The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: First Impression

Ye Feng sat in the back of the military vehicle, his eyes fixed forward.

Lately, hostile foreign powers had been frequently active in the vicinity.

Their ships didn’t cross the line, but they would sail right along the border, just to be a nuisance.

Everyone knew those ships weren’t there for no reason, so his superiors had sent him to investigate.

Ye Feng had just received a report and rushed over immediately.

He sped from the city, pushing the vehicle to its limits, and reached Jinshan Bay in forty minutes.

Although the woman, Han Xiaorui, had already reported her address, it was dark, and they couldn’t find the place at all.

So, they went straight to the village chief’s house.

Yang Jianguo happened to be visiting the village chief about something—after all, this involved his former sister-in-law. His second uncle had also told him to look after Han Xiaorui, so he had come along as well.

Han Xiaorui was eating dinner when she heard a knock at the door. She hurried over. ”Who is it?”

”Xiao Rui, the public security comrades are here! They said you pulled something out of the sea,” Yang Jianguo said quickly. ’I hope it’s really something good from overseas,’ he thought.

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui said to her sister inside, ”Xiao Jing, I’m going to the docks to get something. You stay here and watch the kids.”

Seeing that someone was with her, Han Xiaoqing wasn’t worried about her sister. ”Got it. Go on, but come back soon.”

Han Xiaorui grabbed a flashlight and closed the door properly. ”The thing is on the boat!”

Under the light by the door, Ye Feng observed Han Xiaorui carefully. His first impression was that she was skinny, like a bamboo pole. He felt that a strong gust of sea breeze could sweep her away.

A young man beside Ye Feng grew anxious. ”How could you leave something so important on the boat?”

Han Xiaorui blinked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ”Comrade, that thing weighs over a hundred pounds. I can’t carry it. Besides, my house is several hundred meters from the docks.”

Ye Feng’s gaze fell upon Han Xiaorui. ”Comrade Han Xiaorui, my colleague spoke out of turn. Please forgive him. May we go to the docks now?”

”Sure!” Han Xiaorui walked in front. The young comrade drove, with Ye Feng, Village Chief Liu, and Yang Jianguo following close behind.

When they reached the docks, Han Xiaorui found her boat, took out a key, and opened the cabin. She shone her flashlight inside. ”There, it’s right there!”

Ye Feng was very tall, and the small cabin instantly felt crowded with him inside.

After stepping inside, he tore open the striped plastic sack. One look was all it took to know this was something not made in China—it was a state-of-the-art underwater detector from overseas.

Ye Feng and the young comrade lifted the detector and placed it in their vehicle.

Ye Feng turned to Han Xiaorui. ”Comrade Han Xiaorui, would it be possible for you to take us to the place where you found the detector tomorrow?”

”Yes, I’m going fishing anyway,” Han Xiaorui replied. ”I usually set out at seven in the morning. When will you be here?”

”I’ll be here waiting for you at seven tomorrow, so as not to delay your fishing.” Ye Feng approved of Han Xiaorui’s strong sense of civic duty. Once experts disassembled this device, it was highly likely they could replicate such an advanced detector.

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Alright!”

Ye Feng looked at Village Chief Liu and Yang Jianguo. ”Thank you, Village Chief Liu and Captain Yang. Your village’s civic education has been very successful. I will report this to the local government and recommend that you and Comrade Han Xiaorui be commended.”

Village Chief Liu was excited inside, but he maintained a calm expression and spoke modestly. ”We’re people of China, so of course we must be patriotic. When we find something foreign, no matter what the heck it is, the first step is to get it out of the water.”

Ye Feng smiled. ”Well said. Thank you again.”

With that, Ye Feng nodded to Han Xiaorui, got in the vehicle, and left.

Village Chief Liu looked at Han Xiaorui with praise in his eyes. ”Xiao Rui, you’ve done very well. You’ll definitely be named one of the village’s ’Outstanding Women’ this year.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Then I’ll thank you in advance, Chief. Oh, don’t go yet. I caught a big fish, too big for me to eat. Big Brother, can you help me kill and clean it? Give some to Village Chief Liu, keep some for yourself, send some to Pingping and An’an’s grandfather, and then bring the rest over to me.”

”You’ve probably heard that I divorced Yang Jianming. Uncle Yang genuinely dotes on Pingping and An’an, and he didn’t treat me poorly after the divorce; he gave me a lot of things. I can’t be heartless. When I have something good, I have to think of Uncle Yang, too. But it’s not appropriate for me to deliver it myself. Big Brother, please take it to him for me.”

After speaking, Han Xiaorui went to the livewell and started to get the fish out.

Village Chief Liu gave Yang Jianguo a complicated look. There were some things he couldn’t say in front of Han Xiaorui, but he truly looked down on Yang Jianming’s character.

Yang Jianguo looked embarrassed. He rubbed his nose and gave a sheepish smile, not knowing what to say.

Just then, Yang Jianguo saw Han Xiaorui pull a large fish from the tank, and his eyes lit up. ”Xiao Rui, is that a Luo Duan?”

This sentence immediately caught Village Chief Liu’s attention, and he looked over as well.

Village Chief Liu quickly waved his hands in refusal. This was no ordinary fish; it was extremely expensive. ”Xiao Rui, a Luo Duan is very valuable! It’s more than ten yuan a pound. This fish could sell for several hundred yuan!”

Yang Jianguo also waved his hands. ”That’s right, Xiao Rui. We can’t accept this.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”I caught an even bigger one today, over a hundred pounds! The owner of Zhang Fa Cai Seafood Restaurant in the county offered twenty yuan a pound, and I sold it for over a thousand yuan!”

”This one is smaller, so I’m not planning to sell it. When you catch good fish, you should eat some, too. It’ll be good for the children.”

Hearing Han Xiaorui say this, Yang Jianguo nodded. ”Alright then, I’ll take this Luo Duan home. After I’ve killed it and cleaned the intestines, stomach, and collar, I’ll have your sister-in-law bring them over to you.”

Han Xiaorui nodded and smiled. ”Then I’ll leave it to you, Big Brother.”

Yang Jianguo carried the fish and walked Han Xiaorui home with Village Chief Liu.

Village Chief Liu still couldn’t help himself and said in a low voice, ”Jianguo, didn’t you try to talk some sense into your second uncle and Jianming? That girl Xiao Rui is wonderful. I think she’s much better than that Zhang Lili.”

Hearing this, Yang Jianguo sighed. ”Uncle Liu, I also think Xiao Rui is better than Zhang Lili, but my cousin Jianming is a real piece of work.”

”My second uncle tried everything, reasoning and threatening, but he still insisted on the divorce. What’s more, Zhang Lili is pregnant now, and my second aunt has been bragging all day that it’s a boy. Honestly, boys and girls are the same, but she’s still so fixated on having a son.”

Yang Jianguo only had one daughter. He wasn’t biased towards sons; he simply wanted two children. He would have been happy even with two daughters.

But now with the family planning policy in effect, you couldn’t have a second child even if you wanted to.

Village Chief Liu said with regret, ”Sigh, your second uncle has been an upright man his whole life. It’s a shame he married a wife like your second aunt and had a son like that.”

Yang Jianguo sighed. ”Sigh, it’s just fate!”

When he got home, Yang Jianguo put the fish in their household fish pond. Seeing it, his wife Wu Cuicui’s eyes lit up. ”Jianguo, where did this come from?”

”Xiao Rui caught it today. She said she doesn’t know how to clean it and asked me to do it tomorrow. I’m supposed to split some for me and the village chief. After I’ve prepared it tomorrow, you can take her share over to her.”

”After all, Jianming and Xiao Rui are divorced. It’s not proper for my second uncle to visit her often, let alone me, her former brother-in-law. You’re a woman, so it’s more convenient for you to talk with Xiao Rui.”