Chapter 11

Tian Mi had always thought of herself as a pretty strong girl. Even when her parents divorced during her middle school years and didn’t want her, leaving her to be cared for by a nanny, she only cried a few times in secret before continuing to live happily.

But at this moment, she realized that the strength she had once believed she possessed was merely the confidence that came from having money.

After working hard for half a day, only to be told it was all in vain, Tian Mi suddenly found it difficult to hold back her emotions… She felt like crying.

Among these feelings, there was perhaps a sense of grievance from the stark differences in living conditions since coming to this world, and perhaps also the sense of urgency brought by that scumbag Liu Xiangdong. At this moment, all these emotions surged up, causing her eyes to turn red.

“… No one eats lobster?” After a long silence, Tian Mi struggled to suppress her grievances and tears and stubbornly asked.

Although Wang Li felt sympathy for the young girl, she wasn’t a saint. Doing charity without considering the cost required confidence too.

She replied with compassion, “Uncle and I aren’t lying to you; really, no one eats this thing. It’s all claws and pincers. Besides, there are plenty of these shrimp in the sea, and their shells are sharp. It’s too much trouble even to feed pigs. But you, girl, look so delicate and weak, yet you’re quite impressive to catch such a big shrimp…”

After that, Tian Mi could no longer pay attention to what Auntie Wang was saying because the blow was just too great.

As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

She had originally thought that this exquisite lobster, which could sell for a lot in her previous life, might still fetch fifty yuan in this era.

But she never expected that the people of this time wouldn’t recognize its value! Forget about selling it; they wouldn’t even want it if it was given for free! Where could she go to reason with them?

Speaking of which… when did small lobsters become popular in the country?

No wonder, no wonder she encountered such a big lobster and caught it by pure luck.

It turned out it wasn’t her luck; it was just that lobsters were overpopulated…

While Tian Mi was overwhelmed by various emotions, feeling frustrated that she might have put in all this effort for nothing, she suddenly heard a surprised voice nearby: “Hey! So many yellow croakers?”

Tian Mi blinked and looked dazedly at the dark-faced uncle.

She saw him crouching on the ground, taking out yellow croakers one by one from another burlap sack.

Seeing this, Tian Mi also crouched down, hope rising in her heart again: “Today seems to be lucky; I encountered a school of yellow croakers. Comrade, can I sell these yellow croakers for money?”

“Why are you calling me ‘comrade’? You’re so polite; you cultural types are really amusing. Just call me Aunt Li and him Uncle Sang.” Wang Li laughed heartily, finding the girl’s formal address quite entertaining.

Tian Mi awkwardly pressed her lips together. “Uncle Sang, Aunt Li, you can just call me Tian Yatou; that’s what the elders at home call me.”

“Oh! That’s a nice name. It makes people feel warm when they hear it.” Wang Li genuinely praised her, noting that besides being a bit thin and not having a big backside, the girl was truly pretty. She wondered if she had a partner yet…

“Yellow croakers are quite popular; they have few bones and good texture. The chefs at state-run restaurants love them, but they aren’t easy to catch. It’s been several months since we’ve caught such big yellow croakers. You, young lady, are really lucky.” After taking out the last fish from the snake skin bag, Uncle Sang finally answered Tian Mi’s earlier question.

Not forgetting to express his admiration again, he added, “You’re a capable girl.” Catching so many well-formed yellow croakers is not just a matter of luck.

With those words, Tian Mi’s mood, which had sunk to the bottom, finally eased a bit. As long as it wasn’t all in vain, that was enough for her.

She no longer held onto the unrealistic mindset of getting rich overnight. People truly had to take things step by step.

Chen Sanggen didn’t rush to talk about the price; instead, he lit a cigarette, took a couple of puffs, and then asked, “Will you come back to fish again in the future?”

Tian Mi naturally wanted to, but she needed a reason to come to the county town. She tightened her slightly loose scarf, staved off the growing heaviness in her head, and honestly replied, “I’ll come back again, just not sure which day.”

“Any day is fine, as long as it’s not rainy. Our fishing boats will be here. If you want to sell fish, come in the afternoon. The boats go out to fish in the morning, and no one’s on the shore,” Chen Sanggen said. He remembered how the girl regarded shrimp as valuable, knowing she didn’t understand seafood very well, so he added a few more words.

He stretched out his rough hand and pointed to the fishing boat next to him. “You can take a look; we accept several kinds of fish here. However, among these fish, the price for yellow croakers is the highest. We pay twenty cents per catty for small yellow croakers and eighteen cents for hairtail fish… Oh, and the price for yellow croakers is the best at sixty cents.”

Tian Mi leaned over to take a look. Inside the boat’s cabin, the fish had already been sorted into several bamboo baskets.

Feeling embarrassed, she recognized only a few slightly longer small yellow croakers and the most common hairtail fish; the rest of the varieties left her puzzled.

“… We don’t accept shrimp, but we do want crabs, and the prices are good. We accept all sizes—those over three taels^[1]Unit of measurement equal to 50 grams. ⅙ of a  catty can sell for seventy cents per catty. If they’re bigger, we can negotiate the price. For today’s yellow croaker, if you think the price is reasonable, I’ll weigh it for you.” Although Chen Sanggen valued these yellow croakers, he still pressed a bit on the price, but it wasn’t too unreasonable.

“Okay, let’s go with sixty cents,” Tian Mi agreed immediately.

Perhaps the impact of the lobster had been too great. For the wild yellow croakers that cost thousands or tens of thousands per catty in her previous life, their current worth of only sixty cents per catty actually touched her.

“Alright, I’ll weigh it!” The young girl was straightforward, not wasting time on haggling. Chen Sanggen rarely showed such a sincere smile. He got up, rummaged through his net bag, picked up all the fish, and took out the scale to weigh them: “43 catties and 6 taels; I’ll count it as 44 catties!”

26.4 yuan!

As soon as Uncle Sanggen finished speaking, Tian Mi had already calculated the total price in her mind.

Not bad. Although it was much less than she expected, many workers earned that much in a month, and that was for formal employment.

From a positive perspective, she had earned a month’s salary in just a few hours—definitely worth it.

In fact, if it weren’t for needing to prepare a backup plan, she wouldn’t be in such a rush to make money.

—

Tian Mi counted the money Aunt Li handed her and, confirming there were no issues, tucked it into her pocket.

Adding the three yuan she had left over, she now had almost thirty yuan in savings. Though it was still pitifully little, it provided Tian Mi with a sense of security.

As long as the methods were sustainable and she could earn money, that was enough.

She thought that if she could find more opportunities to come back a few times, she could eventually accumulate her earnings…

After their first collaboration, both parties were quite satisfied. For Wang Li and her husband, catching yellow croakers wasn’t easy, but the ones they received today could be flipped for a quick profit of over ten yuan. Even if they had to give half to the government, it was still a considerable unexpected gain.

Moreover, fishermen were generally superstitious. Even though the propaganda against the “Four Olds”^[2]Categories used by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution to characterize elements of Chinese culture prior to the Chinese Communist Revolution that they were attempting to destroy. The Four … Continue reading was rampant, it still didn’t affect their quietly held beliefs.

In the eyes of the couple, the little girl in front of them had great luck, and perhaps next time, she could catch even more yellow croakers.

So, when they parted ways, Wang Li cheerfully said, “The weather will be nice for the next few days. My husband and I will be here every afternoon.”

Tian Mi ultimately promised that if she came back tomorrow, she would definitely sell the fish to them again, then left with her cleaned snake skin bag in hand.

—

When she returned to Gu Yan’s house, the sky had completely darkened.

As the sun set, Gu Yan was already waiting at the intersection. Upon seeing Tian Mi, she immediately jogged over, asking, “Why are you so late? Nothing happened, right?”

Tian Mi was exhausted; she had walked for over two hours today.

At that moment, she was really tired and hungry, and her head hurt.

In such a state, she couldn’t bother to be polite. Feeling weak, she said, “Nothing happened, just got delayed. Yanzi, is there anything to eat? I’m so hungry!”

“Yes, yes, yes! I saved some for you.” Knowing her friend was still hungry, Gu Yan didn’t bother asking anything else, grabbing her hand and leading her home.

However, she was startled by the icy coldness of Tian Mi’s hand. “Why is your hand so cold?”

With a slightly nasally voice, Tian Mi replied, “I think I might be coming down with a bit of a cold.”

“What are you doing? Aren’t you grown up enough to know about keeping warm? Alright… you get into bed and warm up. I’ll get you some food and find some cold medicine,” Gu Yan said.

“Do you have any medicine at home?”

“There should be some. My little brother was sick a few days ago, and I remember there were still two pills left… Stop talking and hurry into bed to warm up. I’ll get you two hot water bottles…” Seeing her friend dawdling, Gu Yan, who was impatient, directly pushed her into the bed.

When one is sick, they can feel particularly vulnerable. Tian Mi had felt a little emotional today, and now being treated like a little baby made her tear up: “Yanzii, you’re just like a mom…”

Gu Yan cheerfully replied, “Hey! Eldest daughter!”

Tian Mi…

—

Whether it was her youth or the cold medicine making her sweat, when Tian Mi woke up, she felt lively again.

Today was Gu Yan’s big day. Before dawn, the entire Gu family was busy preparing.

At that time, weddings were typically held at home, and if the tables couldn’t fit inside, they would be set up in the yard or at a neighbor’s house. They would borrow bowls, tables, and benches, and somehow manage to put together several tables for the feast.

As the bride’s close friend, Tian Mi didn’t go anywhere and stayed in the room with Gu Yan.

When relatives and neighbors came in to see the bride, they also took the opportunity to give Tian Mi a thorough look from head to toe.

Some of the more familiar aunts and older women would pull Tian Mi aside to shower her with compliments, then casually ask all sorts of questions, as if they were conducting a household survey.

Of course, when most people learned that she had a rural household registration and no job, the questions came to an abrupt halt.

Tian Mi didn’t mind; she focused her energy on the wedding banquet instead.

Experiencing a wedding ceremony from the early 1970s for the first time, she found it to be far simpler and more modest than she had expected.

Gu Yan’s green military uniform and the black leather shoes she wore were all borrowed from relatives.

The only new bride attire that truly belonged to her was the pair of thin red ribbons in her braids.

Not only was there no decent wedding dress, but even her makeup was non-existent.

However, being in a joyful occasion, Gu Yan radiated happiness, with delight shining from her eyes.

Tian Mi thought that even with material scarcity, as long as her friends were hopeful, they could still build a good life together.

At 9:09 AM, the groom, Yao Chunjun, arrived.

Yao Chunjun wasn’t particularly handsome, and he wasn’t tall either, only around 1.6 meters, similar in height to Gu Yan. He appeared shy, his face flushed red since entering the room, but his gaze toward the bride was warm and joyful.

As an observer of this incredibly simple marriage, Tian Mi felt happy for her good friend, while also catching a glimpse of her future marriage in it.

In such a conservative era, she wondered if she would be fortunate enough to find a revolutionary partner who respected her.

—

According to local customs, the bride had to arrive at the groom’s home before noon, so the banquet on the bride’s side started very early.

As a friend of the bride, Tian Mi had a completely vegetarian meal at the bride’s home, and it would be inappropriate for her to join the groom’s side for another meal since food was precious in those times.

After seeing Gu Yan off on the borrowed bicycle, heading toward her beautiful new life, she went to the beach once more.

This time, Tian Mi was better prepared.

Although she still felt cold to the bone when she came ashore, after changing her clothes and drying her hair halfway, she went to exchange her money.

During her second fish-selling venture, she earned 32.3 yuan.

After a trip to the county town, Tian Mi didn’t find any antiques or gold, but she did come back with over sixty yuan—a substantial sum. On the bus ride back, she felt that the motion sickness was a bit more bearable, perhaps due to the money in her pocket…

Ugh…

—

As the golden sun set in the west, another day was coming to an end.

Tian Mi hurried back to Chaoyang Village just before dark.

However, as soon as she entered the village, she sensed something was off. The few villagers she encountered looked at her with hesitant expressions or showed pity.

Tian Mi had been in high spirits, but now a shadow fell over her.

With a bad premonition rising in her heart, she lost her leisurely demeanor and hurried toward the Tian family home…

From a distance, she saw a crowd gathered at her doorstep.

As she got closer, sharp wails and cries reached her ears.

While she was trying to figure out whose familiar yet jarring voice it was, she suddenly heard a piercing lament:

“…No! How can Chang Qing go to a labor camp? He’s such a good child; there’s no way he could be a delinquent! This is clearly a setup! Laoda^[3]Eldest child aren’t they after Er Yatou? Tell that damned girl Tian Mi to go and trade my good grandson back… Chang Qing, you’re really taking your grandmother’s life… Wuwu… my Chang Qing, my good grandson…”

In that moment, Tian Mi felt as though the blood in her veins had frozen. The big lobster she had wanted to share with her family seemed like a joke now.

TN:

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