The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Overheard, Slandered, and Rumored About

Han Xiaorui could handle simple dishes, but she was no match for complex, time-consuming ones like Eight-Treasure Duck.

Granny Cai not only made the food taste delicious, but she also plated it beautifully.

It was truly a feast for the eyes.

Cai Xueqin was home today, but Granny Cai had sent Uncle Cai out. She didn’t want the ”old rascal” getting in the way.

Everyone enjoyed the meal. Cai Wenjun, Pingping, and An’an loved the sweet and sour pork tenderloin, sticky rice-stuffed lotus root, and the whitebait soup the most.

They barely touched any of the other dishes.

After dinner, as they were leaving, Granny Cai packed some pastries for Han Xiaorui to take with her.

Han Xiaoqing chuckled. ”Sis, Sister Cai is such an amazing cook.”

”She is! Sister Xiao Yu and Wenjun are lucky to have her. We get to enjoy it too,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile, growing more and more fond of the old woman who was so clear about her likes and dislikes.

They had just gotten home when the phone started ringing.

Han Xiaorui hurried inside to answer it. It was Yang Zhigang.

”Xiao Rui, Brother Jianguo told me. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so you can’t go out to sea anyway. I’ll rest for a night and go with you to the shipyard tomorrow.”

”Since you’re taking over someone else’s order, you can not only get the boat sooner, but you can also negotiate the price.”

Han Xiaorui smiled and said, ”Thank you so much, Uncle Yang.”

”Don’t mention it, it’s what I should do,” Yang Zhigang replied. ”By the way, Xiao Rui, now that you’re buying a new boat, do you still want that one from Wu Guangfu?”

Han Xiaorui answered, ”Yes. With two boats, they can look out for each other. Even if one breaks down at sea, at least there will be backup.”

”Uncle Yang, when you go out to sea, do you always go with one boat, or do you go with others?”

Yang Zhigang shook his head and sighed. ”I have pretty good luck. When I go with other people, I always catch more than them. After a while, they stopped wanting to go out with me.”

”Once I pay off my loan and have some extra money, I’ll get another big boat. With two boats, we can look out for each other.”

Han Xiaorui actually wanted to team up with Yang Zhigang so he could catch more fish too.

But the thought of that unreasonable ex-mother-in-law of hers made Han Xiaorui instantly dismiss the idea.

They agreed to take the bus to the city shipyard together the next day before hanging up.

「The next morning」 Liang Xiaoyu brought Cai Wenjun over. When she learned Han Xiaorui wasn’t going to sea but was going to the shipyard to look at a boat, she insisted on tagging along.

Liang Xiaoyu couldn’t let Han Xiaorui be the subject of gossip, and she especially couldn’t give Zhang Xiufang a chance to unleash her ”fragrant” mouth.

Not only was Yang Zhigang going, but also a ship mechanic who was one of his old army buddies.

Even for a new boat, you had to have someone trustworthy inspect it.

They had already contacted Yang Xuewen last night, and he was waiting at the gate for them early in the morning.

After seeing his captain’s attitude toward Han Xiaorui yesterday, Yang Xuewen knew he couldn’t possibly try to rip her off.

’Ripping off Han Xiaorui might be the same as ripping off the captain.’

’The captain would kick his ass so hard it would go crooked!’

Yang Zhigang, the mechanic, and Yang Jianguo carefully inspected the entire boat.

Hearing that it cost 380,000, the mechanic nodded. ”This boat is worth it. You only have to wait half a year to take delivery, which is a great deal! You wouldn’t find a deal this good if someone hadn’t backed out of their order.”

The mechanic’s words put both Yang Zhigang and Han Xiaorui at ease.

In the end, seeing that Han Xiaorui was serious about buying, Yang Xuewen knocked another 5,000 off the price, bringing it to 375,000.

She paid a deposit of 175,000, with the remaining 200,000 to be paid upon taking delivery of the boat.

Yang Xuewen saw that Han Xiaorui didn’t even blink when she paid. He had also accidentally caught a glimpse of her bankbook and saw that she had over two million.

’Is fishing that profitable?’

’It makes me want to become a fisherman!’

At noon, Han Xiaorui treated Yang Zhigang, Yang Jianguo, and the mechanic, Master Liu, to a meal at a nice restaurant in the city.

While they ate, Han Xiaorui asked Yang Zhigang for advice on deep-sea fishing.

Han Xiaorui was a good conversationalist, and Master Liu also shared some things to watch out for on the boat.

’If I’m nice and enthusiastic now,’ he thought, ’I can get the maintenance and repair work for Han Xiaorui’s boat in the future.’

But just as their conversation was flowing freely, Zhang Lili’s parents came out of another private room. Hearing Yang Zhigang’s voice, they instantly flared up with anger.

Han Xiaorui was divorced, yet Yang Zhigang was still associating with her.

’How outrageous!’

Mrs. Zhang was about to storm in but was pulled back by Mr. Zhang. ”Shh!”

’Let’s hear what they’re saying first!’

From the doorway, they could only catch snippets of conversation like ”buy a boat,” ”deep-sea fishing,” and ”370,000 is worth it.”

Although they didn’t hear everything clearly, the Zhang couple was great at filling in the blanks.

Just then, a waiter came by with a dish. ”Excuse me, please make way.”

Mr. and Mrs. Zhang didn’t move aside. Instead, they threw open the door and stormed in, fuming. ”Yang Zhigang, you shameless old man! You weren’t willing to buy a car for my daughter, but you don’t even blink when spending 370,000 to buy a boat for your ex-daughter-in-law!”

”I didn’t believe what his mother used to say, but today I’ve caught you red-handed! You two are having an affair!”

Mrs. Zhang was so furious she was speaking recklessly, looking like she wanted to lunge forward and scratch Han Xiaorui’s face.

At that moment, Liang Xiaoyu, who had been silent until now, shot to her feet. She blocked the charging Mrs. Zhang, gave her a hard shove, and cursed, ”If you don’t know how to speak like a human being, then shut up! Which one of your eyes saw Uncle Yang buying a boat for Xiao Rui?”

”I heard it just now! A boat for 370,000, how can that be fake?” Mrs. Zhang’s eyes went wide, her nostrils flaring at Liang Xiaoyu, so much so that her nose hairs were clearly visible.

Mr. Zhang remained silent, but his grim face showed he agreed with his wife. ”Brother Yang, you should be a decent person. That’s your granddaughter’s mother, you can’t be incestuous! Committing such a shameless act! In the future, is your granddaughter supposed to call you Grandpa or Dad?”

Yang Zhigang’s face turned ashen with anger, and his body trembled slightly.

He was a man who cared deeply about his reputation, and he never expected to be cursed at to his face by his in-laws.

Hearing this, Yang Jianguo immediately stood up and shoved Mr. Zhang. ”Zhang, you shut your mouth! What nonsense are you spouting? Can’t you see there are a lot of us here?”

”Xiao Rui is buying this boat with her own money! We just came along to help her take a look. Where did you get all this crazy nonsense?”

”If you keep talking nonsense, I don’t care whose father or father-in-law you are, I’ll still beat you up!”

Mr. Zhang was a full head shorter than the tall and sturdy Yang Jianguo. Truly worried that the furious, wild-eyed Yang Jianguo would hit him, he quickly took a few steps back. ”She—Han Xiaorui—is just a divorced woman! Where would she get the money to buy a fishing boat?”

Liang Xiaoyu retorted sarcastically, ”My Xiao Rui earns ten to twenty thousand every time she goes fishing. Just a few days ago, we sold a few Yellowlip Fish for 290,000. Why couldn’t she afford a big boat?”

”If you keep spouting nonsense and insulting Xiao Rui, then we’ll get a lawyer and sue you for defamation!”

’She’d seen someone say that in a Hong Kong drama recently. Defamation was similar to spreading rumors, so the Mainland should have a similar law, right?’