Reborn in 1984, fishing and hunting in Jiangnan

Chapter 50

Chen Zheng patted his two younger brothers on the shoulders and didn't ask any further questions.

After the results came out, both brothers passed the qualifying score.

Chen Rong's score was in the top ten, and Chen Feng barely passed, but he still got into university.

Zhang Cuihua was overjoyed and cooked a whole table of dishes.

They also made a special trip to the village's land temple, burned incense, and said it was to fulfill a vow.

After the enrollment procedures were completed, Chen Rong and Chen Feng were about to go to school.

Chen Zheng helped them pack their bedding, clothes, and toiletries, filling two snakeskin bags to the brim.

Zhang Jianguo pushed the cart to take them to the town's bus station, nagging and giving them instructions along the way:

"Fengzi, don't get into fights at school. Rongzi, keep an eye on your brother and don't let him cause trouble."

Chen Feng was unconvinced and said, "When have I ever caused any trouble?"

Zhang Jianguo rolled his eyes and said, "Last month you trampled Wang Laoliu's pumpkin."

Chen Feng blushed and remained silent.

When the cart arrived in town, Chen Zheng put his two younger brothers on the bus bound for the county seat.

He took out twenty yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Chen Rong's hand: "This is the first month's living expenses."

If you don't have enough money, tell me. Don't be stingy.

Rongzi, you keep an eye on Fengzi and make sure he studies hard. Fengzi, listen to your brother Rong and don't cause trouble.

Chen Rong carefully pocketed the money and nodded. Chen Feng got into the car and leaned against the window, shouting:

"Brother! When I come back from my vacation, I'll help you dig a pond!"

The shuttle bus slowly started moving.

Looking at the dust kicked up by the car, Chen Zheng suddenly felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

Both of my younger brothers were admitted to the best junior high school in the county. They live on campus and have a cafeteria, so they no longer have to travel dozens of miles of dirt road every day.

His mother is recovering soon, and things at home are moving in a positive direction.

In November, the wind blows in gusts from the northwest at Baiyang Lake, and the weather turns cold very quickly.

The fish in the pond have grown to over half a pound, with the silver carp and bighead carp almost a pound, and the grass carp and black carp weighing five or six ounces.

The first thing Chen Zheng does every morning is to go to the fishpond to measure the water temperature and transparency.

The notes in the notebook have accumulated into a thick stack.

When the water temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, the fish become significantly less active and their food intake decreases sharply.

Following the instructions given in the training course, he reduced the amount of feed from twice a day to once a day.

Feeding time is fixed at noon when the sun is strongest.

The amount of soybean cake used was also reduced by half, mixed with wheat bran and rice bran, kneaded into small balls, and scattered into the pond.

The fish slowly floated to the surface from the bottom of the water, their appetite for food much weaker than in autumn.

But the fact that they are still eating indicates that their metabolism has not completely stopped.

He opened the inlet halfway, letting the new water flow slowly in through the sluice gate, while pushing the old water out through the outlet.

In winter, there are fewer plankton in the water, and dissolved oxygen levels are mainly maintained by water exchanges.

He used a bamboo sieve to create a net at the water outlet to prevent the fish from escaping with the current.

With Chen Rong away, the daily management of the fishpond was entirely up to Chen Zheng.

Zhang Jianguo comes over every afternoon to help spread feed and check the gates.

But Chen Zheng himself still oversaw the main technical work.

He read through the provincial fisheries research institute's briefing that Zhou Haiming had given him several times.

I drew a flowchart of winter fishpond management in my notebook based on the diagram.

Stop feeding when the water temperature drops below five degrees Celsius.

After the water surface freezes, chisel three to five holes in the ice in the deep water area, each at least one foot in diameter.

A layer of straw was laid on the ice to prevent it from freezing solid.

When the water temperature rises above eight degrees Celsius in early spring, gradually resume feeding.

That afternoon, Chen Zheng was squatting on the bank of the pond measuring its transparency when Li Quan arrived on his bicycle.

A burlap sack was strapped to the back seat, bulging and full.

He untied the sack, placed it on the bank of the pond, and said:

"Ah Zheng, this is something that several fish farmers in our village pooled together."

A few pieces of cured pork, two cured fish, and some dried mushrooms.

It's nothing valuable, but it's everyone's sentiment.

Chen Zheng stood up and dusted off his hands: "Brother Quan, how could I accept this?"

"What's there to be embarrassed about?"

Li Quan shoved the sack into his hands.

"Your method of soaking fish in salt water saved the fishponds of seven or eight households in Lijiawan."

In previous years, grass carp would start turning belly up in the fall, but this year not a single one died.

The pond belonging to Old Zhao's family was mostly destroyed last year, but it was completely saved this year.

What's the big deal about all this stuff we've chipped in? If you don't accept it, we'll all feel guilty.

Chen Zheng couldn't refuse any longer, so he accepted the sack.

He asked Li Quan about the loan application.

Li Quan said he applied for a 500 yuan ordinary household loan, which has been approved.

We plan to expand the fishpond by another acre next spring.

Speaking of loans, he pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to Chen Zheng:

"This is something Sun Maocai asked me to bring to you. He said he didn't dare come to you directly, for fear you would talk to him about the land."

Chen Zheng took the letter, tore open the seal, and found a thin sheet of paper inside.

The handwriting is crooked and messy; it's obvious that he wrote it himself.

The letter was short, but it essentially said that the Sun family bought that piece of land during the Republic of China era.

At the time, the Zhou family did not provide a land deed, but only a written agreement.

I've been trying to get the land title deed replaced for years, but I can't find the original records in town.

I heard that Chen Zheng has the original land deed for this land, and he's willing to talk about it; he has no other intentions.

I just want to clarify things regarding the land.

Chen Zheng folded the letter and put it in his pocket.

Li Quan said from the side, "Mao Cai is a very honest man. His family has been farming this land for two generations, so he has a deep affection for it."

If you can get him to continue planting, even if it's just a lease agreement, he'll accept it.

He cultivates that land himself, and pays you some rent or shares of grain each year, so neither side loses out.

Chen Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Brother Quan, go back and tell Uncle Sun to come to Lutang Village to find me on the tenth of next month."

I invited him for tea so we could talk face-to-face.

Li Quan agreed, got on his bicycle, and rode away.

After he left, Chen Zheng carried the sack home, hung the cured meat and fish on the roof beam, and put the dried mushrooms into the cupboard.

Looking at those things, Zhang Cuihua said, "You child, how many things have you done for others outside?"

Why are they sending so many things?

"I only helped with a small matter," Chen Zheng said.

Old Chen squatted on the doorstep, smoking, a smirk playing on his lips.

Time flies and it's already the end of the month.

News came from Director Fang that the loan had been approved.

Chen Zheng was recognized as an outstanding model household and received a loan of 1,000 yuan.

In the afternoon, he took the passbook to the Agricultural Bank branch in town.

The sales clerk verified the information and transferred one thousand yuan into his account.

The original balance on the folded paper was less than two hundred dollars. With this one thousand dollars added, the total is more than one thousand one hundred dollars.

This amount of money would be enough to make any household in Lutang Village stand tall and proud.

But Chen Zheng knew in his heart that this thousand yuan was just the beginning.

The two fishponds will be dug next spring. Bricks, cement, water pipes, nets, fish fry, feed—everything will cost money.

A thousand dollars seems like a lot, but if you really spend it, it'll only last until you catch fish next autumn.

Fortunately, news came from Guo Changlin that he wanted 2,000 catties of fish by the end of the year, with the price being 10% higher than the guaranteed price.

Crucian carp is 1.3 yuan, bream is 1.4 yuan, grass carp is 1.3 yuan, and black carp is 1.6 yuan.

With the additional income from Master Qian's fish processing point, the total revenue from this batch of fish will be at least 1,500 yuan.

After deducting costs, the profit can exceed one thousand.

That noon, he came out of the Agricultural Bank branch and passed by the town's supply and marketing cooperative, where he ran into Sister Deng unloading goods at the entrance.

She was wearing a gray jumpsuit with the sleeves rolled up high, and her forehead was covered in sweat.

They are unloading cardboard boxes from the tricycle.

She saw Chen Zheng, straightened up, and wiped her sweat: "Xiao Chen! The loan was approved?"

"Approved, one thousand yuan."

"Okay!" Sister Deng carried the last cardboard box down.

"A thousand yuan is enough to do a lot of things here."

Jiawang told me that your family plans to expand your fishpond next year, and I should let him know what supplies we need.

I'll keep an eye on things at the supply and marketing cooperative for you; try to save on prices wherever possible.

Chen Zheng thanked her and then asked about Jiawang's situation at school.

Sister Deng said that this kid is very motivated at the county's No. 1 High School. He spends all his time in the library and ranked third in the class in the last monthly exam.

Even the head of the teaching department praised him for his talent.

However, he still has some difficulty seeing the blackboard with his crossed eyes, so she is preparing to get him a new pair of glasses.

When talking about Jiawang, Sister Deng's face was full of smiles, even happier than when talking about her own affairs.

Chen Zheng was happy for Jiawang.

A few days after returning to the village, the day we had agreed to meet arrived.

Sun Maocai arrived early in the morning, riding a bicycle with his son Sun Xiaozhu on the back.

Sun Maocai was in his early fifties, dark-skinned and thin, wearing a blue cloth shirt with worn-out cuffs that had been sewn up.

He was carrying a bag of tea leaves, the kind of loose jasmine tea sold at the town's supply and marketing cooperative.

Chen Zheng set up a small square table in the courtyard and brewed some tea.

He took out the original land deed for the land in Zhaojiadu and spread it out on the table.

Sun Maocai bent down, leaned closer to look, touched the paper with his finger, and then withdrew it.

He wasn't very literate, but he could still recognize a few keywords on the land deed.

Zhao Jiadu, to the west, four mu in total, in the twenty-first year of the Guangxu reign.

"This is the land."

When my father bought this land, the Zhou family said the land deed was lost and they only wrote a written agreement.

Later, the Zhou family fell into ruin, and my father wanted to replace the land deed, but he went to the town government three times and still couldn't get it done.

There are no original records in the files, and no one dares to fill them in.

Chen Zheng put the land deed aside and picked up his teacup:

"Uncle Sun, it's true that I have the land deed, but it's also true that your family has farmed this land for two generations."

I invited you here today not to ask you for land.

I want to discuss how to clarify this matter so that both sides can feel at ease.

Sun Maocai paused for a moment, then looked up at him.

"Director Fang has already issued a property rights investigation report, confirming the validity of the land deed."

According to the county's policy, in this situation, a property rights clarification and subsidy procedure can be followed.

If you take out the documents you have and compare them with my land title, the Land Authority can confirm that the sale is valid.

The government will provide a subsidy, and the portion I receive will be converted into a lease agreement.

You can continue cultivating this land; I won't take it back.

Sun Maocai opened his mouth, as if to say, "This land is yours, don't you want it?"

But in the end, he didn't say it.

He just kept his head down for a long time before finally asking, "How much is the rent?"

"Ten percent of the annual harvest. I don't care what you plant, just give me the market price at the end of the year," Chen Zheng said.

%.

The land in Zhaojiadu is exactly four mu in size.

If you plant corn, you can get four or five hundred catties per mu, four mu can yield more than a thousand catties, and ten percent is only a little over a hundred catties of corn.

This rent is, frankly speaking, purely symbolic.

Sun Maocai's hand trembled slightly.

He pushed the packet of tea towards Chen Zheng, and finally squeezed out a few words, saying that he would take care of it when he got back.

Sun Xiaozhu had been standing silently to the side when he suddenly asked:

"Chen Zheng, why don't you take the land back? This land is yours."

Chen Zheng looked at Sun Xiaozhu, a young man not much older than him, with broad shoulders and large hands.

He looks like someone who does farm work year-round.

"Your father has been farming this land for decades. Every furrow in the field was dug out by him, one hoe at a time."

"If I take the land back, it's not just taking back a piece of land, it's taking back decades of your father's hard work."

Sun Xiaozhu remained silent.

After the Sun family father and son left, before the square table was even put away, a second group of people arrived in the courtyard.

They are two private landowners in Baiyang Town, one surnamed Fang and the other surnamed Wang.

They were all contacted after receiving a notification from the Land Administration Bureau.

The man surnamed Fang runs a small shop in town, and the man surnamed Wang has a stall in the vegetable market.

Neither family owned much land; the Fang family's plot was less than two mu, and the Wang family's plot was just over one mu.

They're all located on the edge of the town, next to the highway leading to the county seat; the location is quite good.

Both men held the original purchase agreement from the Zhou family. The paper was yellowed, but the handwriting was still legible.

Chen Zheng showed the two the land deed and explained the policy on property rights clarification and subsidies.

Old Fang was hesitant before, afraid of spending a lot of money, but he heard that there was a subsidy program available.

Upon hearing that a lease agreement could be signed to continue using the property, their attitude immediately changed.

Old Wang was very straightforward, saying exactly what to do and only asking one question throughout.

When can I go to the Land Bureau to sign the documents?

Chen Zheng made an appointment with them to go to the county land administration bureau together next Wednesday.

This kept him busy all afternoon. After seeing off two groups of people, Chen Zheng tidied up the teacups on the table.

He sat at the square table for a while, going over the land deed in his mind.

Including Sun Maocai's land, four land deeds have now found current owners.

Two of them are willing to sign lease agreements, and two are in talks.

The remaining two are in the hands of the Baiyang Town government.

That piece of land was requisitioned to build an agricultural machinery station back then, and according to policy, it cannot be taken back.

However, Director Fang said that compensation could be applied for, but the specific amount still needs to wait for the town government's reply.

Seven land deeds, one by one, were pushed down.

That evening, Chen Zheng wrote down the progress of the past two days in his notebook.

From loan approvals to land title negotiations, the accumulated data and records have filled an entire notebook.

He pulled out a new notebook and wrote down his plans for next year on the first page.

In early spring, dig ponds to expand the water surface to more than six acres.

The second batch of fish fry will be released in the spring.

Experiments on mandarin fish farming will begin in the summer.

The first batch of adult fish were harvested in autumn.

These plans may seem like just a few lines on paper now, but each one is backed by data.

When he opens this notebook again next year at this time, his account to himself will be more than just a plan.

In early December, the water level of Baiyang Lake dropped again, and the deepest part, Nanwan, was only a little over two zhang deep.

Chen Zheng took some time to measure the deep water area of ​​the fishpond again.

The deepest part is still 2.1 meters deep, barely enough to survive the winter.

He piled up several bundles of straw on the embankment near the deep water area.

Prepare to lay it on the ice after the water freezes to prevent it from freezing solid.

That afternoon, Zhou Haiming arrived.

He was riding a motorcycle provided by the county's aquatic products company.

The truck bed contained a stack of informational materials on winter fish disease prevention and control.

He parked his motorcycle in front of Chen Zheng's yard and took out a canvas bag and a brown paper bag from the back of the motorcycle.

"Chen Zheng, the people from the Provincial Fisheries Research Institute will be coming next Monday."

I've arranged for them to visit your fishpond.

Zhou Haiming placed the canvas bag on the stone platform and took out a document from it.

"Also, Teacher Zhao mentioned the matter of the technology promoter to me."

I reported it to my company leader, and he said it was okay.

The employment letter is in a kraft paper bag, and the monthly subsidy is five yuan, starting next month.

Although it's not much, it will give you official status when you do technology promotion in the Baiyang Town area.

Chen Zheng took the kraft paper bag and opened the seal.

The appointment letter had a red plastic cover.

The label reads "Special Technical Extension Officer of Qingshui County Aquatic Products Company" and bears the company seal at the bottom.

The subsidy of five yuan is not much, but what he values ​​is not the few yuan, but the recognition behind the employment letter.

With this identity, when he goes to other villages to talk about water quality management and teach fish disease prevention, people won't think he's meddling.

"Thank you, Mr. Zhou."

"You're welcome." Zhou Haiming took another book out of his canvas bag and handed it to Chen Zheng.

"This is my textbook from university, 'Freshwater Fish Aquaculture'."

Your training course covered the basics; this book is more systematic.

From fish fry breeding to adult fish farming to disease control, they have everything.

If you can thoroughly understand this book, you'll be just as good as a university student majoring in fisheries.

Chen Zheng took the book and flipped through it.

The book is a university textbook, with thick paper and clear printing. Each chapter includes review questions and references.

Such specialized teaching materials were almost never seen in rural areas in 1984.

If Zhou Haiming hadn't given it to him, he might never have had the chance to come into contact with it in his entire life.

"After the people from the provincial institute arrive, you can talk to them about mandarin fish farming."

The survival rate of the pilot test they conducted in Danjiangkou exceeded 20%.

Although it's still low, the direction is right.

If you can get in touch with them, you'll have the technical support to help with the artificial breeding of mandarin fish in the future.

Chen Zheng kept these words in mind.

He put the book away and then asked, "What are the people from the provincial government mainly here to see this time?"

"Look at the water quality of Baiyang Lake and the technical level of the surrounding aquaculture farmers."

They wanted to find a suitable location to set up a freshwater aquaculture demonstration base. I recommended your fishpond.

Zhou Haiming paused for a moment, then said, "To put it bluntly, they bring projects and funding."

If you are selected by them as a demonstration base, you will not only receive technical guidance, but also have some of your funding covered.

Chen Zheng was startled.

This means that all the fish farmers around Baiyang Lake will focus their attention on his fishpond.

If he does it well, he will be the benchmark.

If anything goes wrong in any link, it will not only result in your own losses, but also affect the confidence of the surrounding farmers.

But others want to seize this opportunity but can't.

He put the letter of appointment aside and looked down at his calloused hands.

catch.