Xu Gao patted his son's head, and Xu Xiaohong headed toward the fishing boats with the other children.
"Xiao Hong!"
Shao Lan called Xu Xiaohong back, walked over, and took the candy out of his pocket to give to him.
"Thank you, big brother!"
Xu Xiaohong said loudly.
He ran off happily, leaving only Shao Lan and Xu Gao behind.
Xu Gao stood hunched over, looking terribly pale.
He had just gotten his daughter back, yet there was little joy on his face. He seemed distracted and only came back to his senses when Shao Lan patted him.
"Mr... Mr. Shao..." Xu Gao forced himself to offer a greeting.
"Mr. Xu." Shao Lan stood beside Xu Gao, watching Xu Xiaohong check his fishing rod by the shore. "There's something I'm curious about. I wonder if you could answer it for me."
"You want to ask why I'm not going out to sea, but I'm sending my son instead?" Xu Gao coughed. "Those are Mother Ming's rules. We can't explain them to outsiders."
"Mother Ming..." Shao Lan said. "Could you tell me a little about her? After all, I'll be living in Xu Family Village from now on."
Xu Gao trembled.
He calmed himself and said quietly, "Mother Ming is our god. Everything we have came from her."
"Long ago, Mother Ming and the ancestor of our Xu Family Village were lovers. But gods and humans cannot be together, so they parted in the end. From the depths of the sea, Mother Ming has continued to bestow her love on the Xu family's descendants."
Shao Lan asked, "Forgive my bluntness, but is that love? Every child in your village is born without eyes. Isn't that clearly some sort of curse? If Mother Ming hurts you like this, she must hate your ancestor to the core."
Xu Gao suddenly began trembling, his hands shaking like leaves.
"What do you know! How could you possibly understand!" Xu Gao shouted hoarsely. "Does love never hurt anyone? The hurt comes because there's no other choice!"
He was agitated, his eyes red. Halfway through speaking, he broke into a violent coughing fit, bloody foam welling at the corner of his mouth.
"I'm... I'm sorry..." Xu Gao said hoarsely. "I got carried away. You saved my child. I shouldn't have gotten so angry. But Mother Ming is our god. We cannot tolerate disrespect from outsiders."
Shao Lan looked down at him, his expression almost pitying.
"Mr. Xu, are you really this upset because I insulted Mother Ming?" Shao Lan asked quietly. "Or is it because I insulted you?"
Xu Gao's eyes widened, his breathing growing heavy.
"The children's mother was an outsider, wasn't she? That means you've left this village and seen the world outside."
"After seeing the outside world, coming back to face all this must have felt utterly absurd, didn't it? Living in a village this absurd, feeling every day that death would be better than life... yet having to go on living because you still have two children who haven't grown up." Shao Lan lowered his head and gazed at Xu Gao.
Xu Gao raised his eyes to Shao Lan. In the moonlight, they were bloodshot.
"I want to end all this, but I don't have the courage..." Xu Gao murmured softly.
He turned his back on Shao Lan and slowly walked away, one step at a time.
Shao Lan did not follow Xu Gao. He stayed where he was and turned to look at Qin Ning.
Qin Ning understood and came over to Shao Lan.
She was perceptive and noticed that a gaze had been following them from behind like a shadow.
"Xu Jiawei is watching us," Qin Ning said quietly.
"I know," Shao Lan said. "We need to lose her when she isn't paying attention."
Qin Ning frowned silently.
Xu Jiawei's attention was entirely fixed on Shao Lan. Qin Ning did not think there would ever be a moment when she "wasn't paying attention."
Shao Lan smiled. "When that moment comes, you'll know."
"When it does, run with me immediately. Don't hesitate."
He lowered his voice, his tone turning deadly serious:
"This is our only chance to survive."
"Understood," Qin Ning said softly.
She and this man did not know each other well, and she never worked with others.
But her instincts told her that she should trust him now.
"Shao Lan," Xu Jiawei called from behind them. "It's so windy over there. Come back and sit down."
"All right," Shao Lan called back, then walked over and sat beside Xu Jiawei.
Qin Ning also returned to sit beside Xu Jiaojiao.
By the shore, the children had finished their preparations, and the fishing boats headed out to sea one after another.
They switched on searchlights aboard the boats to draw in fish attracted to the light, then cast their lines.
Soon, one child caught the first fish. Though it was small, it still drew a round of cheers.
Shao Lan frowned.
Xu Jiawei, sitting beside him, immediately noticed the change in his expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It just seems a little strange," Shao Lan said. "If you're fishing for enjoyment, there's nothing wrong with only using rods."
"But Xu Family Village clearly doesn't have enough food, and you have to worry about making a living. In that case, wouldn't fishing nets be more efficient?"
Everyone fell silent. No one answered Shao Lan's question.
"I get it!" Shao Lan said suddenly. "Look. If you used nets, you might haul up other things."
Everyone looked in the direction Shao Lan pointed.
At first, she saw nothing wrong.
Moonlight spilled across the sea, and silver waves rolled over its surface.
Suddenly, everyone's expressions changed!
Those silver things... from a distance, they looked no different from waves. Only by looking very closely could one make out the countless tails swimming among them.
They were fish, snow-white fish. Beneath the moonlight, they swam one after another, head to tail, forming long rows of waves.
And now, those waves were silently surging toward the fishing boats.
The children remained oblivious, still concentrating on the fishing rods in their hands, but the Village Chief rose to his feet on shore in terror.
The Village Chief's voice trembled as he murmured, "How could this... why would the Blind Fish come here?"
Before you continue