Reborn in 1984, fishing and hunting in Jiangnan

Chapter 33

But that's not what he cares about.

What concerned him was that these things were scattered on the surface of the silt, indicating that after the ship sank, the underwater currents had scattered the cargo on board.

Valuable small items, such as copper coins, silver dollars, and snuff bottles, fell into the silt and were buried layer by layer.

What Rongzi touched was only what was on the surface.

Nobody knows how many more are buried underneath.

"Let's go back first today." Chen Zheng stood up, covered the bamboo basket, and said, "We need a crowbar for the iron box, so let's come back tomorrow when it's ready."

Zhang Jianguo looked at the water with lingering reluctance, swallowed hard, and said nothing.

He grabbed the oar, rowed hard, turned the boat around, and headed towards the shore.

By the time we got back to the village, it was already past noon.

Chen Zheng carried the bamboo basket home, put it in his room, and closed the door.

He poured out the copper coins and silver dollars, spread them out on the bed board, and examined them one by one.

Most of the copper coins are Guangxu Yuanbao, with a few Daoguang Tongbao and Xianfeng Tongbao as well.

It's badly rusted, the writing is blurry, and the condition is so-so.

These copper coins are worthless; they'd only fetch a few cents a coin at the county's antique shop.

But that silver dollar was different.

He picked up the silver dollar, brought it to the window, and examined it carefully by the light.

The obverse features the four characters "Guangxu Yuanbao" in both Manchu and Chinese.

The back features a coiled dragon design, with the dragon's body coiled in a circle, five claws, and each dragon scale clearly visible.

The teeth on the edge are intact and there are no bumps or chips.

A silver dollar in this condition would have been worth at least several tens of dollars in the 1984 collectors' market.

If you happen to run into someone knowledgeable, it's not impossible for it to cost over a hundred yuan.

He put down the silver dollar and picked up the snuff bottle.

The landscape pattern with blue flowers on a white background is exquisitely painted, depicting a scene close to water.

A crooked pine tree stands beneath a small pavilion, where two people sit facing each other.

There is a small red stamp on the bottom of the bottle, in seal script, but I can't recognize it.

There's a small chip on the bottle neck, a sign of a bump or knock.

He had seen snuff bottles in the city's secondhand market in his previous life.

Those in good condition sell for tens or hundreds of yuan.

The price is significantly reduced because of the chip.

But the artwork is excellent, and if you happen to find someone who likes it, it's worth the ten or twenty yuan.

He packed the things away, put them in a bamboo basket, and stuffed it under the bed.

The sound of Zhang Cuihua cooking could be heard coming from the kitchen.

The spatula sizzled as it hit the bottom of the pan—the fish was being added. The firewood crackled, and the aroma of scallions wafted over.

Chen Zheng went outside and squatted in the yard to wash his hands.

The mud on my hands was washed off, but black mud was still stuck in my fingernails. It took me a long time to scrub it clean.

Old Chen squatted on the doorstep, smoking.

He glanced at Chen Zheng, then took the pipe out of his mouth: "Did you find something?"

"We got some. A dozen copper coins, a silver dollar, and a snuff bottle."

Chen Laosan took a drag of his cigarette, smoke billowing from his nostrils: "Any boxes?"

"It's stuck in the hull, we can't pull it out. We'll take a crowbar and pry it open tomorrow."

Chen Laosan nodded, tapped his pipe on the threshold, stood up, and went inside.

After a while, he took out an iron rod, about three feet long and as thick as a thumb.

One end is bent into a hook, and the other end is fitted with a wooden handle.

The wooden handle was polished smooth by hand, a result of years of use.

"The crowbar your grandfather left behind. He used it to build ships back then, and he used it for decades."

Chen Zheng took the crowbar.

The hook end was polished to a shine. The wooden handle had grooves, the marks left by his grandfather's hands.

"Dad, what did my grandpa find when he salvaged from a shipwreck?"

Chen Laosan squatted back on the threshold, lit a new pipe, and took a puff.

"Your grandfather said he found the shipwreck and saw the iron chest full of gold and silver. But he didn't touch it."

Why?

He said the box was stuck firmly in the boat planks and couldn't be pried open by one person underwater.

He also said that the location of the sunken ship had underwater currents, making it too dangerous to go into the water.

It's not worth risking your life for a chest of gold and silver that may or may not even still be there.

His grandfather found the shipwreck and saw the iron box, but didn't touch it.

That means they know their own limitations.

A person is underwater, without suitable tools or help on a boat.

It was indeed impossible to pry open a rusted iron box stuck in the ship's side.

But it's different now.

He has a crowbar, a helper, a rope, and a boat.

He can do what his grandfather couldn't do alone.

"Father, I'll go down again tomorrow and pry the iron box up."

Chen Laosan glanced at him.

"You're braver than your grandfather." He tucked his pipe back into his belt, stood up,

Being bold is a good thing, but you can't be reckless.

The iron box had been underwater for decades, and the metal sheet was probably rusted through.

When you pry it open, don't use brute force; pry it open little by little along the rust seam.

"Once you've pried open the opening, take a look inside first, don't rush to pull it out."

"Understood, Father."

After finishing his meal, Chen Zheng put the crowbar in the yard and sanded the hook with sandpaper.

The hook tip is polished to a shine, and it can hook firmly into the wood.

Chen Rong squatted down beside him and put away the things he would need for tomorrow.

Long rope, iron hook, net, crowbar, and that glass bottle that held pig's blood.

There was still more than half a bottle of pig's blood left in the bottle, and the rubber stopper was tightly sealed.

"Brother, I'll go down with you tomorrow," Chen Rong said.

"You stay on the boat. There are two people underwater, their ropes tangled together; it's dangerous."

Chen Rong was silent for a moment, then said, "Then I'll pull the rope for you."

"OK."

Late at night.

Chen Zheng lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

A sliver of moonlight shone through the paper window, illuminating the roof beams.

The red chili peppers and garlic on the roof beams swayed in the wind, rustling softly.

He closed his eyes. One thought kept replaying in his mind.

What exactly is inside the iron box?

The next day, Chen Zheng was awakened by a dream.

In his dream, he was underwater, touching an iron box. Suddenly, the box opened by itself, revealing an empty box with nothing inside.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his heart pounding.

There was already some commotion in the yard.

Zhang Cuihua was tending the fire in the kitchen, the firewood crackling. Chen Zheng got up, dressed, and pushed open the door.

As the first hint of dawn appeared on the horizon, the clouds in the east were tinged with a pale gold.

The dew was heavy, and the stone platform was wet.

Chen Rong was already waiting in the courtyard.

He squatted down by the stone platform and sharpened the thin bamboo pole again.

The bamboo poles are sharpened to a point, with bamboo thorns standing upright.

Beside him lay a bamboo basket containing an iron hook, a net, a bottle of pig's blood, and the crowbar.

"Rongzi, you're up so early?"

"I can't sleep." Chen Rong didn't even look up, continuing to sharpen the bamboo pole.

The sound of sandpaper scraping against a bamboo pole.

rustle!

Chen Zheng squatted down and inspected the items.

The crowbar hook was polished to a shine, the rope on the iron hook was tied securely, and the rubber stopper on the pig's blood bottle was tightly sealed.

He took the brass whistle off his neck, tied it with the red string, and hung it back up. The brass whistle pressed against his chest, feeling cool and refreshing.

Zhang Jianguo and Liu Jiawang arrived.

Zhang Jianguo was carrying a bundle of new hemp rope, as thick as his fingers.

Liu Jiawang was holding his notebook, which now had several new drawings on it.

"Ah Zheng, this is a new drawing I did yesterday."

Liu Jiawang opened the notebook and spread it out on the stone table.

"Based on what Rongzi touched in the water yesterday, I marked the locations of the items scattered on the sunken ship."

You see, the copper coins are mainly on the east side of the ship, near the cabin.

The silver dollar was on the west side, near the ship's side.

The snuff bottle is at the bow of the boat.

This indicates that when the ship sank, it capsized to the west, and items rolled out of the hold and slid westward.

Chen Zheng looked down.

Liu Jiawang drew an overhead view of the sunken ship, marking the location of everything salvaged yesterday with different symbols.

Circles are drawn with copper coins, squares with silver dollars, and triangles with snuff bottles.

The picture also shows several arrows indicating the direction in which the objects rolled.

"Jiawang, you drew this well."

Chen Zheng pointed to the location of the iron box on the map, "The iron box is here, on the west side of the ship's side."

According to your speculation, the ship tilts westward, and the east and west roll westward.

The metal box was at the far west, indicating it was the first to slide across.

"Yes. And the iron box was embedded in the ship's side, so it probably got stuck when it slid over."

If that's the case, the contents of the box should still be there, because the box hasn't moved since it got stuck.

Chen Zheng closed the notebook and handed it back to Liu Jiawang: "Let's go."

The four people went out the door.

Zhang Jianguo carried the new hemp rope, Chen Rong carried the bamboo basket, and Liu Jiawang held the notebook and bamboo pole.

Chen Zheng walked at the front, with a brass whistle tucked into his pocket and a crowbar in his hand.

When we arrived at Nanwan, the sun had just peeked out from behind the reeds.

A thin mist covered the lake, which turned pale gold when the sunlight shone on it.

Four people boarded the boat.

Chen Zheng rowed, Zhang Jianguo steered, Chen Rong sat at the bow, and Liu Jiawang sat in the middle of the cabin with his ear facing the water.

The boat was rowed to the marked position.

Chen Zheng put away the oars, stood up, and looked around.

"Rongzi, go and check the bottom again to confirm the location of the iron box."

Chen Rong nodded and inserted the thin bamboo pole into the water.

He submerged the bamboo pole section by section into the water, and after touching the bottom, he rotated the pole to feel the texture of the water.

He tried more than a dozen times in different locations. Each time he touched a hard object, he would look up at the reference point on the shore and memorize the location.

"Brother, the iron box is on the west side of the ship, about three feet from the westernmost point of the ship's side."

It rose about a foot and a half above the mud. There were no other large, hard objects around it, just this one.

Chen Zheng understood.

He took off his clothes, leaving him only in his underwear.

A new hemp rope was tied around his waist, twice as thick as yesterday's.

Zhang Jianguo wrapped the other end of the rope around the wooden stake at the bow of the boat three times, leaving a section in his hand.

"Ah Zheng, pull once to loosen, tug twice, pull three times to save your life. Got it?"

Chen Zheng nodded. He hung the crowbar on the rope around his waist and slung the bamboo basket over his shoulder. The basket contained an iron hook, a net, and a bottle of pig's blood.

The copper whistle was held in the mouth.

He took a deep breath, his chest expanding and then slowly deflating. He repeated this three times.

thump.

Water surged in from all directions.

It was bone-chillingly cold, colder than yesterday.

It rained lightly again last night, and the lake water hasn't recovered yet.

He opened his eyes. The water was murky than yesterday, and visibility was poor. Sunlight shone in, casting blurry beams of light in the water.

He rolled over and plunged downwards. The hemp rope around his waist sank with him, disappearing into the water section by section.

The deeper you go, the muddier the water becomes, and the dimmer the light becomes.

More than two zhang deep, the pressure at the bottom of the water made my eardrums swell.

The silt at the bottom of the water had been eroded by yesterday's undercurrents, leaving several gullies.

The exposed section of the sunken ship was covered with a layer of freshly silted mud, making it slippery.

He swam over, reached out and touched it; the floating mud dispersed, revealing the wood underneath.

He reached westward along the side of the ship.

My fingers slid along the wood grain and touched a seam, where hemp fibers from the seam peeked out.

Cross the seam and continue westward.

I touched it.

The iron box was embedded in the ship's side, with one corner protruding, and it was square and upright.

When he touched it yesterday, the surface was covered with a layer of algae and mud.

Today, some of the floating mud was washed away by the undercurrent, revealing the reddish-brown rust underneath.

He untied the crowbar from his waist, gripped the wooden handle with both hands, and inserted the hook end into the gap between the iron box and the ship's side.

The crevices were filled with silt and algae, making it impossible to insert the hook.

He used his fingers to pry out the silt from the cracks.

Clumps of silt scattered, and the water instantly became murky.

After prying around a dozen times, he cleared a section of the gap. He inserted the hook of the crowbar, and the hook tip wedged into the edge of the iron box.

Grip the wooden handle tightly with both hands and press down.

The crowbar bent slightly, but the iron box remained motionless.

He changed the angle, inserted the hook deeper, and pressed down again.

The metal box moved slightly, but I could feel it.

The vibrations from the rusting metal traveled through the crowbar into my hand.

There is a way.

He pressed down again.

The metal box was moved outwards a little bit, about the width of a finger.

The crowbar hook slipped out of the gap, and the iron box bounced back, kicking up a cloud of mud.

There wasn't much air left in my lungs, and my chest started to feel stuffy.

He tugged on the rope, just a little.

Zhang Jianguo loosened the rope by one foot.

He reinserted the hook into the gap, the tip wedged into the inner edge of the iron box.

He gripped the wooden handle tightly with both hands and pressed down with his entire body weight.

Gah!

The sound of rust cracking echoed muffledly in the water.

The iron box was moved outward by half a foot, revealing a dark, hollow cavity underneath.

The gap between the box and the ship's side was stretched open, and silt gushed out from the gap, making the water so murky that nothing could be seen.

He waited for the mud and fog to dissipate.

The mud and fog slowly settled, and visibility returned.

The iron box was mostly exposed. It was a square iron box, about a foot square, heavily rusted, with rust bubbles bulging on its surface.

The gap between the lid and the body of the box was rusted shut, making it fit perfectly.

There was an iron ring on the side of the box, which was a handle. It was rusted and crumbled at the slightest touch.

He reached out and grabbed the edge of the metal box, pulling it outwards.

It couldn't be pulled out. Although the box had been pried out of the ship's side, it was still embedded in the silt.

Fifty years of siltation had completely buried the lower half of the box.

The air in my lungs is almost gone.

He tugged on the rope twice.

The rope suddenly tightened, and a force pulled him upwards.

He took one last look at the metal box.

It was pried out from the ship's side and stuck diagonally in the silt, with most of its body exposed.

Splash!

His head broke out of the water.

He gasped for breath, clung to the gunwale, and climbed aboard.

"How is it?" Zhang Jianguo gripped the rope, his eyes wide open.

"We managed to pry it out. But it's buried in silt underneath, so we can't pull it out."

Chen Zheng, panting, placed the crowbar on the deck. "We need to dig away the silt around the box before we can pull it up."