Chapter Summaries

Chen Haichao’s family celebrated selling the dried shrimp for 260 yuan, while Chen Sitian returned from her first day at the factory. Zhao Guilan and Wang Zhiwen then appeared at the Chen home, demanding that Chen Panpan marry Wang Zhiwen, and Mother Chen drove them away as the neighbors gathered to watch.

• Mother Chen offered Chen Haichao half the shrimp-sale money, and he kept his 130 yuan rather than letting her save it for his marriage.
• The Chen family celebrated their unexpected earnings over dinner, and Father Chen asked Chen Haichao to look for Chen Sitian because she was late.
• Chen Sitian returned from work, explained her shift schedule, and learned that Chen Haichao had sold all the dried shrimp for 260 yuan.
• Chen Haichao put his money away and heard Zhao Guilan and Wang Zhiwen asking the family to let Wang Zhiwen marry Chen Panpan in exchange for a 500-yuan bride price.
• Mother Chen rejected Zhao Guilan’s demand and chased her and Wang Zhiwen away with a broom while Father Chen defended Chen Panpan’s reputation and the neighbors watched.

Wang Zhiwen and Zhao Guilan tried to pressure Chen Panpan into marrying him despite his marriage to Liu Chunlan, but the villagers rallied around and escorted the couple home. Afterward, Chen Haichao’s family returned to the threshing ground to collect their dried shrimp, while the twins brought Xiao Ba along.

• Wang Zhiwen and Zhao Guilan demanded that Chen Panpan marry him for a bride price, and Chen Haichao threatened to take Wang Zhiwen to the Public Security Bureau.
• Chen Panpan and Chen Sitian denied having any real relationship with Wang Zhiwen, while the villagers reminded him that he was already married to Liu Chunlan.
• Liu Chunlan arrived and called Wang Zhiwen her husband, and Zhao Guilan rejected her even as the villagers treated her as their daughter-in-law.
• The villagers escorted Wang Zhiwen, Zhao Guilan, and Liu Chunlan home and urged them to live together as a family.
• Mother Chen, Chen Haichao, and the others went to the threshing ground to collect their dried shrimp, while the twins brought Xiao Ba along hoping to find its parents.

On New Year’s Eve, Chen Haichao went alone to the shore to gather seafood while his family prepared for the holiday. Chen Xiaoqi followed him with a cormorant chick, and the chick’s parents appeared and brought it a large yellow croaker.

• Chen Haichao’s family finished shelling the dried shrimp, and he planned to visit the shore alone during the holiday to avoid attracting suspicion.
• Chen Haichao put up the New Year couplets, then headed to the shore as the tide went out.
• Chen Xiaoqi showed up carrying the cormorant chick’s nest, and two adult cormorants swooped at him before settling beside the chick.
• Chen Haichao learned that Chen Xiaoqi had brought the chick because Xiao Liu wanted to take it and warned him to stay away from the water.
• One cormorant returned with a large yellow croaker for the chick, while Chen Haichao left Chen Xiaoqi with the birds and went to catch shrimp.

Chen Haichao and Chen Xiaoqi gathered huge quantities of seafood driven into the shallows by hunting cormorants. Father Chen arrived with a handcart and sacks to help collect the catch while Xiao Ba stayed beside its nest.

• Chen Haichao saw cormorants drive a school of fish toward shore, where fish, shrimp, and crabs washed onto the beach.
• Chen Haichao called Chen Xiaoqi to help collect and sort the stranded seafood while he filled sacks in the water.
• Chen Haichao sent Chen Xiaoqi to bring more sacks and ask Father Chen to bring the handcart.
• Father Chen arrived with supplies and was astonished by the seafood covering the beach.
• Father Chen and Chen Haichao began filling sacks and gathering the catch, while Chen Xiaoqi pointed out the adult bird beside Xiao Ba's nest.

Chen Haichao and Father Chen gathered a huge haul of seafood driven ashore by seabirds, while Chen Xiaoqi brought the chick Xiao Ba home. They returned with a loaded handcart and began recruiting family members to help process the catch.

• Chen Haichao decided to collect mantis shrimp for drying, and he and Father Chen filled their sacks before using the handcart to carry more seafood from the water.
• Chen Xiaoqi gathered seafood on the beach and fed Xiao Ba and the adult bird as the tide receded.
• Father Chen and Chen Haichao stopped scooping, loaded the beach catch onto the handcart, and sent Chen Xiaoqi home with Xiao Ba's nest.
• Father Chen and Chen Haichao returned home with the cart piled high, concealing the seafood under straw as they passed through the village.
• Grandma scolded them for bringing home another enormous catch, and Chen Haichao coaxed her into helping clean the fish.

Chen Haichao’s family cooked and dried a large haul of mantis shrimp and fish while village relatives helped and shared gossip. After the work was done, Chen Haichao headed to the brigade leader’s house to take care of something involving his friend.

• Chen Panpan told Chen Haichao that Chen Xiaoqi and Xiao Liu had fought over a bird and been whipped before Grandma gave them candy money.
• Chen Haichao persuaded Father Chen to cook the mantis shrimp quickly so they could dry and sell or eat the meat.
• The family and their relatives cleaned, cooked, salted, and spread fish and seafood to dry while Mother Chen explained they planned to give some away to help find matches for the siblings.
• Eldest Aunt and the other women gossiped about Liu Chunlan being turned away from the Wangs’ home and speculated that the family planned a divorce.
• After the work was finished, Chen Haichao washed his hands and went to the brigade leader’s house to handle something concerning his friend.

Chen Haichao asked Brigade Captain Wang whether he could develop the village’s idle shore or abandoned salt fields as a sideline, and Wang said he would check the relevant policy before deciding. Haichao left with a generous bowl of pig’s trotters and renewed determination to improve his family’s fortunes.

• Chen Haichao visited Brigade Captain Wang on New Year’s Eve and asked whether he could use idle shoreland or abandoned salt fields for a sideline.
• Chen Haichao explained his family’s financial hardship and promised that any production would support the collective and meet its sales quota.
• Brigade Captain Wang said no policy explicitly allowed the arrangement, but suggested applying under terms such as claiming idle wasteland or managing non-arable resources.
• Brigade Captain Wang promised to find Document No. 75 and review the policy after work resumed.
• Brigade Captain Wang had Li Lanxiang give Chen Haichao a large bowl of pig’s trotters, and Aqi went with him to visit the twins.

Chen Haichao considered how to make use of the abandoned salt fields and devised a plan to turn their ponds into a natural shrimp farm. He inspected the ponds and hoped the brigade captain would give him official permission to use them.

• Mother Chen and Father Chen shared the pig's trotters Chen Haichao had received from the brigade captain and prepared seafood to return in the bowl.
• Chen Haichao saw a cormorant on the roof, while Chen Xiaoqi hoped it was Xiao Ba's parent and promised to care for it.
• Chen Haichao sent Chen Xiaoliu and Chen Xiaoqi inside to ask Mother Chen about wearing their new clothes and moved Xiao Ba's nest onto a drying rack.
• Chen Haichao went to the abandoned salt fields and planned to convert the outer ponds into shrimp ponds and the saltier inner ponds into brine-shrimp breeding ponds.
• Chen Haichao inspected the ponds' sizes and layout, deciding he could put the entire saltworks to use if the brigade captain gave him official standing.

Chen Haichao inspected the abandoned salt fields and planned to turn their reservoirs into shrimp ponds, then shared the idea with his family over New Year's Eve dinner. His father worried the brigade would not approve, and Chen Haichao explained how they could present the project as taking responsibility for unused land.

• Chen Haichao inspected the saltworks and decided to seek approval to use the reservoirs for shrimp farming after the New Year.
• Chen Haichao hurried home for dinner, where his family scolded him for arriving late and asked where he had been.
• Chen Haichao ate the family's lavish New Year's Eve meal and waited until the twins had left before discussing his plan.
• Chen Haichao told his father that sluice gates could trap prawns and shrimp in two reservoirs, providing a steady catch to sell.
• Chen Haichao reassured his concerned father that the family could describe the project as taking responsibility for uncultivated land rather than contracting the salt fields.