The salt breeze whipped across East-Pearl Harbor like a damp towel.
Salt crust clung to the piers. Sea gulls shrieked over wooden masts, wheeling in tight circles above the crashing surf. Below the stone docks, the Eastern Endless Ocean stretched toward the horizon in endless ridges of slate-gray brine.
Gu Changsheng stood at the end of Pier Nine with his sleeves rolled up.
Beside him, three-year-old Little Fifth balanced on his hip. The toddler wore bright blue denim overalls, a straw sun hat, and squeaky yellow sandals that whistled with every kick of his feet.
“Big water, Dada!” Little Fifth pointed a chubby finger at the churning waves. “Splash splash!”
“That’s right, Little Fifth. Big water,” Gu Changsheng said. He adjusted the toddler’s sun hat so the salt spray didn’t sting his chubby cheeks.
“And somewhere out there, a very rude uncle with bad teeth is trying to turn the fish into snacks.”
Why is it always an ocean? Gu Changsheng thought. Whenever a villain gets kicked out of town, he runs straight for the beach.
