Plan

The plan

It was Old Mai who called.

Old Mai's warm, kindly voice came through the receiver and reached Jiang Xia's ears. "Xiao Xia, are you on holiday?"

Jiang Xia caught her younger sister's hand as she reached for the receiver and laughed. "Grandpa Jiang, hello. Yes, we're on holiday. We just got home yesterday. Have you come to S City? When are you free to have a meal?"

After Old Mai had returned to Hong Kong Island from the last Canton Fair, they had not seen each other again. Jiang Xia still owed him a meal.

Old Mai replied, "Not yet. I'm still on Hong Kong Island. The fish you're raising have grown, right? I'll return to the mainland tomorrow morning. When I get there, I'll introduce you to a seafood wholesaler. He wants to come to the mainland to buy seafood and take a look at Small Fishing Village, and also see the fish and mussels you're raising. When are you free?"

Jiang Xia smiled when she heard this. "We're free anytime these days. You're welcome whenever you come. When are you coming over? A'Lei and I will go pick you up."

Old Mai said, "No need. We can drive to your village ourselves."

"Our village isn't that easy to find. Let us come pick you up." Jiang Xia still asked about the time they would cross the border and roughly when they would arrive, planning to go meet them then.

There was no navigation system now. Although the village had road signs along the way because it had a wharf, it was true that even with road signs, it was still hard to find.

Her younger sister was "goo-gooing" in Mother Zhou's arms. Clearly, she wanted to listen to—or talk on—the phone again.

Old Mai heard the