Go back to the valley to farm

Chapter 3 The Waterway
Chapter 3 Waterways

Wang Congjun and Zhu Chaoan looked at each other, Wang Congjun turned to Li Junge and said, "Erpi, you don't know yet, do you? All the small passenger ships in Jiachuan County are out of service."

Li Junge's family lives in Lijiagou, Pan'ao Township, Bifeng Township. Hearing the place name, he knows that there are mountains and rivers.

Lijiagou has a special terrain, and driving from the county town usually only reaches Bifeng Town.

Bifeng Town is located at the foot of Bifeng Mountain, with high mountains and dense forests, most of which are virgin forests.

Only after crossing Bifeng Mountain and descending the mountain can we reach Pan'ao Township, and then lead to Lijiagou.

Although the county gritted its teeth and built village-to-village links, the road is really "the eighteen bends of the mountain road here". Not to mention that the road is not easy to walk, it is a waste of time, and no operating vehicles are willing to run.

However, there is no unparalleled road. There is a small river outside Lijiagou called Wuxi River.

The Wuxi River is a tributary of the Hongshui River, and the Hongshui River flows into the Yangtze River at Jiachuan, so it was convenient and quick to travel by water in the past.

However, there are small iron boats and awning boats in the small river ditch, which can seat 30 to [-] people. When fully loaded, the edge of the boat is only [-] to [-] centimeters from the water surface. It may seem a bit dangerous to drive, but it is convenient and fast.

Therefore, people in Lijiagou generally use water to enter and exit the village, and the village-to-village road that enters and exits the village is more like a political achievement project.

As soon as he heard that the small passenger ship was out of service, Li Junge couldn't help feeling a little anxious and asked, "What's going on?"

Wang Congjun said: "During the flood last year, a small passenger boat in Yulong Township sank while crossing the Yangtze River. There were more than 30 vegetable farmers and only a dozen were rescued. This incident was a bit big, so the province came up with a rectification plan. , requiring the entire county to suspend small passenger ships, the safety factor of the ships must be improved, and operations can only be resumed after ensuring safety."

Upon hearing this, Li Junge said, "Damn it, then I have to go to Bifeng Town to climb the mountains, and I can't get home today."

Wang Congjun said again: "Don't worry, I'll call you and ask." After speaking, he got up and went to the side of the road to make a call.

After a while, he came back and said: "Okay, there is a boat delivering supplies to the Pan'ao Township government this afternoon, you can take that boat. By the way, there is another acquaintance of yours in Pan'ao Township, your old oil twister." My son, Liang Huili, is serving as deputy head of Pan'ao Township."

Youjiaojiaer is Mahua, and Jiachuan people use this word to describe the friendship between two people.

Liang Huili was Li Junge's classmate in Pan'ao Township junior high school, but she was not a local, but Liang Huili's mother Tian Suhua brought her with her when she came down from the provincial capital to teach.

The two have been classmates together for three years. Li Junge's academic performance has always been very good, and he is Tian Suhua's key training object. When it is inconvenient to go home, he lives in Tian Suhua's dormitory.

The climate in Lijiagou is pleasant, so Liang Huili usually doesn't go back to the city of Sichuan during the summer vacation, and follows Li Junge to run wildly all over the mountains. In Li Junge's memory, she is also a crazy girl.

Tian Suhua returned to Shu City after taking a junior high school, and Liang Huili also returned to Shu City together, but the two of them have not broken letters, and they have kept in touch since they have a mobile phone.

However, Li Junge vaguely knew that Liang Huili's family background was a bit deep, and it was impossible for the two to be together, so the hazy feeling they had had turned into a faint friendship early on, and there were still simple greetings during the New Year and holidays.

Liang Huili asked someone to inquire about Li Junge's situation when she came down to take up her post. Wang Congjun, as Li Junge's diehard, certainly knew about it.

This actually gave Li Junge a surprise, "Hahaha, I haven't seen this little crazy girl for a long time, it's really a coincidence that I came back this time."

Wang Congjun had a meaningful smile on his face, "I'm jealous, I don't want to say it's God's will, you should behave well. Dreams are always necessary, what if you eat swan meat?" After speaking, he patted Li Junge shoulder: "I am optimistic about you!"

After speaking, he thought for a while and said, "Tell my aunt and uncle that I will visit their two elderly people this weekend."

Zhu Chaoan also said: "If I go with my eighth wife this weekend, I will miss your old bacon too."

Li Junge smiled and said: "Everyone comes here, there is nothing at home, but there are many delicious foods."

After dinner, Wang and Zhu sent Li Junge to the pier and went to find the boat boss together.Li Junge was delighted when he saw it, the boss of the boat was not an outsider, but his fifth cousin Shi Baoquan.Shi Baoquan was also taken aback when he saw Li Junge, "Oh, Piwa, when did you come back! What a coincidence!"

Li Junge laughed and said, "I just came back today, I'm going to enter the village quietly, don't shoot anyone."

Shi Baoquan also laughed, and said: "Your son is doing this now, does your mother know? Don't call before you come back. If your mother is happy, your father will use a yellow thorn stick to tighten your skin!" "

Li Junge also laughed: "My dad can't beat me now, if he dares to beat me, I will go to Fourth Grandpa the day before I go home, and Fourth Grandpa told him to kneel in the ancestral hall!"

Shi Baoquan also jokingly said: "Oh, you two Wenqu stars in Lijiagou are so stubborn! It's only natural for an old man to beat a doll, and your fourth grandfather can't keep you!"

After saying goodbye to Zhu Chaoan and Wang Congjun, Li Junge and Shi Baoquan talked and laughed and got on the small iron boat. Shi Baoquan started the diesel engine, and the boat left the county pier and went upstream along the Hongshui River.

The Hongshui River originates in southern Yunnan and flows through the three southwestern provinces. 60.00% of the whole process is in the mountainous area. It is the only river in the country without water pollution, so the water quality is very good.

Almost every village along the river has wineries, so it has the title of "Meijiu River".

At present, the river water has not yet risen, and the water body is still relatively clear. The fishing ban has just passed, and several small awning boats are fishing on the river, and people can be seen fishing on the bank from time to time.

After the boat sailed away from the county seat, the banks became greener and the slope of the water began to gradually become steeper. The clumps of phoenix bamboo bent down, and the boat could almost sweep people's heads when passing through.

Occasionally, a mountain stream gurgled into the river, and egrets stood on the rocks of the stream, patiently waiting for the passing fish.

Sometimes a kingfisher with a green back and a brown chestnut belly would skim over the water, pick up a small fish in its long, sharp beak, fly to a bamboo branch, stop, and start eating vigilantly.

Li Junge sat sideways on the side of the boat, with his right hand drooping and his fingertips submerged in the water. While feeling the cold water, he chatted with Shi Baoquan: "Uncle Wu, why did you start buying?"

Shi Baoquan's complexion was dark and shiny, and he dug out a straw hat from somewhere to wear it, and said with a wry smile: "Well, the village used to take my boat to go to the market, but after the boat capsized last year, the village didn't let me The boat is pulling people, and my iron boat has no fish compartment, and it can’t be used for fishing, so I will pull goods for Ermao’s supermarket in the village.”

"Some time ago, Liang girl came down to be the head of the township. From time to time, she asked me to help the township government. It can be regarded as a subsidy. It started to get better. Now that oil is so expensive, it costs a lot of money for a trip. The folks in the village entrusted me It’s hard for me to refuse to bring something from the county seat. Just take a few, and the gas money is not enough, and I’m talking about it, and this year, I’ve left a famine of one or two thousand!”

Li Junge said: "Actually, as long as people in the mountains can move their things out, they will not be short of money. The main reason is that the road is too difficult to walk. If the waterway is cut off, everyone's life will be difficult. They can't eat food in the mountains or in the water. How much, if you can’t transport it out, you will be poor by guarding the golden mountain.”

Shi Baoquan frowned and said: "This is still secondary, life is still passable now, young people are working outside, and send money home from time to time. There are old people and dolls at home, and everything is in their own fields, which can be spent How many? The key is that the mountain road is too far away, in case an elderly person suffers from a sudden illness or something, he will die in a hurry."

Li Junge said: "Young people have gone out, how many people in the village still have land?"

Shi Baoquan said: "Who still farms the land now, just plant some rations for their own family. The terraced field next to the mountain in our village is such a good land. The drought and floods report more than a thousand catties per mu. It is not completely desolate now. There, the grass is as deep as a person, not to mention, there are a lot more wild animals, and you can see hares if you walk around the village."

After speaking, he laughed loudly.

Li Junge took out a cigarette and handed it to Shi Baoquan, lit one himself, and said, "It's not a problem, Lijiagou dry road is not easy, the situation is special, why didn't you go to the township to report it?"

Shi Baoquan took the cigarette card to his ear, took out his own dry tobacco pole and lit it, and said: "Who said there was no response, the village chief, oh, it's your uncle, come back and tell me, the county said it, who said it?" It’s not easy to use, you need a big ship to attract customers, and there are restrictions on this and that, anyway, there are many ways.”

Li Junge thought about it, but there seemed to be nothing he could do, so he changed the topic to the personnel affairs in the village, and chatted vigorously with Shi Baoquan.

After the boat traveled for an hour, a tributary appeared in front of it, the river channel became smaller, and the river water was obviously clearer than the Hongshui River. This is the Wuxi River.

Shi Baoquan turned the rudder, and the small iron boat sailed towards Wuxi River.

The water volume of Wuxi River is relatively abundant, and the river water is as green as a piece of emerald.

The scenery on both sides of the river is better than that of the Hongshui River. In addition to the lush green bamboos, flowers such as rhododendrons and lilies appear from time to time on the banks.

Flowers of various colors are distributed in the stone crevices by the river, reflecting the water surface, which is a scene of "the river flowers are red at sunrise, and the river is as green as blue in spring".

More water birds appeared on the water surface, including wild ducks, foraging for food and playing freely.

When the boat passed by, the wild ducks flew up, dived into the water, and gathered on the water not far away.

Up the river beach, there are patches of green paddy fields. Li Junge was so relaxed and happy seeing it, he couldn't help but took out his mobile phone and began to take pictures.

After walking for a while, a small pier appeared in front of it, piled up with bluestones, I don't know how many years old it was.

The river water near the stone steps is crystal clear, and you can see green aquatic plants swaying at the bottom of the water, and small fish and shrimps flash and disappear among the grass from time to time.

Above the pier is a platform paved with bluestone, in the middle of which is a big verdant banyan tree, the trunk of which can be embraced by five people. The canopy of the banyan tree covers the entire pier, and some branches and leaves even extend above the water.

Surrounding the big banyan tree is a circle of stone benches, where a few old ladies are mending, and there are needles, thread, insoles and other things in the dustpan beside them.A few old men are at the other end, playing chess and playing chess.

(End of this chapter)