The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Gold Brick or Silver Brick?

Liang Xiaoyu saw the fish and said, ”Xiao Rui, you must know what this is.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”It was mentioned in some of the books I’ve read. It should be called a Japanese Red Gurnard.”

”It’s a fish from the gurnard family, found in southern Japan and the waters off Guangdong. It’s a bottom-dwelling sea fish that lives in tropical and temperate warm currents.”

Chen Yishui, who had a bit of a fiery temper, frowned. ”We have these here, too, and even more of them down south. Isn’t this what we call a ’long-wing horn’ or ’dragonfly horn’?”

”What’s with all these names in the books? Why do they all have ’Japanese’ in them? We obviously have them in our country. I get angry just hearing the name.”

The others felt the same way. ”When we translate these names, can’t we just call it the Hua Country Red Gurnard? Are there traitors in our country again? Or more of those running dogs for the Japanese puppets?”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She patiently explained, ”We can call it by our local names, but in modern natural history, organisms are cataloged according to where they were first discovered.”

”At the time, Japan’s borders were forced open by Western countries, so they began learning all sorts of Western knowledge and had more interactions with the West. As a result, many creatures found in both our waters and Japan’s were first discovered by Westerners in Japan. They were given Latin names, which have since become their scientific names.”

”We started developing much later. By the time we caught up, Japan had already named them, so now when we translate the scientific names, we have to include the word ’Japanese’. This is the price we pay for our past isolationism and technological backwardness.”

Hearing this, Chen Yishui scratched her head. ”No wonder all those fish have the word ’Japanese’ in their names! It makes me so mad! It’s true that the weak get bullied. When I get back, I have to tell my kids about this and make them study hard.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Your children are good students. Tell them to keep studying hard. If we don’t fall behind, we won’t be bullied. We’ll be able to defend our home and our country—and even strike back at others.”

Chen Yishui nodded. ”Exactly. My grandfather died during the Battle of Songhu. I remember the date clearly: August 13, 1937. Isn’t it because we were weak that the Little Japan devils came to attack us? To steal our things and kill our Hua Country people!”

”I just don’t understand it. Didn’t the Americans drop atomic bombs on Japan back in the day? So why are the two countries now as thick as thieves?”

Chen Yishui was not highly educated, but she was passionate, loving and hating with her whole heart.

Sister Tang nodded as well. ”That’s right. I see on the news how Little Japan treats the United States with the reverence a son shows his own father. They don’t even put up a fight.”

Everyone turned to look at Han Xiaorui. ”You’re a college student. Explain it to us!”

Seeing that everyone was engrossed in the topic, Han Xiaorui smiled and replied, ”Broadly speaking, it’s because we and the Soviet Union are socialist nations, while the United States and the rest of Europe and America are capitalist. Our systems of government are different!”

”Our people are also different. Back during the Korean War, we drove back the Americans and their allies, letting them witness the might of the Hua Country army.”

”The United States wants to contain both us and the Soviet Union, so it establishes military bases in neighboring countries to monitor and suppress us in its quest for global hegemony.”

”As for why Japan reveres the Americans like a father... In truth, Japan doesn’t want to, but it has no choice. Japan is home to American military bases. It’s practically an American colony!”

”A great man once said that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun! Their military is entirely in the hands of the Americans. The Americans have them completely under their thumb; it’s child’s play for them!”

At this point, Wu Mengyue chimed in. ”My grandfather was a researcher who worked alongside Soviet experts back then! In the fifties, the Soviet Union wanted to establish military bases in our country, but our great leader refused!”

”The Soviet Union was much stronger than our country at the time, and they threatened to withdraw all their aid, but our nation’s leaders still said no! They were resolute in defending our country’s sovereignty and independence.”

”Thinking back on it now, it was absolutely the right decision! If you rely on others for everything, especially for military protection, you’re nothing more than meat on their chopping block, to be carved up any way they please!”

”Yes, that’s exactly the principle!” Han Xiaorui nodded in agreement. ”Our country might be poor for now, but we are independent and self-reliant. With the new reforms and opening-up policy, we’re bound to develop in the future.”

Chen Yishui nodded. ”Of course! Our village used to be so poor, but aren’t our lives so much better now?”

”Every time I go into the city, it feels different. It’s developing incredibly fast!”

The group continued to chat, passing the monotonous hours at sea.

The second net of fish was hauled in, and it was full of golden pomfret.

There were large and small ones, but the majority were medium-sized.

Everyone busily sorted the fish, taking care not to damage their appearance.

Just then, Han Xiaorui took a cup of osmanthus tea and went back to her cabin to think.

’During the conversation just now, Japan came up.’

’This is 1985. In my past life, I knew about the major events that happened this year.’

’After World War II, Japan recovered quickly with the support of the United States, and its economy grew at an astonishing rate.’

’In the 1980s, its trade surplus with other countries increased dramatically.’

’Every year, Japan was raking in huge amounts of foreign currency from the United States.’

’Naturally, the United States wasn’t happy about that, so they worked with several European nations to sign the Plaza Accord.’

’They would jointly intervene in the foreign exchange market to force the yen to appreciate, thereby reducing Japan’s export advantage.’

’This is a perfect opportunity to make a play against the Japanese economy. I have to tell Ye Feng about this when I get back.’

’My own money isn’t much, but for the Xu family, this is an incredible opportunity.’

For dinner, they had pan-fried red octopus with congee, and it was delicious.

That night, everyone took turns resting. Han Xiaorui lay in her bunk, but her consciousness followed Xiao Dai through the water.

’If Xiao Dai were a person,’ she thought, ’it would definitely be an optimistic and cheerful type, someone who loves making friends.’

And sure enough, Xiao Dai had brought another friend to her.

Judging by its shape, it was about the same size as Xiao Dai. It must be another Turtle.

This one was peculiar, though—it was glowing, as if its body had some kind of fluorescent reaction.

This phosphorescent Turtle shimmered with green and red light.

However, this Turtle didn’t want to come to the surface. It played with Xiao Dai for a little while before diving deeper.

Xiao Dai grew bored and went to find the little sea snake, and together they herded schools of fish around.

The fishing net was full, so Xiao Dai swam off to another area.

At a depth of about forty meters, Han Xiaorui saw a shipwreck. A few large chests were scattered around it.

Han Xiaorui directed Xiao Dai to try and break one open so she could see what was inside.

But the chests appeared to be made of steel. Even after so long underwater, they still looked incredibly solid.

Unable to open it, Han Xiaorui directed Xiao Dai to explore the inside of the shipwreck instead.

The wreck was teeming with little fish, shrimp, and other marine life.

Deeper inside, one chest had been smashed open, its contents scattered about. The objects were a little smaller than bricks.

But Han Xiaorui didn’t believe for a second that they were actual bricks. ’After all, who would store bricks in such a sturdy chest?’

’Something stored like this had to be either a gold brick or a silver brick.’

Han Xiaorui directed Xiao Dai to grab one in its mouth and surface.

She quickly got out of bed and went to the pilothouse. After memorizing the coordinates, she grabbed a landing net and scooped up the object from Xiao Dai’s mouth.

She had to see exactly what this was.