Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

Fine rain, like silver threads, fell in a flurry, splashing water droplets on the ground.

"Brother, you're back!" Xiaoman heard the sound, turned her head to look at the gate, and her eyes lit up when she saw Lin Chuan. She exclaimed in surprise.

She swung her two little braids and ran towards him like a happy little bird.

"Slow down, slow down, be careful not to slip." Lin Chuan took off his raincoat and quickly caught Xiao Man who rushed over.

"Ha! You only saw your brother, but didn't you see your father is back too?" Lin's father followed behind Lin Chuan, putting down his raincoat, looking somewhat jealous.

Xiaoman poked her little head out from Lin Chuan's arms, her eyes crinkling as she looked at her father and called out in a clear voice, "Father."

Only then did Mr. Lin smile with satisfaction, reaching out to rub Xiaoman's little head.

Xiaoman shook her head, looked up at Lin Chuan, and said with a grin, "Brother, I went to the duck shed today and counted the eggs. Our Muscovy ducks are laying a lot more eggs than before. I heard from Grandma that there was even a day when a Muscovy duck laid two eggs."

Lin Chuan pinched Xiaoman's little nose and laughed, "It's all thanks to our Xiaoman taking such good care of you. Come on, my clothes are all soaked, let's go change first."

"Mmm." Xiaoman nodded obediently, and Lin Chuan led her towards the main room.

"Drink some ginger soup first to warm yourself up, then go wash up and change your clothes. Your aunt and Xiaoman have already boiled some water," the old man instructed as he came out of his room upon hearing the commotion.

"I'll go get some ginger soup for my older brother." Xiaoman let go of Lin Chuan's hand and ran towards the kitchen like a gust of wind.

At that moment, Lin's mother came out of the kitchen with a teacup in her hand and handed one of the teacups to Xiaoman.

Looking at Lin Chuan, she smiled and said, "It's Sunday today. Xiao Man got up early this morning to look for you. When she heard you went out, she was unhappy for quite a while."

"No way, Mother, you're making fun of me!" Xiaoman said a little embarrassedly, blushing as she handed a bowl of ginger tea to Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan smiled, pursed his lips, and drank the ginger tea in one gulp.

In his previous life, he was mostly a stern figure when his younger sister was young.

Later, he left Canhong Island and went to another place. He basically stayed in the research institute every day and rarely saw his wife and children, let alone his younger sister.

Now, experiencing the love, warmth, and care of his family, he truly realizes that this is what he has always longed for.

After handing the teacup to Xiaoman, Lin Chuan returned to his room, grabbed a change of clothes, and went to wash up.

In the village, when no one saw Lin Chuan and his group's fishing boat in the early morning, they belatedly realized after returning from the aquatic product station that Lin Chuan and his family had taken their large boat to fish elsewhere.

Immediately, everyone felt a pang of unease, as if scratched by a cat. After those who had gone with Lin Chuan's family returned, the villagers, upon hearing the news, disregarded the heavy rain and mud, and rushed to their neighbors' houses.

Li Jianshe and team leader Li Jianguo are brothers. Their families live not far apart. Li Jianmin squatted at his own door, keeping a close eye on his second uncle's house.

When he heard that Lin Chuan and his father had rented two fishing boats, he was itching to go along. He wanted his father to send him one of the fishing boats so he could go with them.

Unfortunately, his father wouldn't allow it, saying it was public property and couldn't be used privately. He couldn't argue with his father, so he could only privately complain about his father's unreasonable behavior.

In the morning, after he returned from fishing in his own boat, he caught about 500 catties of sea bass, which he sold to the supply and marketing station for 450 yuan.

But the boat belongs to his father, and he has to hand over half of it to his family. He earned more from just these two trips than he did in half a year.

Then think about his second uncle's family next door. His meddlesome cousin was lucky enough to follow Lin Chuan and even got to buy fish at the free market at a negotiated price. How much money did he make?

He'd come to terms with the rumors circulating in the village about people making ten thousand yuan a day, but in the last couple of days, he'd come to realize it was all just gossip.

But after today, he had a strong feeling that his second uncle's family had probably truly become a family with ten thousand yuan in assets.

Whenever he thought of this, Li Jianmin felt a deep sense of resentment. He increasingly resented his father, the team leader, for preventing him from making money.

When he saw his second uncle and Li Jiaye return home, he couldn't sit still any longer and rushed out into the rain. He wouldn't be able to sleep until he figured out how much they had made on this trip.

Meanwhile, at the mud-brick house of Li Tongjiang on Wanghai Island, which Lin Chuan accompanied, a completely different scene unfolded.

The room was crammed with seven or eight people. The pungent smell of tobacco mixed with the dampness of the rainy day made it almost impossible to breathe.

Uncle Li squatted on a small stool in front of his house, smoking his pipe with his head down, letting the pungent smoke envelop him.

Aunt Li couldn't stand the smoke, so she took her child and hid by the stove in the kitchen, sewing shoe soles by the firelight, her ears perked up.

"Third Brother, say something!" Li Suanpan, who was standing around, spoke first. He looked much thinner now, and his eyes always seemed to be calculating something.

He glanced at Li Chunjiang beside him. Even those who had fought with Lin Chuan had made a few hundred yuan from this incident with the perch.

He didn't get a single drop of soup, and his heart was filled with anxiety.

"Third Brother, you guys followed that kid Lin Chuan all night, how much did you actually make? He can't expect you to work for free, can he? How were your wages calculated?"

The others around the table echoed his sentiments, all staring at Li Tongjiang.

Uncle Li took two more puffs before slowly saying, "Brother Suanpan, what are you saying?"

"It's all about helping each other out in the village. Just a little effort, and we don't need any wages." Uncle Li's words were vague, his face bearing that honest, even somewhat wooden smile.

"Heh, Third Brother's awareness is high now!" Li Suanpan sneered and leaned forward. "Let me tell you, Lin Chuan, Li Jianshe, Wang Pusheng, and the others all went there in the big iron boats of the aquatic products company."

You followed behind, and look at the spectacle! They drove all the way to Qinglong Fork. The fish they caught probably wouldn't even fill our local supply and marketing station's small cold storage room! And you didn't get a single share?

"I won't believe you if you say it's not true! Chunjiang, do you believe me?"

The words were blunt, and the room fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of rain outside.

Li Chunjiang rolled his eyes, cursing inwardly: "Why are you dragging me into this? You, Li Suanpan, just ask me a few questions."

His thoughts have changed somewhat. Although Lin Chuan had deducted his work points and they had even fought, he had indeed made a lot of money this time because of Lin Chuan.

Moreover, judging from Lin Chuan's fishing trip, almost everyone in the village benefited. Even those without boats went out with them and definitely made a profit.

Moreover, there are Wang Pusheng and Li Jiaye, two people who got incredibly lucky, to compare with. Although it's unknown how much they earned, it must have been a considerable amount.

He now wants to find an opportunity to mend his relationship with Lin Chuan, just in case similar good things happen in the future, it would be good to get a share of the benefits.

He came to Li Tongjiang's house to see what was going on, and as for Li Suanpan, he just rolled his eyes at him and didn't want to talk to him at all.

Uncle Li knew perfectly well that he had only paid the agreed-upon wages beforehand, and Lin Chuan had given him a generous red envelope afterward, which was a sign of Lin Chuan's kindness.

Dividends? The whole thing was started by three people, who also took risks, provided ships, and used their connections.

Was he envious? Honestly, of course he was; he probably thought about it even while lying in bed at night.

But he was content and knew his limits. Lin Chuan, that kid, seemed amiable, but he had a sense of right and wrong and wasn't someone who could be easily fooled.