1992: Starting with the Second Generation of Shipowners

Chapter 56 Registration

The provincial government's approval came down three days after the Frost's Descent.

Wang Cunzhi delivered the document to the service station on his motorcycle. The official document bore the joint seal of the Provincial Fisheries Department and the Culture Bureau.

The title consists of only one line: Notice on the Announcement of Supplementary List of Provincial Traditional Crafts Protection List.

Jiang Haiping took the document and turned to the attachment page.

Qiu Changhai's name was found in the list of inheritors, in the third row, followed by a line of smaller print: Qiu Changhai, Binhai County Moon Island Ship Service Station, forty years of sewing experience, senior technician.

He read the line of text twice, folded the document and put it back in the envelope, then walked to the stone trough and squatted down.

Qiu Changhai was touching the newly installed bottom plank of Lao Zhou's sampan with his finger, his fingertip slowly pushing along the seam, stopping at the bend.

"The province has approved it. The skill level is set at senior technician."

Qiu Changhai pulled his fingers back from the seam, wiped his hands with cotton gauze, took the document, and held it in his hand without opening it.

He sat on the stone stool for a while, put the documents on his lap, picked up the chisel and continued to carve the groove. The chisel struck the hemp fibers, one strike after another, the sound as even as usual.

Old Fang walked out of the workshop, squatted down at the workshop entrance, and lit a cigarette.

He watched Qiu Changhai continue cleaning the lattice from afar, and only after finishing his cigarette did he walk over and say, "Old Qiu, let's have a drink tonight."

Qiu Changhai didn't turn around, and simply said "Okay." Just one word.

Director Sun from the county fisheries bureau arrived the next day, bringing two documents and a form.

The document contains the detailed rules for the distribution of subsidies to inheritors, and the form is Qiu Changhai's personal information registration form, which requires him to fill in his ID number, home address, and contact person.

Jiang Haiping finished reading the document and noticed a line in the subsidy details: "The subsidy will automatically terminate upon the death of the inheritor." He read that line several times.

Director Sun pulled Lao Fang aside and lowered his voice, saying that the subsidy was directly allocated by the province through the special fund for intangible cultural heritage protection, not from the fisheries system.

The competent authority is the Provincial Cultural Bureau's Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, and the County Fisheries Bureau is responsible for conducting survival certification every quarter. Only those inheritors who are alive and continue to engage in the inheritance of their skills can continue to receive subsidies.

Old Fang stubbed out his cigarette and remained silent for a while.

Qiu Changhai is sixty-two years old this year, and his back is getting worse every year, but he still hasn't stopped using the chisel in his hand.

He said that Lao Qiu's health was good enough to work for a few more years, and that he would take care of the subsidies for him in advance, and they could talk about the rest later.

Jiang Haiping took the form to the stone trough, where Qiu Changhai was squatting and sewing the seam. The chisel in his hand was the one his master, Old Chen, had left him.

Jiang Haiping squatted down, placed the form on his knees, and asked questions about each item one by one.

Name, age, and length of service were all filled in very quickly.

I stopped when I got to the section for relatives and contacts.

Qiu Changhai's wife passed away many years ago. His three children are all living in other places. The eldest runs a hardware store in the provincial capital, the second married and moved to Zhoushan, and the youngest works in the south.

Every year during the Lunar New Year, the eldest son sends money back home, but he doesn't come back in person.

The second brother called the dock duty room, said a few words, and then hung up.

The third brother comes back once every year or two.

Qiu Changhai placed the chisel on his knees and read out the names of the three children one by one.

Jiang Haiping wrote his name on the form, and after he finished, asked if he wanted to write down the service station's phone number.

Qiu Changhai said that he writes about the duty room, and he hears the phone ringing every day.

After filling out the form, Director Sun put it into his briefcase.

Jiang Haiping escorted him to the hospital gate and asked what would happen if the contact person for this relative changed.

Director Sun said that as long as the report is filed in a timely manner according to regulations, the name, relationship, and contact information should be clearly written. After the county receives the report, it will be reported to the province to update the file.

He knew Jiang Haiping wasn't asking about the procedure, so he didn't explain further.

Jiang Haiping nodded, saw Director Sun off, and returned to the stone trough.

In the evening, Lao Fang bought two bottles of Binhai Daqu liquor from town and asked Lin Xiu'e to cook two more dishes.

Braised ribbonfish, garlic-flavored greens, stir-fried eggs with chives, and pork rib soup—four dishes and a soup were laid out on the folding table at the workshop entrance.

Old Fang poured half a bowl of wine for Qiu Changhai, and poured half a bowl for himself as well.

Qiu Changhai picked up the bowl, smelled it, and said that the wine was just as strong as last year's Little New Year's wine.

Old Fang said that rushing is the right thing to do.

Qiu Changhai finished the wine in the bowl in one gulp, put down the bowl, and picked up the chisel again.

Old Fang said he wouldn't work tonight, but Qiu Changhai said he'd just make another batch.

Qiu Changhai sat down at the entrance of the asbestos-roofed shed, twirling the two walnuts in his hand until they were shiny and smooth from being worn.

He looked at the fishing boat gently rocking in the stone trough and told Jiang Haiping that his granddaughter had been admitted to the county's middle school this year.

Jiang Haiping squatted down next to him and said that was good.

Lin Xiu'e put the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen and placed the last bowl of fish ball soup next to Qiu Changhai.

She sat down on a stone bench nearby and said that she would write the service station's phone number on the family contact list from now on, and she would answer no matter who called. She said that the service station would be there for her if anything happened in the future.

Qiu Changhai put the walnuts in his pocket, picked up a chisel, and examined the blade under the light shining from the shed.

The waves lapped against the stone trough, the sound neither hurried nor slow.

The service station was still lit up, and the sounds of spatulas in the kitchen and wrenches in the workshop mingled together. Several more boats were waiting to be sewn together tomorrow.