Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Buying a Boat
Yun Jiao snarled, tempted to bite him, but he was so filthy. Who knew how long it’d been since he’d last bathed?
Yun Jiao was disgusted.
So she opted to slap him across the face.
"AHHH... I’m gonna tell my mom on you guys!"
Yun Jiao kicked him. "Coward!"
Yun Xiaojiu added, "You’re useless! All you do is tattle to your parents!"
In the end, Yun Zhuangzhuang and his cousin were sent running in disgrace.
Yun Xiaojiu immediately reported, "Fifth Brother, while you guys were fighting, Yun Zhuangzhuang tried to hit you with a rock."
Yun Xiaowu was furious. "That little bastard! Next time I see him, I’ll beat him so bad his own mother won’t recognize him!"
So much for playing marbles. The whole trip out had been ruined by Yun Zhuangzhuang.
They all had long faces on the way back.
To make matters worse, Cai Jinhua and her sister—the mother of Yun Zhuangzhuang’s cousin—actually showed up at their door to cause a scene.
"Look at this! Just look at what your kids did to our boys! If you don’t know how to raise children, what’s the point of having so many? And that little bitch from your family dared to slap my son’s face! Bring her out! I’m going to teach her a proper lesson today!"
Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei turned, and each grabbed a broom and started swinging at them.
"Our kids are perfectly well-behaved! Cai Jinhua, have you been eating shit? And you want to discipline our Jiaojiao? Who the hell do you think you are? You should focus on disciplining your own son first!"
Yun Xiaowu rushed over. "Mom, Little Aunt! Yun Zhuangzhuang tried to hit me in the head with a rock! My sister only hit him because she saw him do it!"
Yun Xiaoqi chimed in, "Mom, Yun Zhuangzhuang got his cousin to come beat us up! And he wouldn’t let us play marbles."
"Exactly! If there weren’t so many of us, we would have been in big trouble."
This made the two women hit them even harder. "Shameless! Trying to hit someone with a rock and then playing the victim, are we? Since you haven’t taught your child any manners, we’ll teach you a lesson instead!"
Cai Jinhua and her sister were promptly sent running.
"You’re all crazy! Just you wait! This isn’t over!" Cai Jinhua shouted a threat as she fled.
But no one paid her any mind.
"Jiaojiao, are you hurt?"
Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei checked the children over from head to toe. They only relaxed after confirming no one was hurt.
Granny Yun also came out.
"That Cai Jinhua is getting more and more shameless. If she keeps raising her child like that, he’s bound to get into serious trouble sooner or later."
She treated her daughter like a slave but spoiled her son rotten. No matter what trouble Yun Zhuangzhuang got into, she was always right behind him, throwing a fit and cleaning up his messes.
"Our Jiaojiao is such a good girl. We don’t go looking for trouble, but we’re not afraid of it either."
Yun Jiao nodded. "Grandma, it smells so good."
"The food is ready. We’re just waiting for your grandpa and the others to come back so we can eat."
"Yun Xiaowu, go call your grandpa and the others."
"Got it."
The workers building the house were only provided with lunch; they returned to their own homes for dinner.
Food was precious in those days; no family in the village would provide three meals a day.
The family gathered together and began to eat. Granny Yun picked up a garlic Moon Clam and put it in Yun Jiao’s bowl.
"Thank you, Grandma."
The Moon Clams were steamed with a seasoned mixture of minced garlic and chili on top. The meat was fresh, tender, and delicious.
There wasn’t a lot of chili and garlic, but it was just enough to bring out the aroma.
If she wasn’t held back, Yun Jiao could have polished off a dozen all by herself!
Too bad there weren’t that many to go around.
"While foraging at low tide today, Jiaojiao, Xiao Wu, and the others found a huge yellow croaker—weighing a good five and a half pounds! I’ve never seen one so big. And they found some Blood Clams, too. Our family made another thirty-four yuan and ninety cents today."
The news filled the entire family with joy.
Uncle Yun said, "Tomorrow, we’ll go look at a boat. If it’s a good one, we’ll just buy it outright. Our family’s fortunes are going to keep getting better and better."
Yun Jiao looked up at his words, her voice soft and coaxing. "Dad, I want to go too."
It was a skill all children learned instinctively.
’She wanted to see the boat, too. It would be amazing if they could just sail it straight home. Even if I can’t go in the water, it’d be nice to just be near it.’
"Alright. Tomorrow, Jiaojiao can go with Dad."
...
What they wanted to buy was a used wooden boat. They had already arranged it with the owner, so when they arrived, he took them straight to see it.
"It’s a bit old, but we’ve kept it in good shape. There’s no damage. It’s eight meters long, and it’s definitely worth the price at three hundred and twenty."
Yun Linhai went to inspect the boat; he wouldn’t be comfortable until he’d checked it over himself.
Yun Jiao, however, had already climbed into the boat.
The inside of the boat was a bit dirty and smelled of a mixture of fish and salt water.
An eight-meter wooden boat was quite large.
There was nothing wrong with the boat, but they still had to haggle over the price.
They finally settled on a price of three hundred ten.
"Can you throw in a fishing rod?"
Yun Jiao pointed to a fishing rod in the corner. It was just a simple bamboo pole with a line and hook attached.
Professional fishing rods weren’t sold in their area at the time; most people made their own.
Most people fished with nets or set pots; very few went out to sea just to fish with a line.
"Go ahead and take it. It’s just been sitting here; I’ve barely ever used it."
"Thank you."
Yun Jiao thanked him sweetly. Her soft, pleasant voice made the man who gave her the rod feel quite pleased.
The fishing rod felt a little heavy when Yun Jiao took it, but with her current strength, she had no problem holding it.
"Dad, are we taking the boat home?"
Father Yun rubbed his hands together excitedly. Their family finally had a boat of their own.
"Come on, get in. Dad will work the oars."
Uncle Yun grew up by the sea. Even though his family had never owned a boat, he’d often worked on others’, so of course he knew how to handle one.
Soon, their family’s newly purchased boat was gliding across the water.
"Jiaojiao, sit tight. We’re heading out to sea."
The sheer joy in his voice was unmistakable.
The village where they bought the boat was right next to Bailong Village, so the distance wasn’t too great, but it would still take some time to row back.
Yun Jiao sat steadily in the boat—a tiny, pale, and soft little bundle—fiddling with her new fishing rod.
She threaded a small dried shrimp onto the hook.
It was a snack her mother had packed for her, which she was now using as bait.
She tossed the shrimp-baited hook into the sea and gazed out at the boundless ocean. ’If I wasn’t afraid of worrying Dad, I’d really love to jump in right now.’
Compared to the vastness of the sea, their little fishing boat was practically insignificant.
The wooden boat moved slowly across the surface of the sea when, suddenly, she felt a sharp tug on the fishing rod in her hands.
The sudden, violent jerk nearly pulled Yun Jiao right into the water.
Yun Jiao reacted instantly, yanking the fish up with all her might.
It was a black sea bream weighing about two pounds, a common fish near the coast. It sold for a relatively low price at the purchasing station, somewhere around thirty to forty cents.
Yun Jiao was quite satisfied, having traded a single dried shrimp for a big two-pound fish.
Sticking her little bottom in the air, she grunted with effort as she hauled the fish over and dropped it to the side.
She sat down on the deck and took out all the dried shrimp she had with her. Only twelve were left.
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