Long's past this year, he basically believed his brother's words.
Li Long also talked about how to fix and thin out seedlings, how to till and make ridges, etc., including stopping the water before picking the melons, and how to get the seeds after picking the melons:
"In the past, people would open the melons and take out the seeds inside, which was too labor-intensive. A simpler way is to find a big pot, use stones, bricks, and clods to stabilize the pot underneath, and put a wooden board on top. The board is wider than Dagua, and then find a narrower board and a thicker board. Click, put the melon on the bottom board, and two people lift the top board to press the melon, and the melon seeds will be pressed out and flow into the pot. At that time, you only need to wash out the water in the pot and take out the melon seeds. Just let it dry."
"It's that simple?" Liang Yuemei still didn't believe it.
“It’s as simple as this, so you don’t have to stretch out your hands to pull out the seeds. It takes a little effort, but the whole melon is still there, and the melon with the seeds removed can just be fed to the pigs,” Li Long said with a smile, “It’s done quickly. If you do it, it will be no problem if you get one acre of land in one day, and ten acres of land can be completed in about ten days."
Li Long is still quite optimistic. He is still thinking about going to the Shicheng Tractor Factory when he has time. Ask if you can collaborate.
Liang Yuemei talked for a while and then went to cook, while Li Jianguo discussed with Li Long about planting melons.
"Since it is easy to grow on sandy land, then next spring, as you said, we will have to contract a piece of sandy land. Let me think about it... There is sandy land behind the dam beam behind our team, and it is mature land. Salt and alkali can be grown there.”
In terms of familiarity with the land in various places in our team, there are not many people who are more familiar with the land than Li Jianguo.
"Well, then we can contract a share of the land there to grow melons." Li Long said, "Sand soil can grow many things, including sweet potatoes, but there are few people who can harvest them. Otherwise, We can still grow a few acres of sweet potatoes.”
“Don’t grow that stuff. "Li Jianguo looked disgusted, "I've eaten enough of that stuff! There's no place to sell it, and it's hard to save it. We won't talk about planting until the Grain Bureau collects it..."
Li Long smiled. Li Jianguo had eaten enough dried sweet potatoes and sweet potato powder when he was a child, so he disliked it so much.
In fact, it’s not bad to grow this to make sweet potato vermicelli, but it’s mainly labor-intensive. We’ll talk about this later.
Li Jianguo carried the bag of seeds to the spare house and put it away. Li Long said that he had to dry it for a day before planting and soak it in warm water for a day. He repeated it several times.
While eating, Li Jianguo was still asking Li Long about the details of the jukebox.
Li Long told him while eating.
Li Qiang seemed to be quite interested in machinery. He would ask questions from time to time when his father asked. Although it was childish, Li Long still answered with a smile.
After dinner, Li Long walked back to the horse. He would rest for a few days.
Of course, as long as he comes back, catching fish and catching rabbits will definitely be inevitable. I think that as long as Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang know that he is back, they will definitely come to find him.
Sure enough, these two came over before it got dark.
"Brother Long, you are back." When Yang Yongqiang opened the door and came in, Li Long and Uncle Luo were eating. Uncle Luo was very happy to see Li Long back. He specially cooked some meat and vegetables and made a small pot, which was enough for two people.
"Come on, come on, sit down and eat together." Li Long greeted.
"No, no, no." Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang waved their hands together, "I've eaten before. It's a short day, so I only eat two meals a day, and I only had this meal in the afternoon within an hour."
"Then. Okay, you guys sit down, let’s eat first. Have you been free for the past two days?”
“It’s okay. Let’s go to Xiaohaizi and poke some open holes in the ice. The family is still catching fish, But these two days were cold and the days were short, so they didn’t catch many.”
“Now we also slipped a rabbit trap two days ago, and there was only one rabbit. We thought it was time to change the place. "
Tao Daqiang and Yang Yongqiang alternately talked about fish and rabbits, and occasionally talked about things in the team, which gave Li Long a certain understanding of the things in the team during this period.
Generally speaking, the team is relatively calm. Some people from the mainland came to visit relatives and asked Xu Chengjun to settle down. However, Xu Chengjun made it clear that except for fathers and sons and family members, others would not be accommodated. The policy is this: either go to the township to find connections and ask the township to provide a quota, or settle elsewhere.
This reminded Li Long of his father and mother. If he took his father and mother over to settle down, the team would not only settle them down, but also give them land.
After the second land contract, that is, after the millennium, the team began to implement the policy of increasing people without increasing land, and reducing people without reducing land.
In other words, even if you settle down, you will not be given land. Even if you have a child at home, the child will not be given land.
But before that, as long as they could settle down and had children, they would be given land - five acres of land for grain rations.
Li Long still doesn't know that his second brother and brother-in-law are planning to come over with their whole family. He just wants to bring his father and mother over to enjoy the happiness here - at least it will be better than living in his hometown.
After dinner, Li Long and Old Uncle Luo cleaned up together. After washing the dishes, Old Uncle Luo went to feed the deer and the animals. Li Long wanted to help, but Old Uncle Luo drove him away.
"I can still do this job, but when I can't do it anymore, I won't do it if you want me to." Old Uncle Luo drove Li Long away.
Li Long returned to the room with a smile. Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang were sitting on chairs chatting. They stopped talking when they saw Li Long come in.
"There are still about ten days before the new year. I plan to do nothing else these days, just catch fish and rabbits, and save some money to buy new year's goods." According to Li Long's idea, he actually wanted to stay Rest inside the house.
But young people, thinking about Gu Xiaoxia, feel itchy in their hearts, and they can't help but want to run to the county.
"Okay." Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang had this intention. Although they had made some money before, who would think it was too much money?
If you can make more money during the New Year, you can buy more things during the New Year.
Although they are not as good as Li Long, they are at least better than other people in the village. They still have the idea of eating more meat during the New Year, buying good clothes, and buying other things.
The three of them made an appointment to go for a rabbit ride early tomorrow morning. They took the rabbit trap and moved it to another place. Then Yang Yongqiang and Tao Daqiang left. (End of chapter)