The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 182: Chapter 182: Scrambling for Photos, Heated Discussion

There were a full seventy-two crates of silver pomfret from the net.

There were also several crates of assorted fish, including groupers and small cuttlefish, which were also sorted by species.

Once everything was carried into the fish hold and stowed away, everyone finally ran over to look at the Large Tridacna.

”Whoa, this thing must be 1.3 meters long!” Liang Xiaoyu rushed over, pulled a steel measuring tape from her pocket, and started measuring it right then and there.

Wu Mengyue hurried over and picked at it a few times with her fingers, marveling, ”It still has some growths on it, but if you look closely, the quality of the Tridacna is excellent. It could be made into beautiful handicrafts.”

Seeing how excited everyone was, Han Xiaorui went back to her room and took a camera out of her bag. ”Come on, everyone, line up! Anyone who wants a picture with the Large Tridacna, we’ll take them one by one.”

”I want one.”

”Me too!”

”Oh, no, I’m wearing a dirty apron. Xiao Rui, wait for me, I’m going to change.”

Only then did everyone realize that wearing aprons wouldn’t look good in the photos.

”Right, go change,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. ”I’ll wait for you all!”

A short while later, everyone had taken off their aprons and washed their hands.

Chen Yishui went first.

The sky was blue, the water was turquoise, and white clouds drifted lazily by.

Posing next to the Large Tridacna, some were more reserved and just stood there properly, while the more lively ones rested a hand on the shell and grinned from ear to ear.

Liang Xiaoyu was always one to follow the latest trends. She had seen how good Han Xiaorui’s wavy hair looked and had gone to get a perm herself.

Now, she took the scrunchie out of her specially permed hair and styled it into a ”cloud” updo, just like the stars in Hong Kong.

The hair at the front was blown high and voluminous, revealing a smooth, broad forehead.

Liang Xiaoyu was already quite pretty, and after getting all dolled up like this, she looked incredibly fashionable!

Han Xiaorui smiled. ’That’s Liang Xiaoyu for you—so passionate and free-spirited! She’s the woman in Jinshan Bay who’s most open to new things.’

’Then again, having an open-minded mother-in-law has a lot to do with it.’

Apparently, it was Granny Cai who had dragged Liang Xiaoyu along to get their hair permed together. Granny Cai had gotten a perm, too.

”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, you look fantastic!” Han Xiaorui praised. ”Give me your best smile!”

”You got it!” Liang Xiaoyu grinned, flashing her white teeth. Her big, wavy curls billowed in the sea breeze, looking even more like a cloud.

Chen Yishui looked on with envy and touched her own hair. ”Sigh, my hair is too thin and too short. A perm wouldn’t look good on me!”

Liang Xiaoyu waved it off. ”Sister Shui, you should go see my mother-in-law then. We went to get perms specifically for the Qixi Festival, and my mother-in-law’s hair is even thinner than yours. After the perm, it got all fluffy and looks much fuller. After she washes it, she just blow-dries it, and it looks so stylish.”

After everyone had their pictures taken, their attention shifted to Liang Xiaoyu’s perm.

Chen Yishui’s eyes lit up. ”Okay, then. When we get back, I’ll go see how Sister Cai’s perm looks. If it looks good, I’ll get one too.”

Wu Mengyue nodded repeatedly. ”I’ll go see too. My hair is really long, so I should be able to get a perm.”

Liang Xiaoyu beamed. ”Exactly! We’re earning so much money, of course we should spend a little more to doll ourselves up. We can’t neglect ourselves.”

”My mother-in-law always says, ’Eat what you should eat, drink what you should drink. When you have money, don’t shortchange yourself. Don’t get old and say you never ate this or never enjoyed that while just watching others have all the fun. What’s the point of living then?’”

Han Xiaorui fully believed those were Granny Cai’s exact words. That was just how she lived.

Her main principle was to be open-minded!

Of course, Granny Cai wasn’t the extravagant type. She was just a careful planner who would only indulge herself when there was a surplus.

”Isn’t that just how life is? If we’re not willing to spend anything on ourselves and don’t love ourselves, how can we expect anyone else to love us?” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. ”I only learned that from experience. Not even our parents can love us without reservation, let alone our husbands and children.”

Liang Xiaoyu nodded in agreement. ”Exactly. My mother-in-law is always saying that your own flesh-and-blood son or grandson is less reliable than your own good health. And it’s better to buy things for yourself than to count on others to buy them for you. But really, that’s also because she had an unreliable man.”

”But, crude as her words may be, they’re not wrong. When we were struggling, it made sense to scrimp and save. But now, we earn over a thousand yuan from a single trip out to sea. That’s more than enough for us to live well and enjoy life, with plenty left over.”

”Yes, yes!” The thinking of all the female crew members was also subtly changing. It was on the boat that they felt they could truly be themselves.

Back home, they were wives, mothers, daughters, and daughters-in-law. They themselves often came last and were the easiest to overlook.

You only live once, so why not be a little kinder to yourself?

Especially when this was money they had earned themselves?

Before, these crew members used to think Han Xiaorui and Liang Xiaoyu’s fashionable clothes were a bit flashy, but now that they were used to it, they found them truly beautiful.

Of course, at sea, they still had to dress more conservatively, or the sun would peel their skin right off.

Chen Yishui’s gaze shifted, and she looked at Han Xiaorui. ”Ship-owner, you’re so stylish. Could you think of a way to make me a bit more fashionable too? Especially your clothes—where do you buy them?”

Han Xiaorui found it hard to answer. After all, her clothes were very expensive, with many imported from Hong Kong or even other countries.

When she went shopping for clothes at the mall, she had already reached the stage where she only looked at the color and style, not the price tag.

Seeing that Han Xiaorui was in a difficult spot, Liang Xiaoyu quickly jumped in. ”Sister Shui, the places the ship-owner buys clothes are full of foreigners, and the clothes are expensive. I’ve been eyeing Xiao Rui’s styles too, but I can’t bring myself to buy them.”

”I just take one of the ship-owner’s outfits, go buy fabric in a different, less delicate color, and have a tailor make it for me. There’s a well-known tailor shop around here. They can copy the design, and they do a good job. The stitching is nice, it’s more or less the same, and it’s cheap.”

”If you guys want to have new clothes made, just come find me. We’re about the same age, so what I can wear, you can wear. I’ll take you.”

Only then did Chen Yishui realize her question had been inappropriate. ”Sorry to trouble you, Xiao Yu. It’s a deal, then. After we dock and get some rest, I’ll come find you to get my hair permed and some clothes made.”

”Deal. Anyone who wants a perm or new clothes, come to me. I guarantee it’ll be a good deal and cheap. We all deserve to be beautiful,” Liang Xiaoyu said with a laugh, then turned to Sister Lan. ”Sister Lan, you come too. Your man passed away, and you’ve mourned him for three years. You’ve done right by Hai Zhu.”

Sister Lan smiled gently. This good job had already helped her move on from her past sorrow and face her husband’s death with peace.

”Okay, I should freshen myself up a bit. I heard my kid’s teacher is doing home visits during the summer break. I don’t just need to tidy up the house; I need to present a better version of myself so my child can be confident at school.”

Han Xiaorui gave Sister Lan an encouraging thumbs-up. ”Exactly! When you’re in high spirits, it helps your child become more cheerful and confident too. Look at me! So what if I have two kids? So what if I’m divorced? It doesn’t stop me from making money, and it doesn’t stop me from finding a handsome man like Ye Feng. It’s all about confidence!”

”Of course, we also have the new society to thank. If we were in a feudal society, someone like me would have either been strangled to death or become a female general or a lady bandit!”

”HAHAHA!” Han Xiaorui’s words made everyone laugh until they cried. Inwardly, they all admired how, despite her young age, she lived with such wisdom and flair.