Chapter 1352
Antelope horns wouldn't be a loss even if sold now.
Liu Shanmin said that the expert's name was Daman, 33 years old, in the prime of his life.
Li Long sighed, saying that people around his age were already PhD experts, while he was still just a farmer's kid.
Liu Shanmin joked with him, "No matter how high his doctorate is, in the end he'll still be working for you, right? The machines he researches, you'll still be the one to sell them for money. Don't try to get something for nothing and then act all innocent."
Li Long said, "If you're sure this person is capable, then I'll take him over. By the way, can he speak Chinese?"
Liu Shanmin said, "No, but I've already thought it through. I've arranged for him to meet a Russian female college student named Korbova, who just graduated this year. This female college student speaks Chinese and longs for our motherland. I'll get all the paperwork done for both of them and pack them up for you to go over there."
Li Long immediately asked, "Are you planning to pair these two up?"
Liu Shanmin denied it, saying, "No, no, it's purely a work relationship. I doubt Korpova would even be interested in Daman. You probably wouldn't believe it, but this girl is a complete China enthusiast. She loves everything about our country and dreams of settling down here."
"Could he be a spy?" Li Long was a little nervous.
"Don't worry about that," Liu Shanmin laughed. "Don't you even think about what I do? If there were any suspicions about that, I certainly wouldn't recommend you."
Besides, she was just Daman's translator. In your case, Daman only researches agricultural machinery. What kind of secrets could she possibly leak?
He's different from Akinbek. Akinbek is a petrochemical expert, a top-tier one. If someone gets something from him, it's considered a leak. But when he taught your petrochemical companies, it was purely to help us improve our technology.
As for Daman, just treat him as someone who does the work for you. Give him a direction and let him research. He's quite skilled, so it's best to find a few technicians to assist him; learning from them is also an option.
Li Long was finally relieved, and then they started talking about their treatment.
Liu Shanmin said, "Daman couldn't make it here anymore and wanted to change his environment and start over. So his demands weren't high, just $100 a month, or the equivalent in RMB."
He wants his own dorm room, and ideally, he'd like to be able to eat at the cafeteria, as he says he's not very good at cooking.
Li Long then asked, "Does he have any dietary requirements? For example, is it halal or something?"
"No, no. You must remember, the Soviet Union is not like China, where there is only one religion and pork is a common dish on their tables. Although he is a Kazakh here, he is also a Communist Party member."
"What about Korpova?" Li Long asked again.
“Korpova’s requirements are lower: 200 RMB a month, her own dormitory, and meals in the cafeteria,” Liu Shanmin said. “Let me tell you, this girl is pretty, but her requirements are also very practical.”
She told me honestly that she wants to stay in our country permanently. So this job is probably just a stepping stone for her, and she will definitely look for other opportunities.
However, I think by the time he finds another opportunity to stay, you should have already overcome your technical difficulties. And Daman should have almost finished learning Chinese by then.”
Li Long then asked, "Does this person intend to stay long-term?"
Liu Shanmin said, "It's hard to say. He couldn't stay in Almaty anymore and wanted a change of scenery. As things stand, the economies of the various Soviet republics are not good and cannot provide the environment he wants, so he agreed as soon as I contacted him."
If he feels the working and living environment is good at the machine factory in your area, then he will definitely be willing to stay.
This ambiguous answer was within Li Long's expectations. Not everyone values faith as much as Akinbek; for the vast majority, life is the most important thing.
Neither of them were asking for high compensation, and Li Long thought that Director Du should be able to agree to it.
He trusted Liu Shanmin's recommendation, but he figured that once he arrived at the machinery factory, Director Du would definitely have to do some further investigation.
Daman's situation is understandable. As for Korpova, Li Long wonders if she wants to find a Chinese boyfriend, marry him, and then stay permanently.
Before hanging up the phone, Li Long asked Liu Shanmin to find out the details of the two men and then prepare a written statement for him.
“You know the machinery factory I put them into is a state-owned enterprise, and we’re in northern Xinjiang, so we need to be careful,” Li Long explained to Liu Shanmin.
Liu Shanmin laughed and said, "I understand, I understand. Don't worry, I'll take the information with me when I send the person over. This information is absolutely guaranteed to be accurate. Not to mention, I can find out how often they change their underwear, but at least I can find out if there are any spies or anything like that among their immediate family members."
Li Long was relieved.
After hanging up with Liu Shanmin, Li Long called Director Du and told him about Daman and Korpova's situation.
Director Du was naturally pleased to hear this, especially when Li Long offered to bring over written materials after investigating the social relationships of the two individuals. Director Du greatly appreciated this gesture.
"Li Long, I've noticed your political acumen is getting better and better. That's a good thing. When we bring in talent from outside, we need people who are both capable and problem-free. This time, we owe it all to you. We've already started dismantling the cotton harvester and the cotton cleaning equipment."
The cleaning equipment is relatively easy to understand; it's not that complicated, and we can generally tell the difference.
As for cotton harvesters, well, with our factory's current technological capabilities, producing one is actually quite difficult.
Let's skip the formalities and just say that we can't produce cotton harvesters right now, and we really need external technical expertise. Hopefully, Daman can truly help us overcome this challenge!
Factory Director Du wasn't particularly interested in cotton harvesters at first, but he became interested after Li Long brought one to the machinery factory.
No matter what, it has the support of the Production and Construction Corps. The Seventh Agricultural Division is right there. How could Director Du not know about the Corps' future agricultural strategy?
He also had ambitions. If he could develop and produce domestic cotton harvesters on his own, this factory would definitely surpass the Shicheng Tractor Factory and become the leading machinery enterprise in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
The idea of "better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox" has been passed down for thousands of years. Anyone with ambition has the intention to grow bigger and stronger.
Even someone like Li Long, who initially just wanted to be a peaceful small landlord, has ended up with an ever-expanding business empire, involving more and more types of enterprises, yet he's still not satisfied.
Factory Director Du said he's only preparing two dorm rooms. He also told Li Long that Boss Liu's side is very considerate, even providing a translator. Finding a good translator is quite difficult these days. Although Xinda University has a Russian language major, those graduates are unlikely to be assigned to the machine factory.
So having a translator along saved him a lot of trouble. Director Du also thought the pre-employment assessment that Li Long mentioned was quite good; they couldn't just bring in someone who wasn't qualified.
However, since Liu Shanming submitted their resumes in written form, one should be able to tell whether they have real skills just by looking at their resumes.
Although corruption had begun to take hold in the Soviet Union by the 80s, the high-level academies of sciences in the constituent republics were not places that just anyone could enter.
Director Du also said that he still needs to report the matter of recruiting talent to his superiors, and the procedures are already underway.
Li Long didn't concern himself with these matters; his role was simply to coordinate and oversee the final outcome.
After hanging up the phone, Li Long breathed a sigh of relief. He thought about it and realized that there was something he hadn't told Director Du yet. After thinking for a while, he realized that he had been thinking that after Daman came over, in addition to studying the cotton harvester, he could also study the cotton field recycling machine.
In the cotton fields now, there are many remnants of plastic film, and the cotton stalks that haven't been harvested are also very stiff. Li Long remembers seeing a similar machine in his previous life, a roller type with hooks, which can harvest the uncut cotton stalks and the remaining plastic film together.
The residual film can be recycled into recycled plastic granules, which can then be used in the production of drip irrigation tape, achieving two goals at once.
However, there's no rush. Right now, the most important thing is to bring people in and see if they're a good fit.
Li Long had been waiting for Daman and the others to arrive when Jia Tianlong called, asking him to come and buy a batch of antelope horns, and asking Li Long to confirm how many he could sell to him.
“The price of antelope horn on the market has now risen to 600 yuan per kilogram, and it is still a seller’s market.” Jia Tianlong’s tone was urgent. “The buyers are urging us to pay more, and they are willing to pay as much as they can.”
A while ago, Jia Tianlong came over and bought up all the fritillaria bulbs he had and Lao Gu had brought from the valley. He mentioned that the price of antelope horn might be raised.
The main issue is the large number of pharmaceutical companies established recently, leading to a shortage of some rare medicinal materials. Some merchants and pharmaceutical factories are stockpiling these materials. For example, renowned companies like Tongrentang have accumulated significant stockpiles of tortoise shell fragments, horns, and bones.
Companies that have been around for decades or even centuries have a sense of crisis. They know that some things will become increasingly scarce in the future, so they stock up now so that they can use them more conveniently later.
Old Jia and Li Long had a very close relationship, so Li Long said to him, "Okay, come over and take two tons. I want to wait until I raise the price a bit more before selling the rest."
Between now and the next 15 years, Kazakhstan will lose at least 180 million saiga antelopes.
Most of the saiga antelope horns were collected, but not all saiga antelopes have horns. The nearly 10 pairs of antelope horns that Li Long has now hoarded are a considerable portion of them.
Li Long will continue to hoard this stuff, and his plan is to keep it until the beginning of the next century before shipping it out.
At that time, the price of antelope horns was estimated to be at least 5000 yuan per kilogram, making it a good time to sell.
The price cannot be raised to the highest level. Even if the goods can be sold at the highest price, the people will probably be imprisoned by then.
After discussing the matter with Jia Tianlong, Li Long hung up the phone and asked Liang Shuangcheng and the others to prepare the goods.
Anyway, there are antelope horns in this warehouse, and we're going to store two tons of them separately, just waiting for Jia Tianlong to come and take them away.
Currently, the main products being sold by the purchasing stations are still hides. Whether it's Liu Shanmin or Liu Gaolou, they usually bring at least three thousand hides.
The last time Liu Shanmin came, he mainly brought machinery, and because of the special circumstances in the Kazakh republics, he didn't bring over much leather and horn.
But the purchasing station had quite a lot of hides stored up. Every month, Zhao Hui would come over to pick up the hides and bring Li Long a large sum of money.
Stable and extremely profitable.
The used car business at the recycling station is also quite good. They can sell a few cars every month, and the rest are stored under the shed, so they don't have to worry about not finding buyers.
On July 24th, several uninvited guests arrived at the purchasing station.
Li Long looked at Wang Mingjun and the strangers behind him with genuine surprise.
"Xiaolong, your business is getting bigger and bigger!" Wang Mingjun exclaimed. "Come, come, let me introduce you. This is Cao Wenlong, the head of the agricultural machinery section of our division. This is Liu Guangdong, a technician in our agricultural machinery section. This is Cai Zhengwu, the head of the agricultural machinery section of our regiment."
Several leaders, this is Li Long, the younger brother of Li Jianguo, our former quartermaster. We got our company's money-making task of making big brooms from him.
"We bought our high-horsepower tractors from here before, and even this GAZ-69 I have was bought cheaply from him. Although Li Long isn't in the Production and Construction Corps, he's practically part of it."
In the backyard, Li Long noticed that several technicians were staring at the cotton harvester, and he understood what was going on. He smiled and said:
"Come on, it's hot outside, let's go sit in the reception room first."
Leading the group into the reception room, Liang Shuangcheng poured tea for everyone, and soon someone brought over watermelon. The group then exchanged pleasantries.
Wang Mingjun, on the other hand, was not at all shy and asked directly how many brooms he could sweep this year.
Li Long didn't say anything, saying he would wait and see how much work the higher-ups could assign.
“Anyway, you guys are the main force making big brooms now, so when there’s work, it will definitely be mainly given to your company,” Li Long said with a smile. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”
Wang Mingjun smiled. He had come here to act as an introducer, and the task of inquiring about the broom was the most important thing for the company. With this answer, he could be considered to have passed the test.
Section Chief Cao inquired about Li Long's business, and then the conversation turned to cotton harvesters.
"This is a second-hand machine I bought from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. It's made by Deere & Company in the US, and it's considered one of the most advanced five-row cotton pickers," Li Long explained.
"But because the row spacing of our cotton plants is not enough, we can't use them. Besides, the cotton harvested by the cotton harvester is not cleaned properly by our current cotton and linen company's technology, so we'll leave it for now."
Clearly, Section Chief Cao and the others were aware of this, so after Li Long finished speaking, Section Chief Cao asked:
"Li Long, I'd like to ask, what are your plans for bringing the cotton harvester back?"
Li Long didn't hide his thoughts: "I brought it back to find someone to study it and see if we can develop a domestic cotton harvester, or a cotton harvester suitable for our local cotton."
Section Chief Cao and the others exchanged glances, clearly not expecting Li Long to have such an idea.
In their eyes, Li Long was just a big middleman who bought other people's advanced equipment and then sold it to people who needed it, making a profit from the price difference.
That's true most of the time.
Li Long guessed what these people were thinking. He knew that some things couldn't be kept secret, so he continued, "Actually, I bought more than just this one cotton harvester. I left one cotton harvester and two sets of cotton cleaning equipment at the machinery factory in Kui City."
I know I can't develop a domestically made cotton harvester on my own; I need to rely on large manufacturers. With their technical expertise, plus some external support, they should be able to make it.
Hearing Li Long say this, the group was somewhat surprised. They genuinely hadn't expected Li Long to still be cooperating with the machinery factory in Kui City. Section Chief Cao was the first to react, smiling as he said:
"Comrade Xiao Li is very farsighted. Mechanized cotton harvesting is indeed the future trend. Take our Corps as an example. The cotton planting area is getting bigger and bigger. If we rely solely on manual labor, the demand is too large, and there will always be times when we can't keep up."
Li Long smiled and said, "Indeed, it is a major trend and an inevitable process in the development of agricultural mechanization."
Section Chief Cai Zhengwu interjected, asking, "Boss Li, how do you cooperate with Kuishi Machinery Factory? Was the cotton harvester a gift to them?"
Li Long shook his head and said, "No. I've been cooperating with the machinery factory in Kui City for a long time. From the initial harvesters to the later snowplows, and now the drip irrigation tape production equipment, we've basically cooperated on a profit-sharing basis."
"I provide them with these advanced cotton harvesting machines, and they research and produce qualified domestically made equipment. When they sell these, I get a share of the profits."
Section Chief Cao casually asked, "What's the profit-sharing percentage?"
Li Long gave a vague answer: "I'm not sure, it depends on how much I invest. Some of the machinery is based on research plans I proposed, and they adjust production according to those plans."
Some machines I provided as prototypes, which they then improved and produced. The proportion is generally between 20% and 30%, but if my contribution is greater, the proportion will be higher.
Section Chief Cao immediately realized that this matter was probably doomed. Things couldn't be handled as casually as they were at the machinery factory in Kui City. After all, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps was a unique entity; its various systems were established at the outset and weren't as flexible as some state-owned enterprises.
So he asked again, "Comrade Li, I guess there's no point in leaving this cotton harvester here, right? After all, you've already partnered with Kui's Machinery Factory, and they've already put cotton harvesters there. Are you planning to sell it?"
Li Long smiled: "If the price is right, I will definitely sell it."
Cai Zhengwu asked, "You bought this second-hand machinery from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, right? This kind of machinery should be cheaper there, right?"
Li Long shook his head: "If we're talking about price, it'll definitely be cheaper than a new machine, but this kind of machine is quite expensive worldwide, so it won't be much cheaper. After all, this machine isn't bought from there for immediate use; it's for research."
So although it's a used machine, the parts are all quite new, and you're all experts, you should know that Deere's equipment is among the world's leading products, and this machine itself is the most advanced in its category of cotton harvesters.
Cai Zhengwu, getting a little impatient, said, "Just tell me how much it costs!"
“I bought it with US dollars,” Li Long said, seeing that they really wanted to buy it. “5 US dollars. This price is actually quite reasonable. The main reason is that you were brought here by Company Commander Wang. My older brother also used to work in the Production and Construction Corps. If you really want to buy it, this is the price. It’s also my way of supporting the development of agricultural mechanization in the Production and Construction Corps.”
Section Chief Cao did the math and decided it wasn't too expensive; in fact, it was quite cheap. They had learned that a brand-new Deere cotton harvester at that time, including taxes, cost between $15 and $20.
The price Li Long offered for this unit was less than a third of the original price, which was really cheap considering how it looked.
Liu Guangdong, who hadn't said much until now, asked, "Can we go up and take a look at the machine?"
Li Long smiled and said, "Of course, no problem." He stood up, got the keys, and went outside.
Section Chief Cao and the others followed and arrived at the cotton harvester.
Li Long handed the key to Liu Guangdong and let him operate it, while he chatted with Wang Mingjun.
$5 was the total price he paid for two cotton harvesters and three sets of cotton cleaning equipment.
If we were to calculate based on the actual price, this deal would definitely be extremely profitable if it went through. But that's not how it works. The price Liu Shanmin gave Li Long was based on personal favor. Even if the equipment was truly obtained in exchange for supplies, no one else would get that price.
Looking at the resale price of the used car that Li Long got from Liu Shanmin, it's clear that if Li Long really wanted to sell it, he could easily sell the cotton harvester for $10 and someone would definitely want it.
Because it was a nearly new machine, produced by the research institute, people hadn't really used it for cotton picking; they'd just taken it apart to study the parts and make some molds.
Liu Guangdong climbed the escalator, unlocked the cotton harvester with his key, and entered the driver's cab.
Section Chief Cao and Cai Zhengwu were watching the cotton harvester from below.
This thing is "tall and large," much bigger than the similarly shaped Commein, and it looks quite nice.
Section Chief Cao and Cai Zhengwu looked at the cotton harvester and sighed inwardly, thinking, "This thing must be very difficult to produce!"
Li Long, however, was well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the cotton harvester at this stage. The cotton harvester couldn't "lay eggs" yet; after harvesting a certain amount of cotton, it had to be dumped on an open ground before being loaded onto a truck.
Moreover, cotton harvesters have a common problem: when harvesting cotton, because they have to strip almost all the cotton leaves and bolls off the cotton stalks, the high-speed and dense friction can cause the cotton stored in the machine to catch fire.
Of course, the advantages are also obvious. Cost savings are the biggest advantage. In the beginning, the cost of harvesting one kilogram of cotton was less than one cent. Later, as development accelerated, the cost became even cheaper, at just over one hundred yuan per acre.
Compared to the labor cost of two or three yuan per kilogram for picking, the cost of five or six hundred yuan per mu is much cheaper.
Wang Mingjun asked Li Long about the situation with Li Jianguo. Li Long didn't mention that his older brother was sick, but said that everything was normal.
Since I'm already taking medication, it's not a serious illness, so I shouldn't tell anyone.
Wang Mingjun said that their company planted a lot of cotton this year, and Li Long said that if that happened, would it affect the work of making large brooms, and should they make some adjustments?
“No need, absolutely no need!” Wang Mingjun immediately replied, “Don’t worry, we can definitely finish it! The regiment and the division have made arrangements. Students will come to pick cotton, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
While speaking, Liu Guangdong started the cotton harvester in the cab, making a lot of noise that disturbed the nearby workers.
Section Chief Cao and Cai Zhengwu were both crouching behind the cotton harvester, watching. The sudden noise and vibration startled them. Cai Zhengwu then ran to the front and shouted at Liu Guangdong in the driver's cab:
"Old Liu, give us a warning when you start it! The section chief and I were watching from behind, and we almost got our faces covered in the fumes!"
Liu Guangdong poked his head out and said apologetically, "I just wanted to test if the engine was working properly... I'm sorry."
Although Section Chief Cao was a little displeased, he knew that the technician in his department was a complete technical idiot who didn't care about anything else but was excellent in technical matters; otherwise, he wouldn't have been sent here.
After starting the cotton harvester, Liu Guangdong listened attentively.
The engine sounded very stable, and after listening for a while, he was quite satisfied.
After Liu Guangdong turned off the engine and got off the cotton harvester, Section Chief Cao came over and asked:
"Old Liu, how's it going?"
"Very good, very stable, the engine sounds really like new," Liu Guangdong said. "Although it's been driven for a while, it doesn't sound like it's been used much."
Li Long said, "It came from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, but it was just a simple drive; the cotton-picking machinery is useless."
Everyone understood that this thing was self-propelled; although it wasn't fast, at least it could drive over without being towed.
After determining the machine's specifications, the next step is to discuss the price.
"Comrade Li, we also plan to conduct research on cotton harvesters, but $50,000 is beyond our authority to handle. We need to go back and ask our superiors. Do you think we can pay in RMB?"
Li Long said with a smile, "Sure, sure, but we can't use the official exchange rate, or I'll be at a disadvantage."
"Don't worry, don't worry." Section Chief Cao immediately understood. "Don't worry, it's market price. By the way, which set is the cotton cleaning equipment?"
"Yes, it's also from an American company. Currently, the cotton cleaning equipment from domestic companies cannot remove the plastic film fibers brought out by cotton harvesters, which is a major problem."
"Yes, mixing this into cotton is quite troublesome." Section Chief Cao naturally understood. "Then this equipment..."
“Fifty thousand yuan,” Li Long said. “In RMB. If you buy that cotton harvester, then this set of equipment will cost fifty thousand yuan.”
Section Chief Cao understood; this was a package deal.
"And those accompanying packaging machines and such, we'll give them away too." Li Long pointed to the auxiliary equipment.
Section Chief Cao was very tempted; this business was definitely worth doing!
Of course, that's what they say, but he really couldn't make the decision on such a large deal.
Section Chief Cao chatted with Li Long for a while longer before leaving, as he needed to quickly consult his superiors.
Once this opportunity is gone, it's gone forever!
Li Long wasn't in a hurry at all. Anyway, it was a seller's market. Even if his equipment wasn't unique, it was rare in northern Xinjiang, or even in the whole country.
Even if they exist, they're all for research purposes; no one would sell them.
At that time, Deere & Company's main market was not in China, and it did not attach much importance to it.
We need to take this seriously at least ten years from now.
Li Long thought he could take advantage of this time difference to develop a high-quality cotton harvester in China. Even if he didn't monopolize the market, he could at least capture a large share.
This will be a relatively long process.
Li Long believed that Lao Du could handle things at the Kuishi Machinery Factory.
After Wang Mingjun and the others left, Li Long was fine for a short time.
Liang Shuangcheng was already considered a veteran at the purchasing station. Without Li Long's instructions, he led his men to clean the cotton harvester, the cleaning equipment, and other auxiliary equipment.
He plans to wipe it down every day to make sure it looks clean.
Although it's a case of better late than never, it should at least be of some use.
For two consecutive days, there was still no news from Section Chief Cao and the others. Li Long wasn't worried, but Liang Shuangcheng was.
After Li Long closes a big deal, everyone gets a share of the profits, so they're all very enthusiastic. They've already discussed it and agreed on a price, but the person hasn't shown up, which is quite frustrating.
However, Section Chief Cao didn't come, but Jia Tianlong arrived early.
Jia Tianlong went to the courtyard first, and Li Long rushed over after receiving a call from Gu Xiaoxia at the purchasing station.
At that time, Jia Tianlong was worshipping that jade stone.
To avoid trouble, Li Long usually covered the jade with a cloth. Now that the cover had been removed, Jia Tianlong placed offerings such as fruit on the cement platform, bowed several times, and then came over to greet Li Long.
"You got here pretty quickly," Li Long said, somewhat surprised. "Were you already in northern Xinjiang when you called me?"
"No, I'm collecting medicinal herbs in southern Xinjiang," Jia Tianlong explained truthfully. "I only received a telegram from the pharmaceutical factory at the last minute, and that's how I found you.
"Is it particularly urgent?" Li Long asked. "Is it out of stock or something?"
He led Jia Tianlong to sit down. Now a shed has been set up in the courtyard, and it's quite comfortable to sit under the shed and eat watermelon on a hot day.
“The newly built pharmaceutical factory is short of stock,” Jia Tianlong said with a smile. “I have acquaintances in their raw material procurement department, so they came to me.”
"Okay, I've prepared the goods at the purchasing station. When do you want them loaded?"
"The sooner the better." Upon hearing that Li Long was all ready, Jia Tianlong quickly finished the watermelon, wiped his hands, stood up, and said, "I'll pack it up and leave. It needs to be shipped from Wucheng today."
"So urgent?" Li Long was genuinely surprised this time. "Alright then, let's go, let's load the goods."
One kilogram costs 600, one ton costs 600,000, and two tons cost 1.2 million. This is a big deal!
Then Jia Tianlong easily transported the goods away in a truck, leaving Li Long with a check.
This time, instead of giving out red envelopes, Li Long told the workers that they would receive a bonus for their wages this month, and then went to cash the checks and pay the taxes.
This is a necessary process, so I won't go into details here.
Late July was a prosperous time for Li Long. Two days after Jia Tianlong left, Cao Wenlong brought Liu Guangdong back to the purchasing station.
They also brought a finance staff member with them on this trip, and that person brought a bag of money.
It's all cash.
Just to be on the safe side, Liu Guangdong checked the cotton harvester and cleaning machine again, and also took a look at the auxiliary equipment, but only briefly.
Li Long understood that the cotton harvester was the key, while the cotton cleaning machine was merely an accessory, not to mention the baling machine and the like.
After the inspection, Liu Guangdong said there were no problems. Section Chief Cao then took out a printed purchase contract and showed it to Li Long, noting that it had a place for both parties to sign.
We also need Li Long to issue an invoice, but that's not a problem. Li Long has an invoice book, so we issued one accordingly.
The two sides haggled over the price, and Li Long conceded, saying that at a ratio of 1 to 8, $50,000 would be 400,000 RMB, plus the 50,000 RMB for the cleaning machine, totaling 450,000 RMB.
This was the most formal transaction Li Long had ever conducted since he opened his purchasing station, which made him realize that his makeshift operation needed to be reformed and that he needed to hire professional financial personnel.
This can be considered a win-win situation. Li Long sold the cotton harvester, and the Corps obtained advanced equipment that could be studied.
Life returned to normal over the next few days.
On July 31, Liu Gaolou led his convoy to the Kuishi military station, where Li Long was already waiting in a car.
Just like last time, he led the convoy to the Kui City Machinery Factory, but this time Li Anguo was also waiting there.
Factory Director Du took this matter very seriously. After the staff got off the vehicle, he kept looking around, searching for potential technical experts.
The man and woman who came with Liu Gaolou were very conspicuous; these must be Daman and Korpova.
Liu Gaolou first introduced Li Long to him, explaining that he didn't speak Russian or Kazakh and would need Korpova's help to translate.
Daman was about the same height as Harim, less than 1.7 meters tall and slightly thin. He didn't seem to like talking much, but he knew that this was probably where he would be working from now on, so after Liu Gaolou introduced him, he took the initiative to say a few words to Li Long.
Kolbova is very beautiful. Although the information says she is 26 years old, she has a baby face, light yellow hair, and is slightly taller than Daman. She has a great figure and is very warm and generous. After Liu Gaolou introduced Li Long, she would occasionally have physical contact with Li Long.
Li Long has a very sensitive nose, and his odor is slightly stronger than that of most Chinese people.
It's not particularly large, but you can smell it immediately.
Liu Gaolou and Factory Director Du were not familiar with each other, so Li Long turned around and introduced Factory Director Du to them.
Knowing that Director Du would be their benefactor, Daman and Korpova maintained their smiles after shaking hands with him, but it was clear that Korpova's gaze kept drifting towards Li Long.
Li Long wondered if she knew something from Liu Shanmin.
Liu Gaolou handed Li Long a briefcase and whispered that it contained the materials he needed.
Someone arranged a driver, while Li Long and the others went to the conference room.
There were factory leaders and some technical staff there. As soon as Daman and his group went in, applause rang out.
This is a welcoming ceremony with distinctive Chinese characteristics.
Director Du gave a welcoming speech, and Li Long found that Korpova was still very capable. She translated very quickly. This time, she used Kazakh instead of Russian, and Li Long could understand part of it and translated it without any problems.
After Director Du finished speaking, another leader also spoke. From his self-introduction, it was clear that he was the factory's Party Secretary.
Li Long had never met this person before. Now that he had appeared, Li Long guessed that it was because the factory had expanded, and the role of the Party Secretary had become apparent. After all, such a large factory must have an organizational function.
It wasn't until later, when Director Du told Li Long, that he realized it was all Ajinbek's fault.
After seeing Akinbek, Factory Director Du asked Li Long to hire an expert for them as well. After learning about Akinbek's special requirements, Factory Director Du also communicated with his superiors and felt that if another person with such special requirements came, they would definitely need to prepare in advance.
So the secretary had to make an appearance, but he wasn't put to much use.
The Party Secretary didn't launch into a long speech as I'd imagined. He kept it simple and his meaning was clear: he welcomed the experts to come to the factory and work with everyone.
After the two of them finished speaking, Director Du said to Kolbova, "Let Daman say a few words too."
Daman was clearly prepared; after Kolbova spoke to him, he stood up and began to express his opinion.
According to Korpova's translation, Daman meant this: I came from the Kazakh republic and I am very happy to be able to work in this factory.
I know that when you recruit foreign technical personnel in China, there is a probationary period. I will fully demonstrate my skills and abilities during this period and look forward to truly joining this team and becoming a member of the factory.
Upon hearing this, Li Long knew that Liu Shanmin must have spoken to Daman beforehand, otherwise Daman wouldn't have known about the probationary period.
After Daman finished speaking, Korbova also expressed her thoughts. She first praised her country and then said that although she was of Russian ethnicity, her heart was with Russia and she hoped to become a part of this country in the future.
Korbova has much higher emotional intelligence. She also said that she knows there are many ethnic Russians in the country, so it is a very inclusive country. She will try her best to adapt, and if there is anything she can do, she can ask everyone to do.
Beautiful women are always well taken care of, so when she finished speaking, the applause was noticeably more enthusiastic than when Daman finished speaking.
Daman didn't show much expression, which probably meant he understood.
Then came lunch. Lunch was quite lavish, after all, Daman, who was welcoming guests, was a guest before he became a formal member of the factory, and Liu Gaolou was also a guest.
During the meal, Liu Gaolou sat next to Li Long and whispered about the things they had brought over.
Eight cars, two Mercedes-Benz and six Volga, two truckloads of leather (4,000 pieces), three thousand pairs of antelope horns, and one hundred tons of crude oil—more than expected.
According to Liu Gaolou, the crude oil produced there is currently experiencing some sluggish sales, and several refineries have suspended operations.
Li Long asked him if he had managed to acquire the slightly larger oil refining equipment that he had mentioned to Liu Shanmin. Liu Gaolou said he had, but it would take a while to arrive, as the equipment was quite complex and large, so a delay was normal.
Li Long understood and was relieved; the major tasks here were almost completed. (End of Chapter)