Iron Ox Reappears

Chapter 1

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Starting November 13, 2002, China began a 42-day, 30 million yuan maintenance operation on Dujiangyan, the world's oldest existing irrigation system. The operation was interrupted due to the river's flow not being interrupted for 10 years. The main channel of the Dujiangyan irrigation system had accumulated silt, and many of the riverside canals and water supply facilities were outdated, affecting the water intake at the Baopingkou (Bottle-Neck) point, necessitating dredging and repair.

Shortly after the Three Gorges Dam project was completed, another massive river closure operation unfolded on the Minjiang River. This operation, almost entirely manual, recreated the spectacular scene of ancient people blocking rivers. This method of closure required an investment of just over 1 million yuan, while using heavy machinery would have cost 5 million yuan and caused environmental pollution.

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System, the world's oldest existing water conservancy project, has officially begun its maintenance and closure of the Inner River. This project utilizes the ancient "macha" closure technique, with a history of over two thousand years, to dam the river. During the closure process, workers used bamboo baskets to transport mud and stones to build the dam. The main structure of the dam consists of 15 macha, reinforced with yellow mud and bamboo cages filled with pebbles. The remaining macha are placed in front of the dam to slow the river flow. Each macha is made of six round logs, each 9 meters long and over 40 centimeters in diameter, bound together without a single iron nail; the binding tools are only bamboo ropes woven by craftsmen. During the closure, the macha, connected to wooden beams and bamboo mats, are placed in rows in the water, secured with bamboo baskets filled with pebbles for weight, allowing them to stand firm in the turbulent water. This ancient closure method uses locally sourced materials, is flexible in application, highly efficient, and costs only one-third of modern rockfill cofferdam closures, while also being quite environmentally friendly.

The reason why Dujiangyan, with a history of more than 2,000 years, has not disappeared like other water conservancy projects of the same period or later is due to its annual maintenance system.

The so-called annual maintenance system, established during Li Bing's time, includes annual repairs, major repairs, special repairs, and emergency repairs. The annual maintenance process embodies the six-character motto: "Deep dredging is difficult, build low weirs." Due to the gradual reduction of silt, dredging now only needs to be done once every ten years.

During the Dujiangyan irrigation closure period, a 1.5-kilometer-long underground canal will divert water from the Minjiang River into the western Sichuan Plain to ensure the water needs of the irrigation area and downstream cities.

According to officials from the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, the ancient technique of damming the river, which is over two thousand years old, is used to prevent this ancient technology from being lost. This technique will continue to be used in future annual maintenance.

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System, a famous ancient irrigation system, is located on the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in China. It is the only surviving ancient water conservancy system in the world that features damless water diversion. It has a history of more than 2,250 years and is hailed as a "monument in the history of human water conservancy".

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the Dujiangyan Irrigation System was built under the supervision of Li Bing, the governor of Shu Commandery of the Qin State, during the late Warring States period (256-251 BC). It created the Dujiangyan headworks, including the "Fish Mouth Weir," "Flying Sand Weir," and "Bottle-Neck Pass," and a vast canal system, successfully solving the two major challenges of flood control and sediment removal faced by water conservancy projects worldwide. In November 2000, it was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The Guyan Irrigation District currently covers an area of 10.09 million mu (approximately 667,000 hectares) across 34 counties, with a total grain output of 6 billion kilograms. It also provides domestic and industrial water for 50 large and medium-sized cities and hundreds of industrial and mining enterprises in Sichuan Province.

Ancient water control tools from over two thousand years ago, such as the "macha" (a type of wooden raft) and pebble-bamboo cages, will be used to cut off the inner river at the Fish Mouth of Dujiangyan. The riverbed of the "heart" of Dujiangyan, stretching approximately 1.8 kilometers from the Fish Mouth to the Baopingkou (Bottle Neck) and then to the Yangtianwo Sluice Gate, will be revealed to the public.

Iron Ox and Iron Turtle have appeared?

The Fish Mouth of Dujiangyan was originally made of iron oxen and iron turtles during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, but their whereabouts are now unknown. It is said that during the Yuan dynasty, water management experts cast two iron oxen with their heads joined together and tails separated, weighing 60,000 jin (approximately 30 tons) of iron, to serve as the fish mouth. During the Ming dynasty, an iron turtle weighing over 10,000 jin (approximately 5,000 tons) of iron was also cast as the fish mouth. However, both the iron oxen and the iron turtles were later washed away by the river. During the dry season of 1990, the Dujiangyan Cultural Relics Bureau invited experts to explore the location of the iron oxen and iron turtles in areas such as the inner river of Dujiangyan. The experts' probes would show a red signal indicating the presence of metal, but no iron oxen or iron turtles were found. The whereabouts of the iron oxen and iron turtles remain an unsolved mystery. Since both artifacts weigh over 10,000 jin (approximately 5,000 tons), it is estimated that they were not washed far by the water. (Editor: Jiang Zhi)

According to Southern Weekly

This is a story entirely built on memory and inference. Aside from that 60,000-pound iron ox, there is no other person or thing in the world that can verify the truth of what I'm about to say. Wait a minute, truth? What is truth? Truth is simply the one among countless possibilities that time has proven. Time has proven this possibility to me, but could it be another possibility to you? No, because we maintain our connection, communication, and trust through these shared possibilities. Have you ever thought about how one day, the trust you share with others, built on cognition, might suddenly be broken? You firmly believe you live in one world, while others firmly believe they live in another. Don't easily dismiss this as impossible. Next, I'm going to tell you a story that mentions the world and raises this question about the world: Is the world we each inhabit the only absolutely real world?

Before the news broke, I was still drifting through my days at the Morning Star, getting invited to dinner every day by clueless people who wanted me to write about my past stories for their newspapers, magazines, websites, or whatever. But it was clear they mostly treated those stories as legends; few believed they were true—proving that most people in the world possess the admirable quality of curiosity and skepticism. While writing columns for those newspapers, magazines, websites, or whatever, I gradually developed this same curiosity and skepticism—what could possibly prove the veracity of my various anecdotes? Except time, but time is far from sufficient evidence; at best, it only provides a possibility. And I, clinging to the occasional peculiarities that time has provided, was just scraping by, eating, drinking, and collecting fees—well, better left unsaid.

Chapter One: Breaking Ground

That day, Song Xiaotao, the director of the social news department, suddenly invited me to dinner. Although I had been with the newspaper for quite some time, I had never interacted with this old man since I wasn't in the news department. The only thing I remembered about him was that he drank alcohol every day at lunchtime, and when he drank, his voice became loud and boisterous. So every afternoon when we had a topic selection meeting, I would hear him shouting loudly by himself. In short, I didn't have a bad impression of him, but I kept my distance from him. His sudden invitation to dinner, without any reason but with such hospitality, made me quite uneasy.

When Song Xiaotao invited me to dinner, he looked extremely unwell, and the meal was incredibly lavish, which only increased my anxiety. Fortunately, Song Xiaotao wasn't one to beat around the bush; after a few dishes were served, he handed me a copy of Southern Weekly and showed me the news articles in it.

That iron ox piqued my interest, and I asked him, "Is there really such a thing as an iron ox weighing 60,000 jin?"

Song Xiaotao said, "Yes, a comprehensive search was conducted ten years ago, but it was not found. This year's annual maintenance claims to be determined to bring back the Iron Ox of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. The higher-ups attach great importance to this annual maintenance of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, believing that the reappearance of the Iron Ox from 500 years ago would be a very good news story. This issue of Southern Weekly did it, but we didn't, so I was criticized. They said why didn't we send someone to do such a valuable news story properly? But I was in a dilemma. We didn't have any professional water conservancy experts. How easy is it to do this report well?"

Just then, the waiter brought over a bowl of salmon. I took a bite; the salmon was incredibly fresh, and the chef's skills were superb. At this point, Song Xiaotao began to flatter me, expressing his admiration for my years of dedicated exploration. I chuckled, and Song Xiaotao concluded, "Duo, although you're not in our social news department, among the people I know, you're the most interested and talented in this kind of news. Would you be willing to make a trip? As long as you do it big, well, and make a significant impact, you don't need to worry about the pay."

I thought about it for five minutes, during which I ate the entire salmon, and then agreed. It wasn't because the salmon he treated me to was particularly delicious, but because I felt I had been idle for too long and it was time to get out and about. More importantly, intuitively, I felt that the iron ox possessed something mysterious and alluring about him that was pulling at my nerves. I said, "Help me arrange the itinerary, and I'll leave in the next few days."

The next day, Song Xiaotao gave me my train ticket for that evening. To be honest, I was very dissatisfied with his arrangements. Although Song Xiaotao had bought me a soft sleeper ticket, I would have preferred to travel by boat to Sichuan—a stable riverboat was much more comfortable than being crammed into a soft sleeper compartment on a train, navigating mountains and valleys. And for someone from Shanghai, there was no reason to be afraid of traveling by boat. Two days and one night later, the train arrived in Chengdu in the early morning. Then I transferred to a bus directly to Dujiangyan. Song Xiaotao told me he had already made arrangements, and staff would pick me up upon arrival in Dujiangyan. Reassured, I slept soundly on the long-distance bus.

I woke up and got off the bus at noon. The long-distance bus station in Zhendian, Sichuan, had a certain old-fashioned feel, but it was overwhelmed by an unexpectedly noisy crowd. I looked around for someone holding a sign that said "Na Duo, look over here" or "Welcome, Na Duo, our comrade from Shanghai media," but I couldn't find anyone who seemed to be there to pick me up. Exhausted from the journey, I couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this interview. Fortunately, I saw a girl in her early twenties wearing a green shirt and pencil skirt standing to the side, waiting for someone. There was a small tag pinned to the chest of her green shirt that read: Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Research Institute. I guessed she was the staff member sent to pick me up. So I quickly went up to greet her. She turned around when she heard me. I was about to ask to confirm when I was stunned—this girl had a unique kind of beauty. I've been a reporter for several years now, and I'm not the kind of person who's easily surprised by beautiful women. But she did have a rare, mysterious, and attractive quality about her. That was my first impression of her: beautiful and enigmatic.

Before I could react, she spoke first, asking, "Are you Mr. Na Duo? A reporter from Shanghai?" I nodded. She snapped off the badge from her chest, stuffed it into her handbag, shrugged and smiled at me, shook my hand, and introduced herself, "My name is Lin Cui, and I'm a researcher at the Dujiangyan Irrigation Research Institute. The car is over there, come with me."

Although I was quite tired from the long car ride, sharing a car with a woman of such elegance was quite invigorating. Lin Cui drove along the Minjiang River at high speed. The river wasn't very wide, and the water churned and constantly changed its character. I talked to Lin Cui through the rearview mirror.

I asked her, "What do you do at the Water Conservancy Research Institute? Are you specifically in charge of reception?"

Lin Cui laughed, "Didn't I tell you I'm a researcher? I'm a professional water conservancy expert." Seeing my surprised expression in the rearview mirror, she added, "What? Can't someone who's pretty do research?"

This sentence prompted me to silently write two words: sharp.

Lin Cui continued, "I grew up here and I love hydrological work. I know the terrain and water features around Dujiangyan very well. I am one of the leaders of this annual maintenance project. I was just temporarily sent out to receive the media."

Talking to a sharp-tongued girl is no easy task, but fortunately, I've dealt with several girls who are quite witty, so I'm not without experience. I quickly changed the subject, praising her beautiful green floral shirt. She smiled and said, "My name is Cui, so I have a knack for green clothes."

I said, "I was born in Shanghai, where there are so many people, so I was named Na Duo (meaning 'many'). You were born by the Yangtze River, so you should be named Lin Lan (meaning 'blue') or Lin Bi (meaning 'green'), instead of Lin Cui (meaning 'green')?"

Lin Cui said, "Haha, have you ever seen a forest that's blue?" She paused, then added, "Of course! This name is quite unique. When I was little, my parents named me Lin Cuihua, but later they thought it was too corny, so I changed my name to Lin Cui when I was sixteen. Now I think Cuihua is a pretty good name. The boss can stand by the river and call out to me: 'Cuihua, come up to the dam!' Haha." After saying that, she and I burst into laughter.

I had assumed that the researchers I would encounter during this interview, who dealt with water all day, would be serious, weathered, and meticulous. But meeting Lin Cui made me much more optimistic about my chances of participating in this report, and my enthusiasm also increased significantly.

As the conversation gradually turned to the main topic of the annual maintenance, I inquired about the progress of the work from Lin Cui. Lin Cui, however, asked me, "Tell me how much you know about Dujiangyan and this annual maintenance. When you ask me about the progress, do you want the full version or just a basic overview?"

I have to admit that my knowledge of the annual maintenance of Dujiangyan is limited to the reports published by Southern Weekly and the online cramming I did the night before the trip. So it seems I can't fully grasp the spirit of the complete version. Why don't you tell me your popular version?

Lin Cui smiled and began to explain: During the Qin Dynasty, Li Bing excavated the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, ensuring bountiful harvests year after year on the Chengdu Plain. For two thousand years, Dujiangyan has served as a vital water conservancy project, benefiting the local people. A key reason for this is the annual dredging of the riverbed during this season, known as "annual maintenance," to ensure the smooth flow of water for irrigating downstream farmland the following year. In the last decade, due to improvements in the upstream natural environment, the amount of silted-up sand and gravel has decreased annually, transforming the once-a-year dredging into a maintenance effort that occurs only once every ten years.

The Neijiang section of the Dujiangyan Irrigation District is responsible for supplying water to important cities and rural areas such as Chengdu, Deyang, and Mianyang, and has maintained continuous flow for ten years since 1992. At the beginning of the year, observations and analysis revealed that the Neijiang main canal section has accumulated some silt, and many of the canals and water supply facilities along the banks are outdated, affecting the water diversion at Baopingkou. Therefore, it was decided to conduct a water diversion repair. In addition to the Neijiang main canal and the Puyang River, the main streams within the irrigation district, including the Zouma River, Jiang'an River, Heishi River, Baitiao River, Pi River, Shagou River, and Waijiang River, will all be diverted for this annual maintenance.

The first water shortage in ten years has prompted a major overhaul of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. Firstly, it aims to clear the silt accumulated over the past decade to ensure water supply for next year's spring irrigation. Secondly, it seeks to comprehensively repair damaged water conservancy projects, addressing dangerous sections of canals, key points, and sluice gates that could affect water delivery for next year's spring irrigation and flood control. Thirdly, it provides an opportunity to renovate the Yangtianwo Sluice Gate on the inner river. And of course, there is a fourth reason: to hope for breakthroughs in cultural relic excavation.

During the annual maintenance of Dujiangyan in the 1950s and 60s, some cultural relics were unearthed. In 1974, during the construction of the outer river sluice gate of Dujiangyan, a stone human figure from the Eastern Han Dynasty was unearthed. This was the statue of Li Bing, the Qin Dynasty builder of the dam, one of the "Three Divine Stone Figures" made in the first year of Jianning (168 AD) of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In 1975, during the major renovation of Dujiangyan, another round-carved stone figure was unearthed on the same riverbed only 37 meters away from where the Li Bing stone figure was unearthed. Its stone quality, style, and degree of erosion were consistent with the Li Bing stone figure, but the third one has not been found to this day.

The Fish Mouth Water Diversion Project, one of the three major engineering feats of Dujiangyan, was originally a bamboo cage filled with pebbles, which was frequently destroyed by floods. During the Yuan Dynasty, an iron tortoise was cast to replace the bamboo cage. Later, during the Ming Dynasty, two iron oxen weighing a total of 60,000 jin (30,000 kg) were cast to reinforce it. These three behemoths are now nowhere to be found.

The main focus this time is on the reconstruction and water diversion of the Fish Mouth, one of the three major projects of Dujiangyan. On the one hand, the Fish Mouth will be recast to make it sturdy; on the other hand, it is hoped that the iron turtle cast in the Yuan Dynasty and the two iron oxen from the Ming Dynasty can be found. If they cannot be found, they will be recast to restore the scene of the Fish Mouth, iron turtle, and iron oxen of yesteryear. Once the river is dammed, the reinforcement of the Fish Mouth and the search for the iron turtle and iron oxen will proceed simultaneously.

I think Southern Weekly has already done a very detailed report on the reconstruction of the Fish Mouth. Now the exciting part of the report should be the excavation of cultural relics, namely the two legendary iron oxen. It would be more successful to capture readers' curiosity about such a huge object and report on some strange or detailed events.

So I asked Lin Cui, "What exactly do those iron turtles and iron oxen look like?"

Lin Cui replied, "I'm not too sure either. I only know that Sui Xiu also searched for it ten years ago, but without any results."

I thought for a moment and said, "Since we couldn't find it ten years ago, isn't the chance of finding it now very small?"

“That’s not necessarily true,” Lin Cuiwei smiled slightly. “You know, things underwater can be very strange sometimes. Take the markers for dredging and cleaning the Dujiangyan Irrigation System—the iron bars that lie on the ground. People usually only know that there are four of them, placed in the fourth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, the third year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, 1927, and 1998. Actually, one iron bar was also placed in the third year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, but it disappeared the following year when dredging was carried out. You say that such a heavy iron bar can disappear in just one year; who knows, in ten years, it might bring back the iron tortoise and iron ox that were previously lost?”

Hearing her recite this pile of years of data with such familiarity, I could only nod in agreement, secretly hoping that her good wishes would come true and that I could actually make something out of the year so that I would have some gossip to write about.

Lin Cui clearly saw through my thoughts. "I don't know much about the Iron Turtle and Iron Ox, and I won't be in charge of the cultural relic survey this time. How about this, you can go to him, Mr. Yu Jianguo from our unit. He can tell you more about the cultural relics."

I asked her to write down Yu Jianguo's contact number and thanked her.

After driving for about half an hour, Lin Cui told me that we had arrived at Guyan. The research institute was right next to the river, and the place she arranged for me to stay was a hotel behind the institute. Following Lin Cui's direction, I saw Anlan Bridge spanning the Minjiang River, hanging like a rainbow into the distance. I suggested to Lin Cui, "Let's go to the riverbank first." Lin Cui readily agreed and led me to Lizhui.

The ancient Dujiangyan Irrigation System comprises three main components: the Fish Mouth, the Feisha Weir, and the Baopingkou (Bottle-Neck) Gate. The Fish Mouth is a diversion dam built in the middle of the Minjiang River, separating the turbulent river into the outer and inner rivers. The outer river discharges floodwaters, while the inner river draws water for irrigation. The Feisha Weir serves to discharge floodwaters, remove sediment, and regulate water flow. The Baopingkou (Bottle-Neck) Gate controls the inflow of water; its shape resembles a bottleneck. Water from the inner river flows through the Baopingkou Gate into the Chengdu Plain to irrigate farmland. Originally, the Yulei Mountain along the river was thus divided in two by the great river; the severed hillside is what we now call "Lizhui" (meaning "separated peak").

Lin Cui led me up the steps, through Fulong Temple, to Guanlan Pavilion behind the temple. Guanlan Pavilion is an octagonal two-story building. Looking out from the railing, you can see the Fish Mouth Dam under construction, standing tall on the river. The Minjiang River is surging and turbulent, magnificent and imposing. A little further away, Mount Qingcheng stands majestically. The saying "The Land of Abundance, with its beautiful ancient dam" is truly well-deserved.

If I had come here to write a scenic report, it would have been perfect. With breathtaking views and beautiful companions, I could have crafted a dozen pages of exquisite prose. Unfortunately, I'm not here to write a scenic report. All I can write is: this magnificent fish-mouth formation will soon be covered with thick reinforced concrete, standing firm forever; the magical iron ox from five hundred years ago will no longer need to be submerged to help part the river, and can be retrieved for people to take photos… The scientific engineering of the ancients always perfectly preserves or creates the beauty of nature, but my report today is destined to lack creativity, be ineffective, rigid, boring, and all-encompassing…

After thinking about it for a while, I lost interest, said goodbye to Lin Cui after descending the mountain, and went back to the hotel.

The hotel room was indeed quite nice, nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with fresh air. I opened my laptop to record the information I had gathered that day. Word kept telling me it was a spelling error when I typed "Iron Ox," which convinced me that aside from some overview reports, only the Iron Ox could be a news story. I initially took this assignment because these two 500-year-old Iron Oxen had captivated me, and they still held my curiosity. In fact, they ultimately became something I would never forget. I closed my laptop and called Lin Cui, asking her to arrange an interview with Yu Jianguo, the deputy director and expert in charge of the annual maintenance project she had mentioned.

Yu Jianguo, in his early fifties, was exactly the kind of serious, weathered, meticulous expert I had imagined—slightly balding, still impeccably dressed in a suit. However, his voice sounded kind and gentle, which made me quite fond of him. He briefly introduced me to the history of the Fenshui Yuzui (Fish Mouth) weir, just as Lin Cui had said. The *History of Yuan Dynasty, Treatise on Rivers and Canals* states: "In the second year of the Yuan Dynasty's reign (1134 AD), ... 16,000 catties of iron were cast into a large turtle to guard its source and protect the floating raft." And in the Gengxu year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, "a total of 67,000 catties of iron were used, and two oxen were used to complete it, which stood firmly in the middle of the weir."

After I finished recording these things, Yu Jianguo said to me, "You've come at the perfect time. Why don't you come with me to the boat tomorrow to see the river closure?"

"On the ship?"

"Yes, on-site command is more flexible. If you come up with me, you can see things more clearly."

"That's great! I'll definitely treat you to a drink once the report is finished."

Yu Jianguo laughed heartily: "No need, no need. You reporters just want to create some explosive news everywhere. During this annual repair, you hope to salvage all the things from our ancestors." I laughed along. Old Yu then changed the subject, his tone becoming more serious: "It's wishful thinking, but if we can really salvage the Iron Turtle and Iron Ox this time, even if we only find one, we really have to have a good drink to celebrate."

I asked seriously, "What are the chances? I heard they looked for it once ten years ago?"

Yu Jianguo said, "That's true. Actually, the search area in 1992 was already very large, covering nearly 200 kilometers of the dammed river. But many historical records and local chronicles mention the Iron Ox, and there are still records of it as late as the Ming Dynasty. The Iron Ox story shouldn't be fabricated. Something so big shouldn't just disappear. The advantage of this search compared to 1992 is that the equipment is much more advanced. We have high-precision sonar and highly sensitive metal detectors. If the Iron Ox really exists, we will definitely be able to find it."

At this point, there was nothing of value left to discuss. Yu Jianguo told me that the closure work would begin tomorrow morning, and all I needed to do was be there on time.

That evening, Lao Yu treated us to a meal paid for with public funds. Several people in charge of the annual maintenance and the search for the iron oxen attended, which was both a treat for me and a send-off feast before the search. Dujiangyan doesn't have seafood, so a table full of mountain delicacies was served—everything that flies in the sky and crawls in the mountains. When it comes to eating and drinking, I'm an expert. In the past few years as a reporter, besides boasting, this is the only thing I've learned. I once had the feat of drinking over two jin of Wuliangye and then having to carry someone back home. Today, we had Jiannanchun, and the table was filled with the aroma of the liquor. Sichuan people drink heartily and never refuse a toast, and Lin Cui was no exception. I toasted her three times, and she downed each one. After drinking, she was quite charming; her smile was captivating, her eyes crinkled, and her laughter was very loud. She went around toasting everyone. After toasting her superiors, Lin Cui gracefully stood up, holding her glass, her legs a little unsteady, and turned to me, placing one hand on my shoulder to toast me. I said, "Lin Cui, drink less." Lin Cui had already started speaking Sichuan dialect: "Drink, we Sichuan people never hold back when we drink..." I was eventually held back by her four times in total.

When the party ended, Lin Cui was already slumped over in her chair. Yu Jianguo smiled at me and said, "I've never seen Xiao Cui drink so much before. She was especially attentive to you today, haha."

So I volunteered to help Lin Cui into a taxi and take her home. As the car started moving, the driver asked where I was going, and I realized I didn't know where Lin Cui lived. I guess I was a little tipsy, so I had to bite the bullet and call Yu Jianguo to ask. In the taxi, Lin Cui had one arm around my neck and her head resting on my shoulder. When the car stopped, I started to complain to myself, "Dujiangyan is so small; we got there in such a short time."

The next day at 6:30, my phone alarm woke me up. I don't know if it was because I'm not used to getting up so early from being a reporter all these years, or if I had drunk a bit too much the night before, but my temples were throbbing and my left eyelid was twitching. I can't remember whether this kind of situation, according to the old saying, is a sign of misfortune or good fortune. But thinking about it afterward, it would be a bit of an underestimation of how strange this event was.

When I arrived at the scene that day, the first person I met was Old Yu. He looked unwell, having clearly not slept well the night before. But today was a crucial day for the search for Tie Niu, and Old Yu carried a heavy responsibility; his face was more serious than haggard, and he was taut like a spring. Because of this, I initially didn't want to disturb him, but after walking around the site for a while without seeing Lin Cui, and seeing that it was almost 7:30… I decided to start my interview with Old Yu ahead of schedule. My opening question was: "Old Yu, did you see Lin Cui today?"

"Oh, her? She called early this morning saying she drank too much yesterday and has a headache, so she won't be coming today."

Hearing him say that made me a little regretful. Had I been too eager to urge him to drink yesterday? In that moment of distraction, I didn't quite catch what he said next.

"...Since you're here, let's all get on the ship together."

"Yes," I replied hastily, only realizing a moment later that Old Yu had asked me to board the search boat equipped with sophisticated sonar and metal detectors to locate Tie Niu. This way, I could report immediately upon finding Tie Niu. I couldn't help but feel grateful to Old Yu. Before boarding, I quickly checked my phone battery and signal again. I'd forgotten to charge my laptop yesterday, but I hadn't used it much before; it should last for over an hour.

The ship belongs to the local research bureau and looks very new, having been launched only a few years ago. Its displacement is approximately 700-800 tons, but that's based on measurements from tugboats on the Huangpu River, so there might be a significant discrepancy. Because of the search operation, the ship is moving extremely slowly; one can barely feel the movement while standing on the deck.

The method used this time to block the flow is the ancient method, which involves using old tools such as weirs and bamboo cages to cut off the water.

A moat is a triangular frame made of three large wooden stakes tied together with bamboo ropes, with a platform in the middle. The platform is then secured with bamboo cages filled with pebbles. By placing an appropriate number of moats horizontally in the river, adding horizontal and vertical logs to the water-facing side, covering them with bamboo mats, and then piling clay on the outside, the water flow can be blocked, preventing leakage.

After the rafts are assembled, the most crucial step is how to deploy them into the water. Each raft weighs over 2 tons, and they must be placed in the center of the river while ensuring that each raft remains in its original position, with its legs firmly touching the bottom. This is essential for the river's diversion effect. The key to this entire process is having a skilled supervisor who, relying on experience, can visually guide the rafts to their precise positions in the seemingly bottomless river.

The reason for using ancient methods of water diversion from over two thousand years ago instead of modern machinery is that Dujiangyan is both an important water conservancy project and a famous scenic spot. Using large amounts of machinery for construction would not only be time-consuming and detrimental to the natural landscape, but the mud-stone dams left by modern machinery would be difficult to dismantle after water diversion, potentially causing environmental pollution. The temporary water-blocking structures such as slatted wooden beams and bamboo cages left by the ancient methods are easily dismantled wooden and stone structures. Moreover, they are inexpensive, estimated to cost only a little over one million RMB, while using large machinery would cost at least five million RMB.

On the day I boarded the boat, the raft had already been lowered into the river. I saw boatmen on the bank carrying bamboo fences that were 3 meters wide and 4 meters high, as well as plastic woven bags filled with yellow mud. They were just waiting for the order at 10:45 a.m., so they would first insert the bamboo fences in front of the raft, and then throw the bags of yellow mud into the river from both sides to stop the flow.

All preparations were proceeding smoothly, and celebratory balloons were even set up on the shore, indicating a grand project celebration was in the works. There were also quite a few vehicles nearby, suggesting many leaders had arrived. Being on the boat, I was spared all those tedious tasks and was quite content with my leisure time.

I sat there idly for almost an hour, and my initial readiness to publish my article at any moment began to relax. I started thinking randomly about the Iron Ox. I remembered that the records indicated it weighed 60,000 jin (approximately 30,000 kg). Such a massive object, originally submerged as a water-dividing fish mouth, shouldn't have been swept away too far even by a massive flood. Searching its correct location shouldn't be difficult to find. So I brought up this question with Elder Yu.

Mr. Yu replied, “It’s impossible for the iron ox to have been washed away too far, but the description of its location in the Yuan Dynasty records is not very accurate. Today, the surrounding landform has changed a lot, so the search area will be expanded. In addition, it has been buried by silt and debris over the years, so it may not be easy to find.”

Perhaps I've been too simplistic? This search will probably take ten days to half a month to yield results.

“I know you’re eager to release the news,” Mr. Yu continued. “We also hope to open for business today, but we have also fully anticipated the difficulties and are prepared to wait three to five days.”

Fortunately, it's only three to five days, much better than the ten days or half a month I estimated. Maybe I can still make it back in time to get a ticket to the Masters Cup.

Just as I was secretly rejoicing, I suddenly felt a strange wave of dizziness. Although this was only the first time I'd experienced something similar many times since, the feeling was truly bizarre: it was definitely dizziness, but it didn't seem to originate entirely from my own head. Although I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, I vaguely sensed that the people around me felt the same way at that moment. Of course, no one confirmed this to me, and I didn't bother to ask. So, at the time, I treated it as just ordinary, temporary seasickness. Who would have thought that I never got seasick on the Huangpu River when I was a child, taking the ferry every day?

Judging from the time, it should have been two or three minutes after this slight dizziness when I suddenly heard someone shout in the local language, and the ship's horn sounded four times in a row. Then I heard a "plop" sound from the stern of the ship.

Upon reaching the aft deck, they discovered that someone had fallen into the water, and three of the crew members who were originally scheduled to participate in the Iron Bull salvage operation had already gone down to rescue him.

I was admiring how kind the people here were—three people went to rescue one person who fell into the water—and was thinking of featuring it as a story promoting new social values, when I realized the person they rescued was a young woman. No wonder.

Two of the men who went into the water were pulling the woman, while the third was left behind and unable to help. A lifebuoy with a rope attached was thrown from the side of the boat, becoming a lifting tool. They first put the drowning woman around the waist in the lifebuoy, then had the people on the boat pull her close to the side, before pulling her out of the lifebuoy and carrying her onto the deck. The rescuers followed suit, using their feet against the sides of the boat and relying on a combination of being pulled and their own strength to get onto the boat one by one.

The woman pulled aboard was wearing a light green shirt, which looked quite thin in the weather. Soaked in water, it was almost see-through. If I rushed forward to use my CPR knowledge at that moment, I'd probably get beaten up by the crowd. The others probably thought the same thing, so once the drowning woman was lying on the deck, the scene wasn't the chaotic frantic movement it had been earlier. Instead, everyone stood at a certain distance, consciously making way for the ship's emergency medical personnel.

When the drowning victim's wet hair was brushed away from her face, I almost screamed in shock—it was Xiao Cui!

I found it very strange at the time. Didn't Lin Cui say she was drunk and resting at home? Why was she dressed so lightly here? And even if she came, she should have contacted the staff immediately. How could she have fallen into the water? Was she robbed? I wonder if she was kidnapped?