Of course he had to give a reassuring answer. Ye Yaodong chuckled as he climbed aboard first, then gave his eldest maternal cousin a hand up.
His eldest maternal cousin's disappointment gave way to renewed hope. Once aboard, he wandered around the boat curiously.
"Did they give you all the baskets, buckets, and tools on this confiscated boat too?"
Only after starting the engine did Ye Yaodong call out, "How could they? It had all been picked clean. There were only some dusty fishing nets piled in the hold, nothing else. They must have taken everything."
"Tools like scissors and hammers are pretty useful. Buckets and baskets can be used at home too. Why would they leave them on the boat for someone else to benefit from?"
Having the fishing nets left was good enough. They had probably done him a favor there; otherwise, it would have been perfectly normal for them to take those too.
"That's true. Any household could use those things."
"Yeah."
"Want me to steer?"
"No need. You don't know which direction to go. I'll steer."
After steering the boat away from shore, Ye Yaodong headed farther out to sea. He glanced at the small islands around them and noticed some small wooden boats floating nearby.
Huh? There really might be a chance!
He chose the nearest one and headed over. It took only a short while. As he approached, he saw an old man haul in a net. Looking at the sparse assortment of small fish and shrimp inside, there did not seem to be many squid either, and a whole string of branches had become tangled in the net.
When the old man saw him coming in his distinctive fishing boat, he was no longer worried. Instead, he smiled and greeted him. "You're out