Chapter 289 The key to food is water
The epidemic in Changping has passed. Although there are still a small number of sporadic cases, the general outpatient clinics of the Chinese medicine hospital can cope with it.
The Union Hospital has already withdrawn. There is no point in staying, it will only bring more embarrassment.
After this battle, the reputation of the Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was completely established in the suburbs of Beijing and even in the entire capital. Apart from influenza patients, the number of other ordinary patients was obviously increasing.
However, these days, the top priority for the Changping branch is not seeing patients, but farming.
April is the sowing season, and all the family members of the Chinese medicine hospital staff who can go out have gone out to work in the fields.
Of the 1,000 acres of thin land, the Chinese medicine hospital plans to plant 800 acres of corn, which has the highest yield and can be used as a staple food, and the remaining 200 acres will be planted with potatoes, sweet potatoes and various vegetables.
All the seeds are provided by Lin Sanqi, so there is no shortage of crops, but there is a shortage of labor.
When Lin Sanqi returned to Changping, he saw that the fields were full of farmers and the loudspeakers were playing red songs non-stop. The scene was very enthusiastic and very contagious.
Unfortunately, the scholar's farming efficiency is much lower. If an experienced farmer were to do it, it would probably be done in a few days.
Lin Sanqi found Vice President Ji in the fields, wearing a straw hat and digging a hole.
"Deputy Ji, I'm back. How are you? What kind of work do you want to assign to me? Pah, pah, why is there so much dust?"
Vice President Ji's face was completely devoid of smiles, instead he looked worried:
"Ah, this reminds me of an ancient poem from Jiangnan: The cuckoo flies, urging early plowing; the hoes pound to seize the spring sunshine. A thousand-layered stone and tree line the road, and the fields echo with the sound of water flowing. Look, what a beautiful scene! The sound of water flowing is an indispensable part of spring plowing."
Look at our fields again. A gust of spring wind blows by, and instead of ripples, it stirs up sandstorms. "Xiao Qi, I'm worried. Look at all the good crops you've got, and the possibility that they won't survive is a problem!"
Lin Sanqi was also quite helpless. How to travel to this era was a problem for him. It was really difficult to take a single step.
Worrying about having no food or drink, no medicine or equipment, and no water when it doesn't rain, if people worry all day long, the national average life expectancy will drop by several years.
"Deputy Ji, why worry? If there are difficulties, we will overcome them. There are always more solutions than problems."
"What can you do? Can you make water appear? You are really standing there without worrying about your back pain."
Lin Sanqi was speechless for a moment, thinking that he had never farmed in his two lifetimes and could not empathize with the farmer.
Lin Sanqi stood up and discovered that among the people who were farming at the Chinese Medicine Hospital, some were digging holes, some were filling them with seeds, and a considerable number of people were carrying buckets and using spoons to water the seeds.
Lin Sanqi soon saw Pan Ye in the crowd, also struggling to carry a wooden bucket and moving forward.
"Oh my, this is so unfair! Pan Ye is just an intern and doesn't get paid a penny from us. Why don't you let her study hard and instead make her participate in labor?"
Lin Sanqi couldn't stand it anymore, and his habit of protecting his own people came out, so he ran over quickly.
Vice President Ji knew that this guy was talking to him, so he rolled his eyes and continued to work hard.
Pan Ye also saw Lin Sanqi running towards her. She was delighted after not seeing him for many days, so she carried the bucket with more energy.
"Put it down, put it down! Who told you to carry the water? Seriously..."
Lin Sanqi was complaining before he even ran over. Let alone filling it with water, even if it was not filled with water, a wooden barrel weighed several kilograms, and if it was filled with water, it would weigh at least dozens of kilograms. This was definitely a strenuous task for the thin Pan Ye.
Before Pan Ye could say anything, several old men nearby were dissatisfied:
"You little brat, have you got any eyes? You only care about your wife and not your masters? We old guys are also carrying water."
The person who spoke was old man Jiang Zonghui. He spoke loudly, and after he yelled, Lin Sanqi realized that there were seven or eight old men following Pan Ye. Some of them were carrying wooden barrels, or two of them were working together to carry a barrel. They were all sweating profusely from exhaustion.
"Hey, you old guys, didn't I tell you when I left that you just need to pretend to work? I'm responsible for your food rations, so you won't starve even if you don't work. I'll do it, I'll do it. Be careful not to hurt your back, I'm afraid."
Lin Sanqi was originally going to help Pan Ye carry the bucket, but when he saw the old men like this, he became anxious and hurried to help Mr. Jiang fetch water.
Mr. Jiang was not convinced: "I'm not too old to be unable to move, go help others."
Mr. Shi also laughed and said:
"Everyone is working hard, and we'd be embarrassed if we didn't join in. Spring plowing is a big deal, and we all have to contribute. Alas, I'm afraid our efforts will be in vain."
Mr. Hao has worked in the countryside for several years and has more experience in farming:
"It's really bad. There was almost no rain this past winter, and now the soil is completely dry. And because there's been no snow, the insect eggs in the soil haven't been frozen to death. Even if the crops grow, they will be eaten by insects."
Pan Ye reminded quietly:
"Sanqi, you don't know, we're running out of water. The only well in our hospital is almost out of water. Section Chief Yang said that if all else fails, we can only guarantee water for domestic use, leaving agricultural water out of the question."
Lin Sanqi knew about the water shortage on the farm and had paid attention to it before it opened, but later he forgot about it because he had too many things to do.
"By the way, is there water in the Happy River at the foot of the mountain now?"
Mr. Xiao cursed:
"There's nothing. The little water that flows down from the mountain has already been intercepted by several villages along the river. By the time it reaches our hospital, there's not a drop left. These farmers are so selfish."
The Xingfu River flows through several villages, including Taipingzhuang and Xigou Village. Because water is so precious, these villages have built earth dams to divert the few remaining streams, leaving not a drop of water downstream.
This situation is very common in rural areas. In order to grab water resources, there are many cases of fighting between several villages upstream and downstream, and deaths are also common. At this time, the competition is to see which clan has more male adults and is more united.
But the Chinese medicine hospital is full of weak scholars. If they were to fight with the battle-hardened peasants, they would probably be wiped out immediately, which would mean losing both the battle and their dignity.
Lin Sanqi put his hands on his hips, looked at the people working in front of him, and kept thinking of a solution in his mind.
Although contemporary college students are good at playing badly, when they really use their brains, they have more ideas than one another. After all, their IQ and knowledge are there.
“I think we can dig a well!”
When Lin Sanqi said this, everyone who heard it started laughing:
"Section Chief Lin, you're good at treating patients, but you're not good at farming. Do you think we haven't tried digging wells before? Look, we've tried digging wells in all directions of our farm, but none of them have produced water."
"Has the well been dug?"
Lin Sanqi, who was busy monetizing traffic, really didn't understand the situation, so he prepared to go over and take a look.
Vice President Ji and Chief Yang of the General Affairs Department saw Lin Sanqi inspecting the well and followed him over. They had some hope and thought that this amazing Chief Lin would definitely have a solution.
Lin Sanqi came to an abandoned well and looked inside. He saw that the well was only about three meters deep, so he became excited.
"Deputy Ji, Lao Yang, your well is not well dug. It's not even two or three meters deep. Keep digging."
Section Chief Yang curled his lips and said, "Xiao Lin, look carefully. It's not that we don't want to dig a deep well, but there's only rock underneath. We can't dig any deeper."
When Lin Sanqi saw this, his face turned red. This was another big misunderstanding.
The Chinese Medicine Hospital Farm was originally a wasteland at the foot of a mountain. The soil was thin and there were rocks underneath. No wonder no wells could be dug.
Section Chief Yang continued to explain:
"We tried several times to drill in the west, but the rocks kept blocking us. We can drill in the east, where we have a well for domestic water. But if we drill a well for production, our domestic water supply won't be guaranteed, so we can't drill there.
We had high hopes for the remaining area, near Xingfu River to the north, but we dug to a depth of 30 meters and still found no water. Alas, it seems this isn't a prime location for good feng shui.
Vice President Ji gave a wry smile and said, "If this is a Feng Shui treasure land, then this place would have long been the site of the emperor's mausoleum. If they don't come here, there must be a reason."
When it comes to Feng Shui sites, Lin Sanqi thinks of Emperor Qianlong's Yuling Mausoleum.
It is said that when Yuling was robbed for the first time by Sun Dianying, the underground palace was full of water and the tomb door was propped up by Qianlong's floating coffin. It can be seen that the amount of water was so large that it could even scratch the coffin.
Later, when Puyi sent people to collect the remains for the second time, he found that the underground palace was flooded again and the tomb door was once again blocked by Qianlong's coffin and could not be opened.
Even after Yuling was opened to the public, the underground palace was still filled with water like the Water Curtain Cave, and sometimes a pump had to be used.
The same situation also occurred in the underground palace of Kangxi's Jingling Mausoleum next door. It is said that because there was too much water in Jingling Mausoleum, the underground palace has not been opened after the robbery, and there was no time to pump out the water.
The floods in Jingling and Yuling show that as long as you dig deep, you will definitely find water.
There must be an underground river or spring under the Ming Tombs. It just depends on whether we can find it. Thinking of this, Lin Sanqi asked again:
"If we can't pump water, how do the farmers in the Ming Tombs use water?"
Section Chief Yang laughed. "We have no water, and they have no water either. Look, many villages have organized their entire villages to go to the Ming Tombs Reservoir to fetch water. I heard the reservoir is almost empty now."
Lin Sanqi let out a long sigh, thinking that farmers have a very hard life. How much crops can be irrigated by carrying a load of water from several kilometers to the fields?
How much fruit can crops that are not fully watered produce? No wonder the yield per acre is only 70 or 80 kilograms. It is really a miracle that there is no total crop failure.
Originally, Lin Sanqi wanted to get water from the Ming Tombs Reservoir. At most, he could get some more water pipes in 2013 and connect them along the 4-kilometer distance.
Now that I heard that there was no water in the reservoir, it was obvious that this road was blocked.
Even if it works, the water pipes pass through several villages along the way and would probably have been punctured with holes to release water.
What should I do then?
Lin Sanqi looked at the workers working hard in the fields, feeling sorry for them and his mind was racing.
"Deputy Ji, Lao Yang, it seems we still have to rely on digging a well. However, we can't dig an ordinary well. We have to dig a deep well that is over a hundred meters deep."
The reason why Lin Sanqi knew about the deep water well was because he watched the 7 o'clock news in his previous life.
As for why a college student would watch the 7 o'clock news? It's all part of the school's patriotic education.
Every evening at 7 o'clock, all the closed-circuit televisions in the school broadcast the same program. You can't change the channel unless you turn off the TV.
We often see in the news that our country is helping black people in Africa.
There was a severe shortage of water in Africa, so much so that the black people never took a bath or brushed their teeth in their entire lives. They were almost dying of thirst. Then our country's support arrived.
Providing free lunch to all primary and secondary school students across the country, building stadiums and roads for them, and forgiving them of tens of billions of dollars in debt, all of these demonstrate our demeanor as a great country and help the people of the third world.
One of the supports is to help Uncle Hei dig a well for free.
As soon as the deep well was drilled, groundwater gushed out high into the air, making the black people sing and dance with joy, thanking the Chinese people for their friendship.
Lin Sanqi thought, if water can be pumped out in the perennially dry areas of Africa, wouldn't it be even easier to find groundwater in the Ming Tombs?
At least there is a Thirteen Tombs Reservoir not far away, unlike places like northern Shaanxi and Gansu, where the land is so dry that not even trees grow on the mountains.
When Vice President Ji heard that Lin Sanqi wanted to dig a deep well, he laughed self-deprecatingly:
"Xiao Qi, how can we dig a deep well? First we need to find a geological survey team, then we need to find the army or a specialized mining exploration organization. We're just a small farm, how can we get such a big deal?"
Since the 1950s, China has introduced wire rope impact drills from the Soviet Union, and in the early 1960s began to develop simple water well drilling rigs such as large and small pot cones and impact grab cones.
However, due to their small number, these water well drilling rigs are hidden like treasures by the relevant departments and are mainly used for military or mineral exploration.
In Vice President Ji's opinion, it is obviously impossible for a private institution like the Chinese Medicine Hospital to dig a deep well.
It's like you want to set off fireworks for your ancestor's birthday, but you end up wanting to invite the Rocket Force. You would never do that in your dreams.
Lin Sanqi was not worried. It was just a water well drilling rig, not a photolithography machine. At worst, he could just buy it himself!
"Deputy Ji, that's enough. Leave the well digging to me. I'll take a few days off and think of a solution."
Vice President Ji was delighted when he heard this. He was waiting for Lin Sanqi to say this:
"Okay, I'll trouble you with this, hehe."
Lin Sanqi opened his mouth and wanted to ask you to prepare some ginseng for me. But then he thought that he had already got 10,000 wild ginsengs and he felt guilty about the profit, so he decided not to charge money this time.
When Pan Ye heard that Lin Sanqi was going on a business trip again, he felt unhappy.
Since arriving at the Changping branch, she had originally thought that she could spend every day with Lin Sanqi, but it turned out that Lin Sanqi spent most of his time either on a business trip or on his way to a business trip.
Seeing that his girlfriend was unhappy, Lin Sanqi felt helpless.
Speculators like him only make their money through hard work.
Fortunately, the Chinese Medicine Hospital was his, Lin Sanqi's, world. No one dared to steal Section Chief Lin's woman. Otherwise, he was really afraid that other men would take advantage of the situation...
Lin Sanqi and Pan Ye had dinner alone.
Seeing that there was no one around, Lin Sanqi took out a small cake from the cabinet.
Pan Ye was not an ignorant person. When he saw the small cake, his eyes sparkled:
"Hey, Lin Sanqi, where did this cake come from? It's so beautiful."
"Hey, isn't it beautiful? This is the cake I specially ordered from Lao Mo. Come and try it."
Lao Mo, whose full name is Moscow Restaurant, is the only Western restaurant in New York. It serves Russian food and of course also has Western goods such as cakes.
There is no girl who doesn't like sweets like cakes. Sure enough, Pan Ye, who was a little depressed before, couldn't wait to start tasting it.
Pan Ye scooped a small spoonful and handed it to Lin Sanqi's mouth. Lin Sanqi didn't hesitate and started eating.
Only then did Pan Ye start eating happily.
Lin Sanqi took out a cup of milk tea, a box of egg tarts, a portion of KFC crispy chicken nuggets, and a box of chocolates from the cabinet, which made Pan Ye stunned.
"These are all Lao Mo's things?"
Pan Ye had never been to Lao Mo, so Lin Sanqi closed his eyes and said, "Yes, eat quickly, don't let anyone see you."
"Uh-huh……"
While tasting the precious food (actually cheap Western fast food in later generations), the little girl said with emotion:
"Lin Sanqi, you are so kind to me, thank you..."
After coaxing his girlfriend, sending her back to the dormitory, and secretly kissing her, Lin Sanqi returned to 2013 with satisfaction.
Sitting in front of the computer, Lin Sanqi tried hard to recall whether there was anyone in his social circle who dug wells?
After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't remember where the drilling team came from in Huadu.
After all, Huadu is located in the south, which is densely covered with water networks. There is no shortage of water. On the contrary, there are floods every year. It’s not that there is too little water, but that there is too much water.
What Lin Sanqi didn't know was that privately digging wells to draw water was actually illegal and constituted the crime of illegal mining, so no company would break the law just to save a few dollars on tap water.
Finally, Lin Sanqi searched on the computer and found a machinery company in Changsha that specializes in various water well drilling rigs.
In fact, there must be similar sales companies in Huadu, but Lin Sanqi was too lazy to look for them. Anyway, it only takes more than two hours by high-speed rail from Huadu to Changsha, and he can get there by taking a nap.
Half a day later, Lin Sanqi arrived at the sales department of a machinery company in Changsha.
The sales department was very large, with all kinds of machines displayed there. Lin Sanqi was completely confused and had no idea what these machines were used for.
"Hello, what kind of machine do you need?"
When Lin Sanqi saw that the boss introduced was a middle-aged man, he felt like he had found a savior:
"Hello boss, I want to buy a deep well drilling rig."
"Okay, are you using this for civilian purposes or for a professional company?"
Lin Sanqi scratched his head. He didn't understand, so he said directly:
"I'm using it myself. Look at me, I'm a medical student and have no mechanical knowledge. But I have a special need. I need to operate a drilling rig to dig a deep-water well. Do you think it's possible?"
After hearing this, the boss looked Lin Sanqi up and down, thinking that he had seen all kinds of people in his life.
But he was still quite happy, because at least the young man in front of him really wanted to buy the machine and would not waste his time:
"Okay, why not? Not to mention you're a college student, even if you're an elementary school student, it's no problem. Take a look at this crawler pneumatic well drilling rig with a pipe. It's a fool-proof operation. Well drilling rigs, in fact, the operating principle is very simple.
Just find a place, drill a hole first, and then use a probe to drill continuously underground. It's a deep water well, which may be dozens of meters deep, or one or two hundred meters deep. You see, this is the probe. Just connect them one by one and drill down hard.
While drilling downwards, you need to place this kind of water pipe. This is a metal pipe. When placing it down, put two pipes together and weld them in the middle. My drilling machine will automatically help you place the pipe.
Once we hit groundwater, water will gush out of the pipe, and that's it. Pull the probe up, install a water pump, and the deep well is done. See, isn't it simple?
Lin Sanqi understood, and repeated:
"So, during the entire well drilling process, all I have to do is connect the probe pipe and tighten it. Then I just need to connect the water pipe and weld it. The rest is up to this machine to do."
The middle-aged boss nodded repeatedly:
"Yes, look here is the operation interface. All you have to do is press the start and stop buttons. When you find the place where you want to drill the well, press the button here, and the drilling rig will automatically expand its four support legs and stand upright.
Since this is your first time operating a machine like this, there's a chance of failure. That's okay, though. This drill won't break down; we offer a three-year warranty. The worst that can happen is a few probes and tubes worth a few thousand dollars.
Lin Sanqi was also straightforward:
"Okay, since it's that simple, I'll buy the machine. But I have one request. After I buy the machine, you have to find a place to help me operate it once."
The boss was delighted and said, "No problem, but this machine is a bit expensive, it costs 300,000."
Lin Sanqi didn't care and pointed at the accessories and said, "Give me enough supplies to drill 10 wells."
The boss thought that this was a young man who didn't even bargain for the price. He liked Lin Sanqi's generosity and naturally considered everything for him.
"Sir, since you've bought a drilling rig, you should also get a water pump. Oh, and it would be best if you also buy a geophysical water finder."
Lin Sanqi was surprised: "There's such a thing as a geophysical water detector? Is it complicated to operate?"
The middle-aged boss took out a machine from the counter. It was about the size of a laptop, and the main feature was the large touch screen in the middle.
"Finding a water detector is really important. Only when you know where the water is underground can you accurately dig a well, right? It's very simple to use. Just plug the two detectors into the ground and look at the screen."
The middle-aged boss taught Lin Sanqi how to read the curves, which curves have no water and which curves have water. It is actually a fool-proof operation.
This made Lin Sanqi marvel once again. With these modern instruments, digging wells during droughts has become so convenient.
Just like taking photos, when using a DSLR, you had to adjust the aperture, exposure, focal length, and so on, but with a mobile phone, you just point it at the person and press a button, it’s a pure fool-proof operation.
Technology really changes human beings.
The middle-aged boss and Lin Sanqi got more and more interested in each other as they talked, so he immediately transported the deep well drilling rig to the suburbs, and then found a place to teach Lin Sanqi in detail how to find water sources, how to start the machine, how to replace the probe, etc.
He even taught Lin Sanqi how to identify surface water and groundwater, and the precautions to take during the drilling process. He even forwarded several operation videos via WeChat to help Lin Sanqi get started.
Lin Sanqi waited in Changsha for two days and learned how to dig a well. He then excitedly took the machine back to Changping Farm in 1960 to show off his skills.
(End of this chapter)
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