Great changes in the countryside

Chapter 32
The Mucheng River in Wenlin County is the largest and longest river in the county.

The river twists and turns and stretches for more than 200 kilometers from south to north.

The biggest feature of this river is that it runs along the mountains, with mountains and hills on the left bank and part of the Wenhuang Plain on the right bank.

There are more than 70 streams on the left bank, which come out of the mountains and flow into the Mucheng River.

At the confluence of each stream and the Mucheng River, a large amount of sediment was deposited.

According to my grandfather, there are not many people digging sand in the Mucheng River, there are about a dozen people.Some of them have made a living by digging sand for generations, and some are rising stars.

Sand digging seems simple, but it is a laborious job.But in my grandfather's view, digging sand is a technical job, and people who are not smart can't do it.

Tools for dredging sand are also very important.

The most important tool is a dustpan attached to a bamboo pole, that is, a dustpan.

This is a utensil made of bamboo strips or wicker.There are edges on three sides, and one side is open. It is usually used to win food or hold things.

A long bamboo pole is tied to the high part of the dustpan and can be rotated.There are also two ropes, one end is tied to the top of the bamboo pole, and the other end is tied to the open ends of the dustpan.

Chen Yang took Tong Erzi and his second younger brother Chen Bing to a place called Sanchakou in Mucheng River by rowing a boat.

The reason why it is called Sanchakou is because here, there are two streams coming out of the mountains into the Mucheng River.

According to grandpa, there is the most sand here.

But the water here is deep, and the river surface is more than eight meters deep from the river bed.Although there is a lot of sand here, it is not easy to dig, so almost no one comes here to dig sand.

Chen Yang knew the difficulty and rose to the occasion. He wanted to come where others would not come.

The wooden boat stopped in the river, and Tong Erzi and Chen Bing put a 35 cm wide springboard across the middle cabin of the boat.

Chen Yang stepped on the diving board, took the bamboo pole, said "good luck", and then plunged the dustpan into the water.

The bamboo poles are ten meters long, at least three meters longer than others.

Sure enough, as grandpa said, the water depth here is seven or eight meters.You must know that it is still winter and the dry season.If it comes to summer, the rain is strong, and the water depth may be more than ten meters.

Dustpan digs mud and sand, also called digging spoons, one spoon at a time.

Chen Yang dug out the first spoonful and poured it into the middle cabin of the boat.

Then came the second and third spoonfuls.

Chen Yang stopped.

Tong Erzi and second brother Chen Bing came to check.

"Brother, it's mud, not sand." The second brother shouted.

Tong Erzi also said, "It seems that there is no sand."

Chen Yang scolded: "Two idiots, what's the use? Use your hands, try to grab a handful."

Tong Erzi and the second younger brother each grabbed a handful of river mud, and squeezed the river mud with the other hand.

The second brother said happily: "There is really sand."

Tong Erzi said: "There is sand and there is sand. Brother Yang, the sand is in the mud."

Chen Yang nodded, "That's right. What we dug up is not sand, but silt."

The second brother gave a nasty smile, "Brother, it's not worth a penny to sell mud and sand."

Tong Erzi was also a little discouraged, "We, we are so busy."

"Two big fools, a pair of fools."

Chen Yang continued to dig sand.

After more than an hour and a half of drying, the middle cabin of the boat was filled with sand.

Chen Yang pointed to the stern cabin of the boat, "Do you know why I brought two big sieves? Now you two start working, one washing sand and the other sifting sand. The washed sand is poured into the stern cabin, and the washed mud is poured into the Back to the river."

Under Chen Yang's guidance, Tong Erzi and Erdi started to work.

Sand washing is very simple, just pour water into the middle cabin, stir it with a stick, and remove the water after the water is muddy.

In this way, the cycle goes back and forth, and the water is poured many times to continuously remove the mud in the sediment.

All that's left is sand.

(End of this chapter)