Chapter 313 No one wants to experience the feeling of being hungry before returning!
Cao Jiwen changed his pants and shoes, walked over and saw that the water level had begun to slowly drop.
He said to Su Wenchen with some emotion.
"With the help of the pump, it's much faster!"
"Otherwise, I'm afraid that more than half of the work on this section of the canal will be suspended again today."
When Su Wenchen heard this, he asked directly.
"Do you often dig out water? In the past, we had to rely on manual labor to carry water out, which was too time-consuming!"
Cao Jiwen sighed.
"Water does come out frequently because the groundwater level here is very high. The rising groundwater level often brings up salt and alkali from underground. This is why the salt and alkali here cannot be completely drained for many years."
"The drainage channel must be dug to the groundwater level so that the groundwater can be drained along the channel. This way, the salt will not continue to rise. Naturally, once it reaches a certain depth, it will be very easy to produce water!"
"I heard Lao Yang here say that when they were digging the canal, they had to wade through the water!"
Su Wenchen frowned.
"In this kind of weather? Digging in the water all the time?"
To be honest, it is late March now, and although the weather is indeed getting warmer, the temperature is still only around 10 degrees Celsius even at noon.
It's not too cold if you're working normally, but if you keep soaking your feet in cold water while working, there will definitely be problems.
As if seeing Su Wenchen frown, Cao Jiwen explained.
"Director, there's nothing we can do about it. This is how it's always been done here. They only have five pumps in the entire county, so we can only dig main canals near the county first."
“The main canal needs to converge with the branch canals, so it needs to be dug wider and deeper.”
"If there's no pump to help, once more than two holes are dug, it's basically impossible to plug them."
"The main canal upstream from us is almost full at the bottom now, but there are two excavators over there that you secured from the Ministry."
"We don't have to send people to work in the water. I'll transfer most of the people to the branch canal. The two excavators allocated from above will be used to complete the final work on the main canal!"
When Su Wenchen heard what Cao Jiwen said, his expression relaxed a lot, but he still asked.
“When did you start digging?”
"Didn't I say to keep these workers fed for the winter?"
Cao Jiwen explained directly.
"Director, this is not what I asked for."
"For them, although they can eat free food temporarily, the food they earn through their own efforts is the most secure."
“So after the Chinese New Year, we couldn’t wait to set up a production team.”
After saying that, he took Su Wenchen inside and pointed to the fields with gullies in the distance.
"After all, the temperature here warms up faster than in the north, so digging small ditches less than one meter deep in the fields is quite easy."
"During this period, we have dug small ditches for the rapid drainage of salt and water from the 5,000 mu of saline-alkali land that the commune originally opened up."
"The farm ditches and ditches between the fields are almost complete."
"Once this branch canal is dug, the groundwater in this area will flow upward through these crisscrossing canals and into this branch canal, and then into the main canal and into the Dasha River."
"Without the support of groundwater, the salt and alkali buried deep underground cannot rise up."
Su Wenchen looked at the land in the distance, which was cut into pieces like tofu by the crisscrossing canals.
He nodded slightly, but still spoke.
“You’ve done a good job, but these 5,000 acres of land are still a little insufficient.
"It would be best if we could select 10,000 mu of land this year, thoroughly plan the drainage channels on this land, and transform it into fertile land to grow grain to make up for the food shortage."
"If there's no way to drain the remaining salt and alkali from the land, we can plant alkali-resistant alfalfa on a large scale to raise meat rabbits."
"This way, self-sufficiency in food supply shouldn't be a big problem here."
"Otherwise, another commune will join in next year. If this place can't be self-sufficient then, the pressure will be even greater."
"If this continues, it will become a vicious cycle. Once a third commune joins, the enormous population burden will cause us to collapse!"
Upon hearing this, Cao Jiwen nodded and took a deep breath to assure himself.
"Director, don't worry. This year we will do our best to complete the complete improvement of 10,000 mu of land and the planting of 50,000 mu of alkali-resistant alfalfa."
"We will cooperate with the farm's rabbit breeding program to achieve this year's self-sufficiency goal."
After saying that, he turned to Su Wenchen.
"But Director, these three pumps must be left to us!"
"With this thing helping us, we can save a lot of effort."
"Especially when digging branch canals and main canals that are more than two meters high, having machines to help pump water can save us a lot of time."
Su Wenchen simply waved his hand.
"I'll give you five first. I'll find out what's going on with the pioneering team. If they're making good progress, I'll give you a few more!"
I looked at the water level which had been steadily decreasing.
"Okay then, I'll leave this to you. Captain Zhou just taught you how to use the pump. If you encounter similar situations in the future, you can handle them on your own."
"I also need to go to Lao Hou's place to see how their breeding department is doing!"
Cao Jiwen sighed.
"Old Hou is having some trouble right now. The rabbits we brought in from other places don't seem to be adapting well to life here."
"During this period, Lao Hou was so anxious that he got several boils on his mouth."
"In the end, I had no choice but to call you over here, Director. Otherwise, in another month, I'm afraid all these rabbits will be dead."
Su Wenchen's expression became a little serious when he heard this.
"Is it that serious?"
"Okay, I'll go take a look. We can talk tonight if there's anything."
After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave, but before leaving, Su Wenchen walked towards the employees who were sitting on the ground resting.
“Thank you all for your hard work!”
"Everyone responded very quickly today and cooperated with each other very well."
"Our young employees, in particular, stepped forward in this weather and stood in the cold water to help fetch water. This spirit must be praised!"
After hearing Su Wenchen's words, many employees who had jumped down voluntarily in front immediately showed honest smiles on their faces.
"Director, we're just thinking that if the water isn't blocked and all the water comes out, we won't be able to dig that section of the canal today!"
Su Wenchen waved his hand.
"No matter what you think, you have taken practical actions to help solve problems in the field."
"I believe that as long as all the employees on our farm are united, we can work together to overcome any challenge."
"Digging ditches is indeed hard work now, but every shovel of soil we use is digging for a living for our future generations!"
"Once the alkali drainage system is completed and the saline-alkali land is transformed into fertile farmland, we will be able to achieve a good life of 'guaranteed harvest regardless of drought or flood, and surplus every year'!"
"By then, each of you will be a hero in transforming the saline-alkali land!"
After saying that, he waved his hand.
"I won't say anything else. Everyone, work hard to finish digging this section today. We'll kill a pig in the canteen tonight for everyone's meal!"
"Everyone who works in the water today will get an extra five ounces of meat tonight!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of the surrounding employees suddenly lit up.
Meat!
For these employees who have only been on the farm for a few months, the attraction is too great.
"Director, this is even more extravagant than Chinese New Year! I told you it's the right thing to do to follow the farm!"
Because this year these employees received food supplies from the farm, but they definitely had no way to get meat. The only pieces of meat they ate during the New Year were the few rabbits that died on the farm.
But there were so many people in the field, so everyone could only drink the broth.
After knowing that there would be pork to eat in the evening, many people could no longer resist.
"Since the director has said so, what are we waiting for? Let's work together and finish the work quickly so we can go back and eat meat."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an immediate and enthusiastic response, and everyone stood up, picked up their tools and prepared to go back to their own sections of the canal to work.
However, many people still looked annoyed.
"I would have gone down earlier. I'd have gotten an extra five ounces of meat! That would have been enough to last me several days."
Upon hearing this, the person who had taken the initiative to go down in front immediately showed a smug look.
"Who told you to be afraid of the cold? This is a reward for us! Five taels of meat per person. I guess we didn't even eat five taels of meat in total last year!"
"Humph, who said I was afraid of the cold? I was just one step slower than you. I let you get away with it this time, but next time I encounter something like this, I will definitely be faster than you. I will definitely get a share of the meat."
"Tsk, just brag! You'll definitely fall behind us next time."
Amidst the discussions among the employees.
The team leaders blew their whistles one after another, calling everyone in their team to prepare to return to their own canal sections.
It seemed as if they were afraid that once they finished their work, the meat would be eaten up by other groups that had finished their work earlier.
Looking at the morale that was suddenly boosted, Cao Jiwen walked over to Su Wenchen and sighed.
"Director, I really need to learn from you when it comes to boosting morale!"
"Since we started digging the canal, today is the day with the highest morale!"
Looking at the canal section that was closer and not affected by the water, slogans of people working hard could be heard from the bottom of the canal.
Su Wenchen smiled and shook his head.
"What do you want to learn? How do you get some pigs?"
"You don't need to do that. As long as you do a good job of agricultural planting on our farm, the pigs will naturally come."
"Do you think these former members don't want to raise pigs? Or is it that the land produces too little, not enough for them to eat, so how can they feed the pigs?"
"Without enough food, we wouldn't be able to organize people on a large scale to dig canals like we do now."
"If these drainage ditches aren't dug properly, the salinity of the groundwater will increase, reducing grain production. This will further reduce grain production, making it even more difficult to organize manpower for large-scale digging of ditches. It's a vicious cycle!"
Cao Jiwen sighed.
"Yes! This is also the reason why these people took the initiative to ask to dig the canal right after eating."
"No one wants to experience the feeling of being hungry before returning home!"
Su Wenchen shook his head.
"It's not a pleasant feeling to be hungry. Who wants to try it more?"
"Okay, I'm not going to talk to you anymore. I have to go to the farm and take a look!"
"Remember to pack up early in the evening, otherwise after dinner at the site, it will be too late for some production teams living far away to return home."
When Cao Jiwen heard this, he also replied with a smile.
"Director, do I need to remember to eat meat? Just look at the atmosphere in which everyone is working and you will know that they will definitely go back early!"
(End of this chapter)
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