Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

The rain finally stopped.

Two days of continuous heavy rain washed the sky clean, and the morning light shone through the thin clouds onto the river, making it sparkle.

On the muddy paths of Jiangxin Village, villagers were busy early in the morning, and the air still held the fresh scent of rain.

With the rain these past two days, many villagers have complained that God has cut off their source of income, but since everyone depends on the weather for their livelihood, there's nothing they can do if the rain keeps falling.

Early in the morning, Lin Chuan and his family dressed neatly and prepared to go to the commune.

Xiaoman was wearing a floral dress that her mother had sewn for her two years ago, but Lin Chuan thought it was too short.

The cuffs were a little white, but Xiaoman was still carefully smoothing out the hem, afraid of getting it dirty. He would never have noticed these details before, and a pang of sadness welled up in his heart.

"Brother, I want my schoolbag to have a butterfly design, is that okay?" Xiaoman looked up at Lin Chuan, her eyes full of anticipation.

"Of course, not only a schoolbag, but also a dress with butterflies and pretty rubber shoes." Lin Chuan smiled and rubbed his little sister's head.

"Now I won't be laughed at by my classmates when I go to school."

Lin's mother was packing her things when she heard this, and her eyes welled up with tears.

Aside from her schoolbag, Xiaoman has been wearing mostly Lin Chuan's old clothes for the past two years, which she has mended and altered.

"Over the years, I've felt quite wronged."

"Mom, I'm not upset." Xiaoman shook her head sensibly, "I can use the schoolbag that my brother uses too."

Lin's mother looked at her two children with satisfaction, then turned around to continue packing the things she needed to take.

In particular, the pickled alkaline porridge that Lin Chuan had made before was a pleasant surprise when we tried it yesterday. The texture and taste were amazing.

Even if you were to take it to those famous old restaurants, it would still be a decent side dish.

I was thinking of bringing some for Lin Chuan's maternal grandparents to try.

The family was about to leave when they heard footsteps outside the courtyard. It was Li Jianshe, his two sons, and Li Jianmin, followed by several villagers.

"Uncle Lin, Xiao Chuan, are you heading out?" Li Jianshe greeted him with a smile, but his eyes flickered slightly.

Li Jiaye greeted Lin Chuan somewhat awkwardly from behind, while glancing at his cousin Li Jianmin and gesturing to Lin Chuan.

He didn't want to come, but he couldn't resist his family's persuasion.

Lin Chuan watched without saying a word; he had no idea what Li Jianshe was up to. Lin's father stepped forward and nodded, saying, "I'm going to the commune to take care of some things, and also to buy Xiaoman some notebooks and pens for school. What's up?"

"Of course, of course." Li Jianshe rubbed his hands together, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Well, it's like this, Brother Lin, Xiao Chuan, seeing that the rain has stopped today, we discussed it and decided to go to Wanghai Island to take a look."

Although Ogawa said the fish season might be over, and Zhao Chenghu might try to stop it, what if...?

Lin Chuan saw the enthusiastic looks in the others' eyes and understood. They had tasted success and didn't want to give up easily.

"Uncle Li," Lin Chuan said carefully, "I feel that the season for spotted bass is almost over."

Moreover, since Zhao Chenghu has stopped renting boats, rowing a wooden boat to the island would be time-consuming, laborious, and risky due to the long distance.

"We also rent boats from the fishing fleet," Li Jianmin interjected.

Upon hearing this, Lin Chuan glanced at him and recognized him as the captain's youngest son, though he hadn't had much contact with him.

Nodding to indicate that he understood, he asked, "If we're renting the boat, will it be in the name of the cooperative? I don't object to that; we'll pay the boat rental fee ourselves."

However, as I mentioned before, the sea bass season is over.

Li Jianshe sighed: "Xiao Chuan, I understand the reasoning, but I still want to go and see for myself."

You wouldn't believe it, the whole village's been buzzing with rumors these past few days. They're saying every one of our families is now a ten-thousand-yuan household, some even saying thirty or fifty thousand."

The people behind Li Jianshe looked at Lin Chuan with even greater eagerness, especially Li Jianmin, whose eyes were the most intense.

Lin Chuan frowned slightly. Rumors are a fearsome thing; these rumors are getting increasingly outrageous.

"Uncle Li," Lin said seriously, "It's true that we made money, but it's not that exaggerated."

Besides, this money was a gift from the River God, so it's over and done with. Moreover, there's a tiger lurking in the river right now.

You can try fishing in our area, but if you really want to go, I can't help you. I'm really sorry, I can't go.

"Xiao Chuan is right," Lin's father chimed in. "You can't catch all the fish in the river, and you can't keep them all. We farmers still have to rely on the land."

Li Jianmin looked at Lin Chuan with great dissatisfaction, but he didn't say anything.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Li Jianshe led the group away, leaving it up to them whether they wanted to go to Wanghai Island or not.

Lin Chuan and his family continued walking towards the dock, encountering many uncles and aunts along the way, who all greeted them warmly.

"Grandpa Lin, is this a family going to the commune?"

"Xiao Chuan, come visit your auntie sometime and try my cooking!"

"Xiaoman is growing more and more beautiful!"

......

Unlike before, greetings nowadays are more enthusiastic and less formal.

Lin Chuan responded with a smile to each of them. Although he understood that the changes were driven by vested interests, who could say that it was a bad thing?

Once on the ferry, there were already several people on board, mostly villagers going to the commune for business, and a few schoolchildren.

Yesterday was high tide, and many people were supposed to go to the commune to buy things, but due to heavy rain, they could only set off today.

Seeing Lin Chuan's family board the boat, everyone made way for them.

"Xiao Chuan, sit here!"

"Grandpa, this side is more spacious!"

Liang Wenwu, who was far away, saw Xiaoman waving her hands vigorously, but was too embarrassed to come over.

Seeing Xiaoman smile at him, he immediately grinned back.

The boat slowly pulled away from the shore, cutting through the calm surface of the river. The weather was warm today, especially with the rising sun shining warmly on everyone.

The atmosphere on the boat was relaxed, and everyone chatted, naturally revolving around the fishing trip.

"I heard that our village has caught a lot of spotted bass and they're lining up to sell them at the seafood market."

"If you ask me, Da Fei is the smartest. I heard that the kid's family went to other places to negotiate a price for the sale."

"Oh dear! How come I didn't think of that? That's a huge saving!"

"Oh, my third uncle's second son works at Qinglong Wharf. He said the fish they unloaded that day were piled up like a small mountain!"

"Wow, how much will that cost?" the group whispered among themselves, occasionally glancing furtively behind them.

Lin Chuan almost laughed as he listened. With the rain these past two days, what boats could possibly come to their island? However, he occasionally chimed in with a word or two, neither denying nor exaggerating.

Lin's father chatted with several old boatmen about the past on the river, talking about the days when he was young and made a living on the river with his father.

About half an hour later, the boat docked.

The Sanhe Wharf is much more lively than the island in the river in the morning, with people coming and going and shouts filling the air.

After watching Xiaoman go to school with the other children, Lin's mother asked, "Xiaochuan, shall we go to the supply and marketing cooperative first?"

Yesterday, she made a point of exchanging a lot of tickets with her neighbors, otherwise, given their family's circumstances, they wouldn't be able to buy anything at the supply and marketing cooperative and would have to go to the free market.

"Okay, let's go buy Xiaoman a schoolbag and shoes first, and then see if we have any suitable fabric to make new clothes for Grandpa, you, and Dad," Lin Chuan said with a smile.