Just as he walked out of the Mangrove Forest, he saw everyone else heading home too.
Glancing at his watch, he realized it was nearly 11:00 AM. Deciding not to delay any further, he joined them on the way back.
Along the way, he bumped into his mother Chen Hong, eldest sister-in-law Shen Fang, second sister-in-law Zhou Min, and younger sister Wang Xiuxiu.
Wang Xiuxiu had sharp eyes and spotted him right away. She called out, "Third Brother, when did you come to glean the tidal flats? How come I didn't see you?"
Hearing Wang Xiuxiu's shout, he waved at them and quickened his pace to catch up.
"Eldest sister woke me up to have a meal, and after that, I had nothing to do. I heard from her that you all were gleaning here, so I came over to take a look."
"As soon as I got here, I saw a lot of people on the beach, so I didn't go over to join the excitement. Instead, I wandered around the nearby Mangrove Forest for a bit."
After listening to him, Wang Xiuxiu said indignantly,
"Third Brother, you have no idea. Earlier this morning, right after we got here, we saw Zhou Yangyang from Uncle Zhou's family carrying a seventeen or eighteen-pound green grouper and running toward the purchasing station. I heard he sold it for over twenty yuan! Everyone working at the wharf saw it, and then the whole crowd swarmed over there. It ruined my chances of picking up anything good today. By the way, Third Brother, did you harvest anything coming out to glean?"
With that, she craned her neck to peek into the bucket in his hand, spotting a mud crab and a bunch of scallops inside.
"Third Brother, you're pretty lucky today! If you sell all these, you can probably make two or three yuan. Why aren't you tying up this mud crab? If it loses a leg, it won't be worth much."
"I came out in a hurry today and forgot to bring rope for the crabs."
"I brought some! I'll tie it up!"
She took a piece of rope from her pocket, immediately fished the mud crab out of the bucket, held the rope in one hand and the crab in the other, and tied the crab up neatly and quickly.
Watching her deft technique, he figured he could probably manage it too, and decided he would take out a mud crab to practice his skills when he got back later.
After all, this was a skill the original body already possessed; he just hadn't gotten the hang of it yet.
"Since it's tied up, you take it and sell it for some pocket money."
"Heehee, then I won't be polite!"
With that, she placed that mud crab into her own bucket.
Seeing the pale tint of a hangover still lingering on Wang Chu'an's face, his mother Chen Hong asked with concern,
"Third One, does your body feel uncomfortable? How about I boil some hangover soup for you to drink in a bit?"
In his past life, Wang Chu'an had grown up in an orphanage and had never experienced parental affection.
Now, suddenly having parents, brothers, and sisters made him feel a trace of unease in his heart.
Yet there was far more happiness than anything else—after all, he was finally no longer alone in the world.
Looking into his mother's caring eyes, he smiled and said, "Mom, I'm fine. The alcohol wore off long ago!"
Looking at her son's playful and cheeky expression, Chen Hong chided him,
"You! You're getting married tomorrow, so you must drink less when you go out from now on. Drinking too much hurts your body."
"Mom, I know. I was just happy yesterday, which is why I drank a few extra cups. It won't happen again."
"As long as you know. Did you tell A-Jie and the others what I asked you yesterday about accompanying you to fetch the bride tomorrow?"
"It's all settled. They're coming over early tomorrow morning."
"Alright, as long as you've got it all planned out."
She then turned to her two daughters-in-law and asked, "How did you two do with your harvest today?"
The eldest sister-in-law looked at him and said, "Sigh, there were so many people there wasn't even a place to put your feet down. What harvest could there be? I only dug up a few venus clams."
The second sister-in-law chimed in, "I chipped off some small oysters and surf clams. I'll head back and fry an egg with them for the kids tonight!"
"True, there really were way too many people today. As it happens, I still have some scallops left. I'll make you guys some garlic-steamed scallops tonight!"
"Great, then they'll have something good to eat tonight!"
Chatting casually, they arrived home to find that the eldest sister had already finished cooking the meal. Everyone washed their hands and prepared to eat.
In fact, after his eldest and second brothers got married, his father Wang Mangul had divided the household. Because the old family house couldn't possibly accommodate everyone, whenever a son got married, they would build a house for him in the village and prepare pots, pans, and ladles; that counted as dividing the family.
For the past two days, everyone had been eating together at the old house, mainly because he was getting married and everyone had come over to help.
His eldest sister, Wang Lijuan, had also gotten married two years prior to a high school classmate of hers, and the two of them currently worked at the county shipyard.
His family didn't hold any views favoring boys over girls; as long as the children had the ability to study, they would keep funding their education!
During dinner, the three nephews, two nieces, and the eldest sister's toddler nephew who had just learned to walk all returned as well.
His eldest brother Wang Chuening had three children—two boys and a girl. The oldest was 9, and the youngest was only 3.
His second brother Wang Chuanguo had two children—a boy and a girl. The oldest was 6, and the youngest was also 3.
The children were all close in age and played together whenever they had free time. Figuring they could share a single dividing wall to save space, the eldest and second brothers had built their houses side by side.
Moreover, the eldest and second brothers were close in age; right after the oldest got married, it was time to consider the second one's marriage.
As for himself and the fourth sibling, they were still in school at the time, so their matters weren't considered so early. Consequently, his house wasn't built alongside the eldest brother's.
Later, considering that he often had to go out to cook banquets for other people, he chose a location with convenient transportation and built his house near the roadside in the village.
Originally, the plan was to build his house and the fourth sibling's house together, but then the fourth sibling got decent grades in high school and had a chance of getting into university, so they weren't in a hurry to build a house for him anymore.
When the children came back and saw him, they cheerfully came over to his side and asked, "Third Uncle, when are you going to fetch Third Aunt?"
"Tomorrow morning, to bring your Third Aunt back."
"Can't we go get her now? Why do we have to wait until tomorrow?"
"Fetch—fetch—fetch the aunt-in-law."
Being asked this and that by this group of little kids, he felt his head swelling from all their questions, so he quickly said,
"Alright, hurry up and go wash your hands for dinner, or your mothers will come out and spank your bottoms!"
"Not urgent—"
"It's fine."
"They're still dishing out the food!"
...
After the sister-in-law and eldest sister finished dishing out the food, they saw that the children still hadn't gone to wash their hands and called out,
"Hurry up and wash your hands! Don't you want to eat?"
Amidst the scolding and urging from their respective mothers, the children finally washed their hands before starting to eat, though the younger ones still needed the adults to feed them.
After the meal, Chen Hong said to him, "Go over to your uncle's house later and haul the big wok and other things we'll need tomorrow over here first."
"The earthen stove was built yesterday. Put the wok on it later and start a fire to test whether it works well."
"Alright, I know. Are there any other things?"
Chen Hong thought for a moment and said, "There'll be over a dozen tables of people tomorrow. All the other dishes at home are prepared; I just don't know if your dad and the others will have any harvest from going out to sea today."
"If there aren't any suitable fish, go down to the wharf later and tell A-Jun, the fishmonger, to hold a few fish for us. Also, if there are any other decent seafood items, use your own judgment and order some."
"Got it. Once dad and the others get back, I'll go down to the wharf to take a look and we'll talk then. For now, I'll go over to uncle's house to haul back the things we need for tomorrow!"
"Alright. Don't forget to tell your grandparents and your uncle's family to come over for dinner tonight!"
"Okay, I know!"
With that, he walked outside, casually grabbing a piece of rope used for tying crabs on his way.
Instead of going straight to his uncle's house, he went home first, intending to practice his crab-tying skills.
Back at home, he went to the second bedroom where he had slept last night, found a pack of cigarettes, pulled out a Mudan cigarette, and took a blissful drag.
In his past life, he had been a heavy smoker, picking up the habit before even finishing junior high school. He figured he probably wouldn't be able to quit in this lifetime either.
Smoking his cigarette, he pulled over a small stool and sat down, took out the prepared rope, and released one of the crabs from the Space.
He pinned the crab down with his foot, recalled the technique for tying crabs from his mind, and then got to work. With a few quick motions, the crab was tied up. He gave a soft chuckle as he looked at the secured crustacean.
"Looks like I've got a pretty good talent for this."