The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Salvatore has a loud voice, and his shout attracted a lot of attention.

For several days in a row, Leo appeared in the best spot at the fish market, but each time he couldn't sell anything.

It's inevitable that some people will label him as "occupying a position without doing anything".

The rule of first come, first served has been maintained in Marzamemi for decades, and no one says anything about it, at most they gossip a little in private.

But upon seeing this scene, many people's first reaction was—was Salvatore, who often disregards the rules, going to steal Leo's position?

This is indeed something he and his friends would do.

Although I really dislike Salvatore and his gang.

But Leo is from out of town...

One of the rules of Sicily is to mind your own business.

.......

People who spend a lot of time with the sea tend to have temperaments as 'strange' as the sea itself.

Aesop's eccentricities were evident in his refusal to do business with people who didn't understand the sea.

In Marzamemi, specifically referring to Salvatore and his brothers, special attention is paid to them.

Hearing Salvatore's voice, he looked in the direction of the sound and found that the guy who didn't know anything about the sea was standing in front of Leo, who was tidying up his stall.

Aesop would come to Marzamemi every day and carefully browse every stall in the fish market. He noticed and remembered the increasing number of crabs at Leo's stall.

Add to that those impressive three blows...

For Aesop, Leo was a man who understood the sea.

He tossed aside the unfinished fish crates, grabbed a handful of crushed ice and put it on his thick arms to cool them down, then walked straight toward Leo and Salvatore.

Sicily does indeed have its own rules, and more than one.

But Aesop also had his own set of rules.

"Those who don't understand the ocean have no right to bully those who do."

He didn't know what was happening over there, but if someone broke his rules... he would never ignore it.

Coincidentally, he wasn't the only one silently approaching at the same time.

.......

To move the stall, the crabs must first be put back into the large basin.

Leo was catching crabs when a pair of leather shoes appeared in front of him.

Although he didn't recognize the shoes, he could tell by their scent who they belonged to...

"Such a strong smell of smoke so early in the morning, how many cigarettes have you smoked?" Leo asked Marco, looking up at him.

Marco squatted down and picked up a crab:

"I didn't sleep well last night. I wasn't getting enough sleep to begin with, and I feel even worse today. I can't get out of bed without smoking a few cigarettes."

Leo placed two crabs in front of him:

"Here, have some to tide you over."

Marco picked and chose among the crabs, refusing to touch the two they were looking for.

"If I want to eat it, I'll buy it myself."

"Take them, you can't sell them anyway." Leo put a few more large ones in front of him and started looking for a bag.

Marco clicked his tongue and impatiently shouted:

"I told you, I'll buy it myself if I want to eat it. You don't know what kind of food I like."

Seeing that Salvatore's two companions had already brought over their catch, Rio said to Marco:

"Then wait a bit before you choose, I'll move to another spot first."

Upon hearing "move over," Marco raised his voice:

"Can't you see I'm buying crabs? Why are you moving them? Put them down."

Marco was rummaging through the pile of crabs, but it was impossible to tell what he was looking for. Leo asked:

"Are you looking for a female crab? I don't have any females here, and I released them back even if I caught one."

"Why?" asked Salvatore.

Leo blurted out:

"July is the peak season for male crabs, when they are plump with roe and meat. Spring and autumn are the best times to enjoy female crabs, when they are full of roe and firm meat... Moreover, this month is the peak breeding season for female crabs, so they should not be eaten."

"Oh." Salvatore doesn't catch crabs, so he really didn't know about this.

Marco's personality changed drastically; he held up a crab and started talking to Leo:

"Leo, speaking of this, do you know when the Atlantic blue crabs invaded Sicily? Well, it started in 1972—"

......

Not far from them.

Aesop crossed his arms over two thick arms.

I thought to myself, "This kid Leo really knows the ocean; he's not just putting on an act."

He didn't continue forward because someone else had done what he wanted to do before him.

With Marco around, Salvatore dared not act recklessly; this was the rule in Sicily.

But after taking only a few steps back, I heard what sounded like a fight breaking out behind me.

Turning around, I realized that the place where the accident happened was near Leo again.

......

Leo squatted on the ground and chatted at length with Marco about the history of the invasion of Atlantic blue crabs.

Salvatore, standing nearby, gave his companions a wink, signaling them not to rush.

Marco can talk for a whole morning?

Even if he could talk for a whole morning... the fish market is the fishermen's domain, and Salvatore has countless reasons to "invite" him elsewhere.

As a coffee shop owner, you shouldn't meddle in the affairs of us fishermen!

Just as I was thinking about these things, I caught a glimpse of a figure striding towards me, seemingly carrying a murderous aura.

Before Salvatore could react, Leo, who was squatting on the ground, jumped up and took several steps back, looking extremely nervous.

.......

The visitor was Natale's buddy—Old Paul.

Rio thought Natale was getting angrier and angrier and sent old Paul over to "settle scores"... that's why he subconsciously backed away.

Seeing Leo's aggrieved expression, and how frightened he was, Marco stood up and stood between the two of them... and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Let's talk this out."

Old Paul, not to be outdone, roared back:

"I need to see him, don't block my way!"

To be fair, Marco has already "meddled" today, and by a huge margin.

Rio had only been in Marzamémi for a short time and didn't know Salvatore's true nature, but the locals all knew that the guy was cunning and had done a lot of bad things.

Leo protected Marco's son once and often advised him to smoke less. Marco knew... he was a kind boy.

Although "mind your own business" is the rule in Sicily.

But the thought of Leo possibly being bullied by Salvatore made him uneasy.

This has nothing to do with where you're from; it's human nature!

The real reason for coming here to "buy crabs" was to quickly get rid of Solvare and stop him from messing with Leo.

But the situation has now exceeded expectations. The person on the other side is not Salvatore, but old Paul... It would be wrong to meddle in this matter anymore.

Marco stepped aside:

"He is a friend of Solberto."

This was the last thing he could do for Leo.

"What's wrong with Solberto?" Old Paul shouted at the top of his lungs.

Marco sighed helplessly, turned around and left.

People who spend a lot of time with the sea tend to have temperaments as 'strange' as the sea itself.

Old Paul's eyes disregarded all rules; there was only Natale.

Poor Leo, what did he do to offend him?

This time, I'm going to suffer a bit.

......

The focus of the fish market was on Leo, and no one noticed that Salvatore's first reaction upon seeing old Paul was also to back away.

And they didn't dare stop until they reached the very end of the dock.

Due to bad luck, people in the village often talked about him and Natale together, and old Paul had a bad temper, so they had several private conflicts.

At first, Salvatore dared to say a few words back.

We don't understand the ocean, but we're lucky! I'll make you furious!

Old Paul's fists are as hard as his temper, and the locals are very united. They beat up the three of them several times with Old Paul, and now Salvatore avoids Natale and his two companions.

Salvatore's two companions came over, and the guy named Simmons said angrily:

"What's going on? Why is Old Paul here? Has our plan fallen through?"

Another city dweller, Vincenzo, replied:

"I don't think so. You know Old Paul's temper. Without Natale watching over him, he's a madman who'll explode at the slightest provocation. Look at him, he looks like he's about to eat someone alive. He's definitely about to throw a punch. As soon as Old Paul makes a move, someone else will rush in to help, just like what happened to us back then... Can the new guy beat a bunch of people? The three of us can't even beat him! Once he's beaten up, we can go over there. It'll save us from having to figure out how to 'amicably' take his place. Isn't that perfect?"

Simmons hesitated before looking at Salvatore:

"Should we keep waiting, or put the goods out to sell first? I think the situation over there is hard to predict. We caught some good stuff yesterday, making money is more important. Or should we just call it a day?"

Salvatore thought for a moment and said to his two companions:

"It's precisely because there are good things today that we need a good spot even more. Let's keep waiting. Lady Luck has never let me down; that spot will definitely be ours."

Leo is destined for bad luck today, Salvatore is absolutely convinced of it.