Chapter 503 - 330: One Year Before the Flood, Massive Nationwide Preparations
Chapter 503: Chapter 330: One Year Before the Flood, Massive Nationwide Preparations
It was the end of another year, and Li Family Village was as bustling as ever. They distributed New Year’s goods and held all sorts of celebrations, making for a very festive atmosphere.
The company had made a huge profit, so Li Xiang took two million from the earnings. Part of it was used to purchase various goods, which were distributed to the villagers and employees, while the rest was given out directly as large, cash-filled red envelopes.
Core team members received additional rewards, including precious seafood, gold and silver jewelry and ornaments, Spiritual Medicine, and Spiritual Soldiers.
It was worth noting that Li Xiang’s cousins, Yao Yao’s younger brother, Zhao Xueqing’s younger brother, and Zhao Xueqing’s cousin Han Qifeng had all become Tier One Extraordinaries.
Thanks to Li Xiang’s "diligent efforts," Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui had each advanced a level and were now Tier Seven Extraordinaries.
Jiang Cai’Er, on the other hand, was now Tenth Tier.
This year’s third annual Li Family Village Gala was a bit special. It wasn’t held a few days in advance but instead started promptly at 8:00 PM on New Year’s Eve.
This was because this year’s gala had surprisingly become one of the branch venues for the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in Sichuan Province. Not only that, it was the largest branch venue and received higher-level treatment than any other. Several famous hosts had come to co-host the show with Jiang Cai’Er, Li Xiang, Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui. The government even footed the bill for all the decorations.
This development left the folks from all the surrounding villages and netizens across the country completely stunned.
How had a tiny mountain village suddenly become so incredible?
Only those who knew Li Xiang’s true identity, like the personnel involved in the massive Yellow River dredging project, understood why the nation valued Li Family Village so highly and granted it such prestigious treatment.
Some said that the village might just be humanity’s future hope.
After the Lantern Festival, Li Xiang set out once more to continue his great, unfinished work: dredging the nation’s countless waterways.
He had only just finished the Yellow River. There were still the Yangtze River, Qiantang River, Gan River, Huangpu River, Heilongjiang River, Pearl River, and so many other water systems left to do.
Once again, he was collaborating with the National Major Water Conservancy Project Command Center. The original team was reunited, ready to pour all their effort into the project.
As for Jiang Cai’Er, she had already returned to Tsinghua University to resume her studies and research projects.
They hadn’t been idle during the New Year holiday. It wasn’t all sweet nothings from dawn till dusk. Instead, Li Xiang took Jiang Cai’Er on nightly tours across the motherland’s magnificent landscapes, conducting field surveys of the various water systems. They also had geological and hydrological data provided in advance by the national command center’s special task force for reference.
Using this information, Jiang Cai’Er helped Li Xiang draw up a detailed plan. However, the actual execution didn’t require her assistance, so she went back to the university.
As for Luo Feifei, being one of the nation’s top starlets, she was swamped with work over the New Year. She participated in numerous Spring Festival galas and variety shows at all levels. On New Year’s Eve, she was still performing at the Imperial Capital Main Stage, meaning she once again had to miss the Li Family Village Gala.
However, during her breaks, she would secretly open her phone and shower Li Xiang’s livestream with gifts. In addition, her "Top Aunt" persona also came online and did the same.
By the time Li Xiang was ready to begin dredging the Yangtze River system, Luo Feifei had finally cleared her schedule. She came to his side, ready to fight alongside him!
"Hmph! You went and dredged the Yellow River last year without even telling me," Luo Feifei said when they met in private. She puffed out her cheeks and pouted adorably.
Li Xiang felt a pang of guilt. "It wasn’t a secret! It was a massive operation. You were just so busy that I didn’t want to disturb you."
Figuring her supply of Spiritual Medicine was likely depleted, he refilled her Space Ring with a large quantity.
Luo Feifei was also at the Tenth Tier of Cultivation now. Her progress in this life was slightly slower than in her previous one for several reasons. First, she had taken Li Xiang’s advice to solidify her foundation before each breakthrough. Second, in addition to the Ice Crystal Peach Blossom Spell, she also practiced seven or eight other Breathing Techniques to perfect her Spirit Body. Third, she was cultivating in a peaceful era with a much more relaxed environment, lacking the constant, precarious pressure of the Apocalypse. And fourth, she devoted most of her energy to her acting career.
There was nothing to be done; her mother was obsessed with money.
In her previous life, Luo Feifei’s mother had been killed not long after the Apocalypse began. So in this life, Luo Feifei cherished her deeply and wanted nothing more than to make her happy. Since her mother wanted her to be a star and earn lots of money, she would fulfill that simple wish.
In terms of actual power, however, her current self far surpassed her past-life self at the same Realm.
Li Xiang had already performed Dual Cultivation with the other women, but he had yet to take that step with Luo Feifei. This was mainly because she was still young and underage. Luo Feifei was two years younger than Jiang Cai’Er (about a year and a half, really) and had just turned seventeen.
At seventeen, Luo Feifei was, of course, divinely beautiful—the very definition of peak looks.
Li Xiang, clad in the Giant Whale Saint Armor, and Luo Feifei, in her Electric Light Illusion Armor, moved as one to reshape a golden channel for the mother of rivers, the Yangtze.
Luo Feifei could sense hydrological changes at any point in the river basin for dozens of miles around and could also manipulate immense volumes of water, making her a tremendous help to Li Xiang.
The main challenges in dredging the Yangtze River were the developed meanders in its middle and lower reaches, the "nine-bend-intestine" channel of the Jing River section that hampered shipping efficiency, and the seasonal shrinking of Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake, which was causing an escalating ecological crisis.
Li Xiang used his Earth Superpower to straighten the 180-kilometer meandering channel of the Jing River. At the same time, he preserved the old river course, turning it into an ecological wetland, and used his power to reshape the embankments on both sides.
The plan also featured a "lake-reservoir linkage" system called the "Intelligent Water Dividing Matrix." This involved covertly installing sensor-activated floodgates at the Poyang Lake Entrance. During the dry season, they would automatically close to preserve the lake’s water level. Zhao Xueqing would then implant a "Water Algae Mutualism Network" to purify the water.
Removing silt was now Li Xiang’s forte. His Otherworldly Warehouse had expanded to thirty-five trillion cubic meters, allowing him to transport two trillion cubic meters of silt and sand in a single trip and dump it into the depths of the Pacific Ocean.