Chapter Summaries

Reborn as a young man in 1980, Chen Haichao remembered a past accident that had ruined his family and rushed to the shore to prevent it. He rescued Li Lanxiang’s grandson from the waves, averting the tragedy that had once cost his family their savings and his fourth sister’s future.

• Chen Haichao woke in 1980, realized he had been reborn, and resolved not to spend his life as a gatekeeper.
• Zhang Cuihua accused Chen Aiguo’s family of taking too many communal red shrimp, while Chen Aiguo defended them.
• Recognizing the argument from his previous life, Chen Haichao ran to the shore, where his mother Su Hongmei and Li Lanxiang were fighting as Li Lanxiang’s grandson fell into the tide.
• Chen Haichao grabbed the child between waves and carried him to safety.
• Chen Haichao scolded Li Lanxiang for bringing the child to the dangerous shore without watching him, while Su Hongmei urged her to take him home and change his clothes.

Chen Haichao defended his family after Zhang Cuihua accused them of taking collective property, and Brigade Captain Wang confirmed that gathering seafood in their spare time was allowed. Wang then thanked Haichao for rescuing his grandson, and Mother Chen returned the bucket of clams his wife had left behind.

• Zhang Cuihua accused the Chen family of grabbing collective property, but Chen Haichao argued that they had gathered the seafood through their own labor.
• Mother Chen, Father Chen, Uncle Chen, and Aunt Chen backed Haichao and challenged Zhang Cuihua's accusations.
• Brigade Captain Wang scolded Zhang Cuihua and declared that villagers could forage by the sea in their spare time, warning that rumor-spreading would be punished.
• Brigade Captain Wang thanked Chen Haichao for rescuing his eldest grandson, and Haichao asked him to use his given name instead of his childhood nickname.
• Mother Chen advised Wang to watch over the child and returned his wife's bucket of clams and tools.

After defending his family from Zhang Cuihua’s accusations, Chen Haichao recalled a way to protect his sisters and saw a chance to profit from the village’s abandoned salt field. He planned to investigate whether it held brine shrimp, but left to find Chen Sidi after his mother scolded him about marriage.

• Mother Chen angrily denounced Zhang Cuihua, while Father Chen urged the family to boil and dry the shrimp they had caught.
• Chen Haichao told his parents that he had rescued a child from being swept out to sea, then remembered that Third Sister’s fiancé was involved with an older woman.
• Chen Haichao rejected the marriage prospects Mother Chen had found and asked Father Chen about the abandoned salt field.
• Chen Haichao explained that he wanted to check the salt field for brine shrimp and hoped to contract it when household farming policies were introduced.
• Mother Chen pressed Chen Haichao to marry, but he dodged her fire tongs, put on rubber boots, and left to find Chen Sidi.

Chen Haichao returned to his fishing village and learned that Chen Pandi was meeting Wang Zhiwen for a blind date. Fearing for her future, he interrupted them and took Chen Pandi away, leaving her determined to reject the match.

• Chen Haichao noticed the village’s poor conditions as he walked through its New Year preparations.
• Chen Sidi told Chen Haichao that Chen Pandi had gone on a blind date with Wang Zhiwen by the river.
• Chen Haichao found Wang Zhiwen trying to court Chen Pandi and shoved himself between them, ordering her to leave with him.
• Chen Haichao warned Chen Pandi that Wang Zhiwen was involved with an older widow and urged her not to marry him.
• Chen Pandi believed Chen Haichao and decided to tell her parents that she and Wang Zhiwen were not suited.

Chen Haichao took Chen Pandi to the abandoned salt field, where he hoped to find brine worms. He discovered them in the brine and asked Chen Pandi to help collect them, but she recoiled from the bugs.

• Chen Pandi followed Chen Haichao toward the abandoned salt field after he said he had something to do there.
• Chen Haichao warned Chen Pandi that Wang Zhiwen was a scoundrel and advised her not to rush into marriage.
• Chen Haichao and Chen Pandi walked through the rundown village and reached the abandoned salt field.
• Chen Haichao found brine worms swimming in the stagnant brine and recognized them as the creatures he had been seeking.
• Chen Haichao handed Chen Pandi his gloves and pointed to the pond, but she refused to collect the worms.

Chen Haichao discovered that the abandoned salt pans were full of valuable brine worms and began planning how to secure the land and raise money. He also warned Mother Chen that Wang Zhiwen was dangerous, hoping to prevent Chen Pandi from marrying him.

• Chen Haichao showed Chen Pandi the brine worms and decided their family could profit from them after he contracted the abandoned salt field.
• Chen Haichao worried about the cost of contracting and repairing the salt field, since he had only a few yuan and little time to earn more before work resumed.
• Mother Chen scolded Chen Haichao and his siblings for neglecting the New Year chores when they returned home.
• Chen Pandi told Chen Sidi that she did not want to marry Wang Zhiwen, but kept Chen Haichao's warning secret.
• Chen Haichao told Mother Chen that Wang Zhiwen had been kissing an elderly widow, and Mother Chen reacted with shock.
• Chen Haichao recalled how Wang Zhiwen's affair had hurt Chen Pandi in his previous life and resolved to expose him before the marriage could proceed.

Chen Haichao convinced Mother Chen to reject Wang Zhiwen as a suitor and planned to catch him in an alleged affair, then returned home with Brigade Captain Wang's family, who came to thank him for saving Aqi. The captain's family left on good terms after Haichao gave Aqi money, while Haichao considered how village specialties could help him earn money.

• Chen Haichao told Mother Chen that Wang Zhiwen was having an affair with an older woman, and she agreed to reject the match and keep the allegation secret.
• Chen Haichao planned to watch Wang Zhiwen's house with friends and went out to learn the older woman's name.
• Chen Haichao met Brigade Captain Wang and followed his family home as they brought gifts to thank him for saving Aqi.
• Li Lanxiang apologized to Mother Chen for their earlier quarrel, and Aqi kowtowed to Chen Haichao in gratitude.
• Chen Haichao gave Aqi two mao, and the captain's family accepted the gesture warmly.

Chen Haichao learned that household farming contracts might soon reach his village, then set out to deliver dried shrimp and treats to his eldest and second sisters. He reached White Stone Village and paused at the entrance before continuing to his eldest sister’s home.

• Chen Haichao asked Brigade Captain Wang about household farming contracts, and Brigade Captain Wang said other places had begun piloting them but their village had not yet received notice.
• Mother Chen packed dried shrimp for Chen Haichao’s eldest and second sisters and secretly added sponge cakes for their children.
• Chen Haisheng and Chen Xixi stopped Chen Haichao at the door to ask for candy money, and he gave each of them one mao.
• Chen Haichao set off with the gifts, planning to check prices in town on his way to visit his sisters.
• After walking about an hour, Chen Haichao reached White Stone Village and stopped at the entrance to rest before entering.

Chen Haichao sold the dried shrimp his mother had sent to his eldest sister, Chen Zhaodi, to two travelers for forty-two yuan and arranged to sell them another batch later. He gave Chen Zhaodi egg cakes for the children, then decided to take the money home before going to town.

• Chen Haichao met Chen Zhaodi at the village entrance while delivering dried shrimp from their mother.
• Two men stopped their truck to ask about buying the shrimp, and Chen Haichao negotiated a price of two yuan per jin.
• The middle-aged traveler weighed the shrimp at twenty-one jin and two liang and paid Chen Haichao forty-two yuan.
• Chen Haichao arranged to sell the travelers another batch on the fourteenth, and Chen Zhaodi urged him to tell their mother to dry more.
• Chen Haichao offered Chen Zhaodi ten yuan, but she refused and agreed to deliver egg cakes to her children and Chen Yindi's children.
• Chen Haichao decided to take the money home before making his planned trip to town.

Chen Haichao told Mother Chen he had sold twenty jin of dried shrimp for forty-two yuan, and they planned to gather and sell more seafood. The family prepared to keep the money-making plan secret and involve Chen Haichao’s eldest uncle’s household, while his mother began urging him to marry.

• Chen Haichao showed Mother Chen the money he earned selling dried shrimp and explained how the sale happened.
• Mother Chen planned to take the girls to gather more shrimp at low tide and sorted the household’s dried fish in case the buyer wanted it.
• Chen Haichao reflected on how little the family earned from a year of collective labor and told his mother he had kept two yuan from the sale.
• Mother Chen warned Chen Haichao to keep the selling secret and decided to tell his eldest aunt so their households could work together.
• Chen Haichao learned Chen Pandi and Chen Sidi had gone to wash shoes, then left when Mother Chen raised the subject of finding him a wife.

Chen Haichao learned that Chen Sidi might still be secretly preparing to retake the college entrance exam, then recruited Wang Zhiqiang and Li Zhengjun to help him stake out a suspected adulterous couple. They agreed to meet at his house after dinner, though Chen Haichao did not know whether the couple would appear.

• Lin Zhiyu told Chen Haichao that Chen Sidi still seemed to be studying and might want to take the college entrance exam again.
• Chen Haichao said he would ask Chen Sidi about the exam and teased Lin Zhiyu about helping her friend.
• Wang Zhiqiang and Li Zhengjun met Chen Haichao, who invited them to catch adulterers that night.
• Wang Zhiqiang and Li Zhengjun agreed to meet Chen Haichao at his front door at six o’clock after dinner.

Chen Haichao learned that Wang Zhiwen’s lover was Liu Chunlan and helped his family plan to catch the pair together. The family prepared to gather shrimp at the shore while Chen Haichao’s friends and Xiao Qi kept watch, and Chen Pandi agreed to end the match with Wang Zhiwen.

• Chen Haichao overheard village women gossiping about Liu Chunlan and realized she was Wang Zhiwen’s lover.
• Chen Haichao told Mother Chen and Chen Pandi that Liu Chunlan was the woman involved with Wang Zhiwen, and Mother Chen angrily cursed her.
• Mother Chen and Chen Haichao planned to gather shrimp at the shore while Chen Haichao’s friends and Xiao Qi watched for Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan.
• Chen Pandi agreed to avoid Wang Zhiwen, and Mother Chen said she would reject the matchmaker.
• At dinner, Mother Chen told the family to go shrimping after the meal and forbade the twins from going to the shore.

Chen Haichao convinced Chen Xiaoliu to stay with Grandma and brought Chen Xiaoqi along with Xiaoqiang and Li Zhengjun to catch Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan meeting in secret. They headed out to stake them out, with Chen Xiaoqi expecting a reward for helping.

• Chen Haichao paid Chen Xiaoliu a mao to stay with Grandma and promised Chen Xiaoqi the same reward for helping him.
• Xiaoqiang and Li Zhengjun arrived, and Chen Haichao explained that Chen Xiaoqi would help them call the village if they caught the couple.
• Chen Haichao told Xiaoqiang and Li Zhengjun that Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan were the targets.
• Xiaoqiang and Li Zhengjun reacted with surprise and mocked the couple as the group walked through the dark village.
• Chen Haichao explained why he thought the pair would meet that night, and the four continued toward their stakeout.

Chen Haichao joined his family in gathering little red shrimp at night, then revealed they would dry and sell them as a household sideline. After hearing that twenty jin of dried shrimp had earned forty yuan, Father Chen agreed to gather as much as they could and keep the plan secret.

• Chen Haichao left his friends and Chen Xiaoqi watching Wang Zhiwen's house while he went to join his family at the beach.
• Chen Haichao's family scooped up shrimp by flashlight as the tide receded.
• Mother Chen told the family they were gathering the shrimp to dry and sell, and Chen Haichao explained they should keep the plan quiet.
• Mother Chen revealed that twenty jin of dried shrimp had sold for forty yuan, surprising Father Chen, Chen Pandi, and Chen Sidi.
• Father Chen agreed to keep gathering shrimp, and he warned his daughters not to tell anyone.

Chen Haichao and his family gathered seafood at low tide while waiting to hear whether his friends had caught the adulterers. After Chen Xiaoqi summoned them, they ran to the old educated youth quarters, where villagers had exposed a naked man and Widow Liu together.

• Chen Haichao agreed with his parents to let his eldest uncle's family join their seafood-selling plan, but to tell them only when they were ready to sell.
• Chen Haichao's family gathered seafood by flashlight as he wondered whether his friends had caught the adulterers.
• Chen Xiaoqi arrived and told Chen Haichao that the pair had been found at the old educated youth quarters, so the family left their catch and ran there.
• Villagers rushed to the quarters, where Li Zhengjun announced that the man and Widow Liu had been caught naked together.
• Li Zhengjun held the pair's clothes while Xiaoqiang blocked them from taking the clothes back.

Chen Haichao and the villagers exposed Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan having an affair at the educated youth station, provoking outrage over the scandal and the village’s reputation. Brigade Captain Wang and Party Secretary Lin ordered the pair tied up and locked in the production team office until their punishment could be decided the next morning.

• Villagers gathered around Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan, who were caught naked together, and mocked them for their age-gap affair.
• Chen Haichao arrived with his parents, while Wang Zhiwen’s parents tried to retrieve the couple’s clothes and calm the crowd.
• Mother Chen and other villagers condemned Liu Chunlan and Wang Zhiwen, and Chen Haichao accused them of committing hooliganism and damaging the village’s reputation.
• Brigade Captain Wang and Party Secretary Lin arrived, rebuked the couple for disgracing the brigade, and heard villagers demand punishment.
• Brigade Captain Wang ordered the villagers to tie up Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan and lock them in the production team office until the next morning.

After Wang Zhiwen and Widow Liu were caught together, the village debated how to punish them while trying to contain the scandal. Chen Haichao proposed marrying them to avoid a harsher report, and Brigade Captain Wang went to discuss the suggestion.

• Xiaoqiang and Li Zhengjun tied up Wang Zhiwen and Widow Liu and took them to the production team's office.
• Brigade Captain Wang sent the villagers away and met with village officials to discuss the pair's punishment.
• Chen Haichao suggested that Wang Zhiwen marry Widow Liu so the village could treat their affair as a couple who had lost control of their feelings.
• The villagers backed Chen Haichao's idea, while Wang Zhiwen's parents objected and feared a report to the commune would ruin the family's future.
• Brigade Captain Wang considered the marriage a way to contain the scandal and went inside to discuss it with the other officials.

The village officials decided Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan had to marry after they were caught having an affair, while their families argued over the consequences. After leaving the meeting, Chen Haichao’s family headed back to the shore to catch shrimp, taking Chen Xiaoqi along.

• Zhao Guilan protested Wang Zhiwen’s forced marriage to Liu Chunlan as villagers mocked and argued with the Wang family.
• Party Secretary Lin announced that Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan would marry or face severe punishment, including lost work points and ruined prospects.
• After the Wang family argued, Wang Zhiwen’s brothers agreed to the marriage, and the officials ordered the couple held overnight until their marriage certificate was issued.
• Chen Haichao praised Li Zhengjun and Xiaoqiang for arranging to catch the couple without drawing suspicion, then left with his family.
• Chen Xiaoqi revealed that Chen Haichao had sent him to watch for trouble and rewarded him with a mao.
• Mother Chen agreed to let Chen Xiaoqi accompany them to the shore, and Chen Haichao picked him up as they hurried off to catch shrimp.

While Chen Haichao's family gathered shrimp on the beach, they discovered a huge, unusually pristine piece of black wood that Chen Haichao suspected was ancient bog wood. They decided to return for it with help the next morning, leaving Chen Haichao planning to turn it into furniture.

• Chen Xiaoqi gathered stranded fish and shrimp beside the sacks while Chen Haichao's family worked along the receding tide.
• Chen Haichao spotted a massive black object in the shallows and found that it was smooth, solid wood without barnacles, cracks, or rot.
• Chen Haichao recognized that the wood resembled ancient bog wood he had learned about in a previous life.
• Father Chen decided they should leave the wood overnight and return with relatives and a handcart after daybreak.
• Chen Haichao agreed and planned to have the wood made into a rustic table-and-chair set.

After the Chen family brought home a large haul of seafood, they cooked and spread hundreds of jin of shrimp to dry before planning to return to the beach. Chen Haichao went to check whether a stranded log was valuable ebony wood.

• The Chen family hauled four sacks of seafood and a bucket of fish home, then estimated when the next tides would come.
• Chen Haichao reflected on his first day after being reborn and teased Chen Xiaoqi before they went to sleep.
• The next morning, Chen Haichao found his parents had risen at two to cook the shrimp, and he helped lay the cooked shrimp out to dry.
• Chen Haichao learned his father had not checked the log on the beach and hurried there to see whether it was ebony wood.