Chapter 6 Girl and Watermelon Tens of thousands of ships gathered in Xuanzhuyang, and one hundred thousand fishermen went to the East China Sea. This was once a spectacular scene that could be seen every year on the vast ocean in the 1970s and 1980s, but now it can only be seen in old black-and-white photos. Pineapple Island is located in the East China Sea. It is an inconspicuous small island in the Xuanzhu Thousand Islands. Like other islands of all sizes, the residents of the island have lived by the sea for generations. However, with the depletion of fishery resources, the development of the times, inconvenient transportation, the inability to gather people and logistics, remote and backward information and other factors, the island's former industries have also encountered huge bottlenecks. Many people on the islands have begun to think about ways to transform their industries. The most common phenomenon is to cross the East China Sea and go to work in large inland cities. This is also the most popular way chosen by young people on the island. The second is aquaculture, which is also the top priority for many island industry transformations. But unlike raising chickens and ducks, marine farming is easier said than done. Fishermen on small islands generally have little education, and they have to rely on their own exploration to engage in aquaculture, and then pass down the correct experience they have learned from their exploration from generation to generation. It is conceivable how many detours they have to take in the process. The key is that the cost of trial and error is too high. How can the fishermen who have been fishing for generations have so much capital to afford trial and error? As Fang Xianfeng just mentioned, it’s not that no one has tried aquaculture. They have tried scallops, abalone, kelp, etc., but they all ended in failure. This series of failures has dealt a considerable blow to the confidence of many individual aquaculture investors.
Some people are also farming mussels. At first, they used wild thick-shelled mussels, but the number of wild thick-shelled mussels is small and it is difficult to raise them, so they cannot be farmed on a large scale. Later, they introduced purple mussels from the north. Although the output has increased a little, they are small in size, low in value, and have a short shelf life. The selling price can be five times different. How can they make money... Not many people in later generations will know about the current predicament, but twenty years later, everyone will know that Pineapple Island is the hometown of mussels, the largest mussel farm in East China, and has tens of thousands of acres of marine ranches. Because of its suitable environment for mussel farming, the mussels produced by Pineapple Island are of first-class quality. Not only are they in short supply in the domestic market, but they are also exported to Japan, South Korea and other places. Mussel farming has also become the most important and core industry on the island. Ordinary farmers can earn 200,000 to 300,000 yuan per year, and some large farmers can earn hundreds of millions or even tens of millions of yuan per year. But who could have imagined that such a pillar industry would be mostly looked down upon by the people on the island in 2000. The opportunities and trends brought by the development of the times always flash by. There is no doubt that today, combined with the benefits of government support, the technology brought by breeding experts and the carefully cultivated new varieties of thick-shelled mussels, it is the best and most correct choice to be the first to catch the ride of mussel farming! Fang Xianfeng did not seize this opportunity and instead transformed from a fishmonger to traditional seafood processing, which led to huge losses. By the time he came to his senses and wanted to start mussel farming again, he no longer had the time, energy or capital. This is also the thing the old man regrets most in his life, and he often talks about it. Opportunities and choices are always like this, appearing inadvertently and passing away in a flash. When you are old and look back on your life, you will find that: choosing which school to study, what to choose as your first career, when you choose a partner to fall in love with, when you get married, are actually huge changes in your destiny. It's just that when you stood at the fork in the road, you saw the wind and clouds, and when you made the choice, the day was quite dull and ordinary in your diary, but you still thought it was just an ordinary day in your life. …… At the dinner table, my parents were still arguing about the possibility of mussel farming. As the most active and most social fishmonger in the small port, Fang Xianfeng actually has a good business sense, but his shortcoming is that he is more empirical. If the person arguing at this moment is not his wife, he would not even bother to argue; Tian Xilan, the backbone of the family harmony, is a rural person with little education, but she is very insightful. However, she is rather reserved and introverted, and has no particular aspirations in life. Now that I think about it, my dad and my mom can be a couple, their personalities complement each other perfectly! You deserve to be husband and wife! "Dad, I support Mom on this matter!" While the couple was arguing, their son, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up. The two of them were stunned for a moment, then quieted down and looked at Fang Wei. Fang Xianfeng was the first to come to his senses. He said speechlessly, "Go away, go away. Why are you butting in when adults are talking?" Before Fang Wei could explain, Tian Xilan was already unhappy: "Hey, what you said, I think my son is much better than you!" "That's my son too!"
"Okay, then your son is much better than you." "Hey you..." Tian Xilan rolled her eyes at him and turned to look at Fang Wei: "Talk to your dad for you. He is so stubborn!" "Wait, someone is attacking me personally!" Seeing that the couple's argument about mussel farming was about to turn into a boring bickering, Fang Wei also hurriedly said: "I think you should really consider it, Dad. I just saw on the news that many small fishing villages have started to transform their industries. In fact, the inland market is huge, so if you have goods, you won't have to worry about selling them. As for transportation, logistics, and sales, local governments also have support and improvement plans..." "What news? I didn't see it." "You were just out there washing your motorcycle." "..." Fang Xianfeng glanced at him doubtfully. Perhaps this kid really learned this from the news. After all, he could explain some terms very clearly. He didn't believe that the shabby primary school and the half-baked teachers in the village would teach these things. "Didn't you just say that the new breeding business in the village will organize training and visits for you? Anyway, there is no rush for this matter, why don't you learn more about it first?" Fang Weiyan said this and didn’t say any more. No one knows a father better than his son. My old father is somewhat rebellious. If I say too much, it will have the opposite effect. Who knows, the old man might rebel, and even ten cows can't pull him back. Everything is just beginning now. The first ones to reap the benefits will definitely be the farmers who have been cultivating mussels for a long time. Even if you don't want to compete with them, it's okay to be the second person to try it. In short, there is still plenty of time and opportunities, as long as Fang Xianfeng doesn't go in the wrong direction. After listening to his son, Fang Xianfeng fell silent, and finally began to think about the matter objectively without personal empiricism. What my son said is right. It would be too reckless to simply dismiss this path with one blow. Now that there is such a 'seemingly feasible' way of transformation in front of us, why not learn about it first? Looking up at his son in front of him, Fang Xianfeng felt somewhat relieved and uncomfortable—— I am glad that my little boy is indeed much more outstanding than his peers. What's sad is that I didn't even have the chance to educate my son, but my son started to educate me first? ! "See? My son is more reasonable than you!" "...Don't talk! Eat, eat!" …… Night has already fallen and the sky is filled with stars. Although there are no street lights, the brilliant starry sky and moonlight still illuminate the quiet country roads and beaches. Occasionally in such a night sky, an airplane with indicator lights on would fly high in the sky, shuttling across the starry sky like a meteor, attracting the attention of the islanders. Light spots flying from west to east are generally planes flying abroad; those flying from east to west are flying inland. For people living on the islands, Shanghai is a place they have only seen on TV, and they have no idea what foreign countries look like. I guess for the people on the plane, seeing this dark island floating on the sea below, they would never think that there are people living here. Night is a time for leisure. There are few entertainment activities these days. After a day's work, the islanders will rest early or take a walk along the beach. Those who know each other will sit together and chat. This is also the most important intelligence center on the island. If there is anything new, everyone on the island will know it after one night. Xu Cailing also had her meal and showered, then changed into a clean and refreshing sportswear. Her washed hair was not yet dry, so she no longer tied it into a short ponytail. Instead, it was casually scattered, only reaching her shoulders. Her soft and delicate hair seemed to embody her own characteristics, and she looked lively and energetic when she walked.
She walked into the yard and returned the borrowed air pump. Fang Wei had just finished taking a shower and was washing clothes next to the well. "Here! Have some watermelon!" It was not known whether she was returning the air pump while giving the watermelon, or returning the air pump while giving the watermelon, but when she stood in front of Fang Wei, a gust of wind blew from her direction, mixed with the pleasant smell of soap from a young girl after bathing, and the unique fragrance of the watermelon in her hand. Fang Wei raised his head, shook off the foam on his hands, and took the watermelon from her hand without any hesitation. The watermelon was cut into large pieces, not cold, but tasted quite sweet and delicious. "Is it delicious?" "It's delicious and very sweet. Did your dad buy it?" While eating, Fang Wei spit out the watermelon seeds like the Pea Shooter. He didn't know what the price of watermelons in the inland was now, but the watermelons here on the island were quite expensive. Even though the watermelons these days had a lot of seeds, it was still a real pleasure to take a bite in the summer. "Yeah, my dad is greedy." "I think you are greedy?" "Let's go! Let's go for a walk outside together!" the playful girl invited enthusiastically. Perhaps when one is older, such an invitation to stroll on the beach under the brilliant starry sky and moonlight would be a very romantic and ambiguous thing, but Fang Wei knows that the "stroll" mentioned by the little girl in front of him is really just a stroll, and she would even pull him to catch fireflies in the bushes out of boredom. She has a physique that is insulated from mosquitoes, but Fang Wei is not like that. So I refused without hesitation: "No, I still have to do the laundry." "How long will it take to wash just these two or three pieces of clothes? I'll wait for you!" "You don't have any sincerity. If you really want to take me for a walk, you should have said, 'Then I'll help you finish washing your clothes.'" "Bah! You want me to help you wash clothes? You're dreaming. Are you really not going?" "No, I still have to make a study plan after I finish doing the laundry." "Oh my, you are such an annoying person! I didn't ask you, but you made me so stressed out by telling me!" Xu Cailing ran away. Before leaving, she dipped her little hands in the cool well water and flicked her fingers, leaving water droplets all over her face. When she thought about how she was foolishly catching fireflies while Fang Wei was diligently turning the pages of a book, the girl was like a peacefully lying Tom Cat, and she suddenly broke into a sweat... (End of this chapter)