By the time Zhou Yue reached Yan Yuan’s house, they were already at the pier waiting for the boat.
There was one boat from the island to the mainland in the morning and another in the evening, and each boat stayed at the pier for an hour.
Jiang Chengzhou and Yan Yuan boarded with Linlin, carrying their tickets and luggage.
Along the way, they greeted quite a few familiar faces.
Once they entered the cabin, Jiang Chengzhou stowed away the luggage. “It’s stuffy in here. I’m going outside for a walk.”
Yan Yuan pressed down on his shoulder. “Where are you going?”
Jiang Chengzhou looked at him with a smile but said nothing.
Yan Yuan sighed inwardly. “I’ll go with you.”
Jiang Chengzhou bent down. “Linlin, stay in your seat and keep an eye on the luggage. Don’t run off. We’ll definitely be back before the boat leaves.”
Linlin obediently nodded and pulled both bags close, hugging them to herself.
The two men moved against the flow of passengers and slipped off the boat from the side. They took off their tops and hid them in the bushes.
It happened to be the time Zhou Jianjun got off work. The two of them hid in a banana grove and waited.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Zhou Jianjun came riding over on his bicycle.
Jiang Chengzhou and Yan Yuan exchanged a glance. They scattered a handful of thumbtacks on the ground first. When Zhou Jianjun got off his bike to inspect the tire, the two of them darted out, pulled a sack over his head, and dragged him—bicycle and all—into the banana grove.
Zhou Jianjun let out a muffled “Mm,” but his mouth was immediately covered.
Jiang Chengzhou’s fists came down hard, all of them landing on Zhou Jianjun’s face and body.
Yan Yuan covered his mouth while the two of them worked together with remarkable coordination. From beginning to end, they didn’t make a single unnecessary sound.
A few minutes later, Jiang Chengzhou stopped and nudged the curled-up Zhou Jianjun with his foot.
Yan Yuan gave him a meaningful look. They cleaned up the scene, then hurried away.
They returned to the bushes, put their shirts back on, and brushed the dirt and bits of leaves off themselves. Then they calmly made their way back to the pier.
With people coming and going all around them, the two of them stood on the deck as though nothing had happened before finally returning to the cabin.
When Zhou Yue got home, her mother was crying and cursing at the same time. Her father’s face was swollen like a pig’s head, and he was stomping around the house in a fury.
The moment she saw Zhou Yue, Song Fang snapped, “Where’s Zhou Lin? That ungrateful little brat still doesn’t know enough to come home?!”
Zhou Yue kicked aside the shards of broken porcelain on the floor. “She moved away ages ago. She isn’t on the island anymore.”
The Zhou household was in complete chaos, but none of it had anything to do with them now.
Yan Yuan rented a stall in a shopping center on the outskirts of Yangcheng to sell seafood.
Jiang Chengzhou and Yan Yuan took turns sourcing the goods, while one of them stayed behind to mind the stall.
Jiang Chengzhou had a wide network and knew plenty of people. He also knew several long- and short-haul drivers.
At the state-run ice plant, a fifty-kilogram block of industrial ice cost only three yuan and fifty cents for two blocks.
The fishmongers all bought their ice from there as well.
Whenever they had collected enough fish and shrimp, they loaded everything onto a truck and transported it to inland cities.
They could sell it for several times the original price on the return trip, and the profits were substantial. The restlessness in Jiang Chengzhou gradually eased as well.
After leaving the island, Linlin seemed to have shed some invisible burden. Her whole body relaxed considerably.
Jiang Chengzhou treated his little sister as though she were made of tofu, afraid she might so much as bump into something whenever they went out.
And Linlin listened to him more than anyone else. Whatever Jiang Chengzhou told her to do, she did.
Jiang Chengzhou’s nervous, cautious attitude had rubbed off on Linlin. Even after moving to Guangzhou, Linlin was still reluctant to go outside, shutting herself away in the house they had rented.
That was until Yan Yuan couldn’t stand by and watch any longer. He made Linlin come out and help them run the stall.
Jiang Chengzhou was, of course, against it. “Linlin isn’t going. She can just stay home and read. I’ve already asked around about night school. Once classes start, I’ll send her there.”
Yan Yuan’s brows furrowed so deeply they looked capable of trapping a mosquito. “Go to school, and then what? She won’t have to interact with people? Are you going to help her get along with her classmates? What about when she starts working? Can you stay by her side then, too?”
“I…”
Jiang Chengzhou was at a loss for words.
He felt indebted to Linlin.
If he hadn’t handed her over to the Zhou family back then, she wouldn’t have suffered so much over the years.
That was why he only wanted to make it up to her now—twice over, if he could. If Linlin didn’t want to go outside, then she didn’t have to. If she didn’t want to speak, then she didn’t have to.
Even if she never went to school and stayed at home for the rest of her life, Jiang Chengzhou could still support her.
Yan Yuan felt that taking care of her was more exhausting than raising a child. He patiently tried to reason with him. “Linlin isn’t in a good state right now. You have to help her step outside.”
“…How?”
Jiang Chengzhou finally relented.
“Let her come to the stall with us first. We’ll take it slowly and won’t pressure her.”
On Linlin’s first day at the stall, she didn’t dare step forward at all. At most, she handed things to the customers.
Jiang Chengzhou felt his heart ache at the sight. He nearly regretted it that very first day.
Yan Yuan thought this wouldn’t do.
When Linlin had first arrived, she had merely been shy. Although she was somewhat afraid of him, she had still been able to speak with him normally.
But Jiang Chengzhou had protected her too fiercely.
Afraid of causing her brother trouble, Linlin had gradually grown even quieter, more cautious, and more afraid of people.
The next day, Yan Yuan dragged Jiang Chengzhou outside.
“Linlin, you’ve memorized the prices of these fish and shrimp, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Your brother and I are going to pick up more stock. You stay here and keep an eye on things. If anyone comes to buy something, sell it to them. You can bargain if you need to.”
Before Linlin could refuse, Yan Yuan had already pulled Jiang Chengzhou away.
Another customer arrived almost immediately. Linlin had no time to call them back and could only force herself to greet him.
“How much are these prawns?”
“The small ones are three yuan a jin, and the large ones are five,” Linlin answered softly after a brief pause.
“That expensive?”
The customer squatted down and picked through the prawns, muttering under his breath.
Linlin didn’t know how to respond. She glanced toward the entrance again.
The customer had probably noticed how timid she was, because he drove a particularly hard bargain. “Will you sell the large ones for three?”
Linlin was silent for a moment before summoning her courage. “The lowest I can go is four-eighty…”
“Three! Not a penny more!”
The customer grumbled as he selected a few and set them aside, neither saying he wanted them nor that he didn’t.
Linlin stood where she was, hoping her brother would hurry back.
“Well? Are you selling them or not?” the customer demanded impatiently.
“That’s too little…”
They had cost more than two yuan a jin at wholesale. After all the effort involved, they wouldn’t make any money at that price.
Seeing that she wouldn’t lower it further, the customer clicked his tongue. “Fine, then. If you won’t sell, I’ll go check somewhere else.”
Linlin stood helplessly in front of the stall.
Yan Yuan and Jiang Chengzhou had been watching her from the shadows the entire time. When Jiang Chengzhou saw what was happening, he wanted to go out, but Yan Yuan held him back.
“Don’t rush. Wait a little longer.”
It was Linlin’s first time doing this kind of work, and with no one to teach her, she had already been taken advantage of several times.
Sometimes people would force her to sell at a low price, tossing down the money and leaving. Other times, they complained that it was too expensive and refused to buy.
Yan Yuan and Jiang Chengzhou didn’t mind losing a little money. Their main goal was to teach Linlin how to deal with people, as well as how to make a profit and bargain.
After all, the more losses you suffered, the smarter you became.
Before long, another customer approached the stall. “Little girl, how much are your white pomfrets?”
Linlin clenched her fists. “Five yuan a jin. If you’d like one, I can give it to you for four eighty.”
“That’s a little expensive. Will you take four fifty?”
“Sure!”
“Then weigh one for me.”
Linlin’s eyes lit up, and she hurriedly weighed the fish and packed it into a bag.
Jiang Chengzhou chuckled. “As expected of my little sister. You really know how to do business.”
White pomfret had originally been selling for four fifty a jin, and yet she had still left the customer room to bargain.
A flicker of amusement passed through Yan Yuan’s eyes. This little girl…
