The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 368: Chapter 368: Vacation Plans

Fish maw is a premium product, so it’s very expensive.

Han Xiaorui might have been reluctant to spend money on it, but when it came from fish they caught themselves, there was no need to be so frugal.

Of course, you keep the best for yourself!

Liang Xiaoyu saw the high-quality fish maw but didn’t say anything.

She had a daughter in high school, and it wouldn’t be many years before she got married and had children of her own.

She wanted to set some aside for her daughter too, but she knew if she so much as mentioned it, Han Xiaorui would give her some for free.

Han Xiaorui already took very good care of her family, and Liang Xiaoyu was too embarrassed to keep taking advantage of her kindness.

A person should have integrity. You can’t take someone’s kindness for granted, let alone be insatiably greedy.

Besides, at the seafood wholesale market, her mother-in-law had a hawk’s eye for quality. No one would dare try to fool her with inferior fish maw.

As Han Xiaorui took the fish maw, Liang Xiaoyu and Ye Feng helped her carry it. Liang Xiaoyu commented, ”It’s fine to store this in a rice crock during winter, but in the summer, if the rice isn’t used up quickly, it can spoil.”

Ye Feng thought for a moment. ”The main thing is to keep it dry. Once it’s completely sun-dried, you can vacuum-seal it. Then you won’t have to worry about it spoiling.”

Han Xiaorui’s eyes lit up. ”That’s a great idea! Trying to figure out how to store this has been a real headache.”

”Later, I’ll take it over to the feed plant at the ornamental fish farm. They have a vacuum sealer there.”

Ye Feng nodded. ”I’ll go handle it in a bit.”

Liang Xiaoyu asked, ”With all the excitement about the yacht, I forgot to ask about your prenatal checkup. How did it go? Everything’s good, I hope?”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”It went great. It’s twins! In a few more months, I’ll have two more children.”

Liang Xiaoyu gasped. ”Oh my god, what wonderful news! Two more will make four children. That’s amazing.”

”I got married young and had two children. But now with the family planning policy, you can only have one. It’s not about having a son, necessarily, but one child just feels like too few.”

”Although, some people without formal jobs get pregnant, leave town, and only come back after the baby is born.”

”I have a cousin who’s a government employee, and she has to follow the rules strictly. She got pregnant but didn’t dare to have a second child. My mom told me we’re going to visit her in three days.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”It’s national policy. There’s nothing to be done.”

Liang Xiaoyu agreed wholeheartedly. ”That’s right. I have three siblings, and my aunt had six children. If our generation had kids like our parents did, the country probably couldn’t support everyone.”

The two of them chatted a bit more about the family planning policy before heading to the kindergarten to pick up the kids.

Ye Feng doted on his two daughters, so he carried their little bicycles all the way to the kindergarten gate.

The moment they stepped out of the kindergarten, Pingping and An’an hopped on their bikes to ride home.

The two girls were thrilled, but their classmates, who didn’t have bikes, started wailing with envy.

”Ye Feng, you spoil them too much! Don’t do this again. Look at all those kids crying and whining. This is all your fault.” Han Xiaorui pinched Ye Feng’s arm. ”They should wait until after dinner to ride their bikes.”

Ye Feng chuckled. ”Even if they wait until after dinner, the other kids will see the bikes, want one, and start crying anyway.”

”Don’t the bicycle factories around here make bikes like this? Or little tricycles for kids?” Han Xiaorui frowned. ’If they did, considering the financial means of our village, they could probably sell quite a few.’

Ye Feng explained, ”Don’t worry about it. We have a relative in the village who works at the bicycle factory. He came over a couple of days ago specifically to check them out. He took pictures and is planning to go back and start making children’s bikes.”

”There’s a market for them in the big cities, and they could even be exported. They need to be good quality, but they also have to look nice. These factories need to get creative, or they’ll all go out of business.”

Han Xiaorui agreed wholeheartedly. ”Exactly. Now that we have the Reform and Opening-Up policy, if you want to sell your products, you have to have a global perspective.”

”Auntie!” Just as Han Xiaorui and Ye Feng were talking, they heard Pingping and An’an’s cheerful cries.

They rode their bikes right up to their aunt, abandoned them on the spot, and ran over to hug her legs.

Han Xiaoqing crouched down, kissing one girl and then the other. ”Have you two been behaving at home?”

”We have!” the two little ones chirped in unison.

Han Xiaoqing pulled two ceramic bird whistles from her bag. ”Auntie bought you a present. Bird whistles! Do you like them?”

”We love them!” Pingping and An’an took the whistles and immediately started blowing them.

A clear, pleasant chirping sound came from the whistles.

”If you put water inside, they make different sounds.” Han Xiaoqing began helping Pingping and An’an fill the bird whistles with water and play with them.

”Dinner’s almost ready, stop playing now,” Han Xiaorui reminded them.

Han Xiaoqing smiled. ”Alright, we’re coming! Quick, go wash your little hands. It’s time for dinner.”

Pingping and An’an were very well-behaved. They washed their hands and sat obediently in their chairs, waiting for dinner to be served.

Steamed egg over rice was delicious.

They didn’t like eating their greens, so Wu Jiao and Wu Yao would chop them up and steam them right in with the eggs.

With the vegetables mixed into the eggs, the children didn’t complain anymore.

”Do you have plans for tomorrow?” Han Xiaorui asked. After all, her younger sister was in a relationship now.

’Tomorrow is a holiday and a weekend, so she might be going out with her boyfriend.’

Han Xiaoqing smiled. ”Nope. Do you guys have any plans, Sis? I’d love to tag along!”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”The cruise ship that our aunt and uncle gave us has arrived at the dock. If the weather’s nice tomorrow, we’re planning to take it out for a trip.”

”If you don’t have a date, you should come with us! And even if you do, you can bring your friends and your boyfriend along.”

Han Xiaoqing’s eyes lit up. ”Oh my god, a cruise ship! I’ve only ever seen one on TV, never in real life!”

”Too bad Wenxuan won’t get to see it. He had to go back to Germany with his parents for some family matters. As for my classmates, I didn’t give them any notice, so never mind.”

”It’ll be fun for our family to go out tomorrow. I want to try sea fishing! Are you going, Brother-in-law?”

Ye Feng nodded. ”Of course I’m going. Your sister is pregnant and has two kids to look after. Even with Wu Jiao and Wu Yao there to help, I’d still be worried.”

Han Xiaoqing nodded. ”Then I’m going tomorrow too!”

The next morning, after breakfast, everyone got ready.

The previous evening, Han Xiaorui had called Chen Yishui and Wu Mengyue.

They were both captains, and she invited them to bring their families and children for a day out on the cruise ship.

This was a cruise ship, not a fishing boat, so they rushed over first thing in the morning.

Chen Yishui and Wu Mengyue stood on the dock, staring at the massive cruise ship. ”Oh my god,” Chen Yishui said, ”I can’t believe I’m getting to go on a cruise ship in this lifetime!”

Wu Mengyue was just as excited. ”Once we’re on board, I’m going to learn how to pilot it.”

”Me too!” Chen Yishui replied. ”That way, if something happens to the captain, the two of us can take over!”

”Exactly!” Wu Mengyue nodded. ”Our main job is still fishing, but it’s always good to learn new skills.”

Just as they were speaking, Captain Wang arrived at the dock with two assistants.

”Mengyue, you’re here too?”