CHAPTER 38: CHAPTER 38: A TRIP TO FANGSHAN VILLAGE

After they finished buying bits and pieces of supplies, they delivered the river prawns to Guoxing Restaurant. The expenses and earnings for the day balanced out nicely.

The two of them carried the items back to the fishing boat.

Lin Yi glanced over and started commenting again as expected.

Lin Qin and Chen Wenjun were already used to it. After putting their things down, they began discussing plans for land clearing and earning money.

Lin Qin took out the remaining money and said, "We only have a little over three hundred left. It’s clearly not enough to build a house. We’ll have to clear the land while saving up, aiming to move into a new home before the New Year this year."

"That’s ambitious!" Lin Yi laughed heartily.

Chen Wenjun nodded repeatedly, "So how should we plan? How about you help me deliver the fish to the market street in the mornings, and I’ll sell them while you go to the deserted island? No, that won’t work... you don’t even know how to handle the boat! How about this? I’ll first take you to the deserted island early, then go sell the fish, and later make a delivery to Guoxing Restaurant, but it’ll mean an extra trip."

None of the plans seemed ideal.

Lin Qin thought for a moment and said, "Let’s stick together. We’ll go to the market street to sell fish in the morning, finish up early to make deliveries, and then you handle the land clearing while I go fishing. We can catch the sheepshead fish in the evening."

"Mom, there’s also us! We can help too. We’ll fish at home!" Liu Yaya eagerly raised her hand.

Chen Ping’an also raised his hand in response.

Lin Yi chuckled, "Alright, alright! Grandpa will join you. The three of us will fish at home. You kids have better luck than grandpa; catch a few more big fish, and we’ll live in a big house!"

The two children were so enchanted by the grand vision Lin Yi painted that they lost all sense of direction, nodding eagerly, wishing they could grab fishing rods and start right away.

Lin Qin and Chen Wenjun sorted their documents, navigated the boat to Nanyu, and donned rain boots. They grabbed hoes and rakes to begin clearing the land for building their house.

Lin Yi took the two children fishing near Nanyu.

The gap led to deep waters, where the big fish should be more abundant than their usual fishing spots.

The three used two fishing rods, with each child handling one while Lin Yi assisted.

Lin Qin and Chen Wenjun hadn’t gone far when they heard Liu Yaya’s excited shout coming from the boat, "Grandpa, it’s huge! It’s a big silver carp!"

"Wow! Yaya even knows silver carp now! It must weigh six or seven pounds! My goodness! How did it get so big!" Lin Yi’s exaggerated tone of endearment echoed from afar.

Lin Qin and Chen Wenjun exchanged a smile, picked up the pace, and soon found a relatively high and flat area.

"This spot could be over ten mu! How big do we need to dig?" Lin Qin tossed some soil and looked up, noticing Chen Wenjun still struggling to get the hang of the hoe. Despite a lot of effort, he hadn’t quite managed it yet.

Lin Qin burst into laughter, "That’s not how you use it! Like this, with one hand in front and the other behind, apply force to angle it into the ground, then leverage to lift the soil. Look, these weeds can be pulled up by the roots.

If you encounter deeply rooted weeds, you’ll need the hoe. The land where we build the house must have its roots cleared, otherwise, it will be troublesome if they sprout later!"

Over in Shanglin Village, many homes have compacted earth floors without any coverings. Some shade-loving weeds would often shoot up through the soil beneath beds or furniture, with roots that were deeply embedded and difficult to eradicate—a constant cycle of pulling one year and finding them sprouting the next, an endless nuisance.

The best method is to clean it thoroughly from the start.

Chen Wenjun had never built a decent house in his previous life, so Lin Qin tried her best to share everything she knew.

But then she saw Chen Wenjun looking contemplatively at the surrounding mountains.

"What’s on your mind?" Lin Qin followed his gaze but couldn’t make sense of his thoughts.

Chen Wenjun withdrew his gaze and pondered, "This island is full of rocks. I want to gather stones to raise our foundation higher, at least above the gap, so we won’t have to worry about flooding during rains."

Here, there’s a risk of typhoons from early summer till mid-autumn. If heavy rains cause Nanxi’s water level to rise, they couldn’t be sure that the island wouldn’t be submerged.

The issue Chen Wenjun thought of was also on Lin Qin’s mind.

The two looked at each other, realizing that building a house wasn’t a simple task.

Unable to make a decision, they temporarily cleared a spot and only returned to the boat at dusk to discuss the situation with Lin Yi.

Lin Yi immediately laughed, "That’s not too difficult! As you turn the soil, watch for snail shells or clamshells; if you find them, that area has been flooded before, so just pick another spot.

The entire island isn’t too big nor too small, and I bet there’s got to be a suitable place for building a house!"

"That makes sense!" Chen Wenjun laughed, his furrowed brow finally relaxing.

The next day before 5 am, the two of them went to lift the ground cages, loaded the fish the kids caught yesterday onto a cart, and hurried off to set up a stall at the market road. Before 8 am, they delivered the remaining goods and river prawns to Guoxing Restaurant.

Just as they left, Zhang Youren arrived and found the stall empty, growing anxious, "Where are the fish sellers? How come I haven’t seen them around recently?"

A nearby granny teased loudly, "You’re late! They come early now and wrap up early; just come by at 6, and you’ll surely catch their fish."

"Pssh... I’m not even out of bed by 6!" Zhang Youren groaned in frustration.

Other fishmonger’s selections couldn’t match Chen Wenjun’s variety, and even big fish were scarce, with no room for haggling. Buying from Chen Wenjun meant he could earn a decent kickback.

But working for the public rather than buying groceries for himself meant waking early wouldn’t boost his salary, and arriving at the market around 8:30 was already pushing it!

The granny relished seeing the penny-pinching Zhang Youren at his wit’s end, laughing heartily.

Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin arrived at Guoxing Restaurant a bit after 8 am.

Familiar with the routine, they took the goods straight to the kitchen.

Through cooperation over this period, Zheng Guoxing fully trusted their integrity, allowing them to weigh and tally the goods themselves, paying them promptly, saving valuable time.

The two collected seventy-two yuan from Zheng Guoxing and left with the remaining fish.

Zheng Guoxing glanced over and remarked, "There’s just a little bit left, just give it all to me."

But Chen Wenjun shook his head, "No, no, selling it to you would tarnish your brand! We can’t sell you fish that won’t please your customers. Besides, Ah Qin and I plan to sell the rest on the way; it should sell out."

"Suit yourself!" Zheng Guoxing was busy cooking and didn’t spare much time for pleasantries with Chen Wenjun.

After leaving Guoxing Restaurant, they quickly pushed the cart toward Fangshan Village.

By the time they arrived, it was past nine. The villagers were working in the fields, leaving a group of elderly folks gathered outside the small shop passing the time by gossiping and weaving baskets or twisting some ropes.

Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin were newcomers, instantly drawing the attention of the villagers.

Lin Qin prepared herself mentally and approached with a cheerful smile, "Hello, grannies! Are you interested in buying some fish? Fresh crucian and carp, caught from Nanxi, would you like to take a look?"

"Oh! Are you selling fish? Let’s have a look... How much are they?" A granny stretched her neck to peer into the bucket of fish, wanting to scoop one out for a closer look.