Chapter 32: Wanting to Borrow a Boat

The sun at two or three in the afternoon was still scorching. Ye Yaodong tried to walk wherever there was shade. Fortunately, A’Guang’s house was at the foot of the back hill, surrounded by trees, so it was fairly cool.

When he arrived, the others were playing cards under the tree by the doorway as usual. Only A’Guang was lying in a recliner enjoying the shade.

“Why are you lying there alone instead of playing with them?”

“My luck’s this bad today. What’s there to play? Not playing saves money. What’s up with you these two days? Why aren’t you playing either?”

“No money. Asking my wife for money all day is pretty embarrassing.”

“That’s true. But doesn’t your family have a boat now? You can go out to sea with your father and get a share. Then it wouldn’t count as asking your wife for money.”

He wanted to as well, but whenever he thought of being exhausted and swallowed by the sea, panic rose in his chest and his heartbeat sped up. He wanted to take it slow first.

So he casually made up an excuse.

“Isn’t it because I’ve never gone out to sea before? I’m afraid I might get seasick. If I go out and get sick, and my dad has to bring me back, won’t I be asking to get beaten? If there were a small boat I could use to circle the nearby islands and try it out, that’d be perfect.”

A’Guang’s eyes lit up.

“That’s easy. My little aunt’s husband accidentally broke his hand a few days ago and can’t take his boat out recently. I’ll ask to borrow it tomorrow. We’ll buy diesel ourselves, and I’ll take you out for a loop around the nearby waters.”

Ye Yaodong’s eyes brightened.

“That works. We can stop by an isolated island and do some tidal foraging too!”

“Heh. You seem pretty enthusiastic about tidal foraging lately.”

A’Guang looked at him with a smile.

“Of course. My luck’s been so good these two days. Yesterday I caught two mud crabs. Today I found a tiger grouper and a whole nest of snow clams. After tasting the sweetness, shouldn’t I strike while the iron is hot?”

“That’s true. If I had your luck, I’d go every day too. That’s better than doing odd jobs at Yujing Dock. A day of dock work only earns a little over one yuan, not even two.”

Yujing Dock was the large seaside dock in their Shanhai Town. Big boats all moored there, and many people from their village went there to do odd jobs unloading cargo.

Their town was located relatively close to the Taiwan Strait. Aside from fishing boats, many cargo ships passed through too, which was why there were many shops selling Taiwanese goods in town.

In this era, their town was even more famous and livelier than the county seat. Many outsiders knew their town but not their county.

When their group of friends went out to play, they usually went to town. They rarely went to the county seat.

Ye Yaodong put both hands in his pockets, propped one foot against the tree trunk, and leaned there.

“Tidal foraging depends on luck. It’s not like we can go every day. First ask whether you can borrow the boat.”

“I’ll ask tomorrow morning. Once I get it, we’ll buy diesel and take it out. It’s too hot now, I’m too lazy to walk. Besides, we’re drinking tonight.”

“Fine. If you borrow the boat, tell me. Tomorrow’s the first day of the lunar month, a big tide. If there’s no wind or waves tomorrow morning, it’ll be perfect to check out an isolated island.”

“Sure. I’ll follow you and see if my luck can turn too.”

Ye Yaodong smiled.

“Maybe changing your name would work better. When’s your dad coming back?”

“No idea. He only left a month ago, so I don’t know how many more months he’ll be gone.”

Although the Regulations on the Propagation and Protection of Aquatic Resources were issued in February 1979 and included fishing moratorium rules, those rules applied to different fish species and specific fishing gear. They didn’t really restrict boats in the waters around them.

There were usually no fishery officers patrolling either, so they still went out to sea as usual.

It wasn’t until the full implementation of the marine summer fishing moratorium in 1995 that they truly began following official bans.

The local rule later would be that the fishing moratorium lasted from May 1 to July 31 every year, with fishing reopening on August 1.

But even then, where there were policies from above, there were countermeasures below. Small boats around here often secretly went out fishing. Even if they were caught by fishery officers, the catch would only be dumped back into the sea. They could bear that loss, since fishery officers didn’t patrol the sea every day anyway.

In this era, their waters were still open to fishing freely. Once large boats went out, they wouldn’t return for months.

“Then wait until your dad gets back before changing it.”

“Yeah. I’ll enjoy myself for another couple of days. In a few days I’ll have to go to Yujing Dock and find work. If I don’t work, I’ll run out of money. You’re lucky—you’ve got a hardworking wife. I don’t even have a wife yet.”

“If you have money, are you afraid you won’t find a wife? Gamble less and work harder. Even if you have a wife, you can’t rely on her to support you forever. That’s too pathetic.”

A’Guang rested both hands behind his head and looked at him with a light smile.

“Why do I feel like you’ve become hardworking these past two days?”

“After seeing my wife work all day and still not earn one yuan, my conscience woke up. Besides, once my family finishes building the houses, we’ll split up. I’ll have to start supporting my own household. Before, I was leaning against a big tree and enjoying the shade. In the future, I won’t have that privilege.”

“That’s true. Once the family splits, if you’re not diligent, life won’t be easy. Want to go to the dock together to look for work?”

Somehow, Ye Yaodong had found a stalk of straw and was chewing it between his teeth.

“I’m afraid I’d scare my family so badly they’d invite a Taoist priest to exorcise me.”

That was the truth!

“True enough. At least the rest of us have worked odd jobs here and there. You’ve always been ‘Third Young Master Ye.’”

“Stop mocking me. Got a cigarette? Give me one. Haven’t smoked in two days. My mouth’s itching.”

“You’re that broke now? Didn’t you sell more than ten yuan’s worth of stuff these past two days?”

“Handed it all to my wife. I’m a good man!”

A’Guang rolled his eyes. As if they didn’t all know one another.

Only after taking a drag did Ye Yaodong finally feel comfortable.

Actually, he had considered quitting smoking these past two days, but found it rather difficult. He’d had decades of addiction already, and he felt there was no need to make things hard for himself. In any case, being a good man had nothing to do with whether one smoked.

“Hey, tomorrow A’Guang says he’ll borrow a boat and take us out to sea. You guys coming?”

The four people playing cards turned to glance at them.

“What’s there to see? Haven’t we seen enough sea since we were kids?”

“Didn’t get enough sun today? Now you want to take a boat out and get roasted?”

“Why borrow a boat out of nowhere?”

Fatty, as expected, refused.

“Don’t call me for pointless sunbathing. Drinking and playing cards, sure!”

Ye Yaodong said irritably,

“May you die fat and lazy. You’re even lazier than me. Tomorrow is the first day of the lunar month, so there’s a big tide. We’re going to check out an isolated island and see if we can forage anything good. Those uninhabited islands are rarely visited. Forget seafood—even the shellfish on the reefs should be big and plentiful.”

A’Wei asked curiously,

“You’ve never been there, so how do you know?”

“Just say whether you’re going or not!”

This was his experience. How could it be fake?

He couldn’t guarantee seafood, but snails and shellfish definitely wouldn’t be scarce.

“Whether I can borrow the boat is still the question. I’ll ask tomorrow. If I get it, let’s go together. More people means better company. Otherwise, I won’t be free in a few days,” A’Guang said seriously.

“Fine, then let’s go together.”

Among the four playing cards, except for Fatty, Xiaoxiao and A’Zheng agreed. A’Wei said he didn’t want to go. He hadn’t harvested much yesterday and didn’t want to join the excitement.

(End of Chapter)