Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1414 Good News, and Bad News

Liu Shanmin finished his business early and rushed back to the county from Wucheng, wanting to have a good talk with Li Long.

But faced with this situation, neither of them felt like chatting. After Liu Shanmin finished his call, he and Li Long sat together in the meeting room waiting for news.

Although they knew that it was unlikely that there would be any results from Kazakhstan in the short term—after all, these kinds of things require investigation and casting a wide net, and there's no guarantee of catching anything—the two of them wanted to wait and hoped to receive a call as soon as possible.

When it was lunchtime, neither of them really wanted to go out, but they couldn't skip lunch. So, Li Long asked Liang Shuangcheng to go to the state-run canteen and buy a few bowls of noodles, mix them in a large basin, and also buy some side dishes to bring back.

Li Long and Liu Shanmin ate in the reception room, not really in the mood for conversation. After finishing their meal and tidying up the conference table, they continued to sit there in a daze.

Liu Shanmin suddenly asked, "What do you think these people are after? They kidnap those businessmen for money. But what are they after by kidnapping these state-owned enterprise technicians?"

Li Long paused for a moment, then said, "I guess when they kidnapped these people they didn't know they were from state-owned enterprises. By the time they found out, they probably wouldn't dare to release them."

Let alone now, even 20 or 30 years from now, Chinese people going abroad will still be treated like easy prey and exploited by people all over the world. It's hard to pinpoint the exact reasons, but it's safe to say that people are too well protected domestically, only to discover once they go abroad that the law of the jungle applies. Some people adapt well, while others only suffer.

Around 4 PM, the phone at the counter suddenly rang. Li Long and Liu Shanmin stood up and ran over. Li Long thought to himself, "Wow, Liu Shanmin's team is quick! They made a call to arrange the work in the morning, and we already have news in the afternoon."

When they arrived, Li Qingxia, the father, was already holding the microphone and saying to Li Long, "It's Ajinbek calling, looking for you."

Disappointment was evident on Liu Shanmin's face, but he shook his head, realizing he had figured it out. He calculated that even if he made the call that morning and his men started investigating, they would probably only be investigating the area around Almaty by now, and it was unlikely they would have any news so quickly.

Unless those people kidnap people and take them directly to Almaty, which is highly unlikely, those people aren't stupid.

Li Long answered the phone. Ajinbek's tone was somewhat low, and his Mandarin sounded better than it had been a while ago.

He said to Li Long, "Comrade Li Long? I need your help with something."

We had a few technicians who went to my hometown to do technical work on oil extraction, but they were kidnapped. These young men are all very good kids; they respect me, this old man, and they shouldn't have been treated like this. They should have had bright futures ahead of them.

These young people went to help my country, and those damn bastards kidnapped them.

"As you know, I'm not very popular over there. I've called some people, but my friends there told me they couldn't help."

I know you have friends over there, and I hope you can help rescue them.

“I feel so guilty. There are some damned guys in my country who do all sorts of evil. They really deserve to die. Li Long, you have to help them. You have to save these young people.”

……

Ajinbek's words were incoherent and rambling, revealing a complex mix of emotions: guilt towards the young men and a strong desire to find help to rescue them. He then gave Li Long a detailed account of the young men's situation.

Li Long told him that someone had informed him of the kidnapping of these people, and that they were already using their connections to find them. He assured Ajinbek that he would call him as soon as they were found, and also asked for Ajinbek's contact number.

When Akinbek learned that Li Long had begun to exert his efforts, he breathed a sigh of relief and said he would wait by the phone for news from Li Long. He said that as a communist, this was the first time he had hoped that a god existed in this world to protect those young people from harm.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long sighed and prepared to walk towards the meeting room.

By this time, the weather had warmed up, and a crowd had gathered at the entrance of the purchasing station. Some people had overheard Li Long's conversation with Ajinbek on the phone and curiously asked what had happened.

Li Long glanced at some of the people there; their faces were somewhat familiar. He knew that a few of them occasionally went to the port to do import and export business, so he explained the general situation to them, which was also a way of reminding them that some people on that side would ruthlessly rob anyone with a face like that on this side, not even letting go of employees of state-owned enterprises.

These people were already quite cautious because of Dai Jianguo's involvement.

Now, according to Li Long, they've started kidnapping even the technical staff of state-owned enterprises without restraint. People who were planning to do business there are really shocked, and some are already considering whether or not to take the risk.

After Li Long and Liu Shanmin returned to the meeting room, Liu Shanmin remarked with admiration, "I didn't expect this Ajinbek to be so loyal."

Li Long said, "He was also conflicted at this time. On the one hand, there was his motherland, and he felt guilty about this matter; on the other hand, there were some promising young people. He couldn't condemn his motherland, so he could only curse those damned guys."

They waited until dark, but there was still no definite news. Liu Shanmin couldn't help but call again. Li Long listened to him speaking fluent Russian and Kazakh, feeling a little dazed. He hadn't expected this guy to be so proficient in those languages ​​now. He switched between Russian and Kazakh occasionally, but you could tell his tone wasn't good. They were probably still searching.

After hanging up the phone, Liu Shanmin said to Li Long with a gloomy face, "We haven't found him yet. I told them to search for him tonight, even if they don't get any rest these next few nights, they should at least find him."

My concerns are the same as yours. I'm afraid these guys won't get the money from the technicians, and I'm also afraid that releasing them will expose them, and then they'll kill the people. That would be a huge problem.

Seeing that Li Long was somewhat puzzled, Liu Shanming explained, "Although our oil field has been continuously being exploited, I want to expand production, improve the process, and also work on increasing output and improving oil quality."

Kazakhstan is in a mess, so I wanted to hire a group of experts in this field from there. Before this idea even started, this whole mess happened. It's fine if these people are alright, but if something goes wrong, I doubt anyone will dare to go there in the future.”

Liu Shanmin didn't receive a call in the end. He drove to the county guesthouse and told Li Long as he left, "Make sure to send someone to keep an eye on the phone so that we can receive any news in a timely manner. Call me immediately if you have any news so I can respond accordingly."

There were people on duty at the purchasing station at night, and Li Long's father, Li Qingxia, also lived there, so answering the phone was reliable. Li Long agreed.

After Liu Shanmin left, Li Long told the staff to keep an eye on the phone, and then he and his father, Li Qingxia, went back to the compound for dinner. On the way, Li Qingxia asked about the details of the incident. He had hesitated to ask before, but now Li Long was able to tell him.

After Li Long finished speaking, Li Qingxia shook her head and said, "Sigh, they don't allow guns. If they did, things like this would be much easier to handle."

Li Long didn't want to explain the complicated relationships involved to the old man. Even twenty or thirty years from now, let alone now, Chinese citizens traveling abroad on official business or for trade wouldn't be allowed to carry guns; they would have to abide by the laws of the host country. Of course, if the country is strong and has a powerful deterrent, there will be fewer problems. The old man, ultimately, didn't understand these things, so his ideas were somewhat far-fetched.

Back in the courtyard, dinner was already prepared. At the table, the two children chatted about funny things that happened at school. Gu Xiaoxia would occasionally scold them, saying they were too naughty at this age, and that some teachers had even called them in to complain, and she, their mother, had tattled on them. The two children would immediately hang their heads and fall silent. At this moment, the parents' authority was still very strong.

Seeing her grandson being criticized, Li Qingxia couldn't help but say, "Boys can be a little mischievous, but they can't make mistakes. When you go to school, studying well is the most important thing. Think about when we were young, we couldn't even go to school. Your uncle wanted to go to school, but I couldn't afford it. Now that you have such a good opportunity, you must study hard."

The old man reminisced about the hardships of the past, which immediately piqued the children's interest, and they kept asking about their lives back then. Li Long, however, was not thinking about that; he was still preoccupied with the situation of those people.

After dinner, when Li Long returned to his bedroom to rest, he told Gu Xiaoxia about the incident. Gu Xiaoxia was also startled, since Ma County and Shicheng were generally quite peaceful in China, with no particularly notorious cases.

Most of the events that happened in southern Xinjiang, except for the incident in Baren Township, Akto County, were not reported in the news. At that time, people had limited access to information, relying mainly on news broadcasts and rumors. Some of these rumors were difficult to circulate beyond the county level, let alone across northern and southern Xinjiang.

Therefore, in the eyes of ordinary people, society is stable and people's lives are steadily improving. The proportion of Han people in this county and Shicheng is particularly high, and as policies change step by step, everyone is working hard to achieve a better life and rarely causes trouble.

Now, Gu Xiaoxia was surprised to hear this, and then sighed, "It really wasn't easy for these people to go abroad."

She suddenly said to Li Long, "Let's not go abroad anymore. It feels too chaotic out there. It's safer to stay here."

Li Long nodded and said, "I will try my best not to go there anymore. With Liu Shanmin supplying me there, I can just stay here as a middleman and make a profit from the price difference."

Gu Xiaoxia herself didn't have very high demands for life. At this time, her family's standard of living was already far higher than that of her colleagues.

She feels content as long as her husband and wife are loving, her children are doing well in school, and her elders are all healthy. She'd be somewhat reluctant if her husband went out to pursue a higher standard of living.

Fortunately, Li Long is a person who is content with the status quo. Along the way, he has had a few obsessions that he wanted to accomplish, and he is already very satisfied with his current life.

After all, it's unlikely anyone would want to spend their 90s watching short dramas on their phone. Times change step by step. Currently, his standard of living is already higher than most people in China. It's good that things continue like this.

That evening, Gu Xiaoxia unusually took the initiative with Li Long. Afterwards, the two exchanged cheesy pickup lines, but didn't find it cheesy at all.

Even though I haven't experienced it firsthand, just hearing about it makes me feel a sense of danger, like it might happen anytime. Let's live in the moment.

The next day, Li Long took his child to school and when he went to the purchasing station, he found Liu Shanmin already there. So he spent the rest of the morning waiting.

The purchasing station was quite lively in the morning, with many people coming to buy agricultural supplies. But to Li Long and Liu Shanmin, it sounded rather noisy.

Fortunately, the phone rang around 1:00 PM. This time, Liu Shanmin wasn't in a hurry. When Li Qingxia answered the phone and said, "Looking for Boss Liu," he quickly rushed over and answered the phone.

After listening and talking for a good ten minutes, Liu Shanmin hung up the phone with a smile on his face.

There were too many people talking outside, so he pulled Li Long into the reception room before explaining the details:

"The people have been found, and they are all still alive, but their condition is not good. Of the three male technicians, one was beaten, and one had his arm broken. As for the female technician, she is not in good condition either; she must have been bullied."

The person has been sent to Almaty and is receiving treatment in a hospital. I had my people contact the embassy; they should contact the state-owned enterprise and send someone to Almaty to handle the follow-up matters.

Li Long breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but also felt extremely frustrated, as he had been bullied and beaten for no reason.

He immediately asked, "Where are the people who kidnapped them?"

Liu Shanmin said, "My men didn't go into details. But don't worry, I told them beforehand that we wouldn't leave such people alive. They should be thrown onto the grasslands to feed the wolves now."

Now that the person had been found, Li Long felt much more relaxed. He asked Liu Shanmin curiously, "You have impressive connections, aren't you? You're powerful in both the legitimate and underworld circles. How did you find him so quickly?"

Liu Shanmin explained, "Actually, after Dai Jianguo's incident last time, I had my people start paying attention to these bastards."

Some are repeat offenders, which are easy to find; others are petty thieves who act on impulse, like those on the street, which are hard to spot. This time, I had my men investigate, mainly focusing on the repeat offenders.

"I've spent so many years there, I didn't just stay for nothing, and I have money. Besides, many of my contacts are locals, so getting information is easier for me than for people back home."

He sounded somewhat smug as he said this.

Now that the people had been found, Li Long quickly called Chen Dajun and Ajinbek back to explain the situation. Although all four had suffered physical and mental injuries, at least they were still alive, which was a good result.

Chen Dajun was also relieved, at least he had managed to rescue the person through Li Long's connection.

Akinbek also thanked Li Long profusely, saying he would hurry to inform the families of the young people so they wouldn't worry.

After hanging up the phone, Li Long said to Liu Shanmin, "Come on, it's my treat. I have to thank you properly on their behalf. Order whatever you like today."

Liu Shanmin curled his lip and said, "Here? Even if I ordered all the dishes in the restaurant, how much would it cost? Besides, even if I changed my nationality, I'm still Han Chinese. You shouldn't be thanking me for this; it's what I should do."

The two of them went to eat arm in arm. Once they were outside the purchasing station, Li Long remembered something and turned back to his father, saying, "I'm not going home for lunch."

Li Qingxia nodded, indicating that she understood.

P.S.: I'm not feeling well today, that's all for now. (End of Chapter)