The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

Turning into the alley again, I saw two people standing at the door, looking around.

Upon seeing Li Kaixin, he immediately approached her with great enthusiasm.

After taking the two bags from Li Kaixin, the man warmly welcomed Li Kaixin back into the house.

They first let Li Kaixin sit on one of the few benches available, while they quickly and efficiently loaded the catch.

Li Kaixin sat down and began identifying the types of sea fish, and what he saw shocked him once again.

Li Kaixin didn't recognize the other fish, but he did know about the yellow croaker that would later fetch an astronomical price.

After the two of them had packed all the fish into bags, Li Kaixin stood up from the stool.

Instead of immediately picking up the two sacks, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to the man.

The man then looked up, saw the cigarette offered to him, and immediately took it with both hands.

Li Kaixin thought the man would refuse, but to her surprise, he accepted it directly.

This is probably a smoking culture he's unaware of.

The man could tell that Li Kaixin seemed to have something to ask, so after lighting a cigarette, he smiled and said, "Comrade, you still have something to ask, right? Let's sit on the kang and chat."

Li Kaixin did not refuse and followed the man to sit down on the only kang (a heated brick bed) in their house.

The older woman brought Li Kaixin a bowl of hot water.

"Thank you!" Li Kaixin turned around and nodded to the woman.

The woman smiled shyly: "It's alright. Just let me know if you need more water."

After saying that, he led Gousheng and Erni to the other side of the house.

When Li Kaixin turned back around, Yang Datie said, "Comrade, my name is Yang Datie. If you have any questions, just ask."

"Brother Yang, please don't call me 'comrade,' my name is Li Kaixin."

Li Kaixin chimed in, asking, "Brother Yang, is there a fish market in our town?"

Yang Datie paused for a moment, then asked curiously, "Brother Li, isn't what you bought enough?"

"Yes, we still need to give some to relatives and neighbors when we get back, so this amount probably won't be enough," Li Kaixin said calmly.

Yang Datie pondered for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "If you want to buy it at the market, you have to wait until night. Just walk straight along the east end of the town; there's a black market there."

He glanced at Li Kaixin again, his tone adding a hint of reminder:

"But Brother Li, you need to think this through. It's not a safe place. People often rob you, especially with your outfit..."

The words were left unsaid, but the meaning was made perfectly clear.

"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Yang. I will be careful," Li Kaixin said sincerely.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Yang Datie lowered his head and thought for a long time, as if he had made up his mind, then raised his head and broke the silence:

"How about I check with a few nearby stores for you? You don't need to show your face."

"Brother Yang, no need, no need!" Li Kaixin quickly waved his hand, his expression serious.

These kinds of private transactions can be considered speculation and profiteering. Buying from one or two companies might not be taken seriously, but if many people get involved, things could get complicated.

He cannot let others take the risk for him just to fish.

After finishing their business, Li Kaixin looked at Yang Datie, who was shirtless, and finally couldn't resist his curiosity, so he asked:

"Brother Yang, I have a rather presumptuous question to ask, you don't have to answer it."

He paused, as if carefully choosing his words, before continuing, "There are plenty of fish in this sea, Brother Yang, why are you still..."

Halfway through the conversation, Li Kaixin couldn't continue asking the question, feeling as if the words were stabbing into her heart.

"So poor, huh!"

Yang Datie picked up where Li Kaixin left off, grinning with a hint of bitterness in his smile: "Just by looking at your clothes and your mannerisms, I can tell you're not from around here."

Then, he took a deep drag on his cigarette, slowly exhaled the smoke, sighed, and slowly revealed the reason.

It turns out that fishermen have a quota to deliver each time they return from sea, and only after delivering it can they keep their own.

Since last year, ration coupons have been strictly controlled, and things like cloth coupons are especially difficult to obtain in their area.

Clothes and the like wear out quickly in the wind and sun at the beach, and without cloth ration coupons, they gradually became insufficient.

At this point, Yang Datie's voice lowered even further:

"Also, since the beginning of this year, for some reason, the food supply has decreased, and now there is simply not enough to eat."

"There's no other way but to buy it on the black market. But the prices on the black market are changing every day, getting higher and higher, and now I can barely afford it."

"On the contrary, fish are getting cheaper and cheaper, and you can't even exchange them for a few pounds of grain at a time."

After he finished speaking, he shook his head and stubbed out his cigarette on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

Li Kaixin gradually understood.

He originally thought that in those days, there wasn't the overfishing that happened in later generations, and the sea was teeming with fish and shrimp. Fishermen could easily earn a good amount of money and food by simply casting a net. Even if the price was cheap, the sheer quantity made up for it.

Who would have thought that even the produce from the sea would be so tightly controlled?

It can only be said that he had oversimplified the matter before.

Li Kaixin didn't know what to say at this moment.

If I say a few words of comfort, it seems like I'm talking without understanding the situation, which sounds fake; but if I remain silent, it seems too cold and unapproachable.

While hesitating, Yang Datie asked Li Kaixin a question instead: "Brother Li, after all this talk, we still don't know where you're from?"

"I'm from the Sijiucheng Transportation Station, I'm here to pick up dried fish," Li Kaixin quickly replied.

Upon hearing this, Yang Datie's eyes widened immediately, and he exclaimed in surprise, "So it's you guys!"

"Brother Yang, you know about us?" Li Kaixin asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course I know! How could I not know!"

Yang Datie's tone held a hint of doubt, and then he continued:

"You come here to collect fish several times a year. Most of the fish we catch here end up being hauled away by your trucks."

"Brother Li, don't you know?"

"Oh, I see. I've only been working here for a little over a month, so I don't really know much about these things yet," Li Kaixin explained.

Yang Datie then realized that Li Kaixin was indeed young, probably having just started working not long ago.

A sense of envy welled up in his heart.

This Brother Li not only has a job, but is also a driver, one of the eight key personnel. I couldn't help but stare at Li Kaixin in a daze.

Li Kaixin felt a little uncomfortable under Yang's gaze and asked in confusion, "Brother Yang, what's wrong?"

"It's alright, it's alright."

Yang Datie then snapped out of his daze, realizing he had been staring at the man for quite some time, and quickly changed the subject: "Brother Li, is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

"there is none left."

As Li Kaixin spoke, he raised his wrist to check his watch, realizing it was getting late, and stood up: "Brother Yang, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Seeing this, Yang Datie also stood up and said with a smile, "Brother Li, your place shouldn't be too far from here. Shall I walk you home?"

He then went to help Li Kaixin carry the sack.

"No need, Brother Yang, it's no trouble for you to walk this short distance."

Li Kaixin waved his hand, quickly walked to the two sacks, and picked them up, one in each hand.