Boss Fu took a sip of the liquor, and the pure aroma of the baijiu made him squint his eyes in delight.
"They were divided up. Each of them received a large yellow croaker weighing one pound and two smaller ribbonfish."
Other fish such as sea bream, squid, and shrimp were each divided into portions of about two pounds.
She gave Aqing and Fangmin the greenfin fish she had caught, and also gave them two extra pomfret so her mother could make soup with them.
"By the way, I took two extra ribbonfish from your Uncle Chen. The kid wouldn't take them back no matter what I did. I finally had to get angry before he would take them back."
Fu Wan was relieved to hear this. Although the time spent at sea was short, it was still their first time at sea, so she should at least give them some good fish.
Moreover, no one messed up this time at sea; even Fu Qing was very capable.
Meanwhile, as everyone returned home with their fish, their families erupted in excitement.
When Fu Dahai returned, the family dog was the first to rush out.
Hearing the noise, Qian Jing grabbed a pair of scissors and put them in her bosom. She walked to the window and saw that it was her man, which made her relax.
"Why are you back so early? Didn't you say you were going to the far seas?"
Because of the cold weather and the lack of entertainment at home, Qian Jing and her son finished their meal and went to bed early, closing the door behind them.
Fu Dahai grinned. "We were overwhelmed with cargo on this voyage. All three ships were packed full, so we came back ahead of schedule."
Fu Dahai didn't tell Qian Jing what happened on Fu Wan's ship. Firstly, he didn't know much about it and he wasn't one to meddle, and secondly, he didn't want his wife to worry.
Fu Dahai went inside and glanced at his sleeping son before remembering the fish he had left at the door.
He carried his things into the kitchen, where Qian Jing was cooking noodles for him.
We rarely eat noodles at home, and a handful of dried noodles is something we save from the beginning of the year to the end because we can't bear to eat them.
People say that you get dumplings before you get on the train and noodles after you get off. Qian Jing thought that although her husband got on a boat instead of a train, he still traveled a long way back.
So I gritted my teeth and cooked him a bowl of noodles, and even cracked an egg into it.
Fu Dahai didn't pay attention to what was cooking in the pot; he was only thinking about giving Qian Jing the fish he had brought back.
"Honey, look at all this stuff, what should we do with it?"
Qian Jing stirred the noodles a couple of times with her chopsticks; she knew that going out to sea would earn her a share of the catch.
Previously, when Fu Dahai worked as a boatman, he would receive a pound or two of fish as a share from kind employers.
However, when she saw the half-meter-long ribbonfish that Fu Dahai took out of the bag, she was so shocked that she almost dropped her chopsticks into the pot.
"Wow, how come there are such good ribbonfish?"
Qian Jing immediately put down her chopsticks and came over. She touched the ribbonfish, and Fu Dahai was about to say it was dirty, but it was too late.
"This ribbonfish doesn't have any rotten belly or other problems, why did you bring it back?"
"Dahai, Awan's family is kind and honest; we can't do anything like stealing!"
Fu Dahai was also helpless upon hearing this, and he patted Qian Jing's hand.
"Don't worry, this is Uncle Gouwa, the one Awan's father assigned to us."
Not only do I have them, but Xiao Chuan, Fu Shi, A Qing, and all the boatmen who go out to sea have them too!
"And what's so special about ribbonfish? Look what else is in the bag!"
Qian Jing opened the snakeskin bag with suspicion, and what she saw made her so frightened that she almost lost her balance.
"A... a big yellow flower?!"
"Heavens above, why were there also large yellow flowers?"
Seeing Qian Jing's shocked expression, Fu Dahai found it somewhat amusing.
"Not only yellow flowers, but also abalone!"
Actually, when Boss Fu distributed the items to them before, Fu Dahai couldn't believe it either.
I thought it would be good enough to get a few sea bream, but to my surprise, Boss Fu immediately started sharing abalone and large yellow croaker.
Although these large yellow croakers are smaller than the ones that Boss Fu sold to Fu San, they are still large yellow croakers!
Qian Jing stood there stunned for two or three seconds before grabbing Fu Dahai's hand and saying, "This... how about we switch it back? It's such a good thing, I feel guilty keeping it."
Fu Dahai shook his head upon hearing this, "If this thing is sent back, Awan and the others won't let me go with them."
When they were dividing up the goods, Boss Fu also said something. This was Fu Wan's instruction; if they didn't take anything, it would be considered disobeying the ship owner's orders.
Although Fu Liang and his crew didn't manage to catch any large yellow flowers on their boat, they still managed to get a small share.
Although it's small, it's enough for the kids to try something new.
Qian Jing finally came to her senses. Right, how could she return something given to her by her employer?
She grabbed Fu Dahai's hand and said, "Then let's not return it. Dahai, you have to work hard for Awan and the others. This is a kind of treatment that others can only envy."
"I know about this. You see, the ribbonfish and abalone are both quite nice. Why don't you take some back to your parents' house tomorrow?"
His son was born with a weak constitution, and over the years, his mother-in-law's family has helped him a lot.
Especially his brother-in-law, who would buy half a pound of meat and send it over as soon as he got his wages, making him feel embarrassed.
Qian Jing was naturally happy that her husband was thinking about her family.
She glanced at the fish in the snakeskin bag. "Just take two sea bream. We can sell the ribbonfish and abalone; they can fetch a dollar or two."
With a dollar or two, at least my son's medicine money for next month is covered.
Fu Dahai didn't object when he heard this. In fact, when he brought the things back, he had already guessed that his wife wouldn't keep the two ribbonfish.
“It’s alright, keep this big yellow croaker. It’s not even a pound, so it won’t fetch a dollar. Steam it tomorrow, and you and your son can eat it.”
Hearing Fu Dahai say this, Qian Jing's eyes also reddened.
The noodles in the pot were ready, and she hurriedly turned away to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes before taking the noodles out.
"You eat first, I'll pick out the fish."
"After you finish eating, take the fish you want to sell to your third uncle as soon as possible."
Fu Dahai nodded. He washed his hands and then realized that his wife had actually cooked him noodles.
He picked up a mouthful of noodles and found a large egg under the bowl.
This brought tears to the eyes of the man who toiled away every day.
"Honey, this noodle is delicious. You have a couple of bites first, and I'll eat the rest."
White noodles are a rare treat, and Qian Jing initially wanted to refuse, but seeing Fu Dahai insisting on holding onto the noodles with his chopsticks, she had no choice.
She took a bite and then went to sort through the pile of fish again.
She sold the valuable abalone and ribbonfish, as well as the pomfret and grey pomfret. She kept the large yellow croaker, the sea bream and shrimp, and the squid and octopus as well, so she could make dumplings for her son tomorrow.
After finishing his bowl of noodles, Fu Dahai slurped down the soup before wiping his mouth and taking the fish that Qian Jing had packed to Fu San's house.
Qian Jing packed the fish she was eating into a bowl and was about to clear the dishes when she realized that Fu Dahai hadn't eaten the egg.
After so many years of marriage, Qian Jing knew that this was something he had left for her.
Her eyes welled up with tears again. This man was still the same as when they first got married, saving eggs for her.
After finishing the egg, Qian Jing felt her heart suddenly filled with something, and she knew that her family's life would definitely get better and better, just like the song playing on the village radio!
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