The four of them happily climbed back into the little boat, brimming with energy. Sure enough, money coming in was the best motivation.
"Dongzi, let me see the receipt." A-Guang grinned and rubbed his hands together. "How much do we each get out of 478 yuan?"
"No idea. Definitely over a hundred. I'll have my wife work it out when we get home."
Xiao Xiao laughed. "The guys who didn't come will probably be slapping their thighs in regret again."
"Good thing they didn't come. What do we need so many people for? We can split it among ourselves. Fewer people, bigger shares."
"Exactly."
Ye Yaodong worked the sculling oar as he said, "Once we're back, you guys can pool this money to get a boat."
A-Guang smiled, folded the receipt, and tucked it back into Ye Yaodong's pocket. "Sure. Seeing you make a killing on your very first trip out in this little boat has me green with envy. I don't have anything to do lying around at home all day anyway. The three of us can get a boat together and give it a try."
As though he could already see his mother praising him for making something of himself, A-Zheng nodded happily.
Xiao Xiao had no objections either. Having something to do would be good.
The little boat slowly headed toward Isolated Island again. After all that work, it was still only noon.
Once ashore, they were in no hurry to forage. Instead, they gathered a pile of dry branches, planning to roast a few sea turtle eggs first to take the edge off their hunger.
Ye Yaodong dug up a heap of mud, intending to wrap the sea turtle eggs in it and toss them into the fire to roast.
This was a childhood memory of