fictionpage Chapter 55
Chapter 55
We still have to live through the days in December, one by one.
Farm work has basically stopped, and every household is busy preparing for the New Year.
Zhang Cuihua pickled half a vat of sauerkraut in the kitchen and cut dozens of kilograms of radish strips to dry in the yard.
Old Chen wove more than a dozen pairs of straw sandals and hung them at the base of the wall.
Chen Zheng took the aerator out of the box, assembled it according to the instructions, and tested it in the yard.
The impeller rotates smoothly without any abnormal noise.
He wrote down the key points of using the aerator in his notebook.
We plan to install it in the fishpond after the water temperature rises above 10 degrees Celsius in the spring.
On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Rong and Chen Feng returned from their winter vacation.
Chen Feng pushed the borrowed bicycle, with a quilt and a schoolbag strapped to the back seat.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, he abandoned the car and ran into the kitchen calling for his mother.
Zhang Cuihua turned around from the stove, still holding the spatula in her hand, and looked him up and down, saying that he had lost weight.
Chen Feng chuckled and pulled out his report card from his schoolbag: 85 in math and 81 in Chinese.
They have improved significantly since the entrance exam.
Chen Rong stood at the gate of the courtyard, took the bedding off the back seat of the car, carried it into the house, and folded it neatly.
He then called his brother aside, took out a chemistry lab manual from his bag, and turned to the page on water electrolysis.
"Brother, I drew a simplified version of the electrolysis device in the book. I'll try to make a small one next semester."
If this works, we won't need to turn on the aerator when the fishpond is low in oxygen; we can just connect two graphite rods to a battery.
Chen Zheng took the manual and looked at the neat circuit diagrams and annotations on it.
Suddenly, he realized that his second brother was much more capable than he had imagined.
He handed the manual back to Chen Rong: "Okay, let's try it together then. Make a list of any materials you need, and I'll go buy them."
During dinner that evening, Chen Laosan asked Chen Feng about his grades. Chen Feng, with his mouth full, mumbled that he did alright.
Chen Laosan nodded, put down his chopsticks, took out his pipe from his pocket, lit it, and took a puff.
He said he went to town today and heard some news.
The county plans to set up an aquatic technology extension station in Baiyang Town and is currently selecting a station manager.
"The candidate hasn't been decided yet." Chen Laosan exhaled a puff of smoke and glanced at Chen Zheng.
Chen Zheng understood the meaning in that gaze.
After finishing his meal, Liu the Bald, carrying a basin of crucian carp he had just caught from the lake, stepped into the Chen family's courtyard.
He awkwardly flipped through an old book, hoping Chen Zheng could help him take a look.
Is the fish disease mentioned in this book the same as the fish in Nanwan?
Chen Zheng took the book and saw that it was "Prevention and Control of Common Diseases in Rural Freshwater Aquaculture," which Zhao Deming had given to Liu Tuzi years ago.
He poured Liu the Bald man a cup of hot tea and explained the symptoms and treatments of several common diseases from the book in plain language.
He then used his own fishpond as an example to illustrate this point.
As Liu the Bald listened, he nodded. Before leaving, he tucked the book into his pocket and said:
"When Jiawang comes back from winter break, I'll have him tell me about it too."
On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, a northwest wind picked up over Baiyang Lake, and the temperature dropped again.
When Chen Zheng went to inspect the fishpond, he found that the ice layer was thicker than it had been two days earlier.
Two of the five ice holes were covered with a thin layer of ice.
He used a bamboo pole to break the thin ice and then laid the straw back on.
Although the aerator has not yet been put into the pond, he has already selected the installation location on the pond bank in advance.
Above the deep water area, at the point furthest from the water inlet.
This way, the water flow stirred up by the aerator will not interfere with the natural flow direction of the inlet.
After finishing his work at the fishpond, he went home and changed into his thick cotton-padded coat.
Put the machete, hemp rope, and cloth bag into the basket.
This route into the mountains is different from the previous ones.
Last time he found sand ginseng and he shou wu on the sunny slope, but codonopsis never showed up.
Last night, he looked through the notes to the land ownership list in the family genealogy again and discovered that when the Zhou family bought the land east of Lutang Village,
He also added a note to it.
There is a mountain area, located at the foot of Eagle's Beak Cliff west of the village.
He had been to Eagle's Beak Cliff before; it was on the back side of the sunny slope where he had harvested ginseng last time.
The two places are separated by only a mountain ridge, but Eagle's Beak Cliff is more remote and steeper, and the forest is denser.
The path into the mountains was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, which rustled underfoot.
He followed the stone marks he had left behind to cross the ridge.
Push aside the bushes in the pile of rocks below Eagle's Beak Cliff.
In a shady crevice in the rocks, several ginseng vines hang down from the rock face.
The leaves have withered and curled up, but the vines are still very resilient.
He squatted down, took a machete, and whittled a sharp wooden stick. He then carefully loosened the soil following the direction of the vines.
The soil in the cracks between the rocks was mixed with gravel, and sticks inserted into the rocks often hit stones.
He changed direction and started digging little by little.
It took nearly an hour to dig out the three Codonopsis pilosula roots intact.
The thickest one was as thick as a little finger, with intact roots and a pale yellow cross-section; its quality was even better than he had expected.
He wrapped the Codonopsis pilosula in wet moss, put it into a bamboo tube, and then searched the area again.
Besides Codonopsis pilosula, there are also several clumps of wild Astragalus membranaceus growing at the foot of Eagle's Beak Cliff. The roots and stems do not penetrate the soil deeply, but they are of good quality.
He picked out the thickest few trees, dug them up, and put them all into a cloth bag.
It was still early when we came down from Eagle's Beak Cliff.
He circled around to the wild forest at the foot of the mountain and picked a few more pieces of acorns from the bushes he had cleared last time.
The quality isn't as good as the previous batch, but it can still fetch a moderate price.
There was a half-dead old pine tree at the edge of the woods.
Large chunks of amber-colored resin, already partially solidified, were secreted from the tree trunk.
He used a machete to pry off two egg-sized pieces, intending to take them back to make waterproof torches.
When he was exploring the sunken ship underwater last time, he thought that pine resin and burlap strips could be used to make a simple underwater light.
It was already evening when they got home, and Zhang Cuihua took the basket from him and helped him organize the mountain goods.
She held up the thickest piece of Codonopsis pilosula and examined it closely under the kerosene lamp for a long time.
He said this ginseng smelled better than the ones in the pharmacy, and he'd save it to make soup for her.
Chen Zheng nodded and kept the best-looking one of the three Codonopsis pilosula roots.
I packed the other two, along with the astragalus and agarwood, together, intending to make a trip to the county pharmacy before the Lunar New Year.
The shopkeeper and the purchasing agent from Tongrentang in the provincial capital were both waiting for this batch of goods.
Those two wild ginseng roots alone, according to the price agreed upon in the deposit agreement, could sell for more than twenty yuan.
With the addition of astragalus, agar, and the dried wood ear mushrooms from last time, the harvest from this trip into the mountains is enough to make for a prosperous New Year.
The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the Little New Year.
Zhang Cuihua steamed a pot of sticky rice dumplings. The golden sticky rice dough was filled with red bean paste, and it was sticky when you took a bite.
Chen Zheng squatted on the doorstep with a bowl in his hand and ate a bowl. He couldn't help but think of the jar of rice wine that his grandfather had buried.
I drank most of it last winter solstice, and there was still a little less than half a jar left, so I opened it today.
He asked Chen Laosan if he wanted a drink, and Chen Laosan said he would save it for when his two sons got into university.
Chen Zheng resealed the wine jar and put it back in its original place.
He looked into the yard and saw Chen Rong squatting by the water vat, helping Chen Feng wash his schoolbag.
He was muttering to himself about what reference books he needed to buy for the next semester.
Chen Feng pouted and said he had too much homework to finish.
Zhang Cuihua was kneading dough in the kitchen, preparing to steam buns for tomorrow.
Old Chen squatted on the threshold, smoking a pipe, squinting at everything in the yard.
This year's harvest is all here.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Zheng woke up to the sound of firecrackers.
Firecracker debris from Baiyang Town drifted into the village on the wind, covering the courtyards.
The black cat crouched on the edge of the water vat, terrified by the sound of firecrackers, and curled up into a ball, its claws gripping the edge of the vat tightly.
Zhang Cuihua cooked dumplings early in the morning, half pork and half cabbage filling and half chives and half egg filling.
Chen Feng ate with his mouth glistening with oil, saying it was a hundred times better than the dumplings in the school cafeteria.
After finishing his meal, Chen Rong quietly helped Zhang Cuihua clean up the dishes and then spent half the day chopping firewood in the yard.
On the eighth day of the month, Zhao Deming sent a message through someone.
They said that Director Fang had already completed the property rights survey reports for the two plots of land in Lutang Village and Lijiawan.
After the spring, you can apply for a property rights clarification subsidy.
In addition, the town government has provided a preliminary compensation plan for the two plots of land in Baiyang Town that were requisitioned.
The compensation was calculated based on the land price at the time of expropriation, excluding interest. Although it wasn't much, at least there was some explanation.
On the afternoon of the day Chen Zheng received the message, he rode his bicycle to Zhao Deming's house.
Zhao Deming sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) wrapped in a thick quilt.
"Let's sign the contracts for Lijiawan and Sun Maocai first after the spring, and then slowly negotiate the other areas in Baiyang Town."
Zhao Deming handed a stack of neatly organized materials to Chen Zheng.
"In addition, a briefing from the Provincial Fisheries Research Institute mentioned something."
This year, the province decided to establish one family-based breeding demonstration household in each county.
The requirements are: an annual output of more than 5,000 catties, quality that meets the standards, and the ability to promote technical expertise.
Once a household is designated as a provincial-level model household, it will receive a special support fund of 3,000 yuan.
There are also policies that allow the county aquatic products company to prioritize the supply of seedlings and guarantee sales.
Zhou Haiming told me that he had already submitted your name.
After leaving Zhao Deming's house, Chen Zheng went to Lijiawan to find Li Quan and told him about asking him to help with digging a new pond after the spring.
Li Quan immediately patted his chest and said there was no problem, adding that there were several other able-bodied men in the village who also wanted to find work in the spring.
Chen Zheng calculated that digging earth, ramming dikes, and opening inlets and outlets for the three fish ponds would take at least half a month, and hiring four or five people would be indispensable.
On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, Chen Zheng was in the yard checking the tools he would use to dig a pond in the spring.
The hoe needs a new handle, the shovel needs to be polished to remove rust, and a few old bamboo poles need to be split up to make surveying stakes.
Chen Feng squatted down beside him and helped him sand the rust spots on the shovel.
Zhang Jianguo pushed his wheelbarrow into the yard.
They said they would bring over several hundred bricks and half a truckload of gravel that they had left over from digging a pond last year, which would be just what they needed for the expansion project in the spring.
The wheelbarrow lurched as it rolled over the threshold, and a few pebbles rolled to the black cat's feet.
The black cat meowed in dissatisfaction, jumped onto the wall, and ran away.
Liu Jiawang also came. When he returned from the county's No. 1 Middle School, he brought with him a topographical sketch of Baiyang Lake that he had drawn himself.
The curves showing the water level changes throughout the four seasons are marked on the screen with different shades of blue ink.
He said the map was a combination of the county gazetteer.
The drawings were created using meteorological records provided by teacher Zhao Deming and his own on-site measurements.
Water level data are available for South Bay, East Bay, and along the intake canal.
He adjusted his newly fitted glasses and added a comment.
As Xunzi said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," and this water topographic map is only the first step.
If we want to plan the aquaculture layout for the entire Baiyang Lake basin in the future, we will need measurement data over a larger area.
Chen Zheng spread the blueprints out on the square table and saw that the lines were neat and the markings were clear.
It looks like a small, professional hydrological map.
The water level change curve near the Nanwan inlet on the map can help him determine the overflow height of the new fishpond.
The overflow outlet must not be submerged when the water level is at its highest, and the inlet must not be shut off when the water level is at its lowest. This data comes at just the right time.
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the county town was filled with the sounds of gongs, drums, and firecrackers, and the commodity exchange center became lively again.
Several departments in the county jointly set up a row of policy consultation desks.
Chen Zheng originally came to the county's No. 1 Middle School to deliver bedding to Chen Rong and Chen Feng, and stopped by to see what was going on.
But then I spotted Director Fang in the crowd, wearing a straw hat, sitting behind the Agricultural Bureau's information desk.
A stack of brightly colored brochures and forms was spread out in front of him.
Director Fang also saw him, waved to him, and pulled out a form with the official seal from the folder and handed it over.
The county agricultural bureau, the aquatic products company, and the agricultural bank jointly launched a support project.
The loan amount for promoting tiered fishpond technology is one level higher than that for previous demonstration households.
A single application can get you up to 2,000 yuan, with the interest rate reduced by another percentage point and the repayment period extended to five years.
"I was just looking for you!"
The county government, in conjunction with the Agricultural Bank of China, launched a water conservancy infrastructure support project specifically for fish farmers who build tiered fish ponds.
Please write a detailed plan for digging the new pond, including a budget and construction schedule, and submit it to the Agricultural Bureau next week. I will then forward it to them for you.
Director Fang added that Deputy County Head Xu had specifically praised the model of Lutang Village at the commendation meeting.
There's a high chance this project will be approved.
Two thousand yuan.
Adding the remaining balance of over 800 yuan in demonstration loan funds that were not yet used, the available funds are close to 3,000 yuan.
In 1985, three thousand yuan was enough to build a standardized tiered fishpond of six mu in a rural area of Qingshui County.
It also has enough to equip the plant with aerators, feed processing machines, and other equipment.
On the 20th day of the first lunar month, Chen Zheng put two loan applications into a kraft paper envelope.
One of them is a loan to support the tiered fishpond project that Ma Yuanchao had previously suggested.
The other document is a newly applied provincial special support fund for family-based livestock breeding demonstration households.
More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye. The Beginning of Spring has passed, and the Awakening of Insects is approaching.
Ma Yuanchao and Qin Shulan arrived as promised.
A green Jeep was parked under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village.
Ma Yuanchao unloaded several cardboard boxes from the car, which contained oxytocin used to induce spawning in mandarin fish.
A simple water quality testing instrument and two thick experimental record books.
Qin Shulan was holding a folder containing the technical specifications for artificial breeding of mandarin fish compiled by the Provincial Fisheries Research Institute.
"The water flow speed in the circular seedling pond is controlled between 0.1 and 0.15 meters per second."
The light intensity is between 500 and 800 lux.
Qin Shulan opened the technical specifications and pointed to a diagram on one of the pages, saying,
"The initial feed consists of rotifers and artichoke nauplii. For the first three days, feed them 30 to 50 nauplii per milliliter of water."
Three days later, gradually reduce the proportion of rotifers and introduce cladocerans and copepods.
Chen Zheng wrote down all these parameters in his notebook.
He had seen the design drawings for the circular pool in a briefing before.
Now that we have specific flow rate and light intensity data, we have a clear guideline for construction.
The seedling nursery was built next to the No. 3 fishpond, with a brick-built circular waterway three meters in diameter.
The middle section is a still water zone, and the outer ring is a circular water flow channel, with the water flow driven by a small water pump.
The construction took only three days; Chen Zheng, Li Quan, and Zhang Jianguo carried bricks, built walls, and laid waterproof cloth.
The work was finally completed on the evening of the third day.
During the trial run, Ma Yuanchao used a flow meter to measure the current several times.
The flow rate stabilized at around 0.12 meters per second, which is within the optimal range.
"Once the water temperature rises above 20 degrees Celsius in mid-to-late April and the gonads of the parent fish mature, we can begin the first batch of spawning experiments."
Ma Yuanchao wrote a few lines in his notebook: oxytocin injection dosage, parent fish pairing ratio, and fry incubation days.
After seeing Ma Yuanchao and Qin Shulan off, Chen Zheng returned to the courtyard and added a note to his notebook.
On March 15th, three fishponds were dug, totaling six acres of water surface.
The circular seedling bed is now complete.
This year, the plan is to harvest more than 5,000 catties of the four major freshwater fish species and to raise 100 mandarin fish fry for experimental purposes.
He put down his pen and looked out the window at Baiyang Lake.
In spring, the lake water rises with new green, and tender shoots sprout from the reeds in Nanwan.
In about half a month, the spring flood season will arrive at Baiyang Lake.
When the inlet of Xintang is opened, the lake water will flow down the overflow outlet step by step, and the six acres of water surface will be fully revitalized.
Spring came earlier this year than last year.