The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Setting Shrimp Traps and Catching Small Yellow Croakers

”Besides, you might think driving is easy to learn, but you also have to learn how to fix cars.” Yang Jianguo chuckled. ”I wanted to learn, too, but car repair is incredibly difficult. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, so I never tried for the license.”

Han Xiaorui was stunned. ”I just want to drive to make it easier to haul goods. I don’t want to become a mechanic.”

”It’s not about whether you want to be a mechanic. It’s part of the test. Besides, if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, you have to be able to fix it yourself.”

Han Xiaorui asked cautiously, ”Do cars break down that often?”

Yang Jianguo smiled. ”You can ask Song Sixth tomorrow.”

”Sixth Uncle Song is a great driver. I doubt he has to fix his car even once a week,” Han Xiaorui replied, a puzzled look on her face.

Wu Cuicui chuckled to herself. ”Song Sixth lives just near us. Every evening when he gets back, he’ll inspect his car while there’s still daylight, even if it means skipping dinner. If he finds a problem, he’ll quickly swap out the parts. For anything major, he’ll head to the repair shop that very night.”

”Well...” Han Xiaorui was at a loss for words. ’Forget it. There’s no way I can learn all that.’

Seeing Han Xiaorui’s disappointment, Yang Jianguo smiled and consoled her, ”Don’t be too disappointed. Maybe the test will get easier in the future when there are more cars around.”

”Ah, thank you so much. It’s a good thing I asked first. If I’d just gone and signed up, I would’ve been a laughingstock.” Han Xiaorui gave a wry smile. ”I learned to operate a boat and passed the test so quickly, I figured learning to drive a car would be just as simple.”

”This is a fishing village. While not every family has a boat, at least half of them do. Besides, the sea is vast. Unless you’re trying to, you’re not likely to crash into another boat. But the roads are only so wide. One moment of carelessness and you’re in an accident.”

Han Xiaorui completely gave up on the idea of getting a driver’s license. For now, she would just have to hire a car when she needed to get around.

She hadn’t bought a motorcycle because she always felt they weren’t safe.

Just as she returned home, Han Xiaoqing smiled. ”Sis, the shipyard called. They said the modifications and maintenance on your boat are all finished.”

”Great! I’ll go bring the boat back right now.” Han Xiaorui’s eyes lit up. ’I was just wondering what to do for the next few days, now that I’m not getting my license.’

Now that her boat was ready, she could go fishing again.

Even with a net hauler, someone still had to sort through all the fish it brought up.

And when deploying and retrieving the shrimp cages, the shrimp and crabs had to be dealt with one by one.

The very thought made Han Xiaorui’s head spin. ’I can’t possibly do all that by myself!’

Just then, Han Xiaorui saw Liang Xiaoyu chopping greens to feed the chickens, ducks, and geese. ”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, would you like to earn some money?”

Liang Xiaoyu paused, looking puzzled. ”I have to look after Wenjun right now; I don’t have time to go out and work. I plan to just tough it out for the next two or three years and focus on taking good care of him.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”How about this: when I go out to sea, you can help me sort the shrimp, crabs, and fish. As for Wenjun, he can ride to his class with Sixth Uncle Song and Xiao Jing. Afterward, he can get a ride straight back home.”

”It’s faster than you taking him on the bus, and I know the biggest challenge for your family with Wenjun’s therapy is money. If you come out to sea with me, I’ll pay you ten yuan a day. In any given week, we might go out every day, or sometimes for just two or three days. What do you think?”

’I really can’t manage everything on the boat by myself.’

At this, Liang Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up. ”Ten yuan is too much! Five yuan a day would be plenty.”

Han Xiaorui waved her hand dismissively. ”I’m good at what I do, so I can afford it. But I have one condition: you have to keep this a secret. Otherwise, the villagers will get jealous and follow our boat, which will just get in our way.”

’Since I can’t buy a car, I’ll just have to earn more money and buy a bigger fishing boat.’

’Then I can catch more fish, make more money, and build up my initial capital.’

Liang Xiaoyu nodded eagerly. ”You’re right. You’re an incredible fisher; the whole village is talking about it. But no one knows exactly how much you’re making, so we definitely can’t tell them the real amount.”

”I’ll go home and discuss it with my family tonight. If they agree, then I’ll go fishing with you. After these past two days at the hospital, I’ve seen for myself that kids with money get better treatment.”

’Rather than waiting for my in-laws and husband to come up with the money—what they earn might not even be enough, and we’d have to dip into savings, which would just lead to nagging and complaining...’

’If I earn money too, maybe there will be less friction in the family.’

’Besides, I’ve noticed how patient Han Xiaoqing is—she’s even better with kids than I am. And here, Pingping and An’an don’t look down on my son; they actually play with him.’

’I’d feel at ease leaving my son here.’

By the time Han Xiaorui brought the boat back that evening, Liang Xiaoyu had confirmed she would go fishing with her.

That night, Han Xiaorui prepared a large batch of bait to use for catching shrimp the next day.

When Han Xiaoqing learned of her sister’s plan, she gave her full support. ”Sis, Wenjun is really well-behaved, I can handle him. You and Sister-in-law Xiao Yu can go without any worries.”

Han Xiaorui smiled and hugged her sister. ”Xiao Jing, once I earn some more money, I’ll buy you a house so you can officially move here. That way, even after you get married, we can still visit each other all the time.”

Han Xiaoqing started to refuse, but the thought of living so close to her sister was too tempting. ”Okay, Sis, I’ll take you up on that. I’ll hold down the fort here. I may not be a money-maker, but I’m definitely better with kids than you are.”

”Okay, good!” It was precisely because her sister was so dependable that Han Xiaorui dared to entrust the children to her.

「The next day, after breakfast.」

Liang Xiaoyu brought her son over. She had expected Cai Wenjun to be upset about her leaving, but he didn’t cry or make a fuss at all. Instead, with Han Xiaoqing’s gentle guidance, he even said goodbye to his mother.

Liang Xiaoyu was happy, but also a little crestfallen.

”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, let’s head out,” Han Xiaorui said. Each of them carried two buckets of bait as they walked to the village pier.

Han Xiaorui started the boat. ”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, you can start putting the bait in the cages. In about an hour, we’ll reach a spot with plenty of lobsters and crabs.”

”Okay, I’ll get right on it,” Liang Xiaoyu said with a smile. She sat down on a small stool, wearing a conical hat with a cloth covering her neck and face.

Han Xiaorui was dressed the same way to protect her skin from the sun.

As she sat on the boat, Liang Xiaoyu noticed how steadily Han Xiaorui handled it. ’No wonder she dares to go fishing by herself,’ she thought.

An hour later, all 120 shrimp cages were baited and ready to be dropped into the water.

Han Xiaorui stopped the boat in a spot with a swift current, moderate depth, clear water, and plenty of seaweed and rocks. With practiced ease, she began dropping the cages into the sea.

Han Xiaorui had a Water Ability superpower, which allowed her to sense the distribution of lobsters below. She dropped nearly every cage in an area teeming with lobsters and crabs.

After setting all the cages, Han Xiaorui motored the boat for about twenty minutes until schools of small yellow croakers began to surface.

Han Xiaorui stopped the boat and cast her net across the water.

Liang Xiaoyu could only see the shimmering surface of the sea, thick with the shadows of fish. ”Good heavens, Xiao Rui, those are small yellow croakers!”

”That’s right! Looks like our luck is good today!” Han Xiaorui said with a grin, quickly operating the net hauler to bring in the catch.

The net hauler saved a lot of effort. Soon, the net, full of small yellow croakers, was deposited onto the deck.

The fish squirmed and flopped in the sunlight, their scales gleaming enticingly.