The sun was still very hot at two or three o'clock in the afternoon. Ye Yaodong tried his best to walk in the shade. Fortunately, A Guang's house was in the back mountain and there were trees around his house, so it was quite cool.
When he passed by, they were still playing cards under the tree at the door as usual, and only A Guang was lying in a recliner to enjoy the cool air.
"Why are you lying alone? Why aren't you playing with others?"
"You have such bad luck today, why bother playing? Don't play, save some money. What happened to you these past two days? Why don't you play?"
"I have no money. It's embarrassing to ask my wife for money all day long."
"That's true, but doesn't your family have a boat now? You can go out to sea with your father and get some money. That way it won't be like asking your wife for money."
He wanted to do it, too, but when he thought about how it would feel to be exhausted and drowned in the middle of the sea, he couldn't help but feel a little panicked. His heart beat faster and he thought about taking it slow first.
He made up a story: "I've never been out to sea before, so I'm afraid of seasickness. If I go out and get seasick, I'll need my dad to take me back, and that's asking for a beating. If there's a small boat that can take us to the surrounding islands, I can give it a try."
"It's easy. My uncle accidentally broke his hand a few days ago, so he hasn't been able to go out on a boat recently. I'll ask him to lend me the boat tomorrow. We'll buy diesel ourselves, and I'll take you out to sea for a tour around the nearby waters."
Ye Yaodong's eyes lit up, "That's fine, let's go to the isolated island and go fishing!"
"Haha~ You seem to be quite keen on ocean surfing recently!" A Guang looked at him with a chuckle.
"Of course, I've been so lucky these past two days. Yesterday I caught two blue crabs, and today I even found a tiger grouper and a nest of snow clams. I've tasted the sweetness, so I have to strike while the iron is hot."
"That's right. If I had your luck, I would go there every day. It's better than working odd jobs at Yujing Wharf. Working at the wharf only makes a little over 1 yuan a day, not even 2 yuan."
Yujing Wharf is a large wharf close to the sea in their Shanhai Town. Large ships are docked at Yujing Wharf, and many people in their village go to Yujing Wharf to do odd jobs and move goods.
Their town is located relatively close to the Taiwan Strait. In addition to fishing boats, there are also many cargo ships. Therefore, there are also many Taiwanese goods stores in their town.
In this era, their town is more famous and busier than the county town. Many outsiders only know their town but not their county.
When they and their friends go out to play, they usually go to the town and rarely go to the county town.
He put his hands in his pockets, leaned one foot against the tree trunk, and said, "Going fishing is a matter of luck. You can't go there every day. Why don't you ask if you can borrow a boat?"
"Go ask tomorrow morning. Once you're satisfied, go buy diesel and start the boat. It's so hot now and I'm too lazy to leave. I still have to drink tonight."
"Okay, then let me know when you borrow the boat. Tomorrow is the first day of the lunar year and there will be a high tide. If there is no wind or waves tomorrow morning, we can go to the isolated island for a tour."
"Okay, I'll follow you and see if I can change my luck."
Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "Perhaps it would be more effective if you change your name. When will your father come back?"
"I don't know. He's only been gone for a month. I'm not sure how many months it will take for him to come back."
Although the "Regulations on the Protection of the Reproduction of Aquatic Resources" promulgated in February 1979 contained provisions for a fishing ban period, the ban period was for various fish species and different customized fishing gear, and did not apply to the vessels in their waters at all.
There are no routine fishery inspections, so they all go out to sea as usual.
It was not until the full implementation of the marine fishing moratorium in 1995 that they stopped fishing as required.
Their regulations are that the fishing moratorium is from May 1st to July 31st every year, and the fishing ban is lifted on August 1st!
However, every policy has its countermeasure. The small boats on their side go out to sea secretly to fish. Even if they are caught by the fishery administration, they just dump the seafood back into the sea. They can afford the loss. After all, the fishery administration does not patrol the sea every day.
In this day and age, people can still fish freely in their waters, and once a large ship goes out to sea it won't come back for several months.
"Then you should wait until your father comes back."
"Hey, let's have some fun for a few more days. I'm going to go to Yujing Wharf to find some work in a few days. If I don't go to work now, I'll be out of money. You're lucky to have a hardworking wife. I can't even get married."
"You're rich, but you're worried about not being able to get a wife? Just gamble less and work harder to make money. Even if you have a wife, you can't rely on her to support you for the rest of your life. That's pathetic."
Ah Guang put his hands behind his head and looked at him with a chuckle, "Why do I feel like you've been more diligent these past two days?"
"My wife can't even make a dollar a day, so I feel guilty. Besides, my family will split up after the house is built, and I have to start supporting my family. I used to have the big tree to lean on for shade, but I won't have that anymore."
"That's right. Now that we've separated, life won't be easy if we don't work harder. Do you want to go to the dock together and find work?"
I don't know where he got a piece of straw from, but he put it in his mouth and chewed it. "I scared my family, and they are going to ask a Taoist priest to take me in."
This is the truth!
"That's right. We all have odd jobs, but you've always been the 'third young master of the Ye family'!"
"Don't laugh at me. Do you have a cigarette? Give me one. I haven't smoked in two days and my mouth is itchy!"
"You've gotten to this point? Didn't you make more than ten dollars these past two days?"
"I'll hand it over to my wife. I'm a good man!"
A Guang rolled his eyes. Who doesn’t know who
Ye Yaodong felt better only after taking a puff of cigarette. Actually, he wanted to quit smoking these past two days, but found it a bit difficult. He had been addicted to smoking for decades. He thought that he should not make things difficult for himself. Anyway, being a good man has nothing to do with smoking or not.
"Hey, tomorrow A Guang wants to borrow a boat to take us out to sea. Do you want to go?"
The four people who were playing cards turned around and looked at them.
"What's going to get better? I haven't seen enough of the sea since I was a child."
"Haven't you had enough sun today? Do you want to take the boat out to sunbathe again?"
"Why do you want to borrow a boat?"
The fat man still refused to go, "Don't ask me to do things like sunbathing or eating too much, but I can drink and play cards!"
Ye Yaodong said unhappily, "You're so fat, you're even lazier than me. Tomorrow there will be a high tide, let's go to the isolated islands and see if we can find some good stuff. Those uninhabited islands have been uninhabited for years, so let's not talk about seafood, but the shellfish on the reefs must be large and numerous."
A Wei asked curiously, "You haven't been there, how do you know?"
"Just tell me whether you want to go or not!"
This is his experience, how could it be false? I am not sure about the seafood, but there will definitely be a lot of snails and shellfish.
"Whether we can borrow a boat is still a question. I'll check tomorrow. If we can borrow one, let's go together. Everyone will have company. Otherwise, I won't be free in a few days." A Guang said seriously.
"Okay, let's go together."
Except for Fatty, Xiaoxiao and A Zheng, the other two people who wanted to play cards agreed to go. Awei said he didn't want to go as he didn't gain much yesterday and he didn't want to join in the fun.