After arriving in Shicheng, Li Long's nerves relaxed. The road ahead is relatively familiar, and besides, this year has already gone through two rounds of relatively strict cleanup activities. In this area, no one dares to block roads and steal money openly like last winter.
The location of the old street is not far from the south side of Wuyi Highway. When Li Long arrived at the old street, he simply drove in. After parking in the parking lot, he got off the tractor and went to Keyumu's dairy. teahouse.
There are no customers in the milk tea house now. After Keyumu poured a bowl of milk tea for Li Long, he sat across from him and asked:
"Fellow, why are you here at this time?"
"I went to Kuitun," Li Long said truthfully, "I'm just back now. I'm coming to your place to have a rest."
"Kuitun, I heard it's good there." Keyumu looked yearning, "I haven't been there yet."
"You are already very good," Li Long said with a smile, "I Some of my friends in the mountains have never been out of the mountains or Ma County in their lives, so they just lived like that.”
"Haha, actually it's good to come out and have a look." Keyumu nodded understandingly, "Some of my relatives have stayed in the mountains all their lives and don't know what's going on outside. Some of them thought the old man was still alive. I went back. You asked me that time."
Li Long nodded, this is normal.
After drinking milk tea, Li Long went to take a look at Chen Xingbang's stall. Chen Xingbang collected a pig today and was selling pork. Several people asked him to cut the pork belly. When Chen Xingbang saw Li Long, he nodded and smiled and took care of business first.
After these people finished weighing in, Li Long chatted with him for a few words and talked about his second brother Li Anguo.
"Are you going to become a regular worker? It's good to become a regular worker." Chen Xingbang was also happy for Li Anguo and the others. "If you become a regular worker, you will be a regular worker and eat commercial food. When Kuitun is settled, you can move your wife and baby to Kuitun. Okay, I'll celebrate An's birthday in the city from now on "
In the bitter cold land of the northwest, the city is not as prosperous as in the Central Plains, but it is still a city. If you can put down roots here and eat commercial food, it will be better than living in the village where you can barely eat. One-third of an acre of land is much stronger.
Not only them, in the next two years, almost all the young people in their hometown village will go out to work, because if they want to get rich, they really can’t build a monastery on that little land.
After chatting for a while, someone came to buy meat. Li Long said goodbye and left. He returned to the parking lot, paid the sign, drove the tractor out and turned onto the Wuyi Highway, heading east.
When we returned to the compound, the sun was still high and Gu Xiaoxia hadn't come back yet, but the roe deer and fawn started to bark first when they heard the noise.
Li Long felt a little tired. He closed the door and went to change food and water for the little ones. When he passed by the wall, he saw a big hedgehog with something in his mouth and was sneaking into the wall. Drill inside.
Li Long ignored him and went to replace the roe deer with new sugar residue and feed. The roe deer and the fawn were quite picky eaters, and a lot of sugar residue was dug out and scattered in many places, so Li Long deliberately put less food. Since you don’t want to eat, then eat less. Anyway, it looks like I have gained a lot of weight.
After finishing, Li Long did not let go of them, closed the door and returned to the front yard. He was too lazy to make dinner, so he rode out and went to the canteen to buy ten meat buns and brought them back.
Already hungry, before Gu Xiaoxia came back, Li Long ate four first, drank water after eating, and put the remaining buns in a basin to eat when Gu Xiaoxia came back.
He went to change his clothes, went into the house and lay down.
Driving this way for several hours, I felt like my ears were filled with the rumbling sound of machines.
After lying there for less than an hour, he heard movement outside. Gu Xiaoxia came back from get off work.
Li Long got up and walked out of the room. Gu Xiaoxia was smiling and holding up the car. After seeing Li Long, she asked with concern:
"When did you come back? Everything is okay over there. ?”
"I've been back for an hour, and the second brother over there is fine."
"What are you pulling in the bucket of such a big car?" Gu Xiaoxia closed the courtyard door, carried the bag and walked in, her eyes still Landed on the harvester in the bed of the tractor.
“A harvester for harvesting wheat,” Li Long explained. “When the wheat is ripe in July, we will harvest it with this machine. It can be harvested much faster than humans. One acre of land can be harvested in five minutes. By then, Let's see if we can make more money from this. The machine comes out."
"Isn't it possible?" Gu Xiaoxia said, "Is it really that profitable?"
"We'll see when the time comes. ”
After dinner, the two of them watched TV in the bedroom and chatted about home affairs.
"The commendation document from the county has come out, and it contains your name as an advanced individual in national unity." Gu Xiaoxia said, "I am officially an employee of the supply and marketing cooperative. I saw that there will be a commendation meeting the day after tomorrow, and you may be asked to attend. Right?"
"The day after tomorrow? Then I have to bring the harvester to the team tomorrow and then prepare." Li Long thought for a while and said.
"If you have nothing to do these days, go to the supply and marketing cooperative more often. I heard from our Bureau Wang that your matter has a great impact, not only on the county, but also on the list of advanced individuals in the state. "Yes."
"No way?" Li Long was a little confused, "If the county has it, it won't be repeated in the state, right?"
"Maybe you are special." Gu Xiaoxia is also quite proud. Her husband is not editing anymore, but is just a temporary worker. Now he has been directly published in the autonomous region's newspaper, and he has also won the title of the county's advanced individual. What a great thing!
Sometimes she regretted that Li Long was not a member of the system. But after thinking about it, if Li Long wanted to enter the system, he could certainly do so, but he wouldn't have as much freedom as he does now, and he wouldn't be able to earn as much money.
And Gu Xiaoxia can clearly see that Li Long really doesn't intend to be constrained by the system, so he can do it according to his own ideas.
She became a staff member of the Education Bureau and a national cadre. Gradually, she became disenchanted with eating commercial food and was no longer as superstitious as before. After all, a cadre or a worker earns less in a year than Li Long earns in a few days. No matter who encounters such a thing, his outlook will be affected.
"Since you are going to attend the meeting, why don't you pull some cloth and make new clothes tomorrow?" Gu Xiaoxia said, "I want to show my face in front of the people of the county. Wearing old clothes is not a good idea."
"Nothing wrong." Li Long waved his hand, "Now my shirt is not old, just wash it and wear it cleanly. We don't have so many formalities, and it's not an important meeting. I think it's just a formality."
Li Long insisted, and Gu Xiaoxia said nothing more.
The next day when Gu Xiaoxia went to work, Li Long fed the roe deer some water and then drove the tractor out to the team.
Walk north and east in the face of the sun. When you pass by the primary and secondary schools, classes have already started. You can even hear the sound of students reading outside the primary school.
When I returned to the yard, my mother and second sister-in-law were collecting nets in the yard. Li Long drove the tractor into the yard, turned off the engine, and got off the tractor.
"You're back? How's it going in Kuitun?" asked my mother, Du Chunfang.
Although the second sister-in-law Chen Lirong did not speak, she looked at Li Long and waited for his answer.
"My second brother and the others are all fine," Li Long said with a smile. "There is no problem with the formalization. In a few days, the letter to their hometown will be sent back, and they will officially become workers. My second brother and the others came back after asking for leave."
"Okay. Okay." Du Chunfang nodded, "It's good now. From now on, you will be a worker and eat commercial food. Mom, if you follow Anguo to Kuitun, you will be a city citizen."
Chen Lirong blushed and nodded without saying a word.
"Where is my eldest brother and sister-in-law?" Li Long asked.
"I went to work in the fields. There is grass in the melon harvesting field. Your eldest brother and sister-in-law set up a carriage and went to the field and said they would clean up the grass."
Okay, Li Long is the only one. He couldn't unload the harvester, so he had to wait for his father and Tao Daqiang to come back. Du Chunfang originally wanted to help pick up the nets, but Du Chunfang drove him away, saying that he didn't need his help and asked him to go to his room to rest.
Li Long smiled and went to the front yard.
The yard is still clean and there are no weeds in the vegetable garden. The only edible vegetables now are leeks, celery and Chinese cabbage. Beans, peppers, and eggplants are growing very well and are almost ready to bloom, but it will take more than half a month to a month before they can be eaten.
He opened the door, and what came out was normal air, without any musty smell.
This should be breathable regularly. Lying on the bed in the past, Li Long thought about what was going to happen next. Meetings need to be held, but money also needs to be earned. He planned to drive the tractor to more construction sites, pull sand and bricks, and earn some pocket money piecemeal.
When the wheat matures, first cut the land that the team is willing to harvest, and then spread it around. If this machine is good, then the next step is to see if you need to buy another tractor and bring a harvester. When the time comes for the big brother to use the tractor, the horse-drawn carriage can be eliminated.
I was planning in my head, and then fell asleep without realizing it.
He was called by Tao Daqiang.
"You guys are back selling fish?" Li Long rubbed his eyes and got up, "How's it going?"
"It's almost the same as before, selling for twenty or thirty yuan a day." Tao Daqiang said with a smile, " But we can’t catch him in the next few days. We’ll be busy working in the field for a few days, so we can catch him after he’s finished.”
There’s nothing we can do about it. Tao Daqiang has gotten married, so he can no longer just follow him and work on his side business as before. The prevailing view among everyone in the team is that no matter how much money you earn from your side job, you are still a farmer and you have to cultivate the land well.
Although Tao Daqiang makes more money selling fish than growing it in the land, if the land is left uncultivated, no matter how much money he earns, everyone will think that he is not doing his job properly.
It doesn’t matter how much money you have, it’s just a matter of career. In other words, the concepts that have been passed down for many years will not be easily broken.
Li Long got up and left the yard, and went to the eldest brother's yard with Tao Daqiang.
"Brother Long, is this the harvester?"
"Yes." Li Long and Tao Daqiang worked together to lift the iron guy down and put it in the shed to the east of the house. inside. This was covered to store carriages and agricultural tools.
"Is this easy to use?" Li Qingxia looked at the iron guy curiously.
"It should be easy to use. It only takes five or six minutes to cut an acre of wheat." Li Long said, "After cutting, turn it aside, and the remaining bundles will be left."
"That's good." Li Qingxia heard this, which was indeed convenient.
“Comine is convenient.” Li Long added, “When I save up for another two years, I will buy one. The wheat harvester can directly collect the wheat grains into the warehouse without having to fight in the field. "
Li Qingxia has never seen the United Collection in his hometown. The mower, a little surprised:
"So good?"
"Well, the wheat straw is wasted and cannot be harvested. I wonder if there will be more advanced machines in the future to harvest the wheat. , wheat straw tied into bundles ”
"Impossible." Tao Daqiang has seen Kangmain twice and knows that this thing is powerful, but most people can't afford it. He thinks that Kangmaine is already very powerful, and there can't be anything more advanced, right?
Li Long didn't argue with him. The development of machinery is changing at a rapid pace, which ordinary people can't even imagine.
Li Qingxia found a bag and covered the harvester. He also went over to talk to Chen Lirong and asked her to tell the two children not to touch this big guy.
Chen Lirong nodded hurriedly.
Li Qingxia and Tao Daqiang took over picking up the net, while Chen Lirong and Du Chunfang went to the kitchen to cook. Two women from the mainland are now able to make XJ notes proficiently. Blanch leeks, roll the meat in spicy skin, and blanch celery and cut into small cubes. This kind of noodles is quite popular among families in this area.
The popular noodles in Dongsan County are Tuoxun noodles, and the popular noodles in Yili Valley are the old brand noodles. To the west of Beiting, including Hutubi, Maxian, Shicheng and Kuitun, this kind of noodles made with blanched leeks and celery and a bowl of boiled spicy skin and pork was more common until the 40s. Later, there were still many self-service vegetarian noodle restaurants.
Li Long was going to help pick up the nets, but Li Qingxia told him not to get involved. He wanted to go to the kitchen, but Du Chunfang kicked him out. Well, Li Long feels that he is an idle person now.
He added water to the tractor and peeled the garlic. While he was peeling, his elder brother and sister-in-law came back driving the carriage.
The carriage is loaded with a cart of grass. These seedlings and gray strips can be used as pig food. Li Long brought back a lot of sugar residue, but Li Jianguo and the others were quite economical with it. When they came back from work every day, they would bring back some pig grass or grass for horses.
Help his eldest brother unload the carriage and pile pig grass next to the stove specially used for cooking pig food. Li Long told Li Jianguo about the situation at his second brother's side.
"Then you go and tell Yongqiang's family after dinner, so that they won't worry." Li Jianguo thought thoughtfully, "Yang Hua has asked me twice."
Li Long knows He was indeed a little negligent. He nodded and planned to go over and talk to Yang Hua after eating.
Du Chunfang wanted to give Li Long the first plate of noodles, so Li Long gave it to his father. Tao Daqiang rode his bicycle back before the meal was ready, and he refused to stay even if asked. Li Long didn't force him to stay either. After all, he had a wife who was pregnant with a child at home, which was normal.
Li Long eats noodles in an enamel basin, mixes them with vegetables, adds garlic, pours some vinegar, and devours them, gulping down the noodles.
After finishing the noodles and drinking a bowl of noodle soup, Li Long put down the bowl, wiped his mouth, and rode his elder brother's bicycle to the back.
When they arrived at Yang Yongqiang's house, Yang Hua and his wife had just finished cooking and were preparing to eat. Seeing Li Long enter the yard, Yang Hua smiled on his face.
"Uncle Yang, are you eating?" Li Long greeted.
"Well, let's eat together?" Yang Hua held the bowl. The bowl was filled with noodles, which looked quite thick.
"No, I just ate." Li Long smiled, "I went to Kuitun yesterday and met Yongqiang."
"Meet me? How is it?" Yang Hua's eyes I lit up and asked.
Yang Yongqiang's mother also walked out of the house, holding a bowl and listening carefully without saying anything.
"Yongqiang is doing a good job there, and he will soon become a full-time worker. I look a little dark, but much fatter." Li Long said, "He said he plans to go to night school in the future. If he can Learn a skill and become a technician, and then you will no longer be a worker but a cadre. "Hey, he can do it!" Yang Hua listened with a smile on his face, but he was scolding Yang Yongqiang. no, "With his grades, he still studies technology..."
"Yongqiang is easy to learn. Now that he is working, he has become more mature and understands the importance of learning, which is also a good thing." Li Long said with a smile:
"The team here should have received a letter of transfer. The team will definitely be able to handle it. The next step is to become a regular. After becoming a regular, he said that he would take leave and come back.
Now I am still a temporary worker, and I get paid every day I work. When I become a regular worker, I will have official leave and no salary deduction. "
"Hey, just do your best there. How many days has it been? It's less than three months, why are you so anxious? Yang Hua smiled and said, "It's not bad. I became a regular worker in less than three months... Xiaolong, thanks to you." I will ask him to thank you properly when he comes back! "
"Thank you, Yongqiang is also considered my brother, this shouldn't be the case. "Li Long waved his hands hurriedly, "You can eat in peace. The work there is a bit tiring, but there is a salary, a canteen, and a good place to live. When he becomes a full-time worker, he can also line up and divide the yard. How can he say that? Weird. "
"Okay, okay, we are not worried. "Yang Hua nodded repeatedly. His son originally wanted to be like everyone else in the team. He followed Li Long and had the opportunity to eat commercial food. He was thankful to God. How could he still be tired? How many young people in the team wanted to have it? This opportunity is impossible.
After Li Long left, Yang Hua and his wife began to speculate about when their son would truly become a full-time employee. It was impossible not to think about it. Now that there was good news about his son's work, they were even more looking forward to his son's return and wanted to see it. See what has changed.
Li Long returned to the yard, drove the tractor to the horse number, chatted with Uncle Luo for a while, and then returned to the county.
In the afternoon he went to the supply and marketing cooperative, and Li Xiangqian indeed told him about attending the county commendation meeting.
“Get your hair trimmed in advance. You shave very frequently. It’s normal when you think about it. You have a wife. But do you need to change your clothes? This is to participate in the county commendation. ! Director Wei will also represent the club at the commendation, you are too shabby!" Li Xiangqian nodded.
"What's wrong with that? Just dress cleanly and neatly." Li Long expressed his opinion, "What if I wear too new clothes and steal the limelight from the leader?"
"Hey, are you really talking shamelessly and want to steal the limelight from the leader? Haha, it's nothing like that." Li Xiangqian smiled and exposed the matter.
Li Long was really preparing for the meeting. He was recalling what he had said to reporter Zhang Xinhua in his mind. If someone did interview him at that time, or suddenly called him up to speak, he would still have to say a few words. (End of this chapter)