050 It's getting more complicated

The deep-sea fishing vessel Jiyu 0825 did not recruit female crew members, so Shijingxia did not board the ship.

Before departing, she waved at me with a smile.

"Qing xian xian na ge lan xian xian, lan ge ying ying de cai, sheng xia yi ge lan hua hua, shi shi de ai si ren..."

This is the famous folk song from northern Shaanxi, "Lan Hua Hua." Its melody is plaintive and melancholic, evoking tears when sung by Shijingxia, striking directly at the heart.

As she sang, her voice grew quieter and trembled. She turned away, wiping her tears, and I felt a lump in my throat, a sense of unease in my heart.

Amidst the roar of the engine, the lights of countless homes gradually faded into the distance, and everything became unpredictable.

Although Duan Huairen and I had some knowledge of seafaring, the rough waves made the fishing boat sway, causing dizziness and nausea. 

The waves crashed against the hull, and the air was filled with mist. Taking a deep breath, I felt slightly relieved.

Jiang Erwa had worked on offshore drilling platforms before, so these conditions were not a problem for him. He teased us, calling us landlubbers.

Duan Huairen leaned on his knees, his lips drawn into a thin line. "Guangting, where do you think the goods are hidden?"

I burped a few times and stomped on the steel plate beneath my feet. "The goods aren't small. They can only be hidden in a large cargo hold. Where else could they be?"

"Should we go down and take a look?"

"Don't rush. I'm not sure how things are going with Old Jiang's arrangements."

After calling Lin Canghai, I urgently devised a plan: Jin Shiqing would arrange for a fishing boat to pick us up. Duan Huairen, Jiang Erwa, and I would find the goods and smuggle them out unnoticed, executing a seamless switch.

Jiang Erwa walked over, cigarette dangling from his lips, and unzipped his pants, urinating into the sea. The sea breeze blew, splattering urine everywhere, making a mess.

"Duan, I forgot something."

"What is it?" asked Duan Huairen.

Jiang Erwa shook his hips, pulled up his pants, and said, "I forgot to buy cigarettes. I should have bought a bunch of them."

He wiped his hands on his clothes and tossed a cigarette to Duan Huairen, who didn't hesitate to light it, much to my disgust.

I shook my head. "Old Jiang, how did things go?"

Jiang Erwa said that Jin Shiqing had just sent him a text message, stating that there was no large fishing boat available to pick us up, only a small one, and the price wasn't cheap.

"Money is not a problem, but I don't understand. What's the difference between a large fishing boat and a small one?"

Jiang Erwa squinted, took a few puffs of his cigarette, then threw it into the sea. "A large fishing boat can stay at sea for a long time, while a small one can only go out with the tide and return with the tide."

Duan Huairen had just taken a drag from his cigarette when he immediately spat it out. "Are you saying we have to get things done tonight?"

Jiang Erwa nodded. "That's right, that's the idea. Once Jiyu 0825 enters international waters tomorrow, there will be no one to pick us up."

"It's impossible!" Duan Huairen was a bit excited, his voice raised. He looked around cautiously, then lowered his voice. "It's simply impossible. Even if the three of us openly move the goods, we probably won't make it tonight."

"Why are you yelling at me for something you can't handle?"

"Hey, who are you cursing at?"

These two started arguing, so I quickly intervened. "Alright, let's calm down a bit."

After some thought, I continued, "Let's accept the situation. Old Jiang, you continue to have Jin Shiqing arrange for a fishing boat to pick us up, regardless of the cost. However..."

"But as Duan said, we can't handle this alone. We need help."

Duan Huairen puzzled, "Help? But everyone here works for Old Jia."

"Rally the masses."

It was already late at night, the sea breeze was strong, carrying a fishy smell, and it was cold. Just as we were about to go back to sleep, a flashlight beam suddenly appeared.

"What are you doing up so late?"

Standing on the gangway was none other than the ship's boss, Lao Jia. Under the bright lights, we finally saw him clearly; he turned out to be the person who had an affair with Wang Cuilan.

Jiang Erwa gritted his teeth, wanting to settle the score with Lao Jia. Duan Huairen and I each held him firmly, preventing him from moving.

"I told him, if he wanted me to be a tortoise, I'd make him a eunuch."

"Stay calm, don't act recklessly."

"Let me go, I can't stand it anymore, I want to kill him."

"Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Seeing us tussle, Lao Jia went to the captain's cabin, put on a cotton jacket, and walked over.

"Boss, it's okay, you can go back and rest. We'll go to sleep now."

Duan Huairen and I escorted Jiang Erwa away, while Lao Jia's warning echoed behind us.

"If you don't behave, I'll throw each of you into the sea to feed the fish."

When I woke up, it was already the next day, and I felt much better with less seasickness.

First Mate He Huan walked in, clapped his hands, and said, "Hurry up and eat. If you miss this, you'll go hungry. After eating, get ready to cast the nets."

The first mate can be understood as the chief mate; when the captain is absent, the first mate can act as the captain.

Duan Huairen didn't know how to eat fish, pulling out fish bones one by one from his mouth, causing his gums to bleed. "Spitting! What a crappy thing to eat."

Looking around, I whispered, "Old Jiang, why did the ship stop?"

"It did. We're going to cast some nets. There's a law enforcement inspection at sea, so we have to cover up the goods. But there's one thing I still don't understand."

"What do you mean?" Jiang Erwa's words piqued my curiosity.

"Based on our speed, after sailing all night, we should be about 80 nautical miles out to sea, but look."

Jiang Erwa took out his phone and showed me. "The phone still has a weak signal, indicating that we haven't gone far. The ship stopped a long time ago."

"What's there to be confused about? There have been gale orange warnings these past few days. It's probably because the waves were too big."

Just then, a thin, short young man, who looked younger than me, walked past with a food tray. He sat alone in a corner, eating his meal.

We shared a twelve-person room, and his bunk was next to mine. I noticed him crying last night.

When I woke up, I saw that there were nearly thirty people on the ship, and only he was wearing thin clothes. He shivered in the sea breeze.

I walked over with my bowl and sat down beside him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Du Guangting."

"Wang Xiaoliang, but everyone calls me Skinny Monkey, you can too."

After chatting, I learned that Wang Xiaoliang hailed from Qikou, known as the best fishing village in the north. Both his parents were fishermen, but a shipwreck took his father's life, and his mother was left paralyzed.

To pay for his mother's treatment, Wang Xiaoliang approached his fellow villager, Jin Shiqing, who in turn found another villager, Gou Tianming. He became a crew member, and all his wages were sent back home. This was his second time at sea.

"Skinny Monkey, did you cast nets here last time too?"

Wang Xiaoliang's chopsticks paused for a moment before he continued eating without saying a word.

After dinner, we started casting nets. It seemed simple, but it was actually extremely strenuous physical labor. After finishing, I could barely stand, and I skipped dinner and lay on my bed, unwilling to move.

Wang Xiaoliang brought me a meal and sat at the head of the bed, hesitating to speak.