The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Outlast Him, and I’ll Win a Great Victory

Han Xiaorui only considered Boss Zhang a business partner. If she discovered he had any improper thoughts about her, she wouldn’t hesitate to have the little sea snake bite him!

When she got home, Granny Cai and Han Xiaoqing were already busy cooking.

Han Xiaoqing knew far more about how to cook the regional cuisine of Guishi using its local specialties.

Han Xiaorui handed Liang Xiaoyu five buffet coupons. ”Once summer break starts, take Sister Cai and your family of four to the city for the seafood buffet.”

Liang Xiaoyu saw they were priced at 49 yuan each, making the five tickets worth more than 200 yuan. ”No, we don’t need these. We live right by the sea. For over two hundred yuan, we could buy enough seafood to prepare a feast for several tables.”

Han Xiaorui pressed the five tickets into Liang Xiaoyu’s hand. ”Just take them. Your daughter boards at her school most of the time. When summer break starts, the winds will be strong, so we won’t be going out to sea as much. You can take your daughter and son to have some fun in the city.”

”Besides, Boss Zhang gave them to me, so I didn’t spend a dime. I got them for free. He’s still counting on me to buy good seafood from him.”

Hearing that Han Xiaorui hadn’t bought them herself, Liang Xiaoyu finally accepted them. ”Well, in that case, I’ll take them. Thank you, Xiao Rui. Ever since I started working with you, I’ve really broadened my horizons.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Once we get our big boat, there’ll be even more opportunities to see new things!”

Speaking of the big boat, Liang Xiaoyu remembered something. ”Xiao Rui, word that you’re buying a big boat has already spread through the village. The men haven’t asked anything yet, but some of the married women wanted to know if you’ll be hiring female crew members.”

Han Xiaorui blinked, a bit taken aback. ”How many are interested?”

”Quite a few,” Liang Xiaoyu replied. ”They’re between twenty-five and forty years old. They’re all very capable, and they’re known around the village for being sharp and well-spoken. While it’s true that male crew members have more brute strength, the space on a boat is tight, which can create a lot of awkward situations.”

Those words struck a chord with Han Xiaorui.

’It’s true,’ she thought. ’Even though a thirty-six-meter boat has a bathroom and two cabins, it would still be genuinely inconvenient.

’If the crew were all women, things would be much simpler.

’The large boat is a trawler and highly mechanized, so female crew members could certainly handle the work.

’And when it comes to sorting fish, women are actually faster.’

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, you have a point. I’ll meet with them when I have a free day.”

”An all-female crew of deckhands is fine, but there aren’t many female safety officers or captains who can operate a big boat. Looking at it that way, we’ll still have to hire a few men.”

Liang Xiaoyu smiled. ”Grandma Chen San’s daughter is a captain, and she can operate large boats. Plus, you’re going to get your license too. With the two of you, that should be enough to run the boat.”

”As for a safety officer, I don’t have any connections there. But there’s no rush. We can take our time looking.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”You’re right, this can’t be rushed. We’ll take our time. Oh, what’s that amazing smell?”

Han Xiaorui followed the aroma into the kitchen.

Han Xiaoqing’s eyes lit up when she saw her older sister. ”Sis, it’s your favorite sour fish soup, made with the local sea bass. I just had a taste—it’s even more delicious this way.”

Han Xiaorui couldn’t wait to have a bite. Never one to suppress her craving for delicious food, she grabbed her chopsticks, picked up a piece, and placed it in her mouth, savoring it carefully.

The sourness made the fish meat even more tender and flavorful.

Because there were children at home and some people couldn’t handle spice, they hadn’t added any chili to the soup itself. Instead, there was a small dish of chili oil on the side for dipping.

”Delicious!” Han Xiaorui gave her younger sister a thumbs-up. ”Your cooking is amazing. Sister Cai, what are you making?”

Sister Cai smiled. She was using a small skillet to make thin little pancakes. ”Xiao Rui suggested we make siwawa, from your hometown. The dish where you wrap vegetables in these pancakes.”

Han Xiaorui immediately washed her hands, grabbed a small pancake, and rolled it into a thick, fat wrap. ”Mmm, this is delicious too! I feel like you could wrap anything in these pancakes.”

”It is good, but save some room. We still have to make the spicy chicken,” Sister Cai said with a laugh. ”I saw you have half a bag of dried chilies. You gave me a couple of handfuls last night, and when I got home, I dry-roasted them in a pan and ground them into a powder. The aroma is incredible! It’s completely different from our local chilies!”

Han Xiaoqing also smiled and said, ”That’s right, Sis. We’re going to use those chilies for the spicy chicken later. When we were little, we couldn’t even afford to eat chilies. Today, let’s have a real feast.”

”Okay!” Han Xiaorui agreed. ”By the way, what about the cured sausages?”

”They’re steaming in the pot!” Granny Cai answered. ”Alright now, we’ve got things covered in the kitchen.”

Seeing that they wouldn’t let her help, Han Xiaorui went back outside. ”Xiao Jing, make some extra food. Ye Feng is coming over for dinner tonight.”

”Got it!” Han Xiaoqing called back.

After hearing this, Granny Cai beamed. ”I think that Ye Feng is a great guy. As soon as he heard you were in trouble, he rushed right over.”

Han Xiaoqing nodded and smiled. ”I think Ye Feng is a good man, too. But based on how he helped us back in Guishi, I can tell he comes from an influential family.”

”My sister has already been through one failed marriage. Her life is just starting to get better, and I don’t want to see her get bullied or looked down on.”

Granny Cai waved her concerns away. ”Xiao Jing, you just lack confidence. You know what they say, every pot has its lid.”

”So what if your sister was married and divorced? That just means that broken lid, Yang Jianming, wasn’t good enough for a fine pot like our Xiao Rui! Xiao Rui is a real go-getter, so we can’t sell ourselves short. No matter how great Ye Feng’s family is, what matters is whether he likes her and is willing to be with her, right?”

Han Xiaoqing laughed. ”Sister Cai is right. My sister is the best! If anyone’s not good enough, it’s Ye Feng who isn’t good enough for her!”

”That’s the spirit!” Granny Cai laughed. ”Be more confident. Look toward the future.”

Now that she was more comfortable with Granny Cai, Han Xiaoqing couldn’t help but ask, ”Sister Cai, you’re so wonderful and open-minded. Since you despise Uncle Cai so much... I know it was difficult to get a divorce back in the day, but why don’t you divorce him now?”

Hearing this, Granny Cai let out a hearty laugh. ”HA! It’s precisely because I couldn’t leave him when I was young that I can’t leave him now. I’ve put up with him for this long, I’m certainly not going to let some other woman reap the benefits.”

”I’m not reluctant to leave Grandpa Wenjun; I’m reluctant to leave the Cai Family’s three-courtyard compound with its dozens of rooms. Even if I divorced him and got half, the other half would just go to some new woman.”

”Anyway, I’m healthy, and I’ve lived a good life. Old Man Cai will probably die before me. Once I outlive him, it’ll be my total victory, HAHAHA... Then all those houses will belong to me, my son, and my grandchildren.”

Han Xiaoqing smiled. ”Sister Cai, you really have it all figured out. My sister says that when the village develops, you could renovate your family’s house and open a seafood restaurant. It would be sure to make a lot of money.”

Granny Cai nodded eagerly. That was exactly what she had been thinking too.

Even if she didn’t open a restaurant herself, she could rent out the well-preserved Cai Family compound for a hefty sum.

”Exactly. I’ve seen it in other villages. When it gets hard to make a living fishing with small boats, people start opening restaurants. Tourists from the city come to eat, and they earn a decent amount every month.”

The meal was ready. It was already six-thirty, but when seven o’clock rolled around, Ye Feng still hadn’t arrived.

Han Xiaorui called his office, and Zhou Yang told her that Ye Feng had left at his usual time.

But Ye Feng still hadn’t shown up, and he hadn’t even called. Han Xiaorui was starting to get annoyed. ”Let’s eat!”