Ye Feng sat in the back of the military vehicle, looking straight ahead.
Recently, foreign hostile forces had been frequently lurking in the vicinity.
Those ships did not enter, but they sailed right along the border line, which was deeply aggravating.
Everyone knew those ships did not come over without reason, so the higher-ups had specifically sent him to investigate.
Upon receiving the report, Ye Feng had rushed over immediately.
Driving at breakneck speed from the city, he arrived at Jinshan Bay in forty minutes.
Although the woman named Han Xiaorui had reported the address, it was already dark, and they could not find it.
Therefore, they went directly to the village secretary’s house.
Yang Jianguo happened to be looking for the village secretary; after all, she was his former sister-in-law. His second uncle had previously instructed him to look after Han Xiaorui, so he had followed along as well.
Han Xiaorui was eating when she heard a knock at the door, so she hurried over. “Who is it?”
“Xiaorui, the public security comrades are here, saying you found something from the sea,” Yang Jianguo said quickly, hoping that what she had retrieved was truly something valuable from abroad.
When Han Xiaorui heard this, she said to her younger sister inside, “Xiaojing, I’m going to the pier to get something. You stay home and watch the children.”
Seeing someone accompanying her, Han Xiaojing was no longer worried about her sister. “Got it, go and come back soon.”
Han Xiaorui picked up a flashlight and locked the door. “The thing is on the boat!”
By the light of the doorway, Ye Feng carefully observed Han Xiaorui. His first impression was that she was thin, just like a bamboo pole; he felt that if the sea breeze were a little stronger, it could blow her away.
A young man beside Ye Feng grew anxious. “With such an important item, how could you leave it on the boat?”
Han Xiaorui blinked, caught between laughter and tears. “Comrade, that thing weighs over a hundred jin, and I couldn’t carry it. Plus, my house is still several hundred meters from the pier.”
Ye Feng’s gaze landed on Han Xiaorui. “Comrade Han Xiaorui, my colleague didn’t mean it that way, so please forgive him. Can we go to the pier now?”
“All right!” Han Xiaorui walked in front, while the young comrade drove, and Ye Feng, Secretary Liu, and Yang Jianguo followed closely behind.
Arriving at the pier, Han Xiaorui found her boat, took out the keys, opened the cabin, and shone the flashlight inside. “There, it’s right there!”
Ye Feng was quite tall, and the small cabin instantly became crowded.
After entering, he tore open the snake-skin bag, and with one look, he knew this was something not found domestically; it was a state-of-the-art foreign seabed probe.
Ye Feng and the young comrade lifted the probe and placed it into the vehicle.
Ye Feng turned to look at Han Xiaorui. “Comrade Han Xiaorui, can you take us to the place where you found the probe tomorrow?”
“I can; I’m going fishing anyway,” Han Xiaorui replied. “I usually set off at seven in the morning. When will you be coming?”
“I will be here waiting for you at seven tomorrow, so I won’t delay your fishing.” Ye Feng greatly appreciated Han Xiaorui’s strong sense of security awareness. Once they found this, the experts could dismantle it, and it was very likely they could manufacture a probe just as advanced.
Han Xiaorui nodded. “Deal!”
Ye Feng looked at Secretary Liu and Yang Jianguo. “Thank you, Secretary Liu and Team Leader Yang. Your village’s safety education has been very successful. I will report this to the local government to commend you and Comrade Han Xiaorui.”
Secretary Liu felt excited inside, but he remained calm on the surface and spoke modestly. “We are all Chinese, so of course we must be patriotic. When we find something from abroad, no matter what it is, we’ll get it out first.”
Ye Feng smiled. “That’s correct. Thank you again.”
After speaking, Ye Feng nodded to Han Xiaorui, got into the vehicle, and left.
Secretary Liu looked at Han Xiaorui with praise in his eyes. “Xiaorui, you did well. You’ll be one of the candidates for the village’s model woman this year.”
Han Xiaorui smiled. “Then I’ll thank the secretary here first. By the way, don’t leave just yet. I caught a large fish and can’t eat it all. Brother, help me slaughter it; give some to Secretary Liu, keep some for yourself, and send some to Pingping and An’an’s grandfather. Deliver the rest back to me.”
“You must have heard that I’ve divorced Yang Jianguo. Uncle Yang really loves Pingping and An’an, and he didn’t treat me unfairly during the divorce; he gave me a lot of things. I can’t be heartless either, so when I have something good, I have to think of Uncle Yang. However, it’s not appropriate for me to deliver it personally, so Brother, please help me take it over.”
Having said this, Han Xiaorui went to the live water tank and began to scoop out the fish.
Secretary Liu looked at Yang Jianguo with a complicated expression. There were some things he didn’t want to say in front of Han Xiaorui, but he truly looked down on Yang Jianguo’s character.
Yang Jianguo looked embarrassed; he rubbed his nose, gave a sheepish smile, and didn’t know what to say.
At this moment, Yang Jianguo saw Han Xiaorui scoop a large fish out of the tank and his eyes lit up. “Xiaorui, is that a giant grouper?”
This question immediately drew Secretary Liu’s attention, and he looked over as well.
Secretary Liu quickly waved his hand; this was no ordinary fish, it was extremely expensive. “Xiaorui, giant grouper is very expensive, over ten yuan a jin! This fish could sell for several hundred yuan!”
Yang Jianguo also waved his hand hurriedly. “Yes, Xiaorui, we can’t accept this.”
Han Xiaorui smiled. “I caught another large one today, ninety-five jin. The boss of Zhang Facai Seafood Restaurant in the county offered twenty yuan a jin, and I sold it for over a thousand yuan!”
“This one is a small one, and I don’t intend to sell it. When I catch a good fish, I should eat it too, and it will help nourish the children.”
Hearing Han Xiaorui say this, Yang Jianguo nodded. “All right, then, I’ll take this giant grouper home. Once I’ve butchered it and cleaned the intestines, stomach, and neck of the grouper, I’ll have your sister-in-law bring some over to you.”
Han Xiaorui nodded and smiled. “Then I’ll leave it to you, Brother.”
Yang Jianguo carried the fish and walked with Secretary Liu, accompanying Han Xiaorui all the way home.
Secretary Liu still couldn’t help but say in a low voice, “Jianguo, didn’t you try to persuade your second uncle and Jianguo? Xiaorui is a good child, and I think she’s better than that Zhang Lili.”
Upon hearing this, Yang Jianguo sighed. “Uncle Liu, I also think Xiaorui is better than Zhang Lili, but my cousin Jianguo is not a good man.”
“My second uncle said everything that could be said, good or bad, but they still wanted to divorce. Furthermore, Zhang Lili is pregnant now, and my second aunt is bragging all day long that it’s a boy. In fact, it’s the same whether it’s a boy or a girl; she’s the one who cares about boys more than girls.”
Yang Jianguo only had one daughter. He didn’t favor boys over girls; he simply wanted two children, and he would be happy even if they were two daughters.
Now that family planning was being implemented, he couldn’t have a second child even if he wanted to.
Secretary Liu expressed regret. “Sigh, your second uncle has been upright his whole life, but I never expected him to marry a wife like your second aunt and raise a piece of work like Jianguo.”
Yang Jianguo sighed. “Sigh, it’s all fate!”
When they returned home and Yang Jianguo placed the fish in the fish pond at home, his wife Wu Cuicui’s eyes lit up when she saw it. “Jianguo, where did this come from?”
“Xiaorui caught it today. She said she didn’t know how to prepare it, so she asked me to prepare it tomorrow and give some to me and the village secretary. After I finish preparing it tomorrow, you take some over to her.”
“After all, Jianguo and Xiaorui are divorced; it’s not appropriate for my second uncle to visit too much, let alone me, her brother-in-law. You’re a woman, so it’s easier for you to communicate with Xiaorui.”