There really were plenty of Couple Fish surrounding the whole boat. Before the family had been picking them up for long, they straightened up to rub their lower backs, then bent down to carry on.
Ye Yaodong started at the outer edge. The tide would be coming in soon, after all, and it would be a shame if the rising seawater swept them back out to sea.
Once he filled a basket, he dragged it forward and lifted it aboard with his father, then took another empty one and kept gathering.
The four of them became completely absorbed in gathering the fish, happily forgetting all about what had happened earlier.
By the time they had collected almost all the Couple Fish around the boat, the tide had begun creeping up.
Father Ye's rheumatism had been bothering him for several days, so he had not dared venture too far down. Seeing that they were nearly finished, Ye Yaodong told his father to go aboard and stack the baskets of Couple Fish more neatly. They could collect the little that remained.
By the time they had swept up every last fish, an hour had passed, and all of them could barely straighten their aching backs.
Only after they had lifted the final basket aboard did Ye Yaodong twist his waist and sigh. "This really is hard-earned money..."
"What else did you expect? Did you think earning money was easy? These past few years have been pretty good. Back when everyone ate from the communal pot, you couldn't even dream of earning money. Everything belonged to the collective."
"That's right. Life is much better now," Father Ye agreed. "Back in those days..."
"No need to go back to those days..." Ye Yaodong cut short his father's reminiscences. Who had time to listen now?