Chapter 38: You block the road, I cut off the water!

  The time for the scheduled road repair is approaching, and both Lu Zhengdong and Wu Zhonghe are keeping a close eye on the fruit garden project. Since winter is a slack season in rural areas with little rainfall, it's the best time to start construction. If they delay the start of work until after next spring, the villagers will be busy with spring plowing and there will be more rainy days, which will greatly prolong the construction period.

  After talking with Gao Daoming once, Lu Zhengdong went again. Director Gao's attitude was better than the first time, but his attitude towards repairing the road did not change much. Either push it to the Forestry Bureau or find other excuses, and the matter has not been settled yet.

  Lu Zhengdong later went alone again, and Gao Daoming finally stated the requirement that the road can be repaired, but Lingdong Village and Shalin Village must take land from nearby orchards in exchange, and this plan is also the intention of the bureau.

  Originally, the land occupied by the orchard was exchanged for some of the village collective's barren mountains and wasteland from two villages, which is also reasonable. However, the key point is that the barren mountains and slopes are not satisfactory to Gao Daoming, what Gao Daoming is satisfied with is a more fertile piece of land at the junction of Shalin Village and the orchard.

  Gao Daoming's abacus was loud and clear, using those useless marginal lands to exchange for good land in the village, expanding the effective area of the orchard. He had such a performance as soon as he arrived at the orchard, and he must have been praised by his superiors and established prestige among the fruit farmers, so he gained both face and substance.

  It's a big bad thing for the countryside and villages. Although there are only five or six mu of land, Shanlin and Lingdong Village originally had the least arable land, and the land is very precious. The peasants who have contracted the fertile land will not want to give it up, let alone be willing to give it up. Even if they are willing to give it up, Lingdong Village has to compensate Shanlin Village, and other villager groups in Lingdong Village also have to compensate the villager group that returns the land. This is a case of pulling one hair and moving the whole body. The previous land adjustment plan between Shanlin Village and Lingdong Village will have to be pushed back, and the entire plan will be completely disrupted.

  Under such conditions, Lu Zhengdong would not agree. The two sides went back and forth, with Lu Zhengdong speaking sincerely to Gao Daming, but Gao felt that the village was seeking something from the orchard and refused to budge. Old Yang from the orchard apparently also saw through Gao's thoughts and remained silent on the side. The two people dragged it out for half a day, but their goals were too far apart, and in the end, they still couldn't reach an agreement...

  Lu Zhengdong came out of the orchard, thinking in his heart that this matter was indeed a bit tricky. If he followed the requirements of the orchard, it would be unrealistic; if he didn't follow the requirements of the orchard, Gao Daoming's will had to be fulfilled, which would also lead to disputes.

  Lu Zhengdong thought that maybe it was through the superior forestry bureau of the orchard to coordinate this matter, but Gao Daoming wanted to show off and had already reported such a plan, the forestry bureau would also be inclined towards the orchard, this is what is called departmental interests. If they don't satisfy the requirements of the orchard, they'll find some excuse to kick the ball back and forth between each other, who knows when it will end.

  Lu Zhengdong thought for a long time and felt that he shouldn't look for the Forestry Bureau until the last step. He decided to think of another way first. So, he called Ye Kaisheng and Lin Dawu again, had a brainstorming session, and discussed what to do next.

  Lin Dawu was furious as soon as he finished introducing him and scolded:

  "Damn it, Gao Daoming is thinking too much, he wants to be that good but there's no way. If Gao Daoming wants to put pressure on us, we'll make him look good, wait until their fruit is ripe and see what they do."

  Ye Kaisen said with a hateful tone:

  "This guy looks simple and honest, but he's actually cunning. It turns out he had that kind of intention all along. He won't let us fix the road, and when the time comes, we won't let them have a good day either..."

  But he also knew that getting angry wouldn't solve the problem, he knew what Lin Dawu and Ye Kaisheng were talking about, it was just some of the fruit in the orchard being damaged, he thought for a moment and shook his head.

  "This matter was already explained in front of the people in the orchard, if Gao Daming was afraid, his attitude wouldn't be so tough. Gao Daming thinks we are begging from the orchard, so he's taking advantage of us and wants to get that piece of land into the orchard first. When the fruit is ripe, the orchard will strengthen its patrol management, even if some fruit is lost, it won't be a big loss, in any case, getting that land into the orchard is still a good deal... This method can't quench our thirst..."

  Lu Zhengdong's words left the two branch secretaries speechless, and after a while, Lin Dawu said:

  "If it can't be helped, then we'll just have to force it through. Whether the orchard owner agrees or not, we'll still go ahead with the repairs!"

  Ye Kaisen's face turned pale and he said after a moment of thought:

  "It's going to be tough, and if things don't go well, something bad might happen. Those workers at the logging camp aren't easy to deal with either, what if a fight breaks out?"

  Lin Dawu waved his hand:

  "Lao Ye, you're just too timid. This time the countryside has made up its mind to repair the road. If our two villages can't get it done because of this, and we want to try again, it won't be easy. The whole village's old and young masters will scold us village cadres to death if they don't. Anyway, there are several thousand people in our two villages, and only twenty or thirty people in the orchard, not even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth. Do they dare to take action? Gao Daoming wants to bully us, but we'll bully him back!"

  Lu Zhengdong saw Lin Dawu was also furious and somewhat moved, but Lu Zhengdong knew that such rough behavior couldn't solve the problem. After a moment of consolation, he finally calmed down Lin Dawu.

  Ye Kaisheng saw Lu Zhengdong didn't seem to be in a hurry and looked at him before saying:

  "Lao Lin, what's wrong with you? Lu Xiangzhang seems confident and must have a plan."

  Lu Zhengdong smiled and said:

  "I haven't thought of a solution yet, isn't that what we're discussing? The orchard is right next to your village, you're familiar with the situation, think about it, doesn't the orchard still need something from your village?"

  Ye Kai's eyes lit up as soon as he heard it, and after thinking for a moment, he said:

  "We are on the mountain, they are at the foot of the mountain. As long as a few stones fall, the water on the mountain will be diverted to the orchard... That orchard must also be miserable..."

  Lin Dawu's eyes lit up as soon as he heard Ye Kaishe's words, and he slapped his thigh saying:

  "Lao Ye, your method is just a waste of time, but now that you mention it, I've thought of something - we can cut off their water supply!"

  Lu Zhengdong saw that Lu Zhengdong still didn't quite understand and explained:

  "There is a large mountain spring on the east side of our ridge, and all the water used for living in the orchard comes from there..."

  Lu Zhengdong was overjoyed when he heard this and hastily said:

  "Why didn't Lin Zhishu say such a thing earlier?"

  Lin Dawu touched his head and said:

  "That's just a small ditch, it originally had nothing to do with the orchard, I didn't pay attention to it at all, if it wasn't for Old Lin bringing it up, I would have forgotten about it."

  Lu Zhengdong's heart also ignited with hope, and he quickly called the two to take a look on the spot. The three of them walked to the top of the mountain above the orchard again. Lin Dawu pointed to a spring on the other side of the mountain ridge. The water in the orchard was diverted from there through a mountain valley to the other side of the mountain. The irrigation ditch was really small, and it was hard to find it in the grass thicket in the mountains if one didn't pay attention. Seeing such a small irrigation ditch, Lu Zhengdong felt a bit disappointed, hesitated for a moment, and asked:

  "Is there any other water source in the orchard? The irrigation canal is so small, and breaking it off won't have much impact on them, will it?"

  Ye Kai's smile:

  "This mountain is the territory of our two villages, if we don't let them use water, they can only go to the river at the foot of the mountain to find water, hehe, the orchard has a lot of pigs and sheep, and 20 or 30 people, let them go to the river district to fetch water, it's strange if they don't jump up..."

  Lu Zhengdong looked around again. The orchard was located on the middle of the mountain, and to get water from the river up here would require a pump. This move was actually a good idea.

  Lin Dawu is quite impatient:

  "Let's just do it, let's organize some manpower and dig this canal. Let the people in the orchard drink northwest wind! If that doesn't work, then we'll get him some rolling stones..."

  Lu Zhengdong said "seriously":

  "The orchard is also a state-owned unit, how can our party members and cadres do such things that affect state-owned units? This canal is so long, it must have passed through the mountains of many villagers' homes..."

  Lu Zhengdong is a leading cadre, although this is also being forced by the orchard, he is after all a cadre, and such things are not to be put on the table, he must be unwilling to show his face.

  Lin Dawu was stunned for a moment, and Ye Kaisheng on the side smiled and said:

  "This is entirely a spontaneous action by ordinary people."

  Lin Dawu also came back to his senses:

  "I understand now, I know what to do about this..."

  Lu Zhengdong saw that the two understood his meaning and smiled faintly, pointing:

  "Lin Zhi Shu, I'm not criticizing you. Your village has always had more mountains and less land. When there's a drought, all you can do is stare blankly. With such water sources, why don't you think of ways to make good use of them for irrigation?"

  Ye Kaisheng and Lin Dawu saw Lu Zhengdong not only doing things but also having a lot of rules, suddenly they all smiled with joy, and they were busy nodding.

  Lin Dawu also smiled and said:

  "Ah, this mountain spring is also used by our villagers."

  Actually, the mountain spring is located halfway up the mountain, and there are no fields around it either. It's really useful, and the village has been using it for a long time. Lin Dawu also understands that Lu Zhengdong is just making an excuse to haggle with Guo Yuan over the price of the orchard.

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