The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Chapter 135 A Potential Strategist

The Mariani family had a second name, Marzamemi, which reached the ears of people on the east coast of Sicily, and Sandro's health improved considerably.

I can attend some important family occasions now.

The Mariani family is an extremely large family.

Sandro's six sons, four of whom started their own families.

Perhaps influenced by their father, these married sons also continued the practice of having many children, resulting in a large and prosperous family.

Every weekend, the whole family gathers at Sandro's old house for dinner; it's a family tradition.

Sandro had been bedridden for a few days, and when he reappeared, he naturally wanted to talk to his sons about serious matters, such as how the preparations for the sailing season were going and whether there had been any new developments outside.

Because he had specifically instructed his eldest son to keep an eye on Leo's movements, Antonino reported Leo's recent activities to his father today.

"Leo went sea urchin hunting again?" Sandro looked at his eldest son, seemingly skeptical of the accuracy of the information.

Antonino answered seriously, "Yes, he has taken sea urchins to the fish market for two consecutive days, and he has told the people around him that he will make a living mainly by harvesting sea urchins for the foreseeable future."

Sandro smiled and shook his head: "He's a talented kid, but he's not calm enough. But that's how young people are."

Antonino continued to report what he knew: "I heard they brought back quite a lot, more than they sold when they were hunting fish. They probably learned some useful techniques from the Cumanso family."

The Cumanso family's ancient maritime experience is extremely broad, and no one has ever learned it all. You could learn anything from them.

Leo isn't good enough to catch the old captain's eye yet, and Sandro just takes it as gossip. He casually tells his sons, "Making money is certainly important, but you should choose one or two areas to work hard in, because no matter what you do, you'll always find better options, and it's hard to do everything well."

The older sons nodded in agreement, listening attentively to their father's words of instruction.

Bianchi kept his head down and remained motionless.

He talked to Leo about future plans in Syracuse. Leo was very purposeful and focused, not the kind of person who falls in love with every girl he meets. Harvesting sea urchins was just a stepping stone; Leo's ambitions lay further ahead.

Bianchi wanted to say something for Leo, but he couldn't bring himself to say it... especially when his brothers echoed his sentiments, he dared not speak up.

But what he dared not say, someone else said for him.

"Father, Walter Lippmann said that humans tend to categorize the world using existing labels before trying to understand it," but this will only allow you to see what's already labeled, preventing you from seeing other possibilities. Leo has only recently come into contact with the sea; he should start exploring different directions now...

97

"Today is Angie's release day," but that didn't stop the kid from speaking up.

Seeing their father's eyes widen instantly and his chest rise and fall, the older brothers quickly covered Angie's mouth.

Antonino then brought up a new topic: "By the way, Father, Alfonso from Syracuse called you a few days ago to ask if you should go crabbing in the winter. We should give him a reply today."

Sandro has a poor memory and often forgets things. He has been bedridden for the past few days and has not yet returned many important phone calls. Antonino used a little trick to defuse a family crisis.

After dinner, the older brothers took turns trying to lecture Angie, telling him to stop talking to their father about those grand principles related to innovation and stubbornness. This did not include Bianchi.

The two unmarried children still live in their parents' house.

They met at the bathroom door that evening, and Angie urged Bianchi, "If you're going to lecture me, hurry up and tell me. I need to go to bed early tonight and get up early tomorrow."

Bianchi brushed past him: "Next time you want to say something, watch your timing. I know you want to speak up for Leo, but in this situation it sounds like you're talking about the family innovation you've always advocated. Of course, Father will be angry."

Angie turned around and asked, "You're not going to blame me?"

Bianchi ignored him and went back to his bedroom to rest.

What are you being blamed for?

Should I blame you for being braver than me?

Mrs. Rosa goes to church very early every day. After Bianchi dropped his mother off at church, he didn't go in but went to the shipyard instead.

Leo spends his days at sea earning money and is never in the village.

Bianchi had to go home to be with his mother in the evening, so he could only go to see Leo for a while in the morning.

It's not fully light yet, and Leo probably hasn't gotten up yet. Bianchi plans to wait at the door for a while before going in.

I was surprised to find the shipyard already lit up.

Bianchi went inside and saw Leo pulling a rope, one end of which was attached to a large tree by the sea.

"I'll train with you!" Bianchi took off his white shirt and ran over.

The two of them skillfully started doing rope-sparring, and although their faces turned bright red, it didn't stop them from chatting.

"You practice every day?"

"Yes, I don't have time during the day, so these past two days I've been getting up early to practice the basic skills that Rinaldi taught me."

"But you don't need ropes to harvest sea urchins now, right?"

"It will be useful in the future. We can't wait until we need it to start practicing, or it will be too late."

"I'll come and practice with you every morning from now on."

"You have so many crew members at home, you don't need to control the ropes. You should go to church with your mother this morning."

"We can't just look at what's on the label; we have to consider other possibilities as well. Who says I don't have a chance to try rope control?"

"What are you saying? It's all nonsense..."

""

"I'm saying... Angie, that kid... sometimes... you lose!!"

Bianqi is small in stature but strong in strength.

Leo always loses in rope sparring with Bianchi. In several simulated training sessions, Bianchi also performed very well. If the two of them were to go out to sea together now, Bianchi would definitely be the better choice for rope control.

The sun silently climbed above the horizon, and the two were racing against time to complete their training for the day.

But an unexpected visitor disrupted the good learning atmosphere—Angie suddenly appeared!

Moreover, he immediately started pestering Leo to cooperate with him on the next step, and when asked, he said he was just helping to sell seafood to raise initial capital.

Leo confessed to Bianchi about his previous secret collaboration with Angie, hoping that Bianchi would talk to his brother and stop him from causing trouble.

Bianchi made a few symbolic remarks, then spread his hands, adopting an attitude of "I can't help you".

When it was time to go to the fish market, Angie helped with the Olympic sea urchins, but Angie, who had no sense of propriety, didn't go into the sea to help and just kept nagging on the shore.

"You're not helping to transport the sea urchins, and you're distracting me. Neither of us will benefit!" Leo told Angie to shut up.

As it turns out, Leo was no match for Angie in terms of eloquence.

Angie, standing on the shore, said without batting an eye, "In *The Republic*, Plato, through the words of his teacher Socrates, expounded the principle of social division of labor: 'one person, one task,' meaning that everyone must focus on the work best suited to their nature."

He pointed to Bianchi in the sea: "Bianchi is suited for physical labor, he should go and help you."

He then pointed to himself: "I'm a natural strategist, so I should be responsible for giving you two advice. Why did you choose to transport it by land? Wouldn't it have been easier and less strenuous to put these bags on a ship and transport them to the dock?"

Leo and Bianchi stopped and looked at each other.

"Your brother certainly has the potential to be a strategist."

"I've noticed that recently too."