It was nearly four by the time they left Li Guowang's place. The three of them didn't go off to do anything else, but sat at Wei Donglai's place and chatted for a while.
Wei Donglai had been planning to ask the other two to stay for dinner. The duck hadn't been slaughtered yet, so they could have another drink that evening.
But the moment they heard that, they made a break for it.
If they got drunk again tonight, their families would probably beat them to death, and there would be no escaping it.
"Keep the duck for now. We'll celebrate tomorrow after a bumper mud-eel harvest."
"A Liang's right. Business comes first. We'll battle again tomorrow."
"I'm not battling again. A Lai, just drink A Feng under the table tomorrow."
"Why, you, A Liang! You stabbed me in the back again."
"You don't know your own limits, so don't drag me down with you."
Watching the two leave, laughing and bickering, Wei Donglai couldn't help shaking his head.
They really were a pair of characters.
This was just the right time to go check the fish traps and see if there was anything good in them.
Wei Donglai changed into his gear and set off for the sea.
The four traps didn't take long to collect, but the catch was somewhat disappointing.
There wasn't a single one of the groupers he'd expected to see.
He didn't even see a single conger eel.
To his surprise, though, he caught three dogfish, all of a decent size. Two were about two and a half jin each, and the biggest was nearly four jin.
There were also stone crabs and a few assorted small fish.
He only took the dogfish to the dock to sell. He got nine yuan for them, which wasn't bad.
On his way past the little shop, he bought some candy and snacks, then picked up a pack of Qianmen cigarettes.
Eating alone that evening, he couldn't be bothered making anything too complicated. He took the stone crabs and small fish from the traps and made a seafood stew with the octopus left from the night before.
Then he stir-fried the half portion of meat left over from lunch with the cucumbers his mother had picked for him yesterday.
He was eating when someone knocked on the courtyard gate.
Wei Donglai opened it to find Xu Qingqing standing outside, looking lovely with a basin of chicken soup in her hands.
"There's some chicken soup here. Take it and have some."
Wei Donglai glanced into the basin. Nearly half the chicken, if not more, was in there.
"Yiming needs to recover, and Momo is at an age when she needs nutrition. Keep it for them."
"I still have some at home."
Looking at this stubborn, obstinate woman, Wei Donglai suddenly felt a little angry, though he didn't know why.
"More than half the chicken is in here. What could you have left?"
With that, he took the basin of soup and headed toward her house.
When he entered the courtyard, the two children were sitting by a little table.
Aside from some pickles and dried fish, there was only a bowl of thin, watery chicken soup on the table.
A chicken leg was in Yiming's bowl, and a wing was in Momo's. As for Xu Qingqing, she had nothing.
Looking at the basin of chicken soup in his hands, how could he bring himself to eat it?
He set the basin on the table, then turned and went back to his place, bringing over both his rice and the dishes.
Xu Qingqing watched him run back and forth, not daring to say a word.
"Come sit down!"
Seeing the anger all over Wei Donglai's face, Xu Qingqing didn't dare say much. She obediently sat down on a stool.
Then Wei Donglai began dividing up the chicken.
He gave Momo a chicken leg, then gave one of the two pieces of breast meat to Yiming and put the other in Xu Qingqing's bowl.
When he was about to put a wing in her bowl as well, Xu Qingqing covered it with her hand.
"I have enough."
"Move your hand!"
Seeing Wei Donglai glaring at her, Xu Qingqing had no choice but to move her hand. The chicken wing was then pressed firmly into her bowl.
"All right, let's eat."
Sucking on a chicken foot, Wei Donglai pointed at the dishes on the table. "Momo, Yiming, there's meat in this bowl, and octopus here. Go on and eat."
"Big brother, your cooking smells so good."
Hearing her brother's praise, little Momo chimed in from beside him. "Smells good."
"Mm, if it smells good, eat more."
"Big brother, can I eat your cooking often from now on?"
"Whenever you want some, just come next door and tell me."
Seeing that Xu Qingqing wasn't taking any of the food, Wei Donglai put two chopstickfuls into her bowl.
"Are those chicken bones that tasty? You've sucked all the flavor out of them, but you still won't put them down."
Xu Qingqing's face flushed a little at his words. She wanted to stop Wei Donglai from putting food in her bowl, but she was afraid he'd yell at her, so she watched as it piled up again.
The two children were both thin, one even thinner than the other, and Xu Qingqing was thinner still.
In these times, she was raising two children as a woman on her own, relying on weaving nets at home and foraging along the shore for oysters. Wei Donglai knew how hard that was.
That was also why he'd been angry when Xu Qingqing brought him more than half the chicken soup just now. Her younger brother and sister clearly needed it more, but she couldn't get past the obligation to return a favor.
The way his parents had raised him from childhood might also have had something to do with it.
It would have been better if she were a spirited woman, but instead, her timid nature had become a burden as she held the family together.
When Wei Donglai had eaten about enough, he pointed to the plate of stir-fried bitter melon and meat and the seafood. "I'll leave the plate and basin here with you. I'll come get them tomorrow morning."
Seeing him get up to leave, Xu Qingqing hurried to her feet as well.
Just as he reached the gate, Wei Donglai heard her voice behind him.
"Are you going to collect the fish traps again tonight?"
"I've already collected them. Go on back and eat."
"Then... thank you."
"I hate those two words!"
Wei Donglai turned and said it fiercely.
But he wasn't met with fear from Xu Qingqing. Instead, she wore a smile of incomparable beauty.
Wei Donglai felt his heart pounding a little, and he quickly fled.
Watching her younger brother and sister sitting there, eating with such contentment, Xu Qingqing seemed to see a figure sitting beside them.
Dividing the chicken for them in the fiercest tone.
Gnawing on the bare bones of a chicken foot with a teeth-gritted expression.
Early the next morning, Wei Donglai got up, ate a simple breakfast, and immediately went to the shore to set his fish traps.
Then he went back to his mother's place to fetch a mud horse.
Only then did he meet up with Li Changfeng and the other man, and together they headed to Li Guowang's place.
A mud horse was essentially a little wooden boat about one foot wide underneath, with a crossbar attached.
The tidal flats were covered in mud, and on foot, it was almost impossible to move an inch when you came across an area of deep mud.
Supported by a mud horse, you could glide across it, which was why it was also called a mud bicycle.
When the three arrived at Li Guowang's house, he was eating, happily slurping noodles from a basin.
"Have you three eaten? If not, there are noodles in the pot."
The speaker was Zhang Xiufen, Li Changfeng's second aunt. She was short, with a kindly face.
"Second aunt, we've eaten."
"Auntie, we've already eaten."
Li Guowang looked up and chimed in. "If you haven't eaten, don't stand on ceremony. We'll probably need a lot of energy out on the tidal flats later. Don't blame me for not warning you if you end up hungry."
"We really have eaten, second uncle."
"I put away two big bowls of congee this morning."
Seeing that the three weren't just being polite, Li Guowang couldn't be bothered saying more and went back to leisurely slurping his noodles.
Mouthful by mouthful, he reached the bottom of the basin before long.
Wei Donglai was a little impressed by his appetite. He had no idea how Li Guowang's stomach could hold such a huge basin of noodles. In a later age, he'd have made a proper mukbang streamer.