Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1424 Li Qiang's New Recruit Life and Li Long's Big Toy

The wheat harvest season begins in early July.

Li Jianguo's tractor, the agricultural machinery cooperative's harvester, and Kangmaiyin all set out together to begin harvesting wheat.

Following Li Long's advice, Li Jianguo applied to the team to establish a cooperative and simultaneously applied for a courtyard for the cooperative's premises.

Xu Chengjun didn't make things difficult at all and approved it directly. The large courtyard was placed next to Li Long's cooperative, but they would have to wait until the village's residential land and bungalows were built before they could go back to build the courtyard.

Anyway, we're still living in the old courtyard, where there's a place to park the tractor, so there's no rush.

It's currently the topping season for cotton, and many villagers are going to the cooperative to toggle the cotton plants to earn money, or to toggle, plant roots, and weed their own cotton plants.

Therefore, the wheat harvest is not as important as before. People also calculate that the money they earn working at the cooperative can completely cover the cost of harvesting wheat using Kangmaiyin.

Although there's no more wheat straw and we can't get the wheat tails back, it's still convenient and saves us a lot of trouble.

Therefore, this year, only two or three families are using the threshing ground south of the new settlement. Most families use threshing mats to harvest their wheat, then bring it back to their own yards to winnow it before handing it over to the government or storing it in their warehouses.

With fewer people working on the threshing floor, those scenes of labor are rarely seen anymore.

The machines used by the four teams to harvest wheat are generally Kangmaiyin machines because they are convenient.

Therefore, most of the harvesters belonging to the Li family are used in other villages.

Several families in the village used to own combine harvesters, including Xie Yundong and Liang Dacheng. Now, most of them have been sold at a discount to Li Jianguo, since they're not really useful to their own homes.

This thing is only used for harvesting wheat and cutting grass. Tao Daqiang's machine was simply given to Lao Ma and Uncle Luo. Uncle Luo then gave the Tao family a sheep.

They got the harvester and a second-hand tractor, then drove it to the irrigation ditch next to the farmland to cut grass.

This thing is so convenient for cutting hay, it's really easy to use! Now that we're using combine harvesters to harvest wheat, there's no wheat straw left. Horses or cattle and sheep need a lot of hay in winter, so Uncle Luo and his family are taking matters into their own hands and cutting and hauling hay themselves.

Having more large plots of land has one advantage: it also means more irrigation ditches along the edges. Every so often, tall reeds grow along the ditches; these aren't much for cattle and sheep to eat in the summer, but they make excellent hay in the winter.

In addition to the alfalfa planted on the dozens of acres of saline-alkali land opened by Li Long, and the sugar residue that Song Ming and his group brought over every day, that's enough for the cattle and sheep.

Actually, Uncle Luo and the others don't need to cut grass. They just graze cattle and sheep every day, and they do have some free time. When they're free, they think about what kind of work to do.

Rural people can't stay idle. They've worked most of their lives, so they'll always find something to do.

In mid-July, Li Qiang and his cadet team were given a break. Most of the cadets packed their bags and went to the army to intern as new recruits, while a few cadets stayed behind in the cadet team, commonly known as "guarding the house".

Military trucks took the trainees to the military camp, where their first meal was noodles.

After lunch, we were assigned to different companies for our internship. After putting away our luggage, we gathered at the training ground and went to visit the regimental history museum together.

This is a unit with a glorious tradition, whose history can be traced back to the Red Army period.

The company has several honorary titles, and the flags riddled with bullet holes, the blood-stained roster, and the old photos in the regimental history museum stir the students' hearts.

When the trainees came out of the regimental history museum, they were still very excited. Back in their company and assigned to their platoon, Li Qiang thought that he would learn a lot by staying in such a unit and company.

But reality quickly slapped him in the face.

Li Qiang was assigned to the 5th Platoon of the 7th Company. They had just finished shooting practice today. When Li Qiang arrived, they had already returned from the practice, and he could hear the platoon leader holding a platoon meeting at the door to summarize the shooting situation.

The squad leader was from the south, short in stature, but had a terrible temper. Before Li Qiang even entered the room, he could hear the squad leader loudly reprimanding someone, followed by a "thump." When he pushed open the door, he found his bunkmate, Private First Class Li Huai-ren, also surnamed Li, lying face down on the floor.

Li Qiang instinctively stepped forward to help him up, but Li Huai Ren stood up first, clutched his stomach, and then regained his balance.

When the class monitor saw Li Qiang come in, his expression changed. He pointed to the next room and said, "Li Qiang, you can go over there first. We're having a meeting right now. I'll introduce you to everyone after the meeting."

Li Qiang wanted to say something, but remembering his current status, he nodded, turned around, and went to the next room.

Each class has two dorm rooms, and the one next door, which also belongs to Class 5, is now empty. Li Qiang pulled a small stool out from under his bunk bed, sat down, and picked up a newspaper, but seemed distracted.

The soundproofing of the bungalow was poor, so he could hear what was happening in the next class meeting. The class monitor was loudly scolding Li Huai-ren because he had made many mistakes in target practice that day, failing to score more than 40 rings in both shots.

This result is an utter disgrace for Class 5. Class 5 is the leading class in the second rank, always competing with Class 1 and Class 8. Normally, the average score for Class 5 students is never below 45 rings, but today they suffered a major setback.

The squad leader severely criticized Li Huai-ren, making him do 100 push-ups and 100 squats in the corner. Then, the squad leader praised Hu Ming-yu, a new recruit in the squad, because Hu Ming-yu had scored 50 points on his first shooting test. It was a pity this was organized by the battalion; if it had been organized by the regiment, Hu Ming-yu might have received a commendation.

After praising the advanced and criticizing the lagging, the squad leader quickly summarized the strengths and weaknesses of today's target practice, and then encouraged everyone to keep up the good work next time. He added that the entire regiment would be holding a shooting competition at the end of July, and everyone should strive for excellent results.

When Li Qiang heard his squad leader call the meeting to end from next door, he breathed a sigh of relief. They also had squad meetings in the military academy, but they were mostly verbal, and any situation or problem was expressed verbally, unlike the intense atmosphere here.

When he entered the room, he thought Li Huai-ren must have been kicked, but the person who was kicked didn't seem to have any complaints, and even after standing up, his expression was normal.

Just as Li Qiang put the newspaper in the newspaper holder, the door was pushed open. The first to enter was the vice class monitor, Chang Qiankun. He smiled, shook hands with Li Qiang, introduced himself, and welcomed Li Qiang to the class.

They led Li Qiang to the next dormitory, where the soldiers lined up on both sides. They applauded as Li Qiang entered. By this time, the gloomy atmosphere from the earlier class meeting had vanished. Every soldier was curiously looking at Li Qiang, and he could feel their fervent longing and envy as they gazed at the red epaulets on his shoulders.

A sense of pride, along with a touch of nervousness, followed. The squad leader introduced Li Qiang's background, Li Qiang gave a brief self-introduction, and then each soldier introduced themselves.

Actually, the class monitor already knew these people's names when he picked Li Qiang up to drop off his luggage, and they had even talked to some of them. For example, Li Huai-ren had helped Li Qiang make his bed and tidy up his belongings. He never expected that their next meeting would turn out like this.

However, Li Qiang noticed that Li Huai Ren's expression showed no sign of discomfort, and the warmth on his face in welcoming Li Qiang was genuine. This marked the beginning of his time as a new recruit.

Life in the military is completely different from that in military school. Every day is filled with training, study, and occasional labor. To Li Qiang's surprise, the company sometimes participates in local labor, such as digging fiber optic cables or drainage ditches. As cadets assigned to the company, they are required to participate in all of these tasks, and Li Qiang is no exception.

Of course, the most important part of the entire military training process was military training. Here, Li Qiang truly witnessed the skills of his peers. For example, his squad leader's daily time for the 400-meter obstacle course was one minute and thirty to forty seconds, and even in the regular training at the regimental and battalion levels, the time was generally under one minute and forty seconds.

For example, Chang Qiankun, the deputy squad leader who usually seems cheerful, can run 5km in full gear in just over 19 minutes, and he can still help other soldiers carry two Type 81 rifles.

Before taking the military academy entrance exam, Li Qiang wasn't exactly a troublemaker, but at least his physical fitness was fine. Even so, after arriving at the military academy and participating in training, he could barely manage a 5km run without equipment in just over nineteen minutes, not to mention his performance in full gear.

After all, their command academy is different from the army's infantry command, and military training is not their strong point.

Of course, there were also some who were relatively weak. In July, the new cadets and officers who had undergone intensive training in the division were assigned to participate in the regimental assessment. Some logistics personnel couldn't even recognize all the runners in the 400-meter dash, let alone know how to run it. As for the horizontal bar, needless to say, they only knew how to do the first two steps, which caused constant laughter from the support soldiers.

During routine equipment training, the company is full of talented individuals. After normal training, during breaks, someone would often perform five, six, seven, or eight repetitions on the horizontal bar, which was quite impressive.

Watching them move nimbly and skillfully on the bar, Li Qiang was genuinely envious. They usually only did one or two training sessions at the military academy, and occasionally an instructor would demonstrate during the third or fifth training session, but they weren't required to do so.

Here, Li Qiang basically put aside his pride as a military academy student and humbly learned from the soldiers. He practiced with equipment, ran obstacle courses, and of course, his favorite thing was to learn to play the guitar in his spare time.

Among the soldiers, some were truly skilled in both literature and martial arts, displaying a variety of guitar playing styles, and many of the pieces they played were ones that Li Qiang had never heard before.

Much later, Li Qiang learned that these tunes were basically created by anonymous people in the army and then gradually spread.

Later, many military folk songs that became widely circulated were not originally created by those people. Just like "In That Faraway Place," which was adapted from folk songs by Mr. Wang Luobin during his field research, many military folk songs in later generations were actually adapted by the lyricists and composers after they went to the troops to collect folk songs and heard the soldiers playing some tunes. This included the famous "Green Flowers in the Army."

Of course, Li Qiang was also the envy of everyone. As a military academy cadet, he was destined to become an officer after graduation. Normally, Li Qiang got along well with everyone; while they weren't exactly brothers, they certainly had good relationships.

He learned all sorts of knowledge from everyone, and some soldiers would ask Li Qiang for favors. For example, the deputy squad leader Chang Qiankun would ask Li Qiang for a pair of cadet shoulder patches.

Chang Qiankun told Li Qiang in private that after he participated in the competition, his family introduced him to a potential partner, and he wanted to get a trainee epaulette to wear.

Li Qiang was still a new student at this time. Although they could buy replacement epaulets directly from the school's uniform warehouse if they lost them, they dared not do so because they had a very strong sense of discipline.

At that time, he only had one pair with him. He couldn't refuse because of his pride, so he simply said that he would buy one from the warehouse after he got back and send it to Chang Qiankun.

The squad leader privately hoped that Li Qiang could help him coordinate a set of camouflage uniforms. These could be bought at the school's equipment warehouse, but it's different in the military. Military uniforms are issued in fixed quantities; each person only gets a few sets, no extras.

As a Class A regiment, their training was extremely tough and intense. The training uniforms they were issued were already riddled with holes. The camouflage uniforms sold at the supply store near the gate were, to put it mildly, unpalatable; the soldiers generally looked down on them, but sometimes they had no choice but to buy them.

The squad leader assured Li Qiang that his camouflage uniforms were genuine and wanted Li Qiang to help him. He even considered selling Li Qiang his old camouflage uniforms when he left, if all else failed. Li Qiang was somewhat amused and exasperated by this, and agreed to send the squad leader a set later.

Ah, Li Huai-ren, who got kicked by the squad leader, hoped that Li Qiang could send him a collar insignia. Soldiers had to hand in their collar insignia when they were discharged. He wanted to keep one as a souvenir.

When Li Qiang joined the army, he didn't really see himself as a military academy cadet; he felt like everyone else. So he quickly integrated into the class, training and chatting with everyone, even joking about whether the company's assigned labor outside the unit was arranged by higher-ups. He would also share some interesting stories about his hometown.

The soldiers in the Fifth Platoon came from all over the country, except for Li Qiang, who was from the northern border region. Everyone was very curious about the situation in the northern border region, and Li Qiang would generously introduce it and then explain it carefully. After all, at that time, most Chinese people still had a lot of misunderstandings about the northern border region.

On Friday, the camp organized another live-fire exercise, with scores calculated by class. A special notice was issued stating that the scores of the assigned trainees would also be included in their class scores.

The squad leader, deputy squad leader, and even the veterans in the squad all talked to Li Qiang, mainly to reassure him and tell him not to be nervous. In their minds, ordinary cadets were similar to new recruits, and some military academy students hadn't even fired a few shots.

These soldiers truly consider Li Qiang one of their own; hopefully, he won't carry any mental burden.

That's what they said, but when it was Li Qiang's turn to shoot, everyone in the class watched the target stick intently. The deputy squad leader, Chang Qiankun, quietly announced Li Qiang's scores each time: "Eight rings, ten rings, nine rings..."

In the end, Li Qiang's total score was forty-seven rings.

Upon hearing the results, the soldiers of the fifth platoon cheered in the waiting line. Although they were immediately reprimanded by their platoon leader, they were genuinely happy.

When Li Qiang returned from the shooting range, the soldiers shook his hand and congratulated him. After the shooting was over, they carried their stools and equipment back. Li Qiang noticed that several squads were starting to prepare for a run.

In the team, Li Huai-ren whispered to Li Qiang, "Classes with an average score of less than 45 rings have to run back to the camp from the shooting range according to the rules."

This time, the other soldiers in the fifth squad all surpassed the average score, but they were worried that Li Qiang's score would drag them down.

Unexpectedly, Li Qiang played well this time, saving everyone from running, which made everyone very happy.

The shooting range was less than five kilometers from the camp, but Li Qiang knew those people would definitely find a way to make it five kilometers. After this shooting session, Li Qiang's relationship with the soldiers in his platoon improved even more. They joked and teased each other, truly like comrades in the same platoon.

Thursday was for theoretical study. The instructor gave a lecture to the entire company, which focused on the company's history. Li Qiang had a feeling that this lecture was specifically for them, the company's political instructor, and was also meant to inspire all soldiers to remember the company's history and carry forward the revolutionary spirit of their predecessors.

The Red Army company's history dates back to a long period. The 7th Company, serving as a reserve force alongside the battalion headquarters, was deployed during the general offensive. The 1st Battalion cleared the way, followed by the 3rd Battalion as a reserve force. The 7th Company was responsible for the assault. They cleared most of the obstacles on the position, and subsequently, the 8th Company captured the enemy's flag and destroyed their command post.

After the war, both the 7th and 8th companies were awarded the title of "Most Merited Company." Although the final victory was achieved by the 8th Company, the unit commanders at the time said that without the 7th Company, there would have been no victory. Although the 7th Company was tasked with laying the groundwork, it completed its mission perfectly, earning the 7th Company a truly prestigious title.

After listening to this lesson, Li Qiang imagined the course of that battle. He guessed that in some later stages, some people might say that the Seventh Company was not as good as the Eighth Company, which was why the instructor specifically emphasized these lessons.

After that moment, Li Qiang's understanding of how grassroots companies value honor above all else deepened. The company's spirit was actually born from these repeated emphasis on honor.

In the subsequent weekend basketball games and singing competitions before watching movies, you could see that the competition between the companies was really intense. Many people really cherished the honor of their company, even at the cost of getting injured.

On the eve of August 1st, the company organized pistol shooting practice for its officers. The company commander requested that the trainees be included as well. The 7th Company had a total of 12 trainees, while it itself had eight officers. The company commander instructed the trainees to provide support during the shooting practice first, and after the officers finished, each trainee would fire five rounds of pistol ammunition. It was Li Qiang's first time firing a Type 54 pistol, and he found it quite novel.

Unexpectedly, a problem arose as soon as the firing began. The company commander, one hand on his hip and the other holding his rifle, was conducting precision shooting at a target 25 meters away. After the order to "begin firing" was given, he pulled the trigger, and "rat-a-tat-tat," three bullets were fired in quick succession. Li Qiang, standing behind him, was startled: "When did the Type 54 pistol become capable of automatic fire?"

However, he noticed that the company commander showed no surprise whatsoever, only muttering, "This crappy gun," before continuing to fire. After firing the remaining two bullets, and waiting for everyone else to finish, he checked the gun, engaged the safety, put it away, and then checked the scores.

The company commander muttered as he walked, "Damn it, we fired in bursts. This is going to be a disgrace." Sure enough, there were only three holes on the target, a score of twenty-seven.

Afterwards, Li Qiang learned that all the Type 54 pistols in the entire unit were old rifles. The company commander's rifle had a faulty trigger spring; it was supposed to be a semi-automatic pistol, but it fired in full-auto mode. This wasn't uncommon with old rifles, and Li Qiang learned something new.

After the company officers had taken their best scores in two rounds, the trainees also began to practice. However, they had never practiced with pistols in school, so after the company officers briefly explained some key points such as drawing circles and keeping a steady grip, they started shooting.

As a result, only 4 out of 12 trainees scored above 40 rings. Li Qiang did relatively well, scoring 42 rings.

The only difference between cadets and regular soldiers is that cadets don't take up a platoon's temporary leave slot when they go out on weekends. The soldiers are happy about this because weekend outings are a rare opportunity for them to relax.

Buy some daily necessities and stroll around the bustling streets. Or go to the town's phone booths to make a call home; although there are card-operated phones in the military base, the lines are too long on weekends.

Li Qiang would also take this opportunity to call home and tell his parents about his situation in the company, sharing some interesting stories about life in the company without revealing any secrets.

After a month-long internship, Li Qiang gained a deeper understanding of the military and the meaning of being a soldier. When it was time to part, everyone was reluctant to say goodbye, knowing that this might be the last time they saw each other. The time was short, but the friendship was profound.

July's heat is intense. While it doesn't literally mean scorching hot, most people would likely interpret it literally. It's truly unbearable heat outside, like being in an oven. Outside the purchasing station, in the shaded area, there are still some middlemen, eating melons and gossiping. They might rotate shifts daily, but there are always people there.

In the meeting room, Ma Qiang mysteriously told Li Long, "Boss Li, these two men went to Kazakhstan to do business. This Wang Shengli has been out of contact with his family for more than twenty days. I suspect he may have been kidnapped."

This Liu Heping did contact his family about ten days ago, saying he had met a boss in Almaty, but he hasn't contacted them since. So I was thinking, could you ask your friends there to help look for him?

I asked both families, and they said that if the person was indeed kidnapped, they would offer a large reward for rescuing and returning them to us; if the person died, we could also make a profit by sending the body over.

Li Long waved his hand and said, "Ma Qiang, I've told you before, I won't do this kind of thing on my own initiative. My friends over there aren't my henchmen. It's not like I can just tell them what to do and they'll do it."

They're not professionals at this; they'll help if they happen to be passing by, and if not, there's nothing they can do. So don't talk to me about this; I don't want to do this kind of work. See, if you really want to do this, go find someone yourself.”

Ma Qiang was still unwilling to give up and continued to persuade Li Long: "Boss Li, Wang Shengli didn't say he was dead, but Liu Heping's family said that if we save him, they will pay at least 3 yuan. 3 yuan! That's three people who are rich!"

You take the lion's share, I'll take the smaller portion. For your friends, it's a piece of cake, easy money; you just need to make a phone call and say a few words. I know you have a lot of influence, really, it's very easy.”

Li Long looked at Ma Qiang with some annoyance and said, "Ma Qiang, you really don't think my friend can control everything around Almaty, do you? Kazakhstan is a third larger than our northern Xinjiang, with more than two million square kilometers and several million people."

"If those people really kidnap someone, they can just hide them in any farmhouse, and they'll be impossible to find. My friend does have some influence in Almaty, but in the last two years, he's rescued some kidnapped Chinese citizens, and the local gangs are wary of him. Once they really kidnap someone, they won't be so easy to find. You should just give up on that idea."

After being reprimanded by Li Long, Ma Qiang had no choice but to leave. He was very unwilling to accept this, so he thought of calling Liu Gaolou.

Li Long wasn't unwilling to help, but he couldn't broach the subject with Ma Qiang. Because once that happened, Ma Qiang would be like a persistent leech, always coming back for help once he found some information.

As Li Long just said, in such a large area, Liu Shanmin is not a true local tyrant, so it's impossible for him to find a kidnapped person so easily.

Liu Shanmin has more important things to do over there, so he can't make this his main job.

At the end of July, Liu Gaolou arrived in the county with his convoy. When unloading the goods, Li Long told him about the matter and shared his plans and thoughts.

Liu Gaolou said, "You're right. My second uncle doesn't have the energy to deal with this kind of thing. If someone is kidnapped and my second uncle's men run into them while they're cleaning up the gang, they'll definitely rescue them, but they can't just send people out specifically for this."

He has more important things to do over there. Our trade is now settled, mainly involving automobiles, oil, hunting, and other scrap copper and other materials.

Although my second uncle has had more and more people working for him in the past two years, these businesses still require a lot of manpower, leaving not many people available to deal with the gangsters. So you were right to refuse this offer, and my second uncle would agree if he knew.

If our own people encounter this, we'll definitely help them. But those people going there to do business are certainly taking risks, and they know that themselves. No one will guarantee their safety; it's their own choice.

After Liu Gaolou finished the topic, he said to Li Long, "I've got you a big toy this time, or rather, my second uncle got you a big toy. This thing is really rare!"

Li Long asked with some confusion, "A big toy? What big toy?"

Liu Gaolou said with a smile, "I can tell you didn't look carefully just now. Come on, come out and take a look."

Li Long followed Liu Gaolou outside to take a look. When Liu Gaolou's convoy arrived, Li Long felt hot and didn't watch the whole thing. After Liu Gaolou got out of the car, he pulled Li Long into the reception room. Li Long didn't look closely at the supplies registration; everyone was used to it anyway.

At this point, Liu Gaolou mentioned having a big toy, and he guessed it was probably a car.

Sure enough, in the shed, there was a very imposing-looking vehicle parked there. Liang Shuangcheng and his employees were all watching it, commenting on it, but they didn't know what model it was.

After seeing it, Li Long was startled and blurted out, "Wow, why did you bring a Hummer?"

Liu Gaolou looked at Li Long in surprise and asked, "Huh? You know this big guy?"

Li Long, with his hands behind his back, nodded and said, "How could I not recognize it? This thing is a civilian Hummer, right? You can tell by the paint job. If it were a military Hummer, that would be terrifying."

The civilian version is quite intimidating, though; it's a gas guzzler. Of course, it looks imposing too. There's probably only one of these in the entire northern Xinjiang region.

Liu Gaolou was genuinely surprised that Li Long recognized this. He had originally intended to put on a grand show, but since Li Long knew it, there was nothing he could do. So he obediently explained:

"Let alone northern Xinjiang, even in Kazakhstan, there are probably only a few of these in total. The US doesn't allow the import of these things into Kazakhstan, not even the civilian version."

This car was smuggled to Kazakhstan, but the person who got it got into trouble, so they couldn't openly sell it. My second uncle took it, modified it a bit, and then brought it over to you.

My second uncle actually really liked it, but this kind of thing can't be displayed openly over there, so he simply gave it to you.

At this time, the civilian Hummer model was the H1, the only difference from the military Hummer being the color. Of course, the interior was slightly modified. Looking at the exterior, the characteristics were very obvious: a boxy shape, a wide body, large tires, and a grille with horizontal bars on the front.

The Hummer was silver-gray and had been well-preserved by the original owner. Li Long walked around the car and found no damage; even the tire treads showed little wear, suggesting it hadn't been driven for very long.

Perhaps because those are smuggled cars, they can't be driven out openly, so this is a good deal for Li Long. He smiled and said to Liu Gaolou:

"Alright, alright, this stuff is mine. How much?" Liu Gaolou joked, "Talking about money is too hurtful, it's a truckload of canned goods." Li Long nodded and said, "No problem, really cheap."

A truckload of canned goods might be worth tens of thousands of yuan at most, but this used Hummer is worth hundreds of thousands of yuan no matter how you look at it. He made a huge profit. Of course, he should make what he deserves and repay favors as well; give and take is the right thing to do. Li Long can't keep taking advantage forever; such a transaction can't last.

Li Long opened the door of the Hummer and sat inside to test drive it. This thing was really rugged; he planned to make some modifications to the interior later.

The car looks imposing from the outside, but it doesn't feel as comfortable as a Land Cruiser, probably because I'm used to it. However, it's really eye-catching from the outside, and Li Long is reluctant to sell it, thinking about keeping it so he can drive it around from time to time.

Of course, he hesitated; this thing was too eye-catching, even more so than the Tiger Head Ben.

Seeing that Li Long was very interested in the car, Liu Gaolou became somewhat smug.

After Li Long got out of the car, he handed the car keys to Liang Shuangcheng and asked him to clean it up properly. Then he followed Liu Gaolou into the reception room.

"I feel really good to receive such a big gift from you. So, is there anything you need?"

Liu Gaolou said with a smile, "Isn't it okay if I just send it to you if you don't need anything?"

Li Long waved his hand and said, "Let's not beat around the bush, just tell me what you want to say."

Seeing that Li Longlai was serious, Liu Gaolou said, "My second uncle said that he wants to control a larger area over there, so he needs some kind of pledge of allegiance. Supplies alone are no longer enough to meet their needs. He wants to get a set of equipment over there, even if it's second-hand."

Li Long asked, "What equipment?"

Liu Gaolou said, "There are raw material mines for cement production equipment over there, but to be honest, there is a huge shortage of cement for cities that urgently need construction."

Li Long was relieved; there shouldn't be any problem exporting this thing over there. He said, "Okay, wait for my news."

Liu Gaolou was immediately delighted. At heart, he was the kind of honest businessman who had mainly dealt with Li Long in recent years, so to be honest, his network of contacts was rather narrow.

This trip was actually his second uncle's idea. He told him to go directly to Li Long, and he did just that. He didn't expect it to work out.

Liu Gaolou handed the goods list to Li Long and then drove back to the county hotel. He planned to stay a few more days this time, preferably until Li Long had set up the equipment before he brought it over.

After Liu Gaolou left, Ma Qiang, who had been waiting nearby, immediately followed him. Upon entering the county guesthouse, Ma Qiang knocked on the door of Liu Gaolou's room.

Unsurprisingly, he was kicked out of Liu Gaolou's room after less than five minutes. What he considered a chance to make a fortune was utterly insignificant to Liu Gaolou. Besides, Liu Gaolou and Li Long had already discussed that they couldn't take the initiative to do something like this.

After Ma Qiang was released, he couldn't understand why they didn't do such lucrative jobs.

This isn't just a few thousand, it's tens of thousands! And it's clearly a unique business with no competitors, a sure-fire way to make a profit.

I just can't figure it out!

P.S.: There are seven or eight animated versions of my novel on Hongguo, and a new one came out tonight. I'll check if it's copyrighted later.

That's one of the downsides about Qidian (a Chinese online learning platform). Aside from collaborating with other platforms, you have to check. It used to be even more troublesome; you had to communicate with the editor to ask. Now it's better; there's a system in the backend to check. Why don't they just notify the authors directly? (End of Chapter)