Era-Ch33

Chapter 33: Digging the Fish Pond

As soon as Lin Heng and Xiulan left, the house was left with only the awkward presence of his sister-in-law, Liu Juan.

Lin Father glanced at her: “I told you to say less, but you wouldn’t listen. A person should be magnanimous.”

Saying that, he went out on his own, leaving Liu Juan to face the consequences of her own actions.

She had talked behind Lin Heng’s back before, but she often made sarcastic comments in front of him too. Now that Lin Heng had retorted, was she really expecting the family to help her?

“Wife, just soften your tone with Lin Heng, and say less in the future,” Lin Yue said, glancing at his wife, and tried to advise her.

“Now you’re lecturing me? I wash your clothes, cook for you, and even had three sons, yet you’re calling me an ungrateful wolf!!”

Upon hearing her husband’s words, Liu Juan flew into a rage, shot him a dirty look, and stormed off to her room.

Lin Yue looked innocent, wondering why their conversation turned into this. They were just discussing things calmly, and now he was being called an ungrateful wolf.

“Sigh.” He sighed, picked up a piece of paper, lit a cigarette, and went outside.

Lin Mother shook her head. Her eldest daughter-in-law and second daughter-in-law were too different.

Lin Heng went to the vegetable garden outside. The vegetables had been moved to another plot, and the ground had been cleared a little.

He looked at the spring. Lin Heng decided to create a stream ecosystem here, making it look like a creek. After raising the grass carp fry, he could also raise small fish and koi.

When he was idle, he could also relax and watch the fish.

After carefully planning, Lin Heng decided to use 50 square meters of the backyard to create an ecological fish pond. First, he would dig out the spring, turning it into a well.

Then, he would divert the water from the well into a secondary reservoir, from which he would create a stream to lead the water to a large fish pond. The water would then be drained through an outlet connected to the large pond.

He didn’t need to do swamp filtration because this was an ecological fish pond with a water source, so the water would keep flowing, making it a natural living water system without needing to recycle through a swamp filtration.

After imagining what it would look like, Lin Heng began marking the ground with a wooden stick. After several attempts, he was satisfied with the result.

He went back inside, grabbed some wood ash as white lime to mark the outline, and planned to build according to the markings.

At that moment, Lin Father and an old man in a yellow robe came to the land. The old man held a compass and some other tools, obviously a feng shui master.

“Lin Heng, this is your maternal uncle.” Lin Father introduced.

“Hello, Uncle, you look really strong,” Lin Heng said, grinning and flattering him.

“Shi Feng, you seem much steadier than when you were married,” the old man in the yellow robe said with a smile.

Shi Feng was Lin Heng’s childhood nickname, because when he was young, he worshipped a large stone and became its godfather. This was believed to bring him good health, as it was thought that making a stone a godfather would make a child’s life “tougher,” reducing the likelihood of illness.

“Uncle, I want to dig the spring deeper and build a fish pond. What do you think?” Lin Heng smiled, pointing to the spring behind him.

His uncle looked at the spring and nodded: “That’s a good idea, water brings wealth. A pond in the yard will symbolize prosperity. I’ll take a closer look for you later.”

The old man nodded and then began examining the house’s orientation. Lin Heng’s family had mountains in the back and a river in the front, so the place was definitely good.

“Uncle, can I start expanding the spring now?” Lin Heng asked.

“This is originally a small water area, so you can dig here. You can’t touch other areas until the 8th day of the month,” the old man in yellow said after examining it.

“Alright.” Lin Heng was happy to hear that he could proceed, and immediately went to find his older brother, Lin Yue.

“Brother, bring the tools and help me dig a well,” Lin Heng called out.

“Can we dig today?” Lin Yue glanced at him.

“Yes, I asked Uncle, and he said it’s fine to dig the spring,” Lin Heng nodded.

“Well, if there’s nothing else to do, let’s go dig,” Lin Yue agreed, grabbing a shovel, pickaxe, hoe, and heading outside with Lin Heng.

Lin Heng carried a ladle made of gourd and a wooden basin.

They first emptied the water from the spring, then began digging with the hoe and shovel.

Lin Heng’s plan was to dig a well with a diameter of 1.5 meters, the depth to be decided based on the situation. The water from the well would be drinkable, and then diverted to a secondary reservoir before connecting to the stream fish pond.

While digging, they chatted.

Lin Yue said that he was going to drink less tonight and catch some yellow eels.

“Lin Heng, your sister-in-law is that kind of person, don’t take it to heart,” Lin Yue suddenly said with a smile.

“Brother, you’re thinking too much. Why would I take it to heart? I understand your difficulties,” Lin Heng replied, shaking his head with a smile.

He and his older brother were only two years apart and had grown up together, catching fish, poisoning fish, stealing corn and soybeans, getting beaten, and fighting.

Even when they fought, they always got over it quickly. They always cared for each other.

When Lin Heng had a 50,000 yuan debt in his previous life, his older brother helped him despite being scolded by his wife.

So even though his brother sided with his wife, Lin Heng didn’t mind. He trusted that their brotherly bond wouldn’t change.

“Haha, hearing you say that makes me feel at ease. Let’s give those yellow eels a good lesson tonight.”

Hearing this, Lin Yue laughed and patted Lin Heng on the shoulder. He didn’t want to let anything cause a rift between them, but it was difficult. He had been conflicted.

His resentment towards Lin Heng stemmed from his frustration with Lin Heng’s irresponsible behavior, not because of anything else.

“Of course,” Lin Heng chuckled.

Putting aside everything else, his older brother had dropped out of school after elementary school so that Lin Heng could attend middle school. That kindness was enough to prevent Lin Heng from holding a grudge against his sister-in-law.

The reason he had said those things earlier was just to irritate his sister-in-law, not something he took to heart.

They continued talking while shoveling, and after a while, they had dug a hole more than a meter deep. Several small springs appeared, and water started flowing in small streams from the mountains.

“Let’s divert the water and keep digging.”

The two men took off their shirts and dug a trench to divert the water, continuing to dig deeper.

After over three hours of work, they had dug a well with a diameter of 1.8 meters and a depth of 2.2 meters. Both were sweating heavily.

“This place really has an abundance of underground water,” Lin Heng commented.

After digging deeper, they found three small springs, each about 4-5 cm in diameter. The water flow wasn’t fast but was continuous, which explained why this area was always damp.

“We’ll find some stones in the afternoon to line the walls of the well to keep the yellow soil out. Then the well will be done,” Lin Yue said, nodding.

The well was finished, and with less water seeping out, the house would be drier too.

(End of Chapter)