Back to 1980: Farming the Sea and Expanding the Island

Before 10 a.m., the North Stone Wharf of Qingpingzhou was already bustling with activity.

The news spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of the island days ago. The large ship the transportation cooperative bought is set to sail back today.

This was even more lively than a bustling market, with men, women, and children all flocking to the pier, filling the already narrow beach to capacity.

"They're here, they're here."

Someone with sharp eyes shouted out. The crowd immediately stirred, and everyone stood on tiptoe, craning their necks to look downstream at the river.

Under the clear autumn sky, the river flows eastward.

A gray-blue steel barge was sailing slowly against the current.

The ship's hull has straight lines, making it a typical cargo ship. The paint is peeling in some places, indicating that it is an old ship.

But compared to the old 20-ton fishing boats of the island's fishing team, this boat was considered "brand new and impressive" by the people of Qingpingzhou.

The bow cleaved the water, creating two white sprays. The deep, gurgling sound of the engine grew clearer as it approached, like the steady breathing of a giant beast.

"Hey, this ship looks pretty big!"

"My goodness, it must be as big as three or four of our old fishing boats combined!"

"This is the ship Ogawa and his crew bought? How much is it worth...?"

"Look, look! There are words painted on the side of the ship!"

The sun was shining brightly on the gunwale.

The ship's hull was painted with a neat line of large white characters: "Shachuan Youth Sports 001". The characters were square and powerful, standing out against the gray-blue background.

"Shachuan Youth Movement...what does that mean?"

"Shachuan definitely refers to our Shachuan area, and the Youth Movement... should be Qingpingzhou Transportation, right?"

The crowd murmured and speculated, creating a buzzing sound on the dock.

Several little ones squeezed and ran between the adults' legs, excitedly pointing at the big ship and shouting.

Several teenagers even climbed up the old willow tree by the dock, wanting to get a better view.

On the dock, Li Jianguo stood at the front with his hands behind his back, trying his best to maintain his usual serious expression. However, the slight upturn of his lips and the bright eyes betrayed his inner excitement.

Behind them were Liang Chengfeng and other members of the cooperative. Liang Chengfeng rubbed his hands together, while Li Tongjiang, Lin Wei, and Lin Wanghai nodded repeatedly. Lin Xuewu and his wife stood together, their smiles so wide their eyes disappeared.

Lin's father was also standing among them, and although he didn't say anything, he stood up straight.

Lin Chuan stood slightly to the side, a smile on his face, but a wave of emotion surged in his heart. In his previous life, there wasn't a single ship over 100 tons in the entire Qingpingzhou.

Now, however, an opportunity has arisen. From Wang Pusheng's initial mention of buying a boat, to raising funds, and then to obtaining a loan, although there were some setbacks, it can be considered a significant step forward.

As the ship drew closer, people began to more clearly perceive its immense size.

"Can this ship fit at our small dock?" someone asked worriedly.

Indeed, although Beishi Wharf has been renovated, it is still just a small wharf that can provide docking for fishing boats and ferries, and has never docked such a large ship before.

This vessel, "Shachuan Qingyun 001," appears to be forty or fifty meters long and has a deep draft. As it slowly approaches, it almost completely fills the waterway directly in front of the pier.

"The ship has stopped, it has stopped! Good heavens, this ship has blocked our dock."

"That's right, I think this boat is at least fifty meters long."

"Now our village will have big boats too! Let's see if those guys from the commune will still be showing off their few small motorized sails!"

The ship began to slow down about twenty meters from the dock, and the engine noise became low.

The bow was adjusted to a different angle, and the boat carefully traversed the hull, slowly approaching the dock.

Wang Pusheng and Li Jianmin were clearly visible on the deck, the two of them leaning over the ship's side, excitedly waving their arms toward the shore.

"Slow down! Turn a little more to the left!" Wang Pusheng shouted back to the cockpit.

The boat finally came to a steady stop, its massive body almost touching the edge of the dock. The ripples it created gently lapped against the wooden posts and stone steps on the shore.

"Xiao Chuan, Village Chief..." Li Jianshe and Wang Pusheng waved their hands excitedly on the boat. From planning to implementation, from raising money to buying a boat, the journey had not been easy.

"Throw the rope! Throw the rope over here!" On the bow of the boat, Li Jianmin was so excited that his face was flushed. He picked up a thick roll of hemp rope and threw it toward the shore with all his might.

On the shore, Lin Xuewu, Shui Houzi, Li Jiaye, Liang Wendong, and Li Chunjiang were also helping out.

He deftly caught the cable, quickly wrapped it around the two thickest mooring posts on the dock seven or eight times, and tied a sturdy sailor's knot.

As the gangway was lowered, Wang Pusheng was the first to jump ashore, his tired face unable to conceal the light in his eyes: "Captain, Xiao Chuan, the boat is back. From now on, this is our own boat."

"Good, good." Li Jianguo patted Wang Pusheng on the shoulder with a happy expression, then patted Li Jianshe's arm as he followed him off the boat: "Good! Good! You must be tired from the journey! It's good to be back!"

"Uncle Pusheng, Uncle Jianshe, have you finished all the paperwork?" Lin Chuan walked over and asked with a smile.

"All done!" Li Jianshe pulled out a stack of documents stamped with a red seal, patted them carefully, and smiled proudly: "The ship registration certificate, operating permit, and inspection certificate are all complete!"

From today onwards, "Shachuan Qingyun 001" will be the first boat of our Qingpingzhou Transportation Cooperative!

At this moment, the crowd swarmed around them, bombarding the two who had just disembarked with a barrage of questions.

"Wang Pusheng, how many tons can this ship actually carry?"

"How fast does it run? The machine sounds quite stable!"

"This big guy, is it incredibly good at catching fish? Does it catch thousands of pounds in one net?"

"Can you really make that much money from just one delivery trip?"

"Is there a place to sleep on the ship? Where do we cook?"

Wang Pusheng and Li Jianshe were surrounded and were momentarily overwhelmed.

Li Jianmin jumped off the boat and eagerly answered, "It can carry 120 tons! The machinery is powerful! Fishing? This boat isn't for fishing, it's for hauling cargo! One trip..."

He glanced at Li Jianguo, swallowed back his words about specific profits, and chuckled, "Anyway, it's better than farming!"

Li Jianguo raised his voice and said to everyone, "The first ship of Qingpingzhou Transportation Cooperative has returned. There will be a second and a third ship in the future, and the crew on the ships will be people from our village."

In the future, our village's income will get better and better, and we won't be much worse off than people in the city or factories.

"Well said!" Someone shouted, and everyone echoed, with applause and cheers erupting on the dock.

Not far away, several veteran crew members from the fishing team were smoking, watching the lively scene with mixed feelings of envy and emotion.

Li Jianshe has already started organizing people to start work: "Don't just watch, there are still some loose pieces of stuff on the ship that need to be moved down."

"Learn martial arts, build a business, and take a few men to go and deal with them."

Many villagers, seeing the excitement, also boarded the boat to see what was so special.

The women huddled together and continued their discussion. The children had been driven away by the adults, and Lin Chuan's example was still fresh in everyone's mind.

Sun Tianshui suddenly appeared out of nowhere and ran to Lin Chuan's side, looking on with envy: "Brother Chuan, your boat is huge! It's as big as the entire fishing fleet's boats."

"Want to go up and give it a try?" Lin Chuan said with a smile.

"Forget it, there are too many people. But let me try my hand that day and run a couple of laps on the river." Sun Tianshui chuckled.

Lin Chuan laughed, "That's not up to me. You should talk to Uncle Pu Sheng."