Han Xiaorui nodded. “To be precise, it was 1,500 yuan. After deducting fuel and other expenses, the profit was 1,260 yuan.”
With that, Han Xiaorui took out one hundred and fifty ten-yuan bills and placed them on the table.
Han Xiaojing’s eyes lit up. She quickly picked them up to count them one by one. Once she confirmed it was 1,500 yuan, she burst into laughter.
“Sister, I never expected fishing to be this profitable. Divorce! You must get divorced! If you don’t, I’m worried I won’t be able to stop myself from beating up Yang Jianming’s mother.”
“You’re right! After the divorce, if she has a loose tongue, we’ll just have to beat her anyway!” Han Xiaorui laughed. “Don’t worry about me anymore. Once we’re divorced, we can still live well!”
“The only reason the paperwork isn’t finalized yet is that the transfer procedures for the boat, house, and land are a bit slow. I estimate everything will be done tomorrow.”
Sure enough, after dinner, Zhang Xiufang called to inform them that all the documents were ready and that they should come by tomorrow to finalize the divorce.
While sitting in Song Laoliu’s vehicle and passing through the county, Han Xiaorui saw Yang Jianming already waiting at the entrance of the government office. Seeing Han Xiaorui wearing a sweater and jeans today, his eyes lit up. “Xiaorui, actually, I…”
“I don’t have time for your nonsense!” Han Xiaorui walked in quickly. Both sides signed the confirmation, and they went to different offices to gradually handle the transfers of the fishing boat, the house, and the contracted land contracts.
Finally, they came to the Civil Affairs Bureau to process the divorce certificates. Divorce certificates at this time were blue and contained a black-and-white individual portrait. Holding the certificate, Han Xiaorui shoved it into her bag and turned to leave.
Yang Jianming looked at the divorce certificate, his emotions complex. “Xiaorui, if…”
“There are no ‘ifs’! From now on, whenever you see me, let’s just act like strangers. I won’t be paying you any mind anyway.”
With that, Han Xiaorui walked away quickly. She planned to buy her sister and two daughters some new clothes and a bag of White Rabbit Creamy Candies. Oh, and she also needed to buy her sister two pairs of shoes—a pair of leather shoes and a pair of white retro sneakers.
With a family to take care of and money to make, who had time to get entangled with a scumbag? Even looking at him for one more second was a waste of time.
Watching Han Xiaorui walk away quickly from behind, Yang Jianming assumed she was just heartbroken and stubborn. He thought she was clearly reluctant to leave him but was just putting on a show of indifference. It would be a lie to say he didn’t like Han Xiaorui back then, but married life had become too dull. Aside from the headaches with the children and the endless domestic squabbles, where was the romance of schoolyard strolls?
The fact that his two daughters couldn’t speak made him feel like he was losing face. Zhang Lili was young, passionate, and currently pregnant with a son—he was sure she would give birth to a healthy baby. Plus, Zhang Lili’s uncle was the vice president of the university, and whether or not he could become a professor at thirty depended on that uncle.
Considering all of this, Yang Jianming felt that the divorce was for the best for both him and Han Xiaorui. At worst, he could secretly give Han Xiaorui money in the future. If Han Xiaorui still loved him and was willing to be the woman behind the scenes, Yang Jianming could begrudgingly accept it for the sake of the children.
Yang Jianming was certainly indulging in a grand fantasy! If Han Xiaorui knew about his elaborate internal monologue, she would have thrown a pile of dog feces at him—because he was a dog, and he deserved nothing less.
After buying many things, Han Xiaorui noticed the time and took the bus home. Just as she finished cooking, Liu Sihai’s pedicab stopped at the door. Han Xiaorui took two packs of cigarettes and handed them to him. “Uncle Liu, I’ll be troubling you from now on.”
Liu Sihai waved his hand. “You’re paying me; this is my job. Don’t worry, even without the cigarettes, I’d still get everyone home safely.”
Han Xiaorui reached through the window of the pedicab and stuffed the cigarettes inside. “Uncle Liu, don’t be so formal. We’ll be working together for a long time. I’d rather we be slow than compete for the lane.”
“Don’t you worry. I used to drive for the leaders at the factory; I’m steady and cautious.” Liu Sihai was delighted; those two packs of cigarettes were worth five mao, enough to last him two weeks.
Han Xiaorui urged, “Xiaojing, today is a good day. Let’s celebrate!”
As she spoke, Han Xiaorui brought out braised grouper, sweet and sour pork ribs, braised pork, beef stir-fried with green peppers, steamed egg with minced meat, shrimp with peas and pine nuts, shredded potato with green peppers, sautéed greens with garlic, and seaweed egg drop soup. She poured two small glasses of white spirit for themselves and hawthorn juice for the children to stimulate their appetites.
“Cheers!” Han Xiaorui smiled, calling for the kids to join in.
Pingping and An’an, perhaps sensing the happy mood of their mother and aunt, raised their glass cups and lightly clinked them against the others. “Cheers!”
Pingping and An’an finished half a bowl of rice, some fish, two pieces of braised ribs, several bites of greens, and some soup. Their eating habits were changing; on one hand, the exercise the doctor had them doing in the morning made them hungry, and on the other, the water processed by her superpower made the food taste much better.
Because her sister’s cooking was so delicious, Han Xiaojing ate until she was stuffed and took the children into the yard to feed the chickens, ducks, and geese, playing with the cats and dogs. The sound of their laughter drifted through the yard from time to time.
After cleaning up, Han Xiaorui picked up a bucket containing fermented bait. “You guys stay home, I’m heading out to sea!”
“Be careful, Sister!” Han Xiaojing waved, prompting her nieces to communicate. “Pingping, An’an, say goodbye to Mommy!”
“Mommy, goodbye!”
The children were making eye contact; the effect of teaching them face-to-face was working well.
“Pingping, An’an, goodbye!” Han Xiaorui felt a surge of joy, her steps light. She felt the water-type superpower in her body becoming even stronger. Sure enough, ditching a scumbag brought good luck—today would be a great fishing day!
At the pier, she loaded ice and fuel and set off, speeding across the endless sea. After sailing southeast for an hour and a half, she arrived at the same reef location, twenty meters below the surface.
She moved to the other side and scanned carefully—it was incredible! Her luck was even better today. Near this spot, there was a school of Giant Grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus), also known as the Queensland Grouper.
These were the largest of all grouper species! They were a precious delicacy of the sea, typically weighing over forty or fifty jin in the wild, usually found in subtropical and tropical waters. She hadn’t expected to find such fine fish here.
Wild Giant Grouper often hid in coral reefs and didn’t show themselves easily. They grew slowly, and specimens over sixty centimeters in length had lived in the sea for over twenty years; they were highly intelligent and extremely difficult to catch. They had medicinal properties, known to treat hypertension, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular diseases. The price was even higher than yesterday’s blue grouper!
In this school of Giant Grouper, there were several over a meter long. She didn’t need many—catching just one would be a huge profit for the day!
Han Xiaorui quickly changed to a thicker, stronger fishing line. The bait she attached was also carefully fermented until pungent, offering a fatal attraction to the grouper. These fish were at least thirty years old; as the saying went, old fish were just as “cunning” as old people. Despite the tempting, stinky food right before their eyes, the groupers swam around the bait, their tails flicking in agitation, their mouths opening occasionally, but they refused to bite.