Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1411 One Person Leads an Entire Village: A Massive Transformation, Reviewed by the Autonomou

Chen Dajun's words reminded Li Long of a term called social responsibility. In his spare time, he liked to read some miscellaneous books and had come across a quote from Mencius, the second sage, which said, "When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven."

Li Long doesn't possess extraordinary abilities, but he's willing to do things that can help others within his capabilities and without disrupting his own life. Sometimes, this might even save a life. Why not?

Of course, he wouldn't do such a thing on his own initiative. He would either have to ask someone to come to him, or he would have to call Liu Shanmin, who could easily rescue the person if he encountered a similar situation.

Because of this incident, Li Long even took some time to spend a few days at the purchasing station, chatting with the middlemen about gossip. He wanted to hear who among them was involved in import and export trade along the China-Kazakhstan border, and who had taken the risk of going directly to Kazakhstan to do business.

To his surprise, Lao Fan, who was one of the earliest people in this line of work, had always been very disciplined, staying only at the border and had never actually gone there. It seemed that Lao Fan was quite cautious.

On the contrary, there were a few young men similar to Dai Jianguo who were more adventurous and went to Panfinov and Almaty specifically to do business. Most of them were relatively safe. They went and quickly returned. A few others said they would go, but never came back.

As for why he didn't come back, whether it was because he made a fortune, fell on hard times and didn't want to come to the purchasing station to communicate with others anymore, or because he was arrested like Dai Jianguo, we don't know.

After learning about this situation, Li Long told the remaining people, those who planned to do business at the border or were already doing business there, about Dai Jianguo's situation, urging them to be careful. Of course, he didn't mention Dai Jianguo's name, only that such a thing had happened.

Some of those who listened were cautious, while others were skeptical. As for the outcome, Li Long didn't care too much. He had already done more than enough.

In early March, the ice and snow began to melt. Old Man Li Qingxia, feeling restless, decided to return to the purchasing station and start working behind the counter. Li Long told him about it, suggesting he chat with the middlemen whenever he had free time.

He didn't have time to deal with the purchasing station right now. The ice and snow were beginning to melt, and the original state of the cultivated land in the fields was gradually being revealed. These past few days, many more people had been coming to him to buy drip irrigation tape.

Now, he has to explain the technical points to others and also tell them how much drip irrigation tape to use per acre. Most people are quite good and will thank Li Long when they buy the drip irrigation tape. But there are also a few people who always feel that Li Long is explaining the technology to them so that they can buy drip irrigation tape.

Li Long was a little unhappy with their expressions and demeanor. He felt that he should be the one explaining things to them, so he simply handed over some of the work to Li Junfeng and Chen Qianjin, asking them to not only manage production but also to oversee the technical explanations.

Anyway, they've been listening to it every day, so they're used to it. Of course, the customers who are handed over to the two of them are mostly those who are self-important and not very humble. There's no need to be too polite to such people. Of course, Li Long also stipulated a prerequisite: the quality of the drip irrigation tape must be up to standard, just like when he made the big broom.

The factory has now hired some people from the team to do odd jobs, mainly carrying drip irrigation tape and raw materials. Young people like Tie Tou in the team are very happy because the wages are paid on a daily basis. It feels great to be able to get money every day.

On March 10th, just ten days after Mingming and Haohao started school, and with the snow and ice in the fields just melting, the large-scale land reclamation campaign began. All of the Li family's high-horsepower tractors were deployed: two to support the reclamation of the wasteland north of the tripod for Li Long's cooperative, while the rest were used to clear new wasteland. The rumbling sound echoed over the village.

Currently, plowing one mu (approximately 30 acres) of land costs over ten yuan. If you add leveling, harrowing, and sowing, the cost increases to over thirty yuan. Based on this calculation, the Li family's gross income from completing the spring plowing and sowing tasks for the entire fourth production team alone will exceed 30 yuan. This doesn't even include the land from other production teams; if they were, the figure would be enormous.

Of course, the Li family wasn't the only beneficiary. Two other cooperatives in the village also planned to plant drip-irrigated fields, and Wang Caimi's Dongfanghong 75 tractor was revitalized.

The newly reclaimed land and the original cooperative land all needed to be leveled, and he had to drive a tractor with bulldozers to do this work. Not only him, but even Li Qiang's uncle, Liang Wenyu, drove a tractor to the fourth team to participate in this large-scale land transformation activity.

After Li Junhai and the others arrived from their homes, Li Long told them about the possibility of getting them permanent residency. They were all overjoyed and worked even harder.

Now, tractors run almost 24 hours a day. Each high-horsepower tractor is staffed with two people who take turns working. Every two or three hours, the tractor is allowed to rest and cool down.

While the fourth production team was bustling with activity, the other production teams were relatively quiet. Sowing usually doesn't begin until April, so most people were currently preparing agricultural supplies, while some were still observing the situation.

The cooperative was also very busy. Tao Daqiang simply called his brother-in-law, Yang Yong, from the third team to help with the work. Of course, it was public work, and he would get paid every day.

The two villages are separated by a reed-lined ditch. Yang Yong eats lunch at his brother-in-law's house every day, works in the morning and afternoon, and goes home to sleep at night. His life is like a broken rift.

While working in the fourth team, you could feel that everyone was very busy. Of course, despite being busy, the smiles on their faces were evident; everyone was striving to get rich. Returning to my own village, it felt like something was missing—that vitality.

After he told Tao Daqiang about this feeling, Tao Daqiang laughed and said at the dinner table, "That's the difference. Let me tell you, our team has been like this since 83 and 84."

Back then, our team had several ways to make money that were different from other teams, all thanks to Brother Long. From that time on, the people on our team had higher aspirations than others, earned more money, and lived better lives.

Now, not only Brother Long, but also our cooperative and even your brother-in-law and I have become capable people in the village. Everyone is very enthusiastic when they see us. Whatever we do, others follow suit. Like now, with farming and land reclamation, and drip irrigation, look at how the whole village has been mobilized!

Let me tell you, after this year, almost every household will be able to achieve a comfortable standard of living. In two more years, every household will be able to afford a car.

Yang Yong was a little envious, and he couldn't help but say, "Brother-in-law, could you introduce me to someone in the village? I'd like to settle down in your village too."

Tao Daqiang laughed and said, "Don't ask me about this, go find your sister. She knows better than I do who in the village is suitable to date you."

Yang Pingping, standing nearby, said, "Let me take a look. There are quite a few girls around your age." She continued, "If you were to come to our village, what would your parents do? Wouldn't that be considered marrying into the family? Your parents would beat you to death!"

Yang Yong was very troubled. Tao Daqiang, on the other hand, smiled and said, "Actually, there is a way. First, let Xiao Yong come to live with us and be added to our household registration. Then we can introduce him to girls in our team. After he gets married, he can apply for a new homestead. Then we can bring your parents over."

Yang Yong immediately beamed and said, "Brother-in-law's idea is the best. Let's do it this way. I'll go back and discuss it with my family to see if we can register our household here as soon as possible. I think my parents will definitely agree."

Seeing that her younger brother was determined to register his household here, Yang Pingping didn't say anything. Yang Yong then asked Tao Daqiang how he knew so much about this.

Tao Daqiang said with a smile, "Brother Long has many relatives who want to settle in our team. He's tried many ways to do this. We're good friends, and I know about this; I hear about it often."

Look at how Brother Long has built roads for the team over the years, and then he carried out a large-scale transformation project of 10,000 mu of farmland. These things have been of great benefit to the team, which is why he was able to get a place to settle down.

"What about us? We don't have that kind of ability, but it's not impossible. If you want to register your household there, then do as I say, but you have to get your parents' approval first. We'll secretly register your household under our name, but if your family disagrees, then there will be troublesome conflicts."

Yang Pingping knew her younger brother was quite stubborn and difficult to change once he made up his mind. Therefore, she planned to take some time to go back to her parents' home and discuss the matter with them, to avoid her brother acting first and then informing them, leaving her and her husband in a difficult position.

Yang Yong was still immersed in the joy of settling down in the fourth team. In the past two years, he had felt the changes in the fourth team the most. Because he often went to his sister and brother-in-law's house, he could clearly feel that the per capita living standard in the fourth team was much higher than that in the third team, or even the highest in the whole township.

Tao Daqiang's prediction that every family would own a car in a couple of years wasn't impossible. He also knew the yield of cotton grown with drip irrigation. Now, not only Team Four, but some people in Team Three were also starting to plan to do the same. Moreover, Team Three had already established a cooperative, and although it wasn't as successful as Team Four's, it was clearly beginning to play a leading role.

At lunchtime, Liang Wenyu was just as comfortable as Yang Yong at Li Jian's house. However, his work was far more strenuous. Of course, the Li family's life was much better than the Tao family's; they had meat at every meal, and Liang Yuemei, now only in charge of logistics, cooked at least two or three dishes for each meal to supplement the family's nutrition.

Liang Wenyu drives a Dongfanghong 75 tractor, working alone, and earns money comfortably by leveling the land. He can earn one or two hundred yuan a day, although it's gross income. With cheap oil prices now, he's happy and efficient at making money.

Yang Yong wanted to settle in the Fourth Team? Liang Wenyu, on the other hand, envied the Fourth Team for having such a large area of ​​wasteland to cultivate. After learning that the Fourth Team was preparing to launch an application for a 10,000-mu farmland transformation project, his envy intensified.

As the secretary of the village's Youth League branch, he also paid close attention to the development of his village. His village was surrounded on all sides, with very little cultivated land, which limited its development, so it could only pursue a high-quality development path.

However, the county town is only so big, and the population is only so big. If more people grow vegetables, the price of vegetables will drop. After discussing it with his family, they also decided to grow drip-irrigated cotton. Since it's impossible for his village to carry out a large-scale drip irrigation transformation covering tens of thousands of acres, they would have to pay for the transformation themselves.

During the meal, Li Jianguo said to Liang Wenyu, "If you can't get the drip irrigation renovation subsidy over there, then renovate it yourself in advance. Contract more of the village's arable land, maybe two or three hundred mu."

In that case, you just need to find a pumping station, a filter pond, and since your village uses well water for irrigation, you can use a tractor to level the land yourself.

Drip irrigation for cotton yields high profits. Although it's labor-intensive, you can almost break even in one or two years and then continue using it. If we have a good method, we should implement it in advance without hesitation.

As the Youth League branch secretary, you should set a good example for the village. If things go well this way, your own family will improve, and others will follow suit, becoming role models. Look at Xiaolong in our village, for example.

To be honest, people used to look down on him, and the things he did were quite shameful. But later, he did better and better, especially after setting up the cooperative and the purchasing station, and that's when his role as a leader really came into play.

To be honest, if our village chief hadn't been in office for so long and had so much authority, some of the younger villagers would still be thinking of electing Xiaolong as the new village chief.

Liang Wenyu used to dislike Li Long. Back then, she always felt that he was dragging down her sister's family's standard of living. Although he wasn't exactly a good-for-nothing, he wasn't exactly a good person either.

I won't go into the details of what happened later. Liang Wenyu is now only thinking about doing her own business well as quickly as possible. She doesn't mind learning some theory, since others are doing it well and it's worth learning from them.

Liang Wenyu himself wanted the title of "Youth Leader in Getting Rich." Although the village's land area wasn't large, he only needed to contract two or three hundred mu (approximately 67-72 acres) collectively, then build pump houses and filter ponds, and plant drip-irrigated cotton. If he worked hard for two years, he would definitely become the envy of everyone.

Some villagers were still observing after watching the program on television. But Liang Wenyu knew that if she also hesitated, she would inevitably fall behind. In these matters, a delay of one step leads to a delay of every step. It was better to act sooner rather than later.

Li Long made three calls to Professor Yang before finally getting through. Professor Yang, after hearing from Li Long that he had tried calling repeatedly without success, said somewhat apologetically:

"Classes have just started these past two days, and there's been a lot going on. Actually, this is also related to you. Recently, many students have been asking about drip irrigation farming in class. A lot of people are researching it, and many people are asking about it after class as well, so we haven't been able to end get out of class on time."

Li Long then said, "Professor, what I really want to ask you is how the application process for the 10,000-mu farmland renovation project in our autonomous region is conducted."

Professor Yang laughed after hearing Li Long's words and said, "You've become addicted to applying for projects from the autonomous region, haven't you? But to be honest, this project is indeed worth applying for. By the way, does your village have more than 10,000 mu of arable land?"

Li Long stated definitively, "This year it has exceeded that. At the end of last year, the number of cultivated land mu was approximately 7000 mu."

This spring alone, our cooperative reclaimed 2000 mu of saline-alkali land to plant cotton. Other cooperatives and villagers have reclaimed over 1,000 mu scattered throughout, bringing the total cultivated land area to over 10,000 mu.

Professor Yang exclaimed, "Your family is truly impressive. You have over 10,000 mu of arable land in just one village. Only some companies in the Production and Construction Corps can compare to you."

As long as you have 10,000 mu of arable land, you can apply for this project. Let me tell you about the application process. A junior colleague of mine is in charge of this matter at the Department of Agriculture, so I'll inquire about it for you first. 10,000 mu of arable land is quite a large area. There aren't many villages that can apply for such projects now, so the competition shouldn't be too fierce.

Moreover, the autonomous region welcomes this kind of thing. Agricultural modernization and scientific farming are being vigorously promoted by the autonomous region's agricultural department, and the modernization of farmland is an indispensable part of this. Don't worry, as long as the cultivated land area meets the requirements, there won't be too much difficulty in the application process.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long was quite happy. Sure enough, it's easier to get things done if you have connections in high places. If he had to inquire on his own, he doesn't know how many twists and turns he would have had to go through to achieve the same result.

Although Professor Yang said that the autonomous region welcomes this kind of project application, it's easier to deal with the powerful figures behind the scenes than with the lesser ones. No one can guarantee that someone at any stage might object and cause problems.

Having lived through so many years, Li Long has a deep understanding of the good and evil in human nature. Just like Dai Jianguo's parents, even though he saved their son, they felt that he was taking advantage of their kindness.

Not to mention those who have any power at all. At this time, some people will inevitably use their power to make things difficult for others and enjoy the pleasure that comes from controlling others.

Don't assume that this kind of thing doesn't happen often; in fact, many service windows in small cities have experienced similar incidents to varying degrees.

After all, they've been through so much. What seems like a huge deal to others might just be as simple as lifting a finger, stamping a document, or signing a document to them.

The next day, Professor Yang called Li Long and told him about the application process. He said that he had already spoken with an acquaintance at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and that once Li Long's project application was submitted, it would enter the review stage as soon as possible.

"I need to confirm again that your 1 mu of land is real. When they review it, someone will come to measure it. If the acreage is not enough, the project will be rejected, and it will be a bit troublesome if you want to apply again next time."

Professor Yang specifically reminded Li Long: "This kind of thing is not something to joke about or be ambiguous about. Losing a hundred or two hundred acres might not be a big problem, but losing too much is definitely unacceptable."

Li Long said with a smile, "Professor, don't worry! The number of acres of land we have here will only increase, not decrease."

Li Long was absolutely certain of this. Back in 1, when the land was first allocated, his family's land was on the very edge. When he was plowing the land, he specifically told Wang Caimi to plow out the wasteland on the edge as well.

Nowadays, which family on either side of the large tracts of farmland hasn't reclaimed several acres, or even more than ten acres, of additional land? The team usually turns a blind eye to this, as long as it doesn't go too far, Xu Chengjun doesn't care.

Because it's a common practice, everyone does it this way, and no one complains. After all, everyone is focused on themselves and working hard to live their own lives well, so they don't have the time or inclination to complain about others.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long immediately drove to find team leader Xu Chengjun. When he arrived at Xu Chengjun's house, he found that Xu Chengjun was not there. Ma Hongmei said that Xu Chengjun had gone to the fields.

Li Long quickly got into the car, preparing to go to the field to look for Xu Chengjun. Ma Hongmei specifically told him that Xu Chengjun was in her newly reclaimed wasteland, and even pointed out the location of the wasteland to Li Long.

As Li Long drove towards the wasteland, he thought to himself, "Let's see what happens. Even the village head is working hard on this massive transformation of 10,000 mu of farmland. With him leading the way, the others are even more determined."

Upon arriving at the location, Li Long saw Xu Chengjun standing at the edge of the wasteland, talking to Chen Qianjin, who was on a high-powered tractor.

When Li Long walked over, Chen Qianjin had already started the engine and continued plowing the field. Xu Chengjun also saw Li Long, patted the dirt off his hands and asked, "Xiao Long, what brings you here? What's up?"

"We've already inquired about the project to transform 10,000 mu of farmland," Li Long said. "The Department of Agriculture has already given us instructions, and we've also finalized the application process. All you need to do is submit an application report detailing the actual acreage of the land."

"Our township needs to stamp the document, and then we report it to the county, saying that the autonomous region is already aware of it. This makes it easier to get approved."

"It's done so quickly?" Xu Chengjun was also pleasantly surprised. "Didn't we need to give gifts or anything? This would have cost at least several million yuan, wouldn't it? Isn't it a bit too easy?"

Li Long said with a smile, "Don't think too much about it. Just get the documents ready and submit them to the county."

The autonomous region hopes that similar projects can be implemented in rural areas across the region, but there are simply too few villages that can reach 10,000 mu (approximately 667 hectares). Of course, we don't know what might happen as the materials are submitted level by level. However, I will follow up promptly and ensure that the department pays close attention to this project.

After Li Long said that, Xu Chengjun felt relieved. After Chen Qianjin returned from plowing the field, he stopped the tractor, said a few words to Chen Qianjin and told him to plow well. Then he drove home with Li Long.

Drafting the application report and attaching relevant data were things Li Long didn't need to worry about; Xu Chengjun had been doing this for so many years, he could handle these things as village head.

He knew that if he did nothing, he would appear incompetent. After this matter came to light, a village meeting would be held to report it to everyone. Xu Chengjun also had his pride; if he had to rely on Li Long for everything, he might as well quit being the village head.

Xu Chengjun had served as the village head for so many years and still had some connections in the township. After the report was drafted, it had already been reviewed by the township.

After Li Long gave the instructions, the township quickly submitted the application to the county. The county agricultural bureau didn't hold back either; after stamping it, they put it in a file folder, submitted it to the prefecture, and then it was sent to the autonomous region.

In less than a week, the application report was submitted to the Department of Agriculture of the Autonomous Region and is now awaiting review.

The Department of Agriculture still remembered Li Long's village, after all, they had approved a drip irrigation project for him before, reviewed it once, and supervised the construction of the project.

However, this time it was a major project, so the staff took it seriously. Therefore, in late March, they gave the county approval and told the county that they would send a working group to the fourth team to verify the land area before the end of March.

The county government quickly issued the document to the township and instructed them to take it seriously. Upon receiving the document, the township immediately called Xu Chengjun. If township cooperation was needed, the township would send officials to accompany him.

Xu Chengjun neither presumptuously nor shirked his responsibility, saying that guidance from the county and township governments would definitely be needed.

After receiving the call from the township government, Xu Chengjun called Li Long and told him about the matter. He then told Li Long that he didn't need to handle the rest, as he knew Li Long was currently very busy at the drip irrigation plant.

The land survey was something that could be easily handled by him, other village officials, and village representatives. Li Long was happy to have some free time, but he reminded Xu Chengjun that when the work team from the autonomous region came to survey the land, they would definitely want to see the pump houses that had already been built, and Xu Chengjun would have to explain things to the work team properly.

Li Long knew that Xu Chengjun wasn't the type to discard someone after they'd served their purpose. As long as the work team didn't encounter any problems when they came to measure the land, and the project was approved afterward, then Xu Chengjun's promise regarding settling down would definitely be fulfilled.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long talked to Meng Hai about other things in his office.

The drip irrigation tape factory has been extremely busy lately, with a constant stream of people coming to buy drip irrigation tape. Because Li Long had previously only given the phone number of the purchasing station to outsiders, people who wanted to find Li Long had to call the purchasing station first, then the purchasing station would call his older brother's house, and finally contact Li Long, who was working at the drip irrigation tape factory, which was quite troublesome.

So, Li Long simply installed a telephone for the drip irrigation tape factory, then placed an advertisement on the county television station and issued a notice. This way, anyone still wanting to buy drip irrigation tape could simply call the factory.

The drip irrigation tape factory is currently operating at almost full capacity, but it still can't meet the demand.

Meng Hai's main purpose in coming here was to lead the workers to build pump houses and filter beds for other farmers and cooperatives in need. Actually, these things don't require much technology; anyone who can build a house can do it. However, everyone felt it was better to let professionals do it.

After all, Meng Hai led the team that built the pump house for Li Long's cooperative, and the villagers trusted him quite a bit.

Meng Hai brought a large number of people because this time, the village alone needs to build seven pump houses and filter pools at once, which is quite a large project.

Meng Hai came to see Li Long mainly to report on another matter: looking for opportunities in the Urumqi-Kuytun Expressway project. Meng Hai had made some progress in his contacts.

He held up a stack of documents, showing them to Li Long while saying somewhat apologetically, "We entered this industry a bit late, we don't know enough people, and our network isn't wide enough. A significant portion of them were introduced to me by you, boss, like those in the road maintenance section."

However, through these people, I did manage to contact some relevant companies, and after going through several layers of introductions, I managed to secure a small project. The truly large projects were subcontracted to more established companies. From this perspective, we still need to work harder and continue our efforts.

Li Long then asked, "What project did you get?"

Meng Hai pointed to the stack of documents and said, "It's a highway guardrail project. We've secured a section of it, with a bid of three million. However, only 20% of the funds will be disbursed initially; we'll have to advance the rest."

Li Long took the documents and looked them over, saying as he read, "Advancing funds is no problem. Have you signed a contract? As long as there's a proper contract, that's fine."

Meng Hai said, "The contract has been signed, boss, you can rest assured on that point. The other party is indeed qualified."

Li Long smiled and said, "As long as we have a contract, we can get a loan from the bank with the contract. The country is very open about this now. If there is a project, and it is a national project, then the bank will recognize that and we can get a loan."

In his memory, in this era, getting involved with highways was basically a guaranteed way to make money. Of course, Li Long didn't care about how much he made; what he cared about was reputation and experience. As long as he could do this job well, the engineering company would have the confidence to take on other projects in the future.

Since the project has not yet started and is only in the preliminary demonstration and preparation stage, there is no rush to raise funds or prepare loans.

In his previous life, he vaguely heard that when this highway was being built, there was a person who had a good relationship with the construction company, who had never done this before, but had a strong ability to execute.

Then the construction company awarded him one of the contract sections. It is said that after completing that one section, he made tens of millions of yuan.

After all, highways were said to cost 100 million yuan per kilometer back then. As for whether these rumors are true or false, or how much is true and how much is false, that's hard to say. Just listen to these things and move on.

Once the contract is signed, there's basically no chance of anything changing. Li Long told Meng Hai to prepare well. After all, their engineering company had never handled anything like this before.

First, you need to contact a factory that can make standard-sized railings. If that's not possible, you can build one yourself. These kinds of railings that require machine pressing are supposedly easy to make as long as there's a standard. Of course, this is the understanding of laymen like Li Long. How to actually do it is Meng Hai's problem to solve.

Meng Hai was also ambitious at this time. He told Li Long that he planned to do the same. There was still plenty of time to prepare, so he would first contact suitable factories. If there were any, that would be best; if not, then his idea was the same as Li Long's: to build one himself.

Anyway, there will definitely be no shortage of buyers for this kind of product in the future, and if you build your own factory, you can guarantee the quality and the production process will be relatively smooth.

Having acquired this, a small part of a famous project in northern Xinjiang, even if it was only a tiny fraction, both Li Long and Meng Hai were overjoyed.

Normally, whether it's repairing roads, houses, building pump stations, or installing sluice gates, these are all considered minor tasks. Only when they participate in a major national project, even if it's just a tiny, insignificant part, is it something for Li Long and Meng Hai to celebrate.

Like taking the first step in a long march, the rest is easier. All the work done beforehand, like laying the foundation, is nothing. Now is the real beginning.

Therefore, after speaking with Li Long, Meng Hai left a person in charge here to oversee the construction of the seven pumping stations. He himself returned to the county to begin preparatory work.

At this point, he realized that his company still lacked technical personnel and needed to recruit more. Of course, the number of workers was also insufficient.

Actually, Meng Hai and Li Long were underestimating themselves a bit. Their company already had a certain reputation in the county. Coupled with Li Long's celebrity endorsement and the numerous projects they had undertaken in the past two years, people had been frequently approaching them to discuss business since the beginning of spring.

Although they are all small jobs, such as building a house or repairing a small road in an alley, there are quite a few jobs when you add them up, so there is a shortage of workers.

Meng Hai plans to recruit another batch of people. He didn't mention this to Li Long, and it wasn't a big deal.

On Tuesday, March 29th, a working group from the Department of Agriculture arrived in the county. They were warmly received by the county's Agriculture Bureau staff, had lunch in the county, and then traveled to the townships in the afternoon.

The deputy township head in charge of agriculture accompanied them, and Xu Chengjun followed along. After listening to the work team's briefing in the township, Xu Chengjun also reported on the situation in the village.

The work group planned to stay at the township guesthouse and then go to the villages every day to measure the land. Originally, the township was supposed to provide vehicles, but Xu Chengjun patted his chest and took on the task, saying that their village could provide transportation to and from the village.

The deputy township head didn't stand on ceremony and introduced the village to the work team, saying, "Their village has a relatively high standard of living and is almost at the level of a moderately prosperous society. They have almost ten cars in the village, more than the township."

After the deputy township head's introduction, the work team became quite curious about the village.

Xu Chengjun also said with a smile: "It is because of the good policies of the country and the Party that our village has a lot of land, and the villagers are hardworking and prosperous, that we have the current standard of living."

The working group members laughed when they heard this. If an official had said this, it might have sounded rather insincere, but when Xu Chengjun, who looked like an old farmer, said it, it sounded different and very fitting.

The work group plans to visit the village this afternoon. The township officials suggested they rest first, but the work group leader said the trip is scheduled for a tight schedule and they need to measure as soon as possible.

So Xu Chengjun called the village and asked Xie Yundong to drive over quickly. Their two cars would be enough to transport the six members of the work team.

About ten minutes later, Xie Yundong's car arrived. One of the more knowledgeable members of the work group smiled and said, "This village looks very red; all the cars are Soviet-made."

Before Xu Chengjun and Xie Yundong could speak, the deputy township head explained that there was a very capable young man in their village named Li Long who was engaged in import and export trade with Kazakhstan, a significant part of which was importing used cars. He remarked with emotion, "Our township even has cars donated by Li Long; he's a very good young man."

The people from the Agriculture Department were no strangers to Li Long. However, they didn't offer any explanation here. They exchanged smiles, got into their car, and headed towards the Fourth Team.

As you walk along, you can see some people already busy in the fields, and some wasteland being reclaimed. But overall, there aren't many people working in the fields along the section from the township to the fourth team's reed ditch.

But once past the reed gully and into the territory of the fourth team, it was immediately apparent that the situation on both sides was completely different. The roar of tractors could be heard from a great distance. Some were driving tractors carrying agricultural supplies to the fields, while others were already busy in some wastelands, and still others were hauling loads of manure to the fields for fertilization.

One of the working group members, watching, remarked, "Hey, I feel like we're back to the Great Production Movement again."

Back then, everyone was very enthusiastic and worked with great passion, just like now. All sorts of tools were busy transporting fertilizer to the fields, though there weren't nearly as many tractors back then.

Those who had participated in the Great Production Movement nodded in agreement. The young people who hadn't participated looked curiously at the people working in the fields on both sides. They had come all the way from Wucheng, and the busy farming work on both sides of the road hadn't really started yet. Now, the Fourth Team seemed like an anomaly, but the lively scene of labor was quite touching.

The head of the work group in the township said that today's main purpose is to see which plots of land the fourth team has, and then determine how to measure them.

By this time, the wasteland had been cleared, and the tractors in the fields were mainly doing tasks such as leveling, cutting, and harrowing. Some wasteland was also being used for irrigation canal construction.

The car drove between the various plots of land. In fact, now that the total arable land has exceeded 10,000 mu, there is not much uncultivable wasteland left in the village.

Over the years, as they reclaimed wasteland, they gained experience. Long paths were left along the edges of large plots of wasteland to allow tractors to travel. Otherwise, transporting agricultural supplies and working in the fields would be impossible.

As the car was turned to the tripod, the two thousand acres of newly reclaimed land of the cooperative were being flooded with water.

One of the work group members immediately asked, "Isn't it a bit too early to water them?"

Xie Yundong then explained it to them. Not all the people from the Agriculture Department knew anything about farming, and they nodded in understanding after listening to Xie Yundong's explanation.

Because his main task was to ensure the work team measured the land, Xie Yundong didn't say much. He answered whatever the work team asked, but nothing more.

After visiting several large plots of land, the car returned to the residential area and stopped at the team headquarters. The members of the work group who got out of the car bumped into each other and got a general understanding of the situation.

They do this kind of thing often, so they have a general idea of ​​the land area. Therefore, they already had a good idea of ​​what to expect from this land measurement and verification trip.

Xu Chengjun and Xie Yundong smoked on the side, observing the expressions of the work group as they smoked. Both of them were seasoned veterans; although they didn't hear the work group members speak, they roughly understood from their expressions that the matter was basically settled.

However, Xu Chengjun still had some concerns. The members of his work team, while passing the cooperative's drip-irrigated fields, had inquired about the area covered by the pump stations.

He was worried that if the working group members excluded the completed drip irrigation projects from the 10,000 mu (667 hectares) list, it would cause problems for their village to apply for the project. Now they were just waiting for the working group members to speak.

I hope my worries are unnecessary.

PS: As usual, here are a few pictures.

Today is the first day of our Eid al-Adha holiday. Wishing all our book lovers a happy holiday!

This is the sheep slaughterhouse in our neighborhood. They slaughtered more than a dozen sheep early this morning, the big-rumped kind. I guess many people saw the sheep that ran away on the roads and highways today because they weren't properly tied up. I can only say that the skills of these slaughterhouses have declined. There weren't so many problems a few years ago.

This is also for holidays.

Come on, take a look at these lavender fields photographed in the city.

As I said before, no payment for anything under 200 words. (End of Chapter)