1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 492 Extra 2: The Reunion of Ah Cai and Yan Zi

It was always noisy around, and the words spoken by the porters loading and unloading the goods were mostly incomprehensible.

Fortunately, there were three or four Chinese faces scattered throughout the dock, and Deng Zhaocai was not the only one.

It is now June 1987, and he has been in this small Southeast Asian country for more than a month. With his strength, he got his first job in a foreign country soon after getting off the ship: a dock loader.

He had been doing this job for more than a month. It was very tiring, and he sweated as much in one day as he did in the previous two days, but he had no intention of leaving. He had just arrived, and he didn't think he could find a job that was different from a dock porter.

During the rare breaks, drinking, finger-guessing games, fighting and swearing were the most common entertainment activities at the dock, and Deng Zhaocai would sometimes join in.

But he actually has his own way of entertainment, which is lying on his back at night when he is alone, looking at the stars above the pier and listening to the waves rolling in the harbor.

The stars were all very familiar to him, just like the ones he had seen when he sat under the eaves in Pomwang Village. They were his childhood friends. They had traveled thousands of miles to see him at the dock in a foreign land.

Lang Tao's accent was also very pleasant to the ear, the same tone he heard when he was on Aqiang's boat in the deep sea. Lang Tao's accent was a kind of local accent, no need to guess, no need to translate, he could understand it all.

He can talk to a lot of people.

Sometimes he and Aqiang would punch and kick each other and curse each other, and sometimes he and Liliang would squeeze each other to death without giving each other a chance to show their dignity. Just when he was taking a nap, Aqiang and Liliang teamed up to beat him up, and then he woke up laughing.

Mother and Yan Zi had been away from him for two years, but they would come back to chat with him. Mother said that she felt lighter now and no longer had any pain. Yan Zi said that she received his gift, Ruan Jingcheng's life. But what she wanted more was for Ah Cai to live in peace.

Unfortunately, before Acai and Yan Zi could finish their conversation, they were woken up by a new wave of noise in the morning.

Two Chinese co-workers told him that this time he would not only load the cargo at the dock, but also follow the ship and unload the cargo after it arrived at the destination. One loading and one unloading, that is, two shares of money, so they asked him if he wanted to go.

He asked where the ship was going. The Chinese co-worker said that it was carrying a large amount of food, clothing and supplies to a place called "Ambergris Island".

To a certain extent, it can be considered a trip back to China. Because this "Ambergris Island" is located in the border zone of the South China Sea, most of the people living on the island are Chinese, and it is still considered to be within the waters of China.

Hearing this, it meant that he was a little closer to his hometown, and there were so many Chinese people on the island, so of course he was willing to make this trip.

On the boat, he thought the name "Ambergris Island" was quite strange and asked why it was called that.

Two workers told him that there were several hundred people on the island, which might not seem like a lot, but they were all very capable. They were good at shark and whale hunting. Of course, their best skill was finding something more valuable than gold: "ambergris".

Of course, Deng Zhaocai had heard about ambergris before from the old fishermen in the village. This thing is actually excreted by a super-large whale, the sperm whale, but it is said that it can be used to make perfume, and it is a very high-end perfume, so basically what price gold can sell for, ambergris can sell for the same price.

Sperm whales are not easy to come across, not to mention how rare ambergris is. But the workers revealed that the people on Ambergris Island are so amazing that they always find some ambergris in the sea every year, which is impossible for ordinary people to find.

In addition to selling shark fins, the biggest source of income for the people on the island is selling ambergris, so people simply call the island "Ambergris Island".

To be honest, Deng Zhaocai had only heard of the legend of ambergris throughout his life, but had never seen the real thing.

After hearing what his coworkers said, he thought that when unloading the cargo, he would see if there was a chance to go to the island and take a look at what the legendary ambergris looks like.

After all, it took quite a while to sail from a small country to the sea bordering China. From morning to afternoon, an island appeared in front of the ship.

It is probably only slightly larger than Guanqi Island in Yanghai City. My co-workers told me that this is Longxiang Island.

The boat stopped at the shore, and Deng Zhaocai, together with others, began to work hard to move things to the island.

There were also some men and women on the island who took the initiative to come forward to help, most of them were Chinese with similar faces to him. Only one person was sitting under a tree on the island, and when he saw the supplies coming, he did not stand up, but fanned himself with a palm leaf fan, looking very leisurely.

Judging from his white hair, he should be quite old. But looking at his expression and facial features, he seems to be as energetic as any young person.

Whenever men and women passed by the old lady, they would smile and say a word or two to her.

"I didn't expect that there is such an old lady living on Ambergris Island. Seeing how polite those people are to her, could they all be her descendants?" Deng Zhaocai had been holding it in for more than a month, and when he came to an island full of Chinese people, he couldn't help but talk more and asked his co-workers.

"You mean the white-haired old lady sitting under the tree? She is not simple! Although she is old, she can still sail out to sea like a young person, catching sharks and looking for ambergris. Of course, it doesn't matter whether she goes out to sea or not, and she doesn't have to worry about money. She knows how to slowly process black ambergris into the best and most expensive white ambergris, and can speak the languages ​​of several countries. Usually, when doing business with spice merchants from small countries, she is basically the one who does it. In addition, the old lady has a high seniority on the island, and she is usually the most respected person on the island! Look, which of those men and women will stop and call her when they come in front of her?!"

(Illustration of black and white ambergris)
(Note: The price of white ambergris is several times that of black ambergris. At the same time, the price of one gram of white ambergris is also several times that of one gram of gold.)
"so smart?!"

Deng Zhaocai couldn't help but look at her with new eyes. It was already amazing that she could go out to sea to catch sharks and look for ambergris at such an old age, but she also knew how to turn ordinary ambergris into top-grade white ambergris. What was even more unexpected was that it was such an old lady who could use multiple languages ​​to connect with the business community in various countries.

Thinking of this, Deng Zhaocai couldn't help but look at the old lady twice.

"Come on, come on, what are you doing? Come and lift this sandalwood wardrobe and that sandalwood dressing table!" The worker pulled Ah Cai over and said, "Lift them gently, don't break them. I heard that these two things were bought by that old lady. In the past two years, she has a granddaughter who came out of nowhere. These cabinets and other things must be bought for the little girl next to her!"

Hearing what his coworkers said, Deng Zhaocai quickly perked up. Sandalwood is very heavy, and Deng Zhaocai's strong body comes into play at this time. His strength is almost equivalent to that of one and a half others.

When she saw the sandalwood wardrobes and sandalwood dressing tables being carried off the boat, the old lady stood up and greeted them.

Sure enough, he spoke one language to the Chinese and another language to people from other countries that Deng Zhaocai could not understand.

The old lady led them forward, still waving her palm-leaf fan slowly as she walked.

"Carry it all the way in?"

After entering a house, Deng Zhaocai was not sure whether he should continue carrying the things into the bedroom, so he took the initiative to ask the old lady.

"Carry it in, bring it in. How can she use it if we don't put it in?!" The old lady had already walked into the bedroom and waved to Deng Zhaocai and the others.

Deng Zhaocai walked in front, with his butt and back facing the bedroom. He lifted the wardrobe and stepped backwards into the bedroom.

When he was halfway into the bedroom, he turned his head and looked inside.

This sight was not a serious problem, but his entire limbs shook violently and the wardrobe almost fell to the ground.

He saw a graceful figure in the bedroom.

Not only is the tall and slender figure so familiar, but the beautiful face has not changed at all, as if time has suddenly been pulled back to Yanghai City, Changwang Village, more than two years ago.

He didn't believe that there could be two people in the world who looked exactly the same.

Just as he turned his head, the face suddenly turned sideways and looked up at him.

The air seemed to suddenly surge with layers of magnetism richer than the waves, attracting the figures of the two young people and causing them to deform slightly, bending towards each other...

(End of this chapter)