The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 295: Chapter 295: Island Farming

Pingping and An’an had too many drinks in the evening and needed to pee.

But when they rolled over, their mother wasn’t there.

One woke up, which in turn woke the other. They were scared and on the verge of crying. Seeing that the table lamp in the room was on, they opened the door to look for their mom.

Ye Feng froze for a moment, then shook his head with a helpless laugh. He released Han Xiaorui. ”Our little princesses are awake.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”The children are in an unfamiliar place, and they need me to hold them while they sleep. It’s getting late, you should go take a shower and get to bed. We still have to go out and have fun tomorrow!”

Although Ye Feng was disappointed, he also knew the moment had passed. ”Okay!”

Han Xiaorui brought the children back to the room, took them to the bathroom, and then they all got back into bed.

With a little darling on each side, she held them close. Filled with beautiful hopes for their new life, she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Ye Feng changed into some casual clothes and took Han Xiaorui and her two daughters over to the Xu family’s place for breakfast.

The long table was laden with both Chinese and Western-style breakfast foods.

After a reminder from Han Xiaorui, Pingping and An’an greeted everyone.

Seeing so many people, Pingping and An’an were a little shy, but everyone was very kind to them, which helped them gradually relax.

Ye Feng took Han Xiaorui, Pingping, and An’an out for the day. After having lunch, they all returned to Jinshan Bay in the afternoon.

Han Xiaorui dropped the children off at home, then took Liang Xiaoyu with her to the island aquaculture farm.

”Xiao Rui, congratulations.” Professor Wang happened to be there today as well. Seeing Han Xiaorui arrive, he congratulated her with a smile.

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Thank you.”

Professor Wang smiled back. ”In that case, you must invite me to your wedding. By the way, when is the ceremony?”

Han Xiaorui replied, ”The twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month.”

”A great day,” Professor Wang said with a laugh. ”After the New Year, you can even go on a trip. I highly recommend you go south. Going north in the winter is miserable, but the south has a warm climate, especially Kunming, which is like spring all year round.”

”We’ll see when the time comes,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. ”Professor Wang, how is our seafood farming coming along?”

Hearing a question about his area of expertise, Professor Wang grew animated. ”The pomfret farming is going the best. By the fishing ban next year, they should be ready for the market.”

”We’re using three-dimensional farming. We’ve sown seagrass and kelp seeds on the bottom layer, where we’re raising flower snails, Xiangluo, and spicy snails. The middle layer is for fish, and we’ve built racks for farming oysters.”

”Of course, this is still in the experimental phase. We need to make adjustments to reach the optimal state. However, based on our experience, it should yield excellent economic benefits.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”When it comes to aquaculture, Professor Wang, you’re the expert. Just do as you see fit. We all know the Big Yellow Fish is valuable, so that’s a key focus for our farming.”

Expert Wang nodded. ”The ’eight brothers’ of the yellow croaker family all taste great and have high economic value, so they’re a major focus of our aquaculture efforts. Especially the Big Yellow Fish.”

Listening carefully to Expert Wang’s introduction, Han Xiaorui would occasionally offer her own ideas.

There were many tidal flats around the island. Han Xiaorui saw people working on them and asked, ”Professor Wang, what are they doing over there?”

Professor Wang replied, ”We’re raising some peanut worms, yellow clams, silver cockles, and razor clams. These things don’t fetch a high price, but they are part of the marine environment, and their yield is high.”

Han Xiaorui nodded in agreement. ”It seems you’ve arranged everything very well, Professor Wang. Asking you to be in charge of the farm was absolutely the right decision.”

Professor Wang was a little embarrassed by the praise. ”Thank you for the compliment. The boss provides a generous salary and also supports my research, so of course I must earn as much profit for the boss as possible.”

”We’re still figuring things out now. If this year goes smoothly, we can expand next year. During the fishing ban next year, we can also hire people from the village to help out.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Thank you, Professor Wang. I feel at ease leaving the farm in your and Professor Li’s hands.”

After touring the area in a small boat, she said, ”Sister Xiao Yu, turn us around. Let’s head back to the pier.”

She had inspected all the islands today, infusing them with some of her Water Ability to enhance their ecological reproductive capacity.

Next, combined with the scientific farming methods of Professor Wang and Professor Li, all she had to do was wait for next year’s harvest.

”Alrighty!” Liang Xiaoyu steered the boat. ”Xiao Rui, how does it feel to be engaged?”

Han Xiaorui laughed. ”No special feeling! It’s just an engagement, not a marriage!”

Liang Xiaoyu blinked. ”The garden villa must be comfortable to live in, right?”

Han Xiaorui nodded and smiled. ”I have to admit, the capitalists’ taste is pretty on point.”

”But it’s no wonder. The Xu family can do business well even when they go abroad.”

”They can make money and have a certain social standing, so it’s normal for them to pursue a bit of luxury.”

Liang Xiaoyu nodded. ”Of course! If I were that rich, I’d also build my house to be magnificent and super comfortable.”

”Even now, I’ve bought a house in the city that I don’t live in. I’m also renovating my house in the village and fixing up the interior.”

”I used to envy city people who lived in apartment buildings, but after I bought one and saw it, I felt it was a bit small. It’s not as comfortable as living at home.”

Han Xiaorui burst out laughing. ”But your house is a three-courtyard complex! You even rented the largest courtyard out to me for my kindergarten.”

”Of the remaining two courtyards, one is also closed off just to store things. Your family has more than enough rooms in just one courtyard. Of course you’d look down on those small city apartments!”

Liang Xiaoyu agreed. ”Living in an apartment building just doesn’t feel grounded, and it isn’t spacious. We’re people from the seaside. We can see the ocean the moment we step out, so we feel uncomfortable with things blocking our view.”

That was true; Han Xiaorui felt the same way.

It was like when they were sailing on the ocean. As long as they avoided the reefs, piloting the boat was relatively easy.

But when driving a car on the road, even if there were no other cars, you still had to be fully focused.

”You just got engaged. Are you really going out to sea tomorrow?” Liang Xiaoyu asked.

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”It has nothing to do with the engagement! I’ll work a bit more now so that when we get married, I can go on a trip with Ye Feng.”

”We’ll take the kids then and go somewhere the flowers are blooming in the warm spring! As for now, it’s time to work hard and make money.”

Liang Xiaoyu smiled. ”I originally thought you’d want to be all lovey-dovey with Ye Feng for a few more days!”

”We started out fishing with this little boat, and now we have two big ones—though, of course, the newest ship is still at the shipyard. Sometimes I can hardly believe it.”

Han Xiaorui raised her eyebrows smugly. ”This is just because my kids are still young. When they’re a little older, I’m going to get an ocean-going vessel!”

”Then I’ll take you all to chase the stars and seas. We’ll do some deep-sea fishing.”

Liang Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up. ”Xiao Rui, you said it! Whether I get to see the world in the future is all up to you!”

By now, Liang Xiaoyu and the other boat hands had all fallen in love with this job.

They used to think fishing was hard work, but now, for them, it was pure enjoyment.

It was a little tiring when they were busy, but they were very happy while working. And when they received a salary that surprised them, their happiness doubled.