The sun was still scorching at two or three in the afternoon, so Ye Yaodong stuck to the shade as much as he could. Luckily, A-Guang's house was on Back Hill, surrounded by trees, and it was fairly cool there.
When he arrived, the others were playing cards beneath the tree outside as usual. Only A-Guang was lying in a reclining chair, enjoying the shade.
"Why are you lying here by yourself instead of playing with them?"
"My luck's been this lousy today. What's the point? I'll save some money by sitting out. What's up with you these past couple of days? Why aren't you playing anymore?"
"I'm broke. Always having to ask my wife for money is pretty embarrassing."
"True, but doesn't your family have a boat now? You could go out to sea with your dad and get a share of the money. Then you wouldn't be begging your wife for it."
He wanted to, too, but whenever he remembered the feeling of running out of strength in the middle of the sea and sinking beneath the water, panic stirred inside him and his heartbeat quickened. He wanted to give himself a little more time.
He made up an excuse on the spot. "I've never been out to sea before, so I'm worried I'll get seasick. If I did, my dad would have to bring me back. Wouldn't that just be asking for a beating? It'd be nice if there were a little boat I could take around the nearby uninhabited islands to try it out."
"That's easy enough. My youngest aunt's husband fell and broke his arm a few days ago, so he hasn't been able to take his boat out lately. I'll ask to borrow it tomorrow. We'll buy the diesel ourselves, and I'll take you out for a spin around the nearby waters."
Ye Yaodong's eyes lit up. "Now that sounds good! We can stop by an uninhabited island and forage along the shore while we're at it!"
"Heh, you seem pretty keen on shore foraging lately!" A-Guang looked at him with a chuckle.
"Of course. My luck's been great these past couple of days. Yesterday I caught two mud crabs, and today I actually found a tiger grouper and a whole bed of blood clams. Now that I've had a taste of success, shouldn't I strike while the iron's hot?"
"That's true. If I had your luck, I'd go every day too. It sure beats doing odd jobs at Yujing Wharf. A day's work there only pays a little over one yuan-not even two."
Yujing Wharf was a large wharf on the coast of Shanhai Town. Large boats all docked there, and many people from their village went there for casual work hauling cargo.
Their town was fairly close to the Taiwan Strait. Besides fishing boats, plenty of cargo ships passed through, which was why the town also had so many shops selling Taiwanese goods.
In those days, their town was more famous and livelier than the county seat. Many outsiders knew of their town but had never heard of their county.
Whenever their group of friends went out for fun, they usually went into town. They rarely visited the county seat.
With both hands in his pockets and one foot braced against the tree trunk, he leaned there and said, "Shore foraging is all down to luck. It's not like you can do it every day. First, find out whether you can borrow the boat."
"I'll ask tomorrow morning. If he agrees, we can buy diesel and head straight out. It's so hot right now that I can't be bothered to walk over, and we're drinking tonight anyway."
"All right. Let me know if you get the boat. Tomorrow's the first day of the lunar month, so there'll be a spring tide. If there's no wind and the waves aren't too rough tomorrow morning, it'll be a good chance to look around an uninhabited island."
"Sure. Maybe tagging along with you will turn my luck around too."
Ye Yaodong smiled. "Changing your name might work better. When's your dad coming back?"
"No idea. He only left a month ago. I'm not sure how many more months he'll be gone."
Although the Regulations on the Reproduction and Protection of Aquatic Resources issued in February 1979 included provisions for closed fishing seasons, those restrictions covered particular fish species and different designated types of fishing gear. They did not restrict the boats in their waters at all.
There were no routine Fisheries Administration patrols either, so everyone went out to sea as usual.
It was not until the summer marine fishing moratorium was fully implemented in 1995 that they began observing the closed season as required.
In their area, the fishing season closed from May 1 through July 31 each year, and the ban was lifted on August 1!
Still, for every policy handed down, people found a way around it. The small boats in their area would sneak out to fish. Even if the Fisheries Administration caught them, their catch was merely dumped back into the sea. They could afford that loss, since the Fisheries Administration did not patrol offshore every day.
At this point in time, they could still fish freely in their waters. Once a large boat put out to sea, it would not return for several months.
"Then you'll have to wait until your dad comes back."
"Yeah. I'll enjoy a couple more carefree days, then head to Yujing Wharf to find some work. If I don't get working soon, I'll run out of money. You've got it good, with such a hardworking wife. I can't even find a wife yet."
"If you've got money, why worry about not finding a wife? Gamble a little less and work harder at earning money. Even if you have a wife, you can't live off her forever. That'd be pathetic."
A-Guang rested both hands behind his head and looked at him with a chuckle. "Why do I get the feeling you've become more hardworking these past couple of days?"
"Seeing my wife work all day without even earning a yuan woke up my conscience, I guess. Besides, once our house is finished, the family's splitting into separate households. I'll have to start supporting my own family. Before, I had the family to lean on. I won't have that luxury anymore."
"That's true. Once you split households, life won't be so easy unless you work harder. Want to come find work at the wharf with me?"
Somehow, he had found a stalk of straw and stuck it between his teeth. "I'm afraid I'd scare my family so badly they'd run off to get a Taoist priest to exorcise me."
That was the truth!
"Fair enough. The rest of us have at least done some work here and there. You've always been the 'Third Young Master of the Ye Family'!"
"Quit making fun of me. Got any cigarettes? Give me one. I haven't smoked in two days, and I'm itching for one!"
"You're that broke? Didn't you make a little over ten yuan these past couple of days?"
"Handed it all over to my wife. I'm a good husband!"
A-Guang rolled his eyes. As if they didn't know each other well enough!
Only after taking a drag did Ye Yaodong feel comfortable. He had actually been thinking about quitting these past couple of days, but it turned out to be rather difficult. He had been smoking for decades, after all. He decided there was no point in making things hard for himself. Whether he smoked had nothing to do with whether he was a good husband.
"Hey, A-Guang says he'll borrow a boat tomorrow and take us out to sea for a look around. You guys coming?"
The four men playing cards turned to look at them.
"What's there to look at? Haven't we seen enough of the sea growing up?"
"Didn't you get enough sun today? Now you want to take a boat out for more?"
"Why borrow a boat and go out for no reason?"
Fatty declined as usual. "Don't invite me to pointless stuff like roasting in the sun. Drinking and cards, though-I'm in!"
Ye Yaodong snapped, "You might as well eat yourself to death. You're even lazier than me. Tomorrow's the first day of the lunar month, so there'll be a big tide. We'll go to an uninhabited island and see if we can forage anything good. Nobody sets foot on those islands year-round. Never mind the seafood-the shellfish on the rocks are bound to be big and plentiful."
A-Wei asked curiously, "You've never even been there. How would you know?"
"Just tell me whether you're coming!"
He knew from experience. How could he be wrong? He could not guarantee other seafood, but there would certainly be plenty of sea snails and shellfish.
"We don't even know whether I can borrow the boat yet. I'll check tomorrow. If I get it, let's all go together so we have some company. In a few days, I won't have time anyway," A-Guang said seriously.
"All right, then. Let's go together."
Of the four card players, Fatty refused, while Xiao Xiao and A-Zheng agreed. A-Wei said he did not want to go. He had barely brought anything back yesterday and did not feel like joining in.
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