Li Long's absence did not stop the Cooperative's workers from finishing up in the cotton fields.
A recovery device mounted on the Small Four-Wheel Tractor's trailer could collect the drip irrigation tape from five strips of film at once. The recovered tape would be taken to the Processing Factory at the administrative compound, shredded, and mixed with some new material to make new drip irrigation tape.
Once all the drip irrigation tape had been collected, the Stalk Beating and Film-Clearing Machine Li Long had brought back began beating down stalks and clearing film, pulled by the High-Horsepower Tractor.
The taller cotton stalks were knocked down and piled together, while the roots and film were cleared out. The film was collected, compressed, and recycled, and the cotton roots were crushed and scattered back over the fields to rot into fertilizer the following year.
Although each mu yielded little recovered film, it added up and could ultimately provide the Drip Irrigation Tape Factory with a certain amount of raw material.
Most importantly, it reduced the agricultural film left in the soil, benefiting crop growth.
Once all that was done and the fields had been plowed, water would be released for flood irrigation to flush out the salts again.
Cotton could be grown repeatedly without leaving the land fallow, which was a good thing.
While the Cooperative's workers were finishing up, Xu Jianjun came to Village Director Xu Chengjun's home.
Xu Chengjun was worrying about how to find Mingwa a job. When Xu Jianjun arrived, he asked irritably, "What are you here for?"
Mainly, nothing good ever came of visits from this younger cousin. Even when he came asking for help, he acted as though Xu Chengjun owed it to him. He was the sort people called utterly clueless.
"Can't I visit you