1992: Starting with the Second Generation of Shipowners

Chapter 43 Year-End

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Moon Island was swept by wind all night. After dawn, the wind stopped, and the sea was as flat as a piece of gray-blue cloth.

Old Fang was the first to arrive at the service station. He wiped all three wooden signs clean, swept the yard, and squatted down at the workshop entrance to light a cigarette.

Today is cleaning day. The service station needs to be cleaned inside and out. This is an old custom. The dust and grease that accumulate in the factory, workshop, and ship rafts throughout the year must be cleaned up before the New Year.

Ah Guang arrived second, carrying a bamboo broom and rag he had brought from home.

He opened all the windows of the old parts warehouse to let in some fresh air, took the old parts off the shelves one by one, wiped the shelves clean with cotton yarn, and then moved the old parts back according to their numbers.

The year-end inventory in the register has been completed, with the last entry written. Dozens of refurbished items were sold this year.

The inventory of used parts has nearly doubled compared to last year. He wrote a line in the remarks column: The recycling rate of used parts has increased compared to last year. All parts to be scrapped are numbered and archived.

Lao Fang led A Hai and Hong Xiaobing to clean the workshop.

All the wrenches on the workbench were removed, washed with diesel fuel, and then hung back on the tool wall according to their model numbers.

The track was wiped clean of grease with cotton yarn, and two test runs were conducted. The trolley moved smoothly without any jamming.

The grease that had accumulated in the ditch for more than half a year was the most time-consuming. Hong Xiaobing squatted down and scraped it bit by bit with a shovel. After scraping it, he used a mop dipped in diesel to mop it again. After mopping, the original color of cement was revealed in the ditch.

Hong Xiaobing climbed out of the ditch, his pants covered in several streaks of oil and mud.

He squatted down at the workshop entrance to catch his breath. Ah Hai handed him a jar of water, which he took and gulped down several mouthfuls.

These past few days, he's been the teaching assistant for the practical training sessions. The new trainees are even less capable than when he first arrived. Some people screwed the high-pressure oil pipe connectors on backwards, and some forgot to remember the order when disassembling the fuel injectors.

Hong Xiaobing corrected them one by one, and the most frequent thing he said was, "The threads must be aligned before you can tighten them. If they are crooked, you will strip them if you try to tighten them." This was something Ding Haisheng taught him, and now he was teaching it to the newcomers.

Ah Hai asked him how being a teaching assistant was. Hong Xiaobing put the jar on the stone block and said it was more tiring than disassembling a gearbox. Disassembling a gearbox only required him to focus on his own work, but being a teaching assistant meant he had to keep an eye on the hands of several people.

In the afternoon, Lin Xiu'e cleaned the kitchen from the inside out.

She replaced the tung oil putty bowls on the windowsill with damp cloths, and re-counted the dishes and chopsticks in the cabinet against the wall. She found that two enamel bowls had chipped paint, so she sanded the rough edges and set them aside.

The stove was polished to a shine, and the iron pot was scrubbed with a steel wool pad, scraping off a thick layer of black ash from the bottom.

After finishing the inventory of the old parts warehouse, A-Guang rebuilt the loquat tree roots in the yard with broken seashells.

The loquat sapling that Wang Cunzhi sent was the first one he planted. Now the trunk is as thick as a wrist, and there are several green buds hanging on the branches. It will bloom in the spring.

The smaller trees next to it have grown to about half a person's height, their leaves rustling in the sea breeze.

Next to the larger one, a new seedling sprouted, with two tender leaves peeking out from the circle of broken seashells. A-Guang loosened the soil with a small shovel and watered it with half a ladle of water.

On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Cunzhi came by motorcycle.

He parked his car at the gate of the courtyard, took a canvas bag off the back seat, which contained several documents that had just arrived from the province.

One document is the official notice of the year-end evaluation. The Moon Island Service Station has been recognized as an advanced unit in the province's fishing boat repair industry, and an awards ceremony will be held after the New Year.

The other document is the approval of next year's training subsidy budget.

He handed two documents to Jiang Haiping, squatted down at the workshop entrance, lit a cigarette, and said that Director Sun had asked him to pass on a message: next year the province will conduct a standardization assessment of the fishing boat repair industry, and pilot units will be the first to participate, with Moon Island at the forefront.

Jiang Haiping stood at the workshop entrance, flipping through the official documents in his hand.

On the wall, plaques reading "Designated Repair Point of Provincial Fisheries System" and "Standardization Construction Pilot Unit" are hung side by side.

He still remembers the day a few years ago when the sign was first put up, Lao Fang was squatting at the workshop entrance smoking, saying that the sign was for outsiders to see, but the ship repair was for himself.

Now, the service station is backed by the principles established by the province and has received a newly added official document, which is quite weighty.

Jiang Haiping put the two documents in the drawer, discussed it with Lao Fang, and told him about the provincial standardization assessment.

After listening, Lao Fang nodded and said that the service station had all of these, including equipment ledgers, safety production records, customer follow-ups, and apprentice training files. A Guang's registration book was the ledger.

He kept six maintenance logbooks from the first one, knew the equipment list by heart, and every page of the customer follow-up logbook bore the shipowner's signature or fingerprint. His training records were also the most comprehensive.

From the first registration book where Ahai wrote "three gears, five bearings, and two rudder sticks" to the practical evaluations left by the new trainees trained by Hong Xiaobing, not a single one has been missed.

After finishing work in the evening, Jiang Haiping went through all the year-end summary materials from beginning to end.

The service station has been open for several years, growing from three dilapidated stone houses to now. It has repaired hundreds of boats, started its refurbishment business, and trained several batches of students.

He neatly stacked the materials and put them into a file bag, which he would have Wang Cunzhi take to the county for filing the next day.

Outside the window, loquat leaves gently rustled in the night breeze. Inside the kitchen, Lin Xiu'e was brewing tea in the enamel mug that she had left for Old Sun. From the dock came the deep, resonant sound of fishing boats returning to port.

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Jiang Haiping went home. Zhouzhou's mother was busy in the kitchen all afternoon, making braised ribbonfish, garlic greens, pork rib soup, and steaming a batch of white flour buns.

Jiang Weiguo sat in the living room reading the newspaper in the same rattan chair, the same chair he always sat in when he came home. The armrests of the rattan chair were worn shiny.

When Jiang Haiping pushed the door open, he took off his reading glasses, folded the newspaper and placed it on the coffee table, then put his glasses on top of the newspaper.

Jiang Haiping carried the items from the bicycle basket onto the table: dried shrimp that Lin's mother had been drying, bok choy grown by the service station, and two cans of loquat preserves.

Jiang Weiguo glanced at the canned food and said that he hadn't finished last year's batch.

Jiang Haiping said this was freshly brewed this year, and Xiu'e asked him to bring it.

Jiang Weiguo hummed in agreement, moved the canned food to the side of the coffee table to make room for the teacup.

At the dinner table, Zhouzhou's mother put a piece of ribbonfish on Jiang Haiping's plate and scooped several spoonfuls of pork ribs from the rib soup into his bowl, saying that he had lost weight and must not have eaten properly at the service station.

Jiang Haiping said that Lin Xiue delivered meals to him every day, so he didn't go hungry.

Zhouzhou's mother said that Xiu'e was very skillful and could cook fish ball soup better than her. Last time she saw Lin Xiu'e busy in the kitchen at the service station, with flour stuck to her apron, fish balls cooking in the pot, and several bowls of prepared tung oil ash on the stove.

She cooked the soup while preparing the ash, managing both tasks perfectly; she was clearly a thrifty and capable woman.

Jiang Haiping put the ribbonfish in his mouth and chewed it slowly without saying a word.

Zhouzhou's mother put another piece of pork rib into his bowl. The rib landed on the rice and gently pressed down, creating a shallow indentation.

Jiang Weiguo picked up a piece of green vegetable and asked the service station what their plans were for next year.

Jiang Haiping said that the province will conduct standardized assessments next year, and the service station will be among the first batch of pilot stations. Equipment ledgers, safety production records, customer follow-ups, training files, and other materials are all being prepared.

With the renovation business stabilizing, we plan to level the open space to the west of the workshop next year to build another boat rack.

The training center has already trained several batches of students. Wang Cunzhi suggested that more young apprentices among the fishermen could be trained so that they could independently troubleshoot common faults.

Jiang Weiguo nodded after listening and said that Ahai could take over the training.

Jiang Haiping finished the last bite of rice in his bowl. He understood what his father meant: the core of the service station was craftsmanship, and that craftsmanship had to be passed down.

Ahai can now lead a team independently, Hong Xiaobing can train new students, and although Aguang is not yet a fully qualified welder, his flat-corner welds are already quite good. With the business expanding, everyone needs to be able to handle things on their own.

Jiang Weiguo put down his chopsticks and turned to look out the window.

The branches of the old locust tree in the courtyard swayed gently in the twilight. He paused for a while before speaking as if he had just remembered something: "When will you bring Xiu'e back to visit?"

It's not a question, it's a statement.

Jiang Haiping agreed.

Zhouzhou's mother paused for a moment while scooping soup with her spoon, and two drops of soup spilled from the edge of the spoon and landed on the table.

She scooped the ribs into Jiang Haiping's bowl without saying a word, but the wrinkles around her eyes completely smoothed out.

Jiang Haiping spent New Year's Eve at the service station.

Lin's mother made several hundred dumplings by hand, with two kinds of fillings: pork and cabbage, and mackerel and chives. The dough was made of wheat flour mixed with a little sweet potato flour, and rolled out to be thin and even.

Old Chen arrived carrying that iron pot, its bottom blackened by the fire and its rim gleaming. He set the pot up in the yard, and pine branches crackled and popped as they burned beneath it.

Old Fang bought pork and ribbonfish from town, along with a plastic bucket of bulk liquor. Qiu Changhai brought a folding round table from home, and Lin Xiu'e set out the bowls and chopsticks, with the enamel bowls neatly arranged on the table.

As dusk fell, people set off firecrackers at the Moon Island pier.

Ah Guang pulled out a few firecrackers from his pocket, took a piece of charcoal from the stove with a fire poker, poked it into a firecracker, and threw it out. The firecracker exploded on the rocks, and sparks flew into the seawater and went out with a hiss.

Hong Xiaobing also took out one and poked it like him, then threw it far away, where it landed in the stone trough and splashed up a small water droplet.

Old Fang scolded him, "Don't blow up the boat!" Ah Guang replied, "I won't blow up the boat, I'll blow up the fish."

The dumplings were cooked, and Old Chen brought a steaming enamel basin to the table. He poured vinegar into a rough porcelain bowl and threw in crushed garlic cloves.

Old Fang opened the bottle of bulk liquor and poured half a bowl for each of them.

Qiu Changhai picked up the glass, smelled it, and said that the wine was just as strong as last year's.

Old Fang said that's the right thing to do; you have to drink it during the Chinese New Year.

Ding Haisheng sat in the corner, slowly drinking from his bowl, and even smiled a little. Master Song and Xiao Zhou sat on the stone stools at the entrance of the shed. Hong Xiaobing brought them two bowls of dumplings, then came back and stuffed a piece of ribbonfish into his mouth.

After dinner, A-Guang and Hong Xiaobing set off the remaining firecrackers in the yard, while Ding Haisheng squatted at the workshop entrance watching. Lao Fang and Qiu Changhai sat on stone stools, each with a cigarette, the cigarette butts glowing and dimming in the twilight.

Lin Xiu'e tidied up the dishes and chopsticks in the kitchen, dried her hands, came out, and sat down next to Jiang Haiping with the last bowl of dumplings.

The dumplings in the bowl were no longer steaming. She bent down and ate them one by one. When she got to the last one, she suddenly said, "The service station is more lively this year than last year."

Jiang Haiping recalled the Lunar New Year's Eve a few years ago, when the service station was still called the ship repair point, and there were only three people there: him, Lao Fang, and Qiu Changhai.

Old Fang squatted at the workshop entrance smoking, while he sat on the rocks doing accounts, and Qiu Changhai sharpened his old chisel under the dim light.

The courtyard is now brightly lit, the steam in the kitchen never stops, the loquat tree has grown as thick as a wrist, the old parts warehouse has several stacks of registers, and the training class students have come and gone in waves. Jiang Haiping says it will be even more lively in the future.

Lin Xiu'e put the last dumpling into his bowl, stood up, and walked towards the kitchen.

She turned back at the door and said, "I'll make steamed buns tomorrow morning, with shredded radish and dried shrimp. Come early." Her shadow was reflected in the kitchen window as she kneaded dough, the dough rolling back and forth on the board until it was smooth.

Jiang Haiping sat on the rocks at the entrance of the courtyard wall for quite a while.

The sound of firecrackers in the distance gradually subsided, and fishing lights dotted the sea.

The lights were still on in the courtyard of the service station, and the flower buds on the loquat tree shone slightly in the moonlight. The few rings of broken seashells that A-Guang had wrapped around the tree still had water stains on them.

The waves gently lapped against the stone trough, one after another.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year. Lin Xiu'e is going to make steamed buns with shredded radish and dried shrimp. The spring flood season will be here in a few days, and the service station will be busy again.

He placed the enamel bowl on the rocks, stood up, and walked towards the workshop.