At daybreak, the sky had only just begun to lighten into a narrow strip of blue-gray, while the night had yet to fully retreat.
The man standing at the bow wore a shirt washed pale from years of wear. His skin was a deep wheat color, darkened by the wind and sun.
After enduring a full night at sea, Yan Yuan’s eyes held a faint bluish tinge of exhaustion, yet his back remained ramrod straight, without the slightest hint of weariness.
The cabin was packed with the night’s catch.
Yan Yuan made a rough calculation.
They had been lucky this trip. He had hauled in several large yellow croakers and pomfrets, along with plenty of prawns. Those varieties would fetch a good price and earn him quite a bit. The miscellaneous fish could be thrown in as extras and would at least cover the cost of the fuel.
There were already plenty of people at the dock.
They were wholesale fish dealers from elsewhere, some from inland county towns and others from the big cities. They had brought their own bamboo baskets and crushed ice, and had ridden old bicycles onto the island aboard the ferry.
They offered better prices than the state-run aquatic products station. As soon as Yan Yuan carried the catch off the boat, several fishmongers came over to ask his prices.
“Prawns, two yuan and fifty a jin. Yellow croaker, two yuan and twenty. Pomfret, ninety cents.”
“Too expensive. Come down a little.”
Yan Yuan frowned. “That’s the price. If you want them, I’ll throw in the miscellaneous fish at ten cents a jin.”
“Come down a little more.”
Seeing where this was going, Yan Yuan waved his hand and simply began carrying the fish toward the shore.
“All right, all right.” The fishmonger hurried after him. “That’s the price, but you have to help me carry them back onto the boat.”
“Fine.”
By the time Yan Yuan returned home, his clothes were soaked through with sweat.
He opened the door and, out of habit, pulled off his shirt, draping it over the back of a chair.
He had made his living at sea for years, and there was not an ounce of excess flesh on him.
His shoulders and back were broad, his muscles firm and sharply defined. His waist narrowed, and the slanting lines of his lower abdomen disappeared beneath the waistband of his trousers. Fine beads of sweat still clung to his wheat-colored skin.
He lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and was just about to head into the kitchen when, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of someone lying on the bamboo bed along the north side of the main room.
It was a woman—or rather, a girl.
She wore a faded dacron blouse with short sleeves and worn work trousers. The outfit was ordinary, even somewhat unfashionable, yet it made it impossible to look away.
She was sleeping soundly, her face turned slightly inward. Her nose was finely shaped, and her thick lashes cast a small shadow beneath her eyes. Her black hair was spread across the bamboo mat like a length of dark satin.
Yan Yuan had only attended junior high and had no way of describing her beauty with elaborate words.
Or perhaps no matter how magnificent the language, it would still seem inadequate before her.
He stood frozen, his mind blank for two seconds.
Then he suddenly remembered what Jiang Chengzhou had told him a few days ago: his younger sister would be coming to stay for a few days, until she found a place of her own.
So this was Chengzhou’s little sister.
No wonder. If he had a younger sister like this, he would surely cherish her like the most precious thing in his heart.
Yan Yuan had seen Jiang Chengzhou’s sister from a distance a few times before. He remembered only that her bangs had been so long they almost completely covered her eyes, making it impossible for anyone to see her features clearly.
She had also always kept her head bowed, her chin tucked toward her chest. She never met anyone’s eyes, and whenever she saw strangers, she would shrink away timidly.
No one could have imagined that beneath those heavy bangs was a face so breathtakingly beautiful.
A deep, unreadable look surfaced in Yan Yuan’s eyes. He put his shirt back on and walked outside.
It was barely dawn, and the courtyard was utterly quiet.
At the well, Yan Yuan drew up a ladle of water and splashed it over his face, letting some of the heat leave his body.
He sat directly on the stone in front of the house, a shuttle in his hand as he mended the fishing net that had been torn by the struggling fish the night before.
Not long afterward, Jiang Chengzhou came in carrying several paper parcels. The moment he entered, he saw Yan Yuan repairing the net in the courtyard.
“You’re back? So early today?”
“Yeah.” Yan Yuan looked up. “The net tore, so I came back early.”
Jiang Chengzhou glanced into the house. “You’ve seen my sister?”
Yan Yuan gave a slight nod. “She’s been asleep the whole time.”
Jiang Chengzhou muttered a curse and handed over the paper parcels. “I bought breakfast for you two. Eat first. Let her sleep a little longer.”
Yan Yuan accepted them and thanked him.
He finished the buns in a few bites, crumpled the oiled paper into a ball, and tossed it into the stove. “What’s your sister’s situation?”
The moment Jiang Chengzhou thought about it, anger rose in him.
“My sister passed the entrance exam for a technical secondary school, but the family that took her in refused to let her attend. They even tore up her admission notice. That idiot didn’t tell me. Luckily, she wasn’t completely hopeless. When she heard they were trying to set her up with some ridiculous blind date, she knew enough to run away and come find me.”
A flicker passed through Yan Yuan’s eyes. “What are you planning to do from now on?”
“She’ll stay with me. Can’t I support one girl? I’ll get her enrolled in night school so she can continue her education!”
Jiang Chengzhou patted him on the shoulder. “Good brother, thanks. I’ll find a place and move out in a few days.”
Yan Yuan frowned and pried his hand away. “She’s really your sister?”
Jiang Chengzhou nodded. “Absolutely. We may not be related by blood, but in my heart, she’s no different from my own sister.”
Jiang Chengzhou had been brought to the island by his uncle.
Later, after his uncle had been away on assignment for half a year, he returned with a little girl and said that she was Jiang Chengzhou’s younger sister.
Neither of the two men knew the first thing about raising a child. It was only with the help of Grandma Lotus next door and Aunt Chunhua that the two men managed, with plenty of fumbling and stumbling, to raise the girl.
Linlin had been beautiful since childhood. She could also sweetly call them “Dad” and “Big Brother,” bringing a great deal of joy to the household that had previously consisted of only an uncle and his nephew.
Later...
Su Lang was injured and died in the line of duty while out at sea.
The only ones left in the family were Jiang Chengzhou and Linlin.
The military, of course, could not let two children go on living that way. They wanted to send them back to the capital.
But the capital was in chaos too.
Xu Yueyun had a heart condition. When she learned that her younger son had died, she immediately fell into a coma and never regained consciousness. After a day of emergency treatment, she passed away.
After losing his youngest son and then the wife who had accompanied him all his life, Su Bingcheng was overcome with grief. He fell ill as well and never recovered.
The elder uncle and aunt cared only about dividing up the family’s inheritance. Su Bingcheng was not even dead yet, but they had already urged him several times to make arrangements for his funeral.
Su Bingcheng’s heart turned cold. It seemed he did not have much time left either.
They could not get in touch with Su Jue. Deng Jing had to care for both the children and the old man, yet she still made the trip to the island.
She wanted to take the two children back to the capital. Xiao Lang was gone, and someone had to take responsibility for the children.
Jiang Jinzhu came as well.
He wanted to take Jiang Chengzhou back with him.
Jiang Chengzhou did not want to return to the Jiang family, but he was not close to Deng Jing either. Besides, Deng Jing was already struggling to manage her own affairs—how could she possibly take care of two more children?
The military offered another solution.
If the two of them refused to return to the capital, then the military would raise them.
Linlin was still young at the time, confused and unaware of what was happening. She only knew to clutch tightly at her brother’s coat and refuse to let go.
Jiang Chengzhou thought it over before making up his mind.
“We’ll stay with the military. We’re not going back to the capital.”
Jiang Jinzhu and Deng Jing could do nothing to change his mind. They could not remain on the island indefinitely, so they left the two children some money before returning to the capital.
Later, Zhou Jianjun was transferred to the island.
He claimed to be some damned distant uncle of Linlin’s and said he wanted to adopt her.
Jiang Chengzhou had certainly refused.
