Beachcombing: The beach is full of amazing seafood, but my wife won't let me get out of bed!

Wu Sui dodged to the side, and the stone bounced off the side of the boat.

His face darkened, he stepped forward, and roared.

"Uncle Li, please explain yourself clearly."

"A person did fall off the dock last night, but the village chief was there and everyone heard it. It was a thief from out of town who came to steal boats."

Wu Sui pointed in the direction of the breakwater.

"You've come to me demanding my son back, and you even claim that your son went out with a knife last night to settle scores with me."

Wu Sui deliberately dragged out his words.

"Could it be that the thief who cut my mooring ropes and tried to steal my boat last night was Li Daqiang?!"

These words immediately caused an uproar among the surrounding villagers.

"What? That thief is Li Daqiang?"

"Old Li himself said that Daqiang went out with a knife, so who else could it be but him cutting the cable?"

"That's too cruel! Cutting the mooring lines during a typhoon—isn't that going to destroy Ah Sui's boat?"

"Thinking about it, it does seem quite possible. Our boats are all fine, but Ah Sui's boat's mooring rope was cut in half..."

The villagers' eyes all changed.

Just a moment ago, some people sympathized with Old Man Li for losing his son, but now they are all filled with anger and disgust.

In fishing villages, stealing or destroying boats is a major taboo that cuts off a person's livelihood; it's even more hateful than digging up someone's ancestral graves.

Old Man Li's face turned pale and then red as the villagers pointed and whispered about him.

He then realized that in his anger, he had revealed that Daqiang had taken a knife out of the house.

But he didn't care about being a thief anymore; he only had one thought in his mind: his son was gone.

"I don't care about being a thief or not." Old Man Li simply lay down on the ground and started throwing a tantrum.

"It was Wu Lao Er who killed my son. A life for a life..."

He howled as he grabbed stones from the ground and started throwing them at the boat.

Wu Gang was so angry that he trembled all over and clenched his fists, ready to go down and beat someone up.

Wu Sui grabbed him and shook her head.

"Big brother, don't hit him, let him make a scene."

Wu Sui turned around and shouted loudly at the villagers.

"Dear uncles and brothers, you all saw it yesterday. That man, feeling guilty, fell into the sea."

"Now Uncle Li insists that the thief is his son and wants me to pay with my life."

"I can't handle this. Let the village chief be the judge."

Just then, a loud shout came from outside the crowd.

"What are you all doing here? The ship's alright, isn't it?"

Chen Changgui, wearing a raincoat, with his hands behind his back and a stern face, strode over with several village committee members.

The villagers quickly made way for them.

After returning home last night, Chen Chang-gui wrote a typhoon relief report overnight, detailing how he "scared away a gang of boat thieves from out of town".

This morning, just as he was preparing to submit his report to the township, he heard that Old Man Li was causing trouble at the dock.

Upon hearing this, he flew into a rage.

If this old man makes a big fuss, how will he submit his performance report? He might even be held responsible for someone dying in the village.

Chen Changgui walked up to Old Man Li and looked at him rolling around in the mud.

"Old Li, what are you doing, wailing like that?"

When Li Laohan saw the village chief arrive, he thought he had found a backer, so he got up and rushed over to hug Chen Changgui's leg.

"Village chief, you have to stand up for me!"

"That beast Wu Lao Er pushed my son into the sea and drowned him."

Chen Changgui's face turned ashen; he wished he could kick the old man into the sea.

But with so many people watching, we can't let him make a big fuss about this.

He patiently helped Old Man Li up and gently comforted him.

"Uncle Li, are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"

"I was at the dock last night too, and I didn't see Daqiang. How can you talk nonsense like that?"

Old Man Li was crying so hard he couldn't even speak clearly anymore; he just kept repeating the same few sentences over and over.

Chen Changgui was so annoyed by him that he simply had someone pull him away.

"Uncle Li, you need to provide evidence. We were all at the dock yesterday, and that thief really wasn't your Daqiang."

"Even if it were Li Daqiang, he went out to cut the Wu family's cable during a typhoon and fell into the sea himself. You can't just try to extort money from him, can you?"

Old Man Li was stunned. He looked up and pointed at Chen Changgui in disbelief.

He didn't expect the village chief to speak in Wu Sui's favor right from the start.

"Village chief, you... no, Daqiang really did take a knife out last night, he must have come to the docks."

"It was Wu Lao Er, it must have been Wu Lao Er who pushed my son into the sea."

Chen Changgui cursed the old man inwardly for being blind and didn't want to waste any more words with him.

Wu Sui stood on the boat, shrugged, and looked helpless.

"Uncle, you saw it with your own eyes last night. That thief was wearing a black raincoat, completely covered up. Who could recognize him?"

"Besides, Uncle Li insists that the thief is his son, doesn't that mean Li Daqiang came to steal the boat?"

Wu Sui's words directly passed the buck to Chen Changgui.

Chen Changgui is now in a real bind.

Last night he reported that someone had fallen into the sea. If it is confirmed that it was Li Daqiang, then there will be a murder in the village, and he, as the village chief, will be held responsible.

Absolutely must not admit it!

Chen Changgui turned his head and stared at Old Man Li, his eyes filled with warning.

"Old Li, I'm asking you one last time."

"What exactly did your son, Daqiang, do last night?"

Old Man Li was frightened by Chen Changgui's gaze and stammered, unable to speak.

"He...he..."

"What do you mean, 'him'?" Chen Changgui suddenly raised his voice.

"The thief last night had a non-local accent; everyone heard it."

"Are you trying to pin the blame for stealing and destroying the boat on your son? Do you want the whole village to talk behind your Li family's back?"

Chen Changgui pointed to the villagers around him.

"Ask everyone, if Li Daqiang really is that thief, would they agree to it?"

The villagers had already been angered by Wu Sui's words, and now they were all criticizing Old Man Li.

"Old Li, if your son dares to cut Ah Sui's cable, we won't let you live in the village anymore."

"Yeah, who knows if they'll target my boat next time."

"Every family in the village relies on the sea for their livelihood. If the boats are gone, it's like driving people to their deaths. We can't keep people like that in our village..."

Old Man Li was completely dumbfounded when he saw the villagers' indignant reaction.

He originally came here to seek justice, but how did he suddenly become the enemy of the entire village?

If they were really accused of stealing and destroying a boat, the Li family would no longer be able to stay in the village.

Old Man Li slumped in the mud, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

He wanted to refute, to shout that it was Wu Sui, but he couldn't admit to destroying the boat, otherwise his family wouldn't be able to stay in the village.

Seeing that the time was right, Chen Changgui snorted coldly.

"Alright, old man Li, your son probably went to some buddy's house to drink and passed out."

"Get home and wait here, don't embarrass yourself."

Chen Changgui waved his hand, and several village committee cadres stepped forward, grabbed Old Man Li, and dragged him out.

Old Man Li was dragged away like a lump of mud, muttering under his breath, "Daqiang... my Daqiang..."