Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

July 1st, girls' dormitory.

Li Juan was packing her luggage. Her schoolbag was placed next to her bed, and it didn't contain many books. Some of her books and textbooks had already been given away—Li Juan had good grades in school, and even before the college entrance examination, some classmates had already taken her textbooks.

Li Juan's younger brother, Li Qiang, will not be able to enter his senior year of high school for another three years, so she did not plan to leave the textbooks to him. Li Qiang's academic performance is also very good, and it is even clear that he is more focused and talented than her in terms of learning.

Therefore, Li Juan is not worried about her younger brother.

She rolled up the bedding and tied it with rope, then gathered the other things together and stuffed them into the urea bag. Next, she just had to wait for her uncle to come and pick her up.

"Li Juan, someone's looking for you outside!" a student called from the doorway. "Outside the main gate!"

The dormitories for boys and girls at No. 1 Middle School are long rows of brick buildings, with two rows for girls and two rows for boys. The east side is sealed off by a brick wall, while the west side has a large gate that is locked at night by the dormitory supervisor to ensure safety.

Li Juan got out of bed, walked to the door and looked outside. Not seeing who was looking for her outside the door, she went out.

On the wall opposite the main gate, Wang Zhongping, a classmate, was standing there looking down at the tips of his shoes. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, saw Li Juan, and said with a smile:

"Li Juan, have you packed your things?"

"It's all packed." Li Juan nodded. "You wanted to see me?"

"Um, are you going back today or tomorrow?"

"Today," Li Juan replied succinctly and forcefully.

The senior high school students are on holiday today. On the morning of July 6th, they will take a school bus to Beiting City. The school will arrange a hotel for them—of course, they will have to pay for it themselves. In the afternoon, they will go to the examination room to see their examination seats, and the exam will be held the next day.

At this time, Ma County only had two high school classes, so there were few candidates and no examination center. The situation was similar in most other counties. Therefore, the examination venue was arranged in Beiting City, and Beiting would be very lively these next few days.

"Well... it's my birthday tomorrow, and I'm inviting a few classmates to go roller skating at the county rink. Do you have time?" Wang Zhongping pulled out roller skating tickets from his pocket and showed them to Li Juan. "In the morning."

In the classroom, Wang Zhongping sat in front of Li Juan. His deskmate was a boy, and Li Juan's deskmate was a girl. The four of them got along well. In the middle of the semester, on Li Juan's deskmate's birthday, they made plans to go roller skating together.

Although it was Li Juan's first time, she had good balance and skated quite well. That was a good experience for these high school seniors—roller skating was a relatively new and popular activity in Ma County.

Of course, I only went skiing once, and later I was too busy with studying to go again.

With the holiday approaching and his birthday just around the corner, Wang Zhongping felt a sense of impending separation and spent a considerable sum to buy four tickets, hoping to relax with his classmates.

"No," Li Juan hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "The college entrance exam is in a few days. My family is coming to pick me up today, and I won't be staying in the county tomorrow."

She wanted to go back and review her notes carefully, even if it was just last-minute cramming, it should still be of some use.

Wang Zhongping hesitated for a moment, then raised the ticket in his hand and said:

"I've already bought the ticket..."

"It's okay, just find someone else," Li Juan said with a smile. "There are quite a few people in our class who want to relax before the exam. Aren't many of you boys going out to hang out?"

Before Wang Zhongping could say anything more, Li Juan pointed to the right and said, "My family is here, so I won't say anything. I wish you good luck on your exam!"

When Li Long walked over, Li Juan had already said goodbye to Wang Zhongping and came to greet him.

"Your classmate?" Li Long asked casually, watching Wang Zhongping hurriedly leave. "Is he saying goodbye to you?"

"Hmm." Li Juan didn't explain, but asked, "Uncle, which gate did you park your car at?"

"West Gate. West Gate is closer. You have a lot of stuff, so we don't need to go too far," Li Long said, stopping at the gate. "Why don't you call a few people to take the stuff out?"

"No need, Uncle, come in with me. It's broad daylight, and we're graduating soon, it'll be fine."

Li Long then walked to the door of Li Juan's dormitory and stood there, waiting for her to take her things out.

There were only two people left in the dormitory, one a junior and the other a senior. Knowing that Li Juan was leaving, the two classmates smiled and said goodbye to her, wishing her good luck on her exams. Li Juan shook hands with each of them—yes, she shook hands to say goodbye.

The luggage that seemed rather heavy and bulky to Li Juan looked like a toy in Li Long's hands. Li Long carried the bedding in one hand and the urea bag containing miscellaneous items in the other, while Li Juan only carried her schoolbag. The two walked side by side toward the west gate.

Along the way, there were students hurrying out of the school, parents like Li Long going in to get luggage for their children, as well as teachers and family members.

Li Juan would occasionally greet classmates or teachers she knew, but once she left the west gate of the school and got into Li Long's car, she seemed to suddenly become cheerful.

"Uncle, isn't Mingming Haohao on vacation too? Will he be starting first grade when school starts? Which school will he go to?"

“Erxiao, the school your aunt goes to,” Li Long said as he drove, “you’re going to Beiting on the 6th, right? Do you want me to take you there?”

"No need, no need, we all take the school bus," Li Juan said hurriedly. "I already made plans with my classmates."

"Alright then." Li Long didn't press the issue. "Are you planning to study a bit more at home these next few days? You should relax when it's time to relax."

"I understand." Li Juan smiled, chatted with Li Long for a few minutes about the canned food, and then took out her notebook from her schoolbag—that is, her graduation yearbook—and started looking at it.

At this age, students are still quite reserved. While there are some who are in early romantic relationships, they are very few. At this age, everyone has a clear understanding of themselves, and their main task is to study.

Li Long took Li Juan to his older brother's house, helped her take down her luggage and put it inside, and then went to chat with his mother.

“Your eldest brother and the others have been busy these past few days. It’s time to harvest the cotton, and your eldest brother, sister-in-law, Junfeng, and Junhai are all out in the fields,” said Du Chunfang, the old woman. “They’re very busy!”

Yes, it's time to start harvesting cotton in early July. Everyone's in the fields now, partly to quickly remove the cotton bolls so they don't run out of time later—because in another half month, the wheat will also be harvested, and if the former falls behind and the latter catches up, things will be chaotic.

While it's possible to find odd jobs to start, the quality of the work done by these odd jobs is questionable. In their rush to meet deadlines, they might even cut off the entire head of the cotton plant, resulting in losses.

Proper topping simply involves pinching off the tiny bit of cotton core at the top. The large clump that odd jobs remove can actually produce a few more flowers and peaches after the proper topping is done.

If all the work is done by casual laborers, each cotton plant will produce two or three fewer bolls. Over an acre, this could result in a loss of ten or twenty kilograms of cotton, or even more.

What about a thousand acres? That's a huge number!

Everyone in the team gets paid the same amount for their work, but since we see each other all the time, we all work more carefully. Even the most careless person will only pinch off the top two or three tips, and losing one or two flowers doesn't matter.

“Junfeng’s dad has stopped catching fish and shrimp and started going with them to lead the way,” Du Chunfang, the old woman, continued. “He earns several yuan a day, and he’s very careful with his money—well, he’s a grown man, and he doesn’t have much money on him. He can’t keep asking Junfeng for money, can he? Once or twice is fine, but Xiaojuan won’t allow it any more than that!”

Li Long sat next to his mother, listening to her endless chatter about everyday family matters without getting annoyed. He would occasionally chime in with a comment, showing a sense of participation and making his mother even more eager to share.

Li Long knew that his mother was home alone, and although she didn't talk much, it didn't mean she didn't want to talk.

Older people always want someone to be with them.

"Grandma, let me braid your hair." Li Juan finished tidying up the house and came out to see that her grandmother's hair was a little messy, so she said.

Normally, children in traditional families are not allowed to touch the heads of their elders. However, Li Juan and Du Chunfang's way of communicating is not limited to this. She said, "I even braid our classmates' hair at school."

"Alright, go ahead and do it." Older mother Du Chunfang was quite happy. "My Juan is a grown woman now, she's going to take the college entrance exam. Hey, the Li family can finally produce a college student..."

"Grandma, the exam hasn't started yet..." Li Juan couldn't help but be modest.

"Juan, which school are you applying to? Have you already filled out your applications?" Li Long asked, sitting to the side watching Li Juan comb her mother's hair.

“My first choice is Renmin University, and my second choice is China Agricultural University,” Li Juan said softly. “I definitely can’t get into Tsinghua or Peking University, I’m not confident. I think I have a better chance of getting into Renmin University or China Agricultural University.”

Agricultural University is alright, but Renmin University... well, that's Renmin University!
Li Long thought to himself, "Is my niece really that amazing?"
He couldn't help but ask, "What score did you get on the mock exam?"

"Both times I scored over 600 points. My teacher said that if I really get into Renmin University, I have a chance. Actually, my teacher hopes I can get into Tsinghua or Peking University, but I don't think I'm confident," Li Juan said honestly.

Li Long knew this was because he had bought a courtyard house in Yanjing, so he subconsciously only considered universities in Yanjing.

Actually, this was a bit unfair to Li Juan, so he couldn't help but say, "You don't have to only consider Yanjing. You can also think about other schools. Don't worry, even if you don't use that courtyard, it will appreciate in value."

For example, we bought it for 5,000 yuan, and now it's worth at least 20,000 yuan. Think about how much profit we made! Even if we don't use it, we won't lose money if we sell it. When you choose a university, you should consider your own future, not just focus on Yenching University because of that courtyard."

“Yeah, it would be good to get into a military academy or something,” Du Chunfang suddenly blurted out.

"Hey, Mom, you even know about military academies?" Li Long laughed. "You've progressed along with them."

"Hey, wasn't that what your older brother said? He said Juan could also apply to military academy. I was wondering what military academy is all about, and your older brother said that graduates become officers, which is great!"

Li Long then asked Li Juan, "Did your teacher say anything about how to get into military academy?"

“I told you the day before yesterday that those who want to apply to military academies should get a form, fill it out, and have their parents sign it. The physical exam for military academies is different from ours; we have to do it again,” Li Juan said. “I don’t want to apply to military academies; I just want to apply to Renmin University, or China Agricultural University, if that’s fine.”

Let's go with Li Juan's suggestion then. Li Jianguo and his wife don't know anything about this, and neither does Li Long. Gu Xiaoxia asked her sister and thought it was pretty much acceptable.

At this point, there was no point in offering guidance; it was up to Li Juan to figure things out on her own.

After chatting with his mother for a while, Li Long drove to the cotton field. Li Juan stayed behind to help her grandmother cook; most of the vegetables in the field were ready for harvest, so lunch was simple.

There were many people picking cotton, some were from various households in the cooperative, some were people like Li Junfeng, and the rest were other people from the team who came to earn money.

There are twenty or thirty of them, which isn't a small number in a single field. But scattered across thousands of acres of cotton fields, they seem insignificant.

However, after two years, everyone had become skilled at leading the way. Some, like Li Andong, were a bit slower, while Li Jianguo and Liang Yuemei, who were quick and efficient at working in the fields, strode forward, pinching their heads with both hands as they went, moving very fast.

It's no problem to cultivate five or six acres a day.

Li Long is a little lacking in this aspect. He is used to being meticulous in cutting hair, so he cuts off the tiny bit of hair on top, about the size of a fingernail, which takes a lot of effort.

But since everyone else was doing it, he found a spare moment and started working on it too. After all, he had a share in the cooperative, and finishing the harvest early would help the cotton flowers and bolls, which would be beneficial.

The sun was blazing hot. Li Long and his group walked about a hundred meters when they heard the sound of a tractor coming from the farm road at the edge of the field, followed by someone shouting, "Watermelons for sale! Watermelons for sale! Watermelons are cheap..."

Watermelons in early July are definitely not cheap, since they are considered early-ripening melons, but who cares about that at this point? Li Long quickly shouted:

"Watermelon seller, stop for a second!"

He had a loud voice, and when he shouted, the tractor pulling the melon immediately turned around.

Li Long hurriedly walked out of the cotton field. He felt that his clothes were soaked with sweat. What was most annoying was that there was no wind at all, and the stuffy heat was extremely uncomfortable.

Especially when the lower body is in a cotton field, the cotton up to the thighs completely blocks any air movement above, and being in dense cotton below is just like being in a steamer.

It's so painful, so painful.

So he escaped, and once outside, he clearly felt a coolness on his legs—the sweaty area met the flowing air, and the original damp heat instantly turned into coolness, which felt much more comfortable.

"How much does a watermelon cost per kilogram?" Li Long asked.

"Fifteen cents." The melon vendor got off the tractor. "Early-ripening melons from the wild fields, guaranteed ripe. Want me to open one up for you to see?"

"Open one. If you want it well-cooked, buy fifty kilograms," Li Long said. "Can you give me a discount for fifty kilograms?"

"Oh my, this is the cost price. It's been brought over from the field for 12 cents," the boss said, climbing onto the tractor's tow rack. The tractor's cargo bed was surrounded by a circle of reeds, making it 1.2 to 1.3 meters higher than the original cargo bed, so it could hold more watermelons.

Li Long watched as the shopkeeper carried a watermelon downstairs, pulled a knife from under the car seat, cut a triangular hole in the watermelon, and showed it to Li Long: "Fellow villager, look how good this watermelon is!"

Li Long smiled, knowing that the boss couldn't really guarantee it either, otherwise he wouldn't have cut the watermelon into a triangular shape. But once it was cut open, the watermelon was indeed quite good.

The boss pulled a urea bag from behind the car seat, spread it on the ground, and then cut open a watermelon. The flesh was bright red, and a sweet aroma wafted out.

The watermelon vendor was very efficient; he quickly cut the watermelon in half and handed a large piece to Li Long to try.

Li Long didn't stand on ceremony, took the packet and tasted it, finding it exceptionally good—perhaps because he had been working in the fields for a while and was feeling hot.

"Okay, these melons, give me a whole sack," Li Long said. "Make sure the scale is a bit high."

"Don't worry, fellow villager," the melon vendor said with a smile. "I always weigh my melons high."

As he spoke, he climbed back onto the truck bed, and after Li Long finished eating the melon, he called him to take the melon.

"Come down, I'll pick them." Li Long was a little worried, mainly because it was still early, and it was hard to say how ripe the melons were at this time.

The melon vendor didn't mind, and climbed down with a smile, waiting for Li Long to go up so he could catch him from below.

Li Long picked through the watermelons, big and small, and after patting them, felt the sound was right, so he started carrying them down. After carrying about ten watermelons, the shopkeeper below said:
"Fellow villager, this must weigh sixty or seventy kilograms. Do you still want it?"

"That's about it," Li Long said casually, then shouted into the field, "Take a break, come over and eat some watermelon!"

He spoke loudly, and everyone heard him. Some hesitated, while others simply walked out of the cotton field and came this way.

When the others arrived, Li Long had already weighed the melons and paid the vendor. The melon vendor didn't leave; instead, he diligently helped cut the melons. Li Long knew he was checking to see if anyone else had bought melons.

After all, there were four cars parked on the land, along with several tractors and bicycles. This is land belonging to a rich person!
Xu Haijun, who was the first to arrive, greeted Li Long with a smile and then quickly picked up a slice of watermelon to eat. After finishing the slice, he sighed with satisfaction, "Hey, that was really good! At times like this, eating a slice of watermelon is just the right thing to do."

This is wasteland. Trees were planted on both sides of the field last spring, but they haven't formed a large area of ​​shade yet. The melon cutting area is in the shade of the tractor's trailer.

Before long, a large number of people gathered here. Tao Daqiang and Tao Jianshe were both there. To Li Long's surprise, Tao Dayong and Ma Chunhong were also there. They even took the initiative to greet Li Long when they saw him.

Finally, Li Long's eldest brother, Li Jianguo, and his sister-in-law, Liang Yuemei, arrived. When they came over, Li Long could see beads of sweat on their faces.

Li Long handed them two pieces of melon and said, "I brought Juan back. She's cooking with my mother at home."

"It's good that you're back." Liang Yuemei nodded. "They said they wanted to apply to Renmin University and Agricultural University or something. We don't know much about them, as long as they can get in."

"Don't put so much pressure on her," Li Jianguo said while eating some melon seeds. "Let her score whatever she gets is fine."

Li Long could tell that his older brother was actually being a bit insincere; he was even more nervous than he was.

But at this point, everyone knew that they absolutely couldn't put any pressure on Li Juan. The college entrance exam was a first for the Li family; no one had ever taken it before, and she had a very good chance of getting into a prestigious university. They couldn't afford to put pressure on her.

Everyone ate watermelon and chatted. This year, only Li Juan from the team was able to take the college entrance examination at No. 1 High School. There seemed to be three in the whole brigade. The other two were said to have average grades, and they would be lucky to get into a teacher's college.

So when people talk about Li Juan, they always say it's like "someone else's child." These families have young children, the oldest only in junior high school, and they all dream of having good grades like Li Juan. They don't even want to go to university, just a vocational school or a teacher's college would be great.

After eating watermelon and resting for a while, Xie Yundong called everyone to get back to work. As the manager of the cooperative, he had to do all the dirty, tiring, and troublesome work, which was unavoidable.

He was very clear about his role: he had to finish the work for the appropriate season. These people came to work for money, and since they were paid, they shouldn't be blamed for having high expectations; this money wasn't easy to earn.

Fortunately, most of them are shareholders or relatives of the cooperative, so they're basically working for their own families and don't complain much. The weather's hot, so be it; we've been doing this for years, we're used to it.

These people ate five watermelons, and Li Long bought about ten more, put them in the trunk of his car, and then drove away.

He admitted he couldn't do the job and suggested leaving so as not to affect other people's efficiency.

Anyway, working at the cooperative is a way to make money, so it's okay if he doesn't come. He doesn't care about the money; he'd better go back first.

When I got back to the Li family home, I saw that my mother and Li Juan were already cooking. So I unloaded some watermelons, carried them into the house, said goodbye to my mother, and left.

"You're not even going to eat?" Older mother Du Chunfang said with some dissatisfaction. "I already made the dough for you."

"I'm going to deliver some watermelons to Uncle Luo and the others at Lao Ma's place," Li Long said. "I'll be back in a bit."

Actually, he didn't want to eat here, but he felt embarrassed when his older brother and the others came back later, like a deserter. But his mother had already said so, so he decided to stay, even if it meant being a little more shameless.

On July 6th, Li Long drove to Team 4 early in the morning to pick up Li Juan and take her to No. 1 Middle School. On the way, Li Long offered her money, but Li Juan refused, saying that her father had already given her 100 yuan, and her grandmother had secretly given her 20 yuan, which was enough.

Li Long chuckled. It seemed his older brother was generous this time, giving him quite a bit.

"My dad also said that we should eat at the hotel with everyone for the next three days and not go out. He also said not to worry about spending money, but to make sure we get good nutrition, and not to eat at those small restaurants, because he's afraid we'll get diarrhea..."

Li Juan told Li Long everything her parents had said. Li Long thought to himself that he didn't have any more instructions, as they had said enough.

Several large buses were parked at the entrance of the No. 1 Middle School. Many students were waiting there with a bag in their hands. They had arrived first. Several teachers were holding a roster and counting heads, checking off each person as they arrived, and telling the newcomers not to wander off.

Li Long parked his car behind the bus. After Li Juan got off the bus, she waved to Li Long and went to report to her teacher.

Li Long watched as Li Juan arrived among the teachers and students, then started his car and drove away.

He was quite envious, being able to take the college entrance exam... Well, it's really just an experience. Those who haven't experienced it will naturally be envious.

When Li Juan returned from her exam, Li Long picked her up as usual and took her back to Team Four. On the way, Li Long asked her if she had estimated her score. She said she estimated it to be 630, and that she had compared scores with her classmates. She added that her essay score and other grades were based on her usual performance.

Li Long had no concept of this score, but he knew it was very high, extremely high.

However, Li Juan's grades had been consistently excellent over the years, so it wasn't entirely unexpected. Back at the home of the eldest brother in the fourth team, Li Qiang was also there. He had already finished his high school entrance exam, and although the scores hadn't been released yet, getting into the top high school shouldn't be a problem, so he seemed quite relaxed.

Seeing Li Long drive over, Li Qiang happily ran over and told Li Long that Xiaohaizi and the area to the east had flooded again. Xiaohaizi was a little better off; once the sluice gate was closed and the water was released, it was safe.

The Dongdagou River flooded again, but this time the three reservoirs were not washed away. They learned from the previous experience and built large sluice gates on the bottom dams. The water was released, but the fishing nets that were blocked above the sluice gates were washed away by the flood. There are still many fish in the downstream water, and many people in the team are catching fish there now.

Li Long could tell that Li Qiang was quite excited, probably wanting him to take them fishing, so he asked, "Are there more people going fishing than last time?"

"No, maybe twenty or thirty," Li Qiang said honestly. "Most of them are working in the fields."

Li Long smiled.

Yes, there are three cooperatives in the team. You can earn money by working in the cooperatives. Although you can also sell the fish you catch, it's not the same as the money you get directly after finishing the work.

However, since Li Qiang had spoken, Li Long said, "Alright, let's go take a look."

He drove Li Juan and Li Qiang to Dongdagou. His older brother and sister-in-law were still working in the cotton field and couldn't help them.

Li Long originally planned to bring his mother along, but she was too lazy to move.

When they arrived at Dongdagou, they found that there were indeed people catching fish, but not many, and several of them were clearly not from the village.

There were fish in the water, but significantly fewer than last time. Some people were waiting in the water with nets, but it took quite a while to catch any fish.

Li Long didn't want to go into the water, so he took Li Juan and Li Qiang downstream to see what the dam at Yan'erwo was like.

Sure enough, the dam was washed away again—there were no sluice gates or bridges built here, so when the water came in too much, it couldn't be contained, and it was only natural that it collapsed.

The bottom dam was washed away, creating a channel five or six meters wide. Water rushed down towards the lake. Some people were still there with nets, waiting for fish to swim upstream. You could feel fish jumping in the bags tied to their bodies; there were fish.

This dam is the passage between Team Four and Yan'erwo. Because the two sides are divided into local and military units, no one has built a bridge—Yan'erwo can go out via the Huke Highway without going to Team Four. And Team Four doesn't go out from here either; they go west into the countryside.

Only a few individuals wanted to take a shortcut to the corps, so the breach was severed.

Once the floodwaters recede, bulldozers can easily rebuild the dam. But repairing the bridge and sluice gates will cost a lot more.

Li Long then said to Li Qiang, "If you want to catch fish, go over there and wait with them to see if you can catch any that jump up. There are too few of us to set up a net. If you take a landing net into the water, you're just relying on luck, so it's better to stay here."

Li Qiang thought it made sense, so he took the net and waited there.

Li Long looked at the big pit and pondered. He was thinking that after the water receded, he would throw some explosives into the pit and then fish them out.

The fish in this big pit have nowhere to go. Once the water recedes, they can only stay in the pit with nothing to eat. They get thinner and thinner, and when the pit dries up, the fish are just skin and bones.

It was truly skin and bones!
Of course, it's still early; it will be at least half a month later.

Li Qiang waited in the water, guarding the pit and waiting for fish. Li Long watched from the shore. Li Juan watched for a while and then got bored, so she took another net and walked along the water's edge, looking for small crucian carp to catch. In no time, she had caught a kilogram or two of crucian carp.

It's a good time to relax after the exam.

For the next period of time, Li Juan and Li Qiang both helped with chores at home. When villagers saw Li Juan, they would ask her how many points she scored on the exam and which university she got into, but Li Juan would say she didn't know.

As for Li Qiang, he soon received a notice that he had been admitted to the county's No. 1 High School and would be going to participate in military training in early August, which would last for two weeks.

Li Qiang asked his sister about the military training, and Li Juan told him that they could shoot guns, and each person would get five bullets. Li Qiang was overjoyed, and his enthusiasm for participating increased.

As for the other hard training, what's that?
Li Long came to the fourth team less often, as he also needed to check on the topping work of the cotton in the experimental field.

The topping work in the experimental field was entirely carried out by Professor Yang, his students, and the faculty and staff of the Agricultural Broadcasting School.

They were extremely meticulous when they topped the cotton, just like Li Long did, only pinching off the tiny, bean-sized core at the top of the cotton, not removing any more.

Because the extra ones might bloom two flowers and bear two peaches.

If it's just ordinary soil, then it's no big deal to remove it, like weeding out one or two corn seedlings when you're weeding.

But this is different. It's an experimental field, and every step has to be meticulous. So even though there are only twenty acres of land here, it took a full five days to top the fields.

Fortunately, after topping and then applying mepiquat chloride, the effect was quite noticeable. The cotton stopped growing taller and started to branch out, and then began to flower.

Next is to check for omissions and fill in the gaps, because some plants that were not seen and were not topped will suddenly grow taller than other cotton plants in just a few days. These need to be topped off as soon as possible.

Although it's a bit late, it's always better to mend the fence after the sheep are lost than to do nothing at all.

After the cotton harvest was completed, the wheat harvest began, and every household was busy with farm work. This year, the weather was relatively cooperative; the cooperative's cotton crop didn't suffer from any major pests, which made everyone very happy.

However, the drip irrigation experimental field, located in a rural area, was drafty and suffered from two insect infestations: spider mites and aphids. Fortunately, they were discovered in time and were eradicated early, so the impact was not significant.

Li Long and his cooperative work together seamlessly and are experienced. Although there are no major pests, someone regularly patrols the fields, and outsiders are not allowed to enter.

After all, the cleared land wasn't by the main road, so unless there was some ulterior motive, there was no need to go into the cotton field.

On the morning of August 4th, Li Long prepared some explosives, intending to blast some fish in the large pit at Yan'erwo. He went to his elder brother's house to bring Li Qiang along, since he had mentioned it to Li Qiang before.

Li Jianguo, the eldest brother, was also there, along with Xie Yundong and Tao Daqiang, and they were talking about the cooperative. Li Long overheard them mentioning two other cooperatives, so he casually asked about them.

"Those two? Sigh, they're fine as they are." Li Jianguo didn't want to elaborate.

Xu Haijun, however, didn't care at all and said with a smile: "The entire cooperative is newly reclaimed wasteland. We didn't do a good job of resisting salinity and alkalinity, so less than 60% of the seedlings have emerged. The replanted seedlings are not growing well either, they are sparse and scattered. The land has not been covered properly yet."

The other is a large, contiguous plot of cultivated land. The seedlings are growing well, but it's surrounded by other crops, and this year there have been three major pest infestations. One of them involved spider mites, and we still haven't recovered... Sigh, I estimate the yield will be less than 150 kilograms.

Li Long could tell there was some schadenfreude in his tone, but he didn't care. After all, not everyone could do this kind of thing. For the cooperative to develop, unless someone like Li Long was a genius, everyone else had to learn through trial and error.

Smooth sailing is an illusion; a bumpy road is the reality.

"You've got some free time now?" Li Jianguo asked Li Long, being kind-hearted and unwilling to speak ill of others.

"Yeah, I told Qiangqiang last time that I was going to take him to that big pit in Yan'erwo to fry fish. I'm free today, so I'm planning to go," Li Long said.

"Blast-fried fish? You mean that pit in Dongda Ditch? I remember you blasted fish there before, right?" Xu Haijun asked. "Are there many fish in there now?"

"I estimate quite a lot." Li Long wasn't sure either. "It shouldn't be as much as last time, but there's definitely some."

“Let’s go, let’s go take a look.” Xu Haijun immediately became interested. “I’ve been working myself silly these past few months. Let’s go take a look.”

"Then we have to bring the landing net with us," Li Long said. "Otherwise, the fried fish will just be sitting there looking at us."

Everyone had a car, so they went back to get their fishing nets. Li Long drove his older brother, along with Li Juan and Li Qiang, and headed ahead to the large pit.

There was no one nearby. The water level in the pit has dropped now. Looking down from the west side of the pit, there is a drop of six or seven meters. The floodwaters were quite strong.

"There's a fish! There's a fish!" Li Qiang, with his sharp eyes, immediately spotted a fish swimming in the water, causing the water to ripple violently.

"Hey, that's exactly what we wanted. If there's no fish, then we've come all this way for nothing!" Li Long said with a smile as he took out two ammonium nitrate explosives and two detonation devices made with detonators, pull tubes, and fuses.

After connecting the two, Li Long said to his elder brother, "Brother, shall I do it?"

“Aren’t there two? Put one in each person,” Li Jianguo said.

"Dad, can I put one in?" Li Qiang suddenly asked.

"We'll talk about this when you're an adult!" Li Jianguo dared not let Li Qiang do this now. "Step back now!"

Li Jianguo suddenly became stern, and both Li Qiang and Li Juan were a little scared, so they immediately retreated about ten meters.

"Brother, you don't have to say that to them, do you?" Li Long said in a low voice. "Look how scared the two kids are."

"I'm afraid they'll secretly tamper with it themselves," Li Jianguo said in a low voice. "You know how it went, the guy in the team who had that accident, lost his hand, what will he do then?"

Li Long thought to himself, "That's true. This is something that laymen really shouldn't touch."

The car behind had already arrived, and Xie Yundong, Tao Daqiang and the others came over. Li Long and Li Jianguo didn't say much, took out their lighters, lit the fuses, and threw them down.

"boom!"

"boom!"

Two loud bangs followed, and huge waves crashed onto the embankment. Li Long and Li Jianguo managed to retreat in time, otherwise they would have been soaked.

Xu Haijun and his men were all experienced. As soon as they saw that the blasting was over, they got out of the car, grabbed the nets, and came over. Li Juan and Li Qiang, on the other hand, came at the very back.

"Wait a minute, the fish are stunned by the frying and have all sunk to the bottom." Several people leaned forward to look down. The water had become murky and was very turbulent, but there wasn't a single fish on the surface.

Everyone had experience, so they weren't in a hurry and just chatted while waiting.

Li Long looked up and saw that some people from the Swallow's Nest were looking this way. Seeing that there were quite a few people here, he retreated back inside.

After seven or eight minutes, still no fish had come up. Li Qiang got a little anxious and whispered to Li Long, "Uncle, why haven't we caught any fish yet?"

"No rush. The fish that are stunned by the frying will sink to the bottom first. Some that aren't stunned will also try to dive underwater first. Once they're fully stunned, they'll float to the surface."

Knowing that Li Qiang was anxious, he said, "Let's go down into the pit from the side and wait at the edge."

As he spoke, he led Li Qiang to the edge of the pit, and the others dispersed to both sides and went down into the pit.

Once you reach the north and south sides of the pit, you can go directly to the water's edge, and then you can see fish starting to float upwards.

"Come on, let's scoop them up!" Li Long said, looking at the few crucian carp. "Some are dizzy, and some might have been fried to death. Let's scoop them up while they're still fresh!"

Li Qiang immediately scooped it up.

The others weren't in a hurry; Li Long knew they were all eyeing the big fish.

Although I don't particularly like big fish when I'm eating them, I do like big ones when I'm catching them.

"Hey, the big one's out!" Tao Daqiang was the first to spot a large fish surfacing.

When he shouted that, the others looked over. To be precise, it was half-floating and half-swimming up. The fish wasn't completely stunned by the explosion. It swam a couple of times, stopped, and came up at an angle.

As soon as Tao Daqiang shouted this, he jumped into the water—it was a huge pit, and after only two steps, the water was already up to his chest.

Tao Daqiang could swim, so he darted into the water with a net in one hand and a paddle in the other. The big carp, weighing more than two kilograms, felt the water sway and swam desperately for a couple of seconds, but it was still half-crippled from the blast. Before it could swim any further, Tao Daqiang used the net to kill it instantly.

Pulling the net back, Tao Daqiang was soaked, but his face was full of smiles: "Hey, not bad, not bad, it's a big carp!"

A great start!

One after another, fish surfaced. Li Qiang and Li Juan picked them up from the side, while the others jumped in when they saw an opening. There were quite a few big fish, but some small fish surfaced in the middle of the pit. There was no need to jump in, so they used clods of earth to splash water and wash them to the side.

Before long, everyone had caught something. Even Li Jianguo, who had been watching from the sidelines, casually scooped up a few fish from the water, including a beautiful silver carp.

It took more than half an hour to catch any more fish. Li Long glanced at the fish and realized that the total weight of the fish caught by everyone was at least thirty kilograms.

There were items of all sizes, and everyone seemed to have something to gain, which was great.

"Let's go back," Li Long said. "Some of the fish died. Let's cook and eat them as soon as we get back, so as not to waste them."

So they went back. Li Long drove to the Li family home and saw someone watching at the door. Li Juan, with her sharp eyes, exclaimed, "Hey? What's our teacher doing here?"

"Your teachers?" Li Long asked, somewhat puzzled. "Those few?"

"Oh, and our class monitor too!" Li Juan said anxiously, "Why did they come over?"

Li Long had a vague suspicion in his mind, could it be...? (End of this chapter)