Returning to the 82 Mountain Village: An Encounter with the Journey to the West Film Crew at the Beg

When Zhou Fangyuan was in the opera troupe, he fought with his fellow apprentices in the same way.

We were young then. After a fight, we'd lie on the ground panting, looking at each other and grinning like idiots. Our bodies ached all over, but we felt incredibly relieved.

He didn't really want to think about those years after the wire accident... In short, he hadn't felt this way in a long time.

Zhou Fangyuan seemed to have rediscovered the youthful exuberance he once had.

That doesn't seem right either. It's not youth, it's impetuousness.

That kind of reckless, all-consuming energy—if it hurts, it hurts.

He took a deep breath, the sea breeze filling his lungs, carrying a fishy smell and a coolness, but it felt refreshing all over.

The sun rose from the other side of the sea, its golden-red light bathing the two of them and casting long shadows.

At the entrance of the cafeteria, Lin Zhiqian had already lifted the curtain and gone inside. Zhou Fangyuan quickly walked a few steps to follow him.

We finished work earlier than usual today, with more than an hour before sunset.

Zhou Fangyuan had just put his things down when Xiao Liu came over.

"Brother Fang Yuan, are we going to the beach today?"

Zhou Fangyuan glanced at him; the kid's eyes were bright, and he looked expectant.

Xiao Chen was also standing next to him, not saying a word, but clearly waiting for a reply.

"Go," Zhou Fangyuan said. "Pack your things and leave immediately."

Xiao Liu exclaimed "Hey!", turned and ran, but after a couple of steps he came back, picked up his water bottle, and ran again.

Xiao Chen calmly put away his things, dusted himself off, and slowly walked over.

The three people walked in opposite directions, crossed the dirt road, went around a few vegetable fields, and then they could see the sea.

Xiao Liu walked ahead, taking quick steps, and soon fell more than ten meters behind them.

They would walk a while, then stop and wait, and once they got closer, they would rush forward again.

"What's your hurry?" Xiao Chen shouted from behind.

"Look at the sea!" Xiao Liu said without turning his head. "You're walking too slowly!"

Xiao Chen shook his head and didn't say anything more.

Zhou Fangyuan walked beside Xiao Chen, looking around as he went.

This place in Fujian is different from his hometown. The trees are different, the houses are different, and even the color of the soil is different.

But for some reason, walking on this dirt road, he kept thinking about the feeling of walking along the ridges of the fields in the village when he was a child.

Back then, the road was just like this, with fields on both sides. You could walk for a while and then see your home. Now, there are trees with unknown names on both sides, and you can see the sea after walking for a while.

After walking for more than twenty minutes, we heard the sound of waves ahead.

The waves were bigger today than yesterday, making a loud rumbling sound that could be heard from a great distance.

Xiao Liu was already standing on a rock, waving at them: "Over here! Is that him? I see him!"

Zhou Fangyuan quickened his pace and walked over to a large reef, where he saw Ah Hai.

He was still squatting in the same old spot, with several bamboo baskets in front of him, sorting through his nets.

Next to it was an old enamel mug, with a few pieces of porcelain chipped off, revealing the black iron inside.

Hearing footsteps, Ah Hai looked up, saw Zhou Fangyuan, and grinned.

"Brother Fang Yuan." He stood up and patted the fish scales off his body.

Zhou Fangyuan walked over and pointed behind him: "I brought two friends with me, both from the film crew. They wanted to come and see."

Xiao Liu had already jumped down from the reef and ran a few steps to Ahai, his eyes fixed on the pile of fishing nets and bamboo baskets:

"You're Ah Hai? I heard about you from Brother Fang Yuan! Do you come here to collect your nets every day?"

Ahai was taken aback by his imposing manner and subconsciously took half a step back, glancing at Zhou Fangyuan.

Zhou Fangyuan quickly explained, "He's Xiao Liu, please don't mind him talking a bit."

Ah Hai smiled and nodded, "I come every day, around this time is about right."

Xiao Liu leaned closer to the bamboo basket and peered inside: "Did you catch all these fish today? Can I take a look at what's in this basket?"

Ahai bent down, picked up a fish from the basket, and handed it to him.

Xiao Liu looked down and saw the fish's head shaking violently, splashing water everywhere. Seeing this, he burst into laughter.

"They're quite active!"

Ah Hai laughed too, threw the fish back into the basket, and watched as Xiao Liu wiped the water off his face. He laughed even harder, revealing a set of white teeth.

Xiao Chen walked over from behind, squatted down, and looked at the fish.

He didn't get as close as Xiao Liu; he just squatted there, his eyes slowly scanning the basket.

"What are these fish called?" he asked.

Ah Hai squatted back down, sorting through the net as he answered, "This is called yellow croaker, that's called pomfret, and that little one we call it..." He used a local name that Zhou Fangyuan and the others couldn't understand.

Ahai thought for a moment, then switched to awkward Mandarin to explain: "It's that kind, with stripes all over its body, you call it... ribbonfish?"

"No, ribbonfish are long, this is flat..."

This was hard to explain, and Ah Hai was getting anxious, gesturing with his hands to indicate the name.

Xiao Chen understood the person's embarrassment and nodded, saying, "I understand, that's it."

Ah Hai breathed a sigh of relief and continued working on the web.

Xiao Liu squatted down beside him, watching him straighten his hair. After a while, he suddenly asked:

"You have to manage this website every day? That must take a lot of time."

"Not every day." Ahai lowered his head, his fingers weaving through the mesh of the mesh:

"Be careful when you're netting, otherwise it will get messy. The waves were rough today, and it got messy when we were hauling it in."

His hands never stopped moving as he spoke; they were dark and rough, but he handled the nets with surprising speed and ease.

The tangled net slowly untangled in his hands, straightening each strand, folding it neatly, and placing it aside.

Xiao Liu stared in disbelief: "How are your hands so skillful? If I try, I'll definitely make a bigger mess."

Ahai looked up at him, smiled, and said, "I've been doing this since I was little, for over ten years."

Xiao Chen, standing nearby, asked, "How old were you when you started doing this?"

Ahai thought for a moment: "I think I was six or seven years old. I started by helping with the internet. My dad would scold me if I didn't do it well, but I gradually got the hang of it."

He continued speaking while his hands remained still.

The net became smoother and smoother in his hands, and finally it was completely sorted out and neatly stacked into a pile.

Xiao Liu couldn't help but reach out and touch the neatly folded net, then pulled back, as if afraid of messing it up.

Ahai glanced at him, said nothing, and just smiled.

The setting sun cast a golden-red glow on the sea, and the waves surged in one after another, splashing and gurgling.

Seabirds flew overhead, called out a few times, and then flew away into the distance.

Zhou Fangyuan stood up, stretched his legs that had gone numb from squatting, looked at the distant sea, and asked Ah Hai, "Is it windy here this time of year?"

Ahai followed his gaze and said, "It's alright. The wind will pick up in another month, and then we'll have to rely on the weather to go out to sea."

Xiao Chen nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Xiao Liu squatted there, then suddenly pointed to a blurry island in the distance: "Have you ever been to that island over there?"

Ahai glanced in the direction he was pointing and said, "I've been there before. I went once with my dad when I was a kid."