Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

The Lin family was riding in an old-fashioned minibus, with the foam on the seats sticking out.

The car bumped along the potholes, and when they arrived at their destination, the three of them, carrying large and small bags, walked two miles to reach Qixin Village.

Lin Chuan's maternal grandfather's house was at the entrance of the village. He remembered that there was an old locust tree there where old people would often sunbathe.

Sure enough, they soon arrived at their destination, and Lin's father's eyes lit up as he shouted in a loud voice.

Several elderly people were sunbathing at the entrance, and one of them, an elderly man with gray hair, stood up.

"Huiqin?" The old man squinted at his daughter in the sunlight for a long time before finally recognizing her.

"Father!" Lin's mother's eyes reddened, and she quickly walked over.

"Grandpa," Lin Chuan greeted with a smile.

"Alright, let's go home." Seeing his daughter and her family come to visit him, Old Master Shen was in a great mood. He immediately greeted his old friend and headed home.

The Shen family was considered middle-class in Qixing Village, with a small courtyard and three tiled houses. As soon as they entered the courtyard, an old lady wearing an apron came out to greet them; it was Lin Chuan's maternal grandmother.

"Grandma," Lin Chuan called out sincerely.

Although the old lady had filial children and grandchildren in her previous life, she still missed Lin Chuan quite a bit.

"Oh my, my grandson is here!" Grandma beamed, pulling Lin Chuan around to look him over. "You've lost weight. Have you been eating poorly?"

"Mom, Xiao Chuan has probably eaten by now," Lin's mother said with a smile.

At this moment, two more middle-aged women came out of the house. The one in front, wearing a floral shirt, was Lin Chuan's aunt, Wang Xiulan; the one behind, in a blue cloth dress, was his second aunt, Sun Yueying.

"Huiqin is back?" Wang Xiulan greeted them with a smile, but her eyes were glancing at the packages in their hands.

"Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law," Lin's mother nodded.

When Sun Yueying saw the Lin family carrying so many bags, especially the gleaming bracelet on Lin's mother's wrist, her eyes flashed: "Have they struck it rich? Buying so much stuff."

Lin's mother was a little embarrassed: "No, I just came to see my parents."

"Come in and sit down," Old Master Shen interrupted them.

Inside the house, Lin Chuan's two uncles were also there. His eldest uncle, Shen Weihua, was an honest and simple farmer, while his second uncle, Shen Weijun, worked at the commune's agricultural machinery station and was considered the most successful member of the family.

"Is Xiao Chuan now the team's scorekeeper?" Shen Weijun asked.

"Yes, it's still being done for now," Lin Chuan replied.

If you really think about it, Lin Chuan hasn't seen his two uncles for many years. They didn't have much contact in his previous life either, and each of them lived their own lives, which weren't too bad.

At this moment, Lin Chuan looked at everyone, feeling both sentimental about the passage of time and grateful for the family ties he had with him.

"Work hard, and if you have the chance in the future, your second uncle will help you find a job in the commune." Shen Weijun patted his shoulder.

Lin's mother took out the things she had brought one by one: fabric and snacks for her maternal grandparents, cigarettes for her two uncles, sea bass, and the jar of alkaline tea.

"This was pickled by Xiao Chuan himself, Mother, please try it." Lin's mother opened the jar.

The old lady curiously picked up a piece with her chopsticks, her eyes lighting up: "Mmm! Salty, savory, and refreshing! I never knew my nephew had such good cooking skills!"

"You like it, right? I'll bring you more later," Lin's mother said with a smile.

The villagers are very well-informed. As soon as Lin Chuan and his group sat down, many people came to the Shen family's courtyard. Seeing Lin's mother carrying large and small bags of things home, they immediately began to subtly inquire about her situation.

Lin's father smiled憨厚ly from the side: "We were just lucky, we caught the fishing season, and the fish were a bit old."

"Looks like your family has really struck it rich," someone said enviously.

"He made a fortune guarding the beach and even knows to come and visit his father-in-law. He's much better than my son-in-law."

After chatting for a while and getting what they wanted, the neighbors left satisfied.

Lin's mother turned around and went to the kitchen to help the old lady and chat with her.

Lin's father chatted happily with his brother-in-law, while Lin Chuan chatted freely with his cousins.

In the past, when Lin Chuan came over, he didn't say much. He would usually ask a question, answer it, and then fall silent, making the atmosphere awkward.

In her spare time, Wang Xiulan quietly pulled Sun Yueying aside and said, "It seems that Huiqin's family has really made a fortune. I just saw the gifts they brought, and they cost over a hundred yuan each."

"I checked the supplements for the old man and woman at the supply and marketing cooperative; they cost quite a bit of money."

Sun Yueying nodded in deep agreement, "Huiqin's bracelet looks like it costs several tens of dollars. Given her family's situation, how could she afford it?"

And Xiaochuan, that kid used to seem dull, but look at him now, he's not dull at all.

The old lady coughed a few times and glanced at her two daughters-in-law: "Huiqin rarely comes back, why bring this up?"

Not long after, the old lady brought the cooked food to the main room. Lunch was very plentiful, with fish and meat.

During the meal, Lin Chuan clearly sensed that his two aunts' attitudes were somewhat subtle.

Fortunately, Lin's mother handled all of them well, showing that she was quite skilled in this area.

After dinner, Lin's mother and grandmother chatted in the inner room, while Lin Chuan followed the old man, and the whole group went up the mountain to take a stroll and pick some fruit.

In Qixin Village, every household has the tradition of growing fruit trees, such as loquat, fig, and tangerine.

They were all planted by the local commune, but they were mostly harvested in mid-October.

Currently, most of the trees are jujube trees, with late-blooming pears, citrus fruits, and a small number of loquats cultivated using the "secondary flowering" technique bearing fruit.

Lin Chuan followed along, pondering what kind of fruit trees would be best to plant on Canhong Island in the future.

Although the rain has stopped today, the river near Que Island is still muddy and the waves are bigger than usual.

Li Jianshe knew that what Lin Chuan said was true, but he couldn't outlast his nephew and his eldest son's family.

After all, the cooperative only had Li Jiaye, not his eldest son Li Jianye.

The younger son used to be unreliable, but this time he made so much money with Lin Chuan. Although the older son didn't say anything, he was obviously much more unnatural than before, and Lin Chuan noticed it all.

Both sons are sons, and even if he wanted to treat them equally, this opportunity ultimately came from the younger son. Although the boat belongs to the father, the majority of the wealth still belongs to the younger son.

If the family divides the property in the future, will the younger son have to subsidize the older son? How can that be justified?

He then rented the fishing boat he usually drove and headed towards Wangjiang Island, determined to give it another try before he could give up.

On the other side, Zhao Chenghu, who was rushing towards Qingpingzhou, was sulking at the bow of the boat when the "putt-putt" sound of the engine came from afar.

An old fishing boat of about 20 tons was sailing towards us, with several people standing on the bow. They looked somewhat familiar from a distance.

"That's..." Qian Feng narrowed his eyes, "...looks like someone from Jiangxin Village?"

Zhao Chenghu's expression changed, and he grabbed the binoculars to look. Sure enough, it was Li Jianshe, with several young men standing beside him.

He was directing the boat this way, it looked like they were heading towards Wanghai Island, apparently planning to go fishing.

"Damn it!" Zhao Chenghu spat fiercely. "Drive over there!"

The two boats met in the middle of the river. Li Jianshe was taken aback when he saw Zhao Chenghu, but then he put on a smile and said, "Zhao, the purchasing agent, what a coincidence, you're here too?"

Zhao Cheng gave a forced smile: "Captain Li, what's going on here...?"

"Oh, now that the rain has stopped, our cooperative is thinking of going to Wanghai Island again to try and see if we can catch anything."

As Li Jianshe spoke, his eyes glanced at Zhao Chenghu's boat and saw the empty deck. His heart skipped a beat.

Zhao Chenghu caught his gaze, a cold smile playing on his lips, but his face remained impassive: "Why didn't Lin Chuan tell you that the fishing season was over? Did all the fish escape after the rain these past two days?"

Li Jianmin clearly didn't believe it and said urgently, "That can't be, right? Didn't you pay it back a couple of days ago..."

Zhao Chenghu's expression hardened. "Oh! You didn't know the fishing season is over? Where's Lin Chuan? Tell him to come out."

"His family had something to do at the commune. What's wrong with you? We agreed on this beforehand."

"Now they're trying to trick us and stop us from passing." Li Jianmin said angrily when he saw Zhao Chenghu blocking their boat.

Seeing that Li Jianmin didn't seem to be faking it, Zhao Chenghu became somewhat uncertain. Could it be that Lin Chuan didn't know the fishing season had ended and everything before was just a coincidence?

Seeing that Lin Chuan was not there, they didn't bother with them and told the others to stop blocking them.

Li Jianshe hesitated for a moment, but still directed the fishing boat to head towards the area where Zhao Chenghu had just fished.

After watching Li Jianshe's boat sail some distance away, Qian Feng asked in a low voice, "Brother Tiger, are we really just going to let this go?"

"Let it go?" Zhao Chenghu sneered. "How can we let it go for such a small amount? Lin Chuan, that kid is very cunning. Once we get back and investigate, if he really dares to play me..."

He didn't finish speaking, but the sinister look in his eyes sent a chill down Qian Feng's spine.