Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Both Meng Hai and Li Long are action-oriented. After finalizing the dredging plan for Xiaohaizi, Meng Hai immediately mobilized bulldozers, excavators, and workers to the fourth team.

The cooperative has a large dormitory, so they don't need to live in tents. The workers' wages are also clearly stated: ten yuan a day, with extra pay for those who operate excavators and loaders, since these are skilled jobs.

The construction team had their own cook, so Li Long didn't need to provide them with meals. However, Li Long still slaughtered a sheep from Old Ma's place and brought it over to them, which made the workers very happy.

On the day construction began, dozens of people came to watch from the small lake after hearing about it; the scene was spectacular. Excavators and bulldozers moved simultaneously from the west and southeast.

They first dug soil from the wasteland outside the courtyard, loaded it into dump trucks, and then used the trucks to transport it to the embankment and dump it into the small lake.

Li Long and Meng Hai's original idea was to use an excavator to dredge the silt in the small lake and then build a temporary dike.

However, after the operation, it was discovered that this was not feasible at all. The dredged silt was thin and sticky, and even if it could be piled up to form a dike, excavators and trucks could not stand on it.

So they first dug up the dry soil outside and paved a road that vehicles could pass through, and then cleared the silt.

Excavators and loaders moved quickly, and with just two or three buckets of soil, they built a road from the top of the dam to the bottom, allowing trucks to go up and down the dam.

Next, they only handle loading the trucks, which then unload them. The workers who come to do the actual work are mainly responsible for some of the leftover materials. For example, if some trucks don't have a self-unloading function, the workers will unload them with shovels. Or, if the bulldozers can't level the unloaded soil in time, the workers will step in to do that.

In general, the preliminary work was mainly done by machinery.

“Li Long’s project is huge,” Lu Yingming said, standing next to Li Jianguo and pointing to the water in the small lake. “Although it’s the dry season now, the water here is at least a meter deep on average, and some places in the middle are probably two or three meters deep.”

Even if only a third of the small lake was cleared, the volume of water inside would still be considerable.

“It’s at least another two weeks before it snows,” Li Jianguo said, looking at the sky. “We should have enough time. This isn’t like when we were building the dam; it was all done by people pulling and carrying things on their shoulders, at most with a cartload.”

Look at this excavator and loader, how powerful and efficient they are! In just over half an hour, seven or eight truckloads of soil have already been dumped in. They can probably push it in ten or twenty meters a day, right?

“It’s definitely more than that. It’s just quite troublesome. All that soil that’s been pushed in will eventually have to be dug out, right?” Lu Yingming said. “It’s going to be quite a lot of work.”

“I would have thought so in the past. But after calculating this year, I think that after flood irrigation and drip irrigation to remove the alkali from these saline-alkali lands, there is no problem for our little lake to store more water.”

"From now on, water bills will only get more expensive, and water consumption will definitely increase as well." Li Jianguo pointed downstream and said, "Old Lu, do you remember that place where we used to dig a foreign-style well?"

“I remember, how could I not remember?” Lu Yingming said with a smile. “Before the road from Weigou was built, the children had to walk from our settlement to Xiaohaizi to go to school, then cross Weigou from Xiaohaizi to the Third Team, and then go to school from the Third Team.”
Back then, Tie Tou and the others said that every time they passed Yangjing, they would stop and drink some water, saying that the water from Yangjing was much sweeter than the water from the well they drew.

“The water in that well used to flow by itself, and the water that flowed out would form a small river,” Li Jianguo said with a somewhat solemn expression. “When I came over just now, I took a look, and now the water in the well doesn’t flow by itself anymore.”

Although the water tank is still full, only a small stream of water is flowing out; it might take half a day to fill a bucket. With less groundwater, we'll probably have less water for irrigation in the future.

After going through what Li Jianguo had said, Lu Yingming finally realized the cause-and-effect relationship. He nodded and said, "That makes sense. Take this little lake for example. Before, the water it collected could irrigate the whole team for half a year. Now, let alone half a year, after a planting season, there might not be enough water."

"So the dredging work still has to be done."

Li Jianguo and Lu Yingming have a good relationship, so he can explain it.

He didn't bother explaining to anyone else. If people came up to him and asked, he would just smile and say it was Li Long's idea.

At least a third of the people in the team who came to watch the spectacle were actually there to laugh at him. People like Ma Jinbao, who drove over with their sheep and saw the crowd gathering, would casually remark that Li Long had too much money to burn and was doing this kind of thing; he should have just shared it with the rest of the team.

Some people come here hoping to get a bargain, thinking that once the silt is cleared and the water is drained, there will definitely be fish in the water.

However, judging from the current situation, it's certain that no fish will be seen on the first day. Let alone the first day, it's hard to say whether the planned cofferdam can even be built in the first two or three days.

When Xu Chengjun, the village head, returned from a meeting in the township, he heard a rumbling sound coming from Xiaohaizi. So, without even going home, he drove straight to Xiaohaizi.

Seeing several pieces of construction machinery working busily, with seven or eight trucks making round trips, Xu Chengjun got out of his car and walked towards Li Long. The onlookers greeted him, and after a brief response, he walked up to Li Long and said:
"You've made quite a show of things! So much machinery, is it all from your engineering team? I don't think our whole township could gather this many excavators and loaders!"

"The excavators and loaders belong to the construction team, some of the trucks belong to the construction team, and some are from my purchasing station that I haven't sold yet, so I just let them pass."

The Kamaz heavy trucks that were shipped from Kazakhstan were sold as soon as they arrived.

These light trucks are different; sometimes people will go on a shopping spree and buy several at once.

Sometimes you just have to wait for an opportunity; it might take a month or two for anyone to even ask about you.

Unlike the cars that were transported here, which were inquired about almost every day and then mostly bought, this car was different.

So, apart from the two days when Liu Gaolou brought goods over, when there were more cars at the purchasing station, there were usually only two or three high-end cars left, and the rest were bought by others.

"At this rate, the dredging work in this area will be finished in less than a week, right?" Xu Chengjun took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and was about to light it when someone handed him a lighter.

He glanced at him and saw it was his cousin, Xu Haijun. He took the lighter, lit a cigarette, and asked as he returned it, "Are you all free? Why are you all gathered here?"

“I’m really free,” Xu Haijun said with a smile. “The drip irrigation tape in the cotton field has been removed, the poles have been taken down, and the plastic film has been cleared away. I’ve already spent part of our cooperative’s dividends. There’s not much to do in the winter, and this place is the only lively spot, so I came to check and see if I could help in any way.”

"Don't keep bringing up your dividends. Don't you know some people are envious?" Xu Chengjun glared at him and said, "When I went to the township meeting today, Chief Guo of the police station told me that they had busted a gambling gang in the western brigade."

The people inside confessed that they originally planned to come to our area soon, specifically targeting our cooperative members.

"Targeting us? They've got the wrong people." Xu Haijun glanced at Li Long beside him and said, "Our cooperative has rules that anyone who participates in gambling and is caught will have to leave the cooperative and withdraw their shares. We're not fools; why would we give up such a good opportunity to gamble?"

"It's good that you're aware of this." Xu Chengjun took another puff of his cigarette and asked Li Long, "After this cofferdam is built, what are you going to do with the water inside?"

"I'll keep an eye on things here for now. If there are no problems, I'll drive to the county supply and marketing cooperative later and borrow a few water pumps from my old boss. A few of those diesel engine pumps, high-powered ones, can pump for a day and a night, and I estimate that we'll have pumped out most of the water."

Li Long had also prepared for this and explained his plan.

"Should I borrow another one for you from the township?" Xu Chengjun asked. "But we definitely can't borrow it for free; we'll have to get them a few barrels of diesel when we return it."

"Yes, definitely, the more the merrier," Li Long said with a smile. "I'll return two barrels of diesel to him later."

Of course, not the kind of large round bucket with a capacity of 180 liters; a hand-held bucket with a capacity of 20 or 30 liters would be fine.

Xu Chengjun took two more puffs of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, stomped on it, twisted it a couple of times, and said, "Alright, I'll go back and call the township now. After we've made arrangements, I'll have the Navy talk to you and see when you can start pulling it."

"You don't even need to tell Xiaolong. Just tell me when the time comes, and I'll drive the tractor from home to bring it back," Xu Haijun said with a smile. "I definitely can handle such a small matter."

Xu Chengjun patted him on the shoulder, then turned and went back.

Li Long watched the car turn around and drive away, thinking to himself, "This is a shrewd village chief. He helps people so naturally, leaving no trace of gratitude, and I can't help but feel indebted to him."

Of course, Li Long also knew that Xu Chengjun was thinking of the team's best interests. After the dredging of this small lake was completed, the water level would rise significantly, which would benefit everyone.

Around noon, the onlookers gradually dispersed and went home for lunch. The head chef from the construction team also came over in a tractor to deliver the food. The tractor was left in the courtyard by the cooperative, and Li Long had already told them they could borrow it.

While the construction team was eating, Li Long went to check both ends and found that they had advanced several dozen meters on each side. He was quite satisfied with the progress.

After politely declining Meng Hai's invitation to stay for dinner, Li Long drove to his elder brother's house. His brother, Li Jianguo, asked him if he could finish the dredging work as planned next week, to which Li Long replied that it was no problem.

After the meal, Li Long returned to the county. He went to the purchasing station, bought a few freshly collected Codonopsis pilosula roots, and then went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Xiangqian was free at the moment, and when he saw Li Long coming over, he gestured for him to sit down and have some tea.

Li Long placed the packet of ginseng on the table and said, "This was just harvested. Take it back and stew it with chicken; it'll be a good tonic for the elderly in winter."

"You're using a ginseng root as thick as an arm to stew chicken? Aren't you afraid my parents will get a sore throat?" Li Xiangqian opened the bag, looked at the thick ginseng root, and laughed and scolded, "This stuff is only good for soaking in alcohol; stewing it with chicken is such a waste."

"Anyway, it's yours. Use it however you like," Li Long said, pouring himself a cup of tea. "You've had some free time lately?"

“That’s for sure. The role that supply and marketing cooperatives can play is getting smaller and smaller now,” Li Xiangqian said with a somewhat dejected expression. “With the development of the commodity economy, many things can be bought in the market, and we don’t need to regulate them anymore. Alas, who knows when our supply and marketing cooperative will become an empty shell.”

Li Long didn't expect Li Xiangqian to have considered things so far ahead. He thought for a moment and said, "When I went there last time, Director Qian told me about this matter and then asked me about foreign trade."

So I was thinking, if our supply and marketing cooperative wants to get out of its current predicament, maybe we can find a way through import and export trade.”

"How do we figure this out?" Li Xiangqian asked, scratching his head. "Our supply and marketing cooperative doesn't have the function of handling import and export trade."

Li Long waved his hand and said, "Import and export trade is also trade. In the past, our supply and marketing cooperatives engaged in internal trade to balance the market and solve supply and demand issues."

Now, in our market, ordinary people can handle things themselves, and there's less need for supply and marketing cooperatives to solve supply and demand issues. So, we can look outwards.

Now, our northern border region has a unique advantage. The neighboring country is lacking many things, and since the collapse of the Soviet Union, it has a lot of things left over that it can't use.

We can definitely trade with them, selling them daily necessities in exchange for things they don't need but we desperately need.

Li Xiangqian narrowed his eyes and asked Li Long, "You mean the same as what you're doing now?"

"I'm just doing this on a small scale." Li Long hurriedly waved his hand. "If our supply and marketing system were to do this, it would be on a large scale. Unlike me, I'm just making some spare money."

“Hey, you have quite a bit of spare cash,” Li Xiangqian wasn’t so easily fooled. He smiled and said, “Your little operation is probably equivalent to the size of a company in our county.”

"Let's not talk about me, let's talk about our supply and marketing cooperative." Li Long quickly steered the conversation to the main point, "I think Director Qian must have this idea, so Director, you can think about it carefully and think about what our characteristics are."

“That’s true. If Director Qian wants to do this, he’ll probably call a meeting soon. I can’t be unprepared.” After sitting down, Li Xiangqian picked up his pen to write or draw, but then suddenly stopped, looked up, and asked Li Long:
"I almost forgot about you. Okay, what's up?"

"Director, I'd like to borrow those non-military diesel water pumps in our warehouse." Li Long chuckled. "I've contracted the small reservoir in our village, and it's accumulated a lot of silt from the floods over the past few years, so I'm planning to dredge it."

"Okay, you write a report. Never mind, you don't need to write a report. I'll write you a note, and you can go and get it. But let's make it clear, those two wartime machines can't be moved. Although it's almost winter and flooding is unlikely, the rules can't be broken."

"Don't worry, Director, I'm aware of that. I was just thinking of borrowing a few of the machines in our inventory," Li Long said immediately.

"Your small reservoir must have a considerable water storage capacity, right? I remember there are three units stored in the warehouse, is that enough?"

Li Long explained, "I plan to borrow a few more from the Water Resources Bureau."

"Do you know anyone at the Water Resources Bureau? Can you borrow them?" Li Xiangqian asked.

“There’s a senior brother there, someone I’ve dealt with before,” Li Long said, referring to Yang Bo.

Although Li Long and Yang Bo have had less direct contact in the past two years, Meng Hai has been mediating between them, so they still occasionally run into each other.

"Hey, didn't you not even finish junior high? How come you have a senior?" Li Xiangqian was quite curious. He wasn't saying this to make fun of Li Long; he was just genuinely curious.

“I often ask the professors at the College of Agriculture for advice,” Li Long explained. “Over time, they started to treat me like a student. The technician Yang from the Water Resources Bureau graduated from the College of Agriculture, and he asked me to call him ‘senior brother.’”

"You've gotten quite arrogant, haven't you? You're now a student of an agricultural college professor. I'm quite impressed." Li Xiangqian's words were somewhat sarcastic. In terms of education, he was not as good as Li Long. He only attended junior high school for half a year before dropping out. Although he later completed his education, he only had a vocational high school diploma.

"Hahaha, I'm lucky." Li Long laughed.

"Get out of here!" Li Xiangqian quickly wrote the note and pushed it over. "Get out of here, I don't want to see you anymore."

Li Long took the note, walked briskly out of Li Xiangqian's office, and drove away.

He needs a truck to pick up the goods, and his SUV won't work, so he has to go and get another truck first.

After watching Li Long leave, Li Xiangqian shook his head and began to think about how to develop the supply and marketing cooperative's foreign trade.

What advantages do their supply and marketing cooperatives have?

Currently, the only one available is Li Long. At least Li Long knows the buyers there. Even if we can't directly use Li Long's connections, we can still use him to find out what they need and expand our supply chain.

Hmm. Li Xiangqian felt that since taking Li Long as a temporary worker, many things had become much easier to handle.

Of course, he couldn't just talk about Li Long's channel. He also had to think about what special products the production areas had that would be easily accepted there. After much thought, he finally came up with products that overlapped with Li Long's trade products, such as white sugar and canned goods.

That won't work; it'll steal business from Li Long. So what should we sell over there?

He remembered Li Long saying that there was a shortage of daily necessities over there. Besides food, could they get some clothing? The cotton and linen company under the supply and marketing cooperative would supply cotton to some cotton mills.

So, would selling fabric there work? Hmm, probably not. The profit margin is a bit low. It's best to sell clothes and shoes directly. ...

While Li Xiangqian was contemplating important matters, Li Long arranged for a truck from the transportation company and hired several young men from the purchasing station to work as porters. They loaded the three water pumps onto the truck at the supply and marketing cooperative, and then a worker who had been to the fourth team before led them to the cooperative's courtyard for unloading. Li Xiangqian himself went to the water conservancy bureau to find Yang Bo, but Yang Bo was not there; he said Yang Bo had gone to the banks of the Ma River to inspect a water conservancy project.

Li Long decided to look for it again that evening. Even if the Water Resources Bureau didn't have one, its subordinate units should have plenty.

Actually, there should be a few other departments in the county that have similar things, such as the Ma Management Office, but Li Long doesn't have any connections, so he just let it go.

In the evening, Li Long took two bottles of wine, a bag of ginseng and a bag of dried wild mushrooms, as well as some local specialty chocolates and a nesting doll that Liu Gaolou had brought back, and went to Yang Bo's dormitory.

Yang Bo knocked on the door with his things in hand. He was a little surprised to see Li Long carrying large and small bags, but he still let Li Long in.

"Senior brother, it's almost winter, and you guys are still so busy." Li Long said, following Yang Bo's insistence on addressing him. "Shouldn't you all be on vacation by winter?"

"Even though it hasn't snowed or frozen, we still have to keep busy," Yang Bo said, gesturing for Li Long to sit down and pouring him some water. "Why are you carrying so much stuff?"

"Of course it's to give you a gift," Li Long joked. "If I need your help, I have to show you my attitude first."

"Hey, look at you, you're getting more and more slick." Yang Bo handed him the water and said, "The teacher said you were an honest country boy, but look at you now. If the teacher saw you like this, he would definitely be disappointed and would definitely criticize you."

This was said half-jokingly, and Li Long wasn't angry. Holding his water glass, he smiled and said, "Teachers should understand. When we're in school, students should be innocent and idealistic. But for people like us who have been beaten down by society, if we're still so idealistic, we won't go far."

Yang Bo paused for a moment when he thought about the words "the harsh realities of society".

"Hehehe, senior brother, let's not play philosophers, I was just saying it casually." Li Long hurriedly called out to him, "I really need your help with something."

"Go ahead and say it," Yang Bo poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, and said, "Just because of what you said today, I'll definitely do my best to help you with anything."

“I’ve contracted the small reservoir in our village,” Li Long explained to him. “The reservoir is currently underutilized, and I need to dredge it, but I don’t have enough pumps, so I’d like to borrow a few from you.”

"That's a good thing." Yang Bo was a little surprised. "You're not the only one who has contracted the water surface, but you're the first in our county to take the initiative to clean up the silt in the reservoir. For example, in our county and even the entire autonomous prefecture, you're definitely the first private individual to clean up public water surfaces!"

Li Long immediately became smug: "How about that? My awareness is pretty good, isn't it?"

"Not bad, not bad. When are you planning to do it?" Yang Bo asked, putting down his cup. He was taking this as a serious matter.

Having worked at the Water Resources Bureau for several years, I still have this kind of sensitivity and awareness.

Li Long said, "We've already started. Because time is a bit tight and I don't have enough engineering resources, we plan to clear one-third of it before winter this year, and then clear the rest next spring, finishing by the end of next year."

“Do what you can, that’s good, that’s good.” Yang Bo nodded and said, “Actually, if you had this idea earlier, you could have submitted a report to the Water Resources Bureau in the middle of the year, and the bureau might have been able to provide you with some equipment.”

“It’s not too late now.” Li Long pressed on, “That’s why I came to ask you for help. See if you can send me a few water pumps, otherwise I might not be able to finish cleaning before the ground freezes.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll write a report for you when I get to the office tomorrow and show it to our leaders. Our Water Resources Bureau definitely needs to actively support this kind of thing.” Yang Bo smiled and said, “If we don’t support such a proactive colleague like you, then our Water Resources Bureau might as well not do any work.”

This was an unexpected bonus. Actually, Li Long's idea was very simple: he should clean up and maintain the things he had contracted.

However, most people don't think that way at this time. They contract public property and the benefits they get are their own, but when maintenance is needed, unless the public government forces them to pay, private individuals rarely take the initiative to do these things.

After chatting with Yang Bo for a while longer, Li Long got up to take his leave. Yang Bo told him to come to the Water Resources Bureau around noon the next day, at which point the results would be available.

As Yang Bo was seeing Li Long off, he suddenly remembered and turned to point to the packages Li Long had left behind, asking, "What are all these?"

“Codonopsis pilosula and dried wild mushrooms are local specialties.” Li Long pointed to one bag and then to another. “I have friends in Kazakhstan who brought these local specialties. There’s chocolate and matryoshka dolls.”

"Okay, I appreciate it, thanks." Yang Bo nodded. "Remember to come on time tomorrow."

The next day, after Li Long arrived at the Water Resources Bureau, Yang Bo told him that the bureau leaders had approved four water pumps, and that the bureau leaders wanted to see him.

In the office of the water resources bureau leader, the director highly praised Li Long's proactive efforts in maintaining the reservoir's operation, saying that he truly deserved to be a representative of the county and a leader in getting rich, and that it was rare for him to have such awareness.

After receiving some praise, Li Long left the Water Resources Bureau and then went to find a vehicle and people to transport the four water pumps to the cooperative.

After the pumps were set up, when he went to Xiaohaizi again in the afternoon, he found that there were far fewer onlookers, but the progress of the project had greatly increased. In just one day, the southwest and east sides combined seemed to have enclosed half of the planned water area.

In just over a day, the artificial cofferdam will be almost closed, and then we can start pumping water.

When he saw him go up to the dam, Xu Haijun, who had been watching the progress of the project, came over to tell him that the water pump borrowed from the township had also arrived, and the township had been very generous and hadn't asked him to repay anything.

“When we return it, we should still give them the diesel fuel they owe us,” Li Long said. “It’s not right to use other people’s things for free. It’s good to borrow and return things properly, so it’s not hard to borrow again next spring. We’ll definitely need to borrow it again next spring, so let them say what they want. That’s their generosity. What we give is what we should do.”

Xu Haijun immediately realized that this was where Li Long was better than him.

If it were him, since the township had said so, he probably wouldn't give it to them.

After all, he was the one in charge, and he felt that what the villagers said was quite sincere and that they were very supportive of the project.

Of course, Xu Haijun also felt that another reason was that Li Long had enough money to be so generous. He, on the other hand, was far less wealthy than Li Long, so being a little stingy was understandable.

When Meng Hai saw Li Long coming over, he walked from the digging site onto the embankment and came to Li Long's side.

"Boss, how's the progress?"

"It's faster than I expected," Li Long said with a smile. "We should be able to complete the slab connection around tomorrow, right?"

"It should be fine, but the closure should be completed around nighttime." Meng Hai pointed to the excavator and said, "We can't dig too deep here, or the groundwater will seep out, so we have to go to a more distant place, which has slightly affected the progress of the project, but not much."

To the east of Xiaohaizi Reservoir lies a semi-swamp and alkaline land. Due to the influence of Xiaohaizi, the water level in this area is quite high. In a few years, someone would have dug fish ponds here to raise fish, but in the end, it didn't work out.

Li Long nodded after hearing Meng Hai's words and said, "No problem, it's already faster than I expected. There's still some time before the snow starts, but I've got eight water pumps, so we should be able to pump out all the water in less than a day, and then we can start dredging."

Meng Hai was quite pleased to hear this. He smiled and said, "As long as we can drain the water as soon as possible, we can complete the dredging work in this area as planned before winter."

Amidst the roar of excavators, bulldozers, and trucks, the artificial cofferdam was gradually pushed deeper into the small lake. Slowly, there were hardly any onlookers on the embankment.

The next afternoon, the cofferdam was closed as scheduled, and Li Long and his team simply brought over eight water pumps, started them, and began pumping water.

Meng Hai immediately assigned the construction team members to night shifts, two people per shift, two hours per shift. They wore leather coats and stood guard on the embankment, watching over the water pumps, adding diesel fuel in time, and troubleshooting any problems.

As darkness fell, Li Long brought a tractor to haul a pile of firewood to the embankment. The temperature was already close to zero at night, and he didn't want his workers to freeze.

Once the campfire was lit, everyone was wearing sheepskin coats, and since each shift was only two hours long, they figured they could manage.

The second shift was much smarter; they brought a lot of potatoes from the kitchen and roasted them while on duty. The two hours passed quite quickly.

When Li Long arrived at Xiaohaizi after daybreak, he clearly noticed that the water level had dropped significantly.

Eight water pumps were lined up on the artificial embankment, and the small section of water that was to be dredged became turbid. Fish could be seen swimming around in it, swimming frantically.

The staff member still on duty on the shore came over to Li Long and said, "After the water level dropped, these fish started jumping around in there. Boss, just before you came, there were seven or eight big silver carp weighing two or three kilograms that jumped up. It was quite a sight!"

Li Long's gaze swept across the water's surface, and he soon spotted a massive black object swimming in the water.

That must have been a large grass carp, its body, over a meter long, was barely visible in the water.

It was in a deep pit, much deeper than other places, but only a few dozen square meters in area, so it couldn't swim very freely and would occasionally peek its back out of the water.

The water level has now dropped by more than half. In some places, clumps of black reed roots are exposed, and in other places, the gray-black mud bottom is exposed. In some small puddles, you can see many crucian carp and other fish jumping around, but there are basically no big fish trapped in such small puddles.

There were quite a few large fish, and having lived a long time, they were naturally more able to sense danger than the smaller fish. They were mostly in several deep water pits and troughs. The workers adjusted the position of the water pump pipes. They had already put on waders and simply jumped down from the cofferdam, holding the water pipes to make it easier to pump water from the troughs or water pits.

There were quite a few large, bluish-black grass carp like those we just saw. Some of the puddles had red and yellow spots that were faintly visible, which meant there were large carp there. In other puddles, we could see huge black heads emerging, which meant there were silver carp.

The blackfish that used to be caught from time to time are now less common. I don't know if the ecology has changed or if these creatures are finding it harder to survive.

Ripples occasionally appeared on the water's surface, and upon closer inspection, one could see small shrimp jumping around. It was unclear whether this was due to changes in water quality or a decrease in water volume, or whether their natural predators had begun hunting them, causing the shrimp to become restless.

Meng Hai had already begun directing the excavators to start digging on the eastern bank of the embankment.

The excavators first dug out the soft mud that was first exposed on the embankment and poured it into trucks. Then they lowered the embankment and built a gentle slope so that the excavators could drive into the reservoir where they had just dug.

After the soft mud on top has been dug out, the excavator will not easily sink in again, and then the surrounding silt can be cleared.

The same procedure applies to the other locations. Although water is still being pumped out, since the reservoir bottom is not level, clearing away the exposed areas is the most efficient approach.

In the morning, the leaders of the Water Resources Bureau, led by Yang Bo, came to inspect the dredging situation, took a few photos, said a few words, and then left.

Not long after, Li Xiangqian drove over, and Zhou Yuan took a few photos of him as well.

Li Xiangqian frankly told Li Long, "It's not the end of the year yet, so we have to report this to the county and higher authorities. We've done some real work. You've been a bit lazy these past two years and haven't been involving us in our work. I only remembered this because I heard that the Water Resources Bureau came over to take pictures."

Li Long was somewhat amused and exasperated. There was nothing he could do; it was a normal political performance-oriented mindset.

In the afternoon, the township leaders also came. The same operation and the same actions were performed. The only difference was that the water was almost completely drained by the afternoon. When the township leaders left, Li Long asked the workers wearing waders to find a shallow puddle, catch two carp, and give them to the leaders to take away.

By the time the sun was about to set, large areas of water had disappeared from sight; of the one-third that had been enclosed, only six or seven large puddles remained.

Li Long had already changed into waders, carrying a bucket in one hand and a net in the other, and went down to the bottom of the reservoir to start catching fish with Xie Yundong, Meng Hai, and the other employees.

"Hey, Brother Long, you have a good eye! This one is practically the king of fish!" Tao Daqiang looked at Li Long and rushed through several small puddles towards a large one without hesitation. Following Li Long's direction, he spotted a grass carp nearly 1.5 meters long struggling in the large puddle and immediately shouted.

The small puddles that Li Long just passed were densely packed with crucian carp, pike, and other small fish, with one or two larger fish occasionally mixed in, but no one was catching them yet.

Everyone's target was the big fish in sight. Li Long walked up to the big pond and caught the fish's head with a single scoop of net.

But that grass carp was no ordinary fish; it had grown to such a size. It struggled to break free, wagging its tail, and Li Long quickly dragged it towards him. Once it was close, he could capture it with his bare hands.

The big grass carp knew that its life was at stake, so it slapped the water hard with its tail and body, splashing Li Long with mud and water all over his head and face. However, he was strong and was the first to cover the big grass carp's head, preventing the big fish from exerting all its strength.

If it were in the original water, an ordinary person might not be able to catch it, and it might even break free of the net when it tries to cover it.

Finally dragging the fish to his side, Li Long immediately bent down and reached out to pry open the fish's gill covers.

The fish was very slippery, and it took Li Long two tries to pry open the gill cover. Then he pried it in and grabbed the gills and the fish's chin. No matter how much the fish thrashed, it couldn't break free.

Finding that the bucket he brought was completely useless, Li Long dragged the fish with his right hand and carried the bucket and net in his left, walking ashore like a victorious general.

The mud was thick, and he walked with uneven steps. The fish was still very resilient, constantly wriggling and resisting. Li Long had a hard time walking.

But in the end, he still won, leaving behind not only a row of footprints, but also a long trail left by the tail of a big fish in the mud.

"This is the King of Fish," Xie Yundong commented from a distance. "I doubt there's any bigger fish in the water than this. Little Dragon, it must weigh at least thirty kilograms, right?"

"This fish is fat, it might even be heavier," Li Long said as he walked.

"Let me take another look," Xu Haijun said, shaking his head as he glanced at the large silver carp weighing about ten kilograms in the water in front of him. "Maybe I can find a fish that's even heavier than this."

"Hey, mine's not bad either!" Tao Daqiang also pulled out a fat and wide carp, probably weighing about ten kilograms. It had long whiskers, was golden all over, and was exceptionally beautiful.

"They look beautiful!" Liang Dacheng was referring to a fish, but there were already two large fish in the bucket in his hand: a carp weighing seven or eight kilograms and a silver carp weighing five or six kilograms. The two fish were crammed into the large iron bucket, with their tails sticking out and swaying.

"Ouch, damn it!" Just as Li Long was about to reach the shore, the big grass carp strained and almost broke free from Li Long's grasp. Although Li Long was still holding onto its vital parts tightly, the fish shook him so much that he almost lost his balance.

Of course, the main reason is that the mud underfoot is too soft, making it difficult to dissipate the force.

Fortunately, Li Long was strong enough to withstand the grass carp's last struggle. He shook the fish vigorously in place, making it dizzy.

This series of actions made the others watching burst into laughter; no one expected that Li Long would almost have a mishap.

Li Long finally dragged the big grass carp onto the embankment. After all that torment, the fish had much less strength to flap its tail. By the time Li Long lifted it up and threw it onto the truck, the fish was half-dead, its body twitching on and off in the truck, probably resigned to its fate.

The Fish King's career has come to an end. (End of Chapter)