The cooperative's final dividends were settled. After covering costs and setting aside five hundred thousand yuan for rural purchases the following spring, the remaining money was distributed.
Li Long and his eldest brother each received two hundred thousand yuan. Everyone else received fifty-five thousand, twenty thousand more than last year.
"Now we can really have a prosperous New Year," Xu Haijun said happily. "Hopefully the dividends will keep growing!"
Although the Li family received larger dividends, the others were not jealous. After all, they had invested more at the start. Their initial investment had only been reclaimed saline-alkali land, but back then, no one had known that cotton could grow there, let alone grow so well.
Anyone wanting to reclaim more land now would have to look elsewhere. All the saline-alkali land surrounding the cooperative's large tract had already been reclaimed by others.
Still, the Production Team had plenty of wasteland left unreclaimed. With their dividends in hand, the members were all itching to act, discussing whether to find another plot the following year for a second stretch of drip-irrigated farmland.
"I think what matters now isn't developing a second plot, but seeing whether we can consolidate the ration land already allocated to our households," Li Long suggested. "Think about it. We're already putting all our energy into these cotton fields.
"Drip-irrigated farming is labor-intensive to begin with. Our acreage is large, and growing cotton is also a little more complicated than growing grain.
"If we have to tend the cotton while also looking after our other grain fields, how are we supposed to manage it all?"
"Exactly. That's how I see it too," Jia Weidong said, shaking his head. "My wife handles all our wheat and corn fields. I might earn more over here, but I can't spare any