dognovel Chapter 23 Opening the Sea
Chapter 23 Opening the Sea
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the ship repair shop opened its doors.
Old Fang was the first to arrive. He swept the firecracker debris from the courtyard gate, wiped the two wooden signs, and rearranged the wrenches on the tool wall according to their sizes.
Ahai arrived second, holding his winter vacation homework. He said he was going to take the vocational school entrance exam this year and hadn't finished his winter vacation homework yet, so he came to the ship repair shop to write it down in peace.
Qiu Changhai arrived third, bringing a jar of homemade pickled vegetables.
Ding Haisheng was the fourth to arrive. His military green jacket had been washed and the buttons had been re-sewed on.
Guo Dayong was the fifth to arrive, and his wife packed him two more boxes of dumplings.
Master Song came out of the shed. He had gone back to have New Year's Eve dinner with his father on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month and returned on the first day of the new year.
Lin Xiu'e arrived last, carrying a basket of steaming hot radish and shrimp dumplings.
Ah Hai took one, took a bite, and said that Sister Xiu'e's buns this year were even tastier than last year's. Lin Xiu'e said that the dough was this year's new dough, and last year's dough had a stale taste after being left for a long time.
Nine people were squatting in the courtyard, each holding a bowl of porridge and eating steamed buns with pickled vegetables. The sea breeze carried the smells of diesel fuel and tung oil ash.
The stone trough was empty; the boats that had gone home for the New Year were all waiting to set sail again in the spring.
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, a notice came from the county.
Director Sun asked Jiang Haiping to go to the Fisheries Bureau to discuss the expansion of the ship repair site.
Jiang Haiping went by bicycle.
The Fisheries Bureau is located on the old street of the county town, in a three-story gray building, with several bicycles parked in the courtyard.
Director Sun's office was on the second floor. A glass plate was placed on the desk, and underneath it was a map of the county's fisheries. The location of Moon Island was circled in red.
Director Sun asked him to sit down and took out a document from his drawer. The province had allocated funds to support fishery infrastructure, and the county had received a portion of that. They planned to use a portion of the funds to build a fishing boat service station on Moon Island.
It's not a small ship repair shop like a repair shop; it's a proper site equipped with a ship rack, crane, welding machine, and machine repair workshop.
"The preliminary site selection is the vacant lot next to your boat repair shop. Your boat repair shop has been officially recognized by the province and the county. The technical staff for this service station will come from your area. After it is completed, government boats will have priority for designated repairs, while fishermen's boats can use it as they see fit."
Jiang Haiping asked the waiter who was in charge.
"The building and equipment belong to the Fisheries Bureau, but the operation has been contracted out to you. Pay a management fee, and you can earn the rest yourself." Director Sun pushed the documents over. "Go back and discuss it with Master Fang and the others, and give me a reply within three days."
Jiang Haiping took the document and read it through. The contract period was ten years, the management fee was three percent of the turnover, the equipment ownership belonged to the state, and the right to use it belonged to the contractor. The terms were more favorable than he had imagined.
Director Sun said this was a supportive measure and not for profit.
What the county wants is for fishermen to have a place to repair their boats, to have good repair services, and to be able to afford them. Last year, you repaired more than a hundred boats without any safety accidents or complaints from fishermen. This is a genuine reputation.
Jiang Haiping brought the documents back to the ship repair site, and the nine of them squatted on the rocks for a meeting.
After reading the document, Lao Fang handed it to Qiu Changhai, who then passed it to Ding Haisheng, and so on. When it reached Lin Xiu'e, she didn't look at it and handed it to Ahai next to her.
Ah Hai read it through from beginning to end and asked what the 3% management fee meant.
Jiang Haiping said the ship repair shop's annual turnover is about 40,000 yuan, and three percent of that is 1,200 yuan.
Ah Hai did the math and said that 1,200 yuan could buy several new welding machines.
Old Fang said that you can't just calculate the management fee. The building was built by the Fisheries Bureau, and the equipment was provided by the Fisheries Bureau. Large items such as cranes and lathes are worth at least tens of thousands of yuan.
Paying a little over a thousand yuan a year for equipment worth over ten thousand yuan is a good deal.
Qiu Changhai stubbed out his cigarette. "Public funds are hard to take. Once you take the equipment, you have to follow public rules. The records need to be more detailed, and the inspections need to be stricter. Who will inspect today, who will audit tomorrow? It's a hassle."
Old Fang said it was troublesome, but the ship repair shop couldn't stay cooped up in those few stone houses at the saltworks forever. They had too many people, not enough equipment, and not enough space.
Even if the ship repair shop saves up its own money to build a factory and buy equipment, it still wouldn't be enough to establish a proper service station even after ten years.
Ahai raised his hand. "Is it still called Moon Island Ship Repair Station?"
No one spoke. Lin Xiu'e, squatting nearby mixing tung oil putty, paused for a moment with the shovel in her hand. Old Fang took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff.
"What it's called doesn't matter. Whether it's called a ship repair shop or a service station, the ship repair skills are the same. The sign may have changed, but the people are the same."
Jiang Haiping looked at everyone. "Then let's accept it."
Qiu Changhai nodded.
Ding Haisheng said he would accept.
Master Song said he would pick him up.
Guo Dayong said he would answer.
Ah Hai and Ah Guang exchanged a glance and said "Okay" together.
Lin Xiu'e covered the tung oil putty with a damp cloth and said, "Let's get started."
Jiang Haiping signed the document.
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival.
Fishermen on Moon Island have a custom of releasing boat lanterns into the sea on this night. The lanterns are small boats made of colored paper, about the size of a palm, with the bottom coated with tung oil for waterproofing, and a candle stub placed inside the cabin.
They lit the fire and pushed it out to sea from the dock, letting the tide carry it away. The farther it drifted, the more fish they would catch that year.
Lin Xiu'e made nine boat lanterns. One for each person in the family, and one for each person at the boat repair shop. She drew a small flag on the bow of her own lantern in red ink. Jiang Haiping wrote the words "Peace" on the bottom of his lantern.
After dark, the pier was packed with people. People from Moon Island, the town on the other side, and Hongjia Island all came. Dozens of boat lights were pushed out to sea from the pier, initially clustered together, then slowly dispersing.
The candlelight flickered on the inky black sea, like a group of drifting stars.
Lin Xiu'e squatted on the dock and lowered the last boat light. The light swayed in the waves, then stabilized and slowly drifted away with the tide. The small red flag drawn on the bow of the boat flickered in the candlelight.
She stood up and watched the ship's lights drift away. Jiang Haiping stood beside her.
"Did you make a wish?"
"It's granted."
"What is the promise?"
Lin Xiu'e didn't speak. The sea breeze blew, lifting a corner of her scarf. The ship's lantern drifted further and further away, slowly blending into the other lanterns, making it impossible to distinguish one from another.
After the Lunar New Year holiday, the fishing boat service station reopened.
The county sent a construction team, and excavators drove onto the rocky beach, churning away at the foundation. Old Fang, wearing a hard hat, squatted nearby watching, remarking that he hadn't seen anything like this in years.
The last time was when the shipyard was being expanded, back in the 1960s.
Master Song moved to live near the ship repair shop. There's only one ferry a day between Hongjia Island and Moon Island, and the round trip takes too long. An extra bed was added to the asbestos-roofed shed, one for him and one for Ding Haisheng.
The shed was too small; two people had to turn sideways to turn around, but Master Song said it was enough. His father was being looked after by a neighbor, and he would go back to visit him every few days.
Ahai passed the entrance exam for the county technical school to study marine engineering repair, and classes started in March. He handed the old parts register to Aguang, flipping through it page by page. "How are gear numbers assigned, how are bearing specifications recorded, who signs off on the parts? Three notebooks, the first one is full, the second one is almost full, and the third one has just started."
Ah Guang took it, examined it in his hand, and said, "Brother, your handwriting is getting better and better."
Ah Hai said it was something he learned through practice. On the day he left, the people from the ship repair shop saw him off at the dock. Old Fang patted him on the shoulder and said, "Study hard, and come back when you've learned it all."
Ah Hai said he would definitely come back. The ferry sounded its horn and slowly left the dock. Ah Guang stood on the dock watching the ferry go, clutching the registration book in his hand.
In mid-February, Jiang Haiping went home.
His father, Jiang Weiguo, sat in the living room reading the newspaper, just like last year and the year before. Jiang Haiping sat down opposite him and recounted the whole story of the fishing boat service station.
Jiang Weiguo started by talking about how Lin Xiu'e had come to borrow his boat last summer, then about the boat repair shop opening, about Director Sun wanting to build a service station, and about the nine people having a meeting squatting on the rocks. He put down his newspaper.
"I heard about the service station from Director Sun. The county asked for my opinion."
Jiang Haiping is equal.
"I said, the ship repair shop on Moon Island is run by my son. I didn't help him when he opened it. I won't help him when it goes out of business. But since we're discussing building a service station, as the shipyard manager, I'll say this: the work those guys did was fine."
He picked up the newspaper. "Setting up the service station is the county's decision. Whether you take it or not is your business. You don't need to discuss these things with me."
Jiang Haiping said he understood. He stood up, walked to the door, then turned back.
"Dad, I might get married in two years."
Jiang Weiguo looked up from behind the newspaper. He stared at him for a moment, then put the newspaper down again. "Whose daughter is she?"
"From the Lin family. From Moon Island."
Jiang Weiguo didn't say anything. After a while, he said he'd bring him back to see when he had time. Jiang Haiping said okay, pushed open the door, and went out.
Jiang Weiguo picked up the newspaper, turned it over, and held it upside down.
In late February, Guo Dayong resigned.
He wiped the wrench clean and put it back on the tool wall, then walked to the river and sea and took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. It wasn't a letter, but his graduation certificate from the county's agricultural machinery training course. Above the graduation certificate was another document: a certificate of qualification for fishing boat engine repair.
He said the agricultural machinery station in his hometown was hiring, with a permanent position and a monthly salary of 120 yuan. His wife was farming and taking care of the children back home, and they had been living apart for two years.
The farm machinery station is close to home, so he can go home every day. It's not that he dislikes the boat repair shop; it's that his family needs him to go back.
He squatted on the rocks and finished speaking, then looked down at his shoes. The toes of the shoes were worn through, revealing the fabric underneath.
Old Fang squatted down next to him and smoked a cigarette. "Learn well and then leave."
Guo Dayong looked up as if to say something, but Lao Fang waved his hand. "I'm not insulting you by saying you should leave once you've learned well. I'll teach you for two years, from tractor to fishing boat, from knowing nothing to changing oil seals and repairing water pumps yourself. If you learn well, the agricultural machinery station will hire you; they have good judgment. Go back and work hard, don't embarrass me."
Guo Dayong stood up and bowed to Lao Fang. He then bowed to Jiang Haiping, Qiu Changhai, Ding Haisheng, Master Song, A Guang, and Lin Xiue.
After bowing, he straightened up, his eyes red.
The repairman escorted them to the gate of the yard.
Jiang Haiping settled the wages and gave Guo Dayong an extra two hundred yuan. Guo Dayong said he couldn't take more. Jiang Haiping said it wasn't extra, it was his year-end bonus for the past two years.
Guo Dayong took the money, put it in his pocket, and got on his old bicycle. A roll of luggage was strapped to the back seat—the same cloth bag he'd brought with him when he came, and the same cloth bag he'd left with.
He rode off for a while, then turned back. "Master Fang, I'll come back to see you." He disappeared from sight after turning the seawall.
Old Fang squatted on the rocks and lit another cigarette. "Damn it. I'm not kicking him out, but I still feel so suffocated."
In early March, the framework of the fishing boat service station was erected.
The main building is a two-story brick building, with a ship repair workshop downstairs and offices and duty rooms upstairs. The workshop is five times larger than the stone building at the ship repair site, and is equipped with electric boat rafts, overhead cranes, new welding machines, lathes, and drilling machines.
The building isn't even topped out yet, but Lao Fang has already gone to check on it several times, and each time he comes back, he squats on the rocks and talks about it. The overhead crane is new, made in Shanghai, and its maximum lifting capacity is [amount missing]. The welding machine is a DC welding machine, much better than the old AC welding machine at the ship repair shop.
The lathe was made in Shenyang and can machine flanges, axles, and propeller hubs. After reminiscing, he sighed and said that he had never used such good equipment in the factory before.
Jiang Haiping asked if the factory had any. Lao Fang said the factory had some, but wouldn't let me use them. Lathes are precision equipment; fitters can't touch them.
Now that I manage the service station myself, I can use it however I want. He laughed again as he said this.
In mid-March, Lin Xiu'e's younger brother officially boarded the Ping An ship. Last year he accompanied the ship on several near-shore trips, and this year he started receiving wages.
Lin Xiu'e also boarded the ship, but not on every voyage. When the wind and waves were high, she stayed at the ship repair shop to mix tung oil putty; when the wind and waves were low, she went out to sea with the ship. Her task on the ship was to manage the main engine. If the oil temperature was high, she would check the seawater filter; if the belt was loose, she would tighten it; if the filter was clogged, she would take it apart and clean it.
She held the wrench with the same seriousness as when mixing tung oil putty, and arranged the disassembled parts in the cabin in order, reassembling them from back to front.
After seeing it once, Lin's father never asked her to do any work again, and he didn't stop her from going to check the main unit on her own initiative.
The service station was officially opened on March 20th.
The sign is the same size as the one displayed at the provincial level, white with red lettering: Binhai County Moon Island Fishing Boat Service Station. Next to it is a smaller one, which reads: Contractor: Jiang Haiping.
Wang Cunzhi arrived, and Director Sun also arrived. Director Sun cut the ribbon, and Wang Cunzhi set off firecrackers. The firecrackers were newly bought, a thousand-shot string, and they crackled and popped for a long time.
After setting off the firecrackers, A-Guang said they were louder than the ones A-Hai set off during the Chinese New Year. A-Hai, who had taken leave from technical school, squatted down beside him and said, "How can they be the same? My firecrackers cost five cents each, but these thousand firecrackers cost ten dollars."
Ah Guang said the service station was the one with the money.
Director Sun toured the service station inside and out, inspecting the workshop, equipment, and records.
Ah Guang was still keeping the ledger; his handwriting was a little worse than Ah Hai's, but every stroke was clear. Director Sun nodded after reading it.
"Starting in May, all the county's official boats were brought over."
After Director Sun left, Lao Fang squatted at the entrance of the new workshop, smoking. Inside the workshop, the overhead cranes, welding machines, and lathes were all quiet.
On the rocky beach outside the ship repair site, the loquat sapling is already taller than a person, and the smaller one next to it is up to chest height. The two rings of broken seashells that Ah Guang made are still there.
Wang Cunzhi squatted down next to him. "Master Fang, this time next year, this service station will probably be too busy to handle everything."
Old Fang stubbed out his cigarette. "If we can't handle it, we'll hire more people." He stood up, rubbed his back, and walked into the workshop.
In the evening, Jiang Haiping sat on the rocks at the ship repair site. The service station was lit up, and the light from the new workshop shone through the windows, illuminating the rocky beach in a white glow.
Lin Xiu'e brought over two bowls of fish ball soup and sat down next to him. The two of them sat on the rocks drinking soup, just like before.
The pebbles on the rocky beach were bleached white by the lights, and the overhead cranes and welding machines in the new workshop were quiet. The stone troughs were empty, and the waves gently lapped against the rocks.
"Brother Ping." Lin Xiu'e put down her bowl. "After I boarded the ship, I was still mixing the tung oil putty at the ship repair shop. Master Song said that the service station would set up a special place for mixing putty in the future, and the putty mixer could mix dozens of kilograms in one batch. I said that the putty mixed by machine was not as good as that mixed by hand. He said that I should still mix it."
Jiang Haiping said that the mixing machine is also adjusted by people; as long as the ratio is right, it will work.
Lin Xiu'e thought for a moment and said, "Let's give it a try." She stood up, holding the empty bowl, took a few steps, and then turned back. "Shouldn't we repair a life-saving boat for the first boat the service station receives on its opening day, just like before?"
Jiang Haiping looked at her. "Whose is it?"
"I haven't decided yet. I'll ask around first."
She took a few steps and then turned back, the moonlight shining on her face. "Do you remember whose boat was the first one last year?"
"Old Chen's."
"Old Chen's computer started shaking again this year. We'll bring it over in a couple of days. This time we'll get it repaired at the service center."
She finished speaking and left. Jiang Haiping sat on the reef, looking at the sea.
The moon was high overhead. Inside the new workshop of the service station, the cranes and welding machines were operating quietly. The old stone house at the ship repair shop was also lit up, and the wrenches on the tool wall were neatly hung by model.
At the entrance of the asbestos-roofed shed, Master Song squatted down, sharpening his chisel. After finishing, he applied oil and wrapped it in cloth. The loquat seedlings gleamed in the moonlight, one large and one small huddled together.
Jiang Haiping stood up and walked into the service station. An iron hook hung under the overhead crane, a welding machine was connected to a cable, and a section of steel bar was stuck on the lathe, ready to be machined.
He touched the lathe chuck; the metal was ice-cold. Tomorrow, when the sun rises, he'll continue working.