Chapter 26 of 100

Chapter 26

14 min read3,496 words

This thing wasn't invented by Hong Tao; it was inspired by the Inuit's harpoons used for hunting whales. The difference is that the Inuit's harpoons were connected to an inflatable float made of seal skin. Hong Tao had no place to find seal skin, nor the time to look for sheep or cow skin to make a similar float. Fortunately, there were plenty of bamboo on the mountain, so he used local materials. As long as it could float, it didn't matter if the Inuit used seal skin; the Inuit didn't have bamboo either!

As for whether it would work, Hong Tao had no idea. Whether there were such large fish for him to use this thing was still unknown. He was just preparing for the worst, and even if there were no large fish, it could still be useful as a hook!

To ensure the men could sail smoothly into the open sea, the sisters-in-law worked overtime by the bonfire for half the night, finally finishing the last black sail. The status of the Tanka women was relatively low, so they had no say in whether the men went to sea. The only thing they could do was to do their best and pray to the Dragon King and Mazu, hoping the men would return safely. If they could bring back a good catch, that would be even better.

"She can't go! Women can't sail into the open sea; otherwise, Mazu will be unhappy!" Early the next morning, after Bo Xiaoer and his brothers, cousins, sons, and nephews respectfully worshiped the deities at the bow of the ship, he noticed Hong Tao was about to take Bo Zhu on board and immediately refused.

"Bo Zhu and I will take one boat, it won't affect you, right?" Hong Tao tried to argue for Bo Zhu.

"No way! This is an ancestral rule. If she gets on the boat, none of us can go to sea!" Bo Xiaoer treated his younger sister more harshly than an enemy, not only firmly rejecting Hong Tao's request but also glaring at Bo Zhu.

"Second Brother is right. Not just Bo Zhu, no Tanka women can sail into the open sea, even the sisters-in-law are the same..." Bo Xiaosan, seeing Hong Tao's pleading look, didn't soften his heart.

"You wait for me at home, I'll bring you a big fish!" Seeing he had no support, Hong Tao had no choice but to turn and comfort Bo Zhu.

"I knew it wouldn't work, you insisted... If Grandpa were here, he'd scold you! I'll sing the saltwater songs every day waiting for you to come back... and my brothers!" Bo Zhu hadn't really expected it to work, so she wasn't disappointed. She even comforted Hong Tao, and then, thinking it was inappropriate, included her brothers as well.

Three small wooden boats, each with a black sail, slowly sailed out of the small bay under the pale light of dawn. On the row of boats behind, a few figures could still be seen waving their handkerchiefs. Every time the Tanka men sailed into the open sea, the Tanka women would stand by the boats to see them off. When the men returned, the women would welcome them in the same way. Sometimes, however, the news they received wasn't good, but life must go on. They would wipe away their tears and continue to clean the boat decks, wash clothes, cook, chop wood, mend fishing nets, and take care of the children, year after year, day after day.

Whenever Hong Tao thought about these poor people, he felt very fortunate and believed he had a responsibility to make their lives happier, not just for them but for himself as well. Since that bastard in the sky had kicked him to this era, he wanted to show him that such torment was useless, so he wouldn't have the same idea again. This was not just for others but for himself.

Although Bo Xiaoer and the others had learned how to use the new sails, they weren't very skilled. They were mainly hesitant, afraid of breaking the sails again, so they only raised them to two-thirds. To encourage them to take a bigger step, Hong Tao had to raise the sails fully and lead the way. This forced Bo Xiaoer to raise his sails to catch up, for fear of falling behind.

Sailing on the open sea was boring, especially for slow-moving ships. You might feel like you're not moving at all. Ten minutes ago, you could see Gulangyu Island behind you, and ten minutes later, it was still there! Finding something to do could help relieve the boredom. Hong Tao found this game of chasing quite fun; it not only helped everyone get familiar with the sail operation but also temporarily forgot about time. These young men were all full of energy, and none of them wanted to lose at something they were familiar with.

In fact, this competition proved to be beneficial. Not only did it help them forget about time, but it also led Hong Tao to a conclusion: these small wooden boats were not suitable for large sails! Why? Because they lacked a keel. Although the Tanka's small wooden boats had a pointed bottom, the lack of a keel meant that when the wind was strong and the sail was full, the boat would tilt significantly. If the sail was larger or the wind stronger, the boat could capsize.

What could be done? Hong Tao wasn't a shipbuilding expert and had no idea how to modify these small, pointed-bow, wide-stern boats. To thoroughly solve this problem, he would have to wait until he had enough money to build new ships and then discuss the issue with the shipbuilders of this era. Whether they would listen to him, Hong Tao wasn't sure, but it was still a long way off, so he would take it one step at a time.

However, before he had new ships, Hong Tao dared not sail too far into the open sea. Thirty nautical miles was the limit. Beyond that, the water depth and currents would pose a significant risk. If the wind was strong and the currents pushed from below, the boat would likely capsize. The waves in the open sea were also much larger, making it unsuitable for these small boats. No wonder the Tanka suffered maritime disasters every year while chasing fish in the open sea; besides the weather, the boats were a major factor!

"Second Brother, let's set the traps here!" By evening, Hong Tao really didn't dare to sail any further. He pointed down, and the location for the traps was decided. In fact, he had no idea what the seabed looked like.

"Alright! A Lang... set the traps!" Bo Xiaoer was very obedient, not feeling the slightest bit of discomfort at being commanded by a younger outsider. He cupped his hands and shouted to the back, where Huang Lang was, and then started to untie the crab traps stacked at the bow of the boat with Bo Xiaosan, hanging fish meat inside each one and then throwing them into the water.

This time, they brought only 16 traps. Bo Xiaoer's boat had a string of 10, and Huang Lang's boat had 6 more. The rest weren't due to a lack of materials but a lack of time to make them. Hong Tao didn't want to make too many at once. In the future, crab traps were made of steel, and he needed to test whether these bamboo traps would work. Once he confirmed they were effective, he could make more.

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