Chapter 1351
Liu Shanmin, this expert, isn't so pure.
After breakfast the next morning, Li Long drove to Team 4.
After passing Weigou and the western settlement, Li Long went to the home of team leader Xu Chengjun first.
Xu Chengjun had just finished eating and was digesting his food in the yard when he saw Li Long drive over. He guessed that Li Long had come because of what happened yesterday.
After Li Long pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out into the yard, Xu Chengjun asked him, "Have you heard about what happened yesterday? I bet you were coming over soon."
Li Long stuffed a bag of Russian candy and a European-style scarf into his hands, and said with a smile, "I've heard about it, I've heard about it. Captain, you're as impressive as ever. You even fired a shot. I hope the village hasn't given you any trouble?"
Xu Chengjun took the things and looked at them, then said politely, "You came all this way, why did you bring anything? What's all this?"
"Russian candy, let Mingwa try some. This scarf is from Europe, sister-in-law can wear it when you go out, it's quite fashionable."
"Alright, I won't stand on ceremony then." Xu Chengjun took the things and placed them on the table in the yard, then said:
"How could you say that about me? Those bad bears came to our territory and ran wild. Are we going to let them bully people? We are a village collective. Even though you contracted that small lake, it is still our village's reservoir."
Yesterday, those bastard village chiefs called me and said we went a bit too far, and two of them seemed to have broken bones.
I immediately cursed back, saying these bastards deserved it! Coming to our territory to catch fish and crabs, they should behave themselves.
And what happened was even worse! Not only were they not behaving themselves, they even bullied the children. Are they taking advantage of the fact that our team has no one to rely on? It's only because we live in a society governed by law these past two years; ten years ago, I'd be afraid people would say I wasn't tough enough if I didn't break two legs!
Li Long laughed. Although Captain Xu Chengjun had his flaws, after working for a long time, he inevitably got his hands dirty with oil and grime, and even let his relatives skim some profits.
However, they remain quite assertive in external affairs. In disputes involving villagers, they consistently stand on the side of the village and can even use their connections to secure benefits for the village.
Nobody's perfect, but overall it's pretty good.
Xu Chengjun added, "Besides, we can't forget how much money you made for our team in those two years. Hao Hao is such a well-behaved kid, and Qiang Qiang is college material. If those two kids get bullied in their neighborhood, I, as the team leader, might as well kill myself."
Listen to this; whether he's sincere or not, this captain just speaks so sweetly. The once tough demobilized soldier has now learned to say nice things.
Li Long smiled and chatted with the team leader for a while longer. Xu Chengjun was quite interested in his drip irrigation project and kept Li Long asking him questions for quite some time.
When Ma Hongmei came out of the kitchen, Xu Chengjun gave her the scarf, saying that Li Long had brought it over.
"Xiaoxia asked someone to buy them, and she bought a few extra," Li Long explained.
Ma Hongmei happily held up the scarf, gesturing from side to side, and said, "Hey, Xiaoxia really has good taste, she's a city person after all. This scarf must have been expensive."
Li Long said, "I don't know the price either. It was brought over by a friend from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. We bought it from their capital, Almaty. Sister-in-law, just put it on and don't worry about the price."
Mingwa came out of the house with a smile, but Xu Chengjun said with a stern face, "Your Uncle Li Long is here and you don't even greet him? This kid is getting more and more unruly. Look, he even brought you foreign candy. Aren't you going to thank your Uncle Li Long?"
Li Long waved his hand and said, "Kids this age are all like this. I was the same when I was this age. I didn't understand social etiquette and didn't know how to greet guests when they came to my house. We'll take it slow."
Xu Chengjun didn't intend to scold his son, but since the other party had brought gifts, he felt he should be hospitable.
After Li Long said that, he readily agreed and let Mingwa take the bag of candy into the house, giving him a special reminder not to eat it all at once.
Then Xu Chengjun continued to inquire about the application process for the drip irrigation project and whether planting in this way could make money.
He was clearly very interested as well.
Li Long guessed that Xu Chengjun must know that the experimental field in the township yielded more than 300 kilograms of cotton per mu, which was why he was so interested.
So he explained the process in detail, especially the fact that, currently, if the price of drip irrigation tape doesn't come down, it's difficult to make money growing cotton using drip irrigation.
Xu Chengjun sighed, then asked, "If your drip irrigation tape factory sells the drip irrigation tape to us at a higher price, and we use this drip irrigation method for farming, will we be able to make a profit?"
Li Long answered honestly, "If we can secure a project from the autonomous region, I can sell the drip irrigation tape I produce to you at cost price, and we can still make a profit."
Actually, I'm also waiting for the price of raw materials for drip irrigation tape to drop. I heard that a large petrochemical plant is going to be built in Dushanzi in two years.
The price of raw materials for producing plastic granules might drop then, and the cost of drip irrigation tape could fall to 3 cents or even lower. At that point, drip irrigation farming would definitely be profitable.
Xu Chengjun sighed, "We still have to wait two more years. But we'll wait, it's not like everyone can get this project approved. I'll go and inquire first. If we can get it approved, things will be much better for us in this regard."
Of course, I'll need to ask you for advice then. Hey, I've discovered you're a real expert at making money, doing business, dealing with machinery, and even farming! Luckily, you didn't stay long at the food factory in Wucheng back then. If you had, our village would have suffered a huge loss, haha!
Xu Chengjun laughed as he spoke, and Li Long quickly waved his hand:
"Captain, please don't flatter me. I've only gotten this far thanks to the good policies of our Party and a bit of luck. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it this far."
Xu Chengjun didn't continue the topic and asked Li Long what to do about Xiaohaizi's situation.
Li Long said that fishing would be banned from now on, and that two signs would be put up at the intersection and by the small lake, charging each person 100 yuan to fish. That way, no one would come, and it would save trouble.
Xu Chengjun thought this was fine, since Li Long would definitely not care if the villagers used nets to catch fish, and the villagers would certainly not do such a messed-up thing.
When too many outsiders come, disputes are really likely to arise, so it's better to simply offer a high price to discourage them from leaving.
Xu Chengjun said he would take care of the sign. Anyway, the team still has some money, and the materials for the sign are readily available. All they need to do is have the accountant write the words.
After chatting for a while, Li Long said goodbye and drove to Lao Ma Hao.
Yang Laoliu had already gone to herd the sheep. Li Long then told Uncle Luo:
"Old Yang did a really good job yesterday. Let's slaughter a few sheep today to treat everyone."
Uncle Luo naturally had no objections; the cattle and sheep belonged to Li Long, and they were mainly responsible for grazing them. Actually, they usually wouldn't slaughter sheep unless Li Long gave the order. However, Li Long would slaughter a few every few days, so the old folks never lacked meat.
Life is so much better than before, and the elderly people feel really bad about it.
However, Li Long told them to get used to it, saying that better days were yet to come.
Li Long didn't need to worry about slaughtering sheep at all. In the city, people in their sixties could retire, but in the countryside, they were still in their prime. Over the years, raising sheep and cattle had honed their sheep-slaughtering skills.
Since the sheep had already been driven out to graze, the slaughtering would have to wait until noon. Li Long chatted with Uncle Luo for a few minutes, and then went to his elder brother's house.
Xie Yundong and the others were all there. Li Qiang was playing in the yard with Mingming, Haohao, and Hongqin.
Li Long guessed that after what happened yesterday, his older brother and sister-in-law probably wouldn't let them go far.
It's okay if it's just Li Qiang alone, but with Mingming, Haohao, and Hongqin, the children are too young and it's easy for them to be in danger.
Seeing Li Long drive over, Xie Yundong said with a smile, "I knew you would come. Don't worry, the child is fine."
“That’s right,” Xu Haijun added, “I heard you went to Kui City to pick up some goods? What big stuff did you bring back this time?”
“A cotton harvester,” Li Long said. “A machine for harvesting cotton.”
"Cotton harvested by machine?" Xie Yundong was somewhat surprised. At that time, most farmers didn't know what a cotton harvester was, but as the head of the cooperative, he was pleasantly surprised to hear this.
"Can we use it? If we can, that would be great. Every year during cotton harvest, we have to haul people and do the accounting, it's such a hassle. If we could use machines to harvest, our lives would be so much easier!"
“We can’t use it for now,” Li Long said, shaking his head. “Cotton harvesters need specific row and plant spacing, as well as a dedicated cotton ginning plant.”
Not only is the narrow-film cotton we're growing now substandard, but the equipment used by cotton and linen companies isn't clean enough either. It will be several more years before cotton harvesters are used in the fields.”
"It won't work." Xie Yundong was a little disappointed when he heard that it wouldn't work.
Li Long comforted him, saying, "Just like how we're going to use drip irrigation to grow cotton next year, I've been planning this for several years, and it won't be possible until next year."
The same goes for cotton harvesters; it takes time. Don't rush, take it one step at a time.
Li Long wasn't in a hurry. Firstly, the timing wasn't right, and secondly, it wasn't the peak season for cotton picking labor demand. When the demand really peaked, even if you had money and drove around trying to find workers, you might not be able to get any.
During that period, some members of the team went to Wucheng Railway Station to scavenge people, otherwise no one would have been able to pick up the cotton from their homes. That was the most intense time.
Just think about the time when first and second graders had to work part-time picking cotton to earn money, and you'll know how scarce labor was back then.
Li Jianguo interjected, "We were so lucky to have the Navy yesterday. If Qiangqiang hadn't run into them, things would have been a bit more complicated."
Xu Haijun said modestly, "It just so happens that I came back. Actually, it doesn't matter who I met. If Lao Xie were here, it would definitely be the same. Our team hates outsiders bullying our members the most, and I just happened to be there."
Li Long smiled and said, "Then I have to thank you. I just told Uncle Luo and the others that when they come back from herding the sheep at noon, they'll slaughter a few sheep, and each of you can take a leg of lamb back with you."
"Speaking of which, I really have to thank Lao Yang. I'd only ever heard him brag about it before, I'd never actually seen it myself," Xu Haijun said sincerely this time.
"Now I understand. Don't underestimate him just because he's old. He single-handedly held off a dozen or so of them and didn't let those bastards get the better of him!"
Liang Dacheng, who was standing nearby, said, "Qiangqiang is also great. He knows how to protect his younger siblings. Hey, that's really good!"
Jia Weidong nodded repeatedly.
Tao Daqiang looked at Li Qiang, who was playing with Mingming and Haohao, with an unreadable expression. Once upon a time, his brother Tao Dayong had also taken him out to play, and in any situation, he would always be there to protect him.
But later... sigh!
Li Long took several sheathed scimitars from the car and said:
"When I went to pick up the equipment, my friend brought some gadgets from Kazakhstan. This is a craft curved knife with a handle made of antelope horn. It's not sharpened yet, but I can sharpen it myself when I get back."
The blade is made of industrial steel, which is difficult to sharpen, but it sharpens very quickly.
Then they each gave one.
Including the eldest brother, Li Jianguo.
These people, holding knives, all looked on curiously.
The antelope horn has been processed, with most of the grain removed, leaving only a little to prevent it from slipping when held.
A handguard was added where the ram's horn connects to the blade. The overall shape of the knife is somewhat like a mutated "f", with a slight curve at the bottom.
very beautiful.
Li Long then took out something and handed it to Xu Haijun: "Haijun, you can take this and play with it."
Xu Haijun took it and looked at it, guessing, "It's so big, this is... a bear paw?"
"Well, to be precise, they're bear claws," Li Long said half-jokingly. "They're from a big brown bear. Don't they look kind of pretty?"
Everyone else gathered around to look, and they found the bear claw quite unusual.
Xu Haijun knew this was a thank you for the hospitality he had shown the day before, so he happily accepted it.
When Mingming and Haohao saw their father arrive, they ran over to greet him. Li Qiang, feeling a little embarrassed, also came over and called out "Uncle."
He felt embarrassed that his reckless behavior had put his younger siblings in a dangerous situation.
Li Long said with a smile, "Qiangqiang is not bad. Here, take this scimitar. It's not sharpened, but play with it."
Then he went to get some candy and chocolate and asked Li Qiang to share them with his younger siblings.
Since Li Juan wasn't there, Li Long gave his sister-in-law the scarf he had brought, and she kept it.
As for his mother, Li Long also took a scarf, a bag of snacks, and two bottles of Yili Laojiao liquor.
My mother, Du Chunfang, drinks a little every day and has a bit of a sweet tooth, so she really likes the things Li Long brought over.
Xie Yundong and the others were very interested in the cotton harvester and wanted Li Long to tell them more.
Li Long shared what he could say at the moment, essentially painting a rosy picture in advance.
Although cotton harvesters are not yet usable, drip irrigation technology will be available for farming next year.
According to Li Long, drip irrigation farming would be simpler, and everyone is looking forward to it.
They ate lunch at their older brother's house, and after that, Li Long and the others went to Lao Ma Hao.
Upon seeing Li Long, Yang Laoliu chuckled and said, "I knew you were coming. Hey, we're in for a treat!"
Uncle Luo, while cleaning up the drain, said to him, "What? It's like you don't eat enough meat."
Let me tell you, even if I hadn't worked with you, your old company couldn't have afforded as much meat as we do now!
“That’s right!” Old Yang admitted. “Not to mention mine, even my superiors can’t eat meat and fish every day.”
Li Long also told Yang Laoliu about the fishing ban on Xiaohaizi, and that the team would make two signs to remind people of this.
"Exactly, we can't let those fishermen come over!" Yang Laoliu got angry at the mention of those fishermen. "They're all here fishing and taking advantage of others, but when those people bullied Qiangqiang and the others, not one of them stood up for them. Cowards!"
“Once you get to the dam, set up your fishing gear and start collecting money. It’s 100 yuan per person. If they don’t pay, you leave your gear behind,” Li Long said. “If you have a lot of people, just go to the team and call them. After doing this a few times, those people will stop coming.”
"Hey, don't worry!" Yang Laoliu said, "I couldn't handle more than a dozen people yesterday, but three or five won't be a problem!"
Li Long felt he needed to re-evaluate his opinion of Yang Laoliu.
The mutton was easy to divide; Xu Haijun and the others each got a leg of lamb. The mutton chops and other cuts were mainly left for the eldest brother's family, their own family, and Lao Ma's side.
As for the offal, anyone who wanted some could take it home. Xie Yundong liked to eat lamb tripe, so he took a piece.
Knowing that his sister-in-law liked to eat sheep lungs and blood, and that Li Qiang and Li Juan liked to eat sheep tripe, Li Long gathered them all together and distributed them to his elder brother.
As for his own home, besides a legless crocodile, he also took a whole set of offal, intending to take it back and cook it as soon as possible.
After returning home, Gu Xiaoxia helped Li Long clean up the mutton. She finally got a short rest when the phone rang.
Li Long answered the phone; it was his second brother, Li Anguo, calling.
“Xiaolong, you don’t know, this Ajinbek is such a troublemaker!” Li Anguo complained. “In his eyes, my oil refinery is utterly useless!”
Li Long laughed; this was perfectly normal.
Think about what level they are at, why would they be interested in a small factory like yours that's like a workshop?
However, with Akinbek's guidance, Li Long felt that his second brother could take this opportunity to reorganize the factory and make it more standardized so that it could continue to develop in the future.
"He told me to tell you to get two more sets of equipment from over there, bigger and more advanced ones. He said Liu Shanmin knows about it," Li Anguo continued.
He said that since a lot of oil is delivered every time, it would be better to expand the scale of the refinery, otherwise it would not be worthwhile to operate on such a small scale.
He also imposed a lot of regulations on my factory, which annoyed my workers quite a bit.
"Then what are you going to do?" Li Long asked his second brother.
"Of course I'll listen to him," Li Anguo said with a smile. "I'm not stupid! Just look at the attitude of those people in the community, and I know this guy is definitely not simple!"
Although he has many requirements, he is truly knowledgeable. He can point out the problems that are not being handled well in my factory.
Especially regarding safety hazards, to be honest, I really didn't expect the factory to be so dangerous! I followed his instructions step by step and just finished.
I also noticed that this person is a pragmatist; he didn't let me waste any time at all. He addressed the problems he identified according to their level of danger, tackling them with a decisive and efficient style!
Li Long laughed; at least his second brother was clear-headed about this.
"By the way, another reason I think he's so capable is that a city leader came to see this expert this morning," Li Anguo said softly.
"It seems that one of this expert's classmates is currently in Beijing. Upon hearing that he was coming, they specifically called to ask their superiors to visit him..."
Li Long sighed and said:
"Second brother, did you write down everything that the expert said?"
"Of course!" Li Anguo said proudly. "Let me tell you, I've made up my mind. I'm going to resign tomorrow. I'm not going to do the work at the construction and installation company anymore; I can't handle it."
Li Long didn't expect his second brother to finally make up his mind, and he didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Okay, then remember this well. This expert who is specifically instructing us is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito for our oil refinery. It only takes a little effort."
"Since you're focusing on running the oil refinery, I'll talk to Boss Liu and arrange for a stable 100 tons of crude oil to be delivered every month. We'll just keep doing this steadily." "Great, great," Li Anguo was naturally happy, and then added:
"Xiaolong, you should also keep the equipment issue in mind. I've already applied to the community to expand the factory area. Before the equipment arrives, I'll get the infrastructure in place first, and then we just wait for the equipment."
“Okay, don’t worry, I’ll talk to Boss Liu about it tomorrow.” Li Long agreed, and then said, “Make sure Ajinbek has a good living and food supply.”
"Don't worry, everything is well taken care of," Li Anguo said with a smile. "This guy even said he didn't want any special treatment, but I told him that a great expert like him should enjoy such treatment, and then he stopped talking."
It's clear he's not doing well over there.
After chatting for a few more minutes, Li Long hung up the phone and sighed. He figured that Akinbek probably wouldn't stay at the oil refinery for much longer.
An expert of this caliber has already alarmed people in Beijing; they must be at the ministerial level or higher.
He's incredibly talented, so the country will definitely make good use of him. It's impossible to keep such a great expert holed up in a small oil refinery as a technical advisor; that would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
I just hope that after he leaves, he will remember the kindness he showed me during this time, and that when Li Anguo encounters problems and might need to go to him, he won't refuse.
The next day, Li Long went to the hotel and found Liu Shanmin.
When Liu Shanmin heard from Li Long that he needed better oil refining equipment, he naturally agreed. He said that a petrochemical plant near his oil field had some, and he could have it delivered directly.
Li Long naturally disagreed, since they still needed to use that oil field.
His idea was to buy directly from the market. Since the major European companies hadn't officially intervened in the situation in Kazakhstan yet, there were plenty of people wanting to sell their equipment for supplies.
Why take apart your own things?
Liu Shanmin thought Li Long was right and said he would do it when he got back.
As for guaranteeing 100 tons of crude oil per month, that's a piece of cake for Liu Shanmin.
The convoy has almost finished unloading its cargo. The main issue is that they didn't haul much antelope horn this time.
The grain from the Kazakh republics hasn't arrived yet, so there's a food shortage. There are a lot of hunters. Liu Shanmin can collect some, but there are too many scattered hunters who skin the antelopes, chop off their heads, and only take the meat.
It's rather troublesome to put away these ram horns.
The same goes for leather.
Liu Shanmin promised Li Long that he could make more when he came back next time.
Li Long didn't care too much, since there are many ways to make money, and this wasn't the point.
Moreover, he now has tens to nearly a hundred tons of antelope horns in stock.
The courtyard was already too small for their own house, so the remaining supplies had to be stored in the purchasing station's warehouse.
Fortunately, there are now enough people to clean it. Every time it is delivered, the workers clean off the remaining meat and dirt, and they also take precautions against insects when storing it.
Li Long vaguely remembered that after 2010, this thing was banned from being bought and sold, and the black market price soared to tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan per kilogram.
If I had kept these things back then, they would probably be worth several hundred million, maybe even more.
Of course, this is accompanied by a sentence of several years or more than ten years.
So Li Long figured it was fine if they didn't exist now; it was impossible for him to collect all the more than one million antelope horns that had disappeared.
Monopolists have never had a good ending; he just wanted to be a quiet landlord, not a boss.
Liu Shanmin followed Li Long to the purchasing station, where the canned goods had already been loaded after the truck was unloaded.
Li Long still needed to personally lead the convoy to the sugar factory to pick up the sugar. Liu Shanmin said there was no rush and they would go another day, as he needed to get some rest.
The main reason is that he was pulling the cotton harvester here, and the journey was quite slow, so he was quite tired and needed to rest.
Li Long joked, "Did you interact with a lot of female college students in Almaty, so you became weak?"
Liu Shanmin hurriedly waved his hand: "Don't talk nonsense, I don't have that hobby."
He paused for a moment and then said, "But to be honest, when I faced those college students and felt their youthful energy, I felt much younger myself."
To be honest, once a man is over twenty-five, he can't deny getting old; it's certain that he'll decline year by year.
Li Long felt that these words were a bit too forward and he didn't know how to respond.
The next day, after seeing Liu Shanmin off, although Liu Shanmin still wanted to pay some money as a token gesture, Li Long really didn't make him pay a penny and just sent him off without hesitation.
Although nearly half of the dollars he had earned in the past few years had vanished, Li Long felt it was still worth it.
These US dollars are sitting in my yard for so long they're almost getting moldy. I might as well spend them and put them to good use.
Actually, he was thinking of reminding Liu Shanmin that if possible, it would be good to get some land over there.
Anyway, the area there is more than a million square kilometers larger than that of northern Xinjiang, and most of it is grassland and plains, but the population is not as large as that of northern Xinjiang.
The per capita area is astonishingly large.
The utilization rate is also not high.
It wouldn't be bad to occupy more land.
But after thinking about it, I decided against it. I'm a farmer at heart, and I can't detach myself from the land, but Liu Shanmin is different. He's made a lot of money from his business ventures, so I shouldn't let him get involved in anything else.
Two days after Liu Shanmin left, Li Long welcomed Halimu.
It turns out that the people in the mountains already knew about the physical examinations conducted on people down the mountain, and that Buick's mother had been diagnosed with echinococcosis.
This was something Yushan Jiang told the herders on the mountain. According to Yushan Jiang, it would be best to have the people in the mountains take turns coming down for a physical examination, so that they would at least have some idea of what was going on.
Some of the mountain people were reluctant, but most were willing to listen to Yushanjiang, so each family sent one person down first.
Some were reluctant and wanted to wait until after the winter migration to have their check-ups done. Yushanjiang cited the example of Buick's mother, saying that she had already gone to Wucheng for surgery.
They said half of their liver was removed. Luckily, it was discovered in time, otherwise they would have had to get a liver transplant—which these days is practically a death sentence.
Halim came down first, and after his examination, his wife Gulimire came down for her examination.
With Yushan Jiang and his car picking them up, the people from the mountains were able to get down more quickly.
According to Yushanjiang, this matter should be handled by Li Long, as they are not familiar with the process.
Because there weren't many people, Li Long, after seeing Harim and learning the situation, directly told them:
"There aren't many of you, so we'll go to the hospital this afternoon and contact them. No special arrangements are needed; we can just have everyone checked according to the items on the medical examination form."
Halimu and Yushanjiang naturally listened to Li Long in everything. Yushanjiang even took out money to give to Li Long, saying it was for the examination fee, but Li Long refused.
This amount of money is nothing to him now, there's no need for him to accept it.
Li Long instructed Halim to explain the precautions to the herders coming down the mountain, such as not drinking alcohol tonight and not eating or drinking water tomorrow morning.
Li Long knew that some herders were used to doing things casually, so he specifically asked Halim to emphasize this point, because if they drank water or ate something beforehand, the results of some inspections would be inaccurate.
After emphasizing this repeatedly, Halim and Yushanjiang assured everyone that they would understand, and Yushanjiang said he would supervise them today to ensure they followed these requirements.
The next morning, three cars drove to Shicheng No. 2 Hospital.
Since there were only nine people in total, Li Long divided them into two groups. Yu Shanjiang led one group, while he and Halimu led the other group to conduct the inspection.
The main problem was that he didn't communicate smoothly with some of the herders. Although he could speak Kazakh, Li Long felt that he might not be able to keep these older-looking herders in check without Halim's help.
In the hospital, especially when there are many patients, being obedient is the most important thing—there's no time for reasoning.
Fortunately, the herders had all been reminded and were very obedient. They did the blood test when asked and took off their clothes when asked, so overall it went smoothly.
The results of the ultrasound, electrocardiogram, and chest X-ray came out on the same day. Li Long held the medical examination form with a very serious expression.
"Two are suspected of having echinococcosis, one may have tuberculosis, and three have heart problems," Li Long told Yushanjiang and Halim.
"My heart condition isn't very serious. The doctor said it's because I've been staying in high-altitude areas for a long time. It should get better if I stay down in the mountains for a while."
However, other illnesses require hospitalization for further examination.
"Then let's admit him to the hospital!" Yu Shanjiang said. "I'll have Talihar bring two people to keep him company. Don't worry about the money, I have it!"
Yushanjiang currently has about ten workers under his command, and it's definitely not a problem to spare some of them to provide care.
Fortunately, the test results show that Halim's condition is good at present.
Halim, however, was not happy. He had to go back and organize other people to take turns conducting the inspections.
Some people from the yurts couldn't come over because the person on duty was sick.
Li Long knew this situation was actually normal. After all, in those days, many herders traveled between two places year-round, living in very poor conditions, lacking nutrition, and having relatively low immunity.
If food hygiene is not maintained, it is easy to get sick.
Halim returned that day, and the next day Yushanjiang took over the people who could be replaced at the summer ranch. Then, on the third day, Li Long took these people to inspect the area.
At this point, the results of the first batch of tests were all in.
Fortunately, apart from the previously discovered issues, no one else had any problems. The doctor simply advised them to improve their nutrition, saying that several people were malnourished.
Although some items in the blood routine test were not up to standard, the impact was not significant.
The second batch of tests was faster because there were fewer people. The most encouraging result was that one person was suspected of having hydatid disease in the liver and needed further testing.
The incidence of echinococcosis is still very high, which is quite frightening.
Li Long knew this was normal. Before the development of settled animal husbandry, it was almost impossible for nomadic herders to guarantee food hygiene.
Undercooked lamb, the habit of not separating raw and cooked food, and the presence of wolves or other adult hosts of echinococcosis upstream of water sources are all causes of the disease.
Only by settling down and developing animal husbandry, ensuring clean drinking water sources, and maintaining good hygiene habits can we gradually reduce the number of people infected with this endemic disease with an extremely high incidence rate.
Li Long doesn't need to worry about medical care. Yu Shanjiang has already established himself in the county, and his finances are doing well thanks to selling meat to the cannery, so the medical care can be left to him.
Of course, these people are unlikely to make Yushanjiang pay for everything. Once he recovers, they will most likely use their own cattle and sheep to settle the debt.
By the time all the medical check-up and doctor's appointments were arranged, it was already mid-July.
It's the hottest time of the year. Although it's cooler under the trees, people generally don't want to go out unless they have to.
Li Long stayed at the purchasing station, standing behind the counter with his father.
It was too hot, and Li Long meant that the old man was feeling unwell, so it was fine for him to go back; he could stay here.
Besides, Sun Jiaqiang and Liang Shuangcheng are now considered well-trained, and either of them could easily take on the role.
But his father, Li Qingxia, disagreed. He felt that staying here was more interesting than staying at home.
So Li Long stayed at the purchasing station, either at the counter or in the back meeting room, and from time to time he would check on the workers brushing the hides and processing the antelope horns.
Since someone was already doing the work, Li Long simply took the processed antelope horns to the yard and brought over the unprocessed antelope horns from the yard.
Although some workers didn't understand why there were so many ram's horns, Li Long didn't explain, and Liang Shuangcheng naturally wouldn't explain to them either. It was just the same old story: "Just work hard and make money."
The trees outside the purchasing station have grown taller, creating a small patch of shade in the yard. And because of the shed that has been built, the middlemen queuing up can also find some shelter from the heat under it.
There was still plenty of watermelon under the windowsill. Slices of watermelon were covered with a gauze cover, and anyone who wanted a slice could take one. After eating, the rinds were thrown into the bucket by the front door.
Someone will come and clean this bucket, and take it back to feed the pigs or something.
On July 18th, Li Long received a call from Liu Shanmin.
"Li Long, I've found an expert, but whether he's suitable or not is up to you to decide."
After hearing what Liu Shanmin said, Li Long roughly guessed what was going on and asked, "What are their conditions?"
"The salary is $1,000 a month."
One thousand US dollars was equivalent to more than five thousand yuan in the official exchange rate in 1991, but due to the existence of a dual exchange rate, the private sector would generally exchange it for more than eight thousand yuan.
It's equivalent to three or four years' wages for an average worker.
"What level is he at that that he wants such a high salary?" Li Long was somewhat surprised.
“Like Akinbek, he is an expert at the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, specializing in agricultural machinery. Some of the equipment I bought and gave to you was from the research institute where he used to work.”
Li Long understood; this meant he had directly contacted the relevant expert.
"Can he guarantee that he can develop what I need within one or two years?"
"That's hard to say. He also hopes to bring his whole family over. Here, he has been expelled from the Academy of Sciences due to some personal issues, and his family's life is relatively difficult now."
Li Long immediately asked, "Are you saying that this person is dishonest?"
“How can you say such a thing about an expert?” Liu Shanmin said. “It’s just that he habitually withholds research funds for other purposes, such as his own life or his family’s life.”
Li Long immediately lost interest: "Bringing this person over would be a bit difficult, wouldn't it?"
"The paperwork for his family is easy to handle; I can find someone to help with it. Of course, that's on the condition that you need that person."
"Oh, right, he has other conditions. He hopes to have a stable, officially recognized position after arriving there. Also, he hopes to find several young and beautiful college student assistants, which he says will help stimulate his inspiration and maximize his intelligence..."
"Screw him! I don't want this guy!" Li Long immediately refused. "I invited an expert to do scientific research, not some lecherous bastard to act as a Buddha. Old Liu, you're being a bit cheeky... You know I could never agree to these conditions, are you kidding me?"
"Hahahaha," Liu Shanmin said with a laugh, "Putting everything else aside, in terms of technical skills, this person is the best."
Of course, if you don't want him, there's another candidate: this expert's disciple, who, due to his teacher's misfortune, is now also staying at home with nothing to do.
"What's his character like?" Having learned his lesson, Li Long asked about his character first.
“His character is naturally much better than his teacher’s,” Liu Shanmin said. “Actually, he was partly the one who reported his teacher for being fired. He just couldn’t stand it anymore—oh, his girlfriend had caught his teacher’s eye.”
What a melodramatic soap opera!
"So, he's holding a grudge?" Li Long guessed.
"No, that's not it. His teacher is rich, so his girlfriend went with his teacher. He was sad, but he didn't hate him that much."
However, his professor had been embezzling too much research funding and falsifying data submitted to higher authorities, which he felt violated the professional ethics of researchers. He wanted to resign, but his professor threatened him, so he reported him.
"He should have done something good, so why did he go home?"
"There's no way around it. It's an academic clique system. The other side doesn't want people from his teacher's faction to get involved, so they'll take him down too."
Li Long was astonished. He realized that the academic world was also a place of deceit and intrigue, where every step was fraught with danger!
PS: Thank you to readers Xie Lan'an, 110302213220025, and Earl Vinc for their donations, and thank you all for your subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, and comments.
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