Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 1092 Little Ma's Joy: Little Jiang Couldn't Imagine!
The next day, when Li Long went to the Water Resources Bureau to pick up Yang Bo, Yang Bo said that he was free all day. He had gone to see the sluice gate in the morning and could also go into the mountains to see the bridge construction site.

Li Long then took Yang Bo to the village, picked up Jiang Zhiyu who was eagerly waiting, introduced them to each other, and then drove to Xiaohaizi in the fourth team.

At Xiaohaizi, Yang Bo heard from Li Long about the direction the flood came from. After walking around the dam, he said to Li Long:

“Your concerns are valid; a sluice gate does indeed need to be built here. Actually, the location doesn't need to be too precise; it can be at the very bottom of the dam line.”

After Yang Bo finished explaining the matter, he picked up a piece of driftwood, drew a line below the dam line, and said:
"Your idea is correct. When the dry season comes in autumn, we can use bulldozers to push some soil down here to block the water and make room. Then we can build a sluice gate behind it. After it's built, we can dig away the soil that was pushed down, and then the sluice gate will be able to function."

Furthermore, after the sluice gate is excavated and constructed, both sides must be tightly sealed and compacted. Otherwise, when a flood comes, the sluice gate might be fine, but the floodwaters could rush out through the poorly sealed dam sides and collapse the dam. This has happened more than once.

"Then how should we prevent it?" Li Long asked hurriedly.

"It's simple. After the sluice gate is built, put some sandbags on both sides and pile them up from top to bottom, all the way to the dam. Actually, if possible, it would be best to put some wire mesh and some stones here to weigh it down, but you don't have that here, so sandbags will do."

Li Long nodded; sandbags were easy to handle.

Jiang Zhiyu also wrote down these contents, thinking they were all useful materials that she could use when working in the countryside.

Next, we'll go into the mountains. On the way, Yang Bo said:

"After we've seen the area where the bridge is being built in the mountains, I'll draw you a blueprint. The construction team can then use the blueprint to start building directly. I'll mark out any points that need attention."

"Thank you so much, senior brother." Li Long accepted the title. "Once the sluice gate is repaired, I'll treat you to a meal. We're short on time today, so how about we just grab a quick bite in the county later?"

"It's not lunchtime yet," Yang Bo said. "There's still more than an hour to go."

“Once we get to the mountains, we won’t be able to eat anything. It’s quite a journey from here to the mountain pass, and it’s about forty kilometers further in. By the time we get there, it will be past noon,” Li Long explained. “We need to eat lunch in advance.”

"Okay, okay, whatever you say. But you don't need to treat me. The jerky you gave me yesterday was really good, so I've already received my thanks, haha. Let me tell you, all my colleagues ate it and said it was good. It wasn't cheap, was it!"

"Well, it's pure meat, so the cost is a bit higher, but it's nothing. This is made in my own meat jerky processing workshop, and I still have some in the car. Take another pack when you go back later."

He turned to Jiang Zhiyu behind him and said, "Officer Jiang, this is your share too."

"What about mine?" Jiang Zhiyu was quite happy. She felt that Li Long hadn't mentioned it beforehand, but Yang Bo had. She hadn't thought it had anything to do with her.

"Of course there are. Actually, this is a local specialty of my area. I'll give it as a gift when visiting relatives and friends."

We ate noodles at the state-run canteen for lunch, which everyone was used to. Even without noodles, someone like Jiang Zhiyu could finish a bowl of stir-fried pork noodles. At this time, everyone was generally not full, so they could eat quite a lot when they occasionally had a good meal.

After eating, without wasting any time, Li Long drove the two of them into the mountains.

Li Long had originally intended to invite Meng Hai along, so that he could hear Yang Bo's explanation of the bridge construction firsthand. However, Meng Hai had gone to harvest wheat with his tractor and left in the morning, not returning by noon, so there was nothing that could be done.

Li Long drove all the way to the end, and when he reached the riverbank, he found that the river had risen even higher.

Logically, this shouldn't be the case. How could the water level in July be higher than in June?
Yang Bo looked at it and said:
"It must have just rained in the mountains. This is a small new flood. The water will recede in a few days."

He's in charge of water conservancy, that's what he studied, so his explanation is quite authoritative.

Li Long nodded, believing him.

After Jiang Zhiyu arrived, she kept taking pictures with her camera. She was very shocked that such a road had been built in the deep mountains.

At least in her view, under normal circumstances, only the government could accomplish such a project.

I never expected that Li Long would lead his men to repair it, and that they would repair it so far!
Although this road is a simple road, Jiang Zhiyu is not an ethereal fairy who doesn't know the ways of the world. She knows very well that from a purely personal point of view, even building such a simple road is not easy.

This would require a lot of manpower and machinery, and of course, money.

She's a little jealous of Ma Xiaoyan now. She has such good resources and has been following the construction of this road for years, but she's only managed to get a few articles published. It's unacceptable!

"Like the sluice gate, it will be repaired in the fall, and by then the water will have receded. Even the deepest parts might not be knee-deep." Yang Bo looked around for a while, paying particular attention to the riverbank and nearby rocks, and then said:
"When the bridge is to be built here, you'll need to dig a channel to bring the water this way first."

He pointed to a spot where the river was closer to the road, and said:
"The original river channel will be blocked up 20 meters above the surface, exposing the riverbed, and then a bridge will be built on top of it. This bridge will need a pier in the middle and two spans for water to enter, otherwise the span will be too large and you won't be able to build it."

What about the bridge surface?

“Use precast slabs,” Yang Bo said. “That’s simple. You plan to only let tractors cross this bridge, right? You can make these precast slabs yourself. It doesn’t need to be too scientific. Just use steel bars, clamp them with wooden boards around the edges, and then pour concrete into the middle.”

Of course, if you feel you can't manage it yourself, you can just buy it directly; you can buy it in the county now.

Construction has begun in the county, including Shicheng and surrounding counties and cities. Cement production is expanding, and even some small private enterprises have started to engage in it.

Precast concrete slabs, a product of a specific time period, were quite popular for nearly two decades, used in bridge construction, building construction, and so on.

Later, it was phased out because it did not meet earthquake safety standards.

Yang Bo's words gave Li Long confidence. Meng Hai and his team only needed to build the bridge piers; the rest was just a matter of laying precast slabs on the bridge deck and extending the gravel roads on both sides.

The precast slabs can be transported by a small four-wheeled tractor. As for whether to buy them or make them ourselves, we'll see when the time comes.

The technical requirements for bridge piers are actually lower; as long as the cement grade is high enough and the steel bars are thick and plentiful, it will suffice. Although it's just a tractor-driven structure, Li Long felt it was still important to pay attention, considering it a way to give Meng Hai and the others experience.

Yang Bo picked up a stone and marked the approximate location of the bridge pier and the width of the two arches for Li Long.

"Judging from the river's condition, the maximum water level is only this wide. We don't need to widen it that much; we just need to build the two bridges, and the river will naturally flow here." Yang Bo threw down the stone in his hand, clapped his hands, and said:
"I'll draw up blueprints for you when we get back, including the bridge's width, height, the number of precast slabs needed, the cement grade, and so on. The construction team can start working on it just by looking at the blueprints."

"That's wonderful," Li Long said with a smile. "Senior brother, I'm truly relieved to hear you say that."

"Hey, don't be so polite." Yang Bo smiled. "Alright, go back now. This matter is actually quite simple."

It's somewhat like using someone's talents for a small task.

Li Long didn't take it to heart. He thought that Yang Bo, as an agricultural college student, was being assigned to the county-level water resources bureau, which was actually a waste of his talents.

After all, a college degree from the 1980s was still quite valuable.

As they drove back, Li Long asked some questions about farmland irrigation construction in the county. He wanted to know if the county water conservancy department had considered private construction teams for any of the construction projects they were undertaking.

"Actually, we have considered it." Yang Bo roughly understood what Li Long meant and said clearly, "When the county is carrying out construction, it still needs construction companies to do the work. But now there is construction in all aspects, and the few teams of construction companies are simply not enough to handle it."

Therefore, we also need experienced and capable construction teams to complete the farmland water conservancy construction in the county.

However, you need experience and qualifications to get these county-level projects.

Li Long understood that after Meng Hai and his team built the sluice gate and bridge, the most important thing they should do was apply for qualifications for his construction team. Otherwise, they would be operating illegally, either by affiliating with other contractors like many contractors in later generations, or by relying on other engineering companies and waiting for others to give them a handout.

Li Long naturally didn't want Meng Hai and the others to become like that, but having the qualifications wasn't so easy.

He didn't know much about it, but fortunately he had connections and could ask for help.

Of course, if all else fails, you can keep doing it.

As the car drove back, at a bend, Li Long suddenly stopped and said to Yang Bo and Jiang Zhiyu:
"There's a group of wild boars ahead! You guys wait in the car, I'll see if I can shoot one!" As soon as he said that, Yang Bo and Jiang Zhiyu immediately became interested and both said they wanted to get out of the car to take a look.

“It’s quite far, otherwise our jeep would have alerted them long ago. They’re drinking water by the river right now.” Li Long turned off the engine, slowly got out of the car, took out a gun from the back, and said, “I have good eyesight, so I’ll go slowly. You two follow behind, and don’t make too much noise.”

They were still nearly 200 meters away from the group of wild boars, so it's no wonder they weren't disturbed.

Yang Bo and Jiang Zhiyu stood behind Li Long, keeping a distance, and tried their best to look ahead, but they could only vaguely see some dark spots on the riverbank.

Li Long clearly saw that seven or eight wild boars were bathing by the river, their bodies covered in mud and sand. The sun was shining brightly and the temperature was quite high; they were probably using this method to cool themselves down.

There were also several young wild boars, weighing twenty or thirty kilograms, rooting around on the riverbank, occasionally butting heads with each other, looking quite lively.

Li Long remembered that Meng Hai had mentioned last time that in the autumn their village would organize militia to hunt wild boars and wolves, mainly because these creatures were developing too fast; they would come out of the mountains and start pecking at corn, which was too hateful.

Not only do they venture out of the mountains to dig for grain, but they also dig up the grass in the mountains, making the grass look messy and unkempt. In some places, the grass is exposed, and after a heavy rain, a large patch of grass is exposed, just like bald patches.

Li Long carried his gun and crouched low as he walked forward, his steps steady and barely making a sound.

Yang Bo and Jiang Zhiyu were also very nervous. They rarely encountered such a situation, and they were both nervous and excited.

Jiang Zhiyu was even wondering if Ma Xiaoyan would encounter the same situation if she followed Li Long into the mountains.
She became even more jealous!

If that's the case, then Ma Xiaoyan's trip into the mountains isn't work, it's clearly a vacation! She gets to see hunting and write articles, and given Li Long's personality, he'll definitely give her some gifts.

That's killing several birds with one stone!

While Jiang Zhiyu was lost in thought, Li Long in front of her had already stopped.

He was less than 150 meters from the wild boar herd, but he dared not go any further. He had already seen some of the wild boars become wary. Although they had not yet seen the people on this side, they kept sniffing around, clearly sensing an unfamiliar scent.

Li Long and his group weren't upwind, but the river and road were located in the middle of a long valley, with mountains on both sides. In terms of ventilation, this was the only way.

So it's normal to smell it.

Li Long immediately knelt down and aimed his gun.

He hadn't fired a shot in a while, and he was quite excited. His hand holding the gun was still very steady, but his breathing was a little rapid. He aimed at a half-grown wild boar, which was lying on its side, head down, rooting at something.

It seemed to sense danger and turned to look at Li Long. At that moment, Li Long had already pulled the trigger to its limit, exceeding the critical point. With a "bang," the wild boar's body swayed and it fell to the ground.

Gunshots echoed through the valley, startling the wild boar herd. The boars scattered and fled, some running downstream along the river, some running to the right-hand road, preparing to rush down the gentle slope into the mountains, and some darting directly into the river, intending to swim to the other side and then climb the hillside.

Li Long slightly moved the muzzle of his gun, aimed at another wild boar that had already entered the river and was swimming sideways, and fired another shot with a "bang," causing blood to gush from the river.

The wild boar sank and then floated back up. Suddenly, it struggled with its limbs and continued swimming forward. Li Long fired another shot, and the wild boar spurted out another stream of blood before going still.

The other wild boars had already run far away and disappeared from sight.

"Three shots? How many heads?" Yang Bo hurried over and asked.

He still couldn't see it very clearly.

"It looks like there are two ends." Jiang Zhiyu's eyesight was better, so she could tell.

“Yes, two, one big and one small,” Li Long said. “Let’s drive over and take a look.”

The jeep drove over, and all three of them got out. Yang Bo practically ran to the riverbank.

He stared in amazement at the little wild boar lying on the beach, and after a while said, "This is the first time I've ever seen a wild boar this close. So this is what wild boars look like..."

Li Long had already used a tree branch to poke the big wild boar in the river over, and then pulled it ashore by its leg.

It was described as a large wild boar, but it was actually only two or three years old, weighing over fifty kilograms, and it had a strong odor.

The river water here is all red; the blood has almost completely drained away.

"Hey, this one's pretty big," Yang Bo said. "By the way, how does the wild boar taste?"

“Not as good as domestic pigs. But if cooked well, it has a unique flavor,” Li Long said with a smile. “If you’re not in a hurry, I’ll pack them up now. You two can each take one leg of this big wild boar back, and the rest is mine.”

"No need, no need for a leg. Just give me a kilogram or two to try," Yang Bo hurriedly waved his hand. "I didn't do anything, how could I possibly ask for a leg?"

"Everyone gets a share," Li Long said with a smile. "This wild boar isn't very big, nor is it very old. It's a pity it's a male; if it were a female, it would taste better. When you take it home, it's best to braise it and use plenty of wine to mask the flavor."

As he spoke, he took out a knife and began to peel the skin.

"Don't you shave the hair off wild boars?" Yang Bo had also lived in the countryside and knew that pigs were shaved before slaughtering.

Jiang Zhiyu had the same expression.

"Don't scrape wild boars," Li Long said as he worked. "Their skin is thick, so it's better to scrape them directly. You can't scrape them clean; they're not like domestic pigs. Domestic pigs are kept in pens, and even if they rub against the pens from time to time, they only get a little mud on them."

"This thing runs around in the mountains, it gets rubbed against everything. You can shave off the fur, but you can't shave off all the dirt on its skin."

He started peeling the skin very quickly.

Jiang Zhiyu wanted to take pictures, but then changed her mind. She wanted to wander around the nearby mountains, but she was worried about what might be there. Wild boars looked quite fierce, and she thought that if there were wild boars, there might be other things as well.

Yang Bo watched with great interest as Li Long peeled the skin, occasionally helping out.

Now that he has a large and successful family, Li Long doesn't care about such a small amount anymore. He keeps the wild boar's internal organs, except for the stomach, and throws the rest away.

A crocodile was skinned, a bag was taken out from the back of the cart, two legs were removed, and it was handed to Yang Bo and Jiang Zhiyu, who said:
"Come on, senior brother, Officer Jiang, one for each of you. Officer Jiang, you're a woman, you go first."

Jiang Zhiyu politely declined for a moment, then casually took one.

While Yang Bo was taking the remaining one, Li Long had already started skinning the little wild boar.

The wild boar wasn't big, so skinning and gutting it was easier. Yang Bo didn't even need to pull its legs; Li Long could just step on it and finish it off quickly.

After putting the whole wild boar into a bag and placing it in the back of the car, Li Long said to the two men:
"There are a lot of wild mushrooms in the mountains now, including black tiger paw mushrooms. Would you like to pick some? I saw some in the nearby gullies."

Yang Bo wasn't interested. He pointed to the riverbank and said:
"I'll see if I can find any jade. I've heard that a lot of people in Shicheng have found jade recently, so I'd like to try my luck."

"I want to pick mushrooms, but is it dangerous in the mountains?" Jiang Zhiyu asked.

“Then I’ll go with you. Senior brother, you stay by the river, we’re not far away. Here, take this knife, you can use it for self-defense.”

"No need for the knife, I'll just pick up a stick, that's better," Yang Bo said with a smile. "Alright, you guys go ahead. There's been gunfire here, and the smell of gunpowder should keep most animals away. If they do come, that's good, you'll have more prey."

Li Long smiled and then led Jiang Zhiyu into the ravine.

(End of this chapter)