When Lin Xiuqing heard this, she lowered her head, not knowing what to say for a moment.
The palm of the hand that held hers was already full of calluses. He had never done heavy work before, but in the past few months he had been building houses and going out to sea, and blisters had formed on his hands. He just sat by the window, picking the needle silently.
His hands had become rougher than hers. Once upon a time, his hands were smoother than hers.
Seeing her keeping her head down and keeping silent, Ye Yaodong knew that she was used to being frugal and couldn't spend money lavishly all of a sudden.
However, life must be improved. We cannot earn money while the family is still struggling. Although the family’s savings are not much now, it is still no problem to guarantee daily needs.
"I will work hard to earn money to support my family. We don't have to eat well or wear nice clothes, but we have to have enough food and warm clothes, right?"
Lin Xiuqing responded softly.
She will buy the necessary things, she just likes to take things slow. She feels bad to spend a large sum of money all at once. It's not like she got rich overnight, her money is hard earned.
Ye Yaodong held the back of her head and asked her to lean against his shoulder. He emphasized again, "I'm not useless anymore, don't worry."
"Um."
"Make yourself two sets of cotton coats and pants. Make them loose so that when your belly gets bigger, it can cover it up. Make them in advance so that you don't have anything to wear and people will see you. You don't want anything to happen to the baby in your belly, do you?"
Yes, her belly needs to be covered.
She nodded heavily, "I can't finish it all at once. I'll finish what I have first, and then go buy fabric and cotton."
"Well, how many meters does a set of cotton clothes and trousers cost?"
"The old lady is short, so three meters is enough. If I make it looser and bigger, it will probably be 3.5-6 meters."
"Okay, I know. Let's cook lunch first and then we can get busy later."
"good."
Ye Yaodong watched her go to the back door to pick vegetables, hesitated for a moment, and then walked out.
Lin Xiuqing thought he was just out for a walk and didn't pay any attention to it. She picked vegetables, washed vegetables, killed fish...
After nightfall, the family went to bed. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Ye Yaodong immediately sat up.
"I'll go open the door."
"Who is it? Why are you knocking on the door so late?"
Ye Yaodong said as he put on his clothes: "I'll go take a look first."
It arrived at my door during the day, but I didn't expect it to be delivered in the evening. It's quite efficient.
When he opened the door, he saw Lin Ji Shang smoking with his back to the door. There was a cart parked at the door with the things he wanted on it.
Lin Jishang heard the noise behind him, turned around, put out the half-smoked cigarette in his hand, and threw it aside, "Are you going to bed so early?"
"Not yet, it's just that it's getting dark and I have nothing to do, so I went to bed early."
Lin Ji raised his lips and said with understanding: "I understand!"
Ye Yaodong: “…”
What the hell? He went out to sea at night and his wife was not even three months pregnant.
Lin Jishang immediately added, "Come and help carry it. We're afraid it will be too conspicuous during the day, so we'll send it over after dark."
The two had a good exchange during the day, became more familiar with each other, and could chat harmlessly.
Lin Xiuqing just came out of the house and saw two people carrying something in. She asked curiously, "What is it?"
"Your husband bought you a sewing machine, a Yan brand one."
"What?!"
Lin Xiuqing stared at Ye Yaodong, "When did you buy it? Why didn't you say anything?"
"Let's talk later. Pay the bill first." Ye Yaodong said and then looked at Lin Jishang, "How much is this one?"
"The supply and marketing cooperative is 150, the market price is 130, you can take 110, there are two pieces of red and yellow floral cloth and 5 jin of cotton on the cart, just give me 15 yuan."
"How can this be so embarrassing?"
The cotton he bought during the day was 2.8 yuan per pound. He didn't hear the price of the floral cloth, but he heard the price of the navy blue cotton cloth, which was 3.6 yuan per foot. The floral cloth was even more expensive.
"It doesn't matter. Let's make friends. We ship out the products every day anyway. We don't need one more."
"Okay, thank you very much."
Seeing this guy busy at the dock every other night, he must have made a lot of money. He knows that smuggling is very profitable these days, and he uses silver dollars to purchase goods. Some of the higher-profit ones can earn half or even 60%.
These smugglers traded goods with smuggling ships in Taiwan and Hong Kong with silver dollars. One silver dollar was exchanged for 22 yuan, plus fees, it was 26 yuan.
The smuggling ships carried as little as one or two thousand silver dollars, and as much as seven or eight thousand. The value of the silver dollars exchanged for a ship of less value could be as much as thirty or forty thousand yuan, and as much as several hundred thousand yuan.
He was considered a small boss in Linji, so he must have made a lot of money.
Just think of it as poverty alleviation, and he accepted the favor. I'll see later if I can catch any good fish at sea and send him some, so it's a give and take relationship.
The goods had already been delivered to the door, and Lin Xiuqing couldn't slap him in the face and ask him to return them, so he had to go back to the house in frustration to get the money.
Two pieces of flowered cloth and cotton were also brought in, and Lin Ji collected the money and left.
Lin Xiuqing stared at Ye Yaodong, "When did you buy it? Why didn't you tell me? How could you buy such a big thing just like that?"
"Who told you not to even buy a few pieces of cloth and a few pounds of cotton? Then I have no choice but to do it myself and give you a strong medicine to cure you. Besides, it's not convenient to have no sewing machine at home. You always shamelessly go to other people's homes to borrow it. It's okay once or twice, but you have to make so many cotton clothes. How can you be embarrassed? Aren't you afraid of offending others?"
The house does need some new things, and he doesn't want his wife to have to please others.
"Then...then you have to discuss this with me."
"You've already spent nearly 70 yuan on this trip today, right? If I tell you to buy a sewing machine, are you willing to do so?"
Lin Xiuqing couldn't refute it. If she were told this, she would definitely say slowly first.
Seeing that she was silent again, Ye Yaodong had no choice but to hug her and comfort her, "It's just over 100 yuan, much cheaper than outside. The money I earned yesterday is just enough to offset it. I have a sewing machine at home, it will be convenient for you to use it. When the baby is about to be born, won't you also want to make small clothes in advance? Can you go to someone else's house with your belly?"
Lin Xiuqing glanced at him sideways and pinched his lower back fiercely, "Don't do this next time! You must tell me about spending big money."
"Hiss~ Oh~ OK~ OK~ Be gentle, your waist is very important."
She couldn't hold the tension anymore, so she rolled her eyes at him, pushed his arms away and went to unpack the sewing machine.
Seeing her excited look, Ye Yaodong felt a little proud. He knew that she would like it, and her complaints were just words.
Women are women, they say one thing and mean another!
Saying no actually means you want it!
Sometimes, you have to listen the other way around...
Ye Yaodong happily joined in helping her dismantle it. Looking at the brand new sewing machine in front of them completely exposed to their field of vision, Lin Xiuqing's eyes lit up and she stroked it back and forth with her hands.
In fact, she had always wanted a sewing machine, but she had not had the means before. She had finally saved some money in the past few months, but she couldn't bear to buy one. Then she bought a boat, which cost her a huge sum of money, so she was even more reluctant to spend it.
Ye Yaodong made the decision for her by accident.
"You like it?"
Lin Xiuqing glared at him with a smile on her face. How could she not know that he was offering treasures
"Try it?"
"Um."
She happily went back to the room to get the cloth she had cut in the afternoon for testing, but she didn't expect to wake up the two children who had just fallen asleep by going in and out. Ye Yaodong had to go in and coax the children first.
After coaxing the child to sleep, he also felt a little drowsy, but thinking about going out to sea at night, he did not get up.
Half asleep and half awake, I felt someone next to me. He took me in his arms and rubbed me in his arms, and said in a dreamy voice, "Are you done playing?"
"I sewed a sleeve."
"Should I be rewarded?"
He was just saying it casually, but he didn't expect Lin Xiuqing to actually kiss him on the lips. This aroused him and he instantly came to his senses. He turned his body over and pressed down, but he was stopped just after they touched his lips.
"Don't make trouble. You still have to go out to sea at night."
Alas, he is still a guy in his 20s...
"Go to sleep, don't think too much!"
"All right."
After pecking her fiercely, he turned over and lay back in his own position, holding her warmth and softness in his arms, but his hands were held, preventing him from moving.
He fell asleep just like that.
He got up on time at 2:30 in the morning. Lin Xiuqing had already gotten up and prepared the food, and packed a lunch box for him.
He put on a headlamp and pushed the cart towards the dock. Ye's father was already waiting there and was chatting with A Guang's father.
"Okay, okay, I'll bring back some seafood tomorrow, and we'll go to your place for a couple of drinks and chat..."
Ye Yaodong heard these words as he approached. When did his father become so close to A Guang's father that they could even sit together and drink
"Dad, Uncle Pei."
"Dongzi is here. I heard your longline fishing is very useful. Let's try it someday."
"Okay, you can try making a few hundred of them, but it will cost more bait."
"It's not a big deal. There are a lot of small fish and shrimp in the trawl net. Save some for later use."
At this time, A Guang also bought diesel and came over. "Oh? It's rare to meet you."
"You'll probably run into me more often in the future."
After greeting each other, they left first. Ye Yaodong also hurried to get the bait that Acai had left, and then added oil.
After getting on the boat, he asked his father, "Dad, when did you become so close to Uncle Pei? You even asked me to have a drink with you."
"A Guang has been carrying your banner every other day, either sending bananas or wine, or some fish and dried goods that we don't have here. He shows up every day in different ways, and your mother and I know what's going on."
"So you agree now?"
"Let's have a couple of drinks with his father tonight and have a chat. There's no woman in his family who can take care of things, so his father is the only one who can come and talk to me."
"Then you should also ask my little sister what she thinks."
"Do you need me to tell you that?"
"So what did she say?"
"You go ask your mother. I'm the father, not the mother. How can I ask? Anyway, your mother was very unhappy before. She said that there was no woman in her family who could take care of the housework. If your little sister married into the family, it would be very tiring. She said that there would be no one to help take care of the children in the future, and she would have to marry two sisters-in-law... Women are troublesome, they think too much..."
"It seems that what Mom said was not wrong."
"Wouldn't it be good to be the head of the household right after you get married? Why do you need a mother-in-law? Wouldn't it be better to have your mother come to help you out if you need anything? If there's no one to help take care of the child in the future, why don't you let your younger sister bring the child back to take care of him? You're worrying about something that's just a few steps away. It's enough if she has good character and temperament. Why think so much..."
"You have arranged work for my mother, so what can I say?"
"So let's see what his father says tomorrow and come up with a set of rules. Then we'll go ask your little sister for her opinion."
Ye Yaodong pursed his lips. It seemed that his father had no objection. That brat A Guang got away with it.