eurekapd Chapter 1405 The terrifying freezing rain has really arrived.
Chapter 1405 The terrifying freezing rain has really arrived.
After returning from the mountains, Li Long planned to rest for two days, but he felt a bit lazy and didn't want to move much. After breakfast and sending his child to school, he stayed at the purchasing station and listened to the remaining middlemen gossip.
Occasionally, people who come back from selling goods at the port will come to Li Long's place to chat; it's like a headquarters here. Every now and then, one or two familiar faces will appear, and they'll greet everyone with smiles, offer cigarettes, and tell you about their experiences over the past few days.
On December 19th, the sky was overcast, and Li Long checked the weather forecast. CCTV's weather forecast said that most areas of northern Xinjiang would experience rain and snow.
Li Long almost laughed. It's already December, where's the rain coming from? The county TV weather forecast said there would be snow tonight. Before dark, Li Long tidied up the yard. He made sure the dog kennels and other things were protected. He also weighed down the tarpaulins covering the jade with stones.
Especially that big, chubby jade doll; it's been covered with a canvas since winter started and hasn't been touched. Even though it's stone, it can't withstand weathering, so it still needs some protection.
That night, when Li Long woke up in the middle of the night, he heard a crackling sound coming from the roof. He was a little puzzled; why would snow make such a commotion? It wasn't like it was hailing.
He didn't think too much about it and continued to sleep soundly with his wife in his arms. When he got up at dawn, he went out to use the restroom. As soon as he opened the door, a blast of cold air hit him, and the cold wind was mixed with raindrops. It was raining in the middle of winter!
A painful memory suddenly flooded his mind, flashing before Li Long's eyes. In his previous life, at a specific time, it was also freezing rain, and then his older brother had an accident while driving a tractor!
Li Long couldn't help but shiver. He didn't even bother to close the door; he rushed to the phone. He dialed the familiar number from his memory.
After two rings, a voice came from the other end. It was the older sister-in-law's voice: "Who is it?"
Li Long said, his voice trembling slightly, "Sister-in-law, it's me. Where's my brother?"
"Your brother? It's raining so early this morning. Your brother just went out to check the situation."
Li Long hurriedly said, "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, please tell my brother not to go out. It's rained, the roads are very slippery, he might fall. The ground is covered with ice, a fall could be terrible!"
"Okay, okay, I understand. I'll go tell him now." It was the first time Liang Yuemei had heard Li Long's voice sound so panicked, so she quickly replied.
After hanging up the phone, Li Long still felt uneasy. But it was impossible for him to go to the team right now.
Gu Xiaoxia, who was getting dressed in bed, asked in confusion, "What's wrong? You seem flustered."
Li Long pointed outside and said, "It rained outside last night."
Gu Xiaoxia was also startled: "What? It's raining? How could it rain on such a cold day?"
Li Long said with a wry smile, "Yeah, who would have thought it would be so cold, and it's still raining. But it freezes as soon as it hits the ground, there's a layer of ice on the ground now, we have to be careful when we go out."
After breakfast, Li Long drove Gu Xiaoxia and their two children to school. The roads were too slippery, and he was worried that Gu Xiaoxia's driving skills weren't up to par, so he didn't let his wife drive.
On his way to school, Li Long saw quite a few people fall. Some people, lacking experience, were still riding bicycles to work. However, most were pushing their bikes, with only one or two occasionally attempting to ride on the ice before falling and sliding a considerable distance.
The children, on the contrary, quite liked this kind of weather. They walked to school in groups of three or five, laughing and joking, occasionally sliding on the ice. They didn't seem to mind falling; they would get up, brush the snow off their bottoms, and continue sliding.
Because many people were walking out, Li Long had to keep honking his horn. He drove very slowly, not much faster than walking, but very steadily, which made it relatively safe.
After seeing Gu Xiaoxia lead the two children slowly into the school gate, Li Long drove to the recycling station.
I hadn't walked far when I saw an elderly man, around fifty or sixty years old, fall to the ground by the roadside. About seven or eight meters away was his bicycle, and another five or six meters away was a black handbag. The old man, the handbag, and the bicycle formed a right-angled triangle.
Li Long slowly pulled over and stopped the car. After getting out, he walked step by step to the old man and asked, "Grandpa, how are you?"
The man was groaning softly when he looked up and saw Li Long. He said, "Young man, come help me up. I think I've twisted my ankle; my back hurts a bit."
Li Long gently helped him up and asked again, "Should I take you to the county hospital?"
The man glanced at Li Long, shook his head, and said, "You really think I'm an old man? It's nothing, I just tripped and fell, but I'm fine now. Thank you, alright, alright, you can go now."
Li Long then let go of the old man's hand, went over to help him up on his bicycle, pushed it to the old man, then went over to pick up the black bag, walked back and hung it on the bicycle.
The old man patted the dirt off the black bag, then waved his hand and said, "You drive away quickly, go ahead. I'll walk a few steps; this car can't be ridden anymore."
Li Long drove all the way to the purchasing station, getting off the truck at least five or six times, all to help people. He understood that this freezing rain felt unfamiliar and unexpected to many people.
Actually, most people have experience riding bicycles on solid, icy roads, so they thought it would be fine to go out on a bicycle early in the morning. However, they didn't expect that the ice surface formed by rain was completely different from the snow surface that had been compacted by vehicles, and it was too slippery.
Moreover, even the management department lacked experience in this area, so until Li Long drove the car into the recycling station, no one came out to clear the ice from the road. Or rather, the people in charge of transportation probably didn't know how to do it.
In the front yard of the purchasing station, Liang Shuangcheng was leading several employees, stomping away at the ice on the ground with shovels.
Li Long said with a smile, "This method is good, but it takes too much effort."
Liang Shuangcheng said, "Anyway, there's nothing much going on. It's early in the morning and probably no one will come. Let's just deal with this first. If a customer falls down here, it'll be a laughing stock."
Li Long quickly came up with a plan. After going inside, he told his father to let Qingxia know, and then picked up the phone to contact the Transportation Bureau.
After the Transportation Bureau answered the phone, Li Long said he wanted to speak to Captain Dang. They said Captain Dang was in a meeting. Li Long, not wanting to wait, simply told the person who answered:
“Tell him I’m Li Long. Are you trying to clear the ice off the road? I have an idea: find a tracked tractor to drive over the ice and create a small groove. That way, the road won’t be so slippery, and it will be easier to deal with later.”
After hanging up the phone, the person from the Transportation Bureau thought the idea was really good, so he quickly ran over to report it to the leaders who were in a meeting. Several leaders, upon hearing the idea, also thought it was excellent, and then asked the person how he came up with it. The person replied that it was a suggestion Li Long had made to Captain Dang over the phone. Thus, Li Long garnered another wave of goodwill.
However, he couldn't worry about that right now. After hanging up with the Transportation Bureau, he quickly called his team leader, Xu Chengjun. Xu Chengjun had just finished eating and answered the phone politely, "Hello, this is Xu Chengjun."
“Captain, this is Li Long. The road is quite slippery right now, which is making it difficult for students to get to school and for everyone in the team to get around. I think we should have Wang Caimi drive his tracked tractor to compact the road surface. That way, the ice on the road will be broken up and it won't be so slippery.”
Xu Chengjun thought Li Long was making a fuss over nothing. Since Li Long had spoken, he agreed and said he would go out and take a look, as he didn't know much about the situation outside.
Xu Chengjun hung up the phone, went outside to the street, and saw Xu Feihu rushing home. He quickly called out to Xu Feihu, "Feihu, what's wrong? Why are you running so fast?"
Xu Feihu was already in a hurry, and his footing was slippery. When Xu Chengjun shouted at him, he braked hard and fell flat on his face. Ignoring the pain, he quickly got up and said to Xu Chengjun, "My dad fell when he went out. My brother called me, and I have to go back and check on him. If necessary, I'll drive him to the county hospital."
After saying that, Xu Feihu hurriedly ran away. Xu Chengjun watched him run a short distance from the courtyard gate, then tripped and fell again. After getting up, he limped home. This second fall was quite hard.
Xu Feihu bought a car from Xu Haijun, unlike the other car owners in the village. He didn't drive it often, keeping it shiny and driving it cautiously whenever he did. Xu Chengjun knew Xu Feihu didn't have a driver's license, so he didn't dare drive the car into the county. But still, he was better off than the others; at least he owned a car.
Looking at the layer of ice on the ground, Xu Chengjun felt that Li Long's words made sense; it wouldn't work if they didn't take action. He went back to the yard, tidied up, started the car, and planned to drive to Wang Caimi's house to discuss using a tracked tractor to compact the ice road.
Xu Chengjun was quite conscious of his image. The icy road was so slippery, and even a big guy like Xu Feihu had fallen twice. He had to walk several hundred meters to Wang Caimi's house. The pain from falling was secondary; what mattered was how much face he, as the team leader, would lose if others saw it.
So, after starting the car, he slowly drove over to Wang Caimi's house. As he drove, he became even more convinced that Li Long's idea was correct. From their house to Wang Caimi's, Xu Chengjun saw at least seven or eight people slip and fall on the road, some so badly they lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up. The ice was too hard, easily causing bone injuries, and in winter, most people wore cotton-soled rubber shoes, which weren't very slip-resistant, resulting in many people getting hurt.
Xu Chengjun carefully drove the car to Wang Caimi's house and slowly pulled over. After getting out of the car and walking to the gate, he saw Wang Caimi squatting in the yard, tying tree branches to the soles of his cotton shoes. He immediately understood Wang Caimi's idea and exclaimed, "Caimi, you're really clever to remember to tie some tree branches to the soles of your shoes, just like tying snow chains to truck tires. That makes them less slippery!"
Wang, the money-grubber, said smugly, "That's right, don't you know who I am?"
His wife immediately exposed him at the door: "What are you bragging about? You fell several times this morning before you even left home, otherwise how could you have come up with this idea?"
Wang the Money-Grubber wasn't annoyed. He smiled and said, "At least I figured it out. Captain, what brings you here?"
Xu Chengjun then relayed Li Long's suggestion, without taking credit, saying that it was Li Long's idea, which he found quite reasonable after seeing so many people fall down while out.
Wang the miser said, "Well, starting my tractor isn't easy either."
Xu Chengjun generously said, "I'll give you work points. How about I give you fifty work points if you finish compacting the icy roads in these three residential areas today?"
Now that the team has some money, one work point is worth one yuan, and 50 work points will be worth fifty yuan by the end of the year, which isn't a small amount. However, considering that it's the dead of winter and starting the tractor won't be easy, Xu Chengjun wasn't going to be stingy. If he gave less, Wang Caimi would definitely object. Hearing what the team leader said, Wang Caimi immediately said, "Okay, okay, I'll start the tractor right now. Hey, don't be fooled by how well Old Li's big horsepower tractor plows the fields; when it really comes down to it, we still have to rely on our Dongfanghong 75."
Xu Chengjun smiled and said, "Then you get ready. I'll go back and get the megaphone now and tell everyone in the team not to go out for the time being. Otherwise, if someone falls and gets hurt, it'll be a real problem. Hurry up and get things done, preferably before lunchtime."
Wang, the money-grubber, said, "I guarantee there won't be any problems."
Xu Chengjun slowly walked back outside the yard and got into the car. He didn't dare turn around on the road; he simply drove around and went home. The road wasn't wide enough, and he was afraid that if he turned around, he would slip into the ditch, which would be incredibly embarrassing.
Back home, after parking the car, Xu Chengjun plugged in the loudspeaker, tapped the microphone, and blew a few times before starting to announce: "Hello, hello, hello, villagers of Team Four, I'm here to let you know. The roads outside are too slippery right now; the ground is icy after this rain."
This morning I saw a lot of people slip and fall, so please don't go out for now. I had Wang Caimi drive the tracked tractor to compact the roads in all the residential areas. Once the tracks are made on the ice, it'll be easier to walk on. So unless it's absolutely necessary, please don't go out. Hey, hey, hey, I'm just letting you know again, I'm letting you know one more time..."
After issuing the notification three times, Xu Chengjun turned off the loudspeaker. He felt he had accomplished something significant, but he was still somewhat unsatisfied. After thinking for a moment, he picked up the phone and dialed a number. Once connected, he said, "Hello, Township Head, this is Xu Chengjun. I have something to report to you."
Didn't it rain ice last night? The roads are covered in a thick layer of ice, and quite a few people in the village slipped and fell… No, no, no, I didn't ask the township for help. We brainstormed and came up with a solution: using a tracked tractor to compact the ice would make it less slippery… Yes, yes, we're doing that now. I think this method could be promoted throughout our township…
"Yes, yes, yes, the township has issued a notice, everyone will definitely follow it, it's good for the people. Yes, yes, I wasn't looking for fame, I wasn't looking to gain any personal benefit, I just think this kind of experience is worth promoting. Okay, okay."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Chengjun was finally satisfied. He had gained experience as a team leader; some things couldn't just be done, you also had to be good at talking and publicizing. He was the only one in the village who could speak to the township government, and he was the only one who spoke about this matter. So far, the township head's reaction seemed quite positive.
When Li Long arrived at the fourth team in his car, he saw Wang Caimi driving a tracked tractor, rumbling along the road. He wasn't driving fast, and the tractor's tracks were pressing small marks into the ice, disrupting its original smooth surface.
Li Long parked his vehicle on the side of the road, got out, and walked on the compacted ice. He found that it was indeed less slippery, and the effect was good. He drove behind the tracked tractor, and Wang Caimi quickly spotted Li Long. He stopped, got off the tractor, and waved to Li Long, who then stopped and got out of his vehicle.
Wang Caimi laughed loudly and said, "The captain said this idea was yours?"
Li Long nodded, then asked, "How many work points did the captain give you for driving this out?"
Wang, the money-grubber, held up five fingers and said proudly, "50. This trip was worth it."
Li Long smiled and said, "Indeed. However, only you can do this. You're the only Dongfanghong 75 in our team. I remember there's another 802, but I don't know if it can be used."
Wang, the money-grubber, shook his head and said, "That car can't be driven anymore. It broke down badly in the fall and hasn't been fixed yet."
The two chatted for a while longer. Wang Cai, who was obsessed with the tractor, moved aside to make room for Li Long. Li Long then drove the SUV to his older brother's house.
Because Wang Caimi would be driving a tracked tractor and breaking the ice on the road in the residential area later, Li Long drove the SUV directly into his older brother's yard.
After getting out of the car, he found that the ice in the yard had been broken, probably with a shovel, and it was not so slippery to walk on.
As soon as he got out of the car, both doors to the east and west rooms opened. Du Chunfang, the old lady in the east room, peeked out, while the eldest brother in the west room stood at the door.
Li Long hurriedly said to his mother, "Mom, don't come out, the road is slippery."
Older sister-in-law Du Chunfang grinned and said, "I'm not coming out, I'm not coming out. That's what my sister-in-law said first thing this morning. She brought my food directly to my room so I could eat it there."
"This is really weird. It's raining in the middle of winter, and it's not even my hometown. How did this happen?"
Li Jianguo then told Li Long, "Junfeng's dad fell when he went out this morning and is still in bed. He probably twisted his ankle. I told Junfeng to take him to the county hospital, but his dad won't allow it."
Li Long said, "Wang Caimi is about to start his tracked tractor to compact the road. Even if we go out, we have to wait until he finishes compacting the road before we go out."
Li Jianguo smiled and said, "Alright, alright, I won't go out. There's nothing to do here. Like my mother said, this weather is so strange, it's raining in the dead of winter, I haven't seen it in years."
Liang Yuemei said from inside the house, "Hurry up and come inside, it's cold outside."
Seeing that his mother, Du Chunfang, still wanted to come over, Li Long went over and helped her, moving step by step, to the west room.
The fire blazed brightly, making the room warm. Liang Yuemei placed a plate of roasted melon seeds on the coffee table. Li Long helped his mother to sit on the sofa, but Du Chunfang refused. She insisted on sitting by the fireplace, where there was a small stool. Du Chunfang sat down there, leaning back against the bed frame, which she found quite comfortable.
Li Long let her be, sat on the sofa, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, and said while cracking them open, "I feel that this is the first time in all the years I've been to the Northern Frontier that it's rained in the dead of winter."
Li Jianguo nodded and said, "Who says otherwise? This is the first time I've seen this in all these years. How can this rain fall? In this cold weather, when it falls from the sky, wouldn't it turn into snowflakes or ice crystals? How can it be rain?"
Li Long had little formal education and didn't know how to explain it. His mother, Du Chunfang, suddenly blurted out, "Is this some kind of supernatural event? Or is it a warning from heaven? Or is some important person about to die?"
Li Jianguo didn't believe in that, shaking his head and saying, "Mom, that's all superstition. What does God have to do with it? What monsters or anything like that? I've never seen anything like it in all these years. I think it's just some strange change in the celestial phenomena. Maybe the news will explain how it formed in a couple of days."
Since most of us are not well-educated, we can only guess about this matter and have no way of being sure, so we changed the subject to other things.
Li Jianguo said, "Recently, many people in the team have come to me to inquire about drip irrigation farming, and some have asked about the price of drip irrigation tape."
Li Long said, "I've received even more inquiries from people here, so I plan to go to Dushanzi Petrochemical in a couple of days to ask around and see how much the costs have decreased. If the costs have decreased significantly, I'm really planning to buy a batch and start mass production."
He told his older brother, "This drip irrigation tape business is really viable. From what I've heard so far, at least 20,000 mu (approximately 1,333 hectares) want to use drip irrigation tape, which translates to over ten million yuan. The profit can be a few hundred thousand yuan, which is quite impressive."
Li Jianguo waved his hand and said, "If you want to do it, then do it. I'm not going to bother with anything now. I just need to figure out how to operate these high-horsepower tractors."
Li Long then asked, "Is this tractor enough for you? Should we get two more from over there?"
Li Jianguo hurriedly said, "That's enough, that's enough. We only have a few people now, two people serving one machine is enough. There are many ways to make money in this world, we can't do them all, just doing this, there's not enough time."
A person's energy is limited, and my thinking isn't that far ahead. We've already secured half the arable land share of the township; that's already quite impressive. That's enough, that's enough."
The older brother knows how to be content with what he has. Li Long thinks that's great. He himself is pretty much the same way, except that there are some things he can't simply refuse to do because he doesn't want to.
Like this drip irrigation tape factory, running a cooperative to grow drip-irrigated cotton inevitably requires a large amount of drip irrigation tape. It's really not good to be dependent on others for this stuff, so they simply decided to make it themselves.
However, it would be a waste if such a factory only supplied drip irrigation tape to the cooperative. So now this industry has been established, and as he told his older brother, this estimated amount is actually conservative.
Normally speaking, once drip irrigation cotton becomes widespread, like it did twenty years later in the previous life, it wouldn't be a big problem for the factories that set up early to make a profit of tens of millions a year.
Now, Li Long's little wings have already brought about changes in this era. Drip irrigation farming started developing more than ten years ahead of schedule, and given the current trend, it will soon be widely popularized.
Furthermore, he is probably the only drip irrigation tape factory in the entire county, or even in the surrounding three to five counties. Just think how big this seller's market is.
Having confirmed that his elder brother wasn't planning to go out, and with Wang Caimi's tracked tractor already rumbling in, Li Long finally felt relieved and drove his SUV back to the county. He was going to pick up Gu Xiaoxia, Mingming, and Haohao to take home for lunch.
In the afternoon, Li Long even called his elder brother's house to inquire about the situation. His sister-in-law said everyone was fine, and his elder brother, Li Jianguo, was at home reading and hadn't gone out. She had heard that several people in the village had fallen that morning, and everyone praised the team leader's actions, saying that the tracked tractor had run them over, otherwise even more people would have fallen in the afternoon. She also heard that many people in the second and third teams had fallen, even more than in their own team.
That evening, the local news also reported on the incident. The announcer said that, according to statistics from the county hospital, more than 20 people had suffered fractures from the fall alone. This is a relatively rare natural phenomenon; according to historical records, such an event has not occurred for many years.
The day passed in a tense atmosphere, and it wasn't until evening that Li Long finally felt relieved, as his elder brother's family hadn't called. He could finally put his mind at ease.
He plans to go to Dushanzi tomorrow to inquire about the price of drip irrigation tape raw materials. If the price is not high, he will bring back a truckload.
Yesterday's net-casting attempt yielded some results. (End of Chapter)