Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1410 Li Qiang learns to drive, Dai Jianguo expresses his gratitude

Looking at Li Qiang's current expression, Du Wenlong couldn't help but laugh. He covered his mouth twice, but in the end, he couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

Li Qiang, wrapped in a coat and wearing a sweater and long johns, sat on the sofa and said irritably, "Laugh all you want, laugh until you die."

Du Wenlong waved his hand and said, "I'm not the culprit, so don't take it out on me. You were so quick to agree to that."

Li Qiang shook his head and said, "How could I refuse? It's not just one or two people, it's a whole group."

Then he asked Du Wenlong, "Aren't you going to take a picture?"

Du Wenlong shook his head and said, "No, no, I'm so much fatter than you, this uniform would look terrible on me. Besides, we might have military training next semester, and then we'll be issued camouflage uniforms."

It turned out that after Li Qiang and his classmates finished wishing their teacher a Happy New Year, they were all heading to another classmate's house, as planned. However, on the way, several female classmates commented that Li Qiang's camouflage uniform looked particularly smart. One of them asked Li Qiang if they could borrow his clothes to take a picture.

Li Qiang couldn't refuse, so he went to the photo studio on the way, which led to the scene just now.

At that time, military training in universities was not like it is in later years, which begins as soon as freshmen enter the school. Some universities simplified the military training model and did not require camouflage uniforms; other universities would conduct military training six months or a year after freshmen entered the school.

These girls, some of whom went to university or were repeating their senior year, included those who applied to military academies but failed the entrance exam, and others who longed for a military career but couldn't get into military academies due to their own limitations. Borrowing Li Qiang's uniform to wear and take a photo was a way of fulfilling a dream.

The photo studio had spare clothes, specifically for people who came to have their photos taken. Li Qiang figured there were only five of them, and since they were all wearing camouflage uniforms, the process would be quick, so he didn't change. He and a few other classmates, including Du Wenlong, sat chatting in the men's changing room while the female classmates changed and had their photos taken.

He waited for almost an hour, and Li Qiang started to regret it. The photo studio was a bit cold, but luckily he had been in good physical condition over the past six months, otherwise he might have caught a cold.

After taking photos, the group of young people arrived at their classmate's house just before lunchtime. They squeezed together around a square table, laughing and chatting about topics that interested them. Li Qiang received the most questions, since the situation at other universities was more or less the same. Military academies, on the other hand, were the most unfamiliar and mysterious to everyone.

Li Qiang answered everyone's questions one by one, occasionally adding, "Actually, it's just that outsiders don't understand. Life in military academy is quite boring and monotonous."

During the meal, a girl suddenly asked Li Qiang, "Did you get into a military academy? Did you pay for connections? How much did you pay? I've heard that people need connections to join the army, so getting into a military academy must require even more connections, right?"

Li Qiang put down his chopsticks, shook his head, and said, "No. My family has been farmers for generations, and we don't have any connections. I just made my way through one obstacle after another."

But I'll tell you something that might surprise you. When we took the military academy entrance exam, after passing the first hurdle, we had to undergo a physical examination, right? Of the 23 people who took the physical examination with me, I didn't know a single one of them. None of those 23 people were from our school.

I didn't even know where they came from. I have a junior high school classmate who was interning at the county hospital and participated in that military physical examination. He told me that these people were all registered residents of our county.

Most of the students were surprised after hearing this. Two students exchanged a glance, and one of them smiled and said:

"What's so strange about that? Since ancient times, there have always been people with connections in certain positions. Li Qiang got in based on his own ability, but these people definitely got in through connections."

The others suddenly realized. Li Qiang added, "I later heard that these people were probably college entrance exam migrants. They have their household registration in our county, but they went to school in the mainland, and their school registration is here, so they came back to take the college entrance exam."

One student said indignantly, "The educational resources in the mainland are so much better. We study there and then take the exams here. Isn't that bullying? The difficulty level has been lowered so much."

Du Wenlong interjected, "Even if they took shortcuts and used connections, they still didn't succeed in the end. I remember last year during the college entrance exam, Li Qiang was the only one in our entire county who actually got an acceptance letter to a military academy, right?"

Everyone looked at Li Qiang, who nodded and said, "That should be it."

Two female classmates sincerely said, "You're really amazing."

Li Qiang himself was unaware of the twists and turns he had gone through to receive his acceptance letter; he simply assumed that something had been delayed in the process. Neither Li Jianguo nor Li Long told him, fearing it would affect his mood.

The classmate who was having dinner at his home raised his drink glass and said, "Come on, we've finally managed to get together. This is a New Year's blessing for all of you—future officers, scientists, doctors, teachers, village heads, entrepreneurs, and students who will be taking the college entrance exam this year—and also a hope for the future."

Let's all raise a toast. (Drink the beverage in one gulp.)

Two classmates went home early in the afternoon. The rest of the group played around nearby and had a snowball fight, but mostly talked about their university days.

That evening, in the boys' room, some classmates asked Li Qiang to demonstrate his skill in folding paper into neat squares.

Li Qiang pointed to the quilt and said, "It won't work. This thing can't be folded up in a day. How many times did we have to press down the military quilts we were issued in the dormitory before they could form a solid block? This cotton is too loose; there's no way to fold it into a block in a short time."

Despite saying that, Li Qiang still deftly grabbed the edge of the quilt, gave it a shake, and smoothly unfolded it, then folded it into thirds. After estimating the size, he pinched the quilt in the middle with both hands, creating a crease. Of course, this was just a simple quilt-folding exercise; the folded quilt resembled a swollen loaf of bread, but it had some shape.

The biggest takeaway from this class reunion was getting contact information for quite a few classmates. During our school years, I managed to reconnect with many people through these connections, but there are still some I haven't been able to reach.

During this class reunion, I added most of the people I wanted to contact. At that time, communication between classmates was mainly through letters, a slow process where people might contact each other once a month.

Former classmates gathered quickly, and parted ways just as quickly. In just two short days, there was so much to say, but ultimately, we all had to go our separate ways.

After watching his classmates leave, Li Qiang walked back to the purchasing station. He had arranged to meet his sister, Li Juan, there.

When Li Qiang arrived at the purchasing station, Li Juan was already waiting there. She had been waiting for a while and seemed a little impatient. After seeing her younger brother arrive, Li Juan said to Li Qiang, "On our way back, I'll teach you how to drive. There aren't many cars on this road, and by the time we get home, you'll probably be able to drive too."

Li Qiang was also eager to try. He thought that if he could drive to the next class reunion, wouldn't that be much more convenient? Of course, there was also a bit of vanity involved—after all, these days, for class reunions, people either ride bicycles or take the shuttle bus if they live further away.

He planned to drive there himself, giving his classmates a ride and making the others envious. Li Juan drove him north, explaining how to operate the car as she went, emphasizing its simple and straightforward operation.

Once they left the county town, Li Juan stopped the car and let Li Qiang operate it himself, while she sat in the passenger seat and helped watch over it.

Sitting in the driver's seat and gripping the steering wheel, Li Qiang was still a little nervous. Li Juan told him, "Just think of it as driving a tractor; this is simpler than driving a tractor."

Li Qiang felt confident after hearing Li Juan's words. He knew he could drive a tractor without any problems. He pressed the clutch, shifted gears, lightly pressed the accelerator, and released the handbrake. Because he pressed the accelerator quite hard, the tractor shot forward.

Li Juan hurriedly said, "Press the accelerator lightly, don't give it so much gas."

Li Qiang blushed slightly and slowly eased off the accelerator. He recalled the feeling of driving a tractor and then applied it to his driving. Li Juan praised him from the side, "You hold the steering wheel very steadily, not bad, not bad. Just like that. There are few cars on this road, so it's quite suitable for practicing driving."

As soon as she finished speaking, a large truck came speeding towards them. This time it was Li Juan's turn to panic. She hurriedly said, "Pull over, pull over! Make way for it. These big trucks are the most unreasonable; they block up most of the road... Yes, adjust slowly, very good, very good, just like that!"

When they passed each other, Li Qiang remained calm. When he used to drive a tractor, he would stay as close to the side as possible when passing other tractors, but he wouldn't fall off the road. Watching her younger brother steadily pass the large truck, Li Juan felt relieved.

"Shift to third gear and accelerate. Before shifting, press the accelerator once. It's like a tractor."

While Li Juan was speaking, Li Qiang had already pressed the accelerator and started shifting gears. He was very familiar with this; it was indeed similar to a tractor. He felt that the current speed was a bit slow, so he shifted from third to fifth gear, and the speed increased quickly. Fortunately, there were not many cars or people on the road, so safety was guaranteed.

And so, Li Qiang drove all the way home, becoming basically familiar with driving straight. As for reversing, Li Juan told him to practice in the wheat field south of the residential area these next couple of days, where there was a relatively large open space.

Li Qiang was worried about having nothing to do these past few days, so he thought practicing driving every day would be a good idea. It wouldn't be so boring, and he'd also gain a new skill.

Inside the drip irrigation tape factory, Li Long was discussing drip irrigation cotton growing techniques with Wang Fusheng, a large-scale farmer from a neighboring county. Wang Fusheng raised a new question: "Mr. Li, do you think it's feasible to grow drip-irrigated cotton without leveling the land?"

Li Long then asked him about the specific details of the land.

Wang Fusheng said, "I cleared a large area of ​​more than 300 mu of land south of Wuyi Road two years ago. I planted wheat in the first year after clearing the land, and cotton in the second and third years. The harvest was okay, but it was definitely not as good as what you planted with drip irrigation."

I'd like to switch to drip irrigation, but the whole area is a slope, higher in the south and lower in the north. Leveling it all would be too much work.

Li Long thought for a moment and said, "If the whole area is higher in the south and lower in the north, then there is no need to make it as flat as other places. We just need to level the uneven parts in the middle."

Another advantage is that it eliminates the need for some branch pipes. The pump house is located on the south side, where there's a slight elevation difference before reaching the bottom, which is conveniently accommodated, saving on the pump house's power consumption.

Wang Fusheng had thought the same thing, but since he had never grown drip-irrigated cotton before, he wasn't sure about the process. Now, after hearing Li Long's explanation, he felt reassured. This time, he bought 5 tons of drip irrigation tape, reducing the factory's inventory.

Xie Yundong, who had come over to see what was going on, asked with some concern, "Will the drip irrigation tape for our land be guaranteed to be installed?"

Li Long smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's definitely guaranteed. We still have half of the raw materials left. If it's not enough, I'll have Dushanzi Petrochemical send some more over."

Hearing Li Long's explanation, Xie Yundong felt relieved and then discussed with Li Long the matter of reclaiming new wasteland in the spring. Two thousand mu of the large wasteland north of the tripod and south of the lake were to be reclaimed for cotton cultivation.

Li Long's suggestion was to plow the land first, then release water from the small pond for flood irrigation to clear away the salinity before sowing. Converting 2000 mu to drip irrigation would be difficult, so it would have to be put on hold for now. While the conversion is underway, cotton will be sown using the traditional method, and drip irrigation will be implemented uniformly starting next year.

Li Long said half-jokingly, "If we leave it for a year, maybe the village's arable land will reach 10,000 mu this year, and next year we can apply for the autonomous region's 10,000 mu farmland renovation project. We can save hundreds of thousands of yuan in renovation funds then."

Xie Yundong's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said, "You know what, it's really possible. Ever since you lowered the price of drip irrigation tape, a lot of people in our team have been planning to grow cotton."

Once this wasteland is cleared, it can be planted directly. They will also learn to do what we do: plant using the traditional method in the first year, and then switch to drip irrigation in the second year.

It's estimated that by March, when the snow melts, in addition to the 2,000 mu we'll be cultivating, the rest of the team will be cultivating at least another 1,000 or 2,000 mu. That means our whole village will have over 10,000 mu of arable land.”

Li Long hadn't noticed this at all. After listening to Xie Yundong's words, he said, "If that's the case, then we need to tell the captain after it's opened. We need to prepare the materials as soon as possible and submit them to the autonomous region."

The sooner we submit the application, the sooner we can begin the renovations. After all, we're not the only ones watching this project. While there aren't many villages like ours that can suddenly create tens of thousands of acres of arable land, there are still some.

In the previous life, Team Four applied for this project more than ten years later. Even so, it was the only one in several surrounding townships, the first village to apply for this project, and it was successful.

After that, other villages, lacking sufficient land area, couldn't apply for the project and had to apply for government subsidies for drip irrigation farmland improvement. This subsidy only covered a portion; the farmers had to pay the remainder themselves. Those who started the improvement earlier had to pay 300-500 yuan per mu (approximately 0.16 acres), while those who started later had to pay 600-700 yuan per mu before the improvement was completed. However, with this project, all the improvement costs for Team Four were covered by the government, saving them a significant amount of money.

Xie Yundong listened to Li Long's words and said, "Then you go ahead and do your production. I'll go over and tell the team leader to get ready. By the way, what kind of preparations are needed?"

Li Long briefly explained the materials and reports that Xie Yundong needed to prepare. Xu Chengjun would handle those; the rest involved data on the acreage of cultivated land. He believed that these things wouldn't be difficult for Xu Chengjun.

Li Long planned to take some time to inquire about the application process for this project from Professor Yang. Since he had boasted to Xu Chengjun that he would use this project to secure residency for the Li family, he couldn't let Xu Chengjun handle this alone; he had to seize the opportunity.

Not long after Xie Yundong left, Li Qiang drove to the drip irrigation tape factory and said to Li Long, "Uncle, Uncle Sun said that the old couple came over again from the purchasing station. They brought some things and wanted to make a phone call to their son."

Having heard the elderly couple's complaints, Li Long didn't want to face them, so he told Li Qiang, "Go call Sun Jiaqiang back and tell him that there's no way to make a phone call right now. Tell them to wait a bit; their son will be back in half a month at most."

Li Qiang nodded, got into the car, and turned it around to go back. Li Long quickly shouted, "Drive slowly and be careful!"

Li Long paid little more attention to Dai Jianguo's situation. Liu Shanmin said that since he had been rescued, his safety should be guaranteed. Li Long focused more on the safe operation of the drip irrigation tape factory and the preparations for the village's 10,000-mu farmland renovation project.

After hearing Xie Yundong's story, team leader Xu Chengjun consulted with several families who planned to reclaim wasteland in the spring. He then did some calculations and finally determined that if the wasteland could be reclaimed in the spring, the village's arable land would indeed exceed 10,000 mu. Although it would only exceed 100 mu by a few hundred mu, the arable land area would definitely exceed 10,000 mu, and then the project could be applied for.

Although Xie Yundong had already told him about the preparations Li Long had mentioned, Xu Chengjun still made a special trip to see Li Long. In the drip irrigation tape factory's office, he took notes, writing down everything Li Long had said.

As Xu Chengjun was writing things down and preparing to leave, he made it clear to Li Long that if this project application was successful, he would absolutely guarantee that Li Long's family would be given at least five residency slots.

In the past two years, Xu Chengjun has a clearer understanding of how the cooperative makes money from drip-irrigated cotton than other villagers. If the entire village could be developed into a high-tech planting project like Li Long's cooperative, then the average level of well-being for the whole village would be guaranteed.

Based on this point alone, there is absolutely no problem in giving Li Longwu's family a place to settle down. The village representatives will definitely not have any objections, and even if they do, Xu Chengjun will ensure that they have no objections.

This reflects his confidence as the village head. Of course, Xu Chengjun also had his own calculations for granting so many residency permits to the Li family. Li Long had mentioned that after the large-scale farmland renovation project was launched, Xu Chengjun had asked people he knew in the township to inquire about it.

After inquiring for a long time, the township confirmed that the autonomous region did indeed have this project. However, to apply, one needed to submit an application online through multiple levels. According to the township official, without certain connections, one could forget about getting approved.

Xu Chengjun knew that Li Long had connections; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to secure the irrigation belt renovation project from the autonomous region. Therefore, he was very proactive this time. On one hand, he wanted to benefit the villagers; on the other hand, as the village head, if he could successfully bring this project to his village, he would reap considerable benefits both nominally and practically.

On February 17th, Li Qiang left home for school. Their registration deadline was the 22nd, and Li Qiang had bought a train ticket for the 17th, traveling with his classmates.

As he left home and said goodbye to his family, Li Qiang felt a sense of relief. Although he looked forward to holidays every day when he was at school, during this break, especially in the last few days, he actually longed to go back to school as soon as possible.

Originally, Li Qiang's family wanted to take him directly to the Wucheng train station, but Li Qiang refused. He planned to take a bus from the county bus station and get off at the Bayi Guesthouse, which was right next to the train station. This would be convenient and save his family the trouble.

Although his family felt it wasn't a good idea, Li Qiang insisted, so they agreed.

Li Juan only has one semester left in her senior year, so she's not in a hurry to go back to school. She got a ticket for March, so she can stay home a few more days. Unlike Li Qiang, Li Juan prefers to stay at home, and she's quite content driving around whenever she has free time.

With Li Qiang gone, Mingming and Haohao decided not to stay in the village any longer. They had finished their homework and were planning to go back to the county to visit their classmates before school started.

Gu Xiaoxia took Mingming and Haohao back to the county. Li Long stayed in the village, continuing to work on the production of drip irrigation tape. On February 24th, an unexpected guest arrived at the drip irrigation tape factory.

A fairly new-looking Santana pulled up in front of the drip irrigation tape factory. Li Junfeng, who was unloading things at the warehouse entrance, came over to greet him. He assumed that Li Junfeng was there to buy drip irrigation tape as usual.

People like this come every day. Some come to inquire about prices, some come and buy directly and leave, and others come to ask Li Long for technical advice.

Seeing Li Junfeng come over to greet him, Dai Jianguo, who had just gotten out of the car, smiled and asked, "Excuse me, is Mr. Li Long here?"

Dai Jianguo inquired along the way, drove to the fourth team, asked around in the western residential area, and learned that Li Long worked at the drip irrigation tape factory, so he drove straight there.

Li Junfeng smiled and said, "Yes, yes, come in, please. You're here to buy drip irrigation tape, right? How much do you need? How much land do you cultivate?"

Seeing that Li Junfeng had misunderstood, Dai Jianguo hurriedly explained, "No, no, no, I didn't come to buy drip irrigation tape. I came here specifically to thank Mr. Li. I was kidnapped when I was doing import and export business in Kazakhstan, and it was Mr. Li who found someone to rescue me."

Li Junfeng suddenly realized: "Oh, I know, it was you. You look pretty good, you didn't suffer, did you? Anyway, it's good that you're back."

"You're a factory worker, right?" Dai Jianguo said with a smile. "Come on, help me move my things. Boss Li saved my life, and I don't know how to thank him, so I bought him some things."

As he spoke, he opened the trunk of the Santana and took out a bottle of wine and a box of cigarettes.

Li Junfeng took it and said, "How can I accept this?"

Dai Jianguo said, "This is for Boss Li."

As he spoke, he pulled two leather jackets out of the trunk, held them in his hands, and said, "These are for Boss Li and his wife. Come on, take me to see him."

After taking only two steps, he realized what he was doing, then took out a box of Hongtashan cigarettes from his pocket, stuffed it into Li Junfeng's pocket, and said, "Friend, this is for you, thank you."

Li Junfeng was a little amused and exasperated. As he walked, he explained, "Li Long is my uncle. We're relatives."

Li Long heard the commotion inside as well. He came out of the factory and saw Dai Jianguo and Li Junfeng carrying things inside.

Li Long heard Dai Jianguo's voice and greeted him with a smile, saying, "Boss Dai, right? It's good that you're back. Your parents were worried about you. Now that you're back, they can finally rest easy."

From now on, do business around here, don't go over there. Safety first. Making money is important, but safety is even more important.

Dai Jianguo nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, yes, that's right. I was blinded by money at the time, always thinking about making more money. I didn't expect the business environment there to be so poor."

"Thanks to you, Mr. Li, and Mr. Liu, otherwise I really would have died far from home. This is just a small gift, nothing more, please accept it, Mr. Li."

Li Long couldn't help but laugh. This Dai Jianguo hadn't even finished elementary school, yet he spoke in such a refined, scholarly manner—was he trying to imitate the ancients? However, the things he brought were indeed quite impressive: a case of Wuliangye liquor, a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes, and two Soviet-made leather coats—worth several thousand yuan.

Without any hesitation, he directed the two men to put the items into his SUV, then asked Li Junhai to watch the machine while he took Dai Jianguo to his office for a chat.

After entering the office and sitting down, Dai Jianguo took the initiative to recount what had happened. He said, "We brought our goods to Almaty and first looked for a place to stay. Since we were unfamiliar with the area, and although we had been there before, we didn't know many people, we stayed at the same hotel we had stayed at last time."

To be honest, the hotel wasn't very good. We couldn't understand anything and had to rely on the translator to explain things. The translator was someone we dealt with frequently, but even he had limited knowledge of the area. We rested for one night, and the next day we went to find the person who had shipped the goods last time, but we couldn't find them, so we had to look for other shipping channels.

Almaty is a real mixed bag. We went to several trading companies with a translator, but they were either dissatisfied with our products or our prices. In short, it was difficult to sell our goods. We were very anxious, but we didn't want to lose money. So we could only keep trying to find solutions and keep going out to try our luck.

We stayed there for a long time, and finally a merchant was willing to accept our goods. Because we had a lot of goods, they said they would send someone to inspect them the next day. But unexpectedly, something happened that very night.

That night, someone disguised himself as a policeman and came to check the house. He took the three of us, along with the goods we had brought, to a farm in the suburbs.

They took our goods, our money, and our documents. These people knew we were going to buy more goods to resell back in China, and that the payment was in a bank account. So they were pressuring us for the money. The boss and I knew that if we asked for the money back, we were doomed, so we refused to budge.

Dai Jianguo sighed, "At that time, we felt that there was basically no hope. We were in a completely unfamiliar place, and we didn't know anyone in Almaty who could help us."

Actually, we had a feeling something was wrong two days before we were arrested. Some strangers were watching us at the hotel, so I was on guard and called home, thinking that if something really happened, you were the only one who could save us.

When I was selling things at the recycling station, I heard from Boss Li that you had friends in Almaty. I was just doing it as a precaution, but I never expected it would actually come in handy.

This reminded Li Long of the saying, "Opportunity always favors the prepared mind." It was only because Dai Jianguo had made a call beforehand that they might have actually died there.

His parents, however, could only search for their son without ever finding him alive or dead. This kind of thing happened more than once in the twenty years that followed.

Having gone through such an ordeal, Dai Jianguo has become more docile. He said that after returning, he still plans to engage in import and export trade, but he will honestly sell goods at the port and has no intention of going abroad again.

Those days of living in fear, being beaten and scolded every day—he remembered them for the rest of his life. Li Long felt that this was pretty good; although he didn't earn as much money as he would have abroad, at least he was relatively safe.

Dai Jianguo didn't stay at the factory for long. He also apologized to Li Long on behalf of his parents, saying, "My parents are not very knowledgeable and are just farmers. They had some misunderstandings about Boss Li and did some things that were not up to par. Please forgive them."

Li Long said half-jokingly, "No matter what, your parents are worried about you. As parents, they've gone to such lengths, how could we possibly blame them? Don't worry."

Dai Jianguo left, saying before he left that he would prepare a gift and ask Li Long to give it to Boss Liu. Because when they returned from Harbin, they were practically penniless, and it was Boss Liu who gave each of them some money; otherwise, they would have had a hard time getting home.

After Dai Jianguo left, Li Long opened the box of cigarettes, gave one carton each to Li Junfeng and Chen Qianjin, and planned to share some with his elder brother's family and save the rest.

In the afternoon, Li Long took some time to go to his elder brother's house. After leaving some cigarettes and alcohol, he called Chen Dajun from his brother's house to report the matter.

Chen Dajun took this matter very seriously and had Li Long recount it from beginning to end. Then he said to Li Long, "We'll be dealing with things like this quite often in the future. There are many Chinese people doing business there, and some of them will encounter problems. The embassy can't solve everyone's problems, so it's naturally the best if there are private organizations that can resolve these issues."

Chen Dajun told him to report any similar situations promptly, and Li Long agreed.

This is something meaningful, isn't it? (End of Chapter)