Tang Dynasty.
By the East China Sea.
This is the easternmost location of the Tang Dynasty.
There is a group of fishermen living.
Born by the sea.
Yufeng Village.
It is such a village built near the sea.
There are more than 200 people in the village. Apart from the old, weak, women and children, the men in charge are all fishermen.
The life of a fisherman is naturally very boring.
Go to sea, fish, come back, dry the fish
This day.
The fishing boats from Yufeng Village have returned together.
And I have to come back earlier than usual.
The captain of the fishing boat, Ge Erchun, looked very unhappy.
The rest of the fishing fleet is also similar.
"What happened today? You came back so early, and everyone is dejected."
An old woman who was drying her fishing net on the shore couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, don't mention it."
Ge Erchun shook his head.
"I originally thought that the weather was good today, and if we all went out to the sea together, we could have a good harvest."
"Unexpectedly, there were a lot of dark clouds on the sea and the tide was very chaotic. I felt that there would be big waves, so I came back early."
The aunt looked at the fishing boat that had caught nothing.
"Didn't you hit anything today?"
Ge Erchun and others all shook their heads.
Among them was a dark-skinned, lean young man, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with the heaviest face.
His name is Zhang Muchuan, and he is also a villager in Yufeng Village.
When I was seven years old, I went fishing with my parents.
Although he is only eighteen years old now, he is already one of the best fishermen in Yufeng Village.
Even the captain of the fishing boat, Ge Erchun, may not be better than him.
It's just that Zhang Muchuan's family is very difficult.
When Zhang Muchuan was eleven years old, his father went fishing and the boat capsized and sank into the sea.
Even the corpses cannot be retrieved.
Zhang Muchuan's mother became ill due to overwork and could no longer get out of bed three years ago.
I can only lie in bed and drink medicine to survive.
Zhang Muchuan also has a younger sister, who is only nine years old.
Both his mother and sister need Zhang Muchuan to support them alone.
He must catch as many fish as possible and go to the town to exchange medicine and food.
I didn't catch any fish today.
Zhang Muchuan was very anxious.
His mother's medicine will be finished soon.
There is not much food at home.
If the storm on the sea continues in the past two days, his family will be in danger.
Zhang Muchuan returned home with a heavy heart.
A very simple tiled house.
It can be seen that it has been tinkered with many times.
There is a fishing net hanging at the door.
A little girl in ragged clothes was carefully weaving a fishing net.
The little girl is thin and small, but her eyes are big and bright.
"elder brother!"
Seeing Zhang Muchuan back, the little girl jumped over happily.
Zhang Muchuan forced a smile and rubbed the little girl's head.
"Little sister, how is mom today?"
This little girl is Zhang Muchuan's nine-year-old sister Zhang Xiaohua.
"Mom took medicine, slept for a while, and drank half a bowl of porridge when she woke up."
Zhang Xiaohua said playfully.
Zhang Muchuan is in a better mood.
As long as my mother can eat, that's fine.
If you can't eat, you'll be in trouble.
"Brother, why didn't you bring any fish back today?"
Zhang Xiaohua looked at her brother's empty hands and couldn't help but feel a little strange.
"It's windy on the sea today, so we can't fish."
Zhang Muchuan sighed and said.
"Oh, it doesn't matter. We can wait until the wind subsides before we go. Anyway, we can still have enough food at home for several days."
Zhang Xiaohua is very well-behaved and sensible.
She knew that her brother was working very hard every day, so she tried her best to comfort Zhang Muchuan.
Zhang Muchuan smiled.
It wasn't food he was worried about.
But medicine.
When you run out of food, you can borrow some from other people in the village.
But my mother's medicine was only available in the drugstore in the town.
The drug store is a place that eats people without spitting out their bones. Without fish to exchange for money, you can't buy medicine at all.
Zhang Muchuan walked into the house and visited his mother.
Mother was still lying on the bed. When she saw Zhang Muchuan coming back, she asked a few words.
"Mom, you have a good rest. I will go to the town to get medicine in two days."
Zhang Muchuan did not tell his mother that he did not go to sea today.
He didn't want his mother to have to worry about him on the hospital bed.
But Zhang Muchuan never expected it.
Three consecutive days.
There are always storms on the sea.
It even rained heavily.
To be continued...