Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

The price in Huiping Commune is a negotiated price generated by the market economy. If it can be transported to the county town, the price will increase by a few cents, possibly even three yuan.

If you have a ticket, the price will be even cheaper at the supply and marketing station, where you can buy it for about 1.2 or 1.3 yuan per jin.

However, if the supply and marketing station buys the goods, the situation is different; they're lucky if they can get 90 cents a pound.

Therefore, the price Lin Chuan offered was very favorable, and the crowd around him was immediately tempted upon hearing it.

Lin Chuan looked at everyone and then added another fire.

Lin Chuan jumped onto a rock and said loudly, "Uncles and aunts, I know you can't finish all this fish at once, right?"

"Yeah! Why don't you just sell it to us for 1.5 yuan per jin?" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Uncle, this sea bass was caught by our Qingping Fishery Production Cooperative overnight without closing our eyes."

You were there just now. That uncle bought 800 jin (400 kg) at once, and the price was calculated at 1.5 yuan per jin. Wholesale and individual purchases are definitely different.

However, in order to ensure that everyone can enjoy affordable sea bass, our Qingping Fishery Production Cooperative hereby promises to everyone.

"If you buy together and the total weight is over 15 jin (7.5 catties), we'll charge you 1.5 yuan."

The crowd's eyes lit up.

"That's a good idea."

"Hey, Lao Xu, want to buy eight pounds together? You can have seven pounds."

"Sure, we have guests over, let's bring some sea bass to entertain them."

"Old Wang..."

"Xiao Ding..."

"Aunt Chen, together, together..."

.......

As soon as Lin Chuan finished speaking, the crowd surged forward and began to choose from the items.

"Everyone line up, take your time, there's enough for everyone."

Lin's father and the others quickly maintained order, helping everyone weigh their items, while Lin's mother tidied up the boat behind them, her face full of smiles.

With the catch from these three boats, the family's burden was greatly reduced, and they no longer had to live a frugal life.

Because they owe the team work points, their family has only been able to receive basic living supplies since last year.

There were no coupons for other by-products like cloth coupons or meat coupons.

With the year drawing to a close, I thought it would be the same as last year.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Chuan's knowledge came in handy, bringing such a bountiful harvest to his family.

This year, she'll finally have enough cloth coupons to buy clothes for her family, and the reclamation of Canhong Island makes her even more convinced that things will get better in the future.

Lin's mother looked at Lin Chuan with pride in her eyes; all of this was thanks to her son.

Lin Chuan was calculating the accounts on the side, and Wang Haiyue was also overjoyed to see Lin Chuan receiving the money.

With all that work, the rice straw used for tying the fish was quickly used up. Li Xinru had to make a special trip to get a bundle of rice straw, otherwise the fish buyers wouldn't have been able to take the fish home.

In just a short while, two or three hundred fish have been sold, weighing about five or six hundred catties.

The fishmonger happily carried his fish away, and Lin Chuan, rubbing his aching arm, smiled as did the others.

The enthusiastic crowd had dispersed considerably, and Lin Chuan and his companions breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't rested since dawn, and their stomachs were already growling with hunger.

At this moment, Li Xinru came to Lin Chuan's side, tugged at his clothes, pointed ahead, and whispered, "Zi Chuan, a market administrator is coming."

Lin Chuan turned around and saw three people pushing through the crowd and walking in with furrowed brows. The middle-aged man at the head was sizing up everyone.

Lin Chuan tugged at Wang Haiyue, then quickly stepped forward and took out lotus flowers from his pocket, handing them over one by one.

He smiled and said, "Hello, comrade. You must be our market administrator. Wang Haiyue from our cooperative registered you this morning."

The three market managers accepted the cigarettes, their expressions softening considerably. They looked at Lin Chuan and said, "I received a report that some people here are engaging in illegal private transactions, disrupting the market, and engaging in speculation."

"How is that possible? We've already registered." Wang Haiyue immediately became anxious upon hearing this.

Lin Chuan tugged at Wang Haiyue's clothes and said with a smile, "Comrade, we are the Qingpingzhou Production Team. We always follow the organization and policies, and we never do anything illegal or disorderly."

The price is two cents lower, but this is a free market, so it's normal for my fish to be two cents cheaper.

The middle-aged man glanced at Wang Haiyue, then stared at Lin Chuan and said, "You've caught quite a lot of perch. I see you've sold quite a few in just a short time."

With such a large catch, your production team didn't bring all the fish that were purchased through the central government to the market, did they? If so, these sea bass are prohibited from being sold and must be handed over to the state.

And where did you catch all these fish? Do you have a license? If not, it's speculation and profiteering.

The middle-aged man spoke seriously, and his voice became much louder. The people buying fish around them stopped and looked over. Lin's father and the others also looked over with concern.

Lin Chuan took out a document from his pocket and handed it over, smiling, "Comrade, look, this is our fishery production cooperative's certificate."

We are a sideline fishing team under the Qingpingzhou production team. Our production team always completes its daily production tasks on time. The spotted sea bass is not a catch included in our tasks; it's an unplanned catch for our team.

The middle-aged man took the document from Lin Chuan, looked at it carefully, nodded, and handed it back. "This is the dock. Setting up a stall here is against market regulations. This is a one-time exception."

From now on, you must sell your goods in designated areas, and you must pay all management fees in full; otherwise, you will be fined.

"Okay, okay, we will definitely pay the management fee in full, and we will not pay less than the full amount." Lin Chuan nodded with a smile.

Once the market administrator left, Wang Haiyue breathed a sigh of relief. She had been extremely anxious when she heard that someone had reported them.

Seeing Lin Chuan solve the problem so easily, she looked at him with bright eyes.

"It's alright, it's alright, everyone please continue buying fish. Thank you all." Lin Chuan smiled and bowed to the crowd before returning to his seat to continue calculating the bill, while Wang Haiyue collected the money.

"I was reported."

"You guessed right! Luckily you were prepared in advance," Li Xinru said with a smile, bumping her shoulder against Lin Chuan. "From now on, I'll be the butcher and you'll be the fishmonger. Let's not make fun of each other."

Lin Chuan ignored Li Xinru, smiling as he finished settling accounts with the old woman in front of him. He glanced around, his mind wandering, lost in thought. He had only done all this as a precaution, but unexpectedly, someone had actually reported them for speculation.

......

"Brother Zhu, look closely, they are from the Qingpingzhou production team."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dezhu frowned and asked, "What's the deal with Wang Hao from Jiangxin Village?"

"We've caught so many spotted bass, but we haven't seen the station buying them. Could they be hiding them and selling them at the market?"

"Brother Zhu, by the way, I also saw Li Xinru helping out there. So, the batch of sea bass that Li Shanheng got the day before yesterday must have been caught by their production team, right?"

"It's probably true. Li Jianguo looks honest and simple, but I didn't expect him to start scheming."

"Xiao Gao, go back and inform them not to give them any of the market stalls. Also, have Hu Zi bring some men over. Since Wang Hao can't take these fish, we'll take them for him."

"Okay, Brother Zhu." Xiao Gao replied, grinning as he smoked a cigarette. "Do you have a light, bro? That kid just gave me cigarettes but no light, like a lunatic."

"Well, here you go. Hurry up and clean them all up."

"Thanks, bro." Xiao Gao grinned as he took the half-pack of cigarettes and ran off to call for someone.