Chapter Summaries

Chen Haichao and his family prepared to gather more shrimp and dry them for their married daughters, while the village buzzed about Liu Chunlan and Wang Zhiwen. The family returned to the beach as the tide receded, planning to collect seafood and retrieve a piece of wood offshore.

• Chen Haichao checked that the wood was still visible offshore and returned home as villagers discussed Liu Chunlan's marriage to Wang Zhiwen.
• Chen Haichao and his sisters spread the cooked shrimp to dry and agreed not to tell the wider family about their plan to sell shrimp until the opportunity was certain.
• Father Chen amused Chen Xiaoliu and Chen Xiaoqi by claiming Chen Xiaoqi had already been beaten for going to the beach.
• The Chen family set out for the beach after breakfast, explaining that they wanted to gather seafood to send to their two married daughters.
• Father Chen told Chen Haichao to summon their relatives to help retrieve the exposed wood, while Chen Sidi went to ask the brigade leader for more drying trays.

Chen Haichao returned home with a sack of shrimp and learned that Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan had confessed to their affair and been punished. He left Chen Sidi and Lin Zhiyu to cook the shrimp while he went back to help his parents at the beach.

• Father Chen sent Chen Haichao and Chen Sidi home with a sack of shrimp and the handcart.
• Chen Haichao brought the shrimp home, where his grandmother helped him prepare to cook them.
• Chen Sidi returned with Lin Zhiyu and reported that Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan had admitted to carrying on for two years.
• The brigade leader penalized Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan by cutting half their work points for the year and took them to register their marriage.
• Chen Haichao left Chen Sidi and Lin Zhiyu to tend the shrimp and headed back to the beach to help his parents.

Chen Haichao and his family gathered more shrimp at the beach and planned to sell them for a much-needed profit. After the tide exposed a large, sound log, Chen Haichao recruited friends and relatives to help move it ashore.

• Chen Haichao told his family about the production brigade meeting as they discussed their shrimp harvest, the money it could bring, and Chen Pandi’s future marriage.
• Chen Haichao judged the exposed log to weigh six or seven hundred jin and left to gather helpers while his parents kept scooping shrimp.
• Chen Haichao pushed a full sack of shrimp home for Chen Sidi to process and ran into Xiaoqiang, Li Zhengjun, and Lin Jianhui.
• Chen Haichao asked his friends and eldest uncle to help move the log, and his uncle went to summon his sons.
• Chen Haichao pulled his friends away from helping Chen Sidi wash shrimp and led them to borrow logs to use as rollers.

Chen Haichao and his family borrowed rollers and rope from the production brigade, then worked with relatives and friends to move a massive bogwood log from the beach to his mother’s home. They covered it outside and planned to have a carpenter assess it after the New Year.

• Xiaoqiang asked Chen Haichao to introduce him to his fourth sister, and Chen Haichao warned him not to damage her reputation.
• Chen Haichao borrowed three wooden rollers and hemp rope from Accountant Wang at the production brigade.
• Chen Haichao, his father, Uncle Chen, and their friends used poles, rollers, and rope to lift and move the bogwood log off the beach.
• Chen Haichao’s mother told curious villagers they had found the log on the beach and planned to make furniture from it.
• Chen Haichao’s family covered the log outside their home and decided to ask a carpenter to inspect it after the New Year.

Chen Haichao helped his family prepare shrimp and fish for drying, then went to the shore to find something else he could sell. As the tide rose, he found a large sea bass with a gold bracelet caught around its body.

• Chen Haichao’s family discussed whether to have a carpenter turn a piece of wood into a coffin for Grandma or make furniture from it.
• Chen Haichao heard that Wang Zhiwen and Liu Chunlan had returned to the village after getting their marriage certificate and fled teasing neighbors separately to their homes.
• After helping return the log roller and take shrimp and fish to dry, Chen Haichao headed to the shore to look for goods to sell.
• Chen Haichao surveyed the reefs, collected two plump blue swimmer crabs, and noted the mussels and barnacles he could harvest later.
• Chen Haichao found a sea bass weighing a little over three jin with a gold bracelet wedged tightly around its body.

Chen Haichao found a gold bangle caught around a sea bass and brought it home with fish, crabs, and sea greens. He and Mother Chen hid the treasure, and she planned to save it as a family heirloom or use it to help him marry.

• Chen Haichao caught a sea bass with a gold bangle stuck around its body and confirmed the bangle was real gold.
• Chen Haichao brought the fish and other food home, and Mother Chen noticed the sea bass had an unusual dent.
• Chen Haichao showed Mother Chen the bangle and explained that he had found it around the fish.
• Mother Chen admired the bangle, then hid it in her room so no one would see it.
• Mother Chen said she would keep the bangle for Chen Haichao and offered to use it to help pay for his marriage, while he urged her to let his sisters marry first.

Chen Haichao and his sisters turned the dried shrimp and discussed what seafood they could gather without harming the village’s shared resources. He concluded that selling dried shrimp was the safest way to make money for now and planned to build a connection with the truck driver on the fourteenth.

• Chen Haichao sent his sisters to turn the dried shrimp and brought the mischievous Chen Xiaoliu and Chen Xiaoqi back from helping another family.
• Chen Haichao separated the twins when they started smearing dirt on each other, then handed them to Mother Chen to wash.
• Chen Pandi suggested gathering mussels, but Chen Haichao and his sisters decided not to take too many from the shared shore.
• Chen Haichao resolved to keep catching shrimp for drying and selling, since other ways of making money risked harming collective resources.
• Chen Haichao decided that making a connection with the truck driver on the fourteenth was his best opportunity.

Chen Haichao’s family planned new clothes for New Year and discussed catching more shrimp to sell. After Chen Haichao suggested changing his sisters’ names, Mother Chen explained that their great-grandmother had forced the names on them, and the family agreed they could be changed.

• Chen Haichao offered to visit the supply and marketing cooperative, and his sisters asked him to buy clam-shell cream and malt candies.
• Mother Chen said she would go shopping with Chen Haichao and announced that the family would get new clothes for New Year.
• Chen Pandi suggested catching shrimp again, and the family agreed to gather more after the tide went out.
• Chen Haichao proposed changing his sisters’ names because their names included “di,” and Mother Chen explained that their great-grandmother had demanded those names.
• Chen Pandi and Chen Sidi asked whether changing their names would be difficult, and Chen Haichao and Father Chen said they could arrange it through the brigade and public security bureau.

Chen Haichao’s family agreed to arrange new names for the sisters, then went to turn their shrimp at the threshing ground. There, Chen Haichao found a weak cormorant chick and brought it home, claiming it as his while letting the twins raise it.

• Chen Pandi and Chen Sidi asked to change their names, and Mother Chen agreed to have the village fortune-teller choose suitable names for them and their older sisters.
• Chen Haichao persuaded his parents to have the fortune-teller check the family’s names, and the sisters agreed to the plan.
• Chen Haichao and his sisters went to the threshing ground to turn the shrimp while the twins ran around nearby.
• Chen Xiaoliu and Chen Xiaoqi found a muddy, shivering bird tangled in fishing ropes, and Chen Haichao recognized it as a cormorant chick.
• Chen Haichao made a straw nest, carefully placed the chick inside, and declared it his bird while allowing the twins to raise it.

Chen Haichao and his family returned from gathering dried shrimp in the cold and checked on the cormorant the twins had found. The children named the bird Xiao Ba and climbed into Chen Haichao’s bed, where their restless behavior left him regretting that he had let them both sleep there.

• Chen Haichao and his sisters walked home with the cormorant while the twins refused to go to Grandma’s because they wanted to stay with the bird.
• Chen Haichao joined Father Chen and Mother Chen at the shore, and the family gathered four large sacks before Mother Chen called them out of the icy water before ten.
• On the way home, the family discussed warming up with ginger soup and wondered whether the twins had fed the cormorant.
• The twins greeted their parents and showed them the bird, while Mother Chen scolded them for staying up and ordered them to wash and go to bed.
• Chen Haichao found the cormorant safe with water and fish in his room, and the twins decided to name it Xiao Ba as a member of their family.
• Chen Haichao let both twins sleep in his bed, then realized they were wriggling under the quilt instead of settling down.

Chen Haichao went with Mother Chen to Wanyu Town’s supply and marketing cooperative to buy cloth and New Year goods. The crowded shopping continued as Mother Chen bought food, while Chen Haichao waited outside and recalled the bustle of the holiday season.

• After a restless night caring for the twins, Chen Haichao got up early and prepared to go to town with Mother Chen.
• Mother Chen gathered the family’s money and coupons, and she and Chen Haichao walked for over an hour to Wanyu Town.
• They reached the crowded supply and marketing cooperative, where Mother Chen warned Chen Haichao to stay close.
• At the cloth counter, Mother Chen bought fabric and cotton, and Chen Haichao carried the purchases.
• Mother Chen squeezed into the non-staple food section to buy New Year treats while Chen Haichao waited outside amid the crowd.

Chen Haichao and Mother Chen bought cloth and cotton to make new clothes for the whole family, then carried their purchases home. There, the family celebrated the girls’ new names and planned to have them entered in the household register before the New Year.

• Chen Haichao and Mother Chen spent more than a hundred yuan on cloth and cotton for new outfits for the family.
• Chen Haichao visited the purchasing station to check seafood prices while Mother Chen waited with their purchases.
• Chen Haichao and Mother Chen walked home after no bus came, arriving with the cloth and cotton at mealtime.
• Chen Pandi and Chen Sidi excitedly learned that everyone would get new clothes for the New Year.
• Chen Pandi and Chen Sidi told Mother Chen that Father Chen had taken them to a fortune-teller, who gave them the new names Chen Panpan and Chen Sitian.
• Father Chen said he had also arranged new names for the eldest and second daughters, Chen Zhaozhao and Chen Xiaodi, and the family planned to get certificates and update the household register.

Chen Haichao’s family settled on names for the children, and his parents went to make the sisters’ new names official. After rewarding his friends with cigarettes, Chen Haichao spotted unfamiliar cormorants near the shore and wondered whether they were connected to Xiao Ba.

• Chen Xiaoliu insisted she was the older sister, while Chen Xiaoqi asked to be called number six, but Mother Chen and Father Chen kept their names as Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi.
• Chen Haichao reflected on the family’s sweet potato meals as everyone ate together.
• Mother Chen and Father Chen got certificates for the sisters’ new names, and Father Chen went to change the household register while Chen Sitian accompanied him to town.
• Chen Haichao gave Li Zhengjun and Xiaoqiang two packs of Ride the Wind cigarettes each for their help.
• Chen Haichao noticed a flock of unfamiliar seabirds and wondered whether one of them had been separated from Xiao Ba.
• Xiaoqiang teased Chen Haichao about Chen Panpan’s name, while Li Zhengjun left to prepare for a blind date.

Chen Haichao worked to prepare the family's dried shrimp for market while planning to build a future brine-shrimp business. At home, Chen Sitian announced she had applied for a temporary job at the town's aquatic products freezing plant and would take the recruitment exam the next morning.

• Chen Haichao returned from watching cormorants and warned the children not to frighten Xiao Ba.
• Chen Haichao turned the dried shrimp at home and at the threshing ground, where Party Secretary Lin and Accountant Wang had been keeping watch.
• Chen Sitian told the family that the freezing plant was hiring temporary workers and that she had signed up for a grading and record-keeping position.
• Father Chen regretted that Chen Haichao had quit school before earning the junior high school qualification required to apply.
• Mother Chen urged Chen Sitian to get a production brigade certificate and told the family to keep her application secret until the exam results were announced.

Chen Sitian brought Lin Zhiyu to help Mother Chen with sewing while the family teased one another and the twins fussed over their rescued bird, Xiao Ba. After Lin Zhiyu left, Chen Haichao heard his mother say she would have made a good wife for him and resolved to make his fortune before pursuing her; that night, he struggled to get the twins to sleep elsewhere.

• Chen Sitian brought Lin Zhiyu to help Mother Chen sew, and Lin Zhiyu agreed to return the next day while they took their exam.
• Chen Haichao warned Chen Xiaoliu and Chen Xiaoqi to bring Xiao Ba inside before it got cold, and the twins hoped the bird’s parents would come and live with them too.
• Lin Zhiyu left before dinner, and Chen Haichao overheard Mother Chen say she would have been a suitable wife for him; he thought he would wait until he made his fortune.
• Chen Haichao carried Chen Xiaoliu to sleep with their parents after the twins hid in his bed, while Chen Xiaoqi stayed in his room and obediently went quiet.

Chen Panpan and Chen Sitian went to town to take an exam for a temporary job, while Chen Haichao persuaded Father Chen to let Chen Sitian try the college entrance exam again. Father Chen agreed to give her one last chance under certain conditions, and the family planned to check the job-exam results that afternoon.

• Chen Panpan and Chen Sitian went to town for the temporary-job exam, leaving Chen Haichao at home to help their father.
• Chen Haichao told Father Chen that Chen Sitian was still studying and urged him to let her take the college entrance exam again.
• Chen Panpan and Chen Haichao both spoke up for Chen Sitian, and Chen Sitian said she could work and study at the same time.
• Father Chen agreed that Chen Sitian could take the college entrance exam if she passed the temporary-job exam, or try again if studying did not interfere with work.
• Chen Sitian thanked her parents, and the family ate lunch before the sisters planned to return to town to check the results.

Chen Sitian passed the worker exam and celebrated with her family, who welcomed her new job at the freezing plant while encouraging her to keep preparing for the college entrance exam. The family settled on her contributing half her wages, and she was set to begin work the next morning.

• Chen Haichao learned from Chen Xiaoqi that Chen Sitian had passed the worker exam and carried him home to celebrate.
• Mother Chen announced to neighbors that Chen Sitian had earned a temporary job at the freezing plant, where she would make twenty-two yuan a month.
• Chen Sitian told Chen Haichao she had won the weighing recorder position and would start work the next morning.
• Chen Haichao encouraged Chen Sitian to keep studying for the college entrance exam, while she thanked him for helping her family change their names.
• Mother Chen told Chen Sitian to contribute half her wages to household expenses and keep the rest for herself.

After Chen Sitian secured a job, the Chen family celebrated while Chen Haichao prepared to process dried shrimp for a sale and possible long-term supply deal. The family finished rolling and winnowing a large batch, and Chen Haichao discreetly allowed his grandmother to give the twins eggs.

• The family celebrated Chen Sitian's new job, and Chen Panpan offered to cover her shift if she took the university entrance exam.
• Villagers visited to congratulate the family and propose matches for Chen Sitian, while Chen Haichao avoided the attention.
• Before dawn, Chen Haichao joined his parents in rolling and winnowing dried shrimp, hoping to sell it that day and secure a steady supply arrangement.
• Chen Sitian, Chen Panpan, their grandmother, and other family members helped sort and pack several hundred jin of dried shrimp.
• Chen Haichao caught his grandmother secretly giving eggs to Chen Xiaoliu and Chen Xiaoqi but pretended he had seen nothing.

Chen Sitian started her new job while the Chen family finished drying shrimp and prepared their seafood for sale. Chen Haichao and Father Chen delivered 123 jin of dried shrimp, secured payment, and arranged their next nighttime exchange.

• Chen Sitian left for her first day at work with a warm egg from Grandma Chen for good luck.
• The Chen family finished processing their dried shrimp and weighed 123 jin, along with 73 jin of assorted dried fish.
• Mother Chen learned that Eldest Aunt Chen had only a few jin of dried shrimp, so they decided not to include her in the sale.
• Chen Haichao and Father Chen pushed the goods to the roadside, met the two buyers, and sold the dried shrimp for 240 yuan.
• The buyer agreed to purchase more on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month and arranged to meet at night near the entrance to Seashell Village.

Chen Haichao and Father Chen sold their dried shrimp and mixed dried fish to Master Liu for 260 yuan, and arranged to bring him another batch after half a month. Back home, the family celebrated the sale and discussed how to explain drying more seafood, while Mother Chen proposed saying they were preparing marriage gifts.

• Chen Haichao persuaded Master Liu to buy 123 jin of dried shrimp and a sack of mixed dried fish for 260 yuan, and arranged to meet him again at the village entrance on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month.
• Father Chen worried that drying seafood every day would prompt gossip, and said he would ask the brigade leader for support.
• Mother Chen and Chen Panpan waited anxiously at home until Father Chen and Chen Haichao returned with the money.
• Chen Haichao explained the sale to his family, and they were delighted that Master Liu wanted another batch in half a month.
• Mother Chen suggested telling the villagers that the family was drying seafood to prepare marriage gifts, and Chen Haichao agreed the excuse could work.