After staying home as a stay-at-home dad for half a month, Feng Ye's days were fulfilling and busy, and the three fishing boats that had gone out to sea finally returned.
However, without him going out with them, their income plummeted.
The Donglai ship only earned 28,000, the Dongsheng ship earned slightly less at 25,000, while the Fengshou ship fell in between, earning 26,000.
Everyone said that without Ah Ye on the boat, their luck had turned particularly bad; at most, they would only catch three or four thousand catties of fish, most of which were useless miscellaneous fish and shrimp.
With the previous savings and the workshop's income, the final payments for the Purple Qi and Fresh Fish ships were finally made up, but there wasn't much more.
If Feng Ye wants his older brother and Ah Can to have a prosperous New Year, he has to personally go out to sea to ensure a good income.
That was his original plan.
So he stayed at home for a few more days, and on the first day of the twelfth lunar month, he boarded the Donglai and prepared to embark on his last fishing trip before the new year.
This voyage will only last a little over half a month, and we expect to return before the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month.
Because there are no auspicious days after the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, his daughter's full-month celebration was set for the 20th, and he had to rush back to handle it.
The name of their daughter has been chosen: Feng Xinyue. Ye Qingling chose the name, and his opinion was ignored.
Because he didn't know how to choose a name, he used the dictionary method and ended up choosing the character "馨".
Ye Qingling disagreed, saying that the character had too many strokes, making it too difficult for the child to learn to write his name later.
They even said that if they didn't want their little girl to be exposed to drafts in the future, they should use this word.
Feng Ye thought about it and agreed that it made sense, so he suggested that they simply name him Feng Yiyi, as it has the fewest strokes and is the easiest to learn.
Ye Qingling was amused by his antics, and then deprived him of the right to name the child. After some thought, she decided to name him Feng Xinyue.
...
The first day of the twelfth lunar month was a beautiful day, with bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.
The only downside was that the sea breeze was a bit strong, making the clothes on my body flutter loudly, and it was also very cold.
However, this did not affect everyone's mood.
As the ship set sail, Feng Ye stood at the bow, gazing at the undulating sea, his heart filled with anticipation for the harvest of this voyage.
The ship's crew gathered on the deck, chatting and laughing, all very excited.
Everyone was eager to make a big splash on their last voyage before the new year.
However, it was too cold outside. Soon after the ship left the dock, everyone went back into the cabin, sat around the fireplace, and took out playing cards.
Bored on the ship, and having just set sail with nothing to do, the only thing to do was play cards to kill time.
Feng Ye watched as everyone went into the cabin, and after standing at the bow of the ship for a while, he finally went into the cabin.
When Luo Zhiping saw him come in, he quickly stood up and waved his hand: "I was just about to go out and call you. Hurry up, let's have a game together. It's better to play than watch them play."
There are eight people on the boat, all of whom are here except for Ah-chan, who is steering the boat.
Ye Chenliang and three boatmen had already started the game, playing at 80 points, which is leveling up, and were having a great time.
Luo Zhiping and a boatman were left to watch from the sidelines, occasionally cracking jokes.
"Okay, let's have some fun then."
Feng Ye smiled, walked over and sat down. "What shall we play?"
"There are only three of us, so let's... go for the top spot! Five cents a card, and a Spring or a Bomb comes with a bonus, how about it?"
"Did you bring money with you?"
"Why bring money when you go to sea? There's nowhere to spend it."
"Then what's the point of playing? It's better to have no stakes and just play for fun."
"You can keep track of your expenses."
Luo Zhiping pulled out a notebook and a pen. "What's the atmosphere of playing cards without a stake? Come on, let's get started."
As he spoke, he began shuffling the cards.
Feng Ye was speechless. Seeing how enthusiastic he and the other boatman were, he had no choice but to go along with them and nod in agreement.
A card costs five cents, the wins and losses are small, it's really just for fun, to pass the time, at most a few dollars in winnings or losses.
Of course, if you're really unlucky, that's another story.
With playing cards to pass the time, even the cold was temporarily forgotten.
Moreover, time seems to pass much faster.
Of course, this does not include Ah Chan, who was driving the boat.
Hearing the sounds of people playing cards below, he couldn't resist the urge to go down and join in.
However, there are only so many people on the boat, so someone has to drive it.
Fortunately, his interest in sailing did not diminish, and he continued to enjoy it, so he did not find it too difficult to endure.
As the ship continued to sail deeper into the sea, time passed by unnoticed.
As the sun gradually set, the shimmering light on the sea softened, and he saw what appeared to be a flag waving on a fishing boat in the distance.
Ah-Can hadn't paid any attention at first, focusing only on getting on his way, but the flag was waving unusually frequently, which caught his attention.
He squinted and looked closely, and realized that it wasn't just a flag being waved.
There seemed to be several people standing on the deck, each holding something different, moving quickly as if they were conveying some kind of signal.
He couldn't help but feel a little confused.
Could it be that the ship has encountered some trouble and is asking them for help?
Ah-Can hesitated for a moment, then shouted, "Brother Ye, come up and take a look. There's a ship up ahead that looks a bit strange. It's waving a flag at us. Are we in trouble?"
Upon hearing the shout, Feng Ye immediately put down the cards in his hand, got up, and got into the driver's seat.
“Something’s definitely not right. The flag signals sound like a distress signal. I’ll go get the binoculars and take another look.”
He quickly went to the sleeping cabin at the back, got a telescope, and carefully observed the fishing boat.
It's clear when you look through a telescope.
He noticed that the fishing boat seemed to have lost power and was stuck in place, not moving at all.
Several people on the deck were frantically waving flags and other objects, their faces full of anxiety, their mouths opening and closing, clearly trying to shout at them.
The distance was simply too great for their voices to travel, so it was impossible to hear what they were saying.
"It looks like they're really calling for help. Let's get closer and see. If they're in trouble at sea, we should help them if we can."
"That ship is quite big, it should be equipped with a radio, right? Why isn't it using a radio and instead resorting to such a primitive method to call for help?"
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
Feng Ye retorted, then guessed, "Perhaps the radio is broken, or perhaps the situation is special and they can't use the radio to call for help. Never mind that, let's get closer and see what's going on."
"Uh... okay."
Ah-Can shrugged, slightly adjusted his course, and moved closer to the ship.
The people who were playing cards in the cabin came out and gathered on the deck, watching the fishing boat in front of them.
Everyone's faces were filled with curiosity, wondering what kind of story had happened on that ship.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
