Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1073 I know a lot about Xiao Haizi's affairs!

Li Qingxia cast her net there, while Li Long didn't stay still; he wandered around, trying to see if he could find anything.

Because there are many reeds and aquatic plants in Xiaohaizi, there are many water birds at this time, such as wild ducks and water chickens, and they can be seen in groups. You can even see large white water birds, like cormorants, in the distance.

The birds didn't fly away when they saw Li Long; they just swam slowly. Occasionally, a wild duck would plunge into the water and come out with its beak moving, probably having swallowed a fish.

Li Long thought that he could find wild duck eggs in the small lake or the nearby swamp at this time, but then he thought better of it and decided not to bother. He didn't need them, so he decided to keep them.

After circling around for a while, it seemed there were fish ponds to the south, connected to the upstream of Xiaohai Lake, with water flowing from there. Li Long looked around and saw that there were a lot of reeds, so he didn't go over.

He didn't find any water rats. When he turned back, Li Qingxia had already cast several nets. There were some water plants at his feet, several crucian carp in the bucket, and a carp weighing more than a kilogram.

"Hey, Dad, not bad!" Li Long said with a smile, looking at the red-tailed carp. "It's not a big fish, but it's really beautiful!"

"Take it back and cook it," Li Qingxia said while tidying up the net. "These fish were raised in running water, so they don't have any muddy smell at all. Stew them for a while longer, and they'll be very fragrant!"

Li Long still didn't really like eating carp. He shook his head and said, "I'll take those crucian carp and the five-striped black carp. Let's keep the rest at home."

Li Qingxia cast two more nets, then Li Long took over.

Having not cast his net for a while, Li Long's first cast yielded a long strip, barely a meter wide. His father didn't say anything, but he himself was a little embarrassed.

The second net was better, casting out a semi-circle; the third net was an ellipse, and then it was basically cast out in a circle.

"Great!" Li Qingxia smiled and said, "Each net is better than the last. It's good to be young, strong, and quick to learn!"

Li Long didn't cast his nets in the same spot twice. After all, the lake is so big that the fish can swim around quite a bit. If he cast the nets in the same spot twice, the fish would all be scared away.

The net didn't catch much: about ten crucian carp and two large pike. The mesh size of the net was only one and a half fingers, so the pike caught by this net must have been quite large, longer than chopsticks. However, Li Long threw them back into the lake after casting them out.

"It was so big, why did you throw it away?" Li Qingxia asked, puzzled.

“Once a pike gets this big, its flesh becomes tough and doesn’t taste good anymore,” Li Long replied.

Whether it really tastes bad or not is hard to say, but that's what he says anyway.

The two of them didn't throw out much fish; they had about half a bucket, and that was enough, so they went home.

Li Qingxia isn't as enthusiastic about selling fish anymore. With her family's financial situation improving, casting her net to catch fish is more about keeping herself occupied and also improving her meals.

The two returned to the courtyard. Liang Yuemei was busy in the vegetable garden, while Li Jianguo was busy on the tractor.

When they returned, Li Jianguo wiped his hands and asked them about their harvest.

“We have carp, crucian carp, and black carp,” Li Long said. “Dad caught a big one, a carp weighing over a kilogram, it was very beautiful!”

"Hey, that's good!" Li Jianguo looked into the bucket. "Take them all back when you start peeling them later."

"No, no, no, I can't take that many," Li Long shook his head. "I'll just take some crucian carp."

"Take more. If you want to eat here, Dad can just take it out of the net and scatter it. The flood at the beginning of the year has increased the water level in the small lake. You can feel it when you water it. There are also more small crucian carp. In two years, there will be more big fish."

When Li Jianguo mentioned the flood, Li Long thought of the question he had pondered on the dam and asked:

"Brother, you've been here for so many years, do you know what the problem is with this reservoir? I think it's not good to keep flooding like this every year. We need to fix the dam at Xiaohaizi so that it's easier to control floods when they come. What should we do?"

"Are you worried that a major flood will come and wash the dam away? That's possible."

Li Jianguo thought for a moment and said:
"Actually, Xiaohaizi was originally just a puddle of water. To store the water, a dam was built at the bottom using reeds and earth, and it gradually became a lake. Later, in the 1960s and 70s, with the large-scale construction of farmland water conservancy projects, the dam was raised, widened, and lengthened, and the lake was enclosed on both sides, which is why it is what it is now."

To be honest, the dam is usually quite sturdy. The reeds that used to be laid there have long since rotted away, and now it's just layers of mud.

But if we're talking about a major flood, that would be really dangerous. The floodgates for our lake aren't due north, not in the area of ​​greatest water pressure, but rather in the northeast. So if a major flood were to come and overflow the dam, it would inevitably collapse.

Li Long understood immediately upon hearing this:

"Then let's build a sluice gate on the north dam line. It won't be used normally, but when there's a big flood, it can release the water in advance, so the pressure on the north dam won't be so great, and the dam will be saved?"

“That’s right!” Li Jianguo said with a smile, “But the team definitely won’t want to repair it. After all, this little lake isn’t particularly useful to the team.”

“That won’t do. If a major flood comes and washes away the North Dam, all the fish in the lake will be gone. It will be impossible to restore it to its original state.” Li Long thought for a moment and said:

"Anyway, in the eyes of the team members, this small lake is mine, so I'll fix the sluice gate." "Well, it can be fixed, but even if you want to fix it yourself, you have to tell the team and have them submit a report to the township," Li Jianguo said.

To the average person, spending that much money to build such a sluice gate is a real waste of money.

But Li Jianguo understood Li Long's thoughts. The reason his family was doing so well now, and why Li Long had developed to this point, was partly due to making money from the resources in the mountains, and partly due to making money from Xiaohaizi.

This little lake is of great significance to the Li family, or rather, especially to Li Long, so let's repair it.

It's only a thousand or so yuan at most, nothing much.

Li Qingxia was cleaning fish in the yard. He didn't quite understand what his two sons were talking about, and he didn't care much. Life was good enough now, why bother with so much?
My sons have grown up and have their own ideas. And judging from the current situation, both of them are successful, more successful than me, so that's fine.

If you don't have much ability yourself, then don't meddle too much and just don't cause trouble for your children.

Li Long was about to go talk to the captain about this, but Li Jianguo discussed the explanation with him before letting him go.

The matter is now settled, but the repair of the sluice gate will have to wait until autumn. After all, this area needs water continuously, and if a sluice gate is to be built on the north dam line, it would have to be constructed behind the dam first, and then the dam in front of it would be excavated, which would change the shape of the dam line.

That won't work. We have to wait until autumn when the Mahe River stops releasing water into this area and the water level in the lake is low. Then we can fill the area in front of the dam line with soil to block the location where the sluice gate will be built, and then dig further down to start building the sluice gate.

It's still a bit troublesome.

Fortunately, there was money involved, and it was also easy for the team to agree to this.

Sure enough, after Li Long told Xu Chengjun about it, Xu Chengjun immediately agreed.

Just kidding, look at this year, there were some people who wanted to oppose it in order to fight the flood and save Xiaohaizi.

But that's not all the trouble. When the flood came, the snow had just melted, and the ground was muddy, making manual labor inconvenient and extremely difficult.

But we can't leave it alone; if the flood washes away the small lake, the losses will be significant.

Now that Li Long has come up with this solution, it sounds quite reliable, at least providing another option for flood prevention.

When the flood comes, all we need to do is stand guard on the dam. When the water reaches the limit, we can open the extra sluice gate to release the floodwater. This will prevent the water level in the lake from rising to the top, and the dam will be saved.

"That will cost a lot of money." Xu Chengjun immediately thought of the money issue, and the joy on his face disappeared.

After the land was distributed to individual households, in addition to paying public grain, farmers also had to pay three levies and five unified taxes. These things were a mixed bag, some going to the township and some to the village.

The village had some surplus money, and with some people reclaiming wasteland, the team had the authority to decide on a surplus of no more than fifty mu.

Although the team has some money now, much better than before, it's definitely not enough to use it to repair the sluice gate.

Leaving aside the question of whether it's enough, the village representative assembly definitely won't pass.

"I'll pay for it," Li Long said, considering himself one of the wealthiest members of the team. "Since I contracted it, I'll naturally pay for it. But this lake belongs to the team, so I definitely need to inform the team and report it to them. Team leader, shouldn't you also report it to the township?"

"Of course." Xu Chengjun was relieved to hear that Li Long would pay for it. He thought about the sluice gate repair, and realized that the team would actually benefit from it. He felt a little embarrassed to let Li Long pay for it alone, so he said, "The sluice gate repair will be done in the fall. The team will provide the labor, you will pay for the materials, and the team will do the work."

I know you're magnanimous and don't take this to heart. But as the team leader, I represent the team and can't pretend to be ignorant. With this sluice gate repaired, Xiaohaizi will be safe from flooding, and the stored water will benefit our team.”

Li Long smiled. "A captain is a captain. At least he's not confused when it comes to important matters."

Xu Chengjun agreed to report the matter to the township the next day to set the tone and prevent the township from doing anything else in the fall.

Li Long got a satisfactory answer and went back. After Mingming and Haohao finished school, they had dinner at their older brother's house and then took the fish back to the county.

With the matter of the Xiaohaizi sluice gate settled, Li Long could finally relax.

He went to the team again the next day. This time he went to Old Ma's place, thinking of slaughtering two sheep to share.

When they were slaughtering the sheep, Uncle Luo mentioned that they should repair the open space in front of the sheepfold so that they wouldn't have to deal with it every time they slaughtered a sheep.

Li Long suddenly wondered if Meng Hai and his men were already building roads in the mountains.
Thinking of this, Li Long couldn't sit still any longer. He hurriedly slaughtered the two sheep, left the hides with Uncle Luo, left the sheep halfway, and took the rest to his elder brother.

Every time Keyum sends us beef and mutton, we don't need it, so we don't bring it back.

He plans to go to the mountains tomorrow morning to see if the road construction is indeed underway and to check on the progress.

PS: (I'm feeling a bit unwell, that's all for today)
(End of this chapter)