Sunlight streamed through the curtains, waking Wang Chu'an. He reached for the watch on the bedside table and saw it was half past six.
Though he moved as gently as he could, he still woke Fang Shiyu, who was sleeping in his arms. She asked sleepily:
"What time is it?"
"Half past six. Go back to sleep for a bit longer. I'll get up and see if breakfast is ready, then I'll come get you."
"I'm awake now and can't fall back asleep. I'll go with you!"
"Alright then! After breakfast, I'll bring the rice over, and once I buy all the seasonings, we can finally start cooking our own meals."
After the house was built, Wang Chu'an hadn't gotten married yet, so he never set up his kitchen and continued to eat with his parents. But now that he was married and they had separated households, it wouldn't be proper to keep going over there for daily meals.
"Okay. I'll listen to you."
Looking down at his new bride in his arms, he couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her forehead.
"You haven't even brushed your teeth yet. It stinks."
"Haha!"
Hearing her wrinkling her nose in mock disgust, he laughed, got out of bed, and started getting dressed.
Once Wang Chu'an was dressed and went out to wash up, Fang Shiyu prepared to get up as well. The moment she moved, her eyebrows furrowed and she let out a sharp gasp.
After washing up, Wang Chu'an came back to the room and saw that she was still sluggishly trying to get dressed. Seeing the slow, pained way she walked, he instantly understood what was wrong.
Heart aching for her, he hurried over to support her.
"Stop moving around like that. I'll fetch some water and you can wash up right here in the room!"
Seeing how carefully he was tending to her, Fang Shiyu blushed and whispered softly:
"It's your fault, you didn't hold back at all yesterday—you were like an ox."
Knowing that anything he said at this moment would be useless, he hurried to apologize.
"Right, right, it's all my fault."
Seeing him own up to it, Fang Shiyu looked at him and said:
"Then go heat up some hot water. I need to take a bath first, otherwise how can I even go out?"
That reminded him: after finishing everything last night, she had been so exhausted she fell asleep instantly. The alcohol had hit him hard too, and neither of them had gotten up to clean up the battlefield!
"Alright, I'll go get the water heating right now. Just sit and rest for a bit!"
Saying that, seeing she still intended to get up and walk, he gently guided her back to sit on the edge of the bed.
Fang Shiyu quickly whispered, "I need to go to the bathroom!"
Hearing his young bride's words, he understood what was going on. After telling her where the bathroom was located, he went to the kitchen to heat water for her bath.
When the water was about ready, he scooped it into a large basin and brought it into the room for her to bathe.
Once Fang Shiyu finished washing, Wang Chu'an supported her as they headed over to the ancestral home.
When they arrived, they saw Wang Lijuan and Song Fei packing their things with their little nephew, looking ready to leave.
"Brother-in-law, Sister, why aren't you staying a few more days?"
Seeing Wang Chu'an and Fang Shiyu arrive, Wang Lijuan smiled and pulled Fang Shiyu's hand toward the inner room, clearly wanting a private chat.
Meanwhile, brother-in-law Song Fei looked at him and said:
"Ah, what can we do? We have a lot of orders at the shipyard recently, working overtime around the clock. I only managed to get a day and a half off, I have to go back to work this afternoon!"
In fact, he knew the shipbuilding business was booming right now; at their little pier alone, five new boats had already been launched this year.
"I see. How are you getting back later?"
"We'll hitch a ride on Brother Jiang's truck to the bus station, then take the public bus back."
...
After chatting with his brother-in-law at the entrance, he heard his mother calling them for breakfast.
Not seeing his father at the table, he asked where he went and learned that because the weather had been nice the past few days, his father and eldest cousin had gone out to sea early in the morning.
Right after breakfast, the eldest cousin drove over in his truck, and Wang Chu'an went out to greet him. They loaded the things Chen Hong had prepared for Wang Lijuan and her husband into the trunk of the car. After a brief chat, the cousins drove off, as they were also pressed to get back to work.
Wang Chu'an said goodbye to his mother, hoisted the sack of rice she had prepared for them onto his shoulder, and walked home holding Fang Shiyu's hand.
Back home, Fang Shiyu pulled him into the bedroom, took a stack of money out of her pocket, and whispered to him:
"A'an, Mom just gave me 500 yuan. She said it's for us to buy things to set up our home."
He knew what his wife was worried about—she was afraid the sisters-in-law would feel resentful if they found out, which could harm family relations. But Wang Chu'an understood that his mother likely gave the same amount to each family.
"It's fine. Since Mom gave it to you, just keep it. I still have money."
"Alright, how much do you have left? Will it be enough to buy things later? Or should I give you some?"
"No need. I sold a fish yesterday and made 500 yuan."
Hearing that a single fish sold for 500 yuan, Fang Shiyu asked in astonishment:
"Ah? What kind of fish is that valuable?"
So he told her all about what happened yesterday.
After listening, she couldn't help marveling, "You're so lucky!"
"Haha, of course. How else could I have managed to marry such a beautiful wife like you?"
Fang Shiyu gave him a sideways glance at his silly grin and said:
"Hurry up and go to town to buy the things we need, or how are we going to cook lunch?"
"Alright, I'm heading out right now!"
...
Wang Chu'an didn't go straight to town; instead, he first stopped by Xu Wenjie's house to borrow a bicycle.
When he arrived, Xu Wenjie's mother told him he was still asleep—it seemed he really had been drunk under the table yesterday.
Riding the borrowed bicycle into town, he didn't head directly for daily necessities; instead, he first bought two buckets. Then he found an empty alley and transferred the crabs he had gathered while foraging on the reef and the fish he had caught into them.
Coming to an unmarked private restaurant, Wang Chu'an knocked on the door and heard footsteps approaching.
"Old Feng, are you home?"
"I am. Who is it?"
"It's me, Wang Chu'an!"
"A'an, why are you here so early? Have you eaten?" With that, he opened the door.
"Hey, I've eaten."
"What brings you here so early?" Old Feng pulled out a cigarette, offered him one, and asked.
"Well, some friends and I went fishing and caught some fish and a few mud crabs. I got married yesterday and didn't have time to come by, so I brought them over early this morning."
"Ah, you got married yesterday? Congratulations, congratulations!"
"Haha, thanks!"
"Oh right, I heard someone at your village pier sold a 100-jin Bahaba fish yesterday. Is that true?"
"What 100-jin? It was just over 50 jin!"
"Oh, the word must have gotten distorted along the way then. Do you know who sold it?"
"Haha, I certainly do."
"Who?"
"Me! I caught it yesterday afternoon."
"You?"
"That's right. Because I got lucky and caught such a big fish in the afternoon, I went out fishing again last night."
"Haha, true enough. You really do have incredible luck—how many years has it been since anyone saw a Bahaba fish that big? Who did you sell it to, and how much did you get?"
"Chen Strong bought it from the town. I sold it for 500 yuan!"
"Aiya, you sold it too cheap! If you had brought it to me, I could have given you 600."
"Ah, I didn't know, and I couldn't transport it myself at the time. If it had died halfway here, I would have taken a complete loss."
"That's true too!"
"Why have fish prices gone up so drastically lately?"
"Well, you see, the children of wealthy people in the city are on summer vacation and come down here to play. As long as you have good goods, money is no object to them."
Hearing this news, Wang Chu'an felt a stir in his heart. If he could catch a few more large fish recently, he could make a tidy profit.
After chatting for a while, Old Feng took all the fish Wang Chu'an had brought. Although there were no rare species among them, the weight and quality were quite decent.
Once weighed and calculated, the total came out to 115 yuan.