Chapter 1288: Saving People by the River 1
As soon as it was announced that everyone was allowed to catch fish in the river, excitement surged among the villagers.
Not bound by any particular season or festival, even if they just caught a basin of "white water banquet" fish, curing them into salted fish would be enough to last the entire summer.
Not every family was like Lu Jiang’s or Wang Zhengguo’s, who, thanks to Zhang Yuejin’s convenience, occasionally bought some meat scraps, skins, and bones that didn’t require ration coupons, just to indulge a bit. For the majority of families, it was only during the holidays that they could enjoy a bit of meat.
So, even before the heavy rain had ceased, men and women, young and old, all mobilized.
Rivers large and small, canals and puddles, were crowded with people.
Guan Cheng, being rather smart, took advantage of his home being closest to the reservoir. He led Lu Tianzhi and Guan Yu upstream to a point close to the floodgate of the reservoir. Though the current there was faster.
They arrived early, and no one else was there.
Xibao, Fubao, and the twins, all loved to join the excitement. The older ones quickly made their way to the riverbank, wading through the water. The younger ones, babbling away, were in a hurry, struggling to express themselves. Four elders and Lu’s father stayed back to watch over the cowshed and took Ding Hailan with them, who kept running after Xibao, incessantly calling out "brother."
Ding Hailan seemed to be only six or seven years old, but in fact, he was two months older than Xibao. He was born in March, and in May, it would be Xibao’s seventh birthday. When they were eating longevity noodles for Xibao’s birthday, Ding Guofeng suddenly realized that his grandson had been wrongly calling Xibao "brother" for several months.
The elders, dressed in straw raincoats and holding umbrellas for the children, stood by the riverbank and watched the water.
The river had swelled, its depth reaching waist level.