Old Uncle Seven got a new boat and asked Cao Mang to join him and go out fishing. Cao Mang was considering to offer.

It was just at the beginning of autumn and the weather was still very hot. Cao Mang had on a pair of short pants which exposed his long, round, ruddy-black legs. He was nineteen years old. His face was also ruddy-black and rough. He wasn't much of a talker and this led people to imagine that all his brute strength was pent up in the muscles of those legs of his. They truly were a pair beguiling legs. It was perhaps because of his legs that Old Uncle Seven regarded Cao Mang so highly.

Old Uncle Seven had the courage to take on big challenges. Sometimes people even considered that he was reckless. But afterwards, on careful hind-thought, you had to admit that in everything that he had done, he had been extremely clever. Before embarking on an endeavour he would always coolly and calmly calculate everything out. So he had never met with failure. However, everyone was discussing this new boat of his and the conclusion was that Old Uncle Seven was sure to meet with failure this time.

He had spent several thousand dollars to buy that boat. With the necessary nets and equipment, especially the so-called "seine net" which was so expensive to make, he had spent close to ten thousand dollars. Most of that had been borrowed, But that seine net was a fantastic contraption for catching fish! When it was cast into the ocean currents it became like a labyrinth just waiting to catch big fish! Nonetheless, anyone who took so much money out into that ocean of roiling waves still faced an inexpressible danger. Most significantly, his was the first new boat to be seen on the sea shore in a dozen or more years!

There had, of course, been many boats before, all belonging to the commune. They had caught a few fish and killed a few people. Even though very good crops could be grown on the plain by the seashore, people stubbornly insisted on running off to the sea. This was a constant source of the greatest annoyance for the higher level leadership. Once, a fishing boat run into trouble in the infamous region known as the Black Shark Sea. Many souls had been lost, among them, the famous stalwart, Cao De (Cao Mang's father). This finally brought people to their senses. They all vowed never to go out fishing again.

For the last year or two, aside from growing their crops, the people who lived by the sea had engaged in some most interesting vocations-. sugarcoating hawthorn apples to sell, and twisting moxa grass into rope to sell. The pits of the sour dates which grew by the seaside could also be sold for profit. But Old Uncle Seven would have nothing to do with these things, he bought a boat. Everyone stared at him with silent eyes. In their hearts they all knew that there was no way that Uncle Seven and his family could sail that kind of boat by themselves. Uncle Seven was a worthy seaman and he had two sons. But those two sons of his, so skinny and weak as they were, were no use. He had to find someone else to join them. But deep down, everybody was firmly admonishing themselves: Never join them.

If they had known what Uncle Seven was thinking at the time, they wouldn't have bothered to admonish themselves. Uncle Seven hadn't for a moment considered inviting any of them. He had his mind set on only one person: Cao Mang.

When people found this out they all heaved a deep sigh of relief. Whoever joined in on that boat would have to assume the heavy, ten thousand dollar financial burden with the ill-fated Old Uncle Seven. They would have to do battle with roiling sea together with him, and very possibly die together with him. Cao Mang was only nineteen, he still hadn't taken a wife. He was a strong, yet unseasoned young fellow. This was quite simply taking advantage of him.

Cao Mang didn't share this view. He said nothing, listened to some of the discussions people were having, then walked, unperturbed, from the main street to his home,. His black, exposed legs looked spring-like, and as he walked, the soles of his feet left deep cavities in the dirt. He thought to himself; Old Uncle Seven must think very well of me.

Although that is what he was thinking, he didn't immediately agree to join up. He told Uncle Seven that he wanted to give it a good thinking over. And Uncle Seven didn't press him to consent right away either. This was no trivial matter! Cao Mang was a bay who genuinely had ideas of his own. Returning home, he lay down on his kang,' resting his head on the palms of his hands. He thought for several hours in a row, but he still couldn't make up his mind.

That night the moon was shining and his room was filled with a dim yellow glow. Cao Mang felt a little downcast so he jumped down from the kang and walked around in His wooden sandals made a clacking sound on the surface of the ground. His room seemed really empty and cavernous. Cao Mang thought it would be good if only there were someone to talk it over with. He didn't remember how his mother had died; his father had died amid the chaotic reefs of the Black Shark Sea. It had been a horrible death, he still remembered that. From that time onwards he had lived by himself in this sturdy house, doing his own cooking. Nobody came to talk to him in their spare time, and he didn't have much worth saying himself .... would he be unable to board that boat? This, Cao Mang thought, was a tough one. If he agreed, it was possible that his whole life would be given over to the great ocean.