Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1416 The captain backs up Li Long; the cooperative is hiring.

After the work team held a meeting with the team cadres, Xu Chengjun immediately convened a general meeting of all villagers to announce the matter.

In fact, everyone in the village knows that the large-scale transformation of 10,000 mu of farmland is about to take place, so they are waiting for news.

After the announcement was broadcast three times over the loudspeaker, people started carrying small stools and heading to the courtyard of Li Long's cooperative.

There was no other way; only this large courtyard could accommodate all the villagers for a general meeting, while the small courtyard in front of the team headquarters could only hold a portion of the people.

When Xu Chengjun arrived at the cooperative's courtyard with the prepared sheets of paper, there were already quite a few people sitting down with their stools, and the courtyard was bustling with noise.

Upon seeing Xu Chengjun enter, someone in the crowd shouted, "Captain, hurry up and announce the news. I still need to sow seeds after you do that. My field is half-sown."

Xu Chengjun pulled a chair out of the cooperative's office, sat down, and said, "Your ears are quite sharp; you could hear the sound from my loudspeaker even when you were planting over there."

"Sit still, it won't take long. I remember your family partnered with someone else to build a pump house, right? If you don't want to suffer any losses, listen carefully."

Upon hearing Xu Chengjun mention the pump house, someone immediately asked, "Captain, with this farmland renovation project, can we use our newly built pump house right away?"

"Wait, we'll talk about it later." Xu Chengjun looked at the people still coming in and said loudly, "Each village group leader, please count the people in your group and see if everyone has arrived."

We need to make sure everyone hears about these important policies. It would be troublesome if someone was absent or the message wasn't properly relayed.

The village representatives started calling out to the people in their groups. Everyone was sitting casually, and it was difficult to find everyone in a short time, so the noise became even louder.

Seeing that it would take some time to gather everyone, Xu Chengjun simply brought out another table from the conference room. He said to Xie Yundong, who was sitting in front of him, "Look at you guys, not even offering a helping hand. I'm a captain, and you're just making me set up the table and chairs here by myself."

Liang Dacheng joked from the side, "Our Lao Xie is also a dignified cooperative manager. This should have been my job, but I've been in charge of sowing 2000 mu of land these past two days, and I'm really tired. I can't even lift my arms."

Xu Chengjun glared at him and said, "Stop showing off your 2000 mu of land. The experts who designed and planned this time said that your 2000 mu of land is not square and needs to be expanded to the east."

"Once the meeting is over, hurry up and plow out some more land, then build another irrigation canal on the west side, connecting it to the canal used for adjusting the farmland in the team."

Liang Dacheng asked with some doubt, "Really? Is it too late to clear the land, irrigate, and sow again now? If we plant seven or eight days later, the cotton harvest will be delayed by a month. It probably won't make any sense to plant on our land now, right?"

Xie Yundong laughed and said, "The captain is just joking with you. Even if the land is re-planned, the crops will have to be harvested by this fall. Right now, it's just a plan on paper. Be more proactive at the next meeting and help the captain move the table out earlier, then the captain won't scare you."

Liang Dacheng exaggeratedly patted his chest and said, "Hey, I thought it was true. If that's the case, I'll have to work for another half month. I'll be exhausted."

Xu Chengjun just took a drag on his cigarette and laughed. He slapped the table and said, "This is for you. If you disrespect the captain again, be more polite when you see him in the future, and be more discerning in your actions."

They chatted and joked around, talking about passing the game of "passing the game of cards," while several village representatives quickly gathered their group members. Li Jianguo was the first to get everyone together and shouted to Xu Chengjun:

"Captain, our team members are all here."

Before Xu Chengjun could respond, another group leader shouted, "Our group members are all here!"

A few minutes later, one after another, people reported that everyone had arrived. Xu Chengjun then slammed his hand on the table and shouted loudly:

"Alright, alright, everyone be quiet! The meeting is starting! Stop arguing! If you keep talking, you'll all have to stand and listen!"

His loud voice immediately drowned out the voices of the others. Two other people were still joking around, which prompted the village group leader to scold them, and they finally quieted down.

Everyone's used to it. During large meetings, there are always some people who don't take discipline seriously, joking and chattering away, and then keep bothering you after you can no longer hear what the person presiding over the meeting is saying.

Xu Chengjun unfolded the two pieces of paper, looked at them, and then said to everyone:

"The matter concerns the large-scale transformation of 10,000 mu of farmland. As you can guess, the project has been approved, and the next step is mainly land replanning and the reuse of those pumping stations."

Needless to say, land reclamation involves planning our existing scattered plots of land into larger areas. Some areas may need to be reclaimed, and some may need to be developed into roads or canals.

We shouldn't concern ourselves with these things, because after this crop is planted and plowed in the fall, all the land will need to be replanned and redistributed.

Let me tell you something that you're all interested in: the pump house was built this year and you've started using it.

However, by the end of this year, because our land will be re-planned, it is uncertain whether the existing pumping stations will be usable. If they are usable, the autonomous region will cover the cost of your investment.

If a pumping station is not in use, and the pumps are compliant, then the pumps can be removed and used by others. However, if the pumps are not compliant, then there's nothing that can be done.

Upon hearing Xu Chengjun's words, someone immediately shouted, "If the pump house is not needed, but the water pumps are, will they reimburse us for part of the cost of the water pumps?"

"Yes, if the water pump can be used, the working group will deduct the cost of the water pump from your account." Xu Chengjun was now answering questions one by one, just like he was holding a press conference.

"What if all the pump houses can be used?" another person asked.

"Then the working group will return the money to you according to the price they designed."

Hearing this, some were happy and some were worried. Most were concerned that their water pumps would be unusable, while a few felt lucky and might receive compensation.

"So now, can we know which pump stations can be used and which cannot?" So someone immediately asked.

"There's no way to know right now. We have to wait for their design team to complete the entire design and planning, and then calculate it based on the land area. If they can calculate it, then it can be used; if they can't, then it definitely won't work."

However, they also made it clear that even if the drip irrigation equipment for your cooperative's 3000 mu of land were usable, you wouldn't receive any subsidies. After all, that money originally came from the autonomous region as a support project.

Xie Yundong, Li Long, and the others didn't say anything. After all, they already knew about this, and they also knew that Xu Chengjun's words were actually helping to divert their hatred. There were still some people in the village who were envious.

"I built this pump house because Li Long suggested it. If it's not needed in the future, your cooperative has to give me an explanation." Someone suddenly said this.

"It's just building a pump house, buying a water pump, setting up a green pond, and buying the main pipeline. All these miscellaneous things add up to quite a bit of money," someone whispered in agreement, but the voice sounded rather abrupt in the quiet courtyard.

Li Long, Xie Yundong, and the others were a bit confused. What did it mean to take Li Long's advice, build a pumping station, and then ask the cooperative for an explanation? Was this killing two birds with one stone?

"What explanation do you want?" Li Jianguo suddenly spoke up. "When you asked my son Xiaolong one by one if he could install this drip irrigation tape, didn't my son Xiaolong tell you that the autonomous region has this 10,000-mu farmland transformation project, and suggested that you should not do it for the time being?"

You insisted on doing this, and now you're putting the blame on us, Xiaolongtou. What do you mean by that? Do you think the Li family is easy to bully, or that Xiaolongtou is easy to talk to?

When you're looking to make money and learn new skills, why didn't you think of our Xiaolong when there were benefits? Now you're unhappy about potential losses? Did our Xiaolong force you to buy the water pump cover and filter tank?

"That's right. I remember when you went to the drip irrigation tape factory to ask Brother Long about whether it was possible to build a pump house, Brother Long said very clearly at the time that small households with only one or two hundred acres of land shouldn't bother, it's not worth it. If the cooperative does it, at least they can break even in a year."

Aren't you ashamed to say such things now?

After Li Jianguo, Tao Daqiang was the first to speak up. Anyway, everyone in the village knew that he was closely following Li Long. The villagers even believed that if his father had a conflict with Li Long, he might even side with Li Long.

With hundreds of people in the courtyard, they couldn't immediately recognize who was speaking. Li Long stood up, turned around, and asked, "Who was it that demanded an explanation from me just now? Come on, step forward and speak."

His tone was calm, showing no sign of anger. In fact, if one didn't connect what had just happened with what he was saying now, some might have thought he was genuinely going to give someone an explanation.

But no one spoke up, no one dared to admit it.

Xu Chengjun tapped the table and said, "Alright, alright, sit down and listen to me. First of all, buying the water pumps and building the pump house were your own actions, don't try to say you heard it from Li Long."

Our family also built a pump house. I remember very clearly that Li Long made it very clear at the time: If you have a lot of land, you should be able to break even if you build this; but if you have a little land, I don't recommend building it.

After all, the large-scale farmland renovation project is about to be implemented. If we do it ourselves, and the higher authorities don't provide subsidies, then we'll have to pay for it ourselves, and we might not even be able to recoup our investment.

There's no need to elaborate on this. Everyone participated voluntarily. Don't think that if you gain an advantage, you can keep it for yourself. You'll end up paying for it later when you suffer a loss. It's not that easy.

Xu Chengjun had essentially made the decision, and no further discussion was needed. Then he brought up the second matter:

"Let me be frank with you, this project was applied for and approved with the help of Li Long. Without him, our village wouldn't even know this project existed, and it would have been impossible for us to get it approved."

He saved our village millions, I'm telling you, several million! This time he came with money, and now we're making plans. Construction will start this fall. Other villages can't even imagine a project like this, let alone envy it!

If this money falls into our hands, each family will save at least tens of thousands of yuan. In other villages, this would be a cause for celebration. And yet you're still causing trouble here!

"Anyone who brings up compensation again, let me tell you, you can go wherever you want, but our Fourth Team doesn't welcome you! I'm putting it this way: I'll call a village representative meeting and kick you out. I can do that. If I can't get rid of you, I'm not a member of the Xu family!"

His words were quite serious. Those who had been laughing and joking below immediately turned serious. Nobody wanted to provoke him.

Xu Chengjun has served as village chief and village director for so many years and rarely loses his temper. Even when some people make mistakes, he might just yell at them. He's rarely this stern, and the smart villagers know he's serious.

Next, Xu Chengjun explained to everyone the plots of land that the working group had mentioned that needed to be moved, especially emphasizing the land cultivated by some families on the periphery.

He explained, "These plots of land will be redistributed later anyway. During this time, the working group will mark these plots. Don't worry about it, just focus on planting the land first."

The village meeting mainly announced these two things. After finishing, Xu Chengjun saw that no one had any objections, so he adjourned the meeting. Actually, even if anyone had objections, seeing the team leader get angry earlier, they had given up. After all, nobody wanted to be the one getting yelled at at that moment.

After the meeting ended, the other villagers took their stools and went home. The people from the cooperative stayed behind.

Li Jianguo put his hands behind his back, picked up a stool, and said to Li Long, "Don't listen to those people's nonsense. Let me investigate. If I find out who said those words, I'll beat him up at their house."

Li Long laughed and said, "Brother, don't worry about it. People like that are a minority, and they only dare to make a fuss when there are many people around. They don't have the guts to actually say anything."

Li Jianguo said, "Just keep it in mind," and then went back.

Xie Yundong said to the others, "Our cooperative's land plots should remain largely untouched, though some adjustments may be necessary."

Li Long said, "Don't worry about those, let the work group adjust them. Anyway, once this year's cotton is planted, we can just remove the drip irrigation tape and start over next year."

They will take care of all the pump houses, filter beds, water channels, and main pipelines. As long as it's not a serious problem, any piece of land will do; we have a contract, and they can't possibly take away our land.

The renovations are now complete, and our cooperative can add members. Let's see who wants to join. We'll hold a meeting, and the majority will decide who passes.

Upon hearing this, Xu Haijun laughed and said, "Hey, I bet a lot of people in the village can't wait any longer. Families like Old Lu's and the team leader's must all want to join our cooperative as soon as possible."

Liang Dacheng said, "Actually, it doesn't really matter which cooperative you join, since land reform has already begun. Everyone started from roughly the same point, using drip irrigation for farming, so it shouldn't have much of an impact."

Tao Daqiang shook his head and said, "How can they be the same? Others have only farmed drip-irrigated fields for one year, while our cooperative has been doing it for three or four years. We have much more experience. Just for that reason alone, I think many people will join our cooperative. It's just that there will be more land then. Hmm, Lao Xie, can you manage it all?"

Xie Yundong laughed and said, "If I can't manage it all, then you're here, aren't you? Even if you don't want to go out and cultivate your own land, if some people in our team really join in and rearrange the land into large strips, then you'll have to take charge, right?"

Tao Daqiang looked around with a bitter expression. The only people who were still free were Li Long and Jia Weidong.

Jia Weidong waved his hand and said, "I have to manage the accounts, I don't have time for that."

Tao Daqiang could only say, "Then I'll take charge. I estimate I can only manage it for a year or two. Once others join in, and given enough time, people like Tie Tou's father will definitely be able to manage it too."

Li Long laughed. Tao Daqiang wasn't as simple-minded as he seemed; he was quite clever, and he immediately grasped the crux of the matter.

Currently, whether it's the original 2000 mu of land, the 1000 mu of irrigated land managed by Xu Haijun in the second team, or the 2000 mu of land newly reclaimed by Liang Dacheng under the tripod, sowing has been completed, and some seedlings have already sprouted. Therefore, there's a slightly more relaxed time now, allowing the group to get together and chat. The next six months will be quite busy, so this current leisure is rather precious.

People like Liang Dacheng and Xu Haijun took this opportunity to raise some minor issues they encountered in managing the land, and everyone discussed and resolved them together.

Answering the questions mainly relied on Li Long and Xie Yundong. Li Long was in charge of technology and had been the cooperative manager for many years, so he had accumulated experience handling many matters. After they had finished talking, they went their separate ways. Li Long then drove to his elder brother's house.

Just as he expected, Lu Yingming and Tie Tou were in their elder brother's yard, chatting with their elder brother Li Jianguo and the others about the meeting that day.

Seeing Li Long get out of the car and enter the yard, Tie Tou smiled at him. Since last year, Tie Tou had been managing the cooperative's affairs with Xie Yundong and the others, and this year he was even directly involved in the cooperative's field management. He had become accustomed to Li Long's presence as the cooperative's unsung manager.

When Lu Yingming saw Li Long come in, he smiled and said, "Little Long, are you not angry? Some of those people were saying really awful things. But those people are just like clowns; they don't dare to speak to your face, they just kept trying to annoy you."

Li Long smiled and said, "I don't care about them. Let them say what they want, it won't hurt me anyway. By the way, Brother Lu, after our cooperative finishes planting this year, we'll be able to open up and hire new people. Do you want to join us?"

Lu Yingming's eyes lit up and he said, "Really? If they're really hiring, I'll definitely join. Actually, Wang Caimi and the others wanted me to join their cooperative before, but I said I wouldn't go."

When I joined the cooperative, I wanted to be like Old Li, a hands-off manager who would just hand over the land and leave it to you. I feel at ease joining your cooperative; but I wouldn't feel at ease joining Wang Caimi's cooperative. They've only been using drip irrigation for a year; nobody knows how it will turn out.

"Okay, okay, I've got this sorted out first. Am I sure I want to join your cooperative? Let me calculate; my family's farmland plus the contracted land is about 60 mu (approximately 4 hectares). When the land is redistributed at the end of the year, I'll see if the team will redistribute it again. If they do, I'll see if I can get 100 mu (approximately 6.7 hectares) then, which would be better in terms of overall cost."

Li Long said, "You can ask other people. If there are any others who want to join, it's best to tell the team leader and make the land contiguous. That way, it will be easier to manage later."

Tie Tou understood this point, and he nodded repeatedly: "That's how I am. The best land for the cooperative is contiguous, so it's easy to irrigate, weed, spray pesticides, and manage."

Lu Yingming slapped Tie Tou and laughed, "Your father has cultivated more land than you by twenty or thirty years. Do you think I don't know this? You don't need to tell me."

Don't worry, I've been working on exchanging land with others for the past two years, and I'll definitely try my best to consolidate the land. When I get back, I'll see who else wants to join your cooperative, and I'll persuade them to come too.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yingming couldn't sit still any longer. He stood up and said, "Old Li, you guys go about your business. I need to hurry back and check things out, and then find someone. We need to queue up in advance to avoid getting in later and causing trouble."

As soon as Lu Yingming left, Tie Tou went back with him.

Li Jianguo then asked Li Long, "Is the cooperative really going to add more people? If so, should we add Junfeng and Junhai?"

Li Long smiled and said, "No problem. We still need to ask Junfeng and Junhai how much money they have saved. They didn't get to contract the two extra plots of land that were originally part one and part two in this team."

When the land is redistributed at the end of this year, I'll talk to the team leader and see if we can compensate them. After that, each family will have at least several dozen acres of land. They'll have a good share of the profits at the end of each year, and with the money they earn working with you on the tractor, they should be able to live a comfortable life.

They'll definitely want to bring their families over then, and if those families see that life isn't as good as it was back home, they'll definitely feel uncomfortable. We need to tell them now to save their money.

Li Jianguo smiled and said, "That makes sense. I'll go and talk to them. When it comes time to make up the difference between the two plots of land, if they don't have enough, I'll make up the difference for them first."

In recent years, by organizing young people to drive high-horsepower tractors to plow the fields and earn money, Li Jianguo's family wealth has increased considerably, and he has the confidence to speak like this.

After leaving the cooperative's courtyard, Tao Daqiang carried a stool to his older brother's house. Tao Dayong had just returned from the cooperative and was talking to his wife about it.

At the beginning of the year, he asked Tao Daqiang if he should build a pumping station on his dozens of acres of land. After all, he saw that others were doing it and making money, and if he didn't follow suit, he would definitely feel bad if his harvest was poor at the end of the year.

Tao Daqiang told him, "Don't bother with those dozens of acres. Listen to Brother Long, when the 10,000-acre farmland transformation takes place, the whole village will do it together. Doing it now is just throwing money into it, and who knows how many years it will take to break even."

Tao Dayong listened to his younger brother and didn't switch to drip irrigation, sticking to traditional cotton cultivation. However, Ma Chunhong was unhappy, feeling that Tao Dayong was too obedient to his brother, letting money slip by, which led to a few days of conflict between the couple.

As a result of today's meeting, Tao Dayong immediately felt smug and went home to scold his wife. Ma Chunhong wanted to argue back, but didn't know what to say. If Tao Dayong had actually listened to her and used their savings to build this pump house and drip irrigation system, he would have regretted it terribly.

Tao Daqiang's appearance saved him, and Ma Chunhong hurriedly went into the kitchen to clean up. Because Tao Daqiang had previously told Tao Dayong not to get involved in the pump room business, Ma Chunhong had often spoken sarcastically about her brother-in-law, so seeing him now was quite awkward.

Tao Daqiang pretended not to see his sister-in-law and said to his elder brother in the yard, "Brother, our cooperative is recruiting now. Do you want to join? If you want to invest, hurry up and register first, and ask Lao Xie to reserve a spot, so that when there are too many people who want to join, you won't have a chance."

Upon hearing this, Tao Dayong asked with delight, "What? You can hire people over there? Okay, okay, I'll go find Lao Xie right now. Hehehe, I've finally waited for this moment. Daqiang, no doubt about it. I'm sorry for what I did to you before. From now on, we're brothers in the same cooperative, so let's work hard. I'll listen to you."

Tao Dayong was about to leave.

Ma Chunhong was listening intently in the kitchen, but she couldn't hear what the two brothers were saying. Seeing her husband about to leave, she hurriedly came out and called out, asking him where he was going.

Tao Dayong lowered his voice and said, "The cooperative is going to accept shares, I need to hurry up and register."

Finished talking and left.

Ma Chunhong naturally understood that the cooperative her husband was referring to was the cooperative led by Li Long and Xie Yundong. Seeing her husband leave excitedly, she muttered a few words, turned to go back to the kitchen, then suddenly realized something, hurriedly took off her apron and put it in the kitchen, closed the door, and rushed out to go back to her parents' home.

Now everyone in the village knows that Xie Yundong and Li Long's cooperative is the best, with the highest dividends, and everyone wants to join. So Ma Chunhong also wants to get a spot for her family. Although her younger brother isn't very successful, if they invest their land, they'll be making money hand over fist. Who wouldn't want such a good deal?

Tao Dayong hurried toward the Xie family. Several people greeted him on the way and asked what he was doing, but he didn't elaborate, afraid that if he explained it clearly, he would be placed at the back of the registration line and someone else would beat him to it.

When they arrived at the Xie family's residence, they saw that Lu Yingming and the others were already in line, talking to Xie Yundong. They realized that they weren't the fastest ones.

However, he wasn't in a hurry; after all, he was already in the top five. Given that Tao Daqiang's younger brother was in the cooperative, Xie Yundong probably wouldn't refuse him.

Sure enough, Xie Yundong finished registering everyone in the booklet. When it came to Tao Dayong, he smiled and said:

"Dayong, Daqiang told you, right? Hey, you're really quick. Okay, come on, tell me, how many acres of land do you own? Besides land, what else do you want to contribute as shares?"

Let me make this clear. You're investing this year, but the land has already been planted, so the calculation starts from next year. The companies that invest first next year will have their initial agricultural supplies from the beginning of the year retained. Therefore, when you officially invest at the end of the year, you'll need to pay a sum of money for those spring agricultural supplies.”

Tao Dayong had already inquired about these policies, so he smiled and said, "I know, I know. I know that. The amount to be paid will be calculated based on the number of acres invested, right? Don't worry, you'll pay whatever you're supposed to pay. I definitely won't shortchange you. Besides the land I'm investing in, I also have a small four-wheeled tractor, and that's all."

By the way, besides our ration field and the two mu (approximately 0.02 hectares) we contracted, my family has also reclaimed some wasteland, totaling 120 mu (approximately 8 hectares). When the land is distributed at the end of the year, I'd like to try to get the team to group the land together, so it'll be easier for people to invest, right?

Xie Yundong laughed and said, "Hey, it seems Daqiang really did tell you a lot. Well, when it comes time to divide the land, you really need to make a good point, otherwise, if the land isn't contiguous, it won't be easy for us to invest."

I've recorded it all for you. The share price isn't easy to calculate right now; we'll do it after the land is redistributed at the end of the year. Take a look at what I've written down for you, and then sign it.”

Tao Dayong carefully looked at the notes Xie Yundong had written down for him, and since they were no different from what he had said, he signed his name stroke by stroke.

Xie Yundong smiled when he saw the handwriting, which looked like that of an elementary school student and was quite earnest. These days, most children their age write almost identically; aside from a few who have gone to school, the rest are probably only at an elementary school level.

Tao Dayong walked out of the Xie family home with his hands behind his back, completely satisfied. Then he saw a car pull up. He recognized the car immediately; it was Captain Xu Chengjun's car.

The car stopped in front of the Xie family's house, and Xu Chengjun got out in a hurry.

Tao Dayong quickly greeted him and asked, "Captain, why are you in such a hurry? What are you doing?"

Xu Chengjun said irritably, "What else can I do? Just like you, I'll invest. You guys are all as cunning as monkeys, you rushed over as soon as you heard the news. I have to accompany the work group. If I hadn't taken the time to come, I would have been last in line and would have been left out."

Tao Dayong laughed. After Xu Chengjun entered the Xie family's courtyard, he whistled and continued walking back. He chuckled, thinking, "I finally got there first, even ahead of the team leader. Even the team leader is eager to join Xie Yundong's cooperative, so I must have done the right thing this time."

On the way back, he saw people hurrying towards the Xie family's house from time to time. This time, Tao Dayong was calm and composed, as if he were just observing the scenery; he was completely unperturbed.

When Tao Dayong got home, he found the door locked and was a little confused. Where had his wife gone? It was almost lunchtime, and she wasn't home. So Tao Dayong decided to make the dough himself. He was in a good mood today, so he decided to make hand-pulled noodles. The chives in the garden were growing well, so he planned to fry some chives and have a delicious meal.

Just then, Ma Chunhong rushed back. Tao Dayong asked her where she had been. She stammered and said that she had gone back to her parents' home to talk to her younger brother about investing.

Tao Dayong wanted to throw a tantrum, but then thought better of it. His brother-in-law's family hadn't been doing so well these past two years. They were lazy and used to relying on him, but since he stopped indulging them, their lives hadn't been as good. Fortunately, he had land; if he really invested in it, he'd get some dividends every year, so at least they wouldn't be living in dire straits.

Seeing that Tao Dayong didn't get angry, Ma Chunhong immediately went into the kitchen. Seeing the noodles and freshly cut chives in the bowl, she knew what her husband wanted to eat and quickly got to work.

In the past two years, Tao Dayong's temper has grown, and Ma Chunhong has been suppressed to the point of having no temper left. After all, she used to bring everything to her parents' home, but now she feels a little guilty.

The working group started working that afternoon, mainly to determine the locations of the roads, branch canals and pumping stations planned on the drawings, as well as which pumping stations could be used directly and which pumping stations needed to be demolished and integrated with the land.

They carried paint buckets and labeled all the pump houses that had been built in the village. This way, they would know exactly what to do with the pump houses later; they could just use the serial number.

Li Long will not participate in this matter. He already knows that the autonomous region has approved six million yuan in funding for this large-scale farmland renovation project. In his previous life, the farmland renovation project of Team Four took place more than ten years later, and the funding at that time was seventeen million yuan.

Ultimately, all calculations were based on the prices at the time. One advantage is that the cooperative can save a considerable amount of money on the newly built pumping stations on its one or two thousand acres of land. Since the auditing of fund utilization is handled by the work group, Li Long doesn't need to worry about those things.

With a major task nearing completion, Li Long was in a good mood. The next day, while listening to the middlemen gossiping at the purchasing station, he received a call from Xie Yundong.

Xie Yundong told Li Long, "From yesterday to this morning, 19 households in the team wanted to join our cooperative, with a total land area of ​​over 3000 mu."

Xie Yundong said with some worry, "If we calculate it this way, our cooperative alone occupies nearly 70% of the village's land. Isn't this a bit wrong?"

Li Long smiled and said, "Did they invest voluntarily? If so, then it's fine. Of course, if you don't want to recruit so many people, then we can postpone it for now. Let's say we'll recruit ten companies in the first batch, and then we'll talk about the rest later."

After all, we have a limited number of managers and machines, so we can't accommodate that many at once.

Oh, by the way, let me tell you, although Junfeng and Junhai are new residents, I've already spoken to my older brother and we've got them accepted into the household.

Xie Yundong smiled and said, "You don't need to tell me that. Your older brother already registered them yesterday. They're all in the top ten."

"Okay, I'll do it your way. There are too many people and too much land; we really can't manage it all. Let's go by the order of arrival, first come, first served. Eventually, another plot of land will be approved, forming a large parcel. I think we should let Daqiang manage it."

Li Long naturally had no objections. Tao Daqiang had been with him for so many years, and later he was in charge of a specific area within the cooperative. Although it wasn't a single plot of land, he had been there from the start of planting to the final harvest.

They will definitely take charge, and they won't let him manage it alone; they'll definitely hire some young men from the village to work with him.

The cooperative now owns so much land, it's really not short of money. If we hire young men, as long as we're willing to pay them well, these people in the village will definitely work hard.

That same day, Xie Yundong spoke to the families who wanted to join the company. In fact, a significant reason he agreed with Li Long's opinion was that the families that signed up later were somewhat reluctant, having only come because they saw others signing up.

Moreover, he had heard that some people were betting on both sides when they signed up. They would sign up here and then go to Huang Xinping and his group to inquire about the situation, just like a weather vane.

So Xie Yundong took advantage of this opportunity and rejected the last six companies in line. The land invested by the first 13 companies totaled about 2000 mu.

In this way, the cooperative's land in the fourth team totals 6000 mu, which is quite a lot, exceeding half of the village's total cultivated land area, making it a large-scale cooperative among large-scale cooperatives.

Moreover, all of these people promised that when the land is re-enclosed at the end of the year, they would go to Captain Xu Chengjun and the others to try to divide the land together. Xie Yundong would also make an effort.

Those who weren't selected might complain in the village, but few people understand their situation. After all, nearly half the villagers have now joined Li Long's cooperative.

Those who joined the cooperative naturally wanted to protect their own interests and stood on Xie Yundong's side. In the end, those who were not selected and those who had not applied before went to choose one of the other two cooperatives.

By early May, the entire village had been integrated, and all residents had joined the cooperatives. The members of these three cooperatives were full of confidence, planning to work hard next year and earn a bright future.

When Li Long learned of this news, he was quite moved. This situation wouldn't have occurred for another 20 years in his previous life. Now it had happened earlier, as if it had turned back the clock, advancing the world's clock by 20 years—specifically referring to Team Four. However, he only expressed his feelings briefly. Because Harim came to find him again, but this time, Harim's role had changed. (End of Chapter)