The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 483: Chapter 483: Outrageous and Infuriating

Han Xiaorui was sitting at the stone table when she saw Chen Yishui approach.

Han Xiaorui had just brewed a pot of osmanthus tea. ”Sister Shui, have some tea. It’s made with this year’s fresh osmanthus.”

Chen Yishui didn’t stand on ceremony. She washed her hands, sat down, and took a few sips, a feeling of comfort spreading through her. ”President Han, do you have any more of this at home? I’d love some. This osmanthus flavor is fantastic.”

Hearing Chen Yishui’s frank words, Han Xiaorui nodded. ”I do. Wait a second, I’ll go get some for you.”

Han Xiaorui came back out of the house with the osmanthus tea in a plastic bag. It was about a pound. ”Here, take this for now. When you run out, come back for more.”

Chen Yishui smiled and accepted the bag. ”In that case, I won’t stand on ceremony. Your family’s osmanthus tea is truly excellent.”

”Sister Shui,” Han Xiaorui began, ”you specifically asked me to wait for you. What’s on your mind?”

Chen Yishui replied, ”On this last trip out, guess how many boats were tailing us?”

Han Xiaorui was taken aback. ”We have sixteen boats of our own. Even with the vastness of the sea, spacing them a few hundred meters apart already makes for a long line. If other boats were following, it must have been incredibly crowded!”

Chen Yishui gave a wry smile. ”’Crowded’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. Our company’s boats automatically keep a distance of at least five hundred meters, but those fishing boats tracking us were weaving right through our formation. At times, there were three or four of them between two of our vessels.”

”If it weren’t for basic maritime safety, those people would’ve tried to cram in even more. I did a rough count. This time, there were a full sixty-eight boats following our fleet.”

Han Xiaorui was stunned. ”Sixty-eight boats? That’s... that’s outrageous. Did every boat in Shencheng show up?”

Chen Yishui shook her head. ”Not all of them, but if this keeps up, it’s going to be a huge problem for our fleet. You can’t just get into fights out on the open sea; people could die.”

”This time, we captains were extremely careful and managed to avoid getting our nets tangled. We might not be so lucky next time. We need to figure something out.”

Han Xiaorui thought for a moment, then asked, ”What about their haul? Did they catch much?”

At this question, Chen Yishui grinned with pride. ”We here in Jinshan Bay are protected by Mazu. Our holds were all overflowing. Those guys scrambling and weaving between our boats didn’t catch nearly as much as we did.”

”I had Xiao Yu keep an eye on the boats around us with binoculars this time. They were watching us with binoculars, too. Every time we started hauling in our nets, they’d start hauling in theirs. We were sometimes getting nets so full they were bursting, or at least half-full, but not them. On their boats, the best haul was probably only half of what we got.”

Han Xiaorui mused for a moment. ”Even so, that’s probably still a pretty good haul for them. After all, that was just four days. If they fish for another three, they might catch even more.”

”What I’m curious about is how they found you. They didn’t leave port with our fleet. The ocean is a vast place.”

Chen Yishui’s expression turned serious. ”Exactly. I’ve been wondering the same thing. It would be impossible for them to know our location unless someone tipped them off. I suspect we have a mole in our fleet.”

Han Xiaorui scratched the tip of her nose. ”Sister Shui, I’ll talk to Uncle Yang about this. And listen, as long as those boats aren’t compromising your safety, don’t let them get to you. Our goal is to catch fish, not to get into a pissing contest.”

”By all rights, they shouldn’t be acting like this. But if they’re not going to play by the rules, there’s not much we can do. After all, we don’t own the ocean.”

Chen Yishui nodded. ”Yeah, I get it. We definitely can’t let our emotions get the best of us at sea. Besides, fishing is all about luck anyway. We’ve got sixteen boats, which is a lot. They have more boats, but they’re not all working together. We’re not scared of them, it’s just... so damn annoying. And it’s even more frustrating thinking there might be a rat in our midst selling us out.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Don’t worry. Once they stop catching fish and making money, they’ll scatter on their own. Sister Shui, you have to be careful out there. Don’t let your guard down.”

Chen Yishui nodded. ”Don’t worry, Uncle Yang, the other captains, and I have all discussed it. Xiao Rui, you’re the smart one. How do we catch this big rat?”

Han Xiaorui scratched her head. ”That’s the tricky part. It won’t be easy.”

Chen Yishui sighed. ”Yeah, if it were easy, Uncle Yang and I would’ve caught him already.”

”Let’s not rush it. It doesn’t affect the big picture for now,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. ”Sister Shui, you’ve had a long trip. You should go home and get some rest.”

”Alright, I’m heading home. The haul was great, but I’m exhausted.” As a captain, Chen Yishui’s work was especially grueling.

”Thank you for all your hard work, Sister Shui,” Han Xiaorui said gratefully.

”It’s all part of the job,” Chen Yishui said with a smile, leaving with the bag of tea.

Han Xiaorui drummed her fingers on the table, lost in thought.

When Ye Feng got home from work, he saw Han Xiaorui pondering something. ”Looks like you’ve run into a problem.”

”It’s not so much a problem as it is a thorny issue...” Han Xiaorui then gave Ye Feng a concise summary of the situation.

Ye Feng was taken aback. ”That many boats following you? Sounds like they were packed in there like sardines.”

”That’s a very apt description,” Han Xiaorui said with a laugh. ”I’m not worried about them trying to rob us or anything. I’m more concerned about safety. Those are fishing nets; they get tangled easily. A single accident could ruin a whole net.”

Ye Feng rubbed the tip of his nose. ”Arguing is pointless. You should go through official channels. Report them for reckless navigation. If you don’t have proof now, take pictures the next time you go out.”

Han Xiaorui’s eyes lit up. ”Of course! Why didn’t I think of calling the police? Even cars have to maintain a safe following distance; it should be the same for boats. I’ll ask Chen Yupeng for help and see if we can get the maritime police to escort us.”

Ye Feng nodded. ”For something like this, you don’t need to bother Chen Yupeng. I can handle it.”

”Huh?” Han Xiaorui was stunned for a moment, then she suddenly remembered Ye Feng’s old job. ”Oh, right. My husband is such a successful entrepreneur that I almost forgot about your past exploits. Tomorrow, I’ll have Uncle Yang report it.”

Ye Feng shook his head. ”Have Sister Shui make the report. Uncle Yang knows most of those captains, at least by acquaintance. When they come begging for mercy, that’s when Uncle Yang can step in.”

After weighing the options, Han Xiaorui nodded. ”You’re right. We’ll have Sister Shui file the report. And if we’re lucky, maybe we can even smoke out the rat in our fleet.”

Ye Feng smiled. ”It’s not that hard. Just wait for my news.”

The next day, Han Xiaorui found Yang Zhigang and told him about the strategy she and Ye Feng had worked out.

Yang Zhigang agreed. ”Xiao Rui, we were lucky this time that the nets didn’t get tangled. We can’t count on that luck holding out. We have to report this. I’ll go right now.”

”No, Uncle Yang, let Sister Shui go,” Han Xiaorui replied. ”You can step in when those captains come to you for help. Good cop, bad cop. That’s how we’ll handle this.”

Yang Zhigang nodded. ”That’ll work.”

When Chen Yishui heard that Han Xiaorui wanted her to file a police report, she didn’t even stop to eat breakfast before hopping on her motorcycle and heading to the station.

Ye Feng also contacted some of his old colleagues. The maritime police would tail the Jinshan Bay fishing fleet under the pretext of having detected a tracking device.

All of this was done in secret; the other captains were not aware.

「Three days later.」

The Jinshan Bay fishing fleet set out to sea once more.

Chen Yishui’s heart pounded with anticipation. ’If those bastards don’t show up, fine. But if they do,’ she thought, ’they’re going to be in for a world of hurt.’