seaside

Seaside

Author：Tsai Su-Fen
Publisher：Chiu Ko Publishing Co., Ltd.
Published Date：2012.09

【Synopsis】

She definitely had to make an effort for this wedding for the sake of the reputation of Wulang. There were thirty tables at the wedding, covered with red tablecloths, with melon seeds, sweets and fizzy drinks all placed on top. Along the sea dyke they were arranged in two rows, filling the whole evening with clamour in the warm sunset. While she was thinking this, she tossed and turned and could not sleep. When she closed her eyes, she kept seeing big octopuses that stretched their eight tentacles and rummaged in her brain. Wulang was finally sure that she belonged to this seaside hamlet. Coming back here to accomplish such an important event as the wedding made her immensely proud. Her child was still the child that uttered its very first crying sounds on the seaside.

Two years after the wedding, they did all they could to save some money. From this, together with money they borrowed, they redecorated the restaurant and reopened it. The dishes in the restaurant were their source of confidence. Wulang and his brother worked together and made great use of the local fishery to prepare the food. Wulang’s battleground was the kitchen; he was the chef by then. He used the rule that you were not allowed to smoke in the kitchen as an excuse to go out to the bathroom, taking advantage of this chance to have a look at Lijun’s silhouette. He saw her talking to the customers, laughing and drinking with them, or sitting in front of the till all red-faced. He opened the window to smoke in the bathroom, and saw the puffs of smoke float up one by one.

Lijun sensed a slumbering sulky mood in Wulang. A couple of times when she asked him why he was not happy, Wulang asked her, do you need to drink so much alcohol? Are you running a restaurant or a drinking bar? Are you entertaining guests or are you working in a bar? She felt angry and grieved, her heart feeling as if it was going to burst out of her chest. That day, when Wulang came walking out of the kitchen and saw Lijun sitting behind the till, with both hands on her cheeks, her face crimson from drinking, he suddenly walked up to the front of the till and heavily hit the cold marble surface with his hand. He snarled at her, and Lijun also hit the till in a counter attack.

The fisherman’s son Wulang, who grew up by the seaside, took up the position of cook in the restaurant that his father in law left him. However, he and his wife’s opinions on running the business differed. And what started with the marriage of Wulang and Lijun, finally pulled Wulang out of the coastal hamlet, away from his mother, brother, younger sister, the bethel nut beauty in town and the artist friends of the bethel nut beauty... Everyone has his own tasks in life, and some people struggle to leave the seaside, while others return to the seaside after many twists and turns. Some things seem totally unrelated, but turn out to be in close connection. The endless circle of fate weaves out a modern story that is just like Ukiyo-e, or the Japanese Tales of a Floating World. And all of this is connected to the sea.