Chapter 793: Full Stop Party
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Brooks became a joke in the King Island black gold abalone harvesting community.
They had their conflict with Brooks while a lot of people were around. The tide was just beginning to rise, and fishermen were just coming ashore. Everyone nearby heard the quarrel.
Mad with rage, Brooks’ trembling finger pointed at Christie as he cried, “You have done it, you b*tch! How could you do this?!”
Christie was still calm and said, “You asked me to do this. You made this bitter wine yourself, so you had better drink it.”
Brooks glared at her in anger and cursed at her, but Christie did not retort.
There was a fisherman nearby who couldn’t bear seeing the situation anymore and said, “Okay, man, don’t be a disgrace here. You’ve gone too far with Christie.”
“What’s the matter with her? When this b*tch first met me, she was fishing for seaweed on the beach. She only made a hundred dollars a day! I saved her. How could she do this to me?”
Another man sneered. “Did you save her? You discovered that she could be used, and you turned her into a slave.”
“Yes, Brooks, indeed. Do you think you’ve treated Christie as your wife? She is a worker in your hands!”
“You said you are kind to her. Don’t you feel a twinge of conscience when you say that?”
“Now, Christie,” Brooks said turning towards her. “I admit that you have done a good job, but you stabbed my back…”
“I learned it from you, and I did it with your help,” she replied.
“Well,” said Brooks with a sneer, “Let’s not say anything else. We’ll break up in a peaceful way. Give me back the five million, and we will not owe each other.”
Christie looked at him scornfully and said, “Dream on. I have worked for you for 15 years. I even lost the ability to have children because of exhaustion caused by diving for long periods of time. This is my compensation.”
Cruz, who had been watching the situation, nodded. “You’re right. The money should be her compensation. You’ve gone too far, Brooks. I’ve heard about it. You forced Christie to dive when she was pregnant.”
“I was there at the time. It was me who called the police. The miscarriage during diving… It was really awful,” a bald fisherman said and sighed.
These words seemed to recall some of Christie’s bad memories. Her anger rose, and she pointed at Brooks. “You must thank yourself for what you have done in the past. It made me realize that when I had to chance to be free, I would take it.
“Look, b*st*rd, I was going to take the permit with me. I left you, and I only took five million. If I had had enough time, I would have taken the permit with me, too.”
In a fit of rage, Brooks stomped his feet and berated her.
Sophie did not want Christie to be involved in this sordid matter again, so she took her away.
Brooks did not dare to do anything to them, and could only curse at the top of his voice.
It was good news for other fishermen who stayed and watched.
Christie’s diving ability was so strong, she had been their greatest competition in the harvesting field.
Now that Christie had left Brooks, she no longer had a harvesting permit while Brooks couldn’t dive or go into the water. The fishermen no longer had a strong competitor.
Leaving the dock, the group found a Holiday Inn by the sea and stayed there temporarily. Christie was still with them.
Sophie handed her a glass of warm milk and asked, “What are your plans for the future? Will you go back to Japan?”
Christie shook her head and said in a wistful voice, “I can’t go back. My ex-husband despises my family. There have been many conflicts over the years. As his wife, I have lost my relationship with my family.”
“You should take his fishing license. If you had his license, you could easily become an Australian seafood tycoon with your ability,” Lu Guan said.
She smiled. “I have that opportunity, but it takes time. I don’t want to stay with him anymore.”
Lu Guan said, “The miser who could hand you five million dollars seems to have no feelings for you.”
Sophie said, “That’s because he thought Christie would get back together with him, so that five million would be the same no matter whose hands it was in. It would still go into his account.”
Christie nodded. That’s what Brooks had thought.
It was a pity that he had not predicted that he would lose both Christie and the money.
The great low tide lasted three days and revealed incredible scenery in the Bass Strait.
Those three days were the best time to find black gold abalone and were also the last days of the season, so the fishermen were harvesting for their lives.
Li Du searched in the mud for a day, and he went to the shallow waters after the ebb tide to look for black gold abalone the other two days. He harvested a large amount and made a lot of money.
During those two days, Christie replaced Sophie in diving to help them look out for danger. She displayed an amazing diving ability. Li Du and Hans often had to take a breath five or six times, while she only needed to take one breath.
At the end of the ebb tide, everyone had made gains except for Brooks.
With no collaborator, Brooks had to watch his peers make a fortune. He did not dare to dive, and he weighed too much to glide on a leather raft in the mud in search of black gold abalone, so he had nothing to do but get drunk in the pub every day or kick his heels in the street.
After a while, he couldn’t even do that because he smashed a pub door and window while drunk and was arrested by the police for disturbing the peace.
By the end of April, the regular season for harvesting was over.
Li Du and his men were the most envied among the fishermen because they had the annual permit for black gold abalone harvesting, which had been jointly approved by the department of fishing and hunting bureau and the sea department.
They could continue harvesting black gold abalone, which made the fishermen very jealous.
However, they were just jealous, nothing more. They had been working for six months straight, and they needed a break. They couldn’t really work all year, even with a full-year permit.
Starting in May, when the air and water temperatures dropped, the conditions would not be suitable for diving.
After six months of diving, black gold abalone fishermen were exhausted. They had made enough money to enjoy life for the rest of the year.
According to the usual tradition, the fishermen would gather on King Island to hold an end-of-season party to put a full stop on their work for the year. Thus, it was also known as the full stop party.
All of Australia’s black gold abalone fishermen came to the island to participate in the party, and Li Du’s group had been invited, too.
