"At this time, going into the water is looking for death, don't care, hurry back, the dead fish will stink in a while."

The voice was gone, the black bottom of the boat under the water went away, and a slippery figure swam into the distance in the clear water, and the sea beads rolled in the water with a light mask on their heads.

The glow of the setting sun faded in a blink of an eye, and the blue light of the ocean floor turned dim. Haizhu dragged the seaweed and wrapped the big crab into the net pocket, thinking that he should bring a pair of pliers, and the shrimp and crabs hiding under the reef are not easy to dig out.

A group of thumb-length knifefish swam from behind the reef, and the fish were followed by an octopus that only ate fast food, Haizhu hurriedly rushed up, stretched out the fishing net and grabbed it, the octopus reacted very quickly and spewed out a thick black ink, and the sea water was instantly turbid.

There are a lot of fish, shrimp and crabs on the bottom of the sea, and Haizhu also encountered a turtle that only eats, and it is not afraid when it sees people, and it swims with her for a while before turning away.

When the stars hung in the night, there was almost nothing to see under the seabed, and the light mask on the head of the sea bead could not shine and illuminate, she was afraid of hitting the reef or the sea snake, and she did not dare to be greedy anymore, so she tied her net and turned around and swam to the shore.

The tide was high, the sea breeze swept the tide towards the sea, the reef standing on the shore was flooded, Haizhu climbed ashore and was confused, in the dark night she couldn't find where she got into the water, but fortunately there was no one around, she swaggered barefoot along the reef group. By the time I found my clothes, which were about to be flooded, the water on my body had been dried by the sea breeze.

*

Siye only heard the sound of the wind and waves, the town behind the wharf was full of people, and the lanterns in the restaurants were hung high, and they were full of people drinking loudly.

The fragrant stove roof opened the window, a light leaked out, Haizhu walked here with a heavy net bag and stopped, following the faint light she pulled the contents of the net pocket, the tail of the shrimp leaked out of the mesh, the octopus was squeezed out of shape by the crab, and the eight fat tentacles drilled out of the fishing net and entangled.

"Bang bang bang!"

There was a knock on the small door of the alley, and the running hall who was busy serving the food shouted to the back kitchen: "Master Zhao, someone knocked on the door, you see if your family is looking for it." ”

Haizhu didn't say anything when she heard this, and as soon as the door opened, she first handed the net bag in, "Master Zhao, does your restaurant still accept seafood?" ”

“…… What time has it been, and I won't accept it. "As he spoke, he was about to close the door.

"It's all big crabs and prawns, and the fishing boats that go out to sea to catch them may not be as big as those in my hand, you can take a look." Haizhu leaned against the door and handed the net bag to the light.

"Huh?"

“……”

The next thing is easy, Haizhu left three crabs and two shrimps for the kitchen to help her steam, and the rest were sold to restaurants. She was led to the lobby by the running hall and asked for a pot of rice wine, lazily picking fried beans to eat with wine.

"Girl, where did your father catch those crabs and shrimps?" The chef brought a bowl of chicken soup and stewed abalone, "Drink some soup to warm your stomach first, you can see that your lips are not bloody." ”

Haizhu subconsciously touched her lips, thanked her, picked up the soup bowl and drank the soup, the hot flashes in the lobby, and the sweat on her face after a few mouthfuls of hot soup, she suddenly felt a lot more comfortable.

"Look at you like this, you can't have gone to the sea to catch you yourself, right?" After saying that, he felt ridiculous, Chef Zhao stroked his palm and smiled: "That's it, I won't ask, in the future, if there is a big goods like today, you will send me as much as I want." ”

"Okay." Haizhu nodded.

The steamed shrimp and crab were sent to the table, the white heat exuded an attractive fragrance, Haizhu poured some rice wine and rubbed it in the palm of his hand, broke the shell on the shrimp head and took off the shrimp yellow before eating the shrimp meat. A shrimp is longer than her hand, and the meat that has been removed from the shell is put in a porcelain dish, and when she picks it up in her mouth, Haizhu feels like she is eating in a big gulp, and she is satisfied to death.

In September, when the crab is plump, the female crab is round, breaks off the crab legs, pries the crab shell, and the yellow and clear crab roe is exposed, so full that it almost flows out of oil. Haizhu didn't take a spoon to scoop, he directly took it and sucked it, ate the crab roe and drank the warm rice wine of Gu, the two flavors were intertwined, and the Tianling cover was crispy and numb.

After eating and drinking, Haizhu forgot to take the fishing net, she walked out of the restaurant happily, and walked towards the inn with the sea breeze full of fireworks.

……

During the day when there were many people and many boats, Haizhu wandered around the town, and at noon and evening, when people were eating, she slipped down from the old place with tongs and a newly bought fishing net.

She secretly went to the sea here, and the restaurant was afraid that someone would rob Haizhu of the seafood at a high price if she knew about it, so she quietly hid it. Don't worry about provoking the eyes of others, Haizhu has been living freely and happily these days, the silver is in hand, and her mouth is too addicted, people eat at most four meals a day, and she can eat six meals a day.

Thinking that the silver in her hand was enough to repair the fishing boat, Haizhu pondered that it was time to go back, she still had responsibilities on her, and she couldn't put all of it on Grandma Qi.

With this plan, Haizhu went to the dock at dusk to ask people about the time when the merchant ship would come tomorrow, and she stopped when she passed by the stall that opened the mussels.

Someone on the sea suddenly exclaimed, the sudden agitation had not subsided, and someone on the dock shouted: "It's a whale, it's a whale, the whale is stranded." ”

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere on the dock boiled, like boiling water in an ant's nest, and everyone ran, and the fishing boat, which had not had time to go ashore, turned around and rushed over, the sails were raised, and the oars were also shaken out of sparks.

Haizhu was pushed and squeezed to the beach by the crowd, she looked at the big thing that was motionless on the sea level, ran down the dock quickly, and plunged into the sea with a fierce son.

No one looked at her at this time, and there were many people who jumped into the sea with their good water nature, and swam over with the strength of the passing fishing boats. Haizhu did the same, when he saw the bottom of the boat in the water, he leaned out of the water, holding the board and swinging his legs.

The whale was dead, and the blood that flowed into the sea stinked, but no one disliked it, and the scrambling people dragged the whale down to pick the meat, like a pack of hyenas eating the dead lions.

Haizhu's clothes changed color, the sea water was stained with whale blood, and people soaked in the sea water as if they were taking a bloody bath. But no one cared at this time, they were all immersed in the excitement of making a fortune, and someone fell into the water in the crowded room and choked on the water before they had time to call for help.

Haizhu stopped when the net pocket she was carrying was full, she dragged a heavy whale meat from the boat and dragged a paddle from the boat to rescue people everywhere, reminding loudly from time to time: "Don't rob, don't rob, no more life." ”

No one paid attention.

"It's high tide!" Someone shouted.

A wave came, and the whale, which was so mutilated that its bones were exposed, moved, and the people lying on it were partially thrown off, and the rest of the people came to their senses and hurriedly jumped into the sea and swam in the direction of the boat.

The person who was rescued from the water by Haizhu called her to get on the boat, "It's high tide, let's hurry back." ”

Haizhu can't wait to leave, and after a while, there will be no corpse floating up, it's too fucking scary.

Half of the town had gone down to the sea, and when Haizhu got off the boat drenched, there were still people running here, and the dock was crowded with people, looking at the big guys who were carried away by the tide.

"How much was robbed? Your family is going to get rich. ”

"Wangzai's family grabbed the most, and the tide rose as soon as we rushed over."

The people who failed to go to the sea were sour, looking at the boatload of whales, their eyes were about to glow green, and Haizhu suspected that if there were no officers and soldiers to guard them, they would probably have to grab it at this time.

The businessman who saw the business opportunity had already erected a sign and shouted for the purchase, Haizhu carried a net of fish and meat to see the four, and saw that the price was the same, so he sold it cleanly, and there were more than 30 taels of silver in his pocket.

Everyone was happy, sour and sour, and when the mood was thick, a few panicked and eager cries came out, and there were still people who did not go ashore when it was dark, and everyone knew what this meant.

For a while, the afterglow of fortune was full of sadness, and the atmosphere on the dock was so strange that Haizhu couldn't bear it and fled quickly.

Chapter 9

With the silver in her hand, she can still take out her hand on the surface, Haizhu returned to the inn and called Xiao Er to give her a promotion, and then asked for two buckets of hot water, scrubbed it twice from head to toe, and cut all the nails stuffed with fish flesh and blood.

When she had cleaned up and lay down in bed, the people gathered on the dock returned, and the excitement of making a fortune could not be extinguished, and the huge crowd roamed the streets, shouting in a thick voice to drink and eat meat.

The guy at the restaurant and tavern climbed high on his stool to refill the lamp oil, and enthusiastically raised his voice to invite customers in.

The gong sounded, and the street was much quieter. Haizhu got out of bed and checked the doors and windows, dragged the table against the door, and wrapped a fishing net pocket around the window edge to ensure that there would be a disturbance when the thief came, so she slept with peace of mind.

Yongning Wharf was noisy all night, and the wine shops on half the street did not blow out the oil lamps until dawn. When Haizhu got up early and left the house to eat on the street, he saw a drunk man in the alley who didn't know whether he knew life or death, the guy in the rice shop opened the door and was also bombarding the drunkards who were covered in filth, the woman kneading dough at the bun stall bent her neck and talked to the tofu seller on the side about how much money the acquaintance had made selling whale meat yesterday, and there was a sour and jealous blacksmith sitting in the blacksmith shop, looking at passers-by greedily.

Haizhu always felt that there was a gaze on her when she walked on the street, she didn't dare to hang around anymore, bought a bowl of wontons and filled her stomach casually, and hurriedly carried her burden to the dock.

The dock was guarded by officers and soldiers, and there were many fewer people looking around, Haizhu found an open place to stand, and when someone came to talk to her, she walked to the officers and soldiers with knives, and so on, and the thieves in the crowd gave up their plans to attack her.

"The merchant ship is coming, and it is going to go forward on the ship."

Haizhu carried the heavy burden in front of her, and took out the purse containing the household registration from the placket of her chest, and before the silk cloth was unfolded, a red-clothed soldier strode over, grabbed her shoulder with one hand, and pushed the crowd away from the boat.

"Hey!" Haizhu subconsciously stoodled and refused to leave.

"It's not to hurt you, I don't value the little silver on you." The red-clothed soldier chuckled, his voice sounded quite young, he didn't look back at her, dragged people onto the boat and said to the steward on the ship: "Steward Li, this girl is kind to my family, please help me take care of it, don't let the people on the boat bully her." ”

"Hey, little sixth master, don't worry."

Only then did Haizhu see his face clearly, he was about sixteen or seventeen years old, his eyebrows were thick, and the tail of his eyebrows was almost slanted into his sideburns, looking like a chic and bold master.

Shen Sui saw that Haizhu was full of doubts, and said with a smile: "My name is Shen Sui, the sixth in the family, you saved my second brother in the sea last night." ”

Haizhu vaguely remembered a face that was somewhat similar to him, glanced at the military uniform he was wearing, and thought about multiple friends and multiple roads, she smiled and called out to the sixth brother, "The benefactor can't talk about it, it's all a family when you go to sea, and anyone who sees someone falling into the water has to reach out and grab a handful." ”

"A little girl is very sophisticated, okay, I won't tell you, I'm going to sail." Shen Sui strode down the boat, and said as he walked: "I'll be on duty at the dock, when will you come here next time, come to me if you are in trouble." ”

When the merchant ship left the dock, the ship's steward beckoned Haizhu to follow him, went up to the second floor and found a place for her to sit, so that she could shout if she had something.

Naturally, the ship fare didn't ask for her.

The second floor is the living cabin, there is a sound of talking in the cabin, there are few people on the board, Haizhu did not walk around, she leaned on the side of the boat with her burden and looked down. On the first floor there were piles of goods, live chickens and ducks tied and thrown there, coarse cloth in boxes, wine jars wrapped in thick straw stuffed in straw piles, and other miscellaneous things, all brought from other places.

The ship was overloaded with cargo, and it went against the wind, the speed of the ship was much slower than when it came, and it was already past dawn when it arrived at Hui'an Wharf, and the people on the boat were hungry and hungry, and their legs were weak when they got off the boat.

Haizhu gave the household registration to the officers and soldiers, and immediately rushed to the stall to buy water and cakes, and when she had the goods in her stomach, she went to the grain store in the town to buy rice, noodles and rice noodles, and the pork on the pork stall was not fresh, she didn't ask for it, she picked two fat chickens and two catties of dried bamboo shoots, and returned to the dock with her hands full.

As the sun sets in the west, the fishing boats that have gone out to sea have returned, and the shopkeepers of the town's restaurants have gathered at the pier to select seafood. The fish don't live long out of the water, they pick up the fresh ones, and the fishermen who don't want them will take them home to pickle the salted fish. Haizhu squeezed in it and weighed more than two catties of spring fish, and I wanted to buy some shrimp but didn't see a big one.

"Haizhu," Zheng Haishun got off the boat and saw people, and beckoned: "You can be counted back, your milk will be worried to death." Seeing that she was carrying a lot of things, he took it and asked, "Have you seen your mother?" ”

"No, uncle, let's go back and talk."

"Okay, I sold the fish."

Shrimp and crabs are all on the bottom of the sea, fishing boats go out to catch mostly marine fish, when the sea was banned, the price of sea fish was expensive, and now the ban on fish is more and the price is cheaper. Frightened at sea, they only earned half a tael of silver a day, and the faces of the Zheng brothers were not very good-looking, and when they heard that Haizhu made a windfall yesterday, they were happy for her and couldn't help but feel sour at the same time.

"We were at sea yesterday, so why didn't we see a whale floating to the shore?" Zheng Changan looked at the sea and muttered, and said to his cousin: "Haishun, if you had sent Haizhu to find her mother before, it would be enough to work the boat for half a year." ”

"This is unexpected, it means that I don't have this luck to make a windfall." Zheng Haishun thought about it, he said to Haizhu that when she had the money, she would repair the family's boat, "After the boat is repaired and rented out, the boat can also support the three of you." ”

Haizhu vaguely agreed, and turned to talk about the death of several people last night in order to fight for whale meat, "When I was waiting for the boat at the dock, I heard that four people were not found, and the bodies were taken away by the tide after the high tide last night. ”

There are people buried in the sea every day, Zheng Haishun and they are all numb, and they don't even feel emotional, but the atmosphere is also cold, and there is no interest in talking. It wasn't until the fishing boat turned into the river and smelled the hot food that their tense bodies relaxed.

Haizhu saw Dongzhu and Fengping guarding the river from a distance, and when she saw her, the sisters and brothers danced like two monkeys.

Grandma Qi heard the movement and came out of the stove room, and saw that Haizhu was carrying chickens and fish, and she didn't know what else she was carrying on her back, the most eye-catching thing was that she was happy with her eyebrows, walking with the wind, and going out seemed to dissipate the depression on her body.

"Found your mother." She asked.

Haizhu glanced at the two children beside him, restrained the smile on his face, shook his head and said, "I found her house, but there is no one at home." ”

Feng calmed his mouth, and tears gathered in his eyes.

Dongzhu lowered his face, and the joy on his body was gone.

Every sentence is silent, but the silent movements are full of thoughts.

Grandma Qi was not surprised, she took a bag of fish and poured it into the basin, pointed to the two clucking live chickens and asked, "Are you rich?" ”

"At this time yesterday, a dead whale was pushed to the bay by the tide, and I went to the sea with the local people to grab dozens of catties, and sold it for more than 30 taels of silver when I went ashore." Seeing that her two siblings were attracted by her words, Haizhu described aloud to them what the whale looked like, "It is bigger than a merchant ship, and there is more blood, I am soaked in blood, you can smell whether there is still blood on my body." ”

Dongzhu and Fengping took it seriously, and the sister and brother sniffed carefully around her like two puppies.

Haizhu was happy, relieved her burden and held a handful of silver in front of the two of them, she exaggeratedly said: "We have made a fortune, and we don't need to eat porridge in the future." ”

Silver can make people forget most of their troubles, and Dongzhu and Fengping turn sadness into joy, thinking about what to buy and eat.

"I'll slaughter a chicken, milk you boil water, and we'll stew a chicken at night." Haizhu took the kitchen knife and took the bowl to put the chicken blood, sent Dongzhu and Fengping to take the little cousin in the circle chair out to play, turned to the dead stone house and said: "I can't use up more than 30 taels of silver to repair the ship, and when my ship is repaired, I will take my second uncle to the town to see the doctor." ”

"The doctor in the town has already seen it all, that's all, no need to waste any more money." Speaking of this, Grandma Qi didn't have much energy, she thought the same as Zheng Haishun, and asked Haizhu to rent out the boat after repairing it, "There is a ship with income every month, and the three of you sisters and brothers will not run out of food, and I will let go of half of my heart." ”

Haizhu didn't say anything, she wanted to be quiet for a few days, and planned to wait for the fishing boat to be repaired before talking about her plans.

"Sister-in-law, at home?"

"Here, come in." Grandma Qi wiped her hands and muttered, "It's Dongzhu's big horn mouth that shouted about your money, you don't talk about it later." ”