Chapter 5

After the meal, Hu Chunlan urged Lü Dong to go to the river and also to deliver some preserved cicada nymphs to his uncle's house.

Perhaps the excitement of seeing his mother again was too much, and he had been holding back; when they left the orchard, his right eye felt uncomfortable. After rubbing it a few times, his right eyelid started to twitch.

Lü Dong first went to his uncle's house in the south of the village.

His aunt was at home alone. Lü Dong specifically asked and learned that his eldest cousin, Lü Chun, would only return from the university town the day after tomorrow, and his second cousin was in the military and would not be home until the New Year.

Lü Dong did not stay long. He walked north along the market street, thinking about the familiar university town.

If his memory served him right, the university town was officially launched in September this year. Many universities in the Quan NS District would relocate here, at least partially. In a few years, the university town would become a high-tech industrial city in the southern part of Quan City, and Qingzhao County would be reclassified as Qingzhao District.

The emergence of a new city always brings countless opportunities.

But Lü Dong was more aware that only those with the ability to seize them could call them opportunities.

He had wasted his life until he was in his thirties before he truly understood the importance of being practical.

Therefore, Lü Dong first reminded himself to stay grounded and not get carried away.

After all, a man who had only managed to save enough for a down payment on a three-bedroom apartment in Quan South New City by the time he was in his mid-thirties had no reason to be arrogant.

The market street was the widest street in Lü's village, wide enough for two old解放 (Liberation) trucks to drive side by side with room to spare.

There were seven or eight trucks and tricycles loaded with sand, gravel, and other materials parked on the east side of the street. Lü Dong asked someone and learned that most of them were from nearby villages that were not by the river, who had come to help voluntarily.

A driver in a large truck looked out at the north end of the market street, where he could only see a large crowd of people working. He asked the middle-aged man in the passenger seat, "Brother Quan, the masons from Lü's village are competing with us for work in the university town. Why are we still helping them?"

"Use your brain!" The middle-aged man tapped the driver's head. "Our Liuwan Village is right south of Lü's village. If the Qingzhao River becomes a raised river, and Lü's village is on higher ground, won't they be flooded if the levee breaks?"

The driver thought about it and realized it made sense.

The middle-aged man continued, "How many of our village's wives are from Lü's village? How many of our daughters have married into Lü's village?"

"Uh... that's true." The driver suddenly understood. "Brother Quan, you really have... yes, a big picture view."

The middle-aged man took out a cigarette. "Call me Secretary! Secretary! How many times have I told you? Can you remember?"

The driver quickly said, "I remember, I remember this time."

The middle-aged man shook his head, not bothering to argue with the simple-minded man. He got out of the car and walked to a clear spot on the street to smoke. Lü Dong happened to walk by.

Lü Dong recognized this man. After a moment's thought, he remembered he was a parent of a classmate and greeted him, "Uncle Quan."

The middle-aged man looked familiar to Lü Dong but couldn't recall his name. "You are..."

Lü Dong smiled and said, "I'm Zhaodi's classmate. Did Zhaodi get the right answers? She did well on the exam, right?"

"Even if she gets top marks, what's the use? She'll end up getting married anyway." The middle-aged man, who had been harboring this frustration for years, said habitually, "I'd rather have a son who ranks last."

Lü Dong didn't know how to respond. He remembered this middle-aged man because of his daughter, Liu Zhaodi, who was the county's top scorer in the 1998 college entrance exam.

He vaguely remembered that Liu Zhaodi had a younger sister.

In a rural area where the preference for boys over girls was deeply ingrained, the middle-aged man's frustration was understandable.

"Winter!" Someone called him.

A man walked over from the south, with a handsome face and a tall, strong build, but his shoulders were slumped, and his shoes dragged on the ground, making an unpleasant scraping sound.

"Uncle Seven!" Lü Dong waved. This was from his third grandfather's family, and his real name was Lü Jianren.

As a child, he often went to the river with Uncle Seven, caught fish, dug for loaches, and collected leeches...

Lü Jianren took out a cigarette and offered one to Lü Dong, "Want one?"

Lü Dong rubbed his right eye, declined, and pinched his nose, "It smells like a lot of alcohol."

Lü Jianren yawned, "With a cigarette and a drink, all worries disappear!" He lit his cigarette and called Lü Dong to walk towards the sluice gate, where water was flowing. "Your beard is growing, not smoking or drinking, you're not a man."

Lü Dong squinted his right eye, "Real men don't care about that."

Lü Jianren looked at him, "What's wrong with your eye? Did you get something in it?"

Lü Dong, helpless, retorted, "You don't understand. A twitching right eye means good fortune. I might find a big wallet today."

"Bullshit!" Lü Jianren exhaled a large puff of smoke. "Without culture, a twitching right eye means disaster! Do you understand?"

Lü Dong was not to be outdone, "Uncle Seven, how old are you, still believing in superstitions?"

"Me!" Lü Jianren choked on his smoke.

Lü Dong quickened his pace, and the water got deeper as he moved forward, soon reaching the sluice gate on the market street.

This section of the river ran east-west, with a bridge spanning north-south, connecting the two sluice gates.

The sluice gate, built in the 1950s, naturally had no movable gate. This was a road leading to Majia Village on the other side of the bridge. The riverbank left a road opening here, with two small dams made of stones, and a stone slide on the opposite side. Wooden boards of the right length were inserted into the slide to form the gate.

The temporary gate had gaps and was not very sturdy. The people of Lü's village had piled four or five rows of sandbags behind it to prevent the river water from flooding in.

Some water still seeped through the gaps in the sandbags, and the road near the sluice gate was ankle-deep in water.

Lü Zhenlin, with red eyes, stood on the small dam, directing people on the dike to use poles to clear the debris in the water. Occasionally, water hyacinth leaves would fly into the air.

"Old Seven, where did you drink last night?"

"Be careful, or Uncle Three will skin you!"

There were many people around, and Lü Jianren became the center of attention as soon as he arrived.

"Brother Winter!"

"Brother Winter!"

Two younger boys, a bit cautious, smiled at Lü Dong.

Lü Dong nodded, without wasting words, and climbed up the sandbag dike. The turbid river water had already flooded the new bridge leading to Majia Village. The bridge had a chest-high stone railing that held back a large amount of debris, mostly water hyacinth, with only the top layer visible.

The debris, though light, was extremely harmful. Accumulated on the bridge and its sides, it formed a barrier, severely obstructing the flow of water.

Especially when large objects were washed down by the flood, they could be trapped by the debris and potentially block the bridge's arches.

That would be disastrous.

Lü Zhenlin was directing people to clear the debris.

On the other side of the river, the people of Majia Village were doing the same.

"Such a big flood," Lü Jianren's voice was nearby, mixed with the smell of alcohol and cigarettes. "There must be plenty of fish, but I forgot to bring a net!"

Lü Dong was speechless. At a time like this, he was still thinking about fishing.

"This won't work," someone on the small dam shouted. "Uncle Three, we can only clear the debris near the bridge, it's not enough."

How long could a bamboo pole be, and how much force could it exert? The amount of debris cleared was limited.

Lü Zhenlin was decisive, "Find some ropes, and get in the water!" His gaze fell on Lü Jianren, "Old Seven, what did you do last night?"

"I went to dig a breach upstream," Lü Jianren threw away his cigarette, grinning. "With a breach upstream, we'll be safe here!"

With so many people around, they all looked at Lü Jianren, who didn't care and grabbed Lü Dong's arm, "Let's go."

Lü Dong knew Uncle Seven had been drunk last night, otherwise, he would have suspected he had gone to dig a breach in another village's dike for the sake of his own village.

Someone brought several large spools of rope. After the incident last night, Lü Zhenlin first had them checked.

Lü Dong stared at the water hyacinth and debris piled up on the bridge. The dike had been saved last night, and the fate of Lü's village had been rewritten, but the flood was still raging, and no one could guarantee there wouldn't be more problems.

If the water flow was not smooth, the water level in this section would rise.

The water level couldn't get any higher.

Lü Jianren squatted on the small dam, looking at the bridge, and said, "Uncle Three, there's too much water hyacinth. We clear one batch, and another comes. We need to break the railing!"

The person with the bamboo pole said, "Old Seven, the bridge was newly built by the county last year. If we break it, how will we explain it?"

Lü Dong thought Uncle Seven had a point and quickly said to Lü Zhenlin, "Grandpa Three, sending people down isn't a solution. It's fine during the day, but dangerous at night."

"Find a sledgehammer!" Lü Zhenlin, with red eyes, gritted his teeth. "Break it! I'll take the responsibility!"

Lü Jianren stepped forward, "I'll go in the water!"

Lü Dong said, "I'll go with Uncle Seven for support."

Uncle Iron's words last night were right; no one in Lü's village could stand aside!

"Old Seven, you were drunk last night, can you do it?" someone asked with concern.

Lü Jianren bared his teeth, "My wife and children, my parents, are all in the village. I have to do it, even if I can't!"

He tied a rope around his waist, saw that several people had grabbed the other end, took the long-handled sledgehammer, and said to Lü Dong, "Winter, don't be a coward, follow your Uncle Seven!"

With that, he jumped into the water, shouting, "The sooner we finish, the sooner we can fish!"

Lü Dong tied a rope around himself, nodded to the people holding the rope, grabbed the sledgehammer, and jumped in.

The bridge was high, and both men were tall and strong, so the water didn't reach their chests.

In the section near the dike, most of the debris had already been cleared, so they didn't need to clear it first.

Lü Jianren grabbed Lü Dong's arm and shouted, "You smash the west side, I'll smash the east side. You start first! Stay steady! If the water carries you away, don't panic. Hold your breath like I taught you, and they can pull you back!"

"Relax!" Lü Dong dragged the sledgehammer, which had fallen into the water, to the west side.

With the bridge and the railing, the water flow was not strong enough to carry them away.

Without worrying about Uncle Seven on the other side, Lü Dong steadied himself, swung the sledgehammer, and smashed the stone railing hard.

The hammerhead, though weakened by the water, still made a loud thud when it hit the railing.

Crack—

A not-so-obvious cracking sound was heard.

Lü Dong wiped the water from his face and swung the sledgehammer again, harder and harder.

After a night of erosion, the railing, already weakened, broke off in a large piece and fell into the water.

Lü Dong continued, smashing the railing with a few more blows. A section of the stone railing, about three meters long, collapsed, and a large amount of water hyacinth and debris that had accumulated in front of it was immediately washed away.

"Move forward!" Lü Jianren reminded Lü Dong. "Don't stop, clear the water hyacinth first!"

Lü Dong moved forward, and Lü Jianren, working against the current, smashed the west side of the railing. The water flow on this section of the bridge suddenly increased, almost carrying him away.

Lü Jianren steadied himself with the sledgehammer and moved forward, shouting at the people on the other side of the bridge, "People from Majia, don't be cowards! Are you all hiding like turtles? Do you have any balls? If you're men, send someone down!"

Lü Dong was impressed by Uncle Seven's mouth. Even at a time like this, he was still taunting everyone.

A large amount of water hyacinth and debris was washed away. Lü Dong kept pulling it out and throwing it away. In the middle, he encountered a small pig, dead for a few days, swollen, with leeches attached and maggots crawling in and out. The smell was indescribable.

Lü Dong cleared a section and was about to smash the railing again when someone from Majia Village also went into the water, shouting at him, "Old Seven, you bandit, we'll settle accounts after the flood!"

On the small dam, a few people climbed up, led by a young man with glasses, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, wearing long black rubber boots, with a white shirt tucked into his waist, and a shiny belt buckle.

"Uncle Three, Mayor Yang is here," Lü Jian, who had just arrived, reminded Lü Zhenlin, who was staring at the river.

"Old Secretary, hello!" Mayor Yang Liwen stepped forward and shook hands. "Aid is on the way, but due to transportation issues, we need to take a detour."

Yang Liwen was deeply moved. He had just taken office a month ago and encountered a once-in-fifty-years flood. This morning, he rushed over, but before he could see the flood, he was stopped by the water in the highway bridge tunnel...

Grassroots work was tough, full of pitfalls!

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