On the morning of the third day, Li Long started the tractor and was ready to go.
The carriage was covered with thick wheat straw. Li Anguo, Li Junshan and Yang Yongqiang were sitting on the shelves beside the carriage with their bags and bedding. The shelves are covered with wooden boards and cushioned with sacks, making it more comfortable to sit on.
Because we have to leave now, everyone is sitting. After we drive out, several people will definitely sit in the carriage. The wheat straw inside is very soft, making it much more comfortable to sit on than on the frame.
There were also two ten-liter plastic barrels in the car with diesel in them. There is a bucket hanging on the lifting frame behind the back seat of the tractor, which is convenient for adding water on the way.
A very important aspect that tractor operators need to pay attention to when driving long distances is to remember to add water. The water will boil after being driven for a while, and then it will continue to decrease. If the tractor operator forgets to add water, after the water boils dry, the engine will die due to high temperature. The locals say that Lava - of course there are many reasons for Lava, including lack of engine oil. So will.
Because it was still early, the land allocation had not been completed yet, but it had not started yet. Li Jianguo had to go to a meeting after seeing them off. Yang Yongqiang had already said goodbye to his family at home, and he might not stay there, so his family didn't come.
Chen Lirong and Li Anguo had also spoken. At this time, they just looked at her husband. Although they were a little sad, they tried not to show it. The two children had already gone to preschool, and they were not particularly sad about their father leaving - they had left once before, so they had experience.
And my father also said this time that he was going to work in a big city and would come back after working for a while or pick them up, so Li Xueping and Li Xueqin were playing happily in the preschool at this time.
"Okay, stop talking, don't waste time, let them go quickly, it's more than 200 miles, it will take most of the day, so hurry up." Li Qingxia finally set the tone, "Xiaolong, You go.”
Li Juan and Li Qiang are also in the tractor compartment. In the past, they would occasionally ride on Uncle Xiaolong's bicycle to school, but this time, they went directly to school on the tractor. Both of them were very excited and didn't want to sit. They grabbed the guardrail in front of the car and prepared to "go for a ride".
"Okay, let's go." Li Long put the gas in gear, the tractor made a churning sound, and drove along the road to the outside of the village.
The sound was so loud that people along the way couldn't help but stare. The Li family also kept waving their hands. Du Chunfang muttered:
"I don't know when I can come back..."
It was okay if she didn't say it. When she said this, Chen Lirong's eyes turned red.
"What are you talking about?" Li Qingxia said to his wife, "Isn't this a good thing! I will be a worker in the future! Xiaolong doesn't want to be one, but now Anguo can be a worker, that will be a great thing! In the future Now that we are eating commercial food, Xue Ping and Xue Qin can live in the city! What’s there to say? There’s a car going back and forth. Didn’t you hear Xiaolong say that it’s only one round trip in a day? Isn’t it okay to take a car there?”
Du Chunfang glanced at Chen Lirong and knew that she had said the wrong thing, but she was a mother-in-law and could not apologize, so she took advantage of Li Qingxia's steps and said:
"Okay, let's see where An Guo ends up. Come on, let’s go to the city too!”
Liang Yuemei pulled Chen. Li Rong said:
"Xiao Rong, I'm picking out seeds to plant a vegetable patch here. Come over and help me. Pick more seeds and plant them in Xiaolong's yard."
Chen Lirong knew that her sister-in-law was distracting herself from the situation, so she nodded and followed her.
"Let's go to the vegetable field. Let's finish the vegetable field here, and then we'll tidy up Xiaolong's side. Xiaolong wants to buy fruit trees, and we have to give them a good place to plant them." Li Qingxia couldn't stay idle. Originally, it was He planned to go to Xiaohaizi to catch fish in the next two days, but Li Jianguo said that snowmelt floods might come and he would not be allowed to go there, so he would have to stay at home.
Li Jianguo went to the team headquarters to continue working on the fields. Chen Xingbang didn't want to return to his horse number, so he followed Li Qingxia to work in the vegetable fields.
Li Long drove the tractor and ran westward against the sudden wind. The wind was still a bit cool this early in the morning. He was wrapped in cotton clothes. Although the young man had strong firepower, he still had to protect what should be protected. I also wore cotton pants on my legs, and I planned to take them off after I got to Shicheng and warmed up.
Li Juan and Li Qiang were not afraid of the wind at all. Li Qiang even opened his mouth and let the wind blow into his mouth. This move made Li Anguo stop him - it would give him a stomachache. .
The two children were very happy and met many classmates along the way. However, there were many people in the car and a lot of luggage was loaded, so Li Long did not stop - except With a child like Mingwa who had a good relationship, he had no intention of hooking up with others.
When children go to school and encounter a tractor in the village, they usually chase it. If they can catch up, they will climb up from behind. If they can't catch it, they will follow it while yelling. At this time, Yang Yongqiang would shout from behind to stop chasing, saying that he could not sit down.
When he was in elementary school, Li Long stopped the car and asked Li Qiang and Li Juan to get out of the car. At this time, there were also many children crowded in the car. At this time, some of the children were running very fast, and picking up cars was like a hitchhiking to them, and it was also like a way of showing off.
After all, I have heard the story of the railway guerrillas since I was a child. This is equivalent to paying tribute to the heroes.
Li Long remembered that Li Qiang in his previous life once said that he once chased a tractor from the next village. That tractor often went to the countryside to pull things in the morning. He took a ride several times, and others also took a ride. Once you get on the ride, the tractor will slow down when it reaches the elementary school to make it easier for them to get off. Once, after Li Qiang and another student caught up, the tractor did not slow down when it reached the elementary school. It was running forward in fifth gear, and they had to get off. As a result, they fell down when they ran off, and their faces were scratched. Skin.
He never took a ride on that man's tractor since then.
It's a lesson.
It’s hard to say this is his fault, but Li Long can’t do such a thing. Since a baby has picked up, slow down when you get to school and let them get off. There is no need to teach others a lesson. It is not good to hurt the child.
The road from elementary school to junior high school was better. As the speed increased, there were still junior high school students running to pick up the tractor, but when they saw someone in the car, they gave up.
When the car arrived in the countryside, it only took about ten minutes. Yang Yongqiang sighed:
“It used to take at least an hour to walk from the team to the countryside, and even riding a bicycle took half a hour. It's about an hour, this tractor is fast, there was a delay in the middle, it's here in about ten minutes..."
Li Long heard this when he turned the corner and thought that when you arrive and drive the car, you will arrive in a few minutes and there will be nothing to sigh about.
The road is still not good, otherwise we can get there faster with the speed of the tractor.
The road from the countryside to the county is better. You can meet people riding bicycles, driving horse-drawn carriages or walking to the county. When they arrived at the county seat, Li Long and the others didn't stop, turned west and drove directly to Shicheng.
Driving all the way to Shicheng, Li Long looked at his watch, one and a half hours.
He was not hungry now, but the water tank of the tractor was already boiling. He parked the tractor outside the old street without turning off the engine and said to Li Anguo and the others:
"The tractor needs to rest for a while. This is an old street. There are a lot of stalls now. Let's go around and rest for a while."
"You go ahead and spin, I won't." Li Anguo waved his hand. I can see that there are many stalls in the old street, but I don’t have much money in hand, so I want to keep it for use. He made a lot of money years ago, but left a lot for Chen Lirong. He had little money on hand, so he tried not to spend it. money.
After all, I haven’t earned my salary yet, so I’m spending less money now.
"Okay, you watch the tractor while I go for a spin." Li Long got off the tractor and said, "Junshan, wait for seven or eight minutes and you turn off the engine."
"Okay." Li Junshan agreed, got out of the car and sat on the front seat of the tractor.
Li Long felt his legs were numb from the shock, and he had to move around. Although Yang Yongqiang often came to the old street to sell fish, he was always selling things. He didn't do much shopping, so he got out of the car and prepared to go shopping. Li Long told him to be careful, there are thieves here. Yang Yongqiang responded and left quickly.
Compared with years ago, there are now more stalls selling vegetables in the old streets. There are also edible wild vegetables and wild flowers such as alfalfa, dandelions, and thorn buds, as well as early spring leeks, celery, and coriander grown at home. There are quite a few. Li Long listened to the stall owner yelling. The price was not expensive, but there was no need to buy it now. He thought he could buy some if there were any left when he came back.
There were a lot of people selling food on push carts. He saw one selling roasted sweet potatoes, so he bought four and wrapped them in newspapers to insulate them. Sweet potatoes are sold by the head, with large ones costing 2 cents and small ones costing 10 cents. They are quite expensive, but they are just fresh to eat.
There are also people selling scones, porridge, and hot steamed buns.
Various.
It seems that Keyumu’s milk tea house and Nang shop is about to be challenged.
What made Li Long a little confused was that the milk tea shop was still not open.
He walked around again, bought a few scones and walked back.
When they came over, they brought a plastic cage with a weight of five kilograms, which contained tea boiled in the morning, which is still hot. Li Long planned to let everyone eat to satisfy their stomachs, and then continue on their way. As for lunch, he planned to have it at Shawan.
At this time, the large pan chicken in Shawan has not yet come out. Shicheng is about 60 kilometers away from Shawan. According to the current road conditions of Wuyi Highway, it takes more than two hours to travel there. It is just in time to have lunch. When Li Long came back, Yang Yongqiang hadn't come back yet, so he invited Li Anguo and Li Junshan to eat roasted sweet potatoes.
"I won't eat it." Li Anguo and Li Jianguo had the same idea, "What's so delicious about it? I'm tired of eating dried sweet potatoes in my hometown."
"Then you Eat pancakes." Li Long handed the pancakes over, "It's still hot."
Li Junshan had already turned off the tractor. He didn't dislike sweet potatoes, so he took them and ate them.
Li Long found another enamel jar and poured tea from the plastic cage to dry. Everyone can't take turns drinking water from the mouth of the plastic cage - although this is a common thing, he thinks it is better to drink from a jar.
Yang Yongqiang came back before finishing a roasted sweet potato. He was holding a newspaper bag in his hand. He walked to the tractor and said with a smile:
"I saw a box selling leeks, stuffed with leeks and eggs. I I bought four. Come on, one for each of you. !”
I didn’t refuse this. Chives and eggs are considered a good dish for ordinary people at this time. Not every family is as arrogant as the Li family who eats meat every meal. Being able to eat eggs is a must for some. It's pretty good for families.
I originally planned to fill my stomach now, but after eating a few things, I felt a little full.
After eating and drinking, and moving around in place, Li Long drove the tractor out of Shicheng and continued to the west.
Yang Yongqiang wanted to open a section for Li Long on the way, but in the end he did not speak. Now on the road, we occasionally encounter large cars going back and forth. If we don't handle it well, it can cost lives. Li Long didn't intend to open it for others, and he didn't feel comfortable letting others open it.
The road opened in fifth gear all the way, and with the bright and brisk sound, Li Long felt that the tractor speed could now reach forty kilometers per hour. The road conditions were generally good, but the wind speed was quite strong, and it felt like his face was being dried. But not cold.
After Shicheng, you will find the 143rd Regiment and Wulan Wusu. Li Long remembered that the flat peaches of the 143rd Regiment were very famous in later generations, but at present, the roads on both sides are mainly winter wheat, and there is still some open space. I don’t know what they are planning to plant.
I encountered an artificial ditch in the middle and saw that there was water in it. Li Long stopped and took out the bucket without turning off the engine. At this time, Yang Yongqiang had already jumped off the bucket of the car and was waiting for Li Long to get out of it. After getting the water, he took the bucket. Li Junshan was a little slower, but he was not idle. He stepped on the front wheel of the small four-wheeler and stepped on the floor away from the driver's seat. He turned around and took the bucket handed over by Yang Yongqiang and poured it into the water tank.
The three people cooperated tacitly and poured a bucket and a half of water into the water tank, which overflowed.
Li Long moved around for a while, then drove the tractor forward.
Encountering several oil tankers along the way, Yang Yongqiang and Li Junshan were guessing what they were for. Although Li Long was sitting in the front driving and the noise of the tractor was very loud, he still heard it and explained loudly while driving:
"That's an oil tanker. There is Karamay to the west of Kuitun, and that's an oil tanker." City, there is an oil refinery there, this oil tank contains refined oil, pull it to "We went to Wucheng."
Karamay itself means "black oil" in Uyghur. There is a famous scenic spot called Black Oil Mountain. The oil here first overflowed naturally. In Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" The oil we talk about usually emerges naturally, and it is found here.
At first, the motherland was labeled as an "oil-poor country" by foreign experts, but our domestic experts discovered a large oil field in Karamay and took off this label, making Karamay a real oil city.
However, as early as the late Qing Dynasty, XJ's Commerce Bureau drilled the first oil well in the Dushanzi District of Karamay. This was considered a very early industrial application of oil commerce.
And for a long time to come, Karamay will become rich because of oil. The wages, benefits and benefits of workers here are very good, and it was once the object of many people's yearning.
Listening to Li Long loudly talking about the good treatment and benefits of the workers there, several people in Che Douzi were quite envious. It would be great if I could get in there - but unfortunately, just thinking about it, it's really difficult to get in there.
It was already noon when the tractor arrived at Shawan. Li Long parked the tractor at the door of a small restaurant on the roadside. There are already two large cars parked here, so the food should be good.
Because all the luggage was in the car, Li Junshan volunteered to stay on the tractor to watch the car, while Li Long and the other three walked into the restaurant.
In Li Long's opinion, the restaurant was quite simple. It was just two adobe rooms with a large area. There was a door, a kitchen inside and a dining hall outside. Two tables of people were eating noodles.
The restaurant is not very clean and there are flies buzzing around, but we don’t care that much at this time.
The three of them sat down. Yang Yongqiang first took the teapot and poured water. Li Long asked the waiter:
"Is there spicy chicken?" The large plate chicken has not yet come out, Li Long I wanted to ask something else.
“What kind of chicken are we going to eat?” Li Anguo waved his hand hurriedly, “Just noodles. We still have to be on the road, so we don’t have to stew the chicken for half an hour? In that time, we can finish it and leave.”
The waiter was also very honest and said:
"There are chickens, but they have to be slaughtered right now. If you can wait, I will slaughter the chickens now."
"Forget it, four Let's have some fried pork noodles." Li Long waved, "Two more noodles each." "Okay." The waiter was very happy to hear that the two tables over there were ordering. The ones are all minced meat noodles, which are cheaper.
Of course you can make more money by eating oily pork noodles, and of course the ingredients used will be more solid.
The sound of frying vegetables in oil soon came from the kitchen. There must be another pot underneath, and no one was operating it.
Li Long drank a bowl of hot tea and went out to the tractor. He was already sweating in his cotton clothes and planned to change clothes. Unexpectedly, Yang Yongqiang also followed him out.
"I'll change clothes, you stay inside, and eat the noodles as soon as they come." Li Long said.
From the current point of view, the journey was relatively safe, and there were no car robbers or road bullies blocking the road, which made him feel pretty good.
After changing clothes and doing some activities, Li Junshan urged Li Long to go in. When he went in, he found that Yang Yongqiang had already started to eat. He was eating very quickly, and the noodles went into his stomach without even chewing.
"Eat slowly," Li Long sat down and mixed his noodles and said, "Junshan, don't be in a hurry right now. It's not easy for you to digest and bad for your stomach when you eat like this."
" It’s nothing, I’m used to it.” Yang Yongqiang swallowed the noodles in his mouth and said with a smile, “This dish tastes really good.”
Li Long took a bite and felt that it was really good. The noodle bowl was also large and the portion was sufficient. He felt that he could get enough just by adding noodles - mainly because he had just eaten something in Shicheng and his stomach was not empty yet.
Seeing the waiter coming up with four noodles, he immediately said:
"Please tell the master chef inside that there is one less noodles." He turned to look at Yang Yongqiang and the others.
"I'm still two." Yang Yongqiang turned to himself.
“I want one too.” Li Anguo didn’t eat that much, so he lost one. Li Long said to the waiter: "Take off two."
The oily pork noodles dish tasted good and the noodles were chewy, and they only charged money, so there was no need to add extra tickets, so Li Long asked him to change it. He also expressed his prejudice against restaurants on both sides of the road.
In the past, when he traveled by long-distance bus, he was quite prejudiced against the restaurants on both sides of the road. He felt that one was because the price was high, and the other was that the quality of the food was not good. Basically, he was doing one-time business, which could "trap him." "One is one.
Now it seems that I am shallow.
After eating and drinking noodle soup and resting for a while, they moved on.
More than two hours later, in the afternoon, the big sign of Kuitun was in front of us. (End of this chapter)