Chapter 1340
First sight of Dayu Mountain
Although he really wanted to grab a gun and head into the mountains right now to see if he could find the big tiger, Li Long knew it wasn't realistic. He had a lot on his plate and didn't have time to go into the mountains right now.
He just kept it to himself, thinking he'd go for a walk in the mountains when he had some free time.
These past two years I've been busy making money, opening factories, setting up experimental fields, selling cars, and so on, and I've rarely paid attention to things in the mountains anymore.
He used to go to the summer pasture several times a year, but now he doesn't even remember what the grass looks like there.
Back in the courtyard that evening, Li Long watched as Mingming and Haohao played with the two baby roe deer. He reminded them not to get hurt.
Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaoxia said, "Injured? It would be a miracle if they didn't kill those two little ones."
Mingming Haohao is a head taller and stronger than other children his age. Although the two roe deer are still wild and very wary of people, they will dodge when the two children approach and even nudge them with their heads.
However, Hao Hao was incredibly strong, and he had gained experience playing with roe deer and baby deer over the years. As a result, the two little guys not only couldn't hurt the two children, but were also in a position of being bullied.
Seeing that his two children had the upper hand, Li Long didn't say anything more. He had originally planned to bring up the story about the tiger at dinner, but then thought that his family would worry, so he didn't mention it.
Li Qingxia, the old man, didn't mention this matter either. I don't know if he forgot or if he had other ideas.
Gu Xiaoxia said with great interest, "Children's Day is in two days. School will give us a half-day off. What should we do with our two kids then?"
Li Long said, "What can you do in half a day? Let's take him to the team, or go for a walk in Shicheng West Park. It's too short. Otherwise, we could go to Wucheng; there are quite a few fun things to do there."
Upon hearing this, Mingming immediately said, "Let's go see Grandma and Uncle and Aunt. Let's all go to the team."
Hao Hao immediately agreed, and so the matter was settled.
Gu Xiaoxia originally thought that Li Long would take them into the mountains, but Li Long didn't mention it, so she didn't say anything.
Ms. Yang said with some worry, "Last time Mr. Liu came, the canned goods we had stockpiled were not taken away. Now there are almost 50 tons of canned goods piled up in the warehouse. The workers in the factory have started talking behind our backs, saying that our factory is having sales problems."
Li Long comforted him, saying, "This matter isn't as serious as you think. The main problem is the political situation in the Soviet Union; the person in charge isn't there, so we can't throw good money after bad."
When you have some free time, Sister Yang, could you hold a meeting with the workers and tell them that all these goods will be shipped out within a month?
Besides, we're not shortchanging our workers' wages, and we're still paying their bonuses, so they don't need to worry at all.
Gu Xiaoxia interjected, "It's normal for the factory workers to have a sense of ownership and worry about not being able to sell the products. They're doing it for the good of the factory. Actually, I think our cannery can try to open up more sales channels and not just rely on exports."
Sister Yang explained, "Actually, we also have two other channels. We distribute some to the mouth, and we also have our own stores."
The main issue is that our canned goods aren't competitively priced. We use high-quality ingredients, so the cost can't be reduced. While some people like them, most people are still focused on the price.
There's really no way around it. Pork prices are much lower in the region than in northern Xinjiang, and most people are used to eating pork. For many, eating beef or mutton is just a novelty.
Canned pork is relatively inexpensive, and most of it contains added starch. Canned pork that is purely braised pork is not popular in the market.
Therefore, although the cannery has other sales channels, the sales volume through these channels is very small, and the main products are exported to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.
Li Long also believed that even if Liu Shanmin didn't return and the channel for selling canned goods was cut off, the canned goods could still be sold there after the political situation there stabilized, although the profit would be lower.
So he wasn't in a hurry at all. These canned goods have a long shelf life, so he could just leave them there.
Of course, he also understood that he had become accustomed to the environment of his later life and had forgotten that the workers nowadays had a very strong sense of ownership. When the factory was not doing well, sometimes the workers were even more anxious than the factory manager.
So he also said to Sister Yang, "It was my oversight that I didn't consider everything. Sister Yang, please explain to them again during the meeting that I have arrangements in place, and those canned goods will not be stockpiled. They will definitely be sold later. Our factory has a bright future, so please rest assured."
Sister Yang smiled and said, "Uncle, I'm relieved to hear you say that. Tomorrow I'll gather everyone together and tell them about it so they won't worry."
After the meal, Li Long also reflected on himself. Although he had been reborn for 10 years, some of his mentality had not completely changed. At this time, the workers in the factory still had that kind of simple concept.
Although it was a private enterprise, the workers genuinely loved the factory and considered it their home. Unlike in later generations, where people simply worked for wages without a sense of belonging.
In fact, many companies in later generations have organized team building activities in order to create this sense of belonging. However, the whole society is changing. Not every company can become like Pang Donglai, nor is every company willing to distribute shares to workers. So, times have changed.
The next morning, after dropping Mingming and Haohao off at elementary school, Li Long drove to the team.
Having discussed it beforehand with several people in the cooperative, Xie Yundong would take Zhao Shijie to the field every morning after breakfast to watch the workers carry out their work.
The workers lived in tents set up next to the cotton fields, eating and sleeping there.
Zhao Shijie had once said that he would also live here if things didn't work out, but Li Long persuaded him otherwise.
As a supervisor, Li Long felt that Zhao Shijie didn't need to make things so difficult for himself.
Moreover, he jokingly said several times that these projects were all done by the cooperative itself, and the cooperative members were eager to make the quality even higher. After all, the land contracts were for at least 15 years, and according to Li Long's idea, the state would tacitly allow the renewal after they expired.
In that case, these lands will continue to be cultivated, and the better the supporting facilities are, the more beneficial it will be for them.
Zhao Shijie naturally understood this, so he readily agreed and moved into the cooperative. Every day, Xie Yundong or other members of the cooperative would take him to the construction site and bring him back at lunchtime.
Li Long also made it clear to the cooperative members that if Zhao Shijie said he wouldn't go to the construction site when they went to pick him up, then they could leave him to his own devices.
However, ever since Zhao Shijie arrived at Team 4, he goes to the construction site every morning. Although he comes back for lunch, he still goes in the afternoon.
When Li Long arrived at the cotton field, Zhao Shijie was in front of the pump house, which was half-built, watching the workers build the walls.
Hearing the car approaching, Zhao Shijie, wearing a straw hat, turned around and looked. After Li Long got off, he walked towards Li Long, pointed to the southwest side of the plot, and said, "I plan to build a branch canal directly from here to the main canal to the south after the pump house and filter are completed."
The branch canal currently used in the cotton fields is connected to the irrigation canal belonging to the eastern area. That irrigation canal irrigates several hundred acres of land in the east. Then, Li Long and his team built a 300-meter branch canal to bring the water over.
Of course, after diverting the water, a branch canal of about one kilometer was built across the edge of the field to cover the entire plot.
Li Long understood Zhao Shijie's meaning: the cooperative's land uses a separate branch canal, and if it is dug again, it will not affect the usual irrigation.
Once the repairs are complete, water will be drawn directly from the main canal, eliminating the need to compete with other plots for water. Currently, the water is being drawn from the end of a branch canal belonging to another plot, meaning we have to wait until those plots have finished irrigating before we can irrigate this plot.
Farming season waits for no one, so drawing water directly from the main canal is equivalent to using a dedicated canal, saving time and water.
Li Long understood Zhao Shijie's idea. This was a key project of the autonomous region. Although the funding was not much, Zhao Shijie wanted to make it a success and maybe even create a model project.
Zhao Shijie was in charge of the total amount of funds, so Li Long naturally had no objections.
Zhao Shijie continued, "The construction workers you found are skilled and do a solid job. I've talked to them, and they all have experience in canal construction, so this branch canal will be entrusted to them."
However, we still don't have enough manpower. The construction team is yours; you need to find some more people.
Li Long immediately said no problem.
"The pump house and filter will be finished in about a week," Zhao Shijie said, pointing to the construction site. "The branch canal construction will take about 20 to 9 days. The rest of the work can't be done yet. The main canal construction might not start until August or September, when the farmland will no longer need water, and then we can begin."
As for laying the main pipeline in the field, that can only be done after the cotton harvest, stalk threshing, plowing, and land leveling.
Li Long nodded again; he knew that was the whole process.
Zhao Shijie took off his straw hat and fanned himself as he said, "That's pretty much it. Anyway, I've been here for most of the year, and it's been incredibly boring."
So I have to tell you, I can go crabbing for a short time, but take me to the mountains when you have some free time. I'm doing you a job, so I can't get nothing in return, right?
Li Long said somewhat hesitantly, "Taking a stroll in the mountains isn't difficult, but hunting is probably out of the question. Firstly, those creatures in the mountains are now protected animals, and secondly, I've recently heard there might be tigers in the mountains, which is very dangerous, so we can't venture too far in." Upon hearing this, Zhao Shijie pulled his straw hat over his head, grabbed Li Long's arm excitedly, and asked, "What did you say? Tigers? How could that be? It's said that tigers haven't been seen in our Tianshan Mountains for fifty or sixty years; they're all extinct!"
Li Long knew he had spoken out of turn, but since it was just hearsay, he would tell him what he had heard: "Yesterday, when I was buying fritillaria bulbs at the purchasing station, I heard a herb gatherer from the mountains say that when he was collecting fritillaria bulbs in a ditch, he saw a big guy gnawing on a red deer. He said that the guy looked like a tiger!"
After listening, Zhao Shijie muttered to himself, "If it can eat a red deer, this thing must be quite big. If it looks like a tiger, it's definitely not a brown bear; if it's a big one, then it shouldn't be a gray wolf, nor a lynx. Hey, maybe it really is a tiger!"
Then he got excited: "Once this pump house is built, when we're ready to build the canal, the workers need to prepare the materials so we can go into the mountains!"
Li Long emphasized again, "It's dangerous! It's really dangerous!"
Zhao Shijie said nonchalantly, "Bring a gun! I don't believe you can't find one. Let's each take one, not to hunt, but just to see what it's like in the mountains. Even if we can only find a few tiger hairs, that'll do!"
Li Long was speechless. Zhao Shijie had already put it that way, so he couldn't very well refuse. To put it bluntly, Zhao Shijie's presence overseeing the project meant he was essentially working for him.
They didn't ask for anything else, just to take a gun and go for a spin in the mountains. That's not an unreasonable request at all.
Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then we'll drive in. I have a road that I built in the mountains, leading directly from the mountain pass to the summer pasture. With a car and guns, our safety should be basically guaranteed."
Zhao Shijie immediately laughed: "That's right, we're just going to the mountains to investigate, not to hunt protected animals or go to our deaths, so what's there to be afraid of?"
Li Long thought to himself, "Judging from your expression, if we really encountered a protected animal, you might be the first one to fire."
Having received Li Long's promise, Zhao Shijie decided not to even fish for crabs for the next couple of days, and instead focused on supervising the workers' construction.
Li Long went over and greeted Meng Hai, then called over seven or eight workers, all of whom were experienced and had participated in canal repair work.
These people arrived with trucks, found a suitable location, and began preparing materials. According to Zhao Shijie's standards, the branch canals had to be dug, the bottom and sides of the canals had to be paved with cement slabs, the top had to be leveled, and concrete had to be poured to ensure that they would not crack for at least several years.
The standards are very high.
Of course, the higher the standards he set, the more Li Long liked them, all for the benefit of his cotton fields; the higher the standards, the longer the time required.
After Children's Day, Li Long took Mingming and Haohao to play in Team 4 for half a day, and in the evening they had the traditional activity of catching crabs.
Although Hao Hao had several large mosquito bites on his body and his hand was pinched by a crab, the two brothers were still incredibly excited. Hao Hao was in a lot of pain from the crab pinch, but he didn't cry, which earned him praise from elders like Li Jianguo.
Du Chunfang was heartbroken. She held Hao Hao's pinched hand and kept blowing on it, saying, "My dear grandson, look how red the flesh is. You've suffered so much. Blowing on it will make it feel better."
Hao Hao was a little embarrassed. Li Long knew what his little rascal was thinking; he would definitely brag about it at school tomorrow, even though he had gotten his fingers caught in the sand, which would damage his heroic image.
On June 4th, Li Long drove his cruiser, taking Zhao Shijie to the mountains.
He had a five-six-and-a-half-ball himself, and borrowed another one from the township under the guise of being a leader of the autonomous region.
The township knew that his project was approved by the autonomous region, and that there were staff from the autonomous region here to supervise it, so they approved it very generously and even approved 200 rounds of ammunition.
Li Long's plan was to drive directly along the repaired road, from the mountain pass all the way to the summer pasture, and see whatever he encountered.
If you don't encounter it, then it's just bad luck.
This way, at least safety is guaranteed. After all, if something were to happen to Zhao Shijie, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
Everything went smoothly at first. After driving 78 kilometers along the road, Zhao Shijie told us to stop so he could relieve himself.
By this time, the scenery in the mountains was already quite beautiful. After passing through the previous few layers of earthen hills, the mountains on both sides of the road were now covered with shrubs, grass, and pine trees, making for a very pleasant landscape.
Li Long pulled the car over to the side of the road, intending to relieve himself as well.
When Zhao Shijie got out of the car, he was still carrying a gun. Li Long thought to himself that this guy was really timid.
Zhao Shijie walked into the ditch, and after relieving himself and fastening his belt, he suddenly pointed into the ditch and said, "Hey, there's something there!"
With a flick of his wrist, the gun was in his hand. He released the safety, cocked the bolt to chamber a round, and charged forward with the gun in hand!
Before Li Long could even release the water, Zhao Shijie shouted, and looking in that direction, a yellow shadow flashed in the bushes of the ditch. There really was something there!
Zhao Shijie handled the gun quickly, and Li Long was not slow either. With almost the same movements, he rushed over with his gun loaded with bullets.
The two took turns moving forward, and as Zhao Shijie charged, he asked Li Long, "Did you see what that was?"
Li Long kept a distance of three or four meters from him, saying as he ran, "It looks like a lynx, but the grass was too tall, so I couldn't see it clearly."
He was basically certain it was a lynx, but he couldn't be so sure in front of Zhao Shijie.
The guy wasn't running very fast; you could see the bushes swaying constantly as he darted westward, just twenty or thirty meters in front of the two of them.
After chasing him for about five or six hundred meters across half the ditch, Zhao Shijie's movements noticeably slowed down. Li Long then said, "Old Zhao, shall we stop chasing? This guy is running too fast, and he's in the grass, we can't see him at all, and we can't shoot him..."
Zhao Shijie said, panting heavily, "No, let's chase it a little longer. Look, this ditch is less than 300 meters away. The grass at the mouth of the ditch doesn't seem to be very thick. Let's chase it to that point. If we can catch up, great. If not, we'll give up."
Listening to the panting sound, Li Long thought to himself that this old Zhao was quite the show-off, but since he had said so, he might as well give chase.
For Li Long, this distance was like a leisurely stroll. He didn't actually want to hunt the lynx, as it would be difficult to explain if the forestry bureau heard about it.
Since Lao Zhao wants to pursue her, let's play along.
As they approached the mouth of the gully, the grass indeed thinned out and the shrubs decreased. But the yellow animal seemed to realize that danger had arrived, and suddenly began to accelerate. A yellow shadow darted out and immediately distanced itself from the two people.
Just as Zhao Shijie crouched down to fire, the yellow figure darted up to the edge of the ditch and flipped over.
Zhao Shijie ultimately did not fire. Although he slowed down, he still persisted in moving forward. Li Long thought he probably wanted to reach the top of the ditch and see what was on the other side.
A few minutes later, the two stood on the ravine, looking at the situation over there, speechless.
Completely different from the scenery here with grass, trees and shrubs, over there to the southwest is a barren rocky mountain, and further on the terrain rises, still a rocky mountain.
Unlike the earthen and rocky hills on the outskirts of Nanshan, this rocky hill is covered with gravel. A narrow path extends from the northwest to the foot of the rocky hill, and you can vaguely see some traces of human intervention at the foot of the hill.
"Where is that thing? There's nowhere for it to hide," Zhao Shijie asked, panting. "Where could it have gone?"
Li Long shook his head; his attention was drawn to the artificial traces, such as the shacks.
These buildings, which appear to have been inhabited, are quite old; I wonder how many decades ago they were.
Zhao Shijie only just noticed something and asked in confusion, "Was anyone ever alive here before?"
Li Long had good eyesight, and he saw something unexpected by the shack. When Zhao Shijie asked him about it, Li Long casually replied, "It must have been lived in a long time ago."
He wasn't telling the truth because he saw that, fifty or sixty meters away, among the rubble on the ground near those old shacks, there were large and small pieces of mountain jade.
In other words, these shacks were left behind by the jade miners of that time.
And the rocky mountain not far in front of us is the source of the legendary Mahe Jade. The entire mountain is made of jade!
P.S.: Let me explain. Today, the Writers' Association asked me to fill out a form. Also, Hongguo Publishing released a short drama that plagiarized my novel. After reporting to the editor, the editor asked me to make a color palette and then report it to the legal department.
This short drama has become a minor hit, with quite a few viewers, around 4000 million views. Given my current situation, it's not easy to work on the color palette, so I'm looking for people to work on it, hence the slightly late update.
I'd also like to let you know that the stitches have been removed and the wound is currently scabbing over. Thank you all for your concern. (End of Chapter)