My 1995 Small Farm.

"Yes! But after hearing about the situation on your side, he directly contacted his network of contacts in mainland China. Several of his partners in Guangdong Province and Shenzhen are in the manufacturing industry, including building materials, machinery, and food... These people already had business dealings with Mr. Liang, and now that they've heard about the situation here, they've all expressed their support!"

Li Lianjie spoke rapidly: "Boss Xu said that these people are not here for charity, but for you, Mr. Chen. They have heard Boss Liang mention you before, and know that you are capable and have 'good stuff' in your hands."

Leaving aside the wild game from the mountains and the local specialties from the farm, the main thing is the braised beef noodles, something they've been craving for a long time.

They want a long-term partnership with you, and this help is a kind of "goodwill payment."

Chen Ling was both amused and exasperated.

This is indeed the style of this group of people on Hong Kong Island.

Pragmatic, direct, and able to clearly separate personal relationships from business while blending them in a just-right way.

"What can Boss Xu provide?" Chen Ling asked.

"I'll fax you the detailed list."

Li Lianjie said, "But what I know is: twenty diesel water pumps, thirty rescue vehicles, thirty rescue boats, as well as emergency food such as instant noodles, bottled water, and canned goods, in large quantities and in ample supply. Boss Xu said that these are all 'hard goods,' and you will need them."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Ling stood by the window, motionless for a long time.

The rain was still falling, pattering softly, but at this moment, it didn't seem so oppressive anymore.

"Ah Ling, dinner's ready."

Wang Susu walked in carrying a bowl of steaming millet porridge. Seeing his strange expression, she asked softly, "What's wrong? Whose call was that?"

Chen Ling turned around, a complex expression on his face, a mixture of emotion, excitement, and a heavy sense of responsibility.

He briefly recounted what Li Lianjie had said on the phone.

Upon hearing this, Wang Susu's eyes widened, and she almost dropped the bowl of porridge in her hand: "Five, five thousand life jackets? Twenty water pumps? And rescue boats... How much is all this worth?"

"Money is a small matter."

Chen Ling took the bowl of porridge, placed it on the table, and held his wife's hand.

"Susu, the important thing is that we are not fighting alone anymore."

Wang Susu nodded emphatically, her eyes a little red: "I knew it. Ah Ling, you've done so many good deeds and helped so many people. Heaven has seen it all, and everyone remembers it."

"Let's go and eat."

Chen Ling pulled her downstairs: "After we finish eating, I have to go to Bashang. We need to tell everyone this news."

At the breakfast table, Chen Ling told Leung Yuet-man about the support from Hong Kong Island.

Wang Cunye and Gao Xiulan were stunned, so much so that they forgot to touch their chopsticks.

"My God..." Gao Xiulan murmured, "This...this is too much!"

Wang Cunye took a puff of his pipe, the smoke rising slowly in the morning light: "Lingzi, how much good fortune have you accumulated?"

Rui Rui and Xiao Ming couldn't understand what the adults were saying, but they could sense that the atmosphere was different.

Rui Rui picked at the porridge in his bowl, looked up and asked, "Dad, are there a lot of people coming to help us?"

Chen Ling patted her son's head: "Yes, so many people."

"Then we don't have to worry about rain anymore?" Xiaoming's eyes sparkled.

Chen Ling smiled and said, "We still need to be afraid of the rain, but we have a way to deal with it."

After breakfast, Chen Ling put on his raincoat and prepared to go to the dam.

Wang Susu chased after him to the door and told him to change into a pair of high-top rain boots: "The road is slippery, don't fall."

Chen Ling nodded and stepped into the rain.

The rain was heavier than before, pattering loudly against my raincoat.

The dirt roads in the village were muddy and the water was ankle-deep in some places.

Strangely, as Chen Ling walked down the street, the heavy sense of oppression in his heart lessened considerably.

Just as they arrived at the village entrance, they encountered Wang Laishun and several village officials hurrying towards them, all with solemn expressions.

"Wealth!"

Wang Laishun called out from afar, "I was just about to look for you, but there's some new information from Jinmen Village. The water level of the Jinshui River has risen another twenty centimeters..."

Chen Ling's heart tightened, but remembering the phone call that morning, she calmed down: "Fifth Uncle, don't worry, I have news to tell you."

He called everyone to the village committee, closed the door, and gave a detailed account of the support provided by Li Lianjie and Liang Yuemin.

The room was completely silent, save for the sound of rain outside the window.

After a long pause, Old Niwai suddenly slapped his thigh: "Great! Great! Fugui, your connections are incredible!"

Chen Guoping adjusted his reading glasses, his voice trembling slightly: "Five thousand life jackets... we couldn't even have one for each person in the whole village. And the water pumps... we only have three old-fashioned water pumps in the whole village, and now... we're getting twenty of them all at once?"

Wang Laishun paced excitedly around the room: "Rescue boats! Rescue vehicles! These are the key life-saving things, Fugui, when will these things arrive?"

"As early as tomorrow afternoon, at the latest the day after tomorrow."

Chen Ling said, "The supplies from Hong Kong Island are being shipped from Shenzhen, and the supplies from Brother Liang's side are being transferred from the provincial capital. I've already asked Brother Dahai to go to the county to answer the phone so we can keep in touch."

"Good! Good!"

Wang Laishun said "good" several times in a row, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out. "With these, we feel more at ease!"

Chen Ling calmly replied, "Fifth Uncle, we can't relax until we get the supplies. There are two urgent matters right now: First, organize manpower to prepare for receiving the supplies, we need a place to store them, and we need someone to manage and distribute them; second, continue to reinforce the dikes, especially if there are any leaks on the Jinshui River side, we need to deal with them immediately."

"Yeah!"

Wang Laishun nodded repeatedly: "I'll arrange it right away! Guoping, get the kids from Guoxing and Guowang's families together and clear out the brigade's warehouse. If that's not enough, we can use the empty classrooms at the school too!"

"Hey, take the construction team and head to Kinmen Village right now. Use sandbags to plug the leaks first, then reinforce them once the cement arrives!"

The group split up and acted swiftly and decisively.

Chen Ling also arrived at the dam.

Overnight, the water level rose by more than ten centimeters. The muddy river water churned, and branches and weeds were constantly carried downstream, crashing against the dam with a dull thud.

The workers were still busy, but they were clearly exhausted.

Several days of intense work, coupled with psychological pressure, left everyone looking exhausted.

Chen Ling found Wang Lixian and Wang Jusheng, who were directing the operation, and repeated the message about providing support.

Upon hearing this, their eyes lit up.

"Fugui, are you serious?" Wang Lixian grabbed Chen Ling's arm. "Twenty water pumps? The high-powered kind?"

“Really.” Chen Ling nodded. “It’s diesel-powered, one of them is as good as three of our old-fashioned water pumps.”

"Great!"

Wang Jusheng clenched his fist and said fiercely, "With these guys, if we really need to release floodwater, we can pump water and drain it ten times faster!"

The news quickly spread throughout the construction site.

"Uncle Fugui! Is the big star from Hong Kong really helping us?"

"Are you really going to give us those things?"

"Oh my god, I'm not scared anymore!"

The fatigue vanished, and the enthusiastic shouts of workers rang out again on the construction site.

People worked even harder, knowing their sweat wouldn't be in vain and that they had strong support behind them. Around noon, the rain subsided slightly, and the sun even peeked out from behind the clouds, casting a few pale rays of light.

During this brief moment of clearing skies, the first aid convoy arrived.

It wasn't the expected convoy from Hong Kong Island or the provincial capital, but rather a convoy from a county town.

Three trucks were loaded with supplies urgently allocated by the county flood control headquarters: two thousand woven bags, one hundred life jackets, twenty tents, and a batch of flashlights and batteries.

The person leading the team was actually the deputy director of the county water resources bureau, a retired cadre in his fifties with gray hair.

"Comrade Fugui!"

The deputy director jumped out of the car and grabbed Chen Ling's hand tightly, saying, "We reported the warning call you made the day before yesterday! The city attaches great importance to it. This morning, the provincial flood control headquarters held a special meeting and listed your Chenwangzhuang as a key monitoring point! These supplies are the first batch, and there will be more to come!"

"Thank you, leader!" Chen Ling said sincerely. "These supplies are very timely."

The deputy director waved his hand, his expression serious: "We are the ones who should be saying thank you. Your early warnings and proactive disaster prevention at the grassroots level have set an example for the entire county. I heard you also organized a joint operation with several surrounding villages?"

"Yes." Chen Ling nodded. "Jinmen Village, Taoshugou, Majia'ao, and Yangtougou—all four villages have been mobilized. The dikes are being defended in sections, and supplies are being exchanged."

"Good! Great!"

The deputy director repeatedly praised, "This is true community-based prevention and control! I will report your experience and promote it throughout the province!"

Then they introduced Chen Ling to professionals to guide her work.

"Comrade Fugui, this is Engineer Zhou. He is from the city and specializes in flood prevention work. He took leave specifically to come here."

The deputy director introduced, "And this is Professor Wu from the provincial university, who has a lot of experience in flood control stone materials."

Mr. Zhou was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing glasses and looking very refined.

He shook Chen Ling's hand: "Mr. Chen, I've looked at the data on your reservoir. Let's get straight to the point and go take a look at the dam first."

"Okay! Please, Engineer Zhou!" Chen Ling immediately led the way.

The group arrived at the dam.

Engineer Zhou was very professional. He took out his measuring tools and began to carefully inspect the dam structure, measure the water level, and check the spillway.

Mr. Wu was a thin, old man. He walked around the dam, tapping the stones from time to time and squatting down to examine the texture of the cement mortar.

"Mr. Chen..."

Teacher Wu stood up, patted the dirt off his hands, and said, "The stone you used for reinforcement is okay, but the cement grade is not high enough. If we really need to prevent a major flood this time, I suggest that the key sections be re-grouted with high-grade cement and then covered with a layer of concrete."

He pointed to several parts of the dam: "Especially these bends, where the water flow has a strong impact, so we need to strengthen them."

Engineer Zhou also reached a conclusion: "Boss Chen, based on the current water level and inflow, the reservoir can still withstand 150 millimeters of rainfall. If it exceeds this amount, we must release water in advance, otherwise there is a risk of dam failure."

He took a piece of paper out of his bag and quickly drew a simple diagram: "My suggestion is to drive two rows of wooden piles on the back slope of the dam and build a support wall with sandbags to distribute the water pressure. In addition, the spillway should be dug half a meter deeper to increase the water flow capacity."

Chen Ling listened attentively and memorized everything.

At this moment, Wang Laishun arrived with the village officials.

Everyone got excited when they saw that experts from the city were there to provide guidance.

"Engineer Zhou, can we do all of this ourselves?" Wang Laishun asked.

“These young laborers from various villages were all brought in by Fugui. They have no other work and rely entirely on this wage. If there is no work and the harvest is bad this year, everyone will face famine.”

"Don't worry, most of them can do it themselves."

Engineer Zhou was very honest: "Use hardwood for the stakes; the village should have that. Use woven bags filled with soil for the sandbags. With so many of you, you can build hundreds a day. The key is to do it properly; you can't just cut corners."

"Don't worry about that!" Old Niwai patted his chest confidently. "We farmers are honest and hardworking, we don't cut corners!"

Engineer Zhou smiled and said, "That's good. Here's what I'll do: I'll draw up a detailed construction plan, and you can follow it."

Around 2 p.m., the meeting room at the brigade headquarters was full of people.

In addition to many village officials, there were also ordinary villagers who rushed over after hearing the news.

There wasn't enough room to sit inside, so many people stood at the door and outside the windows.

Chen Ling stood in front, without giving a long speech, and simply explained the situation in detail.

The unusual weather, the county's attitude, the support from friends from all sides, the advice from experts, and the things that need to be done.

He spoke calmly, but every word he said was practical and insightful.

After he finished speaking, he looked at everyone and said, "That's the situation. What we need to do now is to make good use of this support and prepare everything that needs to be prepared. Everyone is welcome to share their thoughts."

After a brief silence, someone raised their hand.

It was actually Wang Jusheng.

“Fugui, I suggest we set up several groups: a rescue group, a logistics group, an evacuation group, and a communications group, each with its own responsibilities.”

Before becoming a policeman, he was quite well-educated, so he naturally understood these things.

"Great idea!" Chen Ling nodded: "Brother Jusheng, you take the lead on this and draft a list."

"I'll sign up for the rescue team!" Chen Yuqiang was the first to stand up. "I'm young and strong!"

"I'll sign up too!"

"Count me in!"

"The logistics team needs women, right? We women can cook and sew sandbags!"

"I'll take on the relocation team; I know the situation of every household in the village!"

The conference room erupted in excitement.

People eagerly signed up and offered their suggestions; their enthusiasm was like a fire that burned away the gloom and unease of the past few days.

Wang Laishun's eyes reddened as he watched the scene.

He stood up, wanting to say something, but only managed to utter three heavy words: "Good! Good! Good!"

The meeting ended at 3:10 p.m., and the groups began their work.

The able-bodied men of the rescue team went up to the dam and, under the guidance of Engineer Zhou, continued to drive wooden stakes and build sandbags.

The women sewed sandbags on the drying ground, and the children helped fill them with soil.

The elderly people were also busy, going door-to-door to check the safety of houses and reminding residents of precautions.

Chen Ling stood on the dam, looking at the bustling scene before him.

The sunlight was still pale, and the sky was still gloomy, but everyone's face shone with light.

It was a light that had been ignited, a light of united will.

"At least it wasn't all for nothing. Now I don't have to watch so many lives be lost. I can finally rest easy."

As it turns out, even with his blessed land, he wasn't a god. Watching his concealment lead to the loss of countless lives was agonizing for him.

Now that he gave us an early warning, everything is moving in a positive direction.

"We really have to thank the Yellow Mountain Crocodile. If we catch it again, we can spare its life and not send it to be used for experiments."

"If we hadn't used it as an excuse to mobilize the masses to reinforce the river embankment, this project wouldn't have been possible."

Chen Ling sighed softly and looked towards the Qinling Mountains. He knew that under the continuous rain, the lynx that had become a spirit must not be having an easy time either.

This kind of weather actually presents a good opportunity to force it out; it's just a matter of when it happens. (End of Chapter)