Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

Lin Chuan returned to the brigade and completed today's registration. There was much less work due to the rain. Apart from the sideline team working as usual, the other teams were basically staying at home.

Lin Chuan quickly finished his work, called Shui Houzi on the way, and hurried back.

The original plan to land on the island had to be abandoned. When they returned home, Lin's father had already borrowed the guillotine from the team. The three of them, along with the water monkey, began to seriously make duck feed.

After a day of harvesting reeds, sweet sorghum, and shellfish, piles of raw materials were finally ready.

Since there were no preservatives, in order to prevent them from rotting when piled together, the various raw materials were processed and then placed separately indoors to air dry.

"Chuanzi, are you sure you can do this?" Lin's father asked worriedly.

"Dad, that's good. I learned all of this from books," Lin Chuan clapped his hands and laughed.

"Just leave these ingredients like this for now, as long as you keep them from getting damp. You'll see the correct mixing ratio once you follow along with me."

Lin Chuan, along with his father and the water monkey, mixed and blended several ingredients, then took out a portion, put it into a bucket, sealed it, and waited for it to ferment.

The fermentation is finished today, and we can feed it to the ducks tomorrow.

These raw materials, after simple drying, can be stored for two to three months. Half a bucket of fermented feed each day is enough for the ducks.

"Okay, I understand. If your feed is good, it will be easier to feed the cattle and sheep in the team in the future." Lin's father followed Lin Chuan from beginning to end and had a clear idea of ​​what was going on.

Let's see how the duck feed ferments tomorrow. If it goes well, it will solve a lot of problems in feeding cattle and sheep in winter.

"Monkey, take these ingredients back and do as I say. Remember to store them separately. Since you don't have many poultry, don't ferment too much duck feed at once."

A Muscovy duck only needs to be fed twice a day, with a handful about the size of a fist each time.

"Okay, Brother Chuan, I've got it." Water Monkey wiped his hands and nodded in response.

Two days of continuous light rain caused the temperature on the entire island in the river to drop significantly.

The Frost's Descent has just passed, and as the old saying goes, "One autumn rain brings one chill."

As Tuesday afternoon approached, the autumn rain stopped, and the villagers resumed their work, leaving only a drizzle of rain clinging to the eaves.

The setting sun peeked through the clouds, and the temperature warmed up slightly.

Lin Chuan wasn't idle at home either; he led the water monkeys and Li Jiaye, whom he had found, to deal with the duck droppings.

Neither Lin Chuan nor Shui Houzi asked Li Jiaye how things were after he returned home. After all, young people care about their reputation, and there was no need to pry.

Judging from how cheerfully Li Jiaye came over to visit, the outcome must have been quite good.

The three men walked barefoot in the mud, crushed the dried duck droppings and mixed them with wood ash, preparing to take them to the rapeseed field as base fertilizer the next day.

Li Jiaye wiped the mud off his face, grinned, and shouted, "Brother Chuanzi, take a break!"

My feet are stiff from stepping on this stuff. The sweet potatoes in the stove should be ready by now, shall we eat a couple before we finish cooking?

The sweet potatoes were brought by Li Jiaye. Lin Chuan added some fuel to the stove to start a fire and also boiled a pot of water.

"Alright, that's almost done." Lin Chuan straightened up, smiled, patted the dust off his hands, and looked down at the half-person-high earthenware jar in the corner of the yard.

Yesterday, I soaked some alkaline ash in quicklime at home. After a day, the earthy smell was gone.

Lin Chuan gestured towards the edge of the vat with his chin and said with a smile, "Let's get down to business first, then we can rest."

The water monkey followed Lin Chuan's gaze and looked over. "Brother Chuan, are you going to pickle some alkaline jujubes? My sister has already finished pickling them all."

"Brother Chuanzi, do you know how to pickle? What if you ruin it and Aunt Huiqin scolds you?"

Seeing that Lin Chuan was going to pickle the alkali porridge, Li Jiaye couldn't help but shrink back and rub his hands.

A couple of days ago, his mother was pickling vegetables, and he accidentally poured in too much salt, almost ruining a whole vat of good pickled vegetables.

He was chased out by his mother.

Lin Chuan smiled and rolled up his sleeves: "Don't worry, this is a new technique I learned. Monkey, go get some quicklime, Jiaye, make some sweet water, and go to the kitchen to get some salt and peppercorns."

Although the two were puzzled, they did as instructed.

When Li Jiaye returned with well water, Lin Chuan had already opened the earthenware jar. The sturdy alkaline water lily floated on the surface, its fresh grassy green color shimmering.

"Brother Chuan, are you pickling fresh alkaline grass directly?" Water Monkey put the bag of quicklime on the ground and came over to ask, puzzled.

"That's right, quicklime water can remove the earthy smell of the soil."

Lin Chuan bent down, scooped up a handful of alkaline fungus, rinsed it in the well water, squeezed it tightly, and rubbed it repeatedly. "Rub it for another five minutes, and the astringent taste will be basically gone."

The two fished out the alkaline sap, gently rubbed it with alkaline water for five minutes to remove the bitterness, and after rinsing it clean, the alkaline sap was indeed much firmer.

The well water was icy cold, making the alkaline husks appear even brighter after being kneaded. Once rinsed and drained, the water monkey reached out and pinched one off, making a crisp "snap" sound: "Even firmer than the freshest ones!"

The next step is the crucial color-protecting and embrittlement process.

Lin Chuan watched over the iron pot, boiling water until small bubbles like shrimp eyes appeared, then put the alkaline pot into the pot for ten seconds before immersing it in an ice water bucket.

White steam carrying the scent of grass spread out, and the algae in the cold water shone brightly green, just like those freshly cut from the mudflats.

"My goodness, this is incredible!" Li Jiaye peered over the edge of the bucket, his eyes wide with amazement.

Lin Chuan smiled and soaked the alkaline pine in ice water into the quicklime solution.

Twenty minutes later, they were taken out of the water and pinched again, the cracking sound even clearer: "Crisper than a cucumber! Brother Chuan, your method is amazing!"

After that, things went smoothly.

Boil Sichuan peppercorns and star anise in salt water, let it cool completely, and then pour it into an earthenware jar.

The three of them carefully arranged the alkaline jars in layers, covered them with bamboo mats, and then sealed the jar opening with gauze—the gauze was breathable, allowing the flavor to slowly seep out.

Finally, they worked together to carry the earthenware jar into the cellar in the corner of the yard, waiting to open it seven days later.

As soon as he straightened up, the sweet aroma of sweet potatoes wafted from the kitchen. Li Jiaye, eyes wide, was the first to rush into the kitchen.

Lin Chuan and the water monkey looked at each other and smiled, their shadows on the muddy ground stretched long by the setting sun.

Just then, Xiaoman came back from school, skipping and jumping. The group sat under the doorway, eating sweet potatoes, their mouths stained black.

After finishing his sweet potato, Lin Chuan went to work at the brigade and made plans with Shui Houzi and Li Jiaye to go to Canhong Island early the next morning.

......

The weather was nice the next day.

After Lin Chuan finished his work as a scorekeeper, he was led by Grandpa Lin, and Lin Chuan, Shui Houzi, and Li Jiaye set off for Canhong Island with their tools.

"Grandpa, you've kept this boat in excellent condition. Stand at attention!" Lin Chuan said with a smile as he rowed the oar at the stern.

This boat is quite old; it's the old man's prized possession. Despite the patches on the bottom, it rocks very smoothly.

There aren't many private individuals in the entire team, or even in the entire Jiangxin Village, who own such good fishing boats.

In the previous life, the Lin family also sold the fishing boat that had accompanied the old man all his life when they were in the most helpless situation. Not long after that, the old man passed away.

"Your grandpa has been fishing all his life. What would it be like without a proper fishing boat? It's the same as you going to school without a pen."

The old man smoked his pipe, looking at the river with a relaxed expression.

The old man used to fish to support the family, but now his family doesn't allow him to go out fishing alone because he's getting old and they're afraid something might happen to him.

Occasionally, when Lin's father had some free time, the father and son would go to the river together to catch some fish to supplement their family income.

Now, watching his eldest grandson rowing the famous boat with such skill, the old man's smoke rings became even rounder.