Painting The Oceans Red - South China Sea Encroachment

[DHouseAlwyswyns]

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It is 7:00 am in the morning, a bright, beautiful day in Haimen, a small town near the city of Shantou, for Xing Wu, a smart and hard working lad and his company of high school friends to live here is quite peaceful and simple for all of them. Everyday he goes to work with his friends, enjoys their company and comes back around 6pm to deliver their catches at the pier, get their daily wages and be done for the day, well, perhaps a beer here and there but fortunately they don't really go home drunk, just a little tipsy, most of their families really don't mind but for Xing, he really needs to hide the scent unless he want a glorious scolding from his parents. Life was simple for everyone there.

After taking a quick bath Xing finished his breakfast, said goodbye to his parents and siblings, then went straight to the pier, riding his trusted old bike to meet his friends and head towards the sea for a long hunt, when he arrived his friends were already waiting for him, they even teased him for winning the most late award just like in high school, they said, "Wow!, here comes the number one contender guys, the number one contender for winning another award." one of his friends quickly replied," Yeah, for being late, again, congrats to you Xing!" Clearly they all said it jokingly, even Xing got tired of the jokes, "yeah whatever losers, I still make much money than all of you combined, If you guys don't mind, I'll be doing all the work here, again, oh wait, I mean every single day hmmmm." in the end, they all smiled at each other, while getting ready to depart.

Wong stood up and suddenly said, "Hey Xing, look at them, they caught a lot of fish, lucky I'm sure." "Mister Jackie got it hard this early huh, I thought I noticed them going out, around 5 am I think." Xing then notices another group of fishermen come to shore with a boat full of rare catches, "Well, this day ain't for us I guess, anyways you guys ready?" curiously, Xing hastily approached one of the fishermen then politely said, "Hey friend, you hauled a lot today, where did you get it buddy?" "Oh friend, you won't believe me, we got it past the barriers" "What? really, those are where the big ships pass through, that's dangerous friend, who said you could go there?." "well, I can take care of myself friend, don't you worry, by the way, we asked our village elders the exact same question, and you know what they told us, they said the mayor told them to tell us to go further, past the barrier, where the rare and delicious fish are, and see, we even got huge clams here to sell, quite a catch friend, quite a catch." the fisherman smiled then went on his way while carrying his haul. "Xing you here that!, if the mayor approved maybe we can go further like he said. Buddy, we'll be feeding our families ten times a day once that happens. " "yeah Xing, you own the boat lets go." Xing then smirked, "Well, I hate to say it, but this opportunity, we won't let it pass up." the group then high fived each other and quickly head towards the ocean, past the barrier, looking for a great haul.

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one and a half hours later, "Xing, look at the ocean, its blue and deep, there's probably lots of fish around here." "Idiot, of course it like you said, we just past our usual area, no one is around here, right Xing?" "Well, if that's the case then there's more for us, lets get to it lads, spring the nets and lets see some magic." 40 minutes later, the group found some magic at sea, for they hauled a huge school of fish, in that short amount of time. "Xing! Xing! we got a lot, I think its salmon, Wong bring it up." The heavy net slowly surfaces out of the water and into the fishing boat, huge loads of fish sprinkle on top of the group. "Ouch! they're quite heavy are they, we're gonna be rich Xing, its gonna be great!." Everyone cheered in excitement as their morning haul moves around the boat, while the group eagerly picks each one of them up and put them in their cargo hold full of ice. Wong then said excitingly, "Xing we can catch a lot more, we just gotta stay around here longer, our boat can hold more, if not, then we come back later or tomorrow." "Hey Wong, calm down, its all up to Xing and besides my wife will scold me again for coming home late, it's bad enough she thinks I'm fooling around with another woman." "Well, if we fill this boat surely your wife will not mind seeing you coming home late with a lot of cash in hand, right Xing?" "Guys, we can do this all day, its not even afternoon yet, we gotta head home soon for lunch, remember, you guys even said not to fish with an empty stomach." One of his friends then suddenly said, "Well, to be fair here, did the mayor suddenly become a people person to even allow boats this far." Zihou, another one of Xing friends replied, "You think the government is behind this? and if they are, well, I'll treat them salmon everyday." "Shut up Zihou!, you can't even cook!." The group them laughed together while deciding if they should catch more fish or head home for lunch.

It is 11:00 am in the morning, the sun shines brighter than ever, whereas a dark shadow slowly cloaks the ocean, trying to paint red over its bluish waters.