Chapter 1353
A Major Step in Li Qiang's Life
After lunch, Li Long said goodbye to Director Du and the others, and handed over the written materials to Director Du.
When saying goodbye to Daman and Kolbova, Daman didn't seem to feel anything and shook hands with Li Long expressionlessly. Kolbova's next action startled Li Long: she gave him a cheek kiss!
Not only was Li Long stunned, but everyone else was too. After standing on tiptoe and pressing her cheek against Li Long's, Korpova noticed the situation and hurriedly explained:
"Where we come from, this is a farewell custom. Please don't take offense; I haven't quite adjusted to things here yet..."
Okay, Li Long decided to pretend nothing happened. As Li Long prepared to drive away, Liu Gaolou opened the passenger door, got in, and said:
"The big truck is too bumpy, I'd rather ride in yours."
Li Long naturally had no objections, started the car, and chatted with him while driving.
After leaving Kui City, Liu Gaolou suddenly said:
"This Korpova seems to be interested in you."
Li Long thought to himself, "Do you even need to tell me that? I figured it out myself."
He was somewhat smug, but of course he wouldn't admit it on his face. Instead, he said:
"You're overthinking it. She's probably just that kind of enthusiastic person. The customs and habits over there might really be different from ours."
“That’s not what I meant. I meant that from the moment she saw you, the way she looked at you was a little off.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m taller than you guys?” Li Long guessed casually. “Think about it, you’re not even as tall as her, or most of the people she sees on our side are either about the same height as her or shorter. Suddenly, she sees someone as tall, big, and handsome as me, so naturally her perspective changes…”
Li Longchun was joking, just guessing, but unexpectedly Liu Gaolou nodded seriously after hearing it:
"Yeah, maybe that's true. It's true, this woman is really beautiful, really tall, and her size is really intimidating!"
"And you still smell," Li Long added casually. "You smell."
"Alright, her taste is relatively mild," Liu Gaolou, a man of the world, said.
"Why are those perfumes so expensive and popular over there? Let me tell you, I've seen even stronger scents..."
Some people are truly beautiful, and they also have a certain charm. Honestly, some of the university students, and even some high school students over there, have a really captivating quality!
Li Long thought to himself, "What kind of 'taste' is this?"
You old Gao, you've gone bad after staying there for the past few years!
After the joke was over, Li Long asked about the situation at the border.
"Many people know about the situation over there now. Some people have seen an opportunity and have started stockpiling goods at the border."
There are still quite a few well-informed people at the border.
The current border crossings are not open to everyone. According to the agreement signed between the two sides when the Soviet Union was in power, only specific individuals or entities can conduct import and export business.
However, given the current resource shortage in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic and the fact that the Soviet Union is practically defunct, many people speculate, or have received some information, that trade between the two countries will be liberalized on a large scale once Kazakhstan officially secedes from the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union officially disintegrates.
Of course, this is also because the volume of trade between China and Russia has surged this year, especially the expansion of trade in small commodities and private trade, leading many people to realize that they can also find opportunities to make money here.
However, at this time, international trade is still the dominant factor, and these people are just waiting for the time being.
"What have you stockpiled?" Li Long asked as he drove.
"What else could it be? Mainly daily necessities," Liu Gaolou said. "If they can make phone calls from over there, people here will know that Kazakhstan is in dire need of daily necessities."
Of course, their heavy industrial products are also what we lack, such as metals like steel, copper, and aluminum, as well as some raw materials.
Liu Gaolou considered himself primarily in the automobile business and looked down on those who traded raw materials.
However, this matter was not up to him; it was decided by his second uncle. Liu Shanmin believed that he would engage in whichever trade was profitable, without ever considering whether it was raw materials or commodities.
When the convoy arrived in Ma County, Li Long organized the unloading. Liu Gaolou stayed in the reception room for a while, told Li Long about the list of items brought over and the data on the materials needed, and then went to the county hotel to rest.
He was quite tired too.
Li Long thought that Liu Gaolou's physical condition had declined. He recalled that when they first arrived, they would always check the goods with Li Long before returning to the guesthouse, and only after paying for the goods would they return. Now, he couldn't even wait a short while.
It's weak.
Of course, Li Long was just thinking about it. He led his men to unload the car, the hides, and the antelope horns, and then had the workers start cleaning them up.
Liang Shuangcheng, who was used to doing this, quickly assigned tasks: some people wiped the cars, some combed the leather, some cleaned the antelope horns, and others took the drivers of the convoy to the hotel to rest.
With someone making arrangements, Li Long's life became a bit easier.
Just before he was about to leave work, Li Long received a call from Factory Director Du.
"Old Li, you've really become famous in our factory this time," Factory Director Du joked.
"Those guys in the technical department were all staring at Korpova like crazy, and then she just gave them a cheek kiss! They were all heartbroken!"
"Factory manager, please stop teasing me," Li Long chuckled. "I told Lao Liu that maybe it's because I'm quite tall that the Russians admire strength?"
"Pretty much, you might actually be right." Director Du said with a smile, "She came to me later to ask about you. After learning that you were married and had two children, the woman was heartbroken and disappointed for quite a while."
Fortunately, she had good professional skills. When Daman asked her to start working, she went along to translate. And you know what? She was one of the few who could translate some of the technical terms.
We have ethnic minority workers in our factory. They can understand, but some technical terms aren't translated accurately. We need a good translator!
"Okay, that's good." Li Long nodded. "Let Daman work with the technical staff to study the cotton harvester and see how the technology is."
"At first glance, things look good; she's definitely got some skills," said Factory Director Du.
"After you left, Daman asked to work with the technical staff. I knew that you brought him over to study cotton harvesters. The Corps seemed to be interested in this project as well, so we let him participate."
I can tell that Daman must have studied cotton harvesters beforehand and has a deep understanding of agricultural machinery. In many aspects, his technical expertise far surpasses that of our technicians.
"That's good, then let's use him. As long as he lives up to the high salary we're paying him, there won't be any problems."
After finishing his conversation with Factory Director Du, Li Long hung up the phone and noticed that his father, Li Qingxia, was looking at him with a rather unfriendly gaze.
The middlemen at the entrance also had eyes full of gossip.
"The Kuishi Machinery Factory hired a Kazakh expert, accompanied by a Russian female translator. That translator thought I wasn't married," Li Long explained, knowing they had gleaned something from his conversation with Lao Du.
"I wanted to talk, so Lao Du told her that I was married and had a child, and that was the end of it."
Li Qingxia originally intended to warn her son not to do anything reckless, but after hearing Li Long's explanation, she realized it was a misunderstanding.
The others looked like they had just realized something, but it was hard to say what they were really thinking.
Li Long wasn't worried about anything. He had been devoted to Gu Xiaoxia all these years, and he had nothing to hide. Besides, he wasn't a public official, so he wasn't afraid of the whistleblower's letter.
On August 1st, Li Long bought a truckload of watermelons and went to visit the county's artillery regiment, armed forces department, and military supply depot. As a well-known enterprise and "entrepreneur" in the county, Li Long felt that being too low-key wouldn't work.
On August 2nd, Li Long received a call from Zhao Shijie, who would be arriving in Ma County on August 5th. Zhao Shijie asked Li Long to arrange for construction workers to lay cement slabs on the main canal.
Li Long immediately called Meng Hai and asked him to arrange for people to come out and be prepared.
Meng Hai remembered it and immediately arranged for someone to come and take the materials to the fourth team to prepare.
On the morning of the 4th, Tian Junjie rode his bicycle to the fourth team.
It's the weekend, and he was forced to come here—he had no choice; he'd been a bit too flamboyant before, and now he'd gotten himself into trouble.
He mentioned catching crabs to his colleagues at work, and sure enough, his colleagues told the boss.
The day before yesterday, the leader came over specifically to say that his superior knew that someone in their group could catch crabs and was very curious and interested, so he thought about getting a few to try. Then the leader arranged for Tian Junjie to catch them.
Tian Junjie reluctantly refused, but after hearing his explanation, his supervisor told him to go find someone to buy the crabs, saying that the company would cover the cost.
Tian Junjie wanted to refuse again, but the leader had already instructed the finance department to give him the money, so it was clearly something he couldn't refuse.
Although Tian Junjie didn't want to go to Team Four, he also didn't want to be harassed by his superiors at work, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to Team Four again. Sure enough, when he arrived at Team Four on his bicycle and turned towards Xiaohaizi Reservoir, he saw a sign that read, "Fishing will result in a fine of 100 yuan and confiscation of equipment."
He wanted to go to the village to find out who had contracted the reservoir, and then buy it from them.
Tian Junjie wasn't stupid; he knew that crabs only appeared in this reservoir, so there was only one possibility: the reservoir's contractor had released crab larvae into it.
Otherwise, creatures found along the coast and the Kouli River would not be able to survive in northern Xinjiang.
But he didn't know who to turn to. The impression he had of the villagers when he was fishing at Xiaohaizi that day was too deep. Their expressions and actions of hitting people while excitedly shouting made Tian Junjie feel that this was barbarity!
He dared not provoke these people in the village, fearing he would be beaten before he could even explain his intentions, especially since he had been there on the dam that day and hadn't saved the child.
So he came up with a clumsy idea: he went directly to Xiaohaizi.
He believed that since someone had put up this sign, if he appeared on the dam line of Xiaohaizi, he would most likely encounter someone who would stop him, and then he would be able to make contact.
Sure enough, as soon as Tian Junjie arrived at the dam, Yang Laoliu chased after him with a whip. He remembered this man and started cursing him as soon as he arrived.
Tian Junjie, for the third time, steeled himself and waited until the old man finished his various forms of cursing before explaining his purpose and expressing his willingness to pay a high price:
Three yuan for one crab!
After Yang Laoliu had vented his anger, he thought the price was pretty good and that the man was quite sincere.
So Yang Laoliu pointed out the location of the Li family and told him to go and ask if the Li family was willing to sell him crabs.
Tian Junjie found the Li family home, where Li Qiang was in the yard with Mingming, Haohao, and Hongqin, peeling crucian carp.
After the last round of watering, there were many crucian carp in the water pits at the sluice gate interfaces of several branch canals in the main canal. Early this morning, Li Qiang took Mingming and Haohao to inspect the canal, and Hongqin helped them on their way back.
The wheat harvest is now complete, and the Li family's several high-horsepower tractors have begun plowing the fields. While Li Jianguo is away, Liang Yuemei is cleaning up the remaining wheat stalks and debris on the threshing floor.
Du Chunfang sat under the shed in the yard, dozing off from time to time. When she was awake, she watched the children busy themselves, which made her quite happy.
When Tian Junjie arrived at the gate, a dog's barking attracted his attention. Tian Junjie was startled when he heard the dog stop barking, but he was relieved to see that the dog was leashed.
Upon seeing the elderly person, he politely greeted them loudly and then explained his purpose.
Buying crabs?
Li Qiang was somewhat surprised, after all, this was the first time someone had come to buy crabs.
He knew that his uncle had put the crabs in there, and that his uncle should be in charge of the matter. So he told Tian Junjie to sit down and rest in the yard while he went inside to call the purchasing station.
Mingming stared at Tian Junjie for a while, then suddenly said loudly:
"I've seen you before. You were fishing in that little lake that day!"
Tian Junjie's face immediately turned red. A child had exposed his secrets, and in such an unkind way. He wanted to disappear into the ground.
Du Chunfang didn't hear Mingming's words clearly; she was just asking about everyday things, which made Tian Junjie feel a little better, like he was deceiving himself.
Li Long was somewhat surprised when he received Li Qiang's call. He had thought that once the ban was lifted, the matter would be over, but unexpectedly, someone was going against the grain and actually wanted to buy crabs!
"Let's refuse, we don't have time to go and catch them anyway," Li Long said after thinking for a moment. "Tell him we can't buy them..."
"Uncle, I can go catch them!" Li Qiang said, mustering his courage. "I'm free right now, I can go catch them tonight."
"You're going to arrest me?" Li Long was surprised again. "You want to make money from this?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Long understood.
Although the Li family is not short of money, and Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei are not stingy people, they provided enough living expenses for Li Qiang when he lived at school.
But Li Qiang has grown into a young man with his own ideas and self-respect, and he definitely wants to spend the money he earned himself.
I once heard that when Li Qiang was picking cotton as part of a work-study program, he used the extra cotton to buy a lot of things for his family.
You must be thinking the same thing now, right?
"Uncle, these crabs are three yuan each, that's more than enough. Here's what I'm thinking: you've contracted the small lake, so two yuan of the three yuan is for you, and the remaining yuan is my fee for catching the crabs. What do you think, Uncle?"
Li Long was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Li Qiang was a little flustered by Li Long's laughter. He thought that since he had already given his uncle two yuan, there should be no problem, right?
"Qiangqiang, do you really want to make this money? Have you thought about it? Aren't you scared to go alone at night? I definitely won't let you take Mingming and Haohao with you, and neither will Hongqin."
“I definitely won’t bring them. If I do, my dad will beat me,” Li Qiang quickly said. “I was thinking of bringing my sister. If she doesn’t agree, I’ll go find Tie Tou.”
Going alone isn't really an option, especially since it's at night by the water; you'll need someone to keep you company.
"Not bad, not bad, you've thought this through quite thoroughly," Li Long said. "Then this matter is yours. You can keep all three yuan, whatever you earn is yours, and you can decide how to divide it among whoever you bring along."
By the way, safety first, don't hurt yourself. Also, discuss with the person beforehand and get a deposit. Anyway, your home is here, you can't run away. Otherwise, it would be bad to be stood up and disappointed.
Li Long was quite certain that Li Qiang had this idea. It's a good thing that a kid from the countryside would think about making money in his spare time.
They are far better than the children of later generations who only know that their parents have money in their phones and spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of yuan carelessly, regardless of where the money comes from.
Li Qiang was overjoyed after receiving Li Long's approval. Li Long then taught him a few business tips to try out before hanging up the phone and quickly leaving.
Li Qiang tried the first option: negotiating the price.
“My uncle said three yuan won’t do, at least five yuan a crab,” Li Qiang said. “The crabs in our little lake are mostly two or three years old. Even in places where crabs are raised in pits, these kinds of crabs still cost three yuan a crab.”
Tian Junjie said somewhat awkwardly, "I bought them for someone else; three yuan a piece is already very expensive."
“The problem is, you can’t buy crabs anywhere else,” Li Qiang said, explaining his reasoning. Although Li Long had told him to be confident, he was still a little apprehensive.
After some haggling, they finally agreed on a price of five yuan each for large crabs and three yuan each for small crabs—the kind that are over a year old.
"We need to buy at least thirty crabs, otherwise it won't be worth it for us to catch crabs once," Li Qiang said, stating his second and third conditions. "We also need to pay a thirty-yuan deposit."
Tian Junjie was surprised that this boy, who looked so simple and honest, was actually very shrewd in business.
But after their previous meeting on the dam line, and with Yang Laoliu's guidance, he was certain that this family was the contractor of Xiaohaizi, so he didn't object.
After all, Li Qiang gave a reasonable explanation: he was afraid that no one would want the crabs he caught, and what if they would spoil because he couldn't finish them?
He agreed to both of them and paid on the spot.
Both parties agreed to deliver the goods the next morning, and Tian Junjie rode his bicycle back home.
After riding out of four teams, he realized that he had only agreed to the other party's conditions, but had not proposed any restrictions on them.
For example, if the other party cannot produce thirty, they have to pay compensation for breach of contract!
I only have no business experience; I'm not even as good as a child!
In the courtyard, Mingming said to Li Qiang:
"Brother Qiangqiang, you're amazing! You've mastered business so quickly! And you explain it so clearly and logically, you're truly impressive!"
Li Qiang blushed and smiled, saying, "You're amazing too, you can even use idioms now."
Hao Hao hurriedly asked, "Brother Qiangqiang, can we go crab catching?"
“No, I can’t take care of you tonight, so you can’t go now,” Li Qiang said. “Let’s wait until you’re a little older.”
P.S.: I went to Xiaohaizi today to check it out, but I was very disappointed. I couldn't catch any fish, and I also caught a chill. I'm still a bit dizzy. That's all for today.
To make up for the lack of words, I'll post two photos.
While I was recovering from surgery, the team was dredging the river, and many fish died during the project. (End of Chapter)