novelslam Chapter 82 Aunt 3
Chapter 82 Aunt 3
Jiang Haiping squatted on the reef, his account book spread out on his lap, the pages rustling in the sea breeze.
He pressed down on the ledger with his palm, and with the tip of his pen on the "credit" column, he checked each line one by one.
Hong Laosan's line was written at the bottom, indicating that the repayment date was before the Frost's Descent solar term, and three days had already passed.
He scratched a mark on the line with his fingernail, didn't write anything, closed the ledger, and stood up.
The tide had receded a bit over the rocks, revealing a ring of dark oyster shells clinging densely to the rock face.
He tucked the ledger under his arm, jumped off the rocks, and his shoes made a loud thud on the gravel.
On his way back to the courtyard, he saw a person pushing a bicycle towards Hongjia Island at the other end of the seawall.
He wore a gray cloth jacket and liberation shoes; the back seat of the vehicle was empty.
The wind blew the hem of her jacket backward, and the bicycle chain creaked and groaned all the way, getting farther and farther away, until it disappeared after turning the bend in the seawall.
Jiang Haiping stood at the gate for a while, then switched the account book to his other hand and went into the courtyard.
There was a bulging snakeskin bag under the loquat tree, with the opening tied twice with hemp rope.
Hong Xiaobing squatted at the entrance of the old parts warehouse, holding a piece of cotton yarn in his hand. The sludge in the diesel drum in front of him had sunk to the bottom, and the cotton yarn hadn't moved for a long time.
Ah Guang sat at the worktable flipping through the register. When he got to Hong Laosan's page, he pointed to the repayment date. When he saw Jiang Haiping come in, he pushed the register toward him.
"It's been three days since Frost's Descent," said A-Guang.
"I know." Jiang Haiping placed the ledger on the worktable, opened it, and pointed to Hong Laosan's line for A Guang to see. "We checked it on the reef just now."
He glanced down at the burlap sack. "Who delivered it?"
"My third aunt," Hong Xiaobing tossed the cotton yarn into the diesel drum, stood up, wiped his hands on his pants, and said, "delivered sweet potatoes. She also..."
"What else?"
"He also took 120 yuan. Master Fang didn't accept it."
Jiang Haiping glanced towards the workshop.
The diesel engine sputtered as Ah Hai squatted beside it, disassembling the fuel injectors. The sound of wrenches tightening screws mingled with the engine noise.
Old Fang wasn't at the workshop entrance; he was squatting at the base of the new workshop's outer wall, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, a feeler gauge in his hand, examining it against the light.
The cigarette was almost burning up to his fingers, but he didn't flick the ash off; it piled up into a long clump.
"Master Fang." Jiang Haiping walked over.
Old Fang didn't look up. He flipped the feeler gauge over and looked at the other side against the light. "Speak."
"What's the story behind the money that Hong Laosan's wife brought?"
"She pawned her silver bracelet." Old Fang took the cigarette from his mouth, the ash finally breaking and falling onto the loose soil at the base of the wall. "It was part of her dowry. The third son didn't know. She came to return it with money, but I didn't accept it."
Jiang Haiping remained silent.
He squatted down, picked up a twig from the ground, and drew two lines on the loose soil.
One is horizontal, and one is vertical.
"You set the rules for credit." Old Fang placed the feeler gauge on his lap and looked at him. "Pay back half before the winter solstice, not now. Once the rules are set, they must be upheld. If I take her dowry money today, what will I use to pay back when other ship owners come to buy on credit tomorrow? My wife's jewelry? Then the credit rules at the service station will become meaningless."
"I know." Jiang Haiping used a twig to make another mark on the loose soil. "I didn't say you did something wrong."
"So what do you want to say?"
"Does the third son know that his wife pawned the bracelet?"
"Looks like you don't know."
Jiang Haiping threw away the branch, stood up, and patted the dirt off his hands.
The sea breeze rustled the loquat leaves. The largest loquat tree was about one and a half meters tall, and its shadow fell on the snakeskin bag. The mud on the bag had dried and cracked into several pieces.
He walked over, squatted down, and untied the rope of the snakeskin bag. The rope was tight, and he had to use his fingernails to pry it open a couple of times before he could untie it.
The sweet potatoes in the bag weren't very big, and their skins were covered with fine sand from the cellar. They had a sweet smell.
"The sweet potatoes are good." He picked one up, weighed it in his hand, put it back, and retied the bag. "It's been over a month since the first frost, and they're sweet now."
Lin Xiu'e came out of the kitchen, carrying an enamel basin filled with freshly mixed tung oil putty.
She placed the basin on the windowsill, lining it with the other three basins, and covered it with a damp cloth.
A little steam rose from the edge of the damp cloth, but it was quickly dissipated by the sea breeze.
She wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to Jiang Haiping.
"When my third aunt rode away on her bicycle, she gave me a bag of dried sweet potatoes." Lin Xiu'e looked at the snakeskin bag. "I put it in the kitchen, steam it, and it'll be ready to eat."
Jiang Haiping hummed in agreement.
He picked up the snakeskin bag, moved it to the kitchen doorway and placed it against the wall, then turned and walked to the doorway of the old parts warehouse.
Hong Xiaobing was still standing there, the ball of cotton yarn in his hand had been picked up again at some point, wrapped around his fingers twice, and then loosened.
"Little soldier." Jiang Haiping picked up his ledger from the worktable, turned to the page with Hong Laosan, and said, "Your third uncle's boat is repaired. The gearbox bearings have been replaced, and the seams in the hull plating have been sealed. Master Fang said the remaining old bearings can last until next spring. If he can make two transport trips before the winter solstice, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to finish half of it."
Hong Xiaobing placed the cotton yarn on the worktable. "My third aunt's bracelet..."
"Don't worry about the bracelet." Jiang Haiping closed the ledger. "Your third uncle doesn't know anything about it. If you go back and tell him, the couple will have a fight. Let your third aunt talk to her herself. Just go about your business."
Hong Xiaobing opened his mouth, then closed it again.
He squatted down, fished the coupling out of the diesel drum, and then wiped it with cotton yarn.
The sludge on the coupling softened and could be easily wiped off, revealing the iron-gray underneath.
He wiped it a couple of times, then his hands gradually moved faster, the cotton yarn rubbing back and forth on the coupling until the metal surface shone.
Jiang Haiping glanced at him, then turned and walked to the entrance of the new workshop.
Ding Haisheng squatted next to the ship's hull frame, holding a welding torch in his hand, performing the welding motion without any power.
His wrists were still shaking a bit. Yesterday, he practiced overhead welding of thick plates until dark. When Lao Fang told him to rest for half a day, he squatted there and practiced in the air, moving the welding torch from left to right and then back again and again.
The mask hung on a nail on the door frame, covered with a thin layer of dust.
"Your wrist is still shaking?" Jiang Haiping leaned against the door frame.
"It's not shaking anymore." Ding Haisheng put down the welding torch, stood up, and rotated his wrist. "I can practice this afternoon."
"No rush. You already finished the weld seam on the thick plate the day before yesterday, taking half a day off won't delay things."
Ding Haisheng didn't reply. He took off his mask from the door frame and used cotton gauze to wipe the goggles.
He wiped it twice, then stopped. "Haifeng spent the whole morning measuring water pump impellers in the old parts warehouse today, and he wrote down the data on three sheets of draft paper."
"He's meticulous." Jiang Haiping glanced at the used parts warehouse. Ding Haifeng was still squatting in front of the last row of used parts shelves, his vernier caliper on an old flywheel, squinting at the scale.
The draft paper next to him was covered with numbers, each with the unit noted after it.
"More slender than me," Ding Haisheng said, hanging his mask back up. "And more composed than me too."
"You two brothers are different," Jiang Haiping said. "You honed your skills through practice, while he honed hiss through hardship."
Ding Haisheng didn't speak, but his lips twitched, which could be considered a smile.
He squatted down again, picked up the welding torch, and continued to perform the empty motion.
The welding torch moved from left to right, neither too fast nor too slow, as steady as if it were electrified.
In the courtyard, Ah Guang turned to the last page of the register and drew a horizontal line using a ruler.
Below the horizontal line is the list of old parts for Hong Laosan's boat, and in parentheses after the amount owed, it says "half to be paid before the winter solstice".
After writing the last word, he put down the ruler and looked up at the sky.
The sunlight was already high overhead, and the shadow of the loquat tree in the yard had shrunk into a ball.
The broken seashells were scorching hot from the sun, and the leaves of the largest loquat tree were thick and rustled in the wind.
Ah Guang stood up, went to the well, filled half a bucket with water, and slowly poured it around the tree roots.
The sound of water seeping down was faint, and a few small bubbles rose on the surface of the soil, carrying the sweet aroma of sweet potatoes into the yard.
Hong Xiaobing cleaned the coupling and placed it on the right side of the worktable.
He looked at the bearing housing on the left, then at the old parts salvaged from his third uncle's boat on the right, stood up, walked to the kitchen door, and moved the snakeskin bag against the wall to a shady spot.
The mud on the bag had dried completely. He picked at it with his finger, and the mud crumbled into powder and fell onto the bluestone slab.
In the kitchen, Lin Xiu'e put the dried sweet potatoes given to her by her third aunt into the steamer and covered the pot with the lid.
The firewood in the stove was still burning. She picked up a piece of charcoal from the stove door and put it under the steamer. The flames licked the charcoal, and a faint crackling sound came from the stove.
Steam escaped from the cracks in the pot lid, carrying the sweet smell of dried sweet potatoes mixed with the odor of tung oil in the yard.
Jiang Haiping walked back from the entrance of the new workshop and stood under the loquat tree for a while.
He opened the ledger and wrote a small note in the remarks column for Hong Laosan's entry: "Third Aunt gave me a bag of sweet potatoes, pawned it as a pair of silver bracelets to raise 120 yuan. Master Fang did not accept it. I will return it before the Winter Solstice."
After finishing writing, he closed the ledger, tucked it under his arm, squatted down under the loquat tree, picked up the branch again, and drew a few lines on the muddy ground.
Hong Xiaobing walked over from the kitchen door and squatted down beside him.
He looked at the scratches on the ground, but didn't understand them or ask.
He picked up a broken seashell and rubbed it between his fingers. The edge of the broken seashell was a bit sharp, and after rubbing it a couple of times, a white mark was left on his fingers.
"Brother Haiping," Hong Xiaobing tossed the broken seashells back to the tree roots, "If my third uncle didn't know about Third Aunt's bracelet..."
"Let your third aunt talk to her herself." Jiang Haiping threw away the tree branch, stood up, and patted the dirt off his hands. "Your third uncle's debt is half paid off before the winter solstice. The service station's rule about extending credit cannot be broken, but if your third uncle does well in the transportation business, he can pay off the debt before the new year and redeem the bracelet."
Ah-Guang looked up from the work station. "I changed the repayment date on the register to before the winter solstice."
"Okay." Jiang Haiping clipped the ledger together. "I'll talk to Master Fang about it later."
The sound of the diesel engine suddenly stopped.
Ahai ran out of the workshop, holding up a disassembled fuel injector, shouting, "The needle valve is a bit worn, but Master Fang said it can still be used."
He ran to the entrance of the old parts warehouse, grabbed some cotton yarn, wiped the diesel fuel off the fuel injector, and then ran back.
Old Fang followed him out, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and stood at the workshop entrance, looking up at the sky.
"It's almost noon." Old Fang took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked off the ash. "Everyone's working this afternoon. Haisheng, practice heavy plate overhead welding this afternoon. Ahai, you put the diesel engine back in. Aguang, finish registering the bearing housings in the old parts warehouse today. Xiaobing, you help Aguang this afternoon."
"And me?" Ding Haifeng stood up from behind the old parts shelf, still holding a vernier caliper in his hand.
"Continue measuring your water pump. After you're done, help your brother check the welds."
Ding Haifeng grunted in acknowledgment, lowered his head, aligned the vernier caliper with the next old piece, and squinted at the scale.
The draft paper was turned to a new page, and half a page of numbers had already been written on it.
There was no one on the other side of the seawall.
The sea surface was bleached white by the midday sun, and the waves crashed against the rocks, the white foam splashing up being dispersed by the sea breeze.
The mud road outside the courtyard gate was dried out by the sun, and a few withered grass stalks sprouted from the cracks in the mud, rustling in the wind.
The sweet aroma of steaming sweet potato chips in the kitchen grew stronger and stronger, seeping out from the cracks in the pot lid and drifting with the sea breeze to every corner of the yard.
Lin Xiue lifted the pot lid and took a look. The dried sweet potatoes were thoroughly steamed, lying limply on the steamer, their color changing from pale yellow to amber.
She placed the dried sweet potato slices into an enamel plate and carried it to the middle of the yard.
"Take a break and have some dried sweet potato first."
Ahai was the first to run over, grab a piece, and stuff it into his mouth, panting as it was scalding hot.
Ding Haifeng walked out from behind the old parts shelf, still holding a vernier caliper in his hand, and stood under the loquat tree, waiting for Hong Xiaobing to take it first.
Hong Xiaobing took a piece, broke it in half, and handed one half to A Guang.
Ding Haisheng came out of the new workshop, took off his gloves, stood outside the crowd, took the dried sweet potato handed to him by Lin Xiue, and nodded.
Jiang Haiping did not step forward.
He squatted under the loquat tree, opened the ledger, and read the note he had just written over again.
He crossed out "before the Frost's Descent" for the repayment date on Hong Laosan's line and wrote "half to be repaid before the Winter Solstice" next to it.
After finishing writing, he closed the ledger, stood up, and took a piece of dried sweet potato from Lin Xiu'e.
The dried sweet potatoes were steamed thoroughly, becoming soft and chewy, with a sweet taste that had been stored for over a month.
He ate a piece, wiped the sugar syrup off his fingers on his pants, and looked up in the direction of the seawall.
A fishing boat was heading towards Hongjia Island on the sea. The muffled sound of its diesel engine carried on the sea breeze, as if it were coming from a great distance.