Chapter 105 Li Dongzhang Arrives

Chapter 105 Li Dong is back

"What are we going to do with all these old fish?"

Xu Xiulian bent down to gather the fish on the ground into the basket, her knuckles white from the fish scales, her brows furrowed.

Zhang Wenshan, squatting to the side, found it amusing: "You think there's too much food?"

"In this sweltering heat, a hundred or so pounds of fish left here overnight will rot," Xu Xiulian said, pointing to the pile of fish. "This is the rest that Fengxia took to the second son."

No wonder I didn't see my older sister.

Zhang Wenshan thought for a moment and said, "Marinate it."

"Easier said than done, shouldn't we clean up first?"

"what?"

"These families packed up and brought them over; those over there were the ones that weren't killed," Xu Xiulian said, pointing to the pile next to her and rubbing her wrist.

Having lived most of her life, this was the first time she had ever been troubled by a yard full of fresh fish.

"You rest, I'll do it." Zhang Wenshan said, half-laughing and half-crying, and sat down to get to work. "Didn't the captain say we can't catch the small fish?"

As he was cleaning them, he discovered that many of the fish hadn't fully developed and there was no need to scoop them up.

"I'm terrified of poverty and hunger." Xu Xiulian turned and went into the house, bringing out a jar of cooled boiled water and placing it heavily next to her son. "The brigade leader also shouted that we should choose the older ones and keep the younger ones, but what happened? Nobody listened."

"You didn't see the scene. The shore was packed with people. If we weren't afraid of scaring away the fish, we would have almost gotten into a fight on the spot."

She came closer and started cleaning the fish again.

"It's strange, there's usually nothing around the village, so how come you managed to scoop up over a thousand pounds as soon as you asked?"

"The weather problem—" Zhang Wenshan said, head down, a little embarrassed.

Why else?

The system is great!

Soon, the eldest sister, Zhang Fengxia, returned and joined the fish-cleaning team, and even her little nephew helped out.

Of course, I wouldn't touch knives or scissors, so I just moved things around and tidied up the trash.

Even so, the little guy was extremely happy doing it, his head covered in sweat and he was grinning from ear to ear.

Two hours flew by.

Zhang Wenshan couldn't help but rub his lower back, feeling that the fish had already been marinated to perfection.

"I must take a bath tomorrow."

He kept rubbing his hands with soap, silently making up his mind.

The villagers usually go to the river, and only during the Spring Festival do they grit their teeth and go to the town's bathhouse for a bath.

They have to come from well-off families.

"Are you done with your work?"

"Captain, what brings you here?"

"I need to speak with Shanzi about something."

Hearing voices outside, Zhang Wenshan knew that important business had come, so he immediately shook his hand and came out from the outer room.

Team leader Wang Tieshan was covered in yellow dust, with mud stains on his trouser legs, clearly having just come down from the Hama Pond construction site.

His face looked pale.

"Can you tell that there will be a severe drought this year?"

Xu Xiulian jumped up immediately: "What? It's not raining this year?"

She turned her head and looked at her son in horror: "Shanzi, tell me it's fake, it's going to rain in a couple of days, it's going to rain heavily."

"Sister, help Mother a bit." Zhang Wenshan pursed his lips, his expression calm.

"Okay, okay." Zhang Fengxia stepped forward, but her legs gave way and she almost fell to the ground.

"Mom!" Zhao Qiang rushed over, his face full of worry. "What's wrong?"

"Mother is fine. You, go back to your room and play for a while." Zhang Fengxia patted her son's head, swallowed hard, and, struggling to stand, helped her mother sit down.

Xu Xiulian seemed to be possessed, constantly muttering to herself.

"What should we do with the corn?"

"We still owe the team grain; we're counting on this year's harvest."

"The second son's family isn't well-off either."

"During the last few severe droughts, people starved to death in the village—"

Zhang Wenshan turned his face away and sighed softly: "Uncle, I just felt something was off, but I'm not entirely sure."

Wang Tieshan remained silent.

"Mom, it's alright." Zhang Wenshan squatted down in front of his mother, his voice steady. "The toad pond is almost finished, so the crops won't suffer from drought. Besides, I can earn money."

"Can one pond possibly support the entire village?" Xu Xiulian shook her head, her face still full of worry. "What's the use of money if we really have no food?"

Zhang Wenshan sighed and said nothing more.

People of this era have a deep-seated fear of drought and flood.

This is why he hesitated about how to say it.

What if one thing goes wrong, the drought doesn't come, but two people die of fright?

"You didn't know all along, did you?"

A slightly hoarse voice rang out.

Turning around, I saw that the brigade leader, Wang Tieshan, had red eyes and looked like he wanted to eat someone alive.

"How could that be?" Zhang Wenshan was startled and quickly said, "I really wanted to raise toads by digging the toad pond. I'm not a god. The government hasn't even discovered it yet, how could I know in advance?"

Wang Tieshan's expression softened somewhat.

He got up and was about to leave.

"Uncle, where are you going?"

"Notify everyone to participate in drought relief efforts."

"What's the point of going now?" Zhang Wenshan blocked his way. "Let's not even talk about how this is just my personal speculation and shouldn't be taken seriously. Even if it were true, could our village handle it alone?"

Wang Tieshan blinked, paused for a moment, then sat back down on the bench: "You have an idea?"

"Let's communicate with the other villages, and then go to the town to sound them out. It just so happens that some leaders are accompanying a delegation from the south these days—"

Zhang Wenshan then explained the plan in detail.

The core idea was to report upwards and, under the guise of digging a frog pond, directly expand it into a reservoir.

A two-pronged approach.

With approval from above, mechanical support, and a planned approach to drought relief, it's ten times better than the villagers haphazardly carrying out their work.

Seeing that Wang Tieshan was still hesitant, Zhang Wenshan added another sentence.

"Let's spread the word first. Those who believe will naturally follow, and we won't force those who don't."

"If a large-scale, collective effort is made to combat drought, but the drought ultimately fails, who will bear the responsibility?"

He didn't explain himself clearly.

Wang Tieshan already knew what it meant. After pondering for a moment, he nodded and said, "I'll go find the secretary now. You be careful."

That night, no one in the Zhang family slept soundly.

Even in the dead of night, Zhang Wenshan could still hear his parents' hushed voices in the east room, repeating over and over again about crops, food supplies, and God.

He was helpless about this.

I can't share my confidence with others.

He drifted off to sleep, but the next morning, Zhang Wenshan was stunned.

My father and brother-in-law go to the fields before dawn.

The eldest sister was tidying up, while the mother led her little nephew in cleaning the yard, occasionally teasing the child, and bursts of laughter could be heard.

It's as if all the anxiety and insecurity I felt last night were just a dream.

"What's wrong?" Xu Xiulian looked at her son strangely when she saw him standing at the door in a daze.

"It's nothing." Zhang Wenshan lowered his head to wash his face. The cold water splashed on his face, but he couldn't help asking, "Mom, aren't you worried anymore?"

"Didn't you say it was alright?" Xu Xiulian shook her head with a smile. "It's not like we haven't encountered this before. There was even a flood last year, and we got through it, didn't we?"

Zhang Wenshan was taken aback.

He suddenly realized that people in this era were far stronger and more optimistic than he had imagined.

Just then, the courtyard gate was pushed open. Before anyone could see who it was, they heard Lin Cuihua's loud, boisterous voice.

"Team leader, something terrible has happened! Li Dong is back!"

He was leading people to collect snails.

59

"And you even accused me of lying and fooling everyone!"