Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

The old man standing to the side couldn't help but smile, tapping his pipe in his palm and saying, "Good, good, good!"

Lin Chuan was secretly pleased. "Let's wait and see if it gets salty again."

He knew that if the location was wrong, there was still a chance of it becoming salty again.

After waiting for about half an hour, Lin Chuan tasted the spring water for the third time, taking one sip, then two, and his brows furrowed: "It's changed."

Upon hearing this, Shuihouzi bent down to take a sip and asked doubtfully, "Brother Chuan, I don't feel anything, it's still the same as before."

"Yeah, Brother Chuanzi, I couldn't taste it either." Li Jiaye took a sip and looked over in confusion.

Lin Chuan shook his head. Perhaps it was because his taste was less salty before his rebirth, but the saltiness in the water was indeed increasing.

"Wait a moment, then try it again." The old man gripped his pipe tightly and took a deep drag.

Not long after, Li Jiaye scooped up a handful of water and tasted it again. As soon as the water entered his mouth, he frowned and said, "It's so salty!" His expression of disgust was obvious.

"This water is like a joke; it was sweet just now, and now it's salty again."

The water monkey didn't believe him, so it took a sip and spat it out faster than it drank it. The two looked at each other and didn't say anything more.

The old man didn't say anything, but simply put the pipe upside down on the sole of his shoe, knocked out a small pinch of ash, which was immediately scattered by the wind.

Lin Chuan watched as the veins on the back of the old man's hand flared up and then disappeared, and he understood that the old man was disappointed.

He immediately raised an eyebrow, clapped his hands, and laughed at the dejected crowd, "Looks like we've found the right place."

"Brother Chuanzi, this water is salty. Is there really any sweet water in this wretched place?" Li Jiaye plopped down on the meadow.

"Yes, definitely. Otherwise, how would we have tasted the sweet water?" Lin Chuan said with unusual certainty.

He then laughed and said, "The lens is thin, and this well is like a window paper with a hole punched at the edge of the water, so salt water is flowing in."

As he spoke, Lin Chuan smiled and gestured with a shovel on the water's surface, drawing circles that got smaller and smaller. "We need to move to higher ground and find the thickest 'bottom' of the bowl."

After noon, the sunlight softened a bit.

Lin Chuan looked in the direction and led the group to another patch of wild smartweed to dig again. One foot, two feet, water seeped out, carrying some fine sand, somewhat like rice water.

"Brother Chuan, is this the bottom of what you call the bowl?" the water monkey asked expectantly.

Li Jiaye wiped his sweat and grinned at Lin Chuan: "Brother Chuanzi, you've done the math well, this time it should be right, right? We can't possibly dig up the whole island!"

It's already past noon, and if we don't hurry, it'll be dark soon. I still want to catch some spot-billed ducks and egrets.

Lin Chuan didn't respond immediately, but simply looked up at the sky. A thin layer of clouds brushed past the sun, dimming the light.

He laughed and said, "I hope it works this time. We have to try a few more times. If it doesn't work this time, we'll definitely be able to dig to the right spot next time."

Now that the water has been dug out, we're just waiting anyway. You and the monkey can go see if you can catch a spot-billed duck, and we'll roast it for lunch.

I'll go see if I can catch some fish in the swamp. Grandpa, could you help me gather some firewood? I'm really hungry at midday.

"Alright, Brother Chuanzi. I brought a slingshot, I'm sure I can hit a duck." Li Jiaye replied excitedly.

The old man nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Monkey, I just saw wild ducks in the reeds! Let's go check it out!" Li Jiaye excitedly pulled out the slingshot tucked into his backside and dragged the water monkey away.

The water monkey responded and, smiling, pulled out a slingshot. The two of them crouched down and stealthily made their way towards the reeds.

Lin Chuan looked at the two figures as they walked away and couldn't help but find it amusing. He then picked up his shovel, turned around, and headed towards the swamp.

There are plenty of loaches there. Even if you can't catch fish, digging up some loaches will be enough to fill your stomach.

The reeds on Canhong Island were very dense. Shui Houzi and Li Jiaye crouched down, carefully observing a nest of moorhens in front of them.

The water monkey, with its sharp eyes, spotted the family immediately.

Suppressing his joy, he hurriedly took out an object from his pocket and discussed with Li Jiaye how to catch the brood of moorhens.

The rail is a small bird that prefers to inhabit wetlands and marshes; there are more than 100 species worldwide.

The waterhens in the entire sandbar area are about the size of chicks, less than 30 centimeters in length.

Its appearance is similar to that of a chick, with feathers that are mostly grayish-brown with black longitudinal or transverse stripes.

"Hey monkey, is your 'Guwazi Flute' any good?" Li Jiaye asked anxiously, looking at the unmoved waterhen.

"It should work, right? I had my grandpa make it for me before." The water monkey scratched his head, picked up the bamboo tube-made "Guwazi flute," and started playing it again.

"Li Lao Er, listen to this voice. Isn't it incredibly realistic?"

The so-called "guwazi flute" is a prop made by the older generation to imitate the call of a moorhen.

The rail always makes a "clucking" sound, so it is also known as the "clucking bird." The rail will become stunned when it hears a certain sound.

By using this habit, you can easily lure them to your side and capture them.

"Wait, wait." Li Jiaye's face lit up with joy as he looked at the moorhen that had suddenly turned to look in their direction. "Keep blowing! It's here, it's here!"

5 meters, 4 meters...2 meters....

The reeds in late autumn are turning yellow and withered, and the wind whistles past your ears with fallen leaves.

Li Jiaye spotted the moorhen in the reeds and suddenly used his coat to precisely cover it.

"Hahaha, monkeys, we got them! We got them all! All five of them were caught!" Li Jiaye looked excitedly at the net.

The water monkey hummed happily, "I told you my guwazi flute was pretty good, but you didn't believe me. Keep going, let's try to catch another nest."

As it turned out, the two were overthinking things; these moorhens mostly hid during the day, though they were quite nocturnal.

It's lucky that the water monkeys were able to see a whole nest of them today.

Just then, a "quack" came from the other side of the swamp, and a spotted duck was flapping its wings.

"Go, go, go, catch ducks, catch ducks..."

......

"How many did you catch?" Lin Chuan looked at the two returning, covered in mud, each carrying something in their clothes, looking disheveled and comical, and couldn't help but laugh.

"You two lads were shooting ducks with slingshots, how come you ended up in the mud?" The old man looked at the two of them and laughed along.

"Hehe! Grandpa Lin, Brother Chuan, we didn't catch any ducks, but we got quite a few other things."

"Yes, yes, we also caught two big fish."

Lin Chuan had already set fire to the dry grass that his grandfather had gathered. He hadn't caught any big fish, but he had caught some small crucian carp in the pond.

They found some spots where small bubbles were rising and dug up quite a few fat loaches.

Few people come to this island, and the loaches are all quite large. Two or three loaches are enough for each person, which makes Lin Chuan very happy.

Everything was ready by then, and the two of them, along with the old man, were roasting reeds over the fire.

"I can tell you two had a good haul," Lin Chuan said with a smile, handing the loach he was grilling to the old man.

"Give me the stuff, and you guys should wash yourselves properly. Be careful you don't get a beating when you get back looking like this."

After saying that, Lin Chuan led the two to the first dug water pit to wash themselves.