Chapter 49: Father's Notebook

After finishing the pot of tea, Wu An got up to leave.

His older brother and sister-in-law saw him to the door.

Lao Meng was smoking at the door, greeted him, and Wu An hummed a little tune, walking briskly toward the old house.

Wu Ping and Mei Yueqin returned to the courtyard and asked, "Dad, do you now believe that A An has improved?"

Wu Yingwei nodded.

Wu Ping asked, "Then why don't you say a few more words?"

Wu Yingwei took a sip of tea and said, "What's there to say?"

"We can't help him anyway; it's better to say less."

"'You want me to say that the village isn't as easy to get by in as the big city—that's not pouring cold water on him.'"

"'I originally thought he'd go to university, stay in the big city where there are more job opportunities, earn more money, and he could easily make a name for himself.'"

"'Now that university is out of the question, he can only get by in the village.'"

"'If fishing and gathering seafood could make big money, everyone in the village would be rich—so why are there still so many poor households?'"

He doesn't talk much, but whenever he speaks, not a word is wasted.

Mei Yueqin couldn't help but say, "Then help the second son more."

"'He finally agreed to work honestly; don't let him lose heart.'"

Wu Yingwei glared and said, "I won't do anything that abuses power for personal gain."

Wu Ping looked downcast.

He is a living example.

Mei Yueqin felt uneasy and said, "You don't need to abuse power for personal gain; I think the second son can make it on his own."

Wu Yingwei said nothing, picked up the tea kettle, and went back inside.

……

Wu An returned to the old house.

He found the room door half open.

He hurried inside and saw that the newly bought table and chairs were still there, and the electric fan was still at the bedside, and he let out a sigh of relief.

In this house, only these things are worth stealing.

At night the wind picked up, blowing the door to bang against the wall.

This broken door really needs fixing.

He remembered that a typhoon would blow in soon, and at that time he had been delayed for a few days before leaving Xixi Village.

It was also then that he heard about the blue crab migration, which only a few people seemed to notice, and by the time they noticed it was almost over.

"'So… could the blue crab migration happen before the typhoon arrives?'"

Wu An propped the door open with a brick, lay on the bed, and began to think.

This is a good chance for him to make a fortune.

He absolutely cannot miss it.

Besides this relatively imminent big event, he remembers plenty of other tips for making a fortune.

Why does he remember so much?

He owes it largely to his father.

After his father passed away, he returned home, but missed everything and could only kneel before his father's spirit tablet to kowtow and offer incense.

His brother and sister-in-law didn't welcome him, so he temporarily stayed in his father's room and found his father's notebook.

The notebook mostly contains his father's work notes, recording things like someone discovering some seafood on an uninhabited island, most of the village following along, and then some danger or conflict arising.

For example, someone set longline fishing in a certain sea area, caught some fish, and caused some incident.

As for how his father handled them, most were trivial little matters.

That night Wu An didn't sleep, flipping through it all night, as if he could see his father writing at the lamp.

Even now he still remembers much, and he jokes that it's practically a fortune-making diary.

Now it really has become a fortune-making diary; many of the events recorded in it he can seize the opportunity on, becoming the first to eat the crab.

But seizing those opportunities isn't easy; it requires money.

For instance, in a certain sea area, if you want to set longline fishing there, you first need the longline gear; some areas also require contracting, and to go out to sea you also need a precondition.

That is, you need a fishing boat.

In the short term you can borrow or rent a fishing boat, but for long-term use you definitely have to buy one, and a fishing boat is a big-ticket item, just like buying a car or a house.

Especially for fishermen, that amounts to acquiring property.

All of this needs money; without capital you can't do anything.

He must quickly accumulate initial capital.

Thinking of this, he sprang up from the bed—no more sleeping.

Today he still has eight points of Luck Value unused.

Although the tide is high now, it's not a big surge; if you really want to find seafood, it's not impossible to find, and after the tide comes in, the water will also wash some seafood onto the shore with the waves.

Some bold fishermen even come out specially at high tide to gather seafood.

Thinking of that, he sat down.

Wu An now has nothing else but plenty of drive to act.

He picked up the headlamp and put it on.

He put on clothes and gloves, picked up a water bucket, threw the clamps, rakes, shovels, and any usable tools into the bucket, and also took a snake-skin bag.

Who knows what you can pick up on the beach these days; bring whatever you can, because if you need something and didn't bring it, having to go back for it would be a hassle.

He called A Qing.

Li Juan answered, saying A Qing had been busy all afternoon, had eaten dinner before going to sleep; Wu An hurriedly said to let her sleep, he was just heading out to gather seafood.

After hanging up, without A Qing accompanying him, he could only go gather seafood himself.

He went out.

Soon he reached Yellow Sand Beach; the tide rose and fell, washing the beach, the tide wasn't very turbulent, but rather gentle; if he weren't here to gather seafood for money, merely strolling along the shore to view the scenery, it would be very leisurely and pleasant.

But Wu An had no leisure to enjoy it.

He headed west.

It was a rocky beach strewn with jagged stones; because too many large rocks blocked the seawater, at high tide the water became somewhat turbulent.

On the rocky beach you can't gather seafood; you could go to the tidal flats instead.

Wu An shook his head.

He decided not to join the crowd; after his and A Qing's sweep, plus the villagers' carpet‑like search these past two days, although the tidal flats are extensive, seafood is probably hard to find there anymore.

If he went there, he might still have a harvest.

Better to wait for the "blue crab passage".

Now the villagers can't find any seafood on the tidal flats, their enthusiasm has waned, they will surely leave the flats, and then he can go pick up the leftovers.

Then he headed east.

Going east leads to the dock, equivalent to crossing most of the village; beyond that, bordering the neighboring village, there is also a stretch of rocky beach, past which lies a beach—though that beach is inferior, mixed with many small rocks, unsuitable for tourism development, but it easily conceals seafood.

The only drawback is being too close to the neighboring village; sometimes disputes and conflicts arise over seafood, and the two villages' long‑standing feud builds up, so even if nothing happens, just seeing each other makes them displeased.

Only after the two villages merged and lived together did some tensions fade, though it also sparked many new conflicts, which Father recorded in his notebook.

At present this minor hidden trouble is nothing to Wu An.

At worst, he could fire a shot and change locations.

The farther east he went, the brighter the village lights became, casting the seaside beach into deeper darkness; after the rocky beach, a tiny light caught Wu An's attention.

Someone was actually out gathering seafood.

With a headlamp, he surely wasn't just taking a stroll.

Wu An muttered to himself and strode over.

Hearing the footsteps, the other person jerked their head up, as if startled: "Who?"

Wu An replied: "Wu An."

Then he swung his headlamp over, saw the other person, was slightly taken aback, and said, "It's you…"

The girl opposite, however, did not know him, and warily asked: "Do you know me?"