Chapter 102: Personal finishing touches, new ship opens (extra update!)
The familiar coastline gradually stretched out in Liang Ziqiang's sight.
He controlled the speed and direction of the boat and headed towards the small pier.
Rather than the big pier, he still prefers to dock the new boat at the small pier, which is the old place where his family has always moored the fishing boat.
There are fewer fishing boats here than at the big dock, so there are fewer people. When he brings back some valuable goods from the island, there won't be too many people watching. He plans to keep a low profile if possible.
This time, there was another eye-catching figure standing on the shore to welcome the new ship. Chen Xiangbei was looking towards him with full of anticipation.
In addition to his own brothers, he also invited some villagers with whom he had a good relationship. They also gathered on the shore, waiting to help as soon as the boat docked.
As soon as Liang Ziqiang and his father got off the boat, they joined the others in the water and pushed the new boat onto the beach. Just like the gondola last time, they had to park the new boat on the beach first and wait until it was officially launched to the sea before launching it into the water.
Chen Xiangbei was holding a long red envelope as usual. She ran to Liang Ziqiang and handed it to him along with the matches.
Taking it in his hand, he lit the match and lit the firecracker.
Her face and eyes were full of joy, but the moment the firecrackers exploded, she immediately looked cowardly, turned her head and ran away.
The flames were like golden and silver flowers blooming on the beach. When the smoke was soon blown away by the sea breeze, only red fragments of the earth were left on the yellow sand, like the congratulations and laughter of people at this moment, a few here and a few there.
"Defu, your family just bought a boat not long ago, and now you have a new boat. Your family is really prosperous recently!"
"No, no, this time it's Aqiang's own boat..." Liang's father explained, but the joy on his face looked no different from if he had bought a new boat himself.
The laughter turned to Liang Ziqiang again: "Young people are really amazing. Ah Qiang has been really popular with fish recently!"
"What do you mean recently? Is this the first day you met Ah Qiang? A few years ago, when the village was organized as a collective, he and I were assigned to the same production team. He was still a teenager at that time, but he brought more fish to the team than us old hands!"
"Yeah, he's been strong since he was young, and now he's getting stronger!"
"Have you noticed that the girl he was dating last year has been getting more and more lucky this year? In my opinion, his wife is also a lucky charm for him. Look, he just got her married and she's already got a new baby. Am I right?!" This was said by the woman.
"It seems so. I caught several red-bellied fish last time..."
Chen Xiangbei was standing aside, listening with great interest to the fishermen "bombing" Liang Ziqiang, but she never expected that the topic would suddenly turn to her. For a moment, she was a little caught off guard and her face began to turn red again...
"It's all thanks to the folks. Pomfret, pomfret, everyone will be more and more prosperous in the future!"
No matter who Liang Ziqiang was, he always remained calm and responded simply with a laugh, which helped Chen Xiangbei get out of her embarrassing situation.
In the chaos, his calf seemed to be rubbed by something like a fur ball. He looked down and saw that Duobao had come to the beach to join in the fun. The more lively the crowd, the more excited it became. It jumped up and down, and when it saw that Liang Ziqiang didn't notice it, it began to squeeze in and rub his leg.
"Lizhi, why did you bring Duobao here as well?" Liang Ziqiang knew without even thinking that it must have been Lizhi who brought it here.
Lizhi replied nonchalantly: "What does Duobao have? Go see Xiaohai!"
Liang Ziqiang looked behind Lizhi and saw Liang Xiaohai holding a long rope, on which was tied the turtle as big as a small basin...
Several children aged seven or eight in the village now treated Liang Xiaohai like a child king, and begged him flatteringly: "Xiaohai, can you let me touch your turtle?"
"Xiao Hai, next time I catch sparrows for you to play with, can you lend me your turtle for two days?"
"Xiao Hai, I want to stand on the back of your turtle and let it carry me like a car!"
"..." The more he said, the more outrageous it was. You are a half-grown brat. If you stand on a turtle, are you sure it can still crawl? It will die in a few minutes! Liang Xiaohai didn't think about these things. At this moment, he was so proud that his chin was raised to the sky. He felt extremely satisfied with his face, as if he had stood at the top of the little brats at the age of three or four with the power of a turtle.
"Exchange it for candy! Touch one candy, and you need a whole bag to stand on it!"
Liang Ziqiang heard this and felt sorry for the little turtle. If there was a kid who had the strength to take out a whole bag of candy, he would be sure that the turtle would not survive tonight...
I thought about it and realized that the wound on the turtle has almost healed by now. If I don’t release it into the sea, releasing it would probably become killing it.
"Xiao Hai, it's a good thing that you brought the turtle here. You are so sensible, you must want to release it today, right?" He stepped forward and coaxed and lured it, trying to regain control of the turtle.
Unexpectedly, Liang Xiaohai didn't fall into the trap at all. When he saw him coming, he decisively admitted his mistake and said:
"Uncle, I was wrong. I will take Guigui home now!"
Without waiting for an answer, he pulled the rope and ran back along the beach as if chasing the wind.
The slow-moving turtle was pulled by him to move at a lightning speed.
Lin Quansheng, who usually likes to predict auspicious days for people, was also at the beach. When he saw Liang Ziqiang, he pinched his fingers and said to him with an unfathomable expression:
"Qiangzi, your new boat is not simple! I counted with my fingers and it is the largest fishing boat in our village..."
Liang Ziqiang was stunned. No, Master, you pinched your fingers for a long time to tell me this? Anyone with eyes can see that my new 8.2-meter boat is the same as the one at Uncle Rui's house, and it is the largest boat in the village, right?
Unexpectedly, Lin Quansheng paused for a long while before continuing: "It will also be the most profitable fishing boat in our village! You will be even more powerful if you drive it. There will be more fish and shrimps in the future, and so much money that you will have to count it until your fingers are tired!"
When Liang Ziqiang heard this, he had some feelings for the master and said repeatedly: "What Uncle Quan said was all golden words, thank you for your good words!"
Lin Quansheng asked again: "Your father must have told you the date of the ship's opening, right? No need to wait, tomorrow will be the day. Tomorrow will be better than today!"
"My dad said, thank you. I'll go out to sea and catch some fish tomorrow and send you two big fish to thank you!"
When the villagers gradually dispersed, Liang's father, Liang's mother and Zifeng all went home one after another, leaving only Liang Ziqiang and Chen Xiangbei standing by the new boat, reluctant to leave.
Liang Ziqiang didn't expect that Chen Xiangbei also liked this boat so much. Seeing that there was no one else around, he walked to the side of the boat, reached out and touched the brand new paint surface of the boat's side. It was obvious that he couldn't let it go.
When she looked at him again, her eyes sparkled and she asked in a pleading tone:
"Can you let me ride on this boat in the future? I really want to try outing it!"
Liang Ziqiang couldn't help but want to laugh when he saw her trying to please him. As long as she didn't go out to sea in the sun every day, what's wrong with trying it occasionally? But he didn't say that, instead he deliberately smiled evilly and said, "Who are you asking?"
Chen Xiangbei was quite understanding and immediately softened her tone:
"Hubby, you are the best. If Afeng is not available to go out to sea someday, you can take me with you, okay?"
After marriage, Chen Xiangbei was still not used to calling him that. She usually either called him Aqiang or just called him "you". When he called him "husband", coupled with her soft voice at the moment, Liang Ziqiang felt his hands and feet go numb.
"Okay, okay, if you really want to go, let's go out to sea for a day and not cast a net, just go sea fishing!"
In fact, when he thought about it, it would be a good feeling to cruise on the sea with her, and he was quite looking forward to it.
The two did not stay here for too long. After all, tomorrow was the opening day and there were still many preparations to be made today.
He was busy all day long.
I first went to the home of Mr. Lu, a teacher in the village, and asked him to help write down a number of auspicious words with a brush, such as "the bow of the boat presses against the waves", "the boat goes with the current and is loaded with fish and shrimps", and "the sea is calm".
Then he went to Carpenter Liu's house to see whether the model boat he had made to represent the new ship was ready.
I found that there seemed to be not enough firecrackers at home, but I would need them when going out to sea and returning home tomorrow, so I went to the town and bought a few packs of Da Di Hong and a handful of incense.
Chen Xiangbei was no less busy than him, busy preparing the offerings for tomorrow. Chicken, fish, rice balls, Liang's mother taught her how to prepare them one by one.
The next day was another fine sunny day. He went to the Mazu Temple early in the morning as usual, laid out offerings, burned incense and bowed. After the worship, he personally placed the small boat on a wooden frame nearby, praying that Mazu would "look after" it at any time.
After doing all this, we came to the beach.
Although he had already had the experience of sending a new ship out to sea last month, it was the first time for Liang Ziqiang to personally operate and launch a ship.
Fortunately, he has memorized every step thoroughly in the past two days.
Chen Xiangbei handed over a cooked chicken and a cooked fish, both with red ribbons tied around their heads. He took them in his hands and placed them on the bow of the new boat.
Burning incense and paper, kowtowing to heaven and earth, everything was done in a proper manner, exactly the same as his father.
When the most exciting moment came, he reached out and untied the red cloth on the boat, revealing two bulging eyes on the bow. The moment he touched it with the brush, he felt that the whole boat seemed to be instantly given life by him. Perhaps everyone will have a subtle feeling when adding the finishing touch to their new boat! As they were about to set sail, Chen Xiangbei came over and quickly said to him: "Good luck, come back with a full load of fish!"
Amid the sound of firecrackers, the new ship was launched into the water. Liang Ziqiang and his brother boarded the ship and sailed out to sea.
Wherever the bow is pointing, the vast ocean is filled with fish and hope...
More chapters are coming! Daxie book friends' recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards, full subscriptions, and good reviews in the past two days. (PS: The help fee of 8 yuan in the previous chapter has been slightly adjusted to 6 yuan, and the rest has not changed.) Stable updates, exciting continues, please recommend, monthly tickets, and various motivations. Welcome to read the latest chapter!
(End of this chapter)
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