Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

"Grandpa Lin is amazing. Two years ago, my family's boat ran aground, and it was my grandfather and Grandpa Lin who fixed it."

The old man took a puff of his pipe, looked at the water monkey, and laughed, "Your grandfather was a good shipwright, it's a pity that you and your father didn't inherit this skill."

"Grandpa Lin, I heard from my dad that the motorized fishing boats in the team are really useful now. Our wooden boat hasn't been used much in a long time, and I don't know if it's still usable," Li Jiaye interjected from the side.

"Yes! Technological advancements, indeed." The old man sighed, chuckled, and patted the hull. "The new boat is great! And powerful too. But my old buddy is just as good!"

"Wooden boats have their advantages too, at least they're not as noisy," Lin Chuan added with a smile.

The wooden oars cleaved the surface of the river, and Lin Chuan gazed northeastward at the horizon where the water met the sky.

Canhong Island later became a well-known ecological island in the local area, but at this time in 1980, it was just a deserted island on the outer edge of the shipping channel that no one paid attention to.

"Grandpa, are we almost there?" Lin Chuan stopped the oars and asked.

"This is it. It's been many years since I've been to this island." The old man tapped the side of the boat with his pipe.

"Canhong Island is five miles long from east to west and more than one mile wide at its widest point from north to south. Although it is not large, it is much more orderly than Qingping Island."

"Ogawa, if we could find sweet water on this island, it would be a blessed land bestowed upon us by the river god."

Thinking about what Lin Chuan had said before, a glimmer of hope rekindled in the old man's heart.

"From now on, this place can no longer be called Canhong Island. We need to give it a new name, otherwise we'll be letting down the River God's blessing!" Lin Chuan said with a smile as he slowed down the boat.

"Brother Chuanzi, is there really sweet water on the island?" Li Jiaye looked at Lin Chuan with a blank expression.

Lin Chuan smiled upon seeing this, "You'll know when we get to the island."

Even now, the image of Jiang Shen in Lin Chuan's mind remains blurry and difficult to discern.

After all, in the area where the Yangtze River flows into the sea, the river god worshipped by the people is not a single figure.

The officially promoted River God and the popular folk God of the Three Rivers of the Yangtze River are the mainstream.

However, there are also deities derived from Qu Yuan who are widely worshipped, as well as the Golden Dragon King, and it is said that the legend of Lü Zu is also mixed in.

In fact, even the old man himself probably couldn't explain the system of inheritance.

Everyone calls him "River God" repeatedly, and this River God has become a kind of hope for a better life in their hearts.

The sun was high in the sky, and the boat slowly approached the shore. The wooden oars brushed against the water plants underwater, making a soft rustling sound.

The group waded through ankle-deep river water to reach the island. Li Jiaye exclaimed, "Hey! This soil doesn't stick to my feet!" as soon as he steadied himself.

Lin Chuan bent down and picked up a clump of soil. It was fine sandy loam mixed with tiny seashell fragments, gleaming with a light brown light in the sunlight.

He laughed and said, "It's silt deposited from the Yangtze River. It's breathable and retains fertilizer, making it perfect for growing crops."

"That's right." The old man looked at Lin Chuan and nodded with a smile.

The group walked eastward along the low slope on the west side. The terrain gradually rose, and the grass under their feet changed from the alkaline reeds of the mudflats to sparse foxtail grass.

Reaching the top of the slope, the entire outline of the island unfolds before you. The island's eastern side faces the East China Sea, with a shoreline several meters high eroded by the tides, where reeds sway in the wind.

To the south, there are continuous stretches of reeds, and amidst the surging white waves, several shallow bays can be seen hidden within them, their surfaces reflecting the sky like a broken mirror.

If you continue rowing southwest, you can reach the third largest island in the country in about half a day.

Lin Chuan and his group landed on the island from the north side. The entire North Beach had a large amount of silt and sand accumulation, and the mudflats were long and narrow.

The entire island resembles a smooth olive polished by the river, lying quietly in the area where fresh and salt water meet at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

"Xiao Chuan, the southeast of this island is high up and in a good location. Look over there, and over there, those are places where the team dug for sweet water before."

Lin Chuan looked in the direction the old man pointed, then surveyed the surrounding terrain and nodded to indicate that he understood.

Seeing this, the old man stopped talking, and the group continued walking into the island.

"This reed marsh is huge!" Li Jiaye reached out and grabbed a reed stalk, shaking it. The stalk was so thick that he could hold it in his hand.

"If we cut this off and woven it into a mat, it would definitely be sturdy!" the water monkey chimed in.

Lin Chuan didn't reply, his gaze falling on a puddle in front of him.

A layer of emerald green duckweed floated on the water's surface. Several water birds were startled by the footsteps, flapping their wings and skimming across the water's surface. The splashes of water hit the duckweed, creating tiny ripples.

"These are all seasonal swamps, no problem," Lin Chuan said, leading the way into the swamp.

Grandpa Lin nodded and said, "These swamps fill with water in spring and summer, but expose the bottom in autumn and winter. The bottom is full of black, rotten soil, which is even better for the soil than the manure in our village."

Only when they got closer could they see that tiny loaches were hiding in the swamp. With a flick of their tails, they would burrow into the mud. Li Jiaye squatted down to touch them, but Lin Chuan stopped him: "Let's look around on the island first."

The old man tucked his pipe into his waistband, led the three of them across a patch of foxtail grass, and stopped beside an abandoned well on the southeast slope.

The wellhead was half-collapsed, resembling an old man's missing tooth mouth, revealing the vicissitudes of time.

"Back then, you'd dig down to two feet and you'd find water. You could pull it up and taste it; it was salty."

The old man rubbed the edge of the well with his toe. "Back then, some people said there was water on this island, but no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get any."

Some people say that there's a layer of shell dam underneath, which holds back the fresh water, causing it to mix with the saltwater when it surfaces.

Lin Chuan squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil that had fallen from the well wall, and grayish-white sand grains flowed out from between his fingers.

He looked up at the island's ridge, a low ridge that resembled a fish's back floating on the water.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Grandpa, the lens is usually lying flat in the center of the island, like an upside-down bowl."

Rainwater seeps downwards from the top, while saltwater rises from the bottom, allowing the middle layer to continuously produce sweet water.

"Okay, I remember. Let's look for it the way you said."

Li Jiaye and Shui Houzi, each holding a hoe, didn't understand what Lin Chuan was saying, but they followed Lin Chuan as he hammered and pounded away at the molds and samples.

Lin Chuan carried a shovel and walked along the ridge to a patch of white reeds. The sun was high in the sky, and the edges of the grass blades gleamed like knife cuts.

"Let's try this." Lin Chuan stomped his foot, and a hollow sound faintly came from the ground.

"Brother Chuanzi, is this the Sweet Water Well?" Li Jiaye asked curiously.

"Why worry about so much? Li Lao Er, let's just follow Brother Chuan and dig." After saying that, Shuihouzi immediately started digging with his hoe.

"Let's dig it up and see, there's a great chance," Lin Chuan said with a smile.

Li Jiaye glanced at the water monkey and said "Oh." Then, he started digging into the ground with three shovels at the same time, splashing up mud that carried a damp, cool scent.

After digging less than half a meter in a short time, water began to seep out, first in a line, then in a pool.

The water monkey immediately lay down, cupped its mouthful in its hands, and touched the water with its tongue.

Her eyes lit up instantly, and she grinned at Lin Chuan, saying, "Brother Chuan, it's sweet!" Her surprised voice echoed in the air.

Li Jiaye took a sip, his Adam's apple bobbing, and exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Chuanzi, it's true! It tastes even better than the well water at home!"