Water Weed “Hairdressers” at the East Lake

Text by Zhou Zhitao

Photos by Wang Yongsheng

Standing on the bank of the East Lake’s Tingtao Scenic Area in the late afternoon,Cai Zhilin was enjoying the fantastic water views in which the weeds had just been cleaned off,and he said he felt that his job was like that of a hairdresser.

A noticeable improvement of environmental conditions has witnessed a cleaner East Lake day by day, with aquatic plants swaying under the water and little fish swimming between them.These aquatic grasses, like the beautiful hair of the lake, were specially selected and planted by scientific researchers to absorb pollutants in the water, and simultaneously, they could help to decorate the underwater world.

Cai Zhilin used to work as a carpenter on construction sites or at furniture factories before he came here, and he was a good hand in processing timber and making furniture. He had planned to leave his hometown in Qichun for work in Shenzhen after the Spring Festival this year, yet the coronavirus pandemic stopped his plan. At the end of March, one of his relatives introduced him to a job at the East Lake in Wuhan,where he became a water weed“hairdresser.”

“My job is to cut short the weeds that are either too long or too dense, and to get decayed weeds out of the water. It doesn’t seem difficult, does it?” Cai Zhilin said, smilingly. But to a landlubber who had never rowed a boat, it took him a full week to stand firm on a small wood boat.

Every day, Cai Zhilin and his 30 or so colleagues row back and forth on the lake. Using a 3-meter-long bamboo pole with a dipper tied on one end as their“scissors,” they clean the weeds,leaving circles of ripples on the lake.

The long bamboo ladle is like a “scissor” for Cai Zhilin手中的舀子就是蔡志林的“剪刀”

傍晚，在東湖聽(tīng)濤景區(qū)湖畔遠(yuǎn)眺，剛剛被蔡志林清理過(guò)水草的湖面，風(fēng)光旖旎，他感覺(jué)自己像一個(gè)“理發(fā)師”。

經(jīng)過(guò)環(huán)保改善，東湖水日漸清澈，湖中水草搖曳，時(shí)而有小魚(yú)穿梭其間。這些水草，就像東湖的秀發(fā)，是科研人員專門選種，用來(lái)吸收污染物，同時(shí)豐富水底景觀的杰作。

蔡志林以前主要跟木頭打交道，在建筑工地、工廠廠房，他都是加工木材、制作家具的一把好手。今年春節(jié)后，原本打算從蘄春老家到深圳務(wù)工的蔡志林，因?yàn)橐咔榉艞壛擞?jì)劃，3月底在親戚的介紹下來(lái)到武漢東湖，成了一名水草“理發(fā)師”。

“把太長(zhǎng)太密的水草剪短，把枯死腐爛的水草打撈上來(lái)，這看起來(lái)并不復(fù)雜。”蔡志林笑著說(shuō)，但作為一個(gè)沒(méi)有劃過(guò)船的“旱鴨子”，他卻花了一個(gè)星期，才學(xué)會(huì)在小木船上站穩(wěn)。

After a day’s work, Cai Zhilin likes to lie on the lakeside,chatting with his family on WeChat while enjoying the gentle night breeze. “My second baby is coming soon, so I’ll have to ask for leave to accompany my wife,” Cai Zhilin said, while calculating his income. Now he earns 140 yuan every day. Although the money doesn’t come close to what he could earn in a factory before, it is not that bad for the time being.

It is a painstaking job cleaning the weeds in the East Lake, as the sun is scorching hot on sunny days, and the lake has rolling waves on rainy days. However, he still has a lot of fun working there.

As Cai Zhilin was rowing a boat all alone on the lake, tourists would often take pictures of the scene. Cai Zhilin also takes photos of the East Lake himself to send to his family at the end of the day. The job offers him a great sense of joy and satisfaction. As a contributor to the beauty of the East Lake, he has helped to bring peacefulness and happiness back to Wuhan that has just been revived from the coronavirus pandemic.

Casting a trawl net to collect floating rubbish on the lake撒下拖網(wǎng)，清理湖面漂浮物

The lake becomes crystal clean after a nice “haircut,” with fish swimming in water grasses“理發(fā)師”巧手清理后，湖水清澈，魚(yú)兒在豐茂的水草中游弋

每天，蔡志林和30多名同事泛舟湖面，一根用三米多長(zhǎng)的竹竿綁上漏勺的舀子，成了他們手中的“剪刀”，在湖面來(lái)回穿梭，留下一道道印跡。

忙完一天的工作，晚上蔡志林喜歡躺在湖邊，吹著湖風(fēng)，和家人發(fā)個(gè)微信。“老婆快要生二胎了，最近得請(qǐng)假回去一趟。”蔡志林盤算著自己的收入，每天賺140元，雖比不上之前在工廠干活，但眼下也算是比較難得。

晴天烈日當(dāng)頭，雨天風(fēng)高浪急，清理東湖水草很辛苦，但也有不少樂(lè)趣。

蔡志林一人一舟在湖面工作時(shí)，常常被游客爭(zhēng)相拍照。忙完一天的工作，蔡志林總要掏出手機(jī)拍一張東湖的照片給家人分享。同時(shí)，他內(nèi)心里也有滿滿的成就感。東湖這邊的美麗，給剛剛遭受疫災(zāi)的武漢增添了一份祥和，而蔡志林正是這份祥和的創(chuàng)造者。