The arrival of his father-in-law and elder brother-in-law brought great joy to his wife.
Though she hadn’t voiced it, he could tell that this time he had finally impressed her enough to be presentable, and she would have good news to share with her family.
Ye Yaodong felt a twinge of guilt, but fortunately, he had returned to a time when he could still make amends for his past mistakes.
As dawn broke the next day, he stood proudly, ready to head out to sea with the dozen traps he had prepared.
Although it wasn't many, it was still better than nothing.
Earning a few coins here and there could add up over time!
The sea fishing depended on luck and was also dependent on the weather.
After piling the traps onto his boat, Ye Yaodong looked around and spotted the small boat belonging to A Guang and the others.
It was easy to recognize, adorned with a large red flower ball that they hadn’t taken down yet.
They had agreed to head out together that morning, so Ye Yaodong patiently waited on his boat.
He didn’t have to wait long before the three of them approached, chatting and laughing.
“Dongzi, why are you up so early? We went to your house to call you. Your grandmother said you were already out,” A Guang said.
“It’s just that you guys were too late,” Ye Yaodong replied.
A Guang asked, “Didn’t I mention yesterday morning that we would have dinner at my house last night? Why didn’t you come? We saved a lot of fish for you, and we waited for ages. We thought you showed up later to do the dishes.”
“Good thing I didn’t go, or I would have eaten nothing and still had to wash the dishes! My father-in-law and brother-in-law came by yesterday evening, so I couldn’t leave.”
“What did they come for?”
“They brought a whole load of watermelons.”
“Your father-in-law is quite generous, traveling from afar just to bring you watermelons!”
“Yeah, that’s nice. Let’s hurry and set sail.”
With both boats now moving side by side, they paddled and chatted, enjoying the sunshine that warmed them but could not extinguish their enthusiasm for life.
Being out at sea seemed to boost their spirits.
“It looks like the tide is receding. Should we go beachcombing? You wouldn’t believe all the treasures on those isolated islands,” A Zheng said, grinning at Ye Yaodong. “You’re already out here; putting down some traps won’t take long. Instead of going back to work, why not explore?”
“True, the wind is calm today, and the waves aren’t too fierce. We initially planned to visit the islands after casting nets yesterday, but the wind picked up in the afternoon,” Ye Yaodong replied.
“Today’s tide isn’t too low yet; it could be risky. If you decide to go, check out the area later. I’ll set my traps first,” he added, feeling intrigued since it had been a while since he last searched the shore.
Both boats proceeded together, surrounded by various buoys—a mix of traps for catching crabs and fish placed by their village or the neighboring ones.
Once they reached what Ye Yaodong deemed an ideal spot in the sea, he unfurled the traps he had prepared, laying them out carefully and checking that there were no knots.
He then tied one end with a rope, adding small scrap fish as bait before launching the traps.
After setting the first trap, he quickly secured the second to the rope of the first, forming a neat row.
Care must be taken not to tie the traps too tightly; if they were too close, not a single fish would be caught.
With sixteen traps, he placed two rows and then paddled the boat away to keep a distance from the spot where his friends were working.
“What have you caught so far?” Ye Yaodong called out.
“A bunch of small fish that aren’t worth much, but we did get two blue crabs and one big bass,” A Guang replied.
Ye Yaodong drew closer to see the big bass in the bucket, “Nice catch! Just a little while and you've got two good catches. That bass must weigh five or six pounds, and I see some little threadfin too.”
“Yeah, those are threadfin. Not bad! Let’s finish this net and then move to another spot,” A Guang said as he peered into the buckets.
“Wait until I scout around for any small islands that might have exposed beaches,” Ye Yaodong stated.
“Just be careful; the water level isn’t high enough to be safe. The tide hasn’t dropped significantly,” A Zheng cautioned.
“I’ll check it out first.”
Paddling toward a nearby small island, Ye Yaodong soon realized it was difficult to even approach.
Surrounded by jagged rocks, the waves crashed unapologetically, easily tossing him into the sea.
However, rocky shores like this often housed many treasures, pounded over time by waves, and perhaps even seafood like sea cucumbers.
After circling around, he made a mental note of the island and paddled away, planning to return in a few days.
He searched three small islands, but none provided what he was looking for.
At this point, he decided to head back.
Unexpectedly, as he was rowing back, a dazed fish leaped straight onto his boat, flopping around. “Wow, a dazed fish!” he exclaimed.
Ye Yaodong kicked at the big fish in disbelief, “How lucky! If only two more could come along.”
As if on cue, another fish hopped aboard.
He couldn’t help but chuckle; was he dreaming?
As he leaned closer, a bigger fish jumped up onto the deck.
Quick as lightning, he grabbed both fish with his hands and tossed them into the boat, “Wow! A bigger one and a sillier one!”
Why refuse what comes so easily? Ye Yaodong lingered a bit longer on the boat to see if more would appear.
After waiting a while without much luck, he was about to leave when he noticed a grayish-white object bobbing in the water.
Curious, he paddled over and discovered it was a deceased sea pig, measuring just over a meter long.
Though it wasn’t alive, it looked sizable.
He struggled with the bucket for a bit before successfully hauling it aboard.
Upon checking, he found it still fresh.
He wondered how it had died.
Had it been bitten by a larger fish?
This sea pig could fetch quite a bit of money.
He felt fortunate and placed it back in the bucket, then paddled back to find A Guang, A Zheng, and Xiao Xiao.
They had moved to another spot to work.
“Hey, guess what? I found something amazing at sea,” Ye Yaodong called out.
“What is it?” The three turned with curious faces.
He paddled closer and showed them the bucket, “It’s a freshly dead sea pig!"
They leaned in closer to inspect, “Not bad luck at all! Didn’t even have to work to find a sea pig."
“Plus, three dazed fish jumped onto my boat - the bigger ones weigh about five or six pounds, while the smaller ones look to be over two pounds.”
“That fish isn’t worth much; better to slice it into pieces and salt it. It’ll taste great like that.”
“True! We can also make sweet and sour fish soup with it!”
Slurping sounds filled the air.
(This chapter ends here.)