On the 20th of August, Ah Guang, Xiao Xiao, and Ah Zheng’s shared little boat was officially delivered.
They had picked an auspicious date three days later and informed everyone to go to the dock to set off firecrackers.
The other three friends were only just realizing that the trio had collaborated to buy a boat, and their reactions varied.
The fat one was a bit surprised. “When did you order it? How come I never heard about it before?”
“Ah? Didn’t we mention it?” Xiao Xiao looked at the others, and they exchanged glances.
Ah Guang shrugged his shoulders. “Whenever I had some free time, I was busy working for Dong Zi. I figured you guys knew.”
Ah Zheng innocently interjected, “That’s right! You weren’t at home, and we had nowhere to meet.”
“Oh, I guess we were just too busy and forgot to say anything,” Ah Guang concluded.
Ah Wei frowned, clearly displeased. “You guys are too ungrateful. Buying a boat together and not telling us—were you afraid that the more people there are, the smaller your share would be?”
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Ah Guang responded, “Why would you think that? We just borrowed Dong Zi's little wooden boat on the fifteenth and caught a lot of sea wolf fish. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to buy the boat with the profits. We can’t rely on Dong Zi’s boat forever; he has nets to cast.”
Ah Zheng chimed in, “Yeah, we made the decision on the spot, and you guys weren’t there!”
They hadn’t realized their words would stir up feelings of resentment.
Even the normally quiet Huozi was unhappy about being left out when it came to splitting the profits. “You could’ve said something beforehand. Who's sitting at home waiting for you guys to tell them?”
“Could we have predicted such a big haul? It’s not like we didn’t come by your house to call you; you just weren’t home at the time,” Xiao Xiao retorted, slightly angry.
He had been the one to suggest the fishing trip that day and had knocked on everyone’s door.
Ah Zheng, looking frustrated, addressed Ah Wei. “On the morning of the fifteenth, we went to your house to get you, but you were called by your dad to move watermelons up the mountain. Whose fault is it that you missed out?”
Ah Wei firmly stated, “It's not about the money; even if I didn’t go, you should’ve at least informed us about the boat purchase!”
“Well, we just forgot in the hustle,” Ah Guang tried to explain. “Dong Zi and I have been working like dogs. As soon as I got home, I just collapsed. Lately, we haven’t had a chance to gather, and since the delivery time wasn’t here yet, I didn’t think to mention it.”
Xiao Xiao added, “If you wanted to, you could have partnered up to buy a boat too. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Ah Wei scoffed. “You make it sound easy, but buying a boat is a big deal! It’s not something you just decide to do!”
“Then don’t complain. We just made the decision, and well, we did it!” Ah Zheng snapped back, raising his voice. “You can’t have it both ways—first, you say it’s not about the money, then you say buying a boat is a serious matter and not something easy! If we had told you earlier, it wouldn’t have helped you decide quickly!”
Ah Wei’s expression darkened upon hearing that, and Huozi intervened. “If you had informed us earlier, we could’ve considered joining in, instead of finding out after the fact that you bought one without us.”
Ah Guang, with a hint of sarcasm, said, “If you wanted to buy a boat, you both could have easily done that too. It’s just a small wooden boat. Do you really think it takes five people to buy one? It’s not like it’s a huge ship—people would just laugh if they knew! Even the iron boats aren’t bought by five people together.”
“You really don’t see us as brothers anymore! You excluded us right from the start…”
“Can we drop the sentimental stuff? If it weren’t for the two times when the money was split, the three of them could’ve teamed up, and you two could’ve too! Splitting between two isn’t much different from three, or you could’ve just ordered a smaller boat!”
Listening to their argument, Ye Yao Dong sighed, feeling dumbfounded. “Seriously, how is buying a boat such a big deal? This really boils down to not splitting the money, right? You guys have always been in this together; you’re all struggling together. Now that the few of you have suddenly made some money without even bringing them along, they’re understandably a bit uncomfortable.”
Buying the boat was merely the spark igniting a fire.
As they continued denying it was about money, they were just evading the truth, unwilling to strip away the pretense.
They all understood that it was better not to air these grievances if they could avoid a fallout.
The fat one, who was in the corner listening, frowned as his family wasn’t involved in the fishing business.
He himself didn’t mind much; in fact, he had opted out of going on the trip.
Yet, he understood Ah Wei and Huozi’s discomfort, especially since they had missed out on the money two times; it was quite annoying…
Yet, there was no need to fall apart over this!
When Ye Yao Dong spoke up, he held back Xiao Xiao and Ah Zheng, trying to mediate, “Yeah, you two could also team up to order a smaller boat. Just two of you can manage it, and when it comes time to share the profits, there’d only be two of you. You don’t need a big crew for a small boat; otherwise everything just gets in the way—including the net! Too many people would only mean extra mouths to feed.”
Upon hearing this, Ah Wei’s expression improved slightly.
“Exactly! That’s just common sense!” Ye Yao Dong sighed in relief. “One small boat with five people—imagine all five sitting around while one person is throwing the net. When it’s time to pull in the catch, you might manage one or two additional people to help out.”
Huozi looked around, tapping Ah Wei on the shoulder. “What Dong Zi said makes sense. For a small wooden boat, three people is often too many. It’s normal for them not to inform us.”
His watchful support, however, fell on deaf ears for Ah Wei.
He snorted coldly, “Yeah, they’ve already made plans, and whether or not they tell us, it’s all the same. We aren’t important to them anyway!”
He shrugged off Huozi and turned to walk away.
“Hey, Ah Wei! Ah Wei!” Huozi exchanged glances with others and chased after him.
The fat one grimaced as he watched the two leave, rubbing the back of his head in frustration. “Sigh, everything was fine until it turned into an argument.”
Ah Guang was not feeling good either.
He had called everyone to alert them that they would be sailing in three days and planned to have firecrackers at the dock to celebrate.
Now, something that should be joyous had turned sour.
“Honestly, it’s just because they didn’t get to split the money. They missed out twice, so when they see us able to buy a boat, they feel uncomfortable and try to pick a fight.”
“Isn’t it obvious? Everyone can see it; it’s just a matter of saving face for him,” Ah Zheng said disdainfully.
“It’s unfortunate they missed out, but it was their own fault for not being there when it happened.”
Having watched the whole scene unfold, Ye Yao Dong felt helpless. “Forget it; let’s say a few less words. Let Ah Wei cool off for a couple of days. Once he thinks about it, it should work out fine.”
“That might be a bit difficult!” Ah Guang sat down, resting his chin on his hand.
The most troubling issues among friends often come down to money.
If everyone is content and can share evenly, it’s all good.
However, conflicts arise easily when egos get in the way.
“Let’s not dwell on it. We’ll go to the dock early the day after tomorrow, probably arriving by eleven. What time is good again?”
Xiao Xiao scratched his head, having forgotten the exact timing.
He glanced at Ah Guang and Ah Zheng, who also looked perplexed, and waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever, as long as it’s between eight and ten, that’s good!”
Ye Yao Dong rolled his eyes. “It’s nine to eleven, during the si period. I’ll inform the fat one, and we’ll buy the firecrackers and get to the dock early to wait for you guys, just to make sure we don’t miss out.”
Ah Guang chuckled, “When your boat goes into the water, we won’t even know it belongs to you and didn't even get firecrackers…”
“It’s no biggie; it’s not a new boat either. I’m just taking it out for a spin. Once I hit the jackpot and get a big boat, I’ll definitely invite you to shoot off those firecrackers!”
“Deal! With the way you’ve been working hard lately, it’s bound to pay off!”
“Hehe, let’s all hit it big together!”
The five of them stayed behind, joking and laughing, gradually letting go of the earlier unpleasantness.
And so, one chapter came to a close.