In fact, Li Qingxia was not particularly opposed. He thought it was a good thing that his son had skills, but his family just bought a color TV. Isn't this a bit too fast?
That color TV cost more than 2,000 yuan!
Since arriving in Northern Xinjiang this time, he started watching TV after eating. After that, Li Qingxia held the radio in his arms during the day and went to watch TV as soon as it got dark. Li Jianguo wanted to simply move the TV to their room, but Li Qingxia didn't agree, and neither did Du Chunfang.
Li Qingxia disagreed with a bit of embarrassment. After all, he moved the TV over as soon as he and his wife came over. Although it was a sign of filial piety from his son, it might also make others mistakenly think that they were greedy. .
The reason why Du Chunfang disagreed was too simple. She knew that Li Long bought the color TV set, and she also knew that Li Long was going to build a house in the spring, so she wanted to wait for Li Long's house to be built. Finally, the color TV must be moved to Li Long's house. Why move it now? trouble!
Of course, another reason why old people think there is no need to buy a tractor is that they can finally save some money and use it wisely in the future when they are short of money. It's not easy to save some money. Think about how long it will take to save more than 4,000 yuan. If you throw it away, you will get a lump of money, it will burn oil, and you have to spend money on it. It doesn't feel worthwhile no matter what.
Li Jianguo means the same thing. Of course, he has another reason. He is saying that if he has a carriage at home, and if he builds a tractor, he will become the leader in the team, and he must not let others get it. Pinkeye?
Li Long’s meaning is very clear, the tractor must be bought.
In the family meeting, just like facing three trials, Li Long dealt with other people's words alone.
Of course, in fact, he could have bought the tractor by himself without listening to other people's opinions, but these are family members, and no matter what the reason is, it is for his own good.
He didn't intend to be a loner. He had to listen to what needed to be explained and still had to do it.
In the west room of Li Jianguo, facing these family members, Li Long first asked his eldest brother Li Jianguo:
"Brother, when you built this house, how many trucks of earth did you pull to lay the foundation?"
"More than two hundred carriages, right?" Li Jianguo recalled, "It took me a month to use more than two hundred carriages, right?"
"How many trucks did it take to build the base with sand and stones?" ?”
"What should I do at that time? I can only pick it up every day. There are some in the river dam. It's too far away, so I just pick them up nearby. I picked them up for two or three months."
"Look, press The speed you are building a house, I may not be able to finish it even by the end of the year. "
"That's different." Li Jianguo naturally disagreed with Li Long's statement, "With so many people helping you, you can't do it faster than I did then."
"It's faster. , but it still takes those hours to pull the carriage, right?" Li Long thought.
"How can you use so many cars and dirt?" Li Qingxia was a little confused. Not only he was puzzled, but these people from his hometown didn't understand either.
"Because this is a salt-alkali flat," Li Jianguo explained. "The two or three meters of soil above is full of salt-alkali. We have to dig down half a meter to remove the soil, and then pull out the salt-alkali flat areas." The loess should be laid on the foundation. The foundation should be built with stones and sand wherever the wall goes, so that the house can be built solidly. "
Fifteen or six years later, the whole village will be unified. Li Long didn't plan to live in this house for too long. Even so, he didn't want the house he lived in to have alkaline hair growing on the ground if no one was around for a while.
"You can use a carriage to get two hundred cars in one month. Let's think it's faster, half a month, then it's time to organize and carry out the work. If the supply and marketing cooperative assigns a task "Do you want me to go or not?" Li Long said, "Our family also needs to make money, right? I have to build the house before I have a job, right?"
Li Jianguo was silent. .
Yes, it was time to farm. Was it to build a house, farm, or make money?
There must be a choice.
"You can do your thing, just a few of us can build the house." Chen Xingbang suddenly spoke.
"That's right." Li Anguo was always grateful to his younger brother. He felt that it was a few of him who stood up at this time, "We were idle at that time."
"You can't be idle either." Li Long glanced at his second brother and said, "Before you came, My eldest brother and I were thinking about how to settle you down. I found a job in a mine, but that job is more dangerous, so I’m still asking about it, and I guess I’ll be able to find out the specific job by then.”
The second brother, brother-in-law, and Junshan are here to make money. Yes, Li Long didn't intend to keep dragging them.
Chen Xingbang, Li Anguo and Li Junshan were all a little confused.
Li Qingxia smiled.
My children are all good children. They are all good kids who can stand up and help each other at critical moments.
“So we have to hurry up and build my house before planting the land and starting construction. As soon as the snow melts, I will hire people from the team to help dig out the foundation. Then everyone will definitely We have to do it all." Li Long had already been planning this matter. He said confidently:
"I will buy the tractor now. When the time comes, we can pull out the soil, and then hire people to dig out the dirt. No. 76 can't be idle, he has to help pull out the stones. Anyway, we have to start building the house within fifteen days. Once the plaster is put up, it doesn’t matter whether the walls are dry or not. Just put the wood in the carpenter’s room and wait for it to be pulled out.”
Listening to Li Long's plan, everyone thought it was a fantasy at first, especially Li Jianguo. He had built a house and knew that building a house here was a long process. It had been hard work since laying the foundation. There are not many people who can help.
This is not as good as my hometown. In my hometown, the village is full of relatives. If he just shouts to build a house, he can bring out dozens of good young men without having to pay wages, and just provide them with enough food.
Although there are people with good connections in the village, it is impossible to delay other people's affairs, and it is impossible to keep people working for nothing.
In fact, it is useless to ask for help from someone to help you with the job of making house mud, but it is only a day's work, and no one will say anything. After all, everyone can touch it, I Let me help you. When my house needs to be renovated, I can call you.
But it’s definitely not okay to let others do the hard work of spreading soil, digging foundations, and pulling soil for several days. This family can’t explain it either.
After all, it is a large-scale project that cannot be completed in a short time. On the contrary, Li Long's words are the best and most practical. When you make a piece of earth, the price is calculated by the piece. A piece of earth costs three cents, which is the same price as a brick. The standard block dug out by Master Tubuan is larger than bricks. A three-room house requires fifty to sixty thousand bricks, but if you use earth blocks, twenty thousand is enough.
As an adult, if you move quickly, you can dig out three to five hundred clods a day.
But, but! There are prerequisites for spreading the soil blocks, and it is impossible to expand the soil blocks as soon as you start. You need to find a place first, which must be loess, dig the soil, and soak the mud. After the mud is soaked, turn it over, use a chopper to fish out the mud, and pile it into a hemisphere like a tomb. Sprinkle wheat tail on top. Let it sit for a few hours to allow some of the water to evaporate before spreading the soil.
The pre-production process usually takes at least one day, and it also takes one day to spread the soil. It also takes three to five days for the soil to dry out.
Just building a house is definitely not enough, you also need to build the courtyard wall. The yard Xu Chengjun carved out for Li Long was not small. Even if he couldn't use that much, the area that could be enclosed was still very large.
He also plans to plant some vegetables and get some fruit trees inside. This designation is to be fenced.
Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming’s yards were made of rammed earth. Li Long thought of using earth blocks and bought them together. This is also convenient.
This is a big project, but it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to mobilize all the people in the village who can be mobilized. After all, I paid for it myself and didn’t let everyone work in vain. I believe there will be many people coming.
Li Long’s words were reasonable and well-founded, and others stopped saying anything.
Li Anguo, Chen Xingbang and Li Junshan's thoughts have turned to finding jobs for them as Li Long said.
This made Li Anguo and Chen Xingbang have mixed feelings.
Originally, I was thinking of coming here to try my luck, but I couldn’t make money by doing odd jobs with Li Long anymore. Now that there was such news suddenly, they were in a daze.
The mine is indeed dangerous, but if others can do it, you can't do it yourself. And according to Li Long, he is still a formal worker, a worker.
People a few decades later will not be able to imagine the attraction of a worker's establishment to a person who comes from the mouth.
Even if this worker position is very dangerous.
At least they are workers!
Li Junshan didn’t think much about it. He didn’t even think about staying in Northern Xinjiang until now. He just wanted to work for another year and earn some money. Even if he didn’t make as much money as last year, he still wanted to earn some money. With a few hundred, you can go back and marry a wife.
The matter is settled like this.
Li Long did not delay and rode his bicycle to the county the next day. This time he went with Tao Daqiang, Yang Yongqiang, and Li Junshan.
In the words of Li Qingxia and Li Jianguo, if there are more people going, at least they won’t worry about having too many things and not being able to get them. In fact, the real worry is that it is not safe to carry so much money. With these four young men, anyone who sees them will probably have to weigh them up.
In fact, they forgot one of the most important things: How to drive the tractor back after buying it?
Perhaps everyone has acquiesced in the fact that Li Long can drive a tractor.
It was also after Li Long left, at noon, that Li Jianguo suddenly remembered at the dinner table that Wang Caimi should be allowed to come over!
It was too late to say anything at this time, but Li Qingxia was not anxious at all. He waved his hand and said, "Xiaolong will find a way."
That's all I can think of.
Li Long and the other two arrived at the county, put their bicycles in the big yard, and then went to the bus station.
While walking, Yang Yongqiang said:
“We really need to get a tractor. Look at this bicycle. Most of it is pushed from the team to the countryside. The road is full of mud. , I can’t walk.”
If it were a tractor, it would be able to drive through the mud, and at most it would be covered in mud.
Li Junshan thought of that question first. He asked Li Long in a low voice in the car:
"Uncle Xiaolong, how do you drive the tractor back?"
"I'll drive it back." Li Long He smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's easy to drive. Just start driving." It comes quickly, but it’s cold.”
“Don’t be afraid of the cold.” Now, several people are feeling hot. Although the tractor was bought by Li Long, they can witness the first private small four-wheel tractor in the village. Buying it and driving it back is also very exciting.
The four of them took a bus to Lao Cai. After getting off the bus, Li Long took them to the tractor factory. Most of the streets in Shicheng are gravel roads. There is also mud when the snow melts. It is just because there is a layer of gravel on top, so the water permeability is better and the mud does not stick to the feet.
It was already noon when the four people arrived at the tractor factory. They didn't care so much and went directly to the doorman and said they wanted to buy a small four-wheel tractor.
Although the tractor factory was off work at noon, when they heard that they wanted to buy a tractor, the guard immediately pointed them to the sales place.
Shicheng Tractor Factory used to mainly focus on collective sales. Although there were individuals buying tractors a year or two ago, they were very few every year. After all, not many people can take out so much money at once. What can be taken out does not necessarily require a tractor, and farmers who need a tractor may not be able to take it out.
There are already various tractors on display at the sales point.
The most conspicuous one is naturally the Dongfanghong 70 tractor that we had in the team. It is a chain-rail type, also known as a crawler type, and was the most commonly used for farming during this period.
Then there is Dongfanghong 28, a large wheeled tractor.
This kind of tractor is small in quantity and expensive, but it is also very useful. In fact, in the next few years, some people in the village used tires as boats to catch fish, and the tires were those of 28-inch tractors. This kind of tractor has a driving cabin (enclosed driving cabin), which is much more stylish than the small four-wheel tractor.
Then there is a small four-wheel tractor, a twelve-horsepower, red-painted, black machine. Although it looks the smallest among the three tractors, Li Long and others came over and took a fancy to it at a glance.
Four people gathered around the tractor and watched carefully.
Although in the previous life, Li Long owned three tractors, ranging from 12 horsepower to 15 carriages and finally to 20 horsepower.
From the hand-cranked starter at the beginning, to the electric ignition later, from the same small bucket in front of me, to the larger bucket specially welded five meters long and two meters high to hold cotton, as well as a yard of sprayers, Cotton seeder, rod driver, cultivator and other machines.
When the land was handed over to the cooperative, all the machines were abandoned and sold to dealers at a low price. Li Long insisted on keeping one tractor. After keeping it for three years, he finally sold it.
It’s useless.
Not as useful as an electric tricycle.
And he clearly remembered that the first electric tricycle he bought cost 4,500 yuan.
Baodao brand.
Let’s call it a coincidence.
Although he no longer farmed in the last few years of his previous life, and even the living in the fields basically did not require labor until the end, when Li Long was watching short videos, he saw those selling convenient small machines, such as You still have to stop and take a look at the small excavators, small cultivators, small lawn mowers, etc. in the yard.
Those machines are not expensive, costing three to five thousand yuan. They are very convenient to look at and make your hands itch just looking at them.
But it’s just a thought. After all, even if I buy it back, I really won’t need it.
It can only be said that technology is developing too fast.
“Comrade, do you want to buy a tractor?” asked a middle-aged man wearing sleeves, followed by a young girl with big braids, who was looking at Li Long and the others curiously.
With the girl around, Yang Yongqiang and Li Junshan couldn't help but straighten their chests, but Tao Daqiang's focus was still on the tractor.
"Yes, I'm buying a tractor." Li Long saw several other people looking at him from time to time, and said, "This is a twelve-horsepower one? How much does it cost?"
"You Are you sure you want to buy it? This tractor is not cheap." The girl reminded me kindly.
"I asked about the price, four thousand and five thousand, right?" Li Long patted his satchel and said, "The price is not bad. If you can't afford the 28-horsepower one, you can still buy this one. Can you introduce it to me?" < br>
After hearing that Li Long reported the price, the other party also knew that Li Long should have made preparations long ago, so the middle-aged man introduced it.
The introduction at this time was still very careful, mainly about driving operations. After all, it is not necessary to introduce the ignition process and power principle of the diesel engine to Li Long and others, right?
The main people listening were Yang Yongqiang and the others. Li Long was a little absent-minded. He was familiar with this stuff.
The tractor head is easy to drive, but with a tow bucket, it is equivalent to a car semi-trailer. It is fine to move forward, but it is easy to cause problems when moving backward, which is different from ordinary cars. Someone who can operate this skillfully cannot do it without a few years of driving experience.
So this is what middle-aged people focus on.
But you can’t say it in vain, and besides, Yang Yongqiang and the others have never touched a tractor before, so they will feel dizzy just listening to their theories.
Li Long simply asked:
"Can I take a test drive?"
"Test drive?" The middle-aged man was a little surprised, "What test drive?"
"Just try to drive it first and get a feel for it." Li Long said with a smile, "You won't know how it is until you drive it. Just listen, it's not clear without actual operation, right?"
中Young people are in trouble.
They really didn’t do a test drive, and it’s just like a color TV. Even though the tractor looks like a prototype, it’s brand new. If you open it, what should you do if others don’t want it?
“I really plan to buy it.” Li Long thought of a compromise, “Get me a new tractor and I’ll drive it around your place. If there’s no problem, then I’ll Just pay and drive away, is that okay?”
The middle-aged man thought about it and thought it was feasible, but he still had to report it to his superiors.
Soon, the middle-aged man came back and asked the girl to drive a tractor over.
It turns out that this girl is not only a salesperson, but also a tractor driver.
Li Long said hurriedly:
“Can I drive first?”
He felt that this metaphysics still had to be used sometimes. It was the first time he drove his tractor. You have to do it yourself?
"Can you drive?" the girl asked.
I don’t mean to be dissatisfied, I’m just asking.
"Brother Long can drive, and he can drive a car!" This is what Yang Yongqiang said. Of course, he had never heard Li Long talk about driving, but his momentum should not be weak.
"It can be driven. I want to do it from shaking to driving over." Li Long said, "There should be primer in your tractor, right? How far can it be driven?"
The girl was a little stunned. She didn’t expect that Li Long even knew this! (End of chapter)