Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

Life flows on gently, like a river.

It's already deep winter, and the river wind is biting, but there's a different scene on Canhong Island.

The celery seedlings in the greenhouse have already unfurled their third leaf, their slender stems standing tall and exuding vitality.

The spinach grew even more vigorously, with thick, shiny green leaves that were almost visible as fine hairs under the sunlight shining through the thin film.

Lin Chuan would record the data from inside the greenhouse every two days to accumulate experience. During this time, Zhou Zhengshan, whom he met in Chongming, also came twice to exchange experiences.

Life on the island gradually develops a rhythm: checking the greenhouses, watering, and recording data; in the morning, preparing the land in the experimental fields, planting drought-resistant seeds brought by Su Yanqiu, as well as sesame and alfalfa.

In the afternoon, they took turns clearing the land, gradually clearing out the reed marshes and saline-alkali flats, and improving them with humus.

The island's several wild ponds and swamps need to be cleared, and ditches need to be dug when there's free time. The island's wild ponds and swamps also need to be replanned to form a water system that can store water, drain floods, and circulate water.

In the countryside, there's always work to be done if you're willing, let alone an individual on an island.

"We can never finish all this work on the island by ourselves." Lin Chuan dug a drainage ditch, straightened his aching back, and looked at the large area of ​​wasteland in front of him that still needed to be cleared. He couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

"Once the greenhouse harvest is complete, we'll need to hire more people."

"Take your time, we'll finish it eventually." Lin's mother picked up the reed roots she had dug up and put them into a basket not far away.

Hearing this, he smiled and continued working, "Our family is already doing much better this year than in previous years, so there's no rush."

Lin's father, wielding a pickaxe, dug up a block of hard, compacted soil and, panting, replied, "A person is still no match for a lump of iron."

If we could get a hand tractor from the island, even a small one, to till the land and dig ditches, we could save so much work.

"Do you think lumps of iron are free?" Lin's mother immediately rolled her eyes at him. "Besides, where are you going to find lumps of iron to bring to the island? Do you think it's a small boat that you can just row over whenever you want?"

Lin's father was taken aback, gave an awkward laugh, and didn't dare to say another word.

Recently, perhaps because the Lin family's life has become noticeably prosperous, they have become a capable family in the eyes of the villagers.

Every few days, Lin's father would be invited out for drinks, and sometimes he would be dragged out to play a few rounds of cards.

Lin's father was shy and couldn't resist the invitations from his fellow villagers. He always felt it was hard to refuse, so he often didn't get home until very late, and inevitably felt tired when he worked the next day.

Lin's mother scolded him a lot for this.

Lin's father felt wronged and often grumbled to Lin's mother in private: "When others invite us for drinks, they are all neighbors and relatives. If I don't go, people will say that our family looks down on others now that we have money."

Xiao Chuan isn't going; people say he's too arrogant for his age. If I, as his father, don't go, that wouldn't be right..."

If I don't go, there's bound to be a lot of gossip spreading.

Lin's mother didn't believe this explanation at all and gave him a good scolding: "Stop using Xiao Chuan as a shield!"

People want to befriend him because they see his talent; what's the point of drinking and playing cards with you? It's just a waste of time!

Lin's mother's strict discipline had some effect. Although Lin's father still went to the hospital, he did so much less often and returned home much later in the evening.

Lin Chuan listened quietly with a smile, without saying a word.

I thought this daily rhythm of running between the island and the village would continue until the first batch of vegetables was harvested around the Spring Festival.

When the greenhouses show results, the family's finances will be better, and there will be many plans, such as hiring people, buying small farm machinery, or even going to the cultural center to get those cypress wood pieces.

Only with money can we implement it step by step.

Lin Chuan had been thinking about the cypress wood from the cultural center ever since he heard about it from Master Lu.

The idea of ​​building a decent pavilion for the Sweetwater Well with old cypress wood and stockpiling good timber for the island's future accommodation area appealed to him.

But after inquiring about the price, he had to put it aside for the time being. He had enough money to keep the greenhouse running and cover the daily expenses on the island, and he simply couldn't spare any extra money to do this nice addition.

Moreover, without a suitable pretext, it's not easy to apply to the cultural center for the use of those demolished and rebuilt materials.

The following day, Lin Chuan was waiting at home for Technician Wang from the county's Academy of Agricultural Sciences, as they had arranged to finalize the intercropping plan for green manure in the experimental field.

The winter sun shone warmly through the windows into the main room.

Suddenly, a clear voice came from outside the courtyard gate: "Is Comrade Lin Chuan home? There's news!"

Lin Chuan got up and went out to greet him. He saw a young postman in a green uniform, carrying a canvas mailbag, standing at the door with a brown paper envelope in his hand and a smile on his face.

He recognized the man as Zheng, the postman in charge of this waterway postal route. However, he usually delivered mail to the brigade headquarters and rarely delivered it directly to homes.

"Comrade Zheng, what a rare guest! Would you like to come in and have a drink of water?" Lin Chuan greeted him with a smile.

"No, no, I have to catch the ship." Postman Zheng handed over the envelope, his tone filled with a sense of pride and excitement.

"Comrade Lin Chuan, your article has been published! I just received this issue of the Provincial Science and Technology Daily from the commune, along with the letter I sent you. Thinking it was good news, I brought it directly to you!"

"It's been reported?" Lin Chuan was taken aback, took the envelope, and felt that it was very thick.

"Yes! I saw it, it was on the second page, the headline was quite eye-catching. It's rare for something from our area to make it into the provincial newspaper! Congratulations!" Zheng the postman said sincerely.

After seeing off the enthusiastic postman, Lin Chuan returned to the main room and opened the envelope.

Inside was indeed a neatly folded copy of the Provincial Science and Technology Daily, along with a short letter.

The letter was written by the newspaper editor; it was formal and polite, and its gist was that the article was quite insightful.

It has reference value for grassroots scientific research and production, so it is published hereby. A sample copy and a small remittance are sent with the letter (with a remittance slip for five yuan attached).

And we hope to continue providing such observations and reflections from the front lines of production in the future.

Lin Chuan unfolded the newspaper and quickly found his article on the second page.

The title has been slightly modified to be more concise, but the content remains largely the same, and a simple illustration is included next to it.

His name, "Lin Chuan," was neatly printed below the title.

Looking at the newspaper, Lin Chuan felt a strange feeling welling up inside him, quite unexpectedly.

The articles he sent to several newspapers a little over a month ago as his "stepping stone" were "A Preliminary Observation and Analysis of the Freshwater Lens Phenomenon on Sandy Islands in the Yangtze River Estuary and Its Protection and Utilization," which he had polished by incorporating knowledge from his previous life, and another short article about tidal flat ecology.

These submissions disappeared without a trace, like stones sinking into the sea.

As time went by, Lin Chuan himself almost forgot about it, simply assuming that the submission had failed and that he needed to wait for another opportunity.

The article was suddenly reported, and I don't know why. I shook my head, not understanding it, and stopped investigating.

"Xiao Chuan, what's in the news?" The old man poked his head out from the inner room and asked curiously.

"An article I wrote about the sweet water wells on our island was published in the provincial newspaper," Lin Chuan said with a smile, handing the newspaper to the old man.

He looked at the remaining letters.

Although the old man couldn't read all the words, his eyes lit up immediately when he saw Lin Chuan's name printed in the newspaper. "Good, good, good! This is great news!"