"What was that just now? Was it really a fish?"
Ye Yaodong peered through the glass but saw nothing outside. Rain struck the window with intermittent cracks and patters, and he suspected that was what he had heard.
"I didn't see anything!" Father Ye and Mother Ye craned their necks and answered in unison.
Holding a quilt, Lin Xiuqing hurriedly said, "It was a fish. I saw it. I'd just come out of the room when I saw a fish hit the window."
"I'll open the door and take a look outside. Dad, come help me shut it in a minute." As he spoke, Ye Yaodong pulled on the coir raincoat he had just taken off.
"I'll come have a look too."
It was right outside the house, so there wasn't much danger. Father Ye wanted to see what sort of fish had been flung against the window too. He put on his coir raincoat and squeezed through the gap in the door, turning to tell Mother Ye, "Shut the door. It's windy outside. Don't come-"
Before he could finish, Ye Yaodong's delighted voice rang out. "Ah, it's a Baogong Fish!"
Father Ye hurried forward in delight too. "Did the typhoon blow it over here?"
"Maybe a wave swept it up, and then the wind blew it ashore."
Ye Yaodong grinned so broadly his eyes narrowed to slits as he held the dying Baogong Fish. Father Ye happily reached out and took it from him.
"If it could get blown all the way to your doorstep, there must be plenty of fish on the beach too. The waves are huge today. The villagers picked up lots of fish, shrimp, and crabs this morning too."
"Let's take it inside first. The wind's too strong..."
"Right, let's go in. Let's... ah, ah,