"Go on." "Closer." "Hurry up, idiot!" "Don't shout so." "You chase the fish away." "Idiot, don't show off like that!" "You can say anything, but not about fishing." "You can't even cast a net." "If the current is too strong to cast a net and you cannot catch fish, I'll strike you." "Come on." "You should catch fish, why would you strike me?" "You can row better than me, that's all." "Let us cast the nets here." "Better don't." "The current is too strong here." "Go on." "Let's try a little further." "Well, here the current is less strong." "Here we can let down the nets." "Shit, the hooks have sunken in the mud." "The crabs have choked in the muddy water." "Are any alive?" "No, there is nothing alive." "What are you doing?" "Shit, the hook is stuck in the weeds." "The line is hurting my hands." "We come from Yancheng in Jiangsu Province." "We used to fish in the Yangtze River." "Then we went to the Wei He river." "Now we fish in the Yellow River." "Many people fish in the same way as we do." "Thousands of people." "We fish in Shanxi Province." "The next town is Dali." "That lies thirty kilometres from here." "Shanxi Province is located on the opposite bank." "There is the railway." "I can hear the sound of the train." "But I've never travelled by train." "I have dreamed about it." "You want to leave home, right?" "The outside world is not as simple as you think." "You have much to learn." "The outside world is not so simple." "I think that every job will be difficult for you." "You know, your brother wanted to move forward in life too and then he found a job somewhere else." "He earned money." "He earned money." "You know what it has cost him to make money." "Risking your life for money is a form of suicide." "Was the money worth his life?" "You must know the rules of a job." "Fish also has rules." "Every job has rules." "Do you understand?" "Some of us have stopped fishing." "But later they came back again." "Returned and resumed fishing." "For three generations our family has fished." "Save for you we are uneducated, but now you want to leave the river." "I don't agree with it." "You can do the administration here and you know how to deal with people." "You're better than me." "You're educated." "Did you catch six fishes yesterday?" " I did not say that." "Get lost!" " Get lost yourself." "I'll take this side." " No, I take the light side." "You give me a headache." "Idiot." "You're a dirty rat." "You're the idiot here." "I cannot lift it." "Put your fingers in the holes." "You can't do anything right, asshole." "You then, sucker." "It's true." "I said you're useless and so you are." "Damn." "Go that way." "Just do what I say!" " Bloody mess!" "Come on." "Okay." "Stamp it, idiot." "My uncle fishes with his three younger brothers." "He saw to the fishing." "He smokes four packs of cigarettes a day." "He always hums the Huai Opera from our hometown." "My father is the youngest." "So they called him Laosi, that means "number four"." "I was born on the Yellow River." "I cried very hard." "So they called me "Laba", which means "horn"." "Every day Baowa and I cast the nets, tie the hooks and catch fish." "Baowa is the youngest son of the uncle." "He has the highest education of all of us." "He left school in the 8th grade." "Apart from that, we are all uneducated." "Baowa saw no future in it." "He wants to work outside and see the world." "He always tried to wriggle out of fishing." "Where the hell have you been?" "Nowhere." "I was already arrested before the fight began." "Stop lollygagging all day." "Can't you do something useful?" "Fishing?" "Is fishing not okay?" "You can only raise hell." "You talk, but what use is it?" "What I said was for his own good." "For his own good..." "Work hard while you're still young." "You've given us a lot of trouble." "We had to pay your deposit." "Do not do that again, Guapi." "Shut up." "Do what your uncle says." "Take this." "The wife of the third uncle ran off with a guy who often came to get fish." "The third uncle went looking for her." "And left his two sons, Guapi and Dan behind with the uncle." "Guapi is disobedient." "He often goes to the village Zhaodu to sing karaoke and fight." "Dan is a night owl." "He buys oil every day for the generator." "And he rents DVDs for us." "We can't watch TV here." "At night he often hits the road..." "Actually he waits with other boys along the highway for the cars of coal to collect coal, which they then sell so they can buy booze." "Do you have "Fist of Fury" on DVD?" " Yes." "Here is the money." " You leave immediately?" "Yeah, I got to go." "Your aunt said that we had bought two kilos of bread." "But now there is nothing left for Laba." " There are still four left." "Laba has stolen at least five or six." "He hasn't eaten anything." " Two, he has already had two." "Want to bet?" "You are an idiot." "You always contradict everyone, idiot." "We ate it on the way." "Just eat now." "Why haven't you eaten anything today?" "Haven't you had a bath today?" "In village number one?" "No, that is not me." "It's lonely to bathe alone." "Hear him talk about loneliness" "He knows it's lonely on his own." "Let me see your mug." "What are you doing?" " I'm looking at your ugly mug." "I beat you up!" "Let me see your mug." "It's always that damned monk." "Dan always hires action movies." "He calls his two pupils names." "The one is obedient, the other is not." "He apologizes to his master." "He is afraid that he will get a beating." "I'm good at rowing." "I love fishing." "I'm doomed to fish all my life." "They all say that I can follow in the footsteps of my uncle." "Baowa is always shirking when it comes to fishing." "You're always shouting at me, idiot." "So the uncle followed us and kept an eye on him." "Sail on with the boat, like I do." "Can you row like me?" "Get lost if you can't." "Do it or fuck off!" "You never do what I want." "Get lost if you don't feel like it." "What can you do if you can't even row?" "You're good for nothing." "You there, cast the nets and tie the hooks." "Just do what you can." "Leave the rest." "Leave it till tomorrow." "Either you tie the hooks, or you cast the net." "It doesn't matter what." "You must do something." "There is no other option." "We live by it, right?" "Do what you want and then you can pick it up tomorrow." "Let it hang a bit." " It's okay." "I've got it." "There, a fish." "Catch him in the net." "I got him." "Laosi!" "Laosi, come here." "Weigh it." "It's them again." "Let them." "Weigh the fish." "How much do they weigh?" " 1.75 kilograms." "Are they fresh?" " Sure, they are very good." "We have been working all morning." "And so little fish, damn it." "Asshole!" "Don't you dare to kick me again." "I'll get you later." "Hurry up." "Asshole." "Take your time." "16 is the lucky number." "How about 17?" "Why do you say that?" "180 sounds better, right?" " Yes, better." "Better?" "160 is the best." "160?" "I'm not a rich guy." "You know, I'm the one who pays the bill." "Last time you paid 20 yuan less." "160 yuan, right?" "We'll be back tomorrow." "You'll pay less again." "I live in the village." " 20 is nothing to you." "I'll tell you something, I'm a regular customer here." "We come here often." "And you always pay less." " He is calling you." "Brother!" "Forget it." "As always." "You have paid 50 yuan less in two days time." "You must pay what you owe." "Okay." "Just pay what they ask." " You earn nothing if we stop coming." "Give him his change." "Four guys from village no. 1 come to dine." "They ordered a carp of 1.25 kilos, 500 grams of catfish and four cold dishes." "The total was 102 yuan." "They paid 90 yuan." "That is 12 yuan too little." "A gang from the Zhaodu village came along." "They ordered two carps and three catfish." "Together about 160 yuan." "They said they were regular customers." "So they paid only 140 yuan." "Five guys came from the village Chaoyi." "Those are the guys who still owe us money." "They drank a lot of booze." "They were all drunk." "They ordered two carps and some cold dishes." "190 yuan in total." "They were us 15 yuan guilty." "They have only paid 175 yuan." "We have earned 405 yuan altogether." "Those guys again." "They come to eat here often." "Every time they pay about 10 yuan too little." "Sometimes 20 or 30 less." "That's how it goes when you do business." "That is normal." "The hooks are gone." "They're on the shore." "Shit, we must tie the hooks again." "Laba, we will find a girlfriend for you, alright?" "No." "A girl from the textile factory." " That's not necessary." "She has a job." " That's the last thing I want." "It is better to have a wife with a job." "He hates it but he still works." "Sure?" "Then we don't find a girl." "I'm only 18." "I'm still young, too young." "You're already 18." "I was already married at 16." " You're young?" "Get out." "Are you still too young?" "She is so beautiful." "Laba is going to live in an apartment if he's married." "You fish and she works." "Fine." "Don't say you do not agree with it." "You've got a luck, man!" "Just do it, no matter what he says." "You'll be trapped after marriage." "You will be checked." "You'll be chained." "You can not leave and work outside." "Forget it." "You can only fish then." "I do not think so." " You do not believe it?" "If all is well, we will send a gift of 8 to 10,000 yuan." "We can pay no matter what it costs." "Yes or no?" " No." "Why not?" "It's just not good enough." "18." "Old enough to marry." "After you met her, you can decide." "Even if I meet her, it's not good enough!" "If you do like her, are you going to marry her?" "Don't be stupid, meet her first, okay?" "And don't do it if you do not like her." "On TV there was a boy who was always following a girl but she didn't like him." "Dan has a crush on a girl from village 1." "Not true, she is from village 4." "Fishing and agriculture." "She is not come from village 1." "You like her, but maybe she doesn't like you." "There is a family in village no. 4, who own homes." "A coupler wants you to meet one of their daughters." "Do you think you get chosen?" "Not a chance." "Shame on you." "She won't agree, even if you like her." "What do you think I am?" "Guapi meets, but not Dan." "You can both marry someone from that family." "They have three girls." "You're penniless but you can marry into that family." "You can choose from the three girls." "They have houses and money." "You can fish and work on the farm." "You can live in their homes and drive a motor." "That's a good deal for us." "I'd rather stay single than belong to their family." "Fishing and working on the farm." "What a life!" "Guapi, clean your uncle's boat!" "Which boat?" " That boat there." "You don't even know whose boats those are." "Hurry up." "The tarpaulin of uncle's boat is green." "Which do you mean?" "I have never seen such a strange boat." "It looks like a coffin." "That boat looks like a coffin." "Throw it over here." "Can't you stay on this side?" "Get some more water to clean it." "Do it yourself." "Make sure it is completely clean." "It's your job, but it seems like ours." "What are you doing?" "You can't even clean it properly." "What are you good at?" " Leave me alone." "Go away!" "Brother Guiying died." "There were three of them." "Three young men were very drunk." "They fell down a coal mine..." "and died." "Fallen blind drunk down a shaft." "I heard it from a colleague of theirs." "One day in Autumn the eldest son of the uncle, Guiying, died in the Tongguan coal mine." "He had secretly left home to seek work." "After the bad news aunt cried so much that she almost died." "She had a lot of regret that she had not stopped Guiying when he left." "Uncle said he would rather die than give Boawa permission to work elsewhere." "The fish has swallowed the hook." "It's hard to remove." " Break it off." "There is no alternative." "Get up." "Go cast the nets." "Time to work." "Already did so yesterday but there was no fish." "Yesterday was yesterday and today is today." "Come on, Laba." "Come on." "You want to leave home right?" "The outside world is not as simple as you think." "You still have a lot to learn." "The outside world is not simple." "Nothing is simple." "Think about it carefully." "Your older brother also wanted a better life." "He left and went to work in a coal mine." "He dreamed that he would get rich." "There are many ways to earn money." "Risking your life for it is the worst way." "Is money worth a human life?" "Each profession has its rules." "We fishermen have our rules too." "Each profession has its rules." "Dock here." "It's the same everywhere." "You're stubborn." "I told you there was no fish." "Not even one fish today?" "It's getting cold." "And no fish to catch." "The water is too low in the river." "Our boats cannot sail." "We must winter here." "You must move a little further." "This is not the right place." "For one, the boats have no shelter from the wind." "The main branch of the Yellow River lies in Shanxi Province." "Hence that there is not a lot of water here." "This year we stay here." "Previously, we always migrated to the river Wei Hey." "And we built a barn for the winter." "In the spring we rowed the boats back to the Yellow River again." "The Yellow River flows faster than the Wei River." "The boats will get stuck in the floating ice." "The floating ice is very hard." "It can damage the boats." "In winter, Uncle took me to the textile factory." "There I met the girl they introduced to me." "She's a bit fat." "My mother said she could bear me sons." "In Winter the fish very lazy." "They would prefer to not move." "They are hard to catch." "The less fish we catch, the fewer customers we get." "Our family divides the money every 10 days or so." "We all get 100 yuan per household." "This is your share, that is his share and this is my share." "That is what we have earned in recent times." "Be careful with it." "We need coal for the winter." "It will be alright." "Buy coal." "We remain here this winter." "Here, dude." "Are there objections to buying coal?" " No, no objections." "I will keep the money for coal, right?" "Okay, spend the money on coal." "Shall we catch something today?" " Yeah, we will today." "Thick ice and lazy fish, we will catch nothing." "I bet we will today." "I told you there would be no fish." "I knew it." " Take it easy." "How do you mean?" "I told you there would be no fish today?" "There is no fish here." "Relax." "So, we've got a fish." "A small one." "A small one." "Hey, there's another one here." "Another small fish." "You're lucky this time." "Only two little fish." "Not rich!" "It's your turn to row, because you've lost the bet." "You can row better than me, can't you?" "I don't care." "I'll walk." "Laba, your father and I have decided to buy a big boat in the spring." "This one we have had for 10 years and it's almost worn out." "We're going to buy one second hand." "How much does that cost?" " More than 20,000 yuan." "The same as your uncle has." "You have not accomplished much in school." "But you're a good fisherman." "You are doomed to fish your whole life." "Be a good fisherman." "The New Year is approaching." "Shall we eat dumplings or noodles?" "Dumplings." " Mie." "Dumplings are good too." "Let's make it a nice New Year's party." "Happy New Year!" "We need to cooking more dumplings." " Of course, otherwise we don't have enough." "You have stoked the fire with wood?" " Yes, it's firewood." "Firewood is good." "Cover it and stir it no more." "Wood is the best thing to make a fire." "Poplar is worthless." "We didn't use poplar." "Add some ashes to it." "That's more than enough wood for cooking." "How much wood do you need to cook a meal?" "Not so much." "Laba and his parents are going to buy a big boat." "I must reach agreement with them." "You will then get their small boat." "You two are working hard to catch fish." "Your father left the river." "To do business in the city." "Your mother left seven years ago with another guy." "You're here with me." "Go live on Laba's boat." "That little boat there." "Become mature." "Work hard." "Our work is fishing, isn't it?" "Right?" "I don't feel like talking anymore." "What I am saying is for your own good." "You are no longer children." "You are both about 20 years old." "Do not make us worried anymore." "Think well about what I said." "I..." "I say no more." "Enough." "I hope you will have a better life." "I'm out of here, I don't wan to stay here anymore." "I'm not going fishing anymore." "Fishing... in the river." "What is wrong with that?" "Look at your brother." "I didn't stop him." "He went to work in the coal mine, but instead he met his death." "His death is a big blow for us." "Isn't it?" "He wanted to work somewhere else and get rich." "Just like you." "The accident came unexpectedly." "I hate fishing and I hate it on the river." "If you work somewhere else, you must be on time every day." "Clocking in at 8 o'clock and clocking out again at 5 o'clock." "You must always be on time." "Here you are your own boss." "You can more or less decide yourself." "In the city you have to stick to the time." "If not, you will be fired." "Here it is okay to get a little earlier or later." "You see?" "I do not want to do this the rest of my life." "Uncle is really mad at you this time." "You're his favourite..." "Do not make him angry anymore." "He's sorry that you left school in 8th grade." "He ended your education." "I hate to always sit on that boat." "You're different from me." "You're better educated." "I was not a good student." "School gave me a headache." "I didn't understand a word of Chinese." "I just fell asleep at my desk." "But once on the boat  I revived completely." "My father told me to quit school." "The dumplings are delicious." "Outstanding!" "I haven't eaten dumplings for more than 20 years." "More than 10 years." "Nearly 20 years." "I had almost forgotten how they taste." "We should eat dumplings more often." "10 kg dumplings is not enough." "Baowa, come on, eat on." "Of the three pans with dumplings I've already finished 4." "Take as many as you want." "Go ahead." "Stuff yourself." "Eat, help yourself." "There is still more to come." "I had never eaten dumplings before in my life." "For New Year 2007, we finally boiled dumplings." "I ate 30 then." "Baowa ate 35." "Where did you take Baowa?" " To the bus stop." "He went to Xi'an?" " No, Beijing." "Would he find work in Beijing?" " He would return if he couldn't find any." "Uncle found out that I had secretly taken away Baowa." "He said nothing." "One day he said that as long as water flows in the river Boawa will come back."