After their bold declarations, Li Long and Factory Director Du went into the office to discuss business. Li Long took the cup of tea Factory Director Du handed him and asked, "Old Du, how many sets of our drip irrigation equipment have we sold across Southern and Northern Xinjiang? Have any private businesses bought them to produce drip irrigation tape?"
Factory Director Du thought for a moment and said, "Wait here. I'll go check. I don't think there have been any, but I'm not sure. I'll bring the records and give you an exact figure."
With that, Factory Director Du got up and left the office. When he returned a little later, he had a notebook in his hand. He sat down and began reading it to Li Long.
"Look, the Corps bought three sets of equipment altogether, two for Northern Xinjiang and one for Southern Xinjiang. The Autonomous Region's Research Institute bought one, and with yours, that makes five sets in all across Southern and Northern Xinjiang.
"As for the rest, some research institutes and manufacturers in Inland China bought ten sets, and some foreign companies bought twelve. That's all our shipments and their destinations so far."
Li Long did the sums. Twenty-seven sets altogether-not many. Of course, that had to do with the current state of drip-irrigated farming. It had yet to be adopted on a large scale, after all, so there was little demand for drip irrigation tape. Most of the buyers were research organizations using the equipment for studies and experiments. Still, he reckoned it would soon start selling well.
With the exact figures in hand, and knowing that no private businesses in Southern and Northern Xinjiang had begun processing drip irrigation tape yet, Li Long felt certain the market had good prospects. His earlier decision