Chapter Summaries

Wei Donglai and Wei Guoqing were confronted by Old Madam Liu after her jade Buddha statue broke in a collision, and she demanded an exorbitant payment. The dispute drew a crowd and ended with her son Hong Dafu arriving, whom Wei Donglai recognized as his prison mate from a previous life.

• Wei Guoqing accidentally collided with Old Madam Liu, breaking her jade Buddha statue, and Wei Donglai offered to compensate her.
• Old Madam Liu demanded 100 yuan, while Wei Donglai argued that the ordinary marble statue was not worth that amount.
• Villagers gathered, and Old Madam Liu threatened Wei Donglai and demanded that he pay before leaving the village.
• Old Madam Liu's son Hong Dafu arrived with three young men, and Wei Donglai recognized him from prison in his previous life.

Wei Donglai defended Wei Guoqing against Hong Dafu and his men, then settled the dispute by paying five yuan for the broken items and taking the Guanyin statue. He and Wei Guoqing headed home, joking about the payment as the old woman remained furious.

• Wei Donglai challenged Hong Dafu to fight after Hong asked whether he had bullied his mother.
• Wei Donglai defeated Hong Dafu's three lackeys, and Hong backed down.
• Wei Donglai declared both sides at fault and paid Hong Dafu five yuan for the broken items.
• Wei Donglai took the Guanyin statue and left with Wei Guoqing while the old woman cursed and Hong slipped away with the money.
• Wei Guoqing asked why Wei Donglai had paid five yuan, and the two joked as they hurried home.

Wei Donglai returned home with a battered Buddha statue and asked Li Yue'e for money to buy a boat and fishing gear. After Wei Hai accidentally knocked the statue from his hands, Wei Donglai discovered a purple jadeite pendant hidden inside it, leaving his family amazed by the find.

• Wei Guoqing and Wei Donglai returned home, and Wei Guoqing appeased Li Yue'e with fish sauce after she asked whether he had been drinking.
• Wei Donglai explained the statue incident and asked Li Yue'e for about fifty yuan to cover the boat and fishing equipment he planned to buy.
• Wei Donglai prepared to leave with the statue, but Wei Hai ran into him and knocked it to the ground, prompting Li Yue'e to scold Wei Donglai.
• Wei Donglai picked up the shattered statue, found it was hollow, and pulled out a silk-wrapped object.
• Wei Donglai unfolded the silk to reveal a purple jadeite Buddha pendant, which Li Yue'e and his sisters-in-law examined and asked about.

Wei Donglai explained that the jadeite Guanyin was worth at least ten thousand yuan, alarming his family, who hid it and agreed to keep it secret. He then visited Li Guowang to arrange their plans to go out to sea, and later accepted Xu Qingqing’s invitation to dinner.

• Wei Donglai told Li Yue'e, Chen Fengying, and Xue Li that the Buddha pendant was rare, high-grade jadeite worth more than ten thousand yuan.
• Li Yue'e hid the pendant and made everyone promise not to tell anyone how they had found it, while Wei Guoqing declined to take responsibility for it.
• Wei Donglai visited Li Guowang, learned he had started making mudskipper traps, and arranged to meet him the next day after confirming they had a boat.
• Wei Donglai returned home, fell asleep, and woke to find Xu Qingqing inviting him over for dinner.
• Wei Donglai brought down his cured red fish, but Xu Qingqing told him to save it because she had already prepared plenty of dishes.

Xu Qingqing struggled with feeling unable to repay Wei Donglai for his help, and he reassured her by giving her work to do once he began fishing. The next morning, Wei Donglai went with his father and Li Guowang to collect his boat, where Zhou Caihong tried to stop them from taking it.

• Xu Qingqing offered Wei Donglai money, but he refused because she needed to save it for her younger siblings and emergencies.
• Wei Donglai realized Xu Qingqing felt burdened by his help and promised to rely on her to dry unsold fish and mend damaged nets.
• Xu Qingqing agreed to help Wei Donglai and regained her good spirits as he played with Momo and Yiming before leaving.
• Wei Donglai, Wei Guoqing, and Li Guowang traveled by tractor to Zhou Huaimin's home to tow the boat.
• Zhou Caihong claimed the boat belonged to her family and tried to prevent Wei Donglai from taking it, while Xu Lianyun defended the sale.

Zhou Caihong and her family refused to pay Zhou Huaimin the agreed price for a boat and tried to take it by force. Wei Donglai drove them out with a broom, and Zhou Huaimin and Zhou Caihong declared they were cutting ties.

• Zhou Caihong demanded a discount on the boat and refused to pay the remaining twenty yuan, while Zhou Huaimin reminded her she still owed him thirty yuan for furniture.
• Zhou Huaimin tried to take Wei Donglai to move the boat, but Zhou Caihong's muscular companion blocked them and shoved Zhou Huaimin.
• Wei Donglai pinned the man, then used a bamboo broom to beat back Zhou Caihong, Yaowu, and the man until he drove all three out of the courtyard.
• Zhou Caihong threatened to cut ties with Zhou Huaimin, and he happily accepted and said he wanted nothing more to do with her.
• Wei Donglai scared the man into fleeing, and after the family left, he returned to the courtyard.

Wei Donglai brought his newly purchased boat back to the village and had it launched, then invited Li Guowang and Li Changfeng to celebrate. He left the boat ready for a possible fishing trip the next day.

• Xu Lianyun blamed Zhou Huaimin for the trouble caused by Zhou Caihong's family, but Wei Guoqing persuaded her not to formalize the severing of ties.
• Wei Donglai paid Xu Lianyun the full two hundred yuan, and he and Wei Guoqing hauled the boat home on Li Guowang's tractor.
• Wei Donglai had workers lower the boat into the sea at the pier, paid Li Guowang, and invited him to dinner.
• Wei Donglai bought food for the celebration and invited Li Changfeng, who was cleaning fish for his sister before her trip to Guangzhou.
• Wei Donglai and Li Changfeng continued cleaning fish after Zhang Xiuzhen offered to take over.

Wei Donglai celebrated getting his new boat with his family and friends, while encouraging Li Changfeng to go to Guangzhou and see more of the world. The evening ended with a lively meal, and Wei Donglai agreed to remember his promise to his mother about finding a wife.

• Zhang Xiuzhen worried about Li Changfeng going to Guangzhou, and Wei Donglai encouraged her to let him travel and gain experience.
• Wei Donglai and Li Changfeng admired the new boat, and Wei Donglai ordered fishing equipment for it at the dock.
• Wei Donglai and Li Changfeng waited for Wei Donglai's brothers to return, then helped bring their catch home.
• Wei Donglai's family celebrated his new boat over dinner, and Li Yue'e reminded him to keep his promise about finding a daughter-in-law.

Wei Donglai set out on his first fishing trip in this life after Xu Qingqing gave him a cast net and his family performed a blessing for safe sailing. He set traps and a longline, then caught bait fish and a sizable sea bass with the cast net.

• Xu Qingqing gave Wei Donglai a cast net she had finished weaving, and he thanked her while urging her not to stay up late.
• Wei Donglai ate breakfast, collected his fishing gear, and joined his family at the dock, where Li Yue'e prayed for Mazu's protection before he launched his boat.
• Wei Donglai rowed out alone, practiced casting Xu Qingqing's net, and caught small fish for bait.
• Wei Donglai baited four traps and set a five-hundred-meter longline.
• Wei Donglai cast his net again and hauled in scad, tonguefish, sand whiting, and a sea bass weighing about six or seven jin.

Wei Donglai caught more than 260 jin of silver pomfret from a passing shoal and hurried back to the pier to sell them. Li Laosan eagerly helped unload and sort the fish, while Wei Donglai prepared to eat before going back out to sea.

• Wei Donglai caught a money grouper and a blue-spotted Spanish mackerel, then fell asleep on his boat after several unremarkable casts.
• Wei Donglai spotted a shoal of silver pomfret and caught two hauls of about a hundred jin each before the shoal began to pass.
• Wei Donglai caught smaller amounts as the shoal moved away, bringing his total to more than 260 jin of silver pomfret.
• Wei Donglai rushed back to the pier and told Li Laosan about his catch.
• Li Laosan hurried to help unload the fish, and Wei Donglai asked him to sort them while he went to eat.