The Sweetness of the Seventies-Chapter 79 - Dredging the River, Odds and Ends_1
Chapter 79: Chapter 79 Dredging the River, Odds and Ends_1
Chapter 79 -79 Dredging the River, Odds and Ends_1
He Tiantian did not have time to reminisce about her past life’s lost love before she received Village Chief Qi’s call to mobilize the entire village, organizing everyone to dredge the river (for water conservancy projects), removing the silt from the riverbed to facilitate next year’s irrigation.
Some places needed heightened flood defenses, others required reinforcement…
It was already autumn, and everything had to be completed before winter set in.
The schedule was tight, requiring twenty days in total.
The worksite was ten miles from Qijia Village; they would go in the morning and return at night, eating lunch at the worksite.
Besides providing lunch, each person could earn fifty cents and four liang of grain per day.
Although the work was exhausting, the opportunity to earn money and grain meant that many were willing to go.
Last year, Wang Lei and Zhang Qingshan had gone and were very happy not only to have their fill of food but also to earn some extra to bring home.
Village Chief Qi organized 150 people in the village to head there early the next morning.
As for the tools, Village Chief Qi and Director Zhao had taken an inventory; all were provided by the villagers’ own households, who were instructed to bring them along.
After the final mobilization, everyone’s morale was high.
Except for He Tiantian!
Because the distance wasn’t overly far, they would get up early each morning to go to work and walk back in the evening.
The work itself wasn’t the only hard part; the journey too and from was also quite far.
Even though He Tiantian was reluctant, she was included in the list of people assigned to dredge the river.
This work not only involved slots for heavy labor but also for cooking and lighter tasks on the shore.
Village Chief Qi felt it would be improper to allocate all these slots to his close relatives, so the task of cooking fell to He Tiantian.
For a whole village, the midday meal would use a lot of ingredients; it had to be done well to ensure everyone ate well.
Although cooking onshore was tiring, He Tiantian felt it was already a lot better compared to those working barefoot at the bottom of the river.
Early in the morning, He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan followed everyone to the Erdao Gouzi river section, ten miles away, to work.
“Sister Tiantian, it’s so far; I’m already tired,” said Qi Xiaoyan in a soft voice before they arrived, already considering the twenty-mile walk there and back each day.
He Tiantian chuckled, “Your dad didn’t want you to come, but you insisted.
Now that you’re on the list, you can’t back out.
Besides, everyone is walking at a leisurely pace, just follow along slowly; I’ll keep you company.”
Qi Xiaoyan was a bit tired but not to the point of being unable to get up, so she simply complained a little to He Tiantian.
“The two of us are responsible for feeding over 150 people today; I wonder if we will be able to manage?” As Qi Xiaoyan glances at the oxcart carrying two large pots and a steamer used by the production team, she looks slightly worried.
“What are you afraid of?
Aside from us, there’s also Director Zhao,” He Tiantian reassured.
“I heard she often takes charge of this kind of work and will organize everything well.
We’re just two little helpers, our job is just to get things done.
As young people, we should be full of vigor and not worry before anything even happens.”
Every time Qi Xiaoyan heard He Tiantian’s words, she felt encouraged.
This was why she enjoyed He Tiantian’s company so much — she was brimming with positive energy!
As they set out in the early morning, the sky was overcast.
By the time they had reached Erdao Gouzi, it had become considerably brighter.
Everyone had eaten something at home in the morning, and Village Chief Qi led the people to the two-thousand-meter stretch of river allocated to Qijia Village.
A plank was planted in the ground with “Qijia Village” written on it.
“Okay, stop here,” Village Chief Qi said loudly.
“Director Zhao, take a few people and set up the cooking tent; soon someone will send food this way.”
Director Zhao said with a smile, “Village Chief Qi, rest assured, I know what to do.
You just focus on taking people down to work.
By noon, I’ll make sure everyone eats and drinks well.”
He Tiantian looked around.
It was the same place where the river had been dredged in her previous life, but this time it was two hundred meters longer.
This was a wide river, about fifteen meters across and seven or eight meters deep, shallower on both sides but very deep in the center, filled with lots of withered yellow waterweeds. novelbuddy.cσ๓
Now, only about three or four meters wide of water surface remained.
This river, the main waterway of Taoyuan County, was the source of irrigation every year.
That was one of the reasons why the commune valued this river so much.
The work was allocated to each village.
The sooner it was finished, the sooner everyone could go back.
After making arrangements with two village cadres, Village Chief Qi personally led the people down to the river to work.
Director Zhao found a couple of laborers and started setting up a tent about ten meters long.
He also found some broken stones and built two earth stoves, coated the outside with mud, and left them to dry.
By noon, they would be ready to use.
As soon as Director Zhao had placed two large pots on top, the commune started to distribute food.
The midday rations for today were four liang of flour for men, three liang for women, plus one large turnip, green onions, a little oil, a little salt, and garlic, ginger, and scallions.
“Girl Tian, Xiao Yan, you two hurry and take the big basin to the creek over there to wash, I need to make the starter for the dough,” Director Zhao instructed.
“Once the basin is cleaned, carry a basin of water back, just what we need to scrub the pots.”
“Yes, Director Zhao,” He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan responded, carrying the oversized wooden basin towards the creek.
The creek was very clear, and small fish could be seen in the river from time to time.
He Tiantian thought to herself that if she had the time later, she could catch some fish to make a soup to give everyone a taste of something fresh.
He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan, both clean and diligent girls, quickly washed the big basin and brought back nearly a full basin of water.
“Pour the water into the pots, save just a little,” Director Zhao said.
“I’m starting the dough now.
Once you’ve scrubbed the pots, take these steamers over there to wash.”
Qi Xiaoyan and He Tiantian diligently followed Director Zhao’s instructions, and in no time, they had cleaned all ten layers of steaming baskets.
“Look, Sister Tiantian, there are fish in the river,” Qi Xiaoyan exclaimed excitedly.
“If we had a fishing net, we could catch some and make a soup.”
“It’s no use today, we don’t have a net.
After we go back tonight, we’ll look for a net and catch fish tomorrow,” He Tiantian suggested.
“I heard Director Zhao say we’re only having plain steamed buns, stir-fried radish, and stewed cabbage for lunch.
If we catch fish, we can make a fish soup and everyone can eat a bit more.”
“Yeah, fish soup is definitely better than plain water!” Qi Xiaoyan agreed, recalling how every year after dredging the river, her father would be very tired and needed a long time to recover.
If they could eat better, perhaps everyone could get stronger and recover faster.
By the time the two carried the ten-tier steamer back, Director Zhao was already kneading and fermenting the dough.
“You two go to the nearby woods and collect some dry firewood; we’ll need it in half an hour.
Move quickly,” Director Zhao ordered He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan to get moving as soon as they came back.
Although the tasks weren’t heavy, they couldn’t just sit idle.
But this was better anyway.
It wouldn’t be right if others were working in the river while they rested on the shore.
Being busy and active, everyone could see, and no one would gossip.
