Chapter 554: Sharing the reward

The salty ocean breeze carried the heavy stench of oil, rotting seaweed and diesel exhaust as Han Ruochen walked down the docks. Through the tinted glass of her sunglasses, she looked out over the massive coastal territory that was now legally hers. This was hers. Even the official deed that was nestled in her coat was stamped with red official seals that made her the absolute owner of this deep-water port.

"This is my first victory," she told Tong Zhaodi beside her. "How do you feel? After all, you went along with me as well."

Tong Zhaodi’s fists were clenched tightly in front of her as she held her hands together. Her eyes were still staring at the docks where they would work from now on, and her breath started to come out in trembling exhales.

"I don’t know... I cannot believe that we actually made it," whispered Tong Zhaodi. Her voice was choked up with overwhelming emotions. Ever since the county magistrate came to look for Han Ruochen, she too ended up gaining a little fame. Now everyone knew that Han Ruochen was quite a skilled fisherwoman, and she had all sorts of tricks up her sleeve.

What was more, she actually cleared the devil’s teeth.

With this alone, Han Ruochen’s reputation had gotten better than before. However, many of the women in the village still remembered how Han Ruochen had chased after the village chief’s wife with a knife; thus, no one dared to introduce their sons to Han Ruochen. Instead, they all focused their attention on her. These days, Tong Zhaodi felt like she was living a very different kind of life where she was not ignored and treated as if she did not matter in her family.

Even though she knew that it was because they were now eyeing the bride price that she might bring to their family, Tong Zhaodi still felt satisfied.

Han Ruochen reached out and placed a steady and warm hand over Tong Zhaodi’s shaking frame. A rare, gentle smile softened the usual sharp edges of her face. "I told you that we will only get better in the future."

Tears started to well up in her eyes; Tong Zhaodi looked up at Han Ruochen with a mixture of disbelief and deep reverence shining in her gaze. "When we were at the devil’s teeth...I swear that there were times when I thought that you were crazy. I honestly thought that we were going to die out there. My brother even mocked me when he found out that I went to the devil’s teeth, saying that I made a mistake going to that channel and that going there was nothing but a foolish action of fulfilling a pipe dream. That no women would be able to clear that channel in their lifetime when I told him what we have done in the ocean. And now that the truth is out, I feel ...my sufferings were worth it."

"I am glad that you feel like that," Han Ruochen said softly, her eyes gleaming with absolute conviction. "It was quite a hard journey, wasn’t it? But see, the fruit of it is truly satisfying."

Tong Zhaodi sniffled; she wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve before letting out a wet, breathless laugh. "You are right; it was truly worth it. I—" She was still speaking when a stack of notes appeared in front of her, startling her to the point that she staggered backwards. "What is this?"

"Your share of the reward." Han Ruochen pushed the money into the hands of Tong Zhaodi, causing the woman’s face to turn pale. She waved her hands and refused at once. "How can I take this sum of money? Sister Ruochen, you were the one who did all the work, and I just helped you around the boat and nothing more. Why should I take the share of your reward? In fact, you saved my life most of the time."

Tong Zhaodi did not believe that she was worth so much money, and she was working for Han Ruochen. Sister Ruochen had already given her the money that she deserved. Why should she take more? Anyway, Han Ruochen was the one who saved her arse most of the time while taking care of everything else. She was more of a burden than help. So what was the point in taking the money? She did not do anything to deserve it.

When Han Ruochen saw that there was no greed in Tong Zhaodi’s eyes, she was glad that she had not chosen the wrong person. Unlike her mother, whose eyes were filled with nothing but greed whenever she talked about the reward that Han Ruochen had won, Tong Zhaodi was a hundred times better. Thus, she did not feel even the slightest bit bad about sharing ten thousand yuan with Tong Zhaodi. "Let’s go and open a bank account for you. I will keep your passbook, and you can take it from me whenever you want to take money out of the bank."

Because if she allowed Tong Zhaodi to take the passbook along with her, then this girl would never be able to keep the money with her. It would be better to keep it with her for safety reasons because if she found out that all the money that Tong Zhaodi earned ended up falling into the hands of her mother and brother, Han Ruochen was afraid that she would end up dying because of high blood pressure.

After all, the family did not deserve Tong Zhaodi’s hard-earned money at all.

"Sister Ruochen... I don’t know how to thank you," said Tong Zhaodi with teary eyes. This was not a hundred yuan but ten thousand yuan. With this much money, she could live a proper life without worrying about anything. For the first time in her life, she felt secure. Ten thousand yuan was a big sum of money, and not many people were able to earn it. "Sister Ruochen—"

THUD!