As the father and son were talking, Chen Hong drove the car to the village chief's house. The gate opened, and Aunt Guo poked her head out. When she saw that it was Chen Hong returning, she nagged her for a few words, telling her not to work too hard and to be careful.

Chen Hong casually agreed, took out the net from the bucket, scooped out two one-pound stone bass and one two-pound spotted bass from the water tank, and then put three ribbonfish in the bucket and took them into the yard to place on the stone table under the tree.

After getting in the car, he said to Aunt Guo, the village head, "Close the door and go to sleep, I'm leaving." Then he drove off and went home.

The elderly couple were left dumbfounded. "No, did she hear what I said?" Aunt Guo was still rambling on, not having reacted yet.

“What are you listening to? I’ve been saying that to her all the way here. Why don’t you go and see if this child has left any fish for us again? You know how hard it is to catch fish, getting up early and working late, leaving your family behind, and you don’t even know how to make a little more money, but you’re really generous in giving us fish to eat.”

"Oh, you left fish for her again. You're going to ask for fish instead of picking her up. This child, I didn't even realize it, why didn't you stop her?"

"Why are you stopping me? You've known her for six or seven years. How many times have you stopped her from giving you something she wanted to give you?"

"What should we do then? Send it back to her tomorrow?"

"Why send anything? Believe me, if you send it back tomorrow, not only will you get it back exactly the same, but you'll also have to bring back other things. Just eat it. It's a gift from your daughter. If you think of it that way, you'll feel at ease when you eat it." As he spoke, the village chief was no longer in a hurry, but instead laughed out loud.

"Old man, you're getting a good deal and still acting innocent. But that's just how your own daughter is, maybe we should just adopt her."

"Absolutely not. We're old, and Guoqing isn't around. If we become relatives, it will only be a burden to her. Let's just stay as we are. We'll help each other out as much as we can. Yu Zhaohua and Chen Hong haven't gotten rid of each other yet. If we add the two of us to the mix, how will the children take care of three elderly people?"

Aunt Guo didn't say anything more after hearing this. Actually, she wanted to acknowledge Chen Hong as her relative. But then she thought, what help could she and her husband possibly give Chen Hong? If they really became relatives, wouldn't they be a burden to Chen Hong's child when they became unable to move around in a few years?

Although I have a son, it's not realistic for me to go to Jinan to live with him when I get old. Right now, my son and his family of three are still renting a place with a total area of ​​50 square meters. If the two of us went there, we would have to live on top of each other.

If she were to retire in the village, her son, who works in Jinan, certainly wouldn't be able to stay by her side to take care of her. Wouldn't that become a burden on Chen Hong?

It's impossible to ignore it then; Chen Hong isn't that heartless, and besides, the villagers would laugh at her. She can't acknowledge this relative; Aunt Guo's mood soured at the thought of her future old age.

I picked up the bucket and looked at it. There were enough fish to last for several days, so I couldn't waste them. I took the ribbonfish out, gutted them, put them in freezer bags, and froze them for later.

The sea bass and rock bass in the bucket seem perfectly fine, they'll be ready to eat tomorrow. Even though it's not a lot, it's worth at least 300 yuan. Food really does cost money!

As Aunt Guo tidied up, she felt sorry for the family. The village chief, being easygoing, told her, "You're free tomorrow, so go to her house early and see if there's any chores to do. Help her out so she can go out to sea to fish."

The child had no choice; if she didn't take advantage of her youth and ability to earn more money, she couldn't rely on anyone else. Fortunately, Chen Hong was a capable and hardworking girl; most people wouldn't have been able to make a living at sea.

Don't worry too much. Did you see Chen Hong's harvest today? She can easily make three or four thousand yuan. After deducting fuel costs, she'll still have a net profit of over three thousand yuan. If she goes out to sea for fifteen days a month, she can definitely earn fifty thousand yuan. If she works hard for a year, she can buy a house in Jinan.

"This child is capable. Yu Zhaohua will help her take care of the child, and we'll help her with housework in our spare time. Let her work hard for a few years; it might be tough and tiring, but things will get better after a few years."

"Chen Hong makes so much money from fishing? Doesn't she earn more than other men?" Aunt Guo asked, somewhat incredulous.

"You didn't go to the dock to see. Other boats only have small squid, small chub, small shrimp, small mackerel, and small mullet. It's rare to find one weighing more than 2 jin (1 catties)."

They're small and worthless; a whole bunch of them won't sell for more than a few hundred yuan. Three or four grown men on a boat can go out and bring back two or three hundred kilograms a day, but they won't earn more than two thousand yuan.

"Look at Chen Hong's truck; there's not a single fish weighing less than a pound. And look at the fish she saved for our family—they're all over thirty yuan a pound. She doesn't even consider the cheap fish. Do you think this child is capable?"

Aunt Guo's eyes widened: "I didn't notice, you have good eyesight. There's an old saying that making a living at sea is selective."

They all went out to sea to fish, on the same ocean, but some people made a fortune while others caught nothing.

"Yes, this is really strange. In my life of fishing, although I rarely lose everything, I also rarely lose everything. My dad used to say that I have a decent character."

Do you know why Liu Laohu's family at the village entrance buys fish? It's because his family has never been able to make a living from the sea since his grandfather's generation. Whenever a man in his family goes on a boat, whichever boat he goes on, that boat always flops – it's really unlucky.