Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982 - Chapter 53

Chapter 53: The Boat Heads to the Storm Shelter

Father Ye put down his bowl and quickly responded, “We need to head to the storm shelter now.”

This boat had just been repaired and was their family’s treasure; they couldn’t afford any damage to it.

Although based on past experience, having just entered July, there shouldn’t be any major typhoons, but it was better to be safe than sorry – they couldn’t take this risk.

“Dad, let me go with you!”

“Trying to slack off from work?” Father Ye glanced at him sideways.

“No way, how could I? Haven’t you seen how hardworking I’ve been these past few days? The storm shelter shouldn’t be far, take me along to see it, and maybe teach me how to operate the boat on the way?”

The storm shelter was in their town’s waters, indeed quite close by. Taking him to see it wouldn’t be a problem, so Father Ye thought for just a moment before nodding in agreement.

Ye Yaodong went with his father to operate the boat, while the others continued working at the homestead as usual. On land, there was no impact at all – the sun still hung high in the sky, and there wasn’t even any wind.

It wasn’t until they got on the boat that he really felt the typhoon was truly coming – waves were rolling on the sea surface, creating layer upon layer of spray.

Many small wooden boats, just a few meters long, were floating on the sea surface, reminiscent of the small boats from ancient times.

The boatmen were putting all their strength into rowing their oars, presumably all heading to the storm shelter. Ye Yaodong watched them nervously, worried that a single wave might crash in and capsize their boats. Fortunately, their family’s boat was relatively large and didn’t rely on manual rowing, having been fitted with an engine and other drive systems.

In this era, these small wooden boats were still very common and would only gradually be phased out after a few more years. Even the pleasure boats in parks in future times would be much more advanced than these.

“Dad, since we’re heading to the storm shelter anyway, why don’t we cast a net? No point in wasting the trip – even if we just catch some small fish and shrimp, they’ll make good dishes.”

“Mm.”

To make the most of the opportunity, his father taught him how to operate the boat, how to cast the net, and even let him try steering…

He pretended to listen and learn, but couldn’t help saying: “Dad, Ah Guang taught me a few days ago!”

“So you’re saying that after someone teaches you once, you know everything and don’t need to learn anymore, is that it?”

“Uh… no, you have more experience, go on, please continue…”

Father Ye only pulled up the net when they were approaching the storm shelter.

“Oh? Not a bad catch! I see a large blue crab!”

After emptying out the catch, Ye Yaodong first picked out the shrimp and crabs, then sorted through the rest: “Yellow croaker, black croaker, spring fish, water valley fish, small pomfret, sea eel, small cuttlefish, small squid… they’re quite plump too, all full of roe… Dad, for just a short trawl, this net’s got quite a catch!”

“Mm, maybe because of the typhoon weather, all these seafood got swept in by the waves.”

This net cast hadn’t been wasted.

After storing everything away, the boat finally entered the storm shelter.

The storm shelter was a port without loading and unloading equipment; its sole purpose was to provide shelter for boats during storms, a harbor to avoid strong winds and waves.

Their town had three fishing boat anchorage points: Yujing, Yangtou, and Hengshan. Hengshan was the longest, stretching about 3 kilometers from anchorage to sea entrance, and with a standard sea wall on the south bank for support, making boats anchored in the port relatively safe during typhoons.

In the narrow storm shelter, only about a hundred meters wide, Ye Yaodong could see boats of all sizes packed tightly together.

As far as the eye could see, except for the power-generating windmills spinning frantically on some small fishing boats, all other fishing vessels had been properly secured and remained motionless.

After Father Ye moored the boat and secured it, he told him to gather their catch so they could head home together.

Walking on the stone path carrying a bucket of fish, Ye Yaodong watched a bus drive by and craned his neck to look at it, frowning as he said, “Dad, couldn’t we take a bus? It would be so much faster – we’d be home in less than ten minutes, but this will take forever to walk.”

“What bus? Are your legs made of gold? It’s just a few steps – we’ll be home in an hour of walking.”

An hour – he sighed. People nowadays really could walk.

In the future, young people’s legs would truly be precious – they’d ride electric bikes even for five-minute walks through the village.

Ye Yaodong’s legs were almost numb by the time they got home, following behind his father.

Father Ye picked out the good catches that could fetch some money and put them in a separate bucket, “Go call your mother back to clean the fish, and then help with the work. I’ll take these to sell.”

Couldn’t they let him sit down and catch his breath for a moment?

The elderly mother spoke up, “What’s the rush? Sit down and have some water first. I just made a bucket of tea, it needs to cool down anyway. Eastern can take it over later.”

Father Ye glanced at them but said nothing more, just picked up the bucket and headed out.

Though the morning had been sunny and bright, by afternoon clouds had drifted in and it turned gloomy, but by evening the sunset appeared, followed by a sky full of evening glow after the sun went down – typhoon weather was just this unpredictable.

From a typhoon’s formation to landfall there would be a period of several days, and coastal cities would be affected differently based on its trajectory.

It alternated between cloudy and sunny for two days, until the third day when thick clouds finally gathered and heavy rain began to fall. Work on the house had stopped too – they’d have to wait until after the typhoon passed to continue.

Having nothing to do after breakfast, Ye Yaodong squatted in the doorway under the corridor, watching this unpredictable weather. It had been pouring rain during breakfast, but now the sun was actually out?

The children in the house couldn’t sit still either – as soon as the rain stopped, they all rushed out to splash in the water. He scolded them a few times but couldn’t stop them, so he gave up trying to manage them – anyway, when they all got wet, they’d all get spanked together.

“Ah Qing, there’s no rain now, want to go for a walk by the sea?” he called out to Lin Xiuqing, who was weaving nets inside.

“Why go to the seaside during a typhoon? We might get swept away by waves.”

“The tide is going out now, it’s fine. The sun is even out… come on…”

“I’m busy…”

“You can weave nets anytime, come on, let’s go look at the waves.” He said while pulling her up.

With so many people in the house, pulling and tugging didn’t look good, so Lin Xiuqing had to give in and stand up, complaining a few times about him interrupting her work…

But as soon as they came out of the house, they saw the group of children playing in the water, and she immediately flew into a rage, “Elder Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, these little brats are splashing in the water, they’re all wet!”

Two figures immediately rushed out from the house, and soon the children’s wailing could be heard.

After Lin Xiuqing finished spanking the children and changed their clothes, she was again pulled by Ye Yaodong towards the seaside.

She complained as they walked: “In this typhoon weather, it’s going to rain again soon, why are you dragging me out? We can go to the seaside anytime. Everyone else is staying inside, but you insist on going out…”

“Stop nagging, I’m taking you for a walk to see if we can find anything to collect?”

“Collect what? How do you know there’s anything to collect?”

“We’ll know when we get there and look.”

“We didn’t bring a bucket…”

“I’ve got a sack in my pocket!”