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

Xiao Liu couldn't sit still any longer; it felt like there were nails under his buttocks, and he kept changing positions.

Seeing that Ah Hai had stopped the boat and started tidying up the nets, he immediately went over and asked, "We're here? Is this it? This place doesn't seem any different from anywhere else."

"This is it, this is the place I've been to countless times. I hope I can find a school of fish today."

Ah Hai smiled and bent down to pick up the hand-thrown net next to him.

The net was heavy; the veins in his arms bulged when he lifted it.

Seeing the way he was carrying the net, Zhou Fangyuan stood up to lend a hand, and Xiao Liu followed, reaching out to grab the pile of net ropes.

Ahai smiled and waved his hand gently, his voice tinged with reminiscence:

"Just sit still. Don't touch anything on the boat since it's your first time. I almost fell off when I first went fishing with my grandpa on the boat."

Xiao Liu was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this: "Don't you need help?"

"Just lend a hand when we're pulling the net up later."

Ahai straightened the net again, his movements slow and deliberate, as he spoke, his tone carrying a touch of the old-fashioned manner of a fishing village:

"The old folks in the village all say that a stranger's face brings bad luck, so maybe we'll actually run into some good fortune today."

He said this in a very light tone, as if he were joking, yet also as if he really meant it.

Xiao Liu nodded and obediently squatted back down on the side of the boat, his eyes fixed on the net in Ah Hai's hand.

He squatted a little too far away, afraid of getting in the way, but he couldn't resist getting closer, so he stretched his neck out really long. That posture looked tiring.

"By the way, Ah Hai, could you sell some of the fish you catch to the film crew at a discount?"

"Of course! You guys helped out today, so we'll split the fish we sell together as a family."

Xiao Liu got excited after hearing this: "We can get a share of the money?"

Ah Hai lowered the net in his hand and looked at the two of them seriously, saying:

"Of course we have to split the profits! That's our rule when we go out to sea; as long as we're on this boat, we have to share the money!"

Seeing this, Zhou Fangyuan and the other man had no choice but to agree. They didn't move and just sat there watching.

Ah Hai carefully folded the net ropes layer by layer, held them in his left hand, and held the bottom of the net with his right hand, letting the net hang down naturally.

He moved slowly, unlike his usual quick net-gathering at the beach. It was as if he was getting a feel for the work, or perhaps waiting for something.

A sea breeze blew by, and the net rope swayed gently. He adjusted his fingers slightly in rhythm with the swaying, as if he were "talking" to the net.

Zhou Fangyuan stared at his hands.

Those hands were rough and dark, with prominent knuckles, and the backs of their hands were covered with fine cuts, some scabbed over, others still fresh.

But his movements were surprisingly light; his large hands handled those thin net ropes as if he were a completely different person.

With a flick of his wrist, he gathered the scattered net into the hand holding the rope, leaned his body slightly backward, shifted his weight onto his hind leg, and firmly supported the boat with his front leg.

Watching from the side, Zhou Fangyuan felt that he looked like a fully drawn bow, with every muscle taut from his feet to his shoulders.

Xiao Liu stood there, barely daring to breathe, his eyes wide open.

The next second, Ah Hai exerted force from his waist and abdomen, and his right arm holding the net swung forward sharply.

The net "whooshed" open in the air, like a round dome, drawing an arc in the sunlight before landing steadily in the water.

The net rope made almost no sound when it entered the water, only a soft "plop," before being swallowed by the seawater.

Ah Hai's fingers remained firmly on the rope as he stood by the boat, staring intently at the water's surface, motionless.

Zhou Fangyuan also stared at it; the water was calm, and nothing could be seen. Only the boat was rocking gently, one stroke at a time.

After waiting for about half a cigarette's worth of time, Ah Hai slowly began to put the items into the recycling net.

At first, the rope came in smoothly, just like usual. He wound the rope around the boat as he went, his movements steady, round and round, neither too fast nor too slow.

Xiao Liu was counting the laps, and when he got to about ten laps, Ah Hai's hand suddenly paused.

Zhou Fangyuan saw that the veins in his arm were taut, and his whole arm was trembling slightly, as if he was holding onto something very heavy.

"What's wrong?"

Ahai didn't answer, but gritted his teeth and pulled hard. The rope was taut, and the boat rocked.

He pushed off with his feet on the deck, leaning back as if he were struggling against something underwater.

Xiao Liu gripped the edge of the boat tightly, barely daring to breathe. His mouth was open, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. He just stared at the rope with wide eyes.

Zhou Fangyuan also stood up and walked to Ahai's side, unsure whether he should help or not, so he could only watch helplessly.

"Splash!"

A net full of fish slammed onto the deck.

Golden and shimmering, a vibrant yellow, bouncing and leaping on the deck.

The fish's tail swished and crackled, even making the wooden planks of the boat make a crisp sound.

Some fish leaped high, almost jumping back into the sea, and landed on the deck, still thrashing about, their scales shimmering in the sunlight.

Some fish hopped and jumped right up to Zhou Fangyuan's feet, their tails splashing water all over his pants, leaving a cool, refreshing feeling.

Xiao Liu's eyes widened, his mouth gaped open, and he shouted, "Fish! So many fish!"

But he stopped abruptly halfway through his shout.

Ahai stood there, staring at the pile of gold on the ship's deck, his hands trembling uncontrollably, even his lips were shaking.

He didn't even dare to delay speaking, and didn't even look at the pile of fish. He just stared at it for a second, then suddenly squatted down and quickly began to sort the net.

Zhou Fangyuan noticed that his hands were trembling as he arranged the net, his fingers were barely obeying his commands, and the net rope slipped through his hands several times.

But he didn't slow down at all. He quickly tidied up the net, grabbed the rope end, stood up, took a deep breath, and swung his arm out again.

The net opened again with a "whoosh" and fell into the water.

Ah Hai stood by the boat, his chest heaving as he breathed heavily. He didn't turn around, but stared at the water.

Xiao Liu whispered to Zhou Fangyuan, "Brother Fangyuan, what... what's going on?"

Zhou Fangyuan didn't reply. He looked at Ah Hai's back and felt a little confused.

The second net was brought in, still heavy and golden, covering half a plank of the boat, though not as much as the first.

The fish were still jumping around, their golden scales shimmering in the sunlight.

Ah Hai poured the fish onto the deck, panting and bending over, as he began to mend the net again.

The third net still yielded some harvests, but fewer than the first two.

When they poured it out, there were only about ten fish and some other miscellaneous fish, but that was still enough to make people envious.

By the time they could no longer pull up any more fish, the bottom of the small boat was covered with a dazzling golden layer.

Zhou Fangyuan roughly estimated that it weighed at least forty jin.

Amidst the golden heap were several gleaming, flat-bodied fish, larger than the common small yellow croaker. A few fish stood out particularly in that pile of gold, like silver scattered among gold.

Ah Hai stood in the middle of the boat, bent over, his hands supporting his knees, panting heavily.