1968: Started from breeding

Chapter 313 Nobody wants to go back to the way things were before and experience hunger again!
After changing his pants and shoes, Cao Jiwen walked over and saw that the water level had begun to slowly recede.

He said to Su Wenchen with a touch of emotion.

"With the water pump helping, the speed is indeed much faster!"

"Otherwise, we'd probably have to halt construction on most of this section of the canal again today."

Upon hearing this, Su Wenchen immediately inquired.

"Do you often find water? It was such a waste of time to carry water out by hand before!"

Cao Jiwen sighed.

"It is true that water often comes out because the groundwater level here is very high. The rising groundwater level often brings up the underground salt and alkali, which is why the salt and alkali here cannot be completely drained over the years."

"To dig a drainage ditch, you have to dig down to the water table so that the groundwater can drain away along the ditch and prevent salt from rising back up. Naturally, once you reach a certain depth, it's very easy to get water!"

"I heard from Old Yang here that when they were digging the dry canal, they could only dig it while wading through water!"

Su Wenchen frowned.

"In this weather? You're going to keep digging through floodwaters?"

To be honest, it's late March now, and although the weather is indeed warming up little by little, it's still only around ten degrees Celsius at midday.

It's not too cold if you're doing normal work, but if your feet are constantly soaked in cold water while working, that will definitely cause problems.

Seemingly noticing Su Wenchen's frown, Cao Jiwen explained.

"Director, there's nothing we can do about it. This is how it's always been done here. They only have five water pumps in the whole county, so we can only prioritize the main canal digging for use in the areas near the county."

"The main canal needs to be widened and deepened to connect with the branch canals."

"Without the help of a pump, once more than two openings are dug, it's basically impossible to plug them."

“The bottom of our main canal upstream is almost completely filled, but we have two excavators that you managed to get from the ministry.”

"We won't need to have people wading through the water to work. I've moved most of the people to this side of the branch canal, and we're relying on the two excavators allocated from above to do the final finishing work on the main canal!"

Su Wenchen's expression relaxed considerably upon hearing Cao Jiwen's words, but he still asked.

When did you start digging?

"Didn't I say that these employees should be supported for the winter?"

Cao Jiwen explained directly.

"Director, it really wasn't my request."

"For them, although there is free food available for the time being, the food they earn through their own efforts is still the most reassuring to eat."

"So right after the New Year, the production teams were already formed without hesitation."

After saying that, he led Su Wenchen inside and pointed to the crisscrossing gullies in the fields in the distance.

"It warms up a bit faster here than in the north, so digging small irrigation ditches less than a meter wide in the fields is quite easy."

"During this period, we have already dug small irrigation ditches for the rapid drainage of salt from the 5,000 mu of saline-alkali land that the commune had originally cleared."

"The irrigation ditches and distribution canals between the fields are almost fully completed."

"Once this branch canal under our feet is completed, the groundwater in this area will rise up and flow through these crisscrossing waterways into this branch canal, and then into the main canal and into the Da Sha River."

"Without the driving force of groundwater, the saline-alkali soil deep underground cannot rise."

Su Wenchen looked at the land in the distance, which was cut into pieces like tofu blocks by a network of crisscrossing waterways.

He nodded slightly, but still spoke.

“Well done, but five thousand acres of land is still a bit too little.”

"Ideally, we can select 10,000 mu of land this year, thoroughly plan the drainage ditches for this part of the land, and complete the transformation of fertile land for planting grain to make up for the lack of food."

"The remaining soil that cannot be completely saline-alkali can be planted on a large scale to raise meat rabbits."

"In this way, it shouldn't be a big problem for us to be self-sufficient in food."

“Otherwise, another commune will join next year, and if this place can’t be self-sufficient then, the pressure will be even greater.”

"If this drags on, it will be a vicious cycle. When the third commune joins, the enormous population burden will cause us to collapse!"

Cao Jiwen nodded upon hearing this and took a deep breath to assure him.

"Director, don't worry, this year we will try our best to complete the thorough improvement of 10,000 mu of land and the planting of 50,000 mu of alkali-tolerant alfalfa."

"To cooperate with the farm's rabbit breeding plan and achieve this year's self-sufficiency target."

After saying that, he turned to Su Wenchen and said...

"But sir, we have to keep these three water pumps!"

"With this thing helping us, we can save a lot of effort."

"Especially when digging branch canals and main canals that are more than two meters deep, having machines to help pump water can save us a lot of time."

Su Wenchen waved his hand dismissively.

"I'll give you five vehicles for now. I'll check on the situation with the reclamation team, and if they're making good progress, I'll allocate a few more!"

I looked at the water level, which had stabilized and started to drop.

"Alright, I'll leave this to you. Captain Zhou just taught you how to use the water pump. You can handle similar situations yourselves in the future."

"I still need to go to Lao Hou's place to see how their aquaculture department is doing!"

Cao Jiwen sighed.

"Old Hou is indeed having some trouble right now. The rabbits he brought in from other places don't seem to be adapting well to life here."

"During this time, Lao Hou was so anxious that he developed several sores on his lips."

"In the end, we had no choice but to call you over, Director. Otherwise, in another month, I'm afraid all of these rabbits will die." Su Wenchen's expression turned serious upon hearing this.

"Is it that serious?"

"Okay, I'll go take a look. We can talk about it tonight."

After saying that, he turned to leave, but before leaving, Su Wenchen walked toward the employees who were resting on the ground.

"Everyone has worked hard!"

"Everyone reacted very quickly today, and their cooperation was excellent."

"Especially our young employees, who stepped forward in this weather and even stood in the cold water to help fetch water, deserve praise for their spirit!"

Upon hearing Su Wenchen's words, many of the employees who had jumped down voluntarily immediately showed a simple and honest smile.

"Director, we were worried that if the water wasn't stopped and overflowed, we wouldn't be able to dig that section of the canal today!"

Su Wenchen waved his hand.

"Regardless of your thoughts, you have indeed taken concrete actions to help the venue overcome its difficulties."

"I believe that as long as all the employees of our farm are united, we can overcome even the toughest challenges together."

"Digging ditches is indeed hard work, but every shovelful of soil we shovel is digging a rice bowl for our future generations!"

"Once the drainage system is completed and the saline-alkali land is transformed into fertile fields, we will be able to enjoy a good life of guaranteed harvests regardless of drought or flood, and surplus every year!"

"At that time, each of you will be a hero in transforming saline-alkali land!"

After saying that, he waved his hand.

"I won't say anything else, everyone, let's work hard and finish digging this section today, and the farm canteen will slaughter a pig for everyone tonight as a special meal!"

"All employees who went into the water today will receive an extra five ounces of meat tonight!"

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the surrounding employees immediately lit up.

meat!
This was incredibly appealing to the workers who had only been on the farm for a few months.

"Director, this is even more extravagant than celebrating the New Year! I knew I would have made the right choice working for the farm!"

This year, these employees received grain supplies from the farm, but they certainly couldn't get meat. The only pieces of meat they ate during the Spring Festival came from a few rabbits that died at the farm.

With so many people sharing, everyone could only get a sip of broth.

After learning that there would be pork for dinner, many people couldn't resist.

"Since the director has said so, what are we waiting for? Let's all work harder and get back to finish this so we can have some meat!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a warm response rang out, and everyone got up, picked up their tools, and prepared to return to their respective sections of the canal to work.

However, quite a few people still looked annoyed.

"I should have gone down too. Five extra ounces of meat! That would have been enough to eat for several days."

Upon hearing this, those who had voluntarily stepped down immediately revealed smug expressions.

"It's because you're afraid of the cold, this is a reward for us! Five extra ounces of meat for each of us. I don't think we ate five ounces of meat in the whole last year!"

"Hmph, who said I'm afraid of the cold? I was just a step slower than you. You're all so smug this time, but next time something like this happens, I'll definitely be faster than you, and I'll definitely get a share of the meat."

"Tch, you're just bragging! You'll definitely fall behind us again next time."

Amidst the discussions among the employees.

The group leaders also blew their whistles one after another, summoning their group members to prepare to return to their respective sections of the canal.

They seemed afraid that once they finished, the meat would be eaten up by other groups that finished earlier.

Seeing the morale suddenly boosted, Cao Jiwen walked over to Su Wenchen and sighed.

"Director, I really need to learn from you when it comes to boosting morale!"

"From the moment we started digging the canal, today is the day with the highest morale!"

Looking at the sections of the canal that were closer and not affected by the water, one could already hear shouts of hard work coming from the bottom of the canal.

Su Wenchen smiled and shook his head.

"Learn what? Learn how to get a few pigs back?"

"You don't need to do that. As long as you do a good job in the agricultural planting work on our farm, the pigs will naturally come."

"Otherwise, do you think these former commune members didn't want to raise pigs? Or is it that the land's output is too low, not even enough to feed themselves, let alone the pigs?"

"Without enough food, we can't organize people on a large scale to dig canals like we do now."

"If we don't dig these drainage ditches properly, the groundwater will increase the salinity of the land as soon as it flows, which will reduce grain production. This will make it even harder to organize manpower to dig ditches on a large scale, creating a vicious cycle!"

Cao Jiwen sighed.

"Yes! That's why these people volunteered to dig the canal as soon as they finished eating."

"Nobody wants to go back to the way things were before and experience hunger again!"

Su Wenchen shook his head.

"The feeling of being hungry is awful; who wants to experience it again!"

"Alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. I need to go check on the farm!"

"Remember to finish early in the evening, otherwise it will be too late for some production teams that live far away to go back after having dinner at the farm headquarters."

Upon hearing this, Cao Jiwen replied with a smile.

"Director, do I need to remember that we're eating meat? Just look at the atmosphere of everyone working right now, they'll definitely be heading home early!"

(End of this chapter)