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Reincarnated as a Fisherman and a Dad Chapter 112
As usual, after dividing the money, Karlos docked the bangka at the beach and asked the teenagers to guard it, tipping them 20 pesos.
The moment they stepped onto the black sandy beach, they noticed a commotion near the shoreline.
A father and son were bickering, their voices raised with emotion. The father had dark brown skin, a common complexion in their town, especially among people who spent their lives working daily under the sun, such as fishermen.
Karlos and Brandon recognized the man immediately. It was Tenorio, an honest fisherman who worked on a mid-sized bangka owned by someone else. Normally, Tenorio would have been out fishing at this hour. Today, however, he was on a day off, arguing aggressively with his teenage son.
Tenorio's son, Juan, glared back at his father.
"Your teacher called me yesterday. Why aren't you going to school!? Don't you know how important education is?" Tenorio demanded.
"I'm not going to school," Juan muttered weakly.
"What did you say!?"
"I don't want to go to school!!" Juan shouted.
"You—!"
Tenorio clenched his fists in anger, but he couldn't bring himself to raise them against his son. Still, his rage was obvious.
"You will go to school! You were absent yesterday, and now today too. You're just playing around here on the beach with your useless friends! You're doing nothing with your life. Going to school is better than wasting your days like this!" he scolded harshly.
"No! I don't want to go to school! Playing with my friends is better! Besides, we earn money too. We guard the boats," Juan argued stubbornly.
"Guarding boats!? You're just extorting money!" Tenorio roared. "You should be grateful that fishermen in the neighborhood don't make a fuss about it. I don't support this kind of work! You can't even earn anything substantial doing this. You're wasting your youth! You've been corrupted by your friends!"
Tenorio glared at the group of idle teenagers nearby, mostly boys his son's age. They spent their days on the beach, fooling around and doing nothing productive. Worse still, all of them had stopped going to school, just like Juan.
The teenagers merely shrugged at Tenorio's furious stare. They didn't care about his words.
Juan, however, felt humiliated. He hated being lectured in front of his friends.
"You're going to graduate high school and go to college," Tenorio declared firmly.
"Do we even have money for college?" Juan asked skeptically.
"Of course. Why do you think I work so hard if not to send you to college?" Tenorio replied.
He knew the truth, though. College tuition was expensive and would put a heavy strain on their finances. Still, if his son could graduate from college, it would be worth everything.
Tenorio was a simple man. He hadn't even finished elementary school before becoming a fisherman at a very young age. Like Juan, he hated school back then and found it boring and unbearable.
Sometimes, he regretted not studying seriously and not finishing high school. Now that he was older and had a family, he understood how important education was for a person's future.
Unlike his former classmates who pursued education and became teachers, engineers, or businessmen, Tenorio remained a fisherman. He didn't own a boat. His income barely reached minimum wage.
Even if he wanted a better job, his lack of education held him back. He could barely read or write, and his math skills were limited to simple addition and subtraction.
He accepted his fate. He would die a fisherman.
But his son was different.
Juan was still in high school. He had a chance. His grades were average, but Tenorio didn't dream of greatness. He only hoped his son wouldn't suffer the way he did. He didn't want Juan to regret his choices later in life.
Being a fisherman was honest work, but it was exhausting and unrewarding. If possible, Tenorio wanted his son to work in an office instead of ending up like him. He had been looked down upon all his life for being uneducated and a fisherman.
"Son, I don't want you to grow up and regret your decisions. For your mother's sake and mine, please go to college," Tenorio pleaded softly.
His sincerity was unmistakable. He loved his son and didn't want Juan to experience the same hardship and pain.
Juan was startled by his father's expression. He glanced around and noticed Karlos and Brandon watching quietly.
"What about him?" Juan suddenly said, pointing at Karlos. "Karlos went to college, but he still became a fisherman. His wife finished college too, but she became a housewife and can't even use her diploma."
'Why did this suddenly turn to me? I was just watching,' Karlos thought awkwardly.
"Karlos and Maya are different," Tenorio argued. "Look at their land. A new house is being built. That's because they're educated and know how to manage their finances."
"... Really?" Juan asked, still doubtful.
'Kid, your father is right. You should pursue education and go to college. That way, you'll have more choices in life,' Karlos reflected silently.
He had studied linguistics in college, and just last week, that knowledge helped him converse smoothly with foreigners.
'If I wanted to, I could apply for jobs that require foreign language skills and probably get hired immediately,' he thought confidently.
Karlos loved fishing. He preferred it over a nine-to-five job. Roman had even offered him a job paying 100,000 pesos a month, but Karlos declined without hesitation.
If he told Juan about that offer, the boy might finally understand the value of education. Still, Karlos remained silent. He was only a bystander and didn't want to interfere in another family's affairs.
Besides, if he bragged about it, they would probably think he was lying. After all, who would refuse that kind of salary, especially when the average monthly income in town didn't even reach 10,000 pesos?