Chapter 122: Jinmen

"Ping'an, Xiao Ling, you two are back?"

"Yes, Teacher Yan, you got off work quite early today."

"Ahem, well, it's easier to concentrate when preparing lessons back here."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes." If not for seeing the fishing rod and bucket in his hand, Zhang Ping'an would have believed him.

"Brother Ping'an, why is this Teacher Yan different from how he is at school?"

"Hahaha, he has to act like a teacher at school. You'll naturally understand once you interact with him more."

In truth, people are all the same; they can let their guard down in front of those they are familiar with, but subconsciously put on an act in front of strangers.

At eight in the morning, Zhang Ping'an and his companion packed their identification, letters of introduction, and luggage, then headed to the station. After a journey of less than three hours, the two arrived in Jinmen.

"Let's go, let's go ask for directions."

"Mm, okay."

"Grandpa, have a cigarette. I'm a Purchasing Agent from the Rolling Mill in Sijiucheng. This is my identification. I'm looking to purchase some seafood by the coast, but I'm not sure how to get there," Zhang Ping'an said, randomly stopping a kind-looking old man by the side of the road to ask.

"Young man, I live right by the sea, and I have quite a lot of seafood at home. I wonder what you're looking to buy?"

Tao Laohan was a bit dazed. He had just come into town to buy some daily necessities when he was grabbed by a young man while walking. He was just about to start yelling, but was forced to shut his mouth by Zhang Ping'an's status as a Purchasing Agent.

"What a coincidence, Grandpa, shall we talk on the way?"

"Sure, my donkey cart is parked not far from here. This is..."

"She's my wife. She's never seen the ocean, so we're just taking a look while we're at it."

"Oh, oh, okay."

The two chatted along the way, and Zhang Ping'an learned that this Grandpa Tao was the village chief of a small fishing village by the sea, and this trip into town was to purchase supplies needed by the whole village.

"Grandpa Tao, does your village have a convenient place to stay? We might need to stay there for a few days."

"Yes, yes, yes. I just rebuilt my house last year. If you don't mind, you can stay at my place. It's just me and my old lady living there; my son and daughter-in-law both work outside."

Tao Laohan had been worrying about how to get Zhang Ping'an to stay so he could sell more goods. Now, this saved him the trouble.

"Deal."

More than an hour later, at the entrance of the small fishing village, quite a few women were already waiting there.

"Uncle Village Chief, these two are..."

"They are Purchasing Agents from Sijiucheng. They want to buy some seafood. Everyone, finish distributing the goods, and spend these next two days tidying up things at home."

"Purchasing Agent Zhang, I wonder which varieties you need?"

"Things like dried baby shrimp, sea cucumber, shrimp skin, dried abalone, etc., are all fine."

"Everyone heard that, right? Get things ready in these two days."

"Got it."

"Let's go, Purchasing Agent Zhang, come to my house for lunch first."

"Deal."

"Brother Ping'an, aren't we here to have fun? How are you going to take these things back if you collect them?"

"It's fine. The Section Chief will be more than happy that I can procure seafood. There will be a truck coming to pick it up then."

"Oh."

"Purchasing Agent Zhang, this is my house. Old woman, we have guests."

"Coming, coming."

"Grandpa Tao, you can just call me Xiao Zhang. My wife is Xiao Wang. Also, here is 100,000 yuan for our room and board for these two days."

"This... alright then."

"Grandpa!" Two kids, a boy and a girl, eight or nine years old, darted out from the house.

"Hey, Huzi, Er Ya, hurry and greet them. This is your Zhang Shu and Auntie."

"Hello, Zhang Shu, Auntie."

"Hehe, hello to you too. Here are some candies for you." Wang Xiaoling hadn't skimped on stuffing snacks and candies in her pockets when she left.

"Take them." Seeing the longing in their eyes, Tao Laohan didn't refuse.

"Thank you, Auntie."

"Such good children."

At noon, Zhang Ping'an and his companion had a seafood feast: braised hairtail, steamed hairy crab, stir-fried scallops, and oysters.

"It's so delicious. Your cooking is wonderful, Ma'am."

"Hehe, it's just some home-cooked food. Eat more if you like it."

"Mm." The original, natural taste is still the best; everything is so flavorful.

"Grandpa Tao, we'd like to go stroll by the beach this afternoon. I wonder if we can go out to sea?"

"This... alright. But it will have to be tomorrow. I have a fishing boat, but we can't go into the deep sea."

"That's fine, we're just looking around nearby anyway."

"Grandpa, let's go catch seafood this afternoon."

"Good. Xiao Zhang, Xiao Wang, you two can join them."

"That sounds great."

"Xiao Zhang, this was my daughter's room before. She hasn't stayed here much since she got married. Old woman, go tidy it up for Xiao Zhang and his wife."

"Deal. Thank you very much, Grandpa and Ma'am."

In the afternoon, the group of five, carrying small buckets and shovels, left their shoes on the shore and walked barefoot on the beach at low tide.

Perhaps because they grew up by the sea, the two little ones dug up far more razor clams, sea snails, and crabs than Zhang Ping'an and his companion.

Wang Xiaoling was mostly just playing. Whenever she saw a crab or an octopus, she would chase after it while shouting, but her two legs naturally couldn't outrun eight legs.

In his past life, Zhang Ping'an had also gone sea-foraging, but it was mostly with a playful mindset; unlike the fishermen by the sea who made a living from it, his skills naturally couldn't compare.

On the way back after five o'clock, the three from the grandfather's family all had full buckets, while Zhang Ping'an and the other person only had a quarter of a bucket.

"With this clapper board, I won't boast about anything else, just talk about this sea-foraging..."

"..."

"Huzi, who did you learn that from?"

"My grandpa."

"6."

"Hahaha, what Jinmen person doesn't know how to play the clapper board a little?"

In the evening, the seafood that Zhang Ping'an and the other person had gathered was all thrown into one pot; paired with seafood porridge, it was truly authentic.

Staying overnight at someone else's house, it was certainly impossible to "clap"; setting aside the issue of soundproofing, the key was how to handle the used bedsheets, and it would also be disrespectful to the hosts.

The night passed without incident, and Zhang Ping'an got up just as the sky was beginning to brighten; not long after, Tao Laohan and his wife also got up.

"Little Zhang, up so early? I was just about to call you; let's head out to sea after we eat."

"Sure."

Zhang Ping'an went into the room and woke Wang Xiaoling up.

"Time to head out to sea, hurry up and get up to eat."

"Oh, oh, I'm awake, getting up right now." Hearing that they were going out to sea, Wang Xiaoling instantly became energetic.

After eating, Tao Laohan brought along a few large flatbreads and seafood sauce to serve as dry rations for lunch.

"Grandpa Tao, are Huzi and the others going too?"

"Zhang Shu, we are very capable."

"Mm, their swimming skills are all quite good, they'll be fine in the shallow sea area; you all know how to swim, right?"

"I do, I can stay underwater for eight or ten minutes without any issues."

"Whoa, Little Zhang, you're quite something; you're about the same as me."

Tao Laohan could be said to have grown up soaked in seawater; his swimming skills had been astonishing since he was a child, and he had also supported a whole family from the sea.

The group of five arrived at the seaside; the boat belonging to Tao Laohan's family wasn't small, Zhang Ping'an estimated it to be over four meters long, with a small sail and purely manual oars (sculling).

There were quite a few others like Tao Laohan's family's small boat heading out to sea in the morning.

"They are all going out to sea to fish; if they're lucky, they can earn tens of thousands, but most of the time they are just barely scraping by. Let's go, we're setting off too."

It was also Zhang Ping'an's first time sitting in this kind of wooden boat, and it felt pretty good; at least he wasn't seasick.

"Xiao Ling, are you seasick?"

"Not seasick." Wang Xiaoling was only excited at this moment.

At ten o'clock, the coastline could only be seen from far away.

"This is where we usually cast our nets; Little Zhang, do you want to give it a try?"

"I don't know how to do this stuff, you'd better do it; I'll go down and take a look in a bit."

"Sure."

Tao Laohan didn't want to make the trip for nothing, so he found a spot and started casting the net; Zhang Ping'an didn't stay idle either, using his space to probe downwards. The water depth here was clearly over twelve meters, and there were quite a few fish scattered about.

Tao Laohan's net caught quite a bit, but it was rather mixed—crabs, hairtail, white shrimp, everything was there.

"Whoa~, this net isn't light."

"Grandpa Tao, I'll come help you."

"Good, good, good." Tao Laohan felt that with this net today, the trip hadn't been in vain.

"Huzi, Er Ya, get ready to sort."

"Okay, Grandpa."