Reborn in 1985: Starting from Contracting a Ranch

When Shan Yaowen arrived at Sandaohu, he only saw a dense crowd of people.

If a drone were to fly over there and look down from high above, people with trypophobia would definitely feel uncomfortable.

In the past, people would find places on the shore of Sandao Lake to chisel ice and cast nets, but now there are people in the middle of the lake.

And they're all working on it with great enthusiasm.

The Three Lakes, which were once as smooth as a mirror, are now riddled with holes.

In addition to the holes chiseled out of the ice, there were also many scattered fires, and the reeds and weeds along the lake had been almost completely cleared away.

Shan Yaowen glanced at his original spot and, as expected, it had been taken.

Moreover, the group occupying his space was the same group that had started out. When Shan Yaowen brought Shi Zhang there the next day, there was another group of people on the other side, the same group whose mother later told him that someone had fallen into the lake.

Unexpectedly, they were quick to spot and act, realizing that their place was a good spot with shallow water and plenty of fish.

"Where's the fighting going? Has it all ended?" Shi Zhang came looking for something exciting, but he only saw people fishing in a lively atmosphere, not fighting.

"Let's go inside and take a look." Shan Yaowen pointed to the innermost bend.

The outer shape of Sandao Lake is oval, with a bend extending outwards at the innermost part like three fingers. It is said that there used to be three rivers, but they later dried up.

This is also the origin of the name Sandaohu.

As for how Shan Yaowen knew, he saw people pushing and shoving at a bend in the road, and he could faintly hear noises coming from there.

As soon as the two of them arrived, they found people arguing, and it looked like they were about to start fighting.

"Damn it, this is my territory first."

"Get lost, I arrived here yesterday."

"Damn it, I came here a few days ago. You try calling it and see if it answers you."

Two middle-aged men stood facing each other with shovels, neither willing to give way, and it looked like they were about to fight, with more people gathering around them.

At that moment, Li Baoguo suddenly appeared out of nowhere and led his men to separate the two.

"Uncle, what brings you here?" Shan Yaowen waved and greeted the Party Secretary.

"Take some men and maintain order. Didn't you say you weren't coming?" Li Baoguo walked over to Shan Yaowen after seeing him. "What's wrong? Did you arrive too late and miss out on a spot?"

"I didn't come here to catch fish. I heard there was a fight, so I came to check it out."

Li Baoguo glanced at the kid speechlessly. "I've already persuaded him to go back. Sorry for interrupting your enjoyment."

"Uncle, what are you saying? I'm here to help."

Looking at Shan Yaowen's righteous and awe-inspiring demeanor, Li Baoguo curled his lip and said, "I know you too well. What are you pretending for?"

Shan Yaowen chuckled and didn't refute.

Then, glancing around, he whispered to the village secretary, "Uncle, you said the town sent people to manage things before, so why are they suddenly not doing it anymore?"

"We can't do anything about it," Li Baoguo shrugged. "The north is suffering from a snow disaster, and it's spreading towards us. The higher-ups are busy dealing with the snow disaster, so they don't have time to manage a lake. Besides, fishing can give the people down here more confidence to deal with the snow disaster, so the higher-ups just don't care."

"I see."

Seeing Shan Yaowen breathe a sigh of relief, Li Baoguo grinned, "However, the higher-ups still intend to investigate who caught the fish first. After all, the fish in this lake are an important resource, prepared by the higher-ups to deal with the snow disaster. But after this commotion, the higher-ups can't do anything about it."

Shan Yaowen: ...

Seeing the Party Secretary's mischievous smile, he knew the Party Secretary was trying to scare him.

"Uncle, stop fooling around."

"I really didn't cause any trouble. The people sent from above asked me, but I just turned them off by saying I didn't know anything. You better watch out, kid."

Hearing this, Shan Yaowen quickly took out a cigarette and handed it to him, saying, "It's cold, Uncle, you can smoke."

Li Baoguo lit one, then handed the rest to Shan Yaowen. "By the way, do you know that Chu Ma?"

"Chu Ma? Who's that? I don't know him."

"Oh, most people in the village call him Chu Er. He used to play with Zhao Laosan."

After thinking about it carefully, Shan Yaowen realized that he really didn't know this person, and he had no memories of him from his previous life.

"That's strange, he even came to report you the other day."

"What?! Report me?" Shan Yaowen stared wide-eyed at the village secretary. "I don't even know him, why would he report me?"

"Who knows?"

"What are you reporting me for?"

"Stealing fish."

At this moment, Shan Yaowen and Li Baoguo are like two evil villains, colluding with each other.

Without a second thought, the Party Secretary betrayed the person who made the report, and even betrayed the person who was reported.

"Uncle, is it appropriate for you to tell me this so easily after someone anonymously reported it?" After understanding the whole story, Shan Yaowen looked at Li Baoguo strangely.

He remembered that this Party branch secretary was quite upright, so why was he suddenly telling him all this?

"It wasn't an anonymous report. That guy came to my house and told me in person that day, the day you first started fishing, the day I came back from a meeting in town." Li Baoguo exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Besides, he's illiterate. You want him to write an anonymous whistleblower letter? That's really asking too much of him. The only thing he can write is his own name."

"Is this appropriate?"

Li Baoguo glared at Shan Yaowen with annoyance. "This guy is a habitual offender. He often reports people to the town, and the town is also annoyed by him. Every time he reports, it's all baseless accusations. He never mentions anything he actually does, like Zhao Laosan gambling. He only reports people he has a grudge against. He's been locked up a few times, but he still doesn't repent."

"And yet you can't do anything about it. After all, he says he's doing it for the good of society and exercising his right to supervise as a citizen. He speaks with righteous indignation, but his behavior is like a stubborn skin disease, very annoying."

"And he was the one who leaked the information about this fishing incident."

Oh dear, he's a habitual whistleblower.

Logically speaking, someone like this should know about him; there should be some word about it in the village. So why don't I recognize him?

But whatever, since you reported me, I'll deal with you. You really think I'm an easy target?

However, he doesn't know who Chu Er is yet.

Fortunately, he didn't know them, but plenty of others did.

After saying goodbye to the Party Secretary, Shan Yaowen asked around among a few people he knew in the village and found Chu Er.

"What a coincidence."

Seeing the group of people fishing in his old spot, Shan Yaowen never expected such a coincidence.

At the same time, he remembered where he had seen this Chu Er before. Wasn't he the guy who kicked down the door and beat Gou Dan when he went to rescue Gou Dan at Hua Gou's house that day?

Shi Zhang followed Shan Yaowen and, upon seeing Chu Er, immediately asked, "Brother Wen, what are you planning to do?"

"No rush, I'll go find Gou Dan. He also has a grudge against this guy, and then..."

Shan Yaowen originally wanted to find more people before making a decision, since Chu Er's group seemed to have quite a few people. However, before he could come up with a plan, he saw Chu Er's group fighting over territory.

Moreover, both sides called on their friends and acquaintances, and in just a moment, the original argument, confrontation, and shoving were about to turn into a melee.

"I'll go get the Party Secretary." Seeing a fight, Shi Zhang immediately got up to go find Li Baoguo, but was stopped by Shan Yaowen.

"Damn it, what's with the 'Party Secretary'? Let's go, we're going too."

"What are you doing? A fight has broken out. Aren't you just going to call the Party Secretary to break it up? Are you just going to stand by and watch?"

"I'm not just going to watch, I'm going to get involved too! No matter what it's about, if someone beats up Chu Er, I'll definitely lend a hand!"

Shan Yaowen didn't care about the ten-year revenge plan. He originally wanted to invite Gou Dan along, but now that such a good opportunity was right in front of him, he wouldn't be Shan Lao Er if he didn't seize it!