"Big brother, second brother!"
"Third brother, what brings you here?"
Though he was something of a bastard, his two older brothers had cared for him for years, and that had never changed.
Seeing him now, both brothers were clearly delighted.
This was what people meant when they said blood was thicker than water.
"Dad thought I had too much time on my hands, so he dragged me over to do the heavy lifting. Did you catch any good fish today? Save a couple for me tonight so I can build up my strength."
Hearing that, both brothers' mouths curved upward.
Their little brother wanted fish, so naturally they weren't about to be stingy.
His second brother, Wei Fangchun, immediately pointed at the catch on the boat. "We did well today. Golden pompano made up the bulk of it, and there were also some scad. The rest were worthless sand crabs and miscellaneous fish. I doubt the fish buyers would take them, so we threw a lot away. What's left is all here. As for the better stuff, it's all in here. Take your pick."
"Too bad there aren't any silver pomfret."
"Golden pompano are good enough, and you're getting picky?"
Wei Donglai looked into the livewell. There really was plenty of good stuff.
There were some conger eels and quite a few black sea bream.
In another hold were two tiger fish. The smaller one weighed about a jin, and the larger one was around a jin and a half.
"Second brother, how about we eat this tiger fish tonight?"
The moment the words left his mouth, his old father slapped him again.
"Eat, eat, eat! You've got some nerve wanting to eat that. It's expensive as hell. Take it home and see if your mom doesn't skin you alive."
Wei Fangchun grinned. "I don't mind, anyway. As long as you're not afraid of Mom hitting you, take it home yourself."
His eldest brother, Wei Fanghua, nodded his agreement.
"Better forget it."
Remembering how fierce his mom could be, Wei Donglai still felt a little uneasy.
"Second brother, how about this? Let's have a couple of pike eels tonight and save two pompanos too."
Seeing that he insisted on picking the best, Wei Guoqing began to scold him.
"Pike eel? Aren't there white eels and hardbone eels over there? You're asking to get scolded again."
Wei Fangchun, however, didn't think there was any need to be so sparing. "Dad, it's not often third brother asks for something. Let's give him what he wants."
Wei Guoqing wasn't having it. "Then you three brothers can take the blame later. I don't want your mom scolding me."
"Let her scold us, then. We'll get it in our mouths first. Hurry up and get this stuff off the boat."
With that, Wei Donglai was the first to get moving.
The pompanos had all been packed into baskets, along with the fish from the livewell and some miscellaneous fish.
Wei Donglai tested the basket of pompanos at his feet and lifted it with a little effort.
"Third brother, put that down! The two of us will carry it over together. Don't throw your back out."
"Second brother, it's not heavy."
Seeing how relaxed Wei Donglai looked, and how normal his breathing was even as he talked to them, they were dumbfounded.
That basket of fish weighed nearly a hundred jin.
"I'll take this over first. I'll come back for the rest in a bit."
"Dad, when did third brother get so strong?"
Watching Wei Donglai's rather light footsteps, Wei Guoqing was just as dumbfounded. "How would I know?"
"Big brother, could you carry that basket so easily?"
The burly, muscular Wei Fanghua shook his head. He was already considered strong, but he definitely couldn't have carried that basket of fish so easily.
"Come on, let's go sell the fish first."
Though puzzled, they didn't dwell on it, simply assuming Wei Donglai had grown stronger, even if the increase was a little frightening.
Li Laosan's full name was Li Guangsheng. He was the third son in his family and ran a stall at the dock, where he bought catches.
They usually sold most of their catch there, so they were well acquainted.
As soon as he saw the Wei father and sons, Li Laosan came over to greet them warmly.
"Uncle Wei, looks like you had a bumper catch today. What good stuff have you got?"
Wei Guoqing took the cigarette Li Laosan offered and pointed at the baskets at his feet. "It's all here. See for yourself. There's a little more worthless stuff left; we'll bring it over in a bit."
When Li Laosan saw Wei Donglai, he gave him a cigarette too, knowing he smoked.
Wei Donglai looked at it. It was a Daqianmen-not bad.
He lit it without ceremony.
"Whoa, that's a lot of pompano! Uncle Wei, you did well today."
Li Laosan's gaze then shifted to the catch taken from the livewell. His eyes lit up in particular at the sight of the two tiger fish.
"Uncle Wei, I'll weigh the pompanos first."
Naturally, none of them objected to that arrangement.
Seeing Wei Guoqing nod, Li Laosan called to a young man resting a short distance behind him. "A-Kun, come help put them on the scale."
"Golden pompano, 103 jin in total; scad, 139 jin..."
After weighing them, Li Laosan worked the beads of his abacus.
"Golden pompano at three mao eight, 158 jin comes to 60 yuan and four fen. The 139 jin of scad comes to 13 yuan nine mao. The tiger fish, mottled eels, black sea bream and the rest come to 12 yuan six mao three fen. That's 86 yuan six mao six fen altogether. I'll round it up to 86 yuan seven mao."
"Uncle Wei, check the numbers. If everything's right, I'll settle up with you."
"No need to check. I was listening just now. We'll go with that. Do you have enough cash today? If not, an IOU will do."
"I've got enough cash. I'll pay you in cash. Uncle, give me three mao and I'll give you a round amount."
After receiving 87 yuan, Wei Guoqing and the two older brothers couldn't hide their joy.
Even after deducting the fuel costs, that still left over seventy yuan. Today really had been a bumper haul.
After loading the things from the boat and the fish they had kept onto a handcart, they all headed home together.
As they passed the little shop at the village entrance, Wei Donglai stopped. "Dad, is there any liquor left at home?"
He figured his mom wouldn't let them drink the two bottles of Fenjiu from earlier that day.
Wei Guoqing knew that too, so he shook his head. "None."
"Then how about getting a few jin of loose liquor?"
Wei Guoqing was tempted, but when he thought of Li Yue'e, he couldn't help hesitating.
"Dad, if you miss today, you won't get another chance this good. We just had a bumper catch, so Mom probably won't say much."
Wei Guoqing thought that made sense. Gritting his teeth, he made up his mind. "Wait here, then. I'll go get five jin of loose liquor."
"Dad, why not make it ten jin?"
Wei Guoqing stumbled. Only this kid would be that bold. Ten jin, and he'd probably be kneeling until his legs broke tonight.
"Dad, buy some candy too."
Remembering that the three little ones at home should be back from school by now, Wei Donglai added that.
"Donglai, stop egging Dad on. Watch out, or Mom will beat you."
"Big brother, this kid's tough anyway, and he's used to being beaten. Don't worry about him."
Wei Donglai was speechless. "Second brother, I'm cutting ties with you."
"Then don't touch the eel or the pompano tonight."
"No, that won't do. I'll cut ties with you after I've eaten."
"What a fine abacus you're working."
"Ah, no matter how well I work it, it's no use. You don't know this, but Mom and Dad sent me to live in the old house today."
"What happened?"
Both brothers were curious, and Wei Donglai had no intention of hiding it, so he told them about it.
Wei Fangchun took some pleasure in his misfortune. "If you ask me, you had it coming. Mom and Dad should've done it a long time ago."
Wei Fanghua didn't take pleasure in his misfortune. "Mom and Dad are doing it for your own good. Behave yourself, and they'll probably let you come back after a while."
"Big brother, second brother, if I run into hard times, I'll have to rely on you two to help me out."
Wei Fangchun didn't take the bait. "That's not up to me. You'll have to ask your sister-in-law. She handles the money; I'm just a pauper."
"Yeah, right. I'd believe big brother if he said he was poor, but I'd never believe you don't have a little private stash, second brother."
"Don't talk nonsense. What private stash would I have?"
"If I told sister-in-law, who do you think she'd believe, you or me?"
"You brat, are you threatening me?"
"That's right, threatening you in broad daylight. Second brother, are you giving me anything or not?"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Then Wei Fangchun leaned close to his ear and muttered, "Don't you dare mention this in front of your sister-in-law!"
"Big brother, look at second brother. Isn't this a case of putting up a sign saying 'no silver buried here'? One bluff and he fell for it."
Wei Fangchun rolled his eyes. "You're a crafty little brat."
Seeing Wei Guoqing return with the loose liquor, the three brothers stopped chatting and set off for home again.
As soon as they entered the courtyard gate, sharp-eyed Li Yue'e spotted the liquor in Wei Guoqing's hand, and killing intent filled her eyes.
Wei Guoqing hurried to explain. "Today's catch sold for more than 86 yuan. The boys and I talked it over and decided to celebrate tonight."
Li Yue'e was a little surprised to hear the figure. "It sold for that much?"
"Mm, the catch was good today. We hauled in quite a lot of golden pompano."
At the good news, much of the killing intent in Li Yue'e's eyes faded.
Wei Guoqing had escaped a calamity.
The two sisters-in-law were also delighted to hear that the catch had sold for more than 86 yuan. It had been a long time since they'd made that much.