Chapter 24: The money smells of fish, but it's clean money

Lao Xie's shop is small and messy, yet two big fans blow, making the breeze on one's body very cool. Wu An sees Lao Xie still busy a while before his turn, so he pulls A Qing to sit inside, enjoying the fan and soda, feeling quite comfortable.

Those villagers, seeing the two so comfortable, feel ill at ease.

They haggle with Lao Xie over a dollar or two until their lips almost spark, while Wu An and his good-for-nothing friend stay inside blowing the fan and drinking soda.

The disparity in treatment is also too great.

Wu An is also watching them.

When their eyes meet, Wu An nods with a cheerful grin, making them feel even worse.

After the villagers selling goods have all left, Lao Xie goes back inside, grabs a soda, gulps down half a bottle, and says, 'Not bad.'

"The income of all those old fishermen combined still can't match yours, you two."

"I can tell you're serious."

"Keep it up, I'm optimistic about you."

Wu An tosses the empty bottle into the trash can, hits the mark, smiles, and says, 'Lao Xie, stop talking nonsense.'

"Give the price."

"Except for the stone crab, I'll sell everything else, but I need to keep a bit of each."

"Oh, I'll sell the sea snails too, none kept."

I hadn't planned to buy any.

But who would have thought that relying on luck for gathering seafood could actually yield this much?

I can't eat it all even if I don't sell it.

Besides, mosquito legs are still meat.

Lao Xie nods, pours the seafood from the bucket into a big bowl, then finds a few small bowls to sort; A Qing also squats down to help sort.

"Patterned clams and blood clams aren't expensive, same price as this morning."

"These sea snails are worth some money; I'll count each as 40 yuan."

"For octopus, 20 yuan per jin."

Wu An nods; on the way here he also asked the fellow villagers who came along, and since everyone's opinion of him has improved, he no longer gets the cold shoulder as before.

Lao Xie's quoted price is about the same as what the others said, only a bit higher.

One can't say Lao Xie doesn't cheat; at most he's relatively conscientious, or perhaps the buyers treat all fishermen equally, not singling anyone out— they cheat everyone.

Can we expect middlemen not to press prices down?

They rely on the profit from reselling to make a living.

After sorting, Lao Xie settles the bill.

Finally Wu An gets ten red banknotes in hand, and his account is credited with 1000.

Wu An is quite satisfied.

From gathering seafood to now receiving the money, it's been only three and a half hours at most.

If we calculate hourly wage, it's over two hundred yuan per hour!

What level of worker could earn such an hourly wage?

He calls out, 'A Qing, carry the bucket.'

There's still half a bucket of seafood left; he deliberately rounded it out, otherwise selling it all would likely bring in about twelve or thirteen hundred.

The leftover seafood isn't worth money,

mainly the stone crab, plus a few octopuses, and some patterned clams and blood clams were also kept.

Making a late-night snack tonight is absolutely no problem.

From yesterday afternoon to now, exactly one day has passed, yet we've only slept seven or eight hours total, and even that is intermittent; sleep quality can't be said to exist—it's practically none.

We must treat ourselves.

It's not about indulgence; without eating enough, drinking enough, and sleeping well, the body couldn't withstand continued high-intensity sea gathering for money.

Besides, high-interest loans must be repaid soon; that's also why, despite feeling full and drowsy this morning, he came to gather seafood as soon as A Qing called.

If this money isn't repaid, it weighs heavily on the mind.

Back then, he was clueless, talked into borrowing money by a little persuasion.

In his previous life, how could he have been so stupid!

First he went to the small shop; upon entering, Lao Jiang, who had only a few hairs on his head and was constantly combing them, came out from behind the cash register.

"What do you want to buy?"

Wu An answered, 'I'll buy some seasonings.'

The small shop sells everything, akin to a general merchandise store; items are piled haphazardly, making them hard to find. He didn't locate the seasonings, but found wire mesh instead.

A few stones stacked as a stove, with the wire mesh placed on top, would allow a pleasant barbecue.

Under Lao Jiang's wary gaze, he found the needed seasonings and walked to the doorway.

Lao Jiang cautiously quoted: 'Altogether 9 yuan.'

Wu An exclaimed, 'So cheap?'

Lao Jiang, expressionless, said, 'This is the purchase price; take it if you have the money, otherwise put it on tab.'

Wu An startled, then recalling, suddenly realized it wasn't that Lao Jiang was kind; rather, Lao Jiang's own past misdeeds were many, and he claimed Lao Jiang ran his business with a black heart, so not giving money was punishing evil and promoting good.

He said, 'Lao Jiang—no, Uncle Jiang—I used to be a mess; you keep an account, right?'

'Take out the ledger; I'll settle accounts today.'

'And for these items, charge whatever they're worth.'

'We're pretty far from town; it's not easy for you to make a supply run, so this money should be yours.'

Saying this, he took out a hundred yuan and placed it on the table.

Lao Jiang glared, a look of surprise on his face.

Wu An smiled sincerely; Lao Jiang gave him a deep look and said, "No need."

"Your debts, your dad has cleared them."

"Today this money..."

Wu An was taken aback, saying, "Earned from gathering seafood."

"I still want a case of beer."

Lao Jiang nodded, counted the money, gave back 70 yuan, watched Wu An walk off holding a case of beer, touched the bills, and muttered, "It smells of fish."

"Never mind whether this money is clean or not."

"Anyway, Old Wu can cover it."

……

Returning to the old house, A Qing put down the water bucket, holding a hundred yuan, happily went home.

As soon as he got home, he handed the money to Li Juan.

Li Juan wiped her hands, took the money, turned it over and over, extremely happy.

"In just half a day, we earned this much again!" She exclaimed, "Are we still going at dawn?"

A Qing shook his head: "I don't know; brother didn't say either."

"We still have plenty of seafood left; brother said we'll grill it tonight to eat."

"I'll rest a bit then go over."

Li Juan nodded with a smile: "Don't just eat seafood; I'll go to the vegetable patch and pick some veggies—potatoes, eggplants, green beans—these can all be grilled."

A Qing entered the house, saw the fruit on the table, and shouted, "Mom, you bought fruit today; can I bring some for brother to taste?"

Li Juan said, "Sure, of course; I'll bring some of each for A An."

This fruit isn't worth much; besides, from yesterday till now, A Qing has already taken over a thousand yuan home, even if it's out-of-town fruit, she doesn't mind.

She knows this amount well.

Not long after.

She urged, "A Qing, don't dawdle; it's getting dark, hurry out."

A Qing shouted, "Mom, you used to stop me from going out; why are you pushing me out today?"

Li Juan said, "Times are different now, you understand?"

"A An has improved."

"You also need to keep up."

"Listen well to A An's words, follow him in doing things, understand?"

A Qing nodded.

He carried big and small bundles toward the old house; halfway, he met a group of adults, A Qing's keen eyes spotted Wu Yingwei, so he quickly lowered his head and walked along the wall base.

In this village, he fears no one except Wu Yingwei.

When Wu Yingwei dealt with Wu An, he also didn't spare him.

Ding Ding Ding