Chapter 57: Seaside
Soon, Zhao Wenjun and his wife were tangled up together.
They hadn’t been together in months, and both were quite excited. They went at it until late before finally falling asleep in each other’s arms.
The next morning, while it was still dark outside, Chen Yanmei got up early to start preparing food. Opening the door, she glanced curiously at the neighboring courtyard. ’How come the eldest and his wife aren’t up yet?’
"Second Auntie!"
A sudden voice from the doorway startled Chen Yanmei. She looked closely and saw it was Zhao Ergou, the son of Zhao Wendong’s third uncle—his cousin.
"Er Gouzi? What are you doing here so early? Why didn’t you come inside! Quick, get in here!"
The short, skinny Zhao Ergou was shivering from the cold, his face covered in frost. He managed a stiff smile.
"I-I’m fine, Second Auntie. I’m not... not cold."
"Oh, you silly boy! I just lit the fire. Come watch the stove for me and warm yourself up!"
"Okay!"
Zhao Ergou readily agreed, skillfully settling in front of the stove pit to tend the fire.
Chen Yanmei’s heart ached seeing his thin clothes. ’This boy... lost his father and tries so hard to be strong. He must have come early because he was afraid of being late to go out to sea, and then waited outside when he saw we weren’t up yet.’
Breakfast was griddled cornmeal flatbreads. They were easy to gnaw on when you got hungry on the boat and wouldn’t freeze rock-solid like rations made from white flour. The plan was to just make do with yesterday’s leftover pickled greens, but Chen Yanmei felt sorry for Er Gouzi. She cut up a piece of meat and a few potatoes, and just before the dish was ready, she tossed in two handfuls of glass noodles. She also cooked a large pot of coarse corn porridge.
Quite a while later, Zhao Wenjun and his wife finally appeared, yawning and carrying their child.
"What’s wrong? Didn’t sleep well last night?"
Chen Yanmei looked at them strangely, and her gaze made them both blush. Seeing their expressions, she instantly understood what had happened and shot them an exasperated glare.
"Did you forget you’re going out to sea this morning? You couldn’t even pick a better time to mess around. Are you two a couple of green kids? What’s the big rush?"
Her words sent Zhao Wenjun and his wife fleeing in embarrassment. Song Xiaoyu put the child back on the kang to continue sleeping, while Zhao Wenjun went outside to start sorting the fishing nets Zhao Wendong had brought back from the brigade office yesterday. The diesel barrels had been brought back last night and placed in the outer room; they would move them out just before leaving to keep them from freezing.
Zhao Wendong, Zhao Wenwu, and Zhao Dashan also got up soon after. Zhao Ergou quietly greeted each of them. Zhao Wendong patted his head.
"From now on, remember to come straight inside when you get here. These are all your relatives. Don’t squat outside in the cold anymore, got it?"
"Yeah, Brother San!"
Zhao Ergou smiled so widely his eyes narrowed into slits, and he nodded vigorously.
Soon, the meal was ready. The group gathered around to eat while the three young children slept soundly on the kang. The little white fox lifted its head, glanced at everyone, and then buried its head to go back to sleep.
After eating, the three dogs were clearly much better today, looking far more energetic. Zhao Dashan said that with a few more days of rest, the dogs would be fully recovered, since they had only been starved, not sick.
[’My master looks like he’s going out. I want to go so badly!’]
Zhao Wendong looked at the yellow dog whose thoughts he’d just heard and couldn’t help but pick up a piece of meat to toss to it. This little one was the most active, and the white spots above its eyes were bigger and more handsome than the two black dogs’.
At the table, everyone kept putting meat and vegetables into Zhao Ergou’s bowl until it was piled high. Zhao Ergou kept his head down, shoveling the delicious food into his mouth, afraid someone would see his reddened eyes.
After everyone had finished eating—especially Zhao Ergou, who was watched closely and made to eat more and more until they were sure he was full—the group set off for the seashore.
They had dug out an old, worn-out cotton-padded jacket from the house for Zhao Ergou to wear. It had belonged to Zhao Dashan, and on the skinny Zhao Ergou, it made him look like a monkey wearing human clothes.
Zhao Wendong tucked the Mauser pistol nicknamed "Little Bastard" into his coat. He had Zhao Dashan hold on to the other one, so he wouldn’t be too heartbroken if he accidentally dropped one into the sea.
The four brothers pulled the diesel and fishing nets, heading toward the shore under the starlight. Behind them was their small home, lit by an oil lamp, with Chen Yanmei and Song Xiaoyu watching from the doorway. And inside, lying on the kang, was Zhao Dashan, silently chanting the names of all their ancestors, asking them to protect his sons.
At the seashore, a few torches flickered wildly in the wind. A group of shadowy figures was waiting for something. When they saw Zhao Wendong’s group of four, someone in the crowd shouted.
"They’re here!"
The group took a few steps to meet them. As Zhao Wendong got closer, he saw that the brigade cadres were all there, along with some villagers and the male and female educated youths from the commune. The crowd was buzzing with discussion, creating a lively scene.
Zhao Weiguo walked over and clapped Zhao Wendong on the shoulder with a smile.
"Dongzi, everyone heard you were going out to sea and came because they’re concerned about you!"
Zhao Wendong scanned the crowd and pursed his lips. Most of them were probably just here for the show; only a few were genuinely concerned. His gaze landed on Lin Zhiyin, who stood outside the crowd. ’She must be worried about me, right?’
It was still very dark, and they were far apart. This time, Lin Zhiyin wasn’t looking down. Instead, she had her head raised, watching Zhao Wendong intently in the crowd. When his face turned in her direction, her heart inexplicably began to race. She knew he had to be looking at her.
"Wendong, that’s a whole barrel of diesel! If you burn through all of it and don’t catch any fish, it’ll be a huge loss!"
"Yeah, yeah! That oil must be worth dozens of yuan, right?"
"Maybe you shouldn’t go. Going to sea in winter is a surefire way to lose money!"
One person couldn’t help but speak up, and soon a whole group began trying to talk him out of it.
Some of them may have meant well, and others were just speaking from experience, but only Zhao Wendong knew which path he had to walk.
"Thank you, everyone. But even if it rains daggers today, I’m still going out. Regardless of the catch, I will never regret my own choice!"
In that moment, illuminated by the torchlight, Zhao Wendong displayed a confidence and charisma rare for his era. In the crowd, the hearts of more than a few young women were struck.
In truth, Zhao Wendong wasn’t bad-looking. He used to spend his days wandering the streets with nothing better to do, so his skin was fair. Add to that a devil-may-care, roguish air and his 1.8-meter height, and he already stood out. Recently, he’d been eating well and was in good spirits, making his physical and mental state superior to the other villagers. On top of all that, he had the aura of being a resourceful provider, which made him very attractive to the girls.
Li Juan, one of the female educated youths in the crowd, suddenly felt her heart stir. In that instant, something about Zhao Wendong just clicked for her. ’If I had a man like that by my side,’ she thought, ’I would never have to go hungry again. I could eat fragrant nuts, delicious sticky bean buns, and red bean paste buns!’
Zhao Xiaoyan was also moved. For the past few days, Zhao Weiguo had been praising Zhao Wendong in front of her whenever he got the chance, talking about how motivated and good he was now. Seeing the high-spirited Zhao Wendong at this moment, her own guard couldn’t help but lower a little. ’It seems,’ she thought, ’that Zhao Wendong isn’t so different from the men in the city after all.’
"So you hunted a wolf and a wild boar and now you think you can do anything? You think the fish in the sea are just waiting for you to scoop them up?"
Zhao the Sixth and Zhao Dashan hadn’t gotten along since they were young, so he couldn’t stand seeing his rival’s son being so impressive. He immediately spoke up to mock him, and with him taking the lead, others quickly joined in to jeer.
"So headstrong. He just won’t listen to advice. He’ll definitely burn through all his diesel and come back with no fish."
"Exactly! In the dead of winter, all the fish are holed up sleeping in the deep sea. It’d be a miracle if he caught anything! Zhao Wendong just got lucky with two hunts, and now it’s gone to his head so much he’s forgotten his own name!"
Zhao Wenwu’s eyes widened, and he was about to charge forward to deal with Zhao the Sixth and his cronies. Zhao Wendong held him back. Now wasn’t the time to create more trouble; he’d settle the score with them later. He looked at Zhao the Sixth’s group with a cold smile. "Whether it’s a mule or a horse, you’ll know once you take it for a spin, right? You wastes of space don’t need to worry about whether I can catch anything or not!"
Zhao the Sixth lost face. To be called a waste of space to his face by a junior—did Zhao the Sixth have no pride?
"Anyone can talk big! If you can catch fifty pounds—no, a hundred pounds of fish, I’ll kowtow to you three times. If you can’t, you kowtow to me! You dare?"
"Fine! It’s a deal!"
Zhao Wendong agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Zhao Weiguo quickly stepped in to cut them off.
"Dongzi, the engine’s been warming up for a while now. Hurry up and refuel it. Don’t delay heading out!"
"Alright. Thanks, Uncle Weiguo, Third Master!"
The engine needed to be preheated, and the crude method at the time was to roast it with a brazier. The moment Zhao Wendong arrived, he recognized the brazier under the engine as the one from the head of Third Master Zhao’s kang.