“Enough talk. There are no ice blocks on the boat, so it’s hard to keep things fresh. Since we’ve got this sea pig still fresh, I need to hurry back. It looks like it weighs about thirty to forty pounds, so I can sell it for a few coins. You all can take your time here throwing the nets.” A Zheng still clung to the hope of visiting the lonely island.
“Can’t go. We’ve explored several small islands, but the tide hasn’t gone down, and it’s too steep to get on the island safely. The rocks are slippery as well. Let’s wait until the new moon.”
The three had no choice but to give up on the idea. “I’m leaving now. You all take care!”
“Alright.”
When he went to A Cai with two buckets in hand, A Cai praised him for his luck, saying that even with one bucket, he could catch a sea pig.
The sea pig, known scientifically as the Yangtze River dolphin, is a round and plump creature with strange tentacles.
They can grow up to about 150 cm long and weigh two to three hundred pounds, sporting a lead-gray or grayish-white color.
The one he caught was considered small, probably only weighing around seventy to eighty pounds.
Once A Cai weighed it, it turned out to be 72 pounds.
“That will be 33 cents a pound for you. No objections, right? That’s the highest price I can offer. Don’t try to negotiate with me…”
Every time Leaf Yaodong sold something valuable, he would try to haggle, and A Cai was used to asking about prices.
Leaf Yaodong smiled and replied, “Alright, no haggling this time. Just tell me how much.”
Since he got it for free, he felt quite pleased inside.
A Cai then calculated the price with a relieved expression. “That comes to 23 dollars and 76 cents. Don’t say I’m stingy; I’ll just record 23 dollars and 80 cents for you.”
“Sure thing, Brother Cai, you really are generous.” Leaf Yaodong cheerfully placed a hand on his shoulder as he watched him keep track of the numbers.
“Are you selling this slow fish? 2 cents a pound.”
“This one’s not for sale; I’ll take it home to make salted fish.”
“Suit yourself, just keep the receipt safe.”
With a happy heart, he took the receipt, checked the numbers were correct, folded it, and put it in his chest pocket, patting it. “I’m heading out.”
When he brought the fish home, his mother was cooking.
She didn’t say much when she saw the three dazed fish he brought back, directly taking them to kill.
“Mom, how much longer until the house is built?”
“Looking at the progress, it should take around seven or eight more days. If we hadn’t switched the position and had to redo the foundations, I reckon we’d be done by now.”
“Hmm, I saw that piece of land on my way back; they’ve already reduced the area and finished building.”
“Leave it be; it’s no longer related to us. I estimate your three rooms will be finished around Mid-Autumn Festival.”
“How much is it going to cost to build three rooms? It’s been windy several days in the past month, and the machines have broken down twice, so we’ve lost over ten days.”
“Over a thousand, but we’ve saved a lot. We didn’t even have to spend on vegetables, just rice. The materials were brought back by the workers from the mountains and rivers; we only spent a little on sand. Since we’re only building one floor, we didn’t need to buy red bricks, using stones from the mountain instead. But the workers’ wages are high—rough workers earn 1.5 dollars a day, while the stone cutters earn 2.3 dollars. We’ll settle the accounts once it’s all finished; it’s not done yet.”
Leaf Yaodong nodded, feeling that the money earned from dragging nets and selling the big yellow fish would almost be enough for the house.
“Well, I’m off then.”
“Yeah, take this bucket of cooled tea with you.”
“Got it.”
Looking at her son’s sunburnt face, Leaf Mother felt a twinge of pain.
He had looked fair just a couple of months ago, but now he had been working hard.
“If you feel tired, take a break at home. Later, come with me to take the meals over.”
“I’m fine; I didn’t do much this morning, just set a net.” Saying this, he walked out.
After all this time, he had adjusted well to his new life.
He had shifted from being a bit uncomfortable at the start to now, where his family was used to seeing him work hard.
He needed to stay grounded, earn money, and live well.
When he reached the homestead, Lin Xiuqing was just having tea to quench her thirst.
He sneaked up and told her that he found a sea pig in the ocean that morning and sold it for 23 dollars and 80 cents.
Her eyes lit up instantly. “Really?”
“Why would I lie to you? I left the receipt in my pocket. I just forgot to take it back to the house; it shouldn’t have fallen out. I’ll show it to you later.”
Lin Xiuqing happily nodded while holding her tea bowl.
Leaf Yaodong took her hand, finished the remains of her tea, and then filled his own bowl.
The two chatted and laughed, heading off to work together.
Anyone with eyes could see that the bond between the couple had strengthened a lot.
Even while working, they would come together and share their laughter.
That night, it was Leaf Yaodong’s turn to go out to sea with Leaf Father.
The shifts rotated every three days, and sometimes they couldn't go out due to the wind or malfunctions; in this past month, he had hardly gone out.
If he continued to stay with his father after the family split, he would be better off going solo.
Although dragging nets earned more, they had to split it among four people.
His father and mother also supplied him with a small boat, which was enough.
As usual, he got up around one in the morning, ate a hearty meal, and then went out to sea.
Since it was dark, Leaf Father operated the boat, and he cast the first net until dawn broke, and only then did he call Leaf Yaodong to start pulling it in.
During this time, Leaf Father had also realized that among the few of them, his third son had the best luck.
Every time he pulled in the nets, there would be one or two good catches, or sometimes an entire haul of fish.
Leaf Yaodong struggled to pull the gathered nets onto the deck. “Ah, it’s a whole net full of white pomfret! My darn little red hand really knows how to pull!”
Leaf Father shot him a glance.
Although his son seemed more steady now, he still had a loose tongue. “Keep casting the net.”
“Dad, I have a feeling our next net will definitely be white pomfret again!”
“You think schools of fish are like cabbage?”
“Why don’t we make a bet?”
“A bet on what?”
Leaf Yaodong chuckled, “Two packs of friendship cigarettes. I see you have two packs in your pocket.”
Leaf Father covered his pockets and stared, “No betting. I’ve just hidden some pocket money, enough for these two packs.”
“No worries; you might win another two packs. If you lose, we still have the water pipe at home to smoke, or you can roll a little bit on paper.”
“No. Stop thinking about my cigarettes and get back to work!”
“Fine, fine.”
After his hopes were dashed, he could only honestly return to steering the boat.
Leaf Father also suspected that the second net might be white pomfret again; there had indeed been a lot of them lately, and yesterday the collection point had piles of white pomfret stacked high.
Sure enough, the second net was also filled with white pomfret, but it was mixed with quite a few flower crabs and rock crabs.
Many of the white pomfret had been broken by the flower crabs or marred in appearance, which was rather unfortunate.
A Cai wouldn’t take those fish that looked bad or were broken, so they had no choice but to bring them back for their own consumption.
“Sort these out for me; you go drive the boat to cast the net.”
For the second net, he also dragged things around, and for the third net, he simply followed his own instincts and headed further out; after all, they had a compass—just as long as they didn’t drift too far, it was all fine.
(End of Chapter)