Chapter 141 Rising Sun

Chapter 141 Rising Sun

Chapter 141 Rising Sun

Soon, the oysters that were dug out filled the empty space on the shore, leaving no place to step. Li Changle took out a sack from the oilcloth bag and started packing the oysters together with Li Erge.

After packing the bags of fifty or sixty kilograms, they stacked them by the puddle and continued working.

The four men started by chiseling the oysters in the low places on the cliff wall. It took a long time and was quite strenuous. Their waists and legs ached from squatting for too long, so they bent over and chiseled. After a long time, they just felt sore in their waists and backs.

Li Changle pounded his waist and felt more than just his back and waist were sore. He reached out to grab the kettle and found that even the hands holding the chisel and hammer seemed unable to straighten.

He took a few gulps from the kettle, walked a few steps toward the reef, and sat down on it. "Oh, my waist is almost broken." Then he said, "It would be nice to have a cigarette to cheer me up."

"It's easy if you want to smoke." Brother Li glanced at him, put down the hammer and chisel, took out an oil paper bag from the oilcloth bag, untied the hemp rope and opened it to reveal the cigarettes inside.

"My brother is really thoughtful." Li Changle smiled and took the cigarette he handed over. He lit it and took a puff. "It's delicious."

Chen Yongwei and Li Erge also came over, took the cigarettes, lit them, squinted their eyes and smoked against the chiseled cliff, they were too tired to talk.

After taking a break for a cigarette, Li Changle stood up and pulled Brother Li, "Brothers, as long as you are not dead from exhaustion, then work yourself to death. The more you chisel, the more chances you have to find a bead."

Brother Li pulled him up and said, "Lying still and comfortable is for the dead. If you are alive, you have to work. If you can't make money, where will you get a house? How will you support your son?"

"Why bother talking so much nonsense? It's better to use that energy to get to work." Brother Li and Chen Yongwei picked up the chisels and started working.

After another hour or so, Brother Li said to Li Changle, "Ah Le, the tide is coming in. You and A Wei should get the oysters out of the bag."

"I'll take my second brother out for a while, and you and Awei can carve Buddha's hand snails."

"OK!"

Li Changle tied up a bag of oysters and sighed, "The biggest disadvantage here is that you can't get on the boat."

"Yes, if the boat could get in, it would be pulled out in one boat."

Brother Li followed him into the water and watched him swim out of the cave under the light of his headlight.

The two men surfaced, took a breath, went ashore and placed the bag on the beach against the rock wall. They looked back and saw that there was no flashlight on the distant mudflat.

Brother Li took a look and thought this place was quite secretive. "Ah Le, put the bags here first. We'll go in and continue moving them out."

"Yeah!" After Li Changle agreed, the two brothers dived into the water and swam towards the cave like fish.

The two brothers swam back and forth several times with the bag. They were so tired that they were panting. They collapsed on the beach and took a long time to recover.

"Brother, I can't do it anymore. Let Big Brother and Awei go in this time. I need to rest for a while before I can do it again."

"I'm the same. I'm so tired that my hands and feet are weak. I need to rest for a while before going in. Otherwise, it will be troublesome if my hands and feet cramp." Brother Li said weakly.

The two men rested for a few minutes, and as they stood up and went into the water, they saw light shining from the bottom of the water, and then Chen Yongwei and Brother Li emerged from the water.

"I knew you guys couldn't do it anymore." Brother Li wiped the water off his face and said, "It's our turn. Go in and eat a few bags of corn and pack up those Buddha's hand snails."

After hearing this, Brother Li turned his head and looked at Li Changle, and asked in a low voice: "Ah Le, do you really pay three yuan per pound for Buddha's hand snails?"

"Yeah! They wanted it last time, but we didn't go and dig it because the people in the village were following closely."

"It's mainly because you're too lucky and too prominent, which makes people jealous."

"The strange thing is that with those people following, my brother can't find any good stuff again."

"That's because Lord Hailong won't help them."

The four of them took turns going in and out of the cave for an hour or so. The rising sea water had already covered the first puddle, and they finally managed to get all the oysters, conches and catches out of the cave.

After going to the cave and putting on their clothes, the four of them carried their catch and conchs back home. Seeing this, Zhou Ruonan, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law also carried their backpacks and went to the beach to help carry the sacks back.

Seven or eight people walked back and forth and were busy until after one o'clock when they finally carried all the sacks back home.

The room of Li's father and mother was already filled with sacks, each bag weighing about 50 kilograms. The four of them dug more than 2,000 kilograms of oysters and 100 to 200 kilograms of conchs in one night.

Fortunately, these oysters are big. If they were the same as the ones on the cliff outside, weighing a few pounds each, it would be difficult to catch hundreds of pounds in one night.

Now on the cliff, they can reach the oysters they have chiseled, which probably weigh more than a thousand pounds. There are also quite a few conchs, probably weighing more than a thousand pounds, provided they can be chiseled down.

"Mother, have a good rest tonight. We will get the boat back tomorrow morning and open the oysters."

"Okay!" Mother Li looked at them distressedly, "Don't go to the well to take a shower, go home and take a hot bath, drink a glass of old wine and go to bed."

"Oh!" Li Changle said to Chen Yongwei again, "Meet the boat tomorrow morning, come early."

"I understand." Chen Yongwei nodded to a few people and walked away dragging his heavy legs.

When Li Changle entered the room, Zhou Ruonan quickly went to get some hot water and placed it in front of him. Seeing him leaning against the back of a chair exhausted, she said distressedly, "Ah Le, take a shower and go to bed." "My whole body is sore." Li Changle looked at her, "Wife, I can't even straighten my fingers. Can you help me wipe them?"

"Well! Then turn around and lie on the back of the chair, I'll help you wipe your back clean." Zhou Ruonan responded softly, picked up the hot towel and helped him clean it.

Rubbing the warm handkerchief back and forth on his body, Li Changle felt so comfortable that he wanted to sleep.

He leaned back in his chair with a look of enjoyment on his face, thinking that once the new house was built, he would buy a big bathtub to take a bath.

Zhou Ruonan washed the towel, squeezed out the water and put it on his shoulder, "Ah Le, I have already wiped the back that you can't reach, you can wipe the front yourself."

Li Changle took her hand and said, "Teacher Zhou, you said that giving up halfway is not a good habit."

"Pa~" Zhou Ruonan slapped his hand, "Be honest, we have to pick up the boat tomorrow morning." The stinky man, who said he didn't even have the strength to wash, still had the mind to think about nonsense.

"How am I dishonest? It's you, Teacher Zhou, who is dishonest in your heart, right?"

"I don't want to bother with you!" Zhou Ruonan rolled her eyes at him. "I'll pour you some old wine. Drink it and go to sleep."

"As ordered!"

Li Changle took the handkerchief with a smile, wiped it clean in a few strokes, took the old wine she handed over, drank it in one gulp, walked into the room in his slippers, and lay on the bed with his legs spread out, not wanting to move even a finger.

Zhou Ruonan washed up and returned to the room. Suddenly, she remembered something. "A Le, have you ever thought about the name of our ship?"

Li Changle had never thought about this. He half-opened his eyes and looked at her lazily, "You are a cultured person, what do you think is a good name?"

Zhou Ruonan sat on the edge of the bed and thought for a while. "How about calling it the Rising Sun? The rising sun symbolizes brightness and a new beginning, and represents hope and prosperity."

Li Changle nodded repeatedly after hearing this. "The Rising Sun is great! Let's call it the Rising Sun!"

……

The next morning, Li's mother put the bowls needed for welcoming the boat and offering sacrifices into a thin bamboo basket, and also put incense, candles, paper money, wine jugs, candlesticks, and firecrackers into a backpack and delivered them to Li Changle's house.

The bowls and heads used for the boat sacrifice include a cooked pig's head, raw bean noodles, dried tofu, five steamed buns, fish, boiled broad beans, and old wine. First, pray to the Dragon God on the boat and then take the boat back to the dock, and then go to the Lord's Temple to worship the gods.

The bowls used for worshiping in the Lord's Temple are a little different. One piece of pork and three pieces of tofu are needed, a total of six bowls are needed, which means fluency and success.

Li Changle had just gotten up and started to wash up when Chen Yongwei and Grandma Chen came. It was the first time that her grandson had partnered with someone to buy a boat, and it was also a big event for the Chen family, so she also prepared bowls for worship.

Seeing the pig head and bowl head prepared by Li's mother, he said happily: "I just prepared some simple things and will send them to the Lord's Temple for worship later. I pray that the gods will bless them with smooth sailing and a full warehouse of fish and shrimp."

"Wait until they bring the boat back, then go to the master's palace." Li's mother smiled and called her to see the oysters and conches brought back last night.

Li Changle came out and saw Chen Yongwei moving things. He smiled and said, "Ah Wei, last night your sister-in-law gave our boat a name, the Rising Sun. What do you think?"

"Auntie is a cultured person, so she must have made the right choice."

At this time, Brother Li (eldest brother) and Brother Li (second brother) also came. After hearing the boat number, they thought it was a good start. They put the bowls for worship on the tricycle and prepared to set off.

Father Li was worried that his brothers would not remember the rules, so he called them back and gave them a few more instructions. The whole family and Grandma Chen sent them out the door, and then went back to open oysters.

Fishermen are particularly particular about "piety", so there are many taboos. No one spoke during the whole journey. Chen Yongwei pedaled the tricycle very fast, for fear of encountering unlucky people or things, otherwise he would have to pick up the boat another day.

The four of them arrived at Shuilu Zhang smoothly. Li Changle led the four people to move the things on the tricycle to the "Dragon Gate" of the boat.

Old Zhang had already set up an octagonal table there, and Brother Li took out the tablecloth that Li's mother had prepared long ago and surrounded the table.

Chen Yongwei took out the candlestick and lit the incense, then placed the pig's head, bean flour wrapped in red paper, and dried tofu on the main priest's seat.

Then put the bowls and wine glasses in place, pour the old wine in the wine jar into the wine pot, and respectfully fill the wine glasses to entertain the "Dragon Lord".

"We must sail with the tides on all sides and the winds on all sides, and sail into the middle of the sea..."

Li Changle stood in front of the Eight Immortals Table and began to make a wish. He added three rounds of wine, took out paper money and burned it, and lit firecrackers. Big Brother Li, Second Brother Li and Chen Yongwei knelt down in front of the Eight Immortals Table, worshipped the Dragon Lord and prayed for his protection.

Li Changle, as the captain of the boat, did not worship, because the fishermen believed that the captain was more important than the Dragon God.

After worshipping the Dragon God, Li Changle and his companions went to the left side of the ship's cabin to offer sacrifices to the "Little Master".

Because when Li's father went out to sea to fish, he rescued a fisherman who had fallen into the sea and drowned.

Fishermen call the dead "round treasures". Whenever they come across one, they must fish it out, carry it to the shore, then get some wood instead of a coffin and send it to the mountain for burial.

As long as there has been a "round treasure" or someone has died on the ship, a little master must be appointed. This is the custom of fishermen, and the fishermen also respect this "little master" very much.

After all the worship ceremonies are completed, the pig's head is put into a backpack and the removed bowl heads are put into a bamboo basket, which can be taken back and eaten.

(End of this chapter)