Setting Out to Sea

Early the next morning, Wei Donglai got up especially early, mindful of the blessing his mother had mentioned.

Opening the door, the first thing he did was check the weather.

Clear, with a light breeze.

Perfect for setting out to sea.

After washing up, Wei Donglai hurried out.

He had just opened the courtyard gate when the figure by the wall gave him a fright.

Once he saw that it was Xu Qingqing, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"What are you doing here?"

"This is for you!"

Xu Qingqing held out a cast net, woven evenly with sturdy thread.

"Did you make this?"

"I'd already made most of it. When I heard you were going out to sea, I spent a little time these past two days finishing it."

Wei Donglai noticed the heavy dark circles under Xu Qingqing's pretty eyes.

Clearly, she had spent more than a little time on it.

He had only mentioned buying a boat to her the night before last, and this morning she had already put a new net in his hands.

He could almost imagine the girl yawning as she wove it late into the night.

"Don't make any more nets."

Hearing that, Xu Qingqing froze for a moment, feeling a little hurt. She had never expected those words in response to something she had worked so hard to weave, staying up through the night.

The net in her hands seemed to grow heavy, until she could barely hold it up.

It slipped from her hands, but before it hit the ground, another hand caught it.

"Staying up late is bad for you. Your health is worth a lot more than this fishing net."

His words were like a light in the darkness, instantly clearing away Xu Qingqing's disappointment.

So it wasn't that he didn't want it. He was just worried that staying up late would harm my health.

"It's all right. It really didn't take me much work."

"Could you get rid of those dark circles before you lie next time?"

Caught out to her face, Xu Qingqing felt somewhat embarrassed. She lowered her head and said nothing.

Wei Donglai put the net away, a sincere smile on his face.

"Though I wouldn't recommend doing that, thank you for the cast net. I'll use it to catch lots of fish."

"You certainly will."

"So sure? Did you weave your good luck into it too?"

Xu Qingqing smiled happily when she heard that.

Just then, the morning sun rose over the sea.

Its soft light fell on her face, making her whole figure seem to glow. She looked beautiful.

A gentle breeze stirred the ends of her hair by her ears, and stirred his heart as well.

Wei Donglai stood there staring for a long while. Xu Qingqing noticed his gaze and turned her head away, blushing a little.

"Go back and get some rest. I'm heading out to sea."

"Mm!"

Xu Qingqing headed home. When she reached the gate, she turned back, gathered her courage, and called out to Wei Donglai as he walked away.

"May you have smooth sailing!"

Only after she saw Wei Donglai wave did she go into the courtyard.

"Well, you're up? I thought you were going to sleep till the sun shone on your backside."

Wei Donglai had barely stepped through the door at home when he heard his mother teasing him.

"Mom, I'm not that late, am I?"

"Not late? Look how bright it is already. Don't your dad and the others have to go out to sea? There are noodles in the pot. If you haven't eaten, hurry up and have some, then get to the dock early."

Hearing that, Wei Donglai hurried into the kitchen and ate a few bites.

Once he had finished, the family set off for the dock.

Along the way, they exchanged polite greetings with fellow villagers heading out to sea, all hoping for a good catch on the new day.

When they reached the dock, Wei Donglai first went to the fishing tackle shop to collect the things he had ordered the day before.

Although Xu Qingqing had made him a cast net, he had not canceled the one he had ordered. It was better to have a spare, just in case.

Otherwise, if the cast net broke at sea, he would have no tool to use.

After collecting the gear, the family went down to where the boats were moored in the harbor.

Li Yue'e took the incense and joss paper for the blessing from her basket, then set out offerings of pastries, fruit, and the like and began the blessing.

As the incense and joss paper burned, Wei Donglai heard his mother murmuring under her breath for quite some time.

He could make out scattered phrases like "Mazu, bless us" and "may everything go smoothly."

The whole process did not take very long.

When she was done, his mother, Li Yue'e, came over and took an aluminum box from the basket, handing it to him.

"Take this and eat it for lunch on the boat. And be sure to stay safe."

Wei Donglai nodded and loaded the prepared things onto the boat bit by bit. Then, with the help of his father and older brothers, he pushed the wooden boat into the water.

And so began his first voyage at sea in this life.

On the calm sea, Wei Donglai leisurely worked the sculling oar, admiring the scenery as he made his way forward.

The family's fishing boat had long since sailed into the distance.

Naturally, there was a world of difference between the speed of a motor and that of manual power.

He sculled for almost an hour.

Seeing that he had gone far enough, Wei Donglai put down the oar and took out the cast net Xu Qingqing had given him.

He bent into a lunge and swung, sending the net flying.

The net failed to open. That was a little embarrassing.

Fortunately, he was alone in these waters. If an old fisherman had seen that cast, he would probably have been laughed at.

It had been too long since he had cast a net, and his technique had grown rusty.

After a few more tries, the net finally spread out completely in the air like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, then fell onto the water and slowly sank.

When he hauled it in, he saw quite a few small fish caught in the net.

He had not expected to come across anything good as soon as he set out. He was catching these small fish for bait.

Whether for longline fishing or fish traps, he needed these small fish as bait.

After a few casts, Wei Donglai had caught enough bait.

He took out a knife and cut the fish into small pieces, tossing some into the traps and saving the rest for the longline.

Wei Donglai spaced the four traps about a hundred meters apart. Since they had buoys, he was not worried about losing them.

Once he had set the traps, he began setting the longline.

The entire longline was stored in a plastic basin, with the hooks fastened around the rim, making it convenient both to set and to retrieve.

He let the boat drift with the current, baiting each hook with a piece of fish as he went. Before long, he had set all five hundred meters of the longline.

Now he had to wait, but Wei Donglai had no intention of sitting idle.

It was time for the cast net again.

After his earlier practice, Wei Donglai was gradually getting the feel of it. He put his waist into the motion and swung his arm, and the net opened in an instant, flying out into the distance.

This was his farthest cast yet.

He watched the net sink toward the bottom and waited a little while. When he judged it was about time, he began to pull it in.

Before it had fully emerged from the water, Wei Donglai felt something struggling beneath the surface.

There was a fish, and it was not small.

A little excited, Wei Donglai hauled the net in faster. When its bottom came out of the water, he saw mostly scad, tonguefish, and sand whiting, but one fish was noticeably larger.

It was a sea bass, weighing about six or seven jin.

Not bad. It was not an expensive fish, but it would be quite tasty made into fish balls.