Chapter 32

The sun at two or three in the afternoon was still very scorching. Ye Yaodong tried to walk in the shade as much as possible. Fortunately, Ah Guang's house was located at the back mountain, and there were trees all around, so it was quite cool.

When he arrived, the few of them were playing cards under the tree at the entrance as usual, with only Ah Guang lying on a recliner to cool off.

"Why are you lying there alone? Not playing with them?"

"My luck is so bad today, what's the point of playing? Not playing, save some money. What's up with you these two days? Why aren't you playing?"

"No money. Always reaching out to my wife for money, it's very embarrassing."

"That's true, but doesn't your family have a boat now? You can go out to sea with your father and get a share of the money. That way, you wouldn't be reaching out to your wife."

He wanted to, but the moment he thought of the feeling of being submerged in the middle of the sea due to physical exhaustion, his heart couldn't help but panic, his heartbeat quickened, and he thought he should take it slow.

He made up a random excuse: "I haven't been out to sea before, I'm afraid of seasickness. If I go out and get seasick, I'd have to ask my father to bring me back—wouldn't that be asking for a beating? If there were a small boat to go around the nearby deserted islands to try it out, that would be fine."

"That's simple. My little aunt's husband accidentally broke his hand a few days ago and hasn't been able to take the boat out recently. I'll ask to borrow his boat tomorrow. We'll buy the diesel ourselves, and I'll take you out to sea to circle the nearby waters."

Ye Yaodong's eyes lit up. "That works! We can go around the deserted islands and do some beachcombing!"

"Heh~ You seem quite keen on beachcombing lately!" Ah Guang looked at him with a light laugh.

"Of course, my luck has been so good these past two days. Yesterday I caught two mud crabs, and today I actually found a tiger grouper and a nest of snow clams. Having tasted the sweetness, I have to strike while the iron is hot."

"That's true. If I had your good luck, I'd go every day. This is better than doing odd jobs at the Yujing pier. Working at the pier only pays a little over 1 yuan a day, not even 2 yuan."

Yujing Pier was a large pier by the sea in their Shanhai Town. Large ships all docked at Yujing Pier, and many people from their village went there to do odd jobs and move cargo.

Their town was located relatively close to the Taiwan Strait. Besides fishing boats, there were many cargo ships, which was why there were many Taiwanese goods stores in their town.

In this era, their town was even more famous and bustling than the county seat. Many outsiders only knew their town and didn't know their county.

When their group of friends went out to play, they usually went to the town; they didn't go to the county seat often.

He put his hands in his pockets, rested one foot against the tree trunk, and leaned there. "This beachcombing is all about luck, it's not like you can go every day. Why don't you ask first if we can borrow the boat?"

"Ask tomorrow morning. Once we've asked, we'll go buy diesel and take the boat out. It's so hot now, I'm too lazy to walk, and I have to drink tonight."

"Fine, then let me know once you've borrowed the boat. It just so happens that tomorrow is the first day of the lunar month with a high tide. If there's no wind or waves tomorrow morning, it'll be perfect to go around the deserted islands."

"Alright, I'll follow you and see if I can turn my luck around too?"

Ye Yaodong smiled. "Maybe changing your name would be more effective. When is your father coming back?"

"Don't know. He just left a month ago, I'm not sure how many more months it'll take for him to come back."

Although the "Regulations on the Propagation and Protection of Aquatic Resources" promulgated in February 1979 included provisions for fishing ban periods, they were for various fish species and different customized fishing gear; they didn't constrain the boats in their sea area at all.

There were no daily fishery administration patrols, so they all went out to sea as usual.

It wasn't until the comprehensive implementation of the marine summer fishing moratorium system in 1995 that they started observing the fishing bans according to regulations.

The regulation in their area was a fishing moratorium from May 1st to July 31st every year, with the sea opening on August 1st!

But, there were policies from above and countermeasures from below. The small boats in their area secretly went out to sea to fish. Even if they were caught by the fishery administration, they would just dump the seafood back into the sea. They could afford this loss, after all, the fishery administration didn't patrol the sea every day.

In this era, their sea area could still be fished at will. Large ships wouldn't return for months once they went out to sea.

"Then you'll just have to wait for your father to come back."

"Sigh, I'll be carefree for another two days. In a few days, I'll also have to go to Yujing Pier to find some work. If I don't go to work, I'll have no money. You're the lucky one, having a diligent wife. I still can't even get a wife."

"If you have money, are you afraid you can't get a wife? Gamble less, work hard to earn money, that's all. You can't rely on your wife to support you for a lifetime even if you have one; that's too spineless."

Ah Guang rested his hands behind his head and looked at him with a light laugh. "How come you've been so diligent these past two days?"

"Seeing my wife not even earning a yuan a day, my conscience kicked in. Besides, my family is going to split up once the house is built, so I have to start supporting my family. Before, I could lean on a big tree to enjoy the shade, but I won't have that treatment anymore."

"That's true. Once the family splits, if you're not diligent, life won't be easy. Want to go to the pier together to find work?"

He didn't know where he plucked a straw from, put it in his mouth, and chewed on it. "I'll scare my family; they'll run off to hire a Taoist priest to exorcise me."

That was the truth!

"That's true. At least we've all been doing odd jobs, but you've always been the 'Third Young Master of the Ye family'!"

"Stop mocking me. Do you have a cigarette? Give me one. I haven't smoked for two days, my mouth is itching!"

"Reduced to this state? Didn't you sell over ten yuan worth of stuff these past two days?"

"I handed it over to my wife. I'm a good man!"

Ah Guang rolled his eyes. Who didn't know who!

Ye Yaodong took a puff of the cigarette and finally felt comfortable. Actually, he had wanted to quit smoking these past two days, but found it a bit difficult. After decades of smoking, he felt he shouldn't make things hard for himself. Anyway, being a good man had nothing to do with whether one smoked or not.

"Hey, Ah Guang said he'd borrow a boat tomorrow to take us out to sea for a spin. Do you guys want to go?"

The four people playing cards turned their heads to look at them.

"What's there to spin around for? Haven't we seen enough of the sea since we were kids?"

"Haven't you been tanned enough today? Still want to take a boat out to get tanned?"

"Everything is fine, why do you want to borrow a boat to go out?"

Fatty still didn't want to go. "Don't call me for something as over-the-top as sunbathing. I can drink and play cards!"

Ye Yaodong said in annoyance, "You might as well die of laziness, you're even lazier than me. Tomorrow is the first day of the lunar month with a tide, let's go to the deserted islands and see if we can beachcomb for some good stuff. Those deserted islands haven't been touched by people for years. Not to mention seafood, the shellfish on the reefs must be big and plentiful."

Awei asked curiously, "You've never been there, how do you know?"

"Just tell me if you're going or not!"

This was his experience, could it be fake? He couldn't guarantee the seafood, but there would definitely be no shortage of snails and shellfish.

"Whether we can borrow the boat is still a question. I'll see tomorrow. If we borrow it, we'll go together; it's good to have company, otherwise I won't have time in a few days." Ah Guang said seriously.

"Fine, then let's go together."

Of the four playing cards, except for Fatty, Xiao Xiao and A Zheng both agreed. Awei said he didn't want to go; there wasn't much harvest yesterday, and he didn't want to join in the fun.