Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

Lin Chuan walked home with his collar pulled up. The river wind, carrying the night fog, felt icy cold against his face. In the distance, the light from his own courtyard shone through an oil lamp, indicating that his family had been waiting for some time.

When he got home, as soon as he entered the yard, Xiaoman rushed over like a little sparrow, happily grabbing his arm and calling out in a clear voice, "Brother, Grandpa Wang has been waiting for you for a while."

The little girl's eyes were bright and sparkling, and there were still blades of grass stuck to the ends of her braids.

Lin Chuan rubbed his younger sister's head and saw that in the main room, his father, mother, and grandfather were sitting with Shui Houzi's grandfather, Old Master Wang, and father, Wang Pusheng.

Three men were casually smoking pipes, while a rough porcelain jar sat on the octagonal table, steam and smoke drifting outside.

"Brother, you're amazing..." Xiaoman shook Lin Chuan's hand, overjoyed.

She hadn't expected that when Lin Chuan mentioned eating meat, he meant buying a big, fragrant, fatty pork belly to take home. Realizing she'd misunderstood and thought Lin Chuan wanted to eat her duck, she suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

She spent the entire evening anxiously waiting by the door for Lin Chuan to return.

"Silly girl, what's there to apologize for?" Lin Chuan chuckled and gently flicked her nose. "Did Grandma cook some meat?"

"It's stewed, brother. Mother's stew is so delicious. I even saved some for you in the kitchen."

Lin Chuan had eaten quite a lot in the afternoon, so he didn't feel hungry at the moment.

"Okay, from now on we'll eat meat every day in our family." Lin Chuan raised his hand and said generously.

"Mmm! Brother, you're the best." Xiaoman squinted her eyes and nodded repeatedly with a smile.

"You're such a flatterer. Alright, go back to your room and get some sleep. You have school tomorrow," Lin's mother said with a smile.

Xiaoman nodded, knowing that the adults needed to discuss something, and very sensibly went back to her room to sleep.

"Brother Chuan." Water Monkey stood up from the stool and called out.

Lin Chuan smiled and replied, "Grandpa Wang, Uncle Wang. I was just saying we'd discuss it together tomorrow at noon."

Grandpa Wang took a puff of his cigarette with a smile on his face. "Xiao Chuan, the money you make with Xiao Pu is more than what this old man of mine earns in a year."

I won't go into what you two brothers are going to do; you can decide for yourselves.

Xiao Pu came back and asked, "What's your plan for a large-scale sea bass fishing operation?"

Lin Chuan smiled and sat down, taking the hot tea that his mother handed him to warm his hands. He looked at everyone and said, "Grandpa Wang, it's like this, I saw a study in a book."

Just like the anchovy, the spotted sea bass forms a fish run from late October to early November every year. However, it is still in the research stage. Today, I took Xiao Pu to try it out and verified that the research is true.

In specific locations, a comprehensive net-like interception operation can definitely yield a huge harvest.

Grandpa Wang and Grandpa Lin exchanged a glance and nodded with smiles.

Old Master Wang sighed, "Brother, we've spent our whole lives fishing on the river, and in the end, we're not as useful as a junior."

Lin's father interjected, "Uncle Wang, Xiao Chuan only studied for a few years. This is something others have researched. This kid was lucky to see it. How could he possibly understand these intricacies?"

"Only by studying can you know how many sea bass and anchovies your team catches each year during the anchovy season!"

As he spoke, Wang Pusheng sighed and said, "If Xiao Pu could be as good as Xiao Chuan in his studies, I would be overjoyed."

"Dad, I don't have Brother Chuan's brains," Water Monkey said with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

"Besides, I can just follow Brother Chuan. Studying is not as convenient as casting a net."

The next morning, as dawn broke, the river mist had not yet completely dissipated.

After finishing his recording work for the day, Lin Chuan knew that after October, due to changes in the weather and adjustments to the team's farm work, his work hours would need to be adjusted accordingly, and Lin Chuan's recording work hours would also need to be adjusted.

Just as I finished tidying up my notebook, I heard familiar footsteps outside the gate, their soft "crunch" echoing on the muddy ground.

Lin Chuan looked up and saw that it was Captain Li Jianguo. Lin Chuan had met with Li Jianguo that morning and had a brief chat.

"Uncle Jianguo, you've arrived." Lin Chuan greeted him with a smile, quickly moving a wooden chair over for him to sit on, and then pulling up a stool for himself as well.

Li Jianguo nodded and sat down.

Lin Chuan slowly explained his thoughts: "Uncle, I've come to see you today because there are two things I'd like to discuss with the team."

Yesterday, Jia Ye, Xiao Pu, and I bought some perch online at the riverbank and sold them at the commune, making some money.

I was thinking of starting a fishery production cooperative with a few people. Anyone in the team who has a boat or knows how to cast nets can join in.

"If you'd like, you can leave your family's wooden boat at the cooperative."

Lin Chuan paused, glanced at Li Jianguo's expression, and added, "This can also be considered as bringing some side jobs to everyone."

As you know, there are quite a few young men in the team, but the work on the island is limited. Many families rely on work points to earn food rations, which are not enough to sustain them.

The current policies regarding fishing are much more relaxed. The establishment of cooperatives not only allows for the efficient use of each family's wooden boats to harvest fishery resources in the river, but also enables everyone to earn more money.

These words struck a chord with Li Jianguo. The Qingpingzhou production team had several hundred people, but the island was small and the land was scarce.

Aside from the meager grain produced in the northern polder fields, it was barely enough for those with work points; the rest relied on fishing from a few boats to make a living.

There are still many elderly and young people in the team who don't receive work points, since the island's resources are limited and the work is fixed.

Many people relied on scavenging fish and shrimp to survive, and some young men even went hungry.

If everyone in the team tries to earn work points, then at the end of the year when work points are distributed, resources will be greatly reduced and there won't be enough to go around.

Moreover, having too many people and too little work is not an option; it not only leads to laziness but also affects the enthusiasm for work.

With over 300 people in the team to feed, Li Jianguo is under considerable pressure.

On the other hand, logically speaking, the islanders of Jiangxin Village live at the mouth of the sea and should make a living by fishing.

In fact, that's not the case. The whole country is working together as one. Not to mention that fishery production is under unified scheduling, there are only six 20-ton second-hand fishing boats in the team.

The blue paint on the hull had long since turned black from being soaked in the river water; it was only after the team had begged and pleaded with the county authorities to allocate it to them.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he's the lifeblood of the team.

There are also daily salvage tasks. Each fishing boat must catch 0.5 to 0.8 tons of fish per day, in accordance with the policy of "buying seven and keeping three".

Seventy percent of the supply and marketing stations purchased the fish at extremely low prices, and they only picked out the best catches. The remaining thirty percent were kept by the team for distribution.

Only the excess catches are considered unplanned and count as extra income for the team, but with just a few dilapidated boats, it's already a miracle if they can complete the daily quota.

The team didn't have the money to buy new boats; even these secondhand fishing boats cost tens of thousands of yuan each. Lin Chuan's suggestion did alleviate some of the team's burden.

Li Jianguo pinched his eye bags and tightened his grip. He hadn't expected Lin Chuan to be thinking about this kind of thing, and he was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses.

He immediately nodded and said, "That's a good thing, I agree. Write the application down and give it to me, I'll take it to the team committee to discuss it, and then get it stamped."

Li Jianguo said it was something to discuss, but the most important thing was that he agreed.

Then Li Jianguo changed the subject, his face serious, and said, "Chuanzi, it's good that you have ideas."

However, since you have accepted the task of governing Canhong Island, you must govern it properly, and not just talk about it.

"Uncle, don't worry, I've made all the plans. Once the county's documents come through, I'll start governing the island," Lin Chuan explained, relieved.

Hearing Lin Chuan's assurance, Li Jianguo's expression softened:

"Okay, that's good. I'm relieved to hear that. You said there was one more thing, what is it?"