Chapter 248: Earthquake and Tsunami?

At night, Ye Yaodong got up as usual to go out to sea; as long as there was no wind and no big waves, they had to go out on schedule, since good weather in winter was rare, and they had to make the most of it.

Today's longline fishing couldn't be done—he forgot to tell his father or ask Aicai to collect the bait beforehand, and rushed off carrying the ribbonfish.

The drift net couldn't be set either—it needed to be taken for cleaning and repair, then dried—but luckily, he could still use the trawl net.

He had planned to trawl today, but as soon as the boat left shore, he noticed the offshore waves were unusually large; recalling the legend of the earthquake fish, he decisively abandoned the plan and turned the boat around to head back.

He'd originally thought that in his past life, there had been no earthquakes here, so it probably wouldn't have much impact—but he hadn't expected wind and waves to rise so quickly at night; sea conditions were truly unpredictable and capricious.

The round-trip voyage wasted over an hour; when he got home, he explained to his wife, then curled back into his quilt, planning to catch another nap.

He didn't wake until nine; when he got up, he saw a clear sky outside—though not blazing sunshine, there was faint sunlight, and not a trace of the stormy sea.

He thought for a moment, told Lin Xiuqing, then went to the dock to check—if the waves weren't too high, he planned to retrieve a trap.

The small wooden boat couldn't handle today's waves, but if his iron-hulled boat hadn't gone offshore, retrieving a trap near the coast was still fine.

When he reached the dock, he found quite a crowd, all discussing whether last night's rough sea meant an earthquake was coming.

He listened for a while but heard nothing useful; instead, someone grabbed him and asked how much he'd sold yesterday's ribbonfish for.

He brushed it off with a laugh, chattered aimlessly, and deflected them, then walked toward the shore, ignoring the whispers behind him.

Those who escape envy are mediocrities; he'd been in the spotlight these past few months, constantly catching rare catches and upgrading his boats—some people were naturally jealous.

Watching the waves roll from shore gave only a surface view; only out at sea could you truly feel the sea's mercilessness.

After leaving the shore, his boat rocked violently from the waves, but it held steady; nearby, the small wooden boat wasn't so stable—it swayed wildly with each swell.

As his boat passed, he glanced over and saw they were hauling in a trap, now rowing slowly toward shore—the waves were too big for fast movement.

"Ah, it's Adong! Why are you out too?"

"I'm retrieving a trap. Why are you out in such big waves?"

"I'm afraid an earthquake or tsunami's coming, and the waves will sweep the traps away—I figured today's weather was decent, so I came to get them back early. Who knows when the tsunami or earthquake will hit?"

"Oh ho, maybe it won't happen?"

"Hard to say. The weather looks fine, no wind at all, but the sea's waves are huge—very unusual!"

"Alright, be careful. I'm going to retrieve my trap too." Ye Yaodong exchanged a few casual words, then steered toward his own trap location.

Along the way, he saw no floating markers—probably, the villagers had all come out early to retrieve their nets and traps.

He didn't plan to bring his traps ashore; he'd take the catch and leave the traps in the sea—rough seas meant more catch. In his past life, he had no memory of major impact, so he'd just ignore it.

Today's traps held mostly shrimp—each one yielded several taels, mostly red shrimp, occasionally a few white ones.

Locally called red shrimp, some call them oyster shrimp, others thick shrimp; their scientific name is eagle claw shrimp. They're most abundant in winter—today's haul felt like over twenty jin.

Stone crabs were plentiful too; he grabbed a few—each was firm, perfect for drinking.

He dumped all the catch from the traps into a bucket without sorting.

Because of last night's waves, today's trap catch was fairly good.

After landing, he sorted it: he set aside the evening's drinking snacks, then added two jin of red shrimp and two sea bass, each around two jin.

He planned to take them to visit Zhou Shu, the man beaten yesterday while driving the tractor—he'd been unlucky because of him, so he owed him some gesture.

He'd deliver some fish as a token, check on the man, and settle the car fare.

Today's trap haul was decent too—besides what he kept, he sold the rest for twenty kuai.

After returning home with the catch, he went to see Zhou Shu before dinner, chatted briefly, learned the details of last night's incident, and found he'd only taken a few punches and kicks—no serious injury, just needed a few days of camellia oil. Ye Yaodong then took his leave.

After a calm day, the next morning everyone saw violent waves rolling on the sea—each crest higher than the last, towering spray sometimes rising higher than their houses; they stood at their doorsteps, awestruck by the spectacle, thankfully not reaching them.

Many villagers gathered along the shore, each worried, discussing how today's waves were worse than typhoon weather, wondering if a tsunami had struck offshore—or if an earthquake somewhere had triggered the entire sea to churn.

The sea never calmed all day; even inside their homes, they could hear the waves crashing.

Ye Ye Ersao and Ye Ye Dasao stood at their doors, saying they should never have built the house here—even if the waves didn't reach them, the sound alone was terrifying…

…as if right at the doorstep, ready to sweep the house away at any moment…

Ye Yaodong pretended not to hear—he'd already built it, already taken over a large patch of vegetable land; now they regretted it? Soon, this would be a villa district.

The village was anything but calm—all day, people talked endlessly, convinced an earthquake or tsunami was coming.

By evening, even the old grandmother came down to warn them: don't sleep too deeply tonight, keep all your money on your person—in case something happens, you can grab it and run…

She also told him to move back to their hometown for a couple of days.

Ye Yaodong found it absurd but nodded repeatedly to soothe her—he wouldn't move, it was too troublesome; all three brothers had already moved their beds here, and the rooms were given up—going back wouldn't be comfortable.

He only said he'd stay alert at night, then escorted her back.

That night, the village was unusually bright—normally, villagers saved electricity and turned off lights early, retiring to bed as soon as night fell.

Today's waves had truly frightened everyone; recalling the ribbonfish legend, all feared the worst, adopting the attitude: better safe than sorry—what if an earthquake or tsunami struck suddenly and swept their homes away before they could escape?

It was said some sat by their doors all night…

It was said some packed their belongings on their backs and waited…

It was said some families spent the night hiding on the hills…

Ye Yaodong's family didn't go that far—they didn't keep lights on till dawn—but neither he nor his wife slept.

In his past life, the village had never been this alert—even when earthquakes happened, most only realized it afterward.

His butterfly wings had flapped too hard—he'd brought back one ribbonfish, and now the whole village was paranoid; otherwise, just rough waves would've been seen as odd but tolerable, since they hadn't reached the village.

The whole village prepared for disaster—but the entire night passed without incident; when dawn came, no one knew what to think, but everyone truly sighed in relief.

At first light, the shore was crowded with people.

"Damn, scared the hell out of me—stayed up all night thinking an earthquake or tsunami was coming, turns out we scared ourselves."

"Same here—we sat up all night waiting, and nothing happened till dawn."

"Don't even mention it—we spent the whole night on the hill eating cold wind."

"It's all because of that ribbonfish—if not for that fish, no one would've thought so much."

"Could it be it hasn't happened yet? Maybe it'll happen today?"

"Holy crap, you jinx..."

"It shouldn't be that bad, right? The waves on the sea don't seem as big as yesterday?"

"Hard to say..."

"Maybe the earthquake and tsunami happened elsewhere, so we weren't affected, just with bigger waves?"

Ye Yaodong looked at the sea spray and also felt it must have passed, though he didn't know where the tsunami or earthquake had occurred.

All day long, people came and went by the shore, all watching the tide, but the waves kept churning, appearing not to weaken at all.

The villagers, hearts in their throats, watched as the sky darkened again. They didn't dare put their packed belongings back; they clutched them to their chests, endured another night, and when nothing happened, only then did they relax.

Then, the whole village spent the early morning grumbling that they had stayed up for two nights for nothing. Some, while gossiping, even dragged Bai Bai into it, blaming him for bringing back an oarfish and causing the whole village to live in fear.

When this reached Ye's mother's ears, she stood at the door and cursed loudly, "If my son hadn't picked up that oarfish, would the waves not have come? He isn't the Almighty! Whether an earthquake or tsunami comes, where it comes, or what time it comes—how would anyone know?"

"Maybe it already happened, and we were just lucky it didn't occur here. Isn't it good that the village wasn't affected? You all are so full of yourselves, afraid yet complaining, afraid yet cursing. I don't believe you wouldn't have picked it up if you saw it; you're just jealous of my son..."

After Ye's mother's tirade, the murmuring around them quieted down a bit.

Hearing this, Ye Yaodong didn't care; whether an earthquake or tsunami came or not had nothing to do with him. The oarfish was said to serve as a warning.

But just because he picked it up didn't mean it would definitely happen here. Whether they would be affected, who knew? Being vigilant couldn't be wrong.

Could they blame him for bringing it back? Who wouldn't pick it up if they saw it?

He walked around the village, and by past nine o'clock, he headed to the commune.

He wanted to check today's newspaper to see if there was any news. With the sea so restless these past two days, something must have happened somewhere.

Unfortunately, information didn't circulate back then; without the internet of later eras, an earthquake or tsunami wouldn't be known nationwide a second after it happened.