Cheng Ye picked up his backpack and slowly paddled his small wooden boat back to Bluestone Pier.
The area remained unrestored, retaining its original rustic charm, though somewhat worn.
But beyond the pier, Dapo Town had expanded by nearly half over the past ten days.
Although the construction machinery borrowed from Wenlu County had been returned, the area extending five kilometers outward from the town center had been thoroughly cleared.
This provided ample buffer zones and laid a solid foundation for subsequent construction.
A gigantic tower crane stood in the center of the buffer zone, methodically hoisting steel bars, cement, and other materials, while workers laid the basic pipelines and hastened to construct the town's crucial winter perimeter wall.
The waterproof wall served as the first line of daily defense, preventing infected sources from coming ashore along the river.
