Overjoyed

Father Chen was beside himself with joy, but he forced himself not to say another word, afraid that a slip of the tongue might affect Chen Haichao's deal.

But there were still the dried fish. He couldn't resist opening the other sack and taking some out. In the local dialect, he asked, "Would you like these dried fish? We dried them at home too. There are about seventy-odd jin here altogether. You can count it as seventy."

Chen Haichao translated for him into Mandarin.

The man glanced at the dried fish, then looked inside the sack. They were all a random assortment of fish, and he shook his head.

"They're too mixed up, not a batch of the same kind. I won't take them for now."

Father Chen looked disappointed.

Chen Haichao promptly asked, "Then would you take dried fish if they were all the same kind?"

"I could take them if they were the same, but not a jumble like this."

"We'll give you a lower price. Why don't you see what you think they're worth? If it suits you, could we give you the whole lot? We've hauled them all the way here, so just consider them an extra."

Master Liu looked reluctant. He picked through the fish and even gave them a sniff. "Some are too small, and some were sliced before drying. They vary so much in size, and they're different kinds too. How am I supposed to put a price on them? I'd have to sort them out after taking them back. They'd only be fit to sort out and give away."

Father Chen's face fell.

Chen Haichao thought for a moment and did his best to persuade him. "Even the fish purchasing station pays two or three mao a jin for some of these. It takes about nine or ten jin of fish to make one jin dried, and they were all fresh, live fish. Not a single one was bad, and sea fish are hard to come by inland."

"How about you take the whole sack of seventy-odd jin for twenty yuan? That's less than three mao a jin. Treat it as an extra and sort through it when you get back? There are really only four or five kinds in there."

He had checked at the purchasing station at the water plant. Ordinary fish generally went for around two or three mao a jin, and yellow croaker fetched only three and a half mao. Large silver pomfret and big eels could bring in another mao, while grouper was a little more expensive still.

Shrimp were actually the most expensive, especially large prawns, which could fetch as much as six mao.

The purchasing station wouldn't take smaller fish at all. They were simply returned as miscellaneous fish for the brigade to deal with and distribute among its members.

Of course, there was bound to be a difference between the purchase price and the selling price. Besides, these miscellaneous fish had been dried, making them easy to store and carry, so they had to be worth something.

Father Chen nodded repeatedly and said in halting Mandarin, "Yes, yes, treat them as an extra."

"All right, I'll take them back and give them to relatives and friends. But I won't take a jumble like this next time."

Father Chen smiled so broadly that his face creased with wrinkles, thanking him again and again.

Selling them for another twenty yuan was good too. They had picked the fish up for free to begin with, and drying them at home hadn't taken much work. The twenty yuan was practically money they'd picked up off the ground.

Chen Haichao was all smiles too. "All right, thank you. If we have a batch of the same kind next time, I'll give you a better price, Master."

The man nodded, unzipped his waist pouch, and counted out twenty-six ten-yuan notes for him. Then he told his companion to move the dried shrimp.

Father Chen quickly helped carry them onto the truck.

Smiling broadly, Chen Haichao said, "Thank you very much. May I ask how I should address you?"

"Just call me Master Liu. I'm in a hurry, so I'll be going."

"All right, take care. My name is Chen Haichao. See you at the entrance to Seashell Village at eight in the evening on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month."

Master Liu nodded, quickly opened the truck door and climbed in, then sped away.

They had waited more than two hours and spent another hour on the road, yet the whole transaction hadn't even taken ten minutes. Fortunately, it had turned out well.

Father Chen was so excited that his hands were trembling, and his voice shook as he spoke. "A-A-Abao... did... did it really sell for 260? And he wants more next time?"

"Yes. One hundred and twenty-three jin of dried shrimp and a sack of mixed dried fish sold for 260. In half a month, at eight in the evening on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, he'll come to our village entrance again and take however much we have. We should work a little harder at home during that time."

Father Chen rubbed his hands, unable to contain his delight. "Of course. We'll go out and scoop them up to dry every day. When we sell them to Master Liu in half a month, we'll make even more."

"I'm just worried that if we dry so much every day, people in the village will start gossiping..."

That was a big problem. Drying some now and then was one thing, but if they did it every day, the amount would add up, and people were bound to object. Everything was still organized around the collective.

Father Chen frowned at that. "I'll go talk to the brigade leader. Our family saved his grandson's life. As long as he's on our side, the others won't be able to do anything even if they object."

Chen Haichao had been thinking the same thing. He would set aside the old score from his previous life and settle it when he had the chance. In this life, he had saved the man's grandson; it wouldn't be too much to live off him for a lifetime!

"But we'll still need a good reason for drying so much every day."

"Let me think..."

"Let's head home first and think on the way. Mom and the others are probably getting anxious."

"Mm, let's go home first. We can talk about this later. Tomorrow's New Year's Eve, so let's get through the new year first. The first and second days aren't suitable for work either. We'll get back in the water on the third. If anyone starts gossiping then, we'll make up a reason."

Father Chen pushed the handcart along with a spring in his step and a smile all over his face.

Although the man wouldn't take mixed dried fish again, selling all of it today was already an enormous windfall. He was satisfied; their work hadn't been for nothing.

They had only been trying their luck with the dried fish in the first place. Selling them would be best, but they wouldn't have lost anything if they couldn't. As things stood, everyone was happy.

At home, Mother Chen and Chen Panpan could hardly sit still. They kept going outside to check the sky, and even cooked absentmindedly.

Though that sack of dried shrimp represented only two or three days of their family's labor, it carried their hopes. More than two hundred yuan was a huge sum for their family, over half a year's income for them all.

Besides, the whole family had just had padded clothes made, spending more than a hundred yuan in cash. They urgently needed to replenish their coffers.

In a moment of distraction, Mother Chen cut her finger while chopping vegetables. A sudden stab of pain made her hurry to scoop up a ladleful of clean water and rinse the wound.

"Mom, how could you be so careless? You cut your hand!" Chen Panpan anxiously grabbed her hand to check it. "Quick, put some plant ash on it and hold a handkerchief over the wound. I'll take care of the rest of the vegetables."

"Isn't it because I keep wondering why your dad and Abao haven't come back yet? They've been gone for hours. I don't know if they managed to sell it, whether everything went smoothly, or if they even found a truck."

"It's almost mealtime. Whether they managed to sell it or not, they'll come back. Let's wait a little longer. There should be good news."

Chen Panpan pinched a little of the plant ash she had scraped out from the hearth and put it on her mother's finger, then simply covered it with a handkerchief to stop the bleeding.

With her hand injured, Mother Chen left the cooking to her daughter and went to look out from the doorway.

As soon as she reached the door, she saw father and son returning with the handcart, both wearing broad smiles. She was instantly excited and hurried forward to meet them.

"How did it go?"

Father Chen's smile grew wider, deepening the wrinkles on his face. "Let's talk at home."

One look at his expression and the empty handcart told Mother Chen that they had sold it. Delighted, she quickly changed the subject, speaking for others to hear.

"Oh, right, you're back just in time. Dinner's almost ready. Sitian probably won't get home until six, so we can just save her some food. That child didn't come back for lunch either. I wonder if she ate at the factory..."

After setting the handcart against the wall, Mother Chen went inside and immediately shut the doors and windows, lowering her voice.

"How did it go?"

Chen Haichao checked that no one was at the door, then turned his back to it and took the twenty-six ten-yuan notes from his pocket. He put them on the table for his mother to see.

Mother Chen was bursting with excitement. "It sold for 244?"

"The dried shrimp went for 240 yuan. I knocked off the odd amount to give him a little something and make him feel good about it. He didn't want the mixed dried fish at first. I said I'd throw them in as an extra, twenty yuan for the whole sack, and only then was he willing to take them."

"Good, good. Amitabha, being able to sell everything was already a blessing. Two hundred and sixty is plenty."

She counted the money twice before putting it down. "He won't take any more dried fish in the future?"

"They were too mixed up. He didn't like them and wouldn't take them. He said he might want them if they were all the same kind."

"What a pity. How could we get so many of the same kind? It's not as if we've come across a school of fish. Whatever we pick up on the shore can only be a random mix."

"It's all right, as long as the dried shrimp sell..." Chen Haichao told them the man wanted another batch on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, and mother and daughter were instantly overjoyed again.

This time they had half a month. They could dry even more and sell them for more money!

"Don't celebrate too soon. If we dry them every day, people in the village will get jealous again. They'll think we're drying too much, taking advantage of the collective and digging at the commune's foundations."

Father Chen wasn't trying to throw cold water on them. He wanted them to think carefully about what reason they could give to silence all those wagging tongues.

Mother Chen wasn't concerned. "Why should we be afraid of them? As long as the brigade leader is on our side, that's enough. We saved his family's precious boy. A debt like that is bigger than heaven!"

"We can just find another reason. Say the family is preparing to arrange marriages for the three siblings, but we don't have much to offer, so we can only dry more shrimp to give to relatives, friends, or matchmakers, so they'll help introduce good matches. If we save up more now, we can also give some to our future in-laws."

"Uh... will that reason work?" Father Chen hesitated a little. It seemed to make some sense?

"Why wouldn't it? As long as we have a reason we can say out loud, who cares whether they believe it? The brigade already allows people to forage from the sea. If they think we're drying too much, they can dry some too. No one's stopping them. If they don't like it, let them come argue!"

Mother Chen glared with her brows raised and her hands on her hips, as if she were about to march into battle.

Chen Haichao gave her a thumbs-up. "I think it'll work."

"Then let's leave it at that for now. Tomorrow's New Year's Eve anyway. Let's get through the new year first."