Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zheng Yang went to the harbor again in the evening.
The fishing boats that had gone out to sea were all done selling their catch and had returned to the island. A caucasian middle-aged man and an elder fisherman emerged from one of the boats. They were father and son.
The middle-aged man’s name was Hans, and he was the one who’d helped Zheng Yang buy the mercury before.
Zheng Yang went up to Hans and said, “Uncle Hans, will you be fishing somewhere near that island about 23 nautical miles south from here? I wanna head over there and look for something.”
Hans stopped walking and warned Zheng Yang in a serious tone, “Zheng Yang, just why the hell are you collecting all that weird stuff to begin with, eh? That island is surrounded by rocks, and fishing boats can never get to shore. I also heard that there are all kinds of venomous stuff on it too. It’s too dangerous, and you best just cast all those weird thoughts of yours aside.
“By the way, it’s about time you find work. Be it going out to the sea with someone or heading out to the port cities, there’s always work to be found. I was already able to steer a ship and cast a net well when I was your age.”
“I know, Uncle Hans. So, are you heading out to that island south from here tomorrow?”
“…”
Hans took a good look at Zheng Yang and realized that the boy wasn’t listening to a word he said. He was silent for a short while before telling Zheng Yang, “My boat doesn’t have a lifeboat. If you insist on heading out there, then convince Mark to lend you his lifeboat; otherwise, you’ll have to swim all the way there yourself.”
Zheng Yang acted like a boy his age should, swinging his fist around in excitement and saying happily, “Thank you very much, Uncle Hans! I have my own lifeboat. I only need a set of oars.”
“Well, well, you’re prepared then.” Hans was dumbfounded. “I know that you’ve been collecting materials, but trust me, you won’t be able to craft a decent vessel with those planks from wrecked ships. Your boat won’t be able to make it out on the water.”
Old Hans tied the boat to the dock and walked up to them. He was very displeased when he heard what his son just said. “Little Hans, I remembered telling you that I successfully escaped a disaster at sea with nothing more than a plank.”
Hans placed his hand over his face in exasperation and complained to the old fisherman, “Dad, please. Stop calling me Little Hans already! I’m 35, dang it!” Then, he turned his attention back to Zheng Yang and said, “What happened in that story my old man told me was just a coincidence. Don’t take that as something you’d see every day.”
Zheng Yang then went on to drag Hans to his place and said, “Trust me, I’ve really completed the boat. It’s in the compound right now, and I could use some help getting it into the water. I’ll tie it behind your boat for the moment.”
Old Hans’ attitude differed from his son’s. He expressed immense interest in what Zheng Yang was saying, and he tagged along and told the boy that if his boat looked too shabby to be seaworthy, he would be happy to help him fix it.
Before long, a group of people had flocked to Zheng Yang’s place. Other than the two men who were both named Hans, there were also many elders and children who’d caught wind of what had happened.
All these people gasped and cheered in surprise when they saw the boat, while Hans was rendered completely speechless.
The children present were all gawking at Zheng Yang’s boat, their eyes full of envy and awe. They couldn’t believe that Zheng Yang had actually crafted the boat, despite the fact that the boat was just a small lifeboat.
Old Hans was very impressed as well. “I sure never expected you to have that much skill in shipbuilding, kid. The joints and curves are nothing short of the work of a master. You’ve even installed a decent, sturdy keel to it. This is all just unbelievable for a boy your age. Well, would you look at that? A figurehead that looks like a bug?”
The old man caressed the boat, relishing the smell of the wood, and showered Zheng Yang with compliments. “If it wasn’t for you insisting that you were the one who built this thing, I would have thought it was a good old boat that has seen its fair share of storms out at sea!”
“So, you’re trying to make a sailboat, then? There’s really no need for that,” Hans commented. “The boat is just too small to be taken out into the deep sea. It’s only good for rowing around the beach. If you wanted to take it further out, you should have installed a motor instead. An outboard motor would have only cost you several hundred pounds.”
There was no way that Zheng Yang could tell him the truth, so he said, “I don’t have that much money, and I just wanted to try my hand at making something with a triangular sail.”
Hans shook his head, figuring that Zheng Yang was too into having fun. He’d heard that there were some lunatics out there who actually liked traveling the world on just a dingy sailboat, but even then, their boats were far larger than Zheng Yang’s vessel. The boat in front of them was so small that even just a slightly large wave would overturn it.
However, nonetheless, Hans had the others help him haul the boat to the harbor. The boat would indeed be suitable for Zheng Yang to get to shore when they got near that other island after all.
That little boat was actually nowhere near heavy, and two people could have easily carried it to the harbor. In fact, Hans could have carried that thing all by himself, but that would have been rather tiring.
Before long, Hans and the others brought the boat to the harbor, and Zheng Yang personally pushed it into the water. Almost immediately, a soothing sensation passed from the boat to Zheng Yang.
“Kid, I have an old oar right here, and I’d like to present it to you as a gift for completing your own boat. It’s yours now!” Old Hans fished an old oar from his fishing boat and presented it to the boy with a smile.
Zheng Yang thanked the old man excitedly, and actually wanted to take his boat out for a ride immediately.
However, Hans threw him a rope instead and had him tie the boat up securely to prevent the tide from washing it away before tomorrow.
Yet another elderly fisherman who was watching the scene unfold then said, “Kid, I have a piece of spare canvas here. Care to take it off my hands? It should do just right for your boat.”
There was no way Zheng Yang would have refused. He took up the old man’s offer and thanked him profusely.
Old Hans then laughed out loud and invited Zheng Yang to dinner at his place, telling the boy that right after they had dinner, he would help craft a sail that the boy would definitely find satisfactory.
Zheng Yang then went to that other elder fisherman’s place to fetch the canvas, which was less than three meters long and barely 1.2 meters wide. The fabric was actually just enough for that spirit vessel of his, as a bigger sail would only cause his boat to capsize when the wind was strong.
Old Hans went on to make the sail even smaller, since the boat itself was so small. But instead of making a sail that would enable the boat to speed in the wind, Old Hans created a basic sail, as he thought he was simply helping a child with his toy boat.
It took a considerable length of rope to install the sail, as well as a set of pulleys. Zheng Yang told Hans in all seriousness that he would repay him in the future.
They went out during the night to install the triangular sail on that little boat, as they needed to head out to sea before first light the next day.
The boat looked a little awkward with the new sail installed.
With a body less than a meter wide and only two meters long, the boat was just too small, and the newly-installed triangular sail, along with the several ropes holding it in place at the side, almost took up all the space.
This didn’t matter to Zheng Yang, however, as he was fully aware that he could modify the boat and make it bigger in the future.
The two men named Hans looked rather excited, but they nonetheless decided to warn Zheng Yang all the same. “Listen to me, kid. There’s no problem with you wanting to have fun, but you can see for yourself that your boat is really, really small. Don’t even think about taking it out into the deep sea. It’s too dangerous.”
Zheng Yang then patted his chest and said, “Relax, Uncle Hans. You know that I’ve always been an obedient good boy.”
Hans felt a little exasperated when he heard this.
“You actually call yourself obedient, eh? Then it would seem there’re no naughty kids on the entire island, then.”
There was a small hold in front of the cabin of that fishing boat with a foldable cot inside. Zheng Yang asked, “Can I sleep on your boat tonight? I’m afraid I’ll oversleep if I sleep at home.”
“Whatever.”
…
Zheng Yang went home and packed his things into a backpack, which contained a good number of containers and outdoor tools. There was a pair of binoculars his father had bought him as a birthday gift, as well as a compass, a torch, a waterproof flint (magnesium rod), a first-aid kit, and a realgar solution for repelling bugs and snakes. He also packed materials like mercury and a good number of fluorescent vine roots that he’d dug up during the day. He intended to vitalize the sail right after he was done collecting all the required materials.
As for food, he packed two liters worth of freshwater, as he had no dry foods to spare at home. He slung the backpack over his shoulders and, taking a machete that was about 30 centimeters long with him, headed out to Hans’ fishing boat.
Even though the dream he’d had last night had made him develop a loathing for fish, he still had to eat fish all the same just to survive, especially when he didn’t have any dry food to take with him, given that he was living on such a dingy island.