In spite of the nice snacks from Tak-Tam’s future mother-in-law, it was an awkward and unpleasant ride. Ting-Yan sat with her father beside the noisy motor at the stern. Tak-Tam sat with Yim-Fong in the bow. No one talked. Tak-Tam replayed the morning’s terrible conversation over and over in his head, and grew more and more miserable with each repetition. He loved Ting-Yan, but he had to get out of this wedding. To feel like this for the rest of his life, whether that life were long or short, he couldn’t imagine anything worse. And yet the thought of letting her go caused an unbearable pain in his chest that could only be lifted by the thought of keeping her. He was in agony.

His mother watched him, sensing his feelings and wanting to help. But she had no idea what to say. So they both stared at the water, and, as they rounded the bend of the Sai Kung Peninsula, watched the little city of Victoria on Hong Kong Island, tiny at first, grow bigger and bigger as it approached.

At the edge of Clearwater Bay, Captain Lee cut the motor.

“Bream,” he said, pointing down into the water.

They all looked down. Beneath them ran a massive school of fish, like a moving, shivering island beneath the boat. Though the water was clear, the fish were so densely packed that Tak-Wing couldn’t see the bottom.

“Do you mind if we stop?” the captain said. “There’s money for the month swimming beneath us.”

“Of course,” said Yim-Fong. “Can we help?”

“My daughter will help me,” said Captain Lee. “Please, have a sandwich and drink some tea. We’ll try to get it done quickly.”

The two practised fishers, father and daughter, bustled about the boat, tossed down an anchor, and wound nets into the water.

“What can I do?” said Tak-Tam.

“Just get out of the way,” Ting-Yan said, irritably.

She and her father began to reel the net in almost as quickly as they had lowered it, and pull the fish from the nets. They allowed Tak-Tam and Yim-Fong to help. The fish writhed mightily in their hands as they pulled them out and threw them into the hold. As fast as the nets were emptied, Ting-Yan and her father lowered them again. The bream kept coming and coming, and as they did, Tak-Tam’s head continued to race with the morning’s conversation, which grew uglier yet with each return. Would the fish ever stop?

At last, the hold of the little boat was full. The school still swam beneath them. Captain Lee looked down at all that bounty, wishing he could catch more, but the boat was so heavy with the weight of what they’d already gathered that it sat a full Chinese foot lower in the water.