The group kept their voices low as they chatted and laughed. Only when they neared Wang Zhiwen's house did they fall quiet.
The Wang house stood near the foot of the mountain on the west side of the village, away from the sea. It consisted of several stone rooms in a separate compound and looked a little neater than the other houses in the village, since it had a courtyard.
After finding a spot with a clear view of his front door, they sat down on stone blocks to lie in wait and switched off their flashlights.
Chen Haichao instructed Chen Xiaoqi, "Stay close to us brothers later, all right? Don't make a sound. Stay nice and quiet. When we need your help, just follow our instructions."
Chen Xiaoqi stared with wide, round eyes and nodded eagerly. In a breathy whisper, he said, "I know, Brother. I'll be good and listen and won't make a sound. I'll do whatever you brothers tell me to."
He then looked at his other two bored friends. "You two keep watch here. I'm going down to the beach. If you see Wang Zhiwen come out to meet the widow in secret, have Xiao Qi come get me at once. Remember to give him a flashlight. Don't let my little brother trip and fall."
The more the two friends heard, the more incredulous they became.
"We've been had!"
"So you called us here to do the grunt work while you dust yourself off and walk away?"
"Are you even human? You called us here to catch them in the act, and now you're sneaking off?"
"You've got some nerve!"
"And we have to look after your brother too?"
Chen Haichao chuckled. "How about a pack of cigarettes each once it's done?"
Xiaoqiang held up two fingers to bargain. "Two packs each!"
"Fine. If we don't get anything today, you'll have to come back tomorrow."
"Damn!"
Chen Haichao patted Chen Xiaoqi on the head. "Listen to the two brothers. If they tell you to come get me at the beach, take a flashlight and wave it a few times at the edge of the beach. I'll know."
"Got it."
Xiaoqiang said, "Didn't your parents go to the beach to scoop up shrimp? What are you going for? Can you eat that many? Didn't the production brigade hand out a huge batch of fish and shrimp yesterday?"
Li Zhengjun said, "Would it hurt to skip a day? I've never seen you so keen before. Isn't that the sort of thing women and children like doing?"
"We need to dry some more for my two eldest sisters. They both have big families to feed."
Li Zhengjun laughed and teased him. "The families that married your sisters sure are lucky. They even get their wives' family thrown in to help support them. What a sweet deal."
Xiaoqiang's eyes darted around. "Since your third sister's matchmaking date fell through, why not arrange one for me and her? I'm dependable! She'd be just right for me. I don't mind that she's two years older."
Li Zhengjun immediately followed up. "Then marry your fourth sister to me! I'm the same age as her!"
Chen Haichao gave each of them a punch. "What kind of beautiful dreams are you having? Get to work!"
Once Chen Haichao left, the two were bored out of their minds.
Xiaoqiang pinched Chen Xiaoqi's little cheek. "Your brother doesn't want you anymore."
"Of course he does! I'm helping him keep watch!"
Li Zhengjun chuckled. "You even know what keeping watch means? Pretty clever, aren't you? Call me Fourth Brother-in-law. Let's hear it."
"Brother says you're dreaming."
"We're a lot better than that Wang Zhiwen. If he can do it, why can't we?"
The question was beyond Chen Xiaoqi's ability to answer. He stared at the two of them in confusion and said nothing.
The two were only teasing him to pass the time.
When Chen Haichao headed down to the beach, his family was already hard at work.
The tide had just begun to recede. They stood in water that came just above their knees; one step back, and it only reached their calves. Each person could choose a depth they were comfortable with. All they had to do was move slowly forward as the tide went out.
He walked straight over and joined them. "I'm here."
"Everything arranged?" Mother Chen asked.
"Mm."
Father Chen was puzzled. "Arranged what? What are you two talking in riddles about? Where did Haichao just go?"
Mother Chen bent over, watching the surface of the sea as she scooped up shrimp, and brushed him off. "Didn't I tell you? His friend needed him for something. He's here now that he's finished, isn't he?"
Chen Haichao changed the subject. "Let's work quickly and scoop up as much as we can. The tide will be all the way out in about four hours."
When the flashlight shone on the sea, little shrimp thronged the surface, thrashing as though the water were boiling and scrambling to leap out.
They were easier to scoop up at night than during the day. These little red shrimp were attracted to light, and they were most active at night. Wherever the light shone, all the little shrimp nearby would gather.
That made scooping them up easier than during the day. One flashlight was enough. Widen the beam a little, and the shrimp would all gather within its circle. All they had to do was scoop as fast as they could, then shine the beam somewhere else once they had finished with one batch.
As the tide surged in and ebbed, gradually dropping lower, they slowly moved forward with it.
Chen Haichao watched the whole family pitch in and smiled with satisfaction. Although, apart from him and his mother, no one else yet knew what they were scooping the shrimp up for, nobody slacked off when called to work.
As long as the whole family set their hearts on the same goal and pulled together, there was no difficulty they couldn't overcome.
Sooner or later, their family would make a fortune!
He would surely be able to bring his parents, sisters and younger siblings into a good life together.
Father Chen took a break and saw that the burlap sack was already stuffed full. He tied it up with hemp rope first, then couldn't help saying, "A whole sackful is enough, isn't it? We've scooped up about enough. We can't finish them if there are too many, and if they go moldy from sitting too long, all this work will have been for nothing."
"What do you mean, enough?"
Mother Chen took another burlap sack from the bucket, shook it out and handed it to Chen Haichao. Then she took another, shook it out and handed it to Father Chen.
Father Chen's eyes widened. "Are you planning on going without sleep tonight? Just how many sacks did you bring? Are you going to carry the whole sea home?"
"The twins were there at dinner, so I didn't say much. I was afraid the children wouldn't know how to keep their mouths shut. We're scooping these little shrimp up to dry and sell."
"!!!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her in disbelief.
"Sell them? Mom, how can we sell them?"
"We can't do business. If we're caught, that's speculation and profiteering."
Chen Pandi and Chen Sidi couldn't help speaking up in turn.
Father Chen also said gravely, "We can't engage in speculation and profiteering. If we get caught, we'll be in serious trouble. There are so many eyes watching in the village, and the production team only allows everyone to gather a little for their own meals, not to sell."
"Haichao said it's only speculation and profiteering if you transport goods long distances or buy and resell them. Selling our own farm products isn't speculation and profiteering. It's called a household sideline, and policy allows it. It isn't speculation and profiteering."
Chen Haichao nodded as well. "That's right. We're not selling fish caught by the collective. We're selling what we obtained through our own labor. These are all farm products, and they can be sold, just like eggs laid by chickens we raise ourselves."
"But if someone latches onto it like they did this morning and says these are collective resources too, there could still be an argument. So we should just sell them secretly and not tell anyone else."
"The policy also only allows us to sell produce from our private plots. We did scoop these up from the sea, after all. Even though the brigade leader said we could, we should still keep a low profile and not tell anyone."
"Don't show your wealth. Making a fortune quietly is the way to go."
Everyone understood now. They were still skirting the rules a little.
These had all been scooped out of the sea, not grown on a private plot. Although the brigade leader would certainly take their side if it really blew up, it wasn't quite the same as their chickens' "butt bank." One less problem was better than one more.
For now, they met two conditions: the farm products were dried by hand as a household sideline, and they weren't buying and reselling them.
Father Chen hesitated and looked at Chen Haichao. "Will it work? We won't be found out and cause a stir? There's no problem with it?"
"As long as you keep your mouths shut, there won't be a problem. When the time comes, we'll carry them away on a shoulder pole. If anyone asks, just say New Year's is almost here and we're taking New Year's goods to my two eldest sisters' families. Everyone knows we often dry things and send them to them anyway."
"How much can they sell for?"
"Two yuan a jin."
Father Chen's eyes widened. "They're worth that much?"
Chen Pandi cried out, "That much?"
"It takes a little over ten jin to make one jin of dried shrimp. Even fresh large shrimp sell to the aquatic products purchasing station at a low price of five or six mao a jin."
Chen Sidi couldn't help saying, "But nobody wants these little shrimp. Even the aquatic products purchasing station won't take them..."
"That's why we can dry and sell them. Apart from the little people dry at home, there's no dried shrimp to be found elsewhere."
Mother Chen said, "This afternoon, I had Haichao take twenty jin to your two eldest sisters. He was lucky enough to run into a big truck on the way, and the twenty jin sold for forty yuan."
"Forty yuan!!!"
The three of them were shaken once again. That little bit of dried shrimp was actually worth what they earned in work points over more than half a year.
Mother Chen was satisfied with the expressions on the faces of Father Chen and their two daughters. A strong dose of medicine was needed, or they'd still be hesitating.
Father Chen took a deep breath and made up his mind. "Let's do it! Scoop them up, keep scooping, haul in all we can. Let's take more home to dry and sell."
Chen Haichao grinned. "Once we've sold them, we can have a prosperous New Year this year."
Father Chen looked at his two daughters. "None of you can tell anyone about this."
"Don't worry, Dad. We know how serious it is."