The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Another Net-Breaking Catch at Sea

After talking with Han Xiaorui for a while, Xu Yingying had figured everything out. She handed Han Xiaorui a business card. ”Taozi, once you’ve picked the peaches, have someone deliver them to this address and ask for Manager Liu.”

Han Xiaorui took the business card. ”Okay, Miss Xu. Thank you so much.”

Xu Yingying got in her car. Before leaving, she instructed, ”You’re the only one who needs to know about this. Don’t tell Ye Feng. I’m going to deal with Wen Tao myself!”

Han Xiaorui was slightly taken aback by her words and grabbed the car door. ”Miss Xu, in Hua Country, murder is a capital offense.”

”Huh?” Xu Yingying paused, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ”I’m not going to kill him. I just think you’re right. Wen Tao can cheat me of my feelings, but he can’t cheat me of my money. He had nothing to his name when he got with me, and now that we’re getting a divorce, I should make him leave with nothing, too.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Right, right, that makes sense. The world is a beautiful place. Once you’ve dealt with all this, I’ll take you out to sea. You can see the vast ocean and the blue sky, think about your family and loved ones... Life is good, and it can be a lot of fun.”

Xu Yingying smiled. ”Okay!”

As Xu Yingying’s car drove away, Han Xiaorui finally looked away and started picking peaches.

Liang Xiaoyu, Chen Yishui, and a few of the village’s boat hands came over to help.

By 10:30 in the morning, they had already picked over 2,400 pounds.

They got a truck to load up the peaches. The fully ripened ones were sent to the Huating Hotel, and they told Manager Zhao that this was all of them for now, and that they would pick and deliver more in four days.

They received a payment of 2,260 yuan.

At noon, Granny Cai came over to cook.

When Han Xiaorui got home, she hosted everyone who had helped.

During the meal, Han Xiaorui said, ”Sister Shui, we’re heading out to sea tomorrow.”

Chen Yishui smiled. ”I checked the weather forecast. It’s been good lately. I was just about to bring up going out to sea with you.”

”Then I’ll have to trouble you to inform everyone, Sister Shui,” Han Xiaorui said. ”It’ll probably just be our boat tomorrow.”

Chen Yishui glanced at the main gate to see if anyone was there, then asked in a low voice, ”What’s really going on with Uncle Yang’s family?”

Han Xiaorui didn’t want to gossip about the Yang Family’s affairs. ”I’m not too sure. I heard they hired a lawyer.”

Just then, Granny Cai looked up. ”I know a little about it.”

Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Granny Cai. Chen Yishui asked curiously, ”Sister Cai, if you know something, hurry up and tell us. We won’t spread it around.”

Granny Cai chuckled. ”I’m not afraid even if you do. This isn’t just some rumor; it’s the whole story. That boy Jianming is a philanderer. He’s gotten together with a foreign girl...”

Han Xiaorui listened closely and realized that what Granny Cai was saying was basically all correct.

’No wonder Granny Cai is so popular in the village,’ she couldn’t help but marvel internally. ’She’s so well-informed.’

”Sigh, men are lechers. A leopard can’t change its spots. No matter how nicely they talk, you can’t believe a single word,” Chen Yishui lamented. ”Xiao Rui, you absolutely did the right thing getting a divorce.”

”Tell me about it,” Han Xiaorui agreed with a nod. ”Alright, let’s not talk about those unlucky people. We’re going out to sea tomorrow. Let’s hope our luck is a little better.”

”Right. No more meddling in other people’s business. Catching fish is where the fun is.” Chen Yishui had earned over three thousand yuan and had been too excited to sleep the previous night. Her future was finally secure.

Yang Zhigang had to stay home to deal with family matters and couldn’t go out to sea, but even though he wasn’t going, the first mate was there.

They had to make more trips and earn more money while they could, before the typhoons arrived.

This time, two boats went out to sea again.

”Uncle Qi, this is great. I’m glad we can go out together again,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. With two boats, they could look out for each other, which made it much safer.

Qi Heng smiled. ”Brother Yang said you have good luck and told me to stick close to your boat. So please, look out for me.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”You’re too kind.”

The fishing boat set off, ready to fill its nets with seafood.

Five hours later, they were already over thirty miles from the coast and began to cast their nets.

Han Xiaorui used the walkie-talkie to contact Qi Heng on the other boat. ”Uncle Qi, there’s a school of shrimp nearby. You should use the right kind of net.”

”Roger that, I’ll listen to you,” Qi Heng said with a laugh. ’The boat owner had told him to follow Han Xiaorui’s lead anyway. If they caught a lot, he’d get the credit. If they caught little, it wasn’t his responsibility.’

After casting the nets, the boat slowed down.

Liang Xiaoyu came over with some snacks. ”Xiao Rui, come, have a peach blossom crisp. Sister Mei made them. They’re delicious. I just tried one.”

Han Xiaorui’s eyes lit up when she saw the pink, delicate peach blossom crisps. ”Anything related to peach blossoms always looks so beautiful.”

Liang Xiaoyu giggled. ”Of course, peach blossoms are gorgeous! Sister Mei was worried you didn’t like her cooking since you barely ate any lunch.”

Like the other boat hands, Liu Huamei had received a share of over a thousand yuan, so she valued this job highly.

If Han Xiaorui ate a lot of her food, she was happy; if she ate little, she worried about losing her job.

Han Xiaorui waved her hand dismissively. ”That’s not it at all! I just had a big breakfast of seafood fried rice, so I wasn’t hungry at lunch.”

Liang Xiaoyu smiled. ”Oh, so that’s why. I’ll go tell Sister Mei right away so she doesn’t worry.”

Liu Huamei was fretting in the galley when she saw Liang Xiaoyu approach. She quickly asked, ”Did Xiao Rui say there was anything she didn’t like?”

Liang Xiaoyu explained, ”Sister Mei, don’t overthink it. Even my mother-in-law praises your cooking, so you can relax. Xiao Rui just ate a big breakfast at home and wasn’t hungry for lunch.”

”It’s pretty hot out, and the pastry was a little dry. Can you get something to drink?”

”Oh, good.” Liu Huamei breathed a long sigh of relief. ”I made some iced peach and mint water. It’s perfectly chilled and refreshing.”

Liang Xiaoyu took Han Xiaorui’s enamel mug, filled it, and brought it over to her.

”This is delicious.” Han Xiaorui took a few big gulps, feeling refreshed all over. ”I’m going to get some sleep. Sister Xiao Yu, I’ll have to trouble you to take over for a bit.”

Liang Xiaoyu nodded. ”Go on, get some sleep.”

Han Xiaorui slept for quite a long time, missing the first haul: a full three tons of prawns, a fairly common but popular variety.

By the time Han Xiaorui woke up, it was already 8 p.m., just in time to haul in the second net.

This haul wasn’t a bumper catch, which left everyone a bit disappointed.

However, when the catch was dumped from the net, everyone was pleasantly surprised. It was tiger-head fish.

The tiger-head fish is a species of scorpionfish in the genus Sebastiscus, also known as the marbled rockfish or false kelpfish.

Tiger-head fish has sweet, nutritious meat and is often called the ”poor man’s grouper.” It is mostly eaten fresh but can also be dried, making it a very popular seafood product.

Normally, tiger-head fish are around 20 centimeters long, but in Han Xiaorui’s net, there were even larger ones. Over half of them were 30 centimeters long and weighed about a pound.

The price wasn’t high, but with over two tons in one net, it was still worth a lot of money.

Since Han Xiaorui had skipped lunch, Liu Huamei immediately brought her dinner as soon as she saw she was awake.

”Xiao Rui, I saw you didn’t eat much rice at lunch, so I made you some swimming crab and rice cake soup for dinner. Come and eat.”

Han Xiaorui’s eyes lit up, and she swallowed hard. ”Yes, yes, yes, I’m starving.”