A few days later, just after they finished their meal, Ye's mother suddenly came to their house with a smile and called the three brothers to go back to their hometown, saying that she wanted to have a few drinks with A Guang and his father.
He understood instantly that his parents must have agreed to marry their daughter off.
Why didn't his mother insist on persisting? Is it difficult
Is it really true that the more the mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more satisfied she is
This guy Guang got a good deal! Damn!
Ye Yaodong walked towards the old house with a serious face. Seeing his father and Uncle Pei's red faces, he knew that they had already had a round of drinking.
Ah Guang's face was flushed and he was grinning foolishly, which made his eyes hurt.
Drink! You must drink!
The three brothers took turns in tacit understanding and sent the father and son back after getting them drunk until they were tongue-tied and unable to speak.
After returning to the old house, Ye's mother happily said that their family was prepared to offer "three turns and one ring" and "thirty-six legs" as a betrothal gift.
"Butterfly brand sewing machine, Phoenix brand bicycle, Shanghai Meihua brand watch, and drama box. A Guang's father said that they went to the supply and marketing cooperative to check them out these days. If they are sure, they will buy them immediately. It will definitely be worth it for Huimei..."
Ye Yaodong curled his lips. It would be difficult for other families to afford these four items. Not many people in the surrounding villages could afford them. Only people working in government agencies or state-owned enterprises could afford them.
But his family can afford it. His parents must have saved some money in the past two months. He got the payment for the goods a few days ago and gave 300 yuan to his father.
Really, you gave in so easily.
"I've also asked your sister in advance, and she has no objection. Now let's wait for their family to find a matchmaker to come and propose marriage, and then we'll finalize the matter. It's only two months until the Chinese New Year, so we should be married before the New Year."
"Isn't it too fast?" Ye Yaodong couldn't help but say.
"What are you talking about? Whether you have money or not, it's good to have a wife to celebrate the New Year. Back then, you got married in ten days..."
"That's different..."
"It's different. It's not easy to find someone who is willing (to be blind), so we really have to settle down as soon as possible. A Guang is different. We are from the same village and we know each other well..."
Mother Ye said happily, "Forget it, let's wait until the matchmaker comes."
Looking at his younger sister's shy appearance, one was willing to fight and the other was willing to be beaten, Ye Yaodong said nothing more. Girls should not be kept at home when they grow up, so he decided to go back and let his wife take care of it and prepare some dowry.
I had no dreams all night until dawn.
Ye Yaodong planned to go out to sea to collect the traps. He hadn't worked for half a month and his arm was much better now.
During this period, the goods in the traps were either collected by Xiao Xiao or by his elder and second brothers. Every time they collected all the goods, they sent them over.
But when he could rarely afford to be extravagant, he would give half of it to them, and keep the rest for himself to take care of his wife and children. He would give some to the old house, and the rest would either be dried in the sun, or used as a favor to give to others at the Linji market, or he would ask his mother to give some to relatives.
Lin Xiuqing felt that she had become plump during this period, but Adong insisted that it was an illusion, saying that eating seafood would not make you fat, and that she became plump because of her pregnancy, and told her to eat more.
Maybe it was because other people helped to receive the goods, so her husband didn't have to do anything and just waited at home for them to deliver them. It felt like she had picked up something for free, and she felt no burden to spend it.
It feels so wrong.
"If you go to collect the traps today, don't keep any of the goods. Sell everything you can. It's too extravagant to eat all the good goods during this period. Don't do this next time."
"Isn't it good to have some? One person eats and two people benefit."
"Isn't it money that we eat? Isn't it hard to make money?"
“Okay, okay~”
Anyway, just agree to it first. He will have the final say on what goods to bring back later.
Ye Yaodong went out carrying two large buckets. The two sisters-in-law at the door saw him carrying buckets and asked in surprise, "Adong, are you going out to sea? Is your hand healed?"
"That's about right. I've been raising it for more than half a month, and there haven't been any problems with my daily life recently."
"That's good, that's good." Mrs. Ye's smile was a little forced.
"Then you have to be careful when you go out to sea. Don't try to be brave if you can't do it. Wait for your elder brother and second brother to come back in the evening to help collect the goods. We are all family, so it's okay to ask them to help collect the goods. If you can rest, take a few more days and get better. It would be bad if you have any sequelae in the future... Well... I just said that. It's best if you are completely well. Otherwise, as a family, you don't have to be polite. It's nothing to help..."
It’s still his sister-in-law who speaks more eloquently and at a higher level. Look how beautiful her words are.
Clearly, their smiles just now were a little forced, and their eyes showed that they were reluctant to part with the good stuff they had just spent this period of time on, but she could speak so beautifully that people felt comfortable listening to her.
Mrs. Ye Er is more direct and can’t hide things.
"Well, it should be fine. I'll go to the sea to collect some traps. If there's no problem, I'll go out to sea. I haven't been out to sea for more than half a month. I'm exhausted. If I really go back to the old days of playing all day and not working, my dad will be left with nothing to do."
The last sentence can be regarded as a reminder to them that the boat of the eldest brother and the second brother belongs to his father. If his father has no job, the boats of the eldest and second brothers will be in jeopardy.
Mrs. Ye's mind worked quickly, and the smile on her face became more sincere. "Yes, it's almost time to go out to sea and make money."
"Um."
Ye Yaodong nodded casually, propped up the fallen clothes-drying pole at the door, and then walked out to the dock.
"Hey...Adong, are we going to fish in the sea tomorrow, the first day of the new year?" Mrs. Ye called him again.
He almost forgot about it. After resting at home for half a month, he had put it out of his mind.
He stopped, thought for a moment and said, "We shouldn't go, right? We haven't been out fishing for more than half a month. We should go out to sea tonight. We still have some dried goods at home. Big brother and second brother, we have a boat now. If you want to go, you can ask them to take a day off and let them take you."
Well…he has to take care of his own wife, it’s not like they are without a boat now and he doesn’t want to take the responsibility.
Mrs. Ye nodded somewhat disappointedly. Without wind and waves, the family’s boat would definitely have to go out to sea to make money.
Ye Yaodong no longer cared about them.
The weather is pretty good today, the sky is clear and the roads are easy to walk on.
It rained a few days ago and the roads were full of mud and puddles. Whenever we went out, our shoes and trouser legs were covered with mud. My eldest son was beaten three times a day. In the past, he was beaten once every three days. Fortunately, boys are tough.
He has been sleeping until he wakes up naturally recently, and today was no exception. It was quite late, as there were not many ships at the dock, as they were all out working.
"Hey~ You're alive?" Ah Cai was sitting at the door of his purchasing point, crossing his legs, and greeted him with a smile.
"Yeah, I have to support my family in Hukou, so I can't be a waste anymore. I really miss you. You are still cool."
The corners of Ah Cai's mouth twitched. He felt uncomfortable listening to these words, as if they were calling him a waste.
"Go, go, get some more good stuff and send it over."
"OK."
Ye Yaodong smiled and walked towards the direction where his boat was docked. The boat was swaying due to the waves. It was a pity that he hadn't gone fishing for more than half a month, but he made enough money on that trip.
He still has the same number of traps. Since he got the row of hooks, he has not increased the number for fear that he will not be able to harvest enough. But he is still reluctant to sell them. No matter how small a mosquito leg is, it is still meat. Moreover, the harvest from the traps has been quite good in the past few months.
The buoy was still there, and after they helped him collect the goods, they put the trap back in its original place.
Ye Yaodong pulled up the buoy and began to pull in the net. The ground trap net was still quite heavy in the water, but he still had strength in his hands when pulling it in.
The next day, none of the fish were caught. The first net yielded a decent amount, with two Huangshan fish weighing one kilogram, the others were some palm-sized water carp, and half a kilogram of white shrimp. Ye Yaodong poured them all into the bucket, and estimated that there were more than four kilograms of goods.
Except for the first net, the harvests of the next few nets were not very ideal. Each net caught less than one kilogram of fish, and a row of traps only caught about 10 kilograms. There were no big catches. The best ones were the two Huangshan fish weighing about one kilogram, which were worth two yuan.
The two rows of traps at the back were even worse, with only 11 or 12 pounds of goods collected from the two rows, all of which were worthless little red shrimps, small miscellaneous fish, and about two pounds of mantis shrimps.
Ye Yaodong felt that the weather had become cold recently and fish were not very abundant.
After he collected all six rows of traps, the two large buckets were barely full. The largest one was a sea eel weighing about five pounds, and there were two sea bass weighing more than three pounds, two Huangshan fish weighing about one pound, three pounds of white shrimp, and quite a few octopuses, one weighing more than ten pounds, and more than three pounds of mantis shrimps. The rest were all small fish and shrimps, which all added up to only about 20 pounds.
Swimming crabs must be out of season, there is not a single one left. The same goes for blue crabs. I was able to catch two in the past two days. In the past, I could catch several blue crabs every time I used the ground trap, sometimes more than ten.
The weather is colder and there is less seafood along the coast.
Today's catch is less than in previous years, but it's okay. At least I have bait for going out to sea at night. I can just go to Acai to replenish it later.
After putting all the traps back into the sea, he drove around the surrounding waters. He didn't know where Xiaoxiao and Azheng had put their nets, and he didn't see their boat when he went out.
After sailing another nautical mile out to the sea, he saw the small wooden boat of A Zheng and Xiao Xiao. What a brave guy!
The small wooden boat was swaying on the sea like a leaf, and he felt that a wave could capsize the boat.
As we moved the boat closer to their small boat, we saw them collecting the hooks.
"You are so brave. You dare to row such a small wooden boat so far?"
"What are you afraid of? We're still on the shore anyway. If you fall, just climb up." Ah Zheng said nonchalantly.
Xiao Xiao asked curiously, "Your hand is healed and you have strength now? Why did you run out?"
"That's about it. Come out and collect the traps."
"Well then we don't have to go pick up the goods for you."
"It's really extravagant. They need to sail a boat over ten meters long just to collect the traps."
Ye Yaodong shrugged. "No way. I just made a fortune. I don't need this little bit of gas money."
Although it costs some fuel, it is really efficient and better than paddling a small wooden boat. It only takes about ten minutes to drive from the shore to here, but it will take at least half an hour if you row.
After rowing for two months some time ago, he felt that the muscles in his arms had become much stronger and the fat on his waist had disappeared.
"Do you really want to say something so hateful?" Ah Zheng glared at him, "You said you would treat us to a drink, but you didn't even show up."
"I'll arrange it tonight. I couldn't even lift my hands recently, and even holding a gun was a problem. Come to my house tonight. I just received some goods from the trap, so it's enough for a drink."
It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t go to the literacy class for one day. He just joined halfway anyway. There is a long time to go, so he can take it slow.
"Okay, tonight, let's take care of Fatty and the others... ah, youyouyou~ Shit... Money Spot..."
Before Zheng could finish his words, he saw Xiaoxiao pulling up a top-quality grouper. He was so surprised that his eyes widened and he kept saying "Wow" with joy.
"Fuck, what luck! A golden spotted fish came up as soon as I arrived!" Ye Yaodong also widened his eyes and moved the boat closer.
Xiao Xiao smiled from ear to ear, and without removing the hook, she held the golden grouper under the sun, "Dongzi, you are such a lucky star, what a big golden grouper! We have been setting the net for several months, but this is the first time we have caught such a big grouper!"
"How many pounds?"
"It should be three or four pounds! It has hexagonal spots all over its body. Wow~" The little eyes were shining with joy.
"Damn, it's worth about ten dollars."
Ye Yaodong looked at it with envy, as he had never caught a golden coin yet.
This golden grouper should actually be called the hawksbill grouper, also known as the passing fish, the flower-headed grouper, and the aristocrat among the kidney groupers. It mainly inhabits nearshore debris coral reef areas and often appears along the coast.
Ah Zheng also shouted happily, "Let me take the hook, this fish is amazing, it's my first time catching one, hahahaha~~"