The tractor was shaking as it moved, but luckily no one in the family was prone to motion sickness, including Lin Xiuqing.
According to her, this baby in her belly is the least worrying. It is the same whether she is pregnant or not, there is no difference, the taste has not changed, and she has no feeling at all. It is not as stressful as the first two babies. She vomited every day and had no appetite.
It must be a daughter.
Both husband and wife were so sure.
After sitting on the tractor for more than an hour, it finally entered Baisha Village.
Ye Chenghu, who had been listless all the way, instantly became energetic when he saw the familiar village. He quickly stretched his head and looked around to see if there were any friends he knew.
When he saw someone he knew, he excitedly greeted them: "I'm back from my grandma's house. I'll come play with you guys later."
He was really too cocky. His grandmother's house was in the village, just a few steps away, but he had to take a tractor to get to his grandmother's house...
Just thinking about it made him very happy. When he got home, he could share with his friends how much fun his grandma's house was.
No one knows a son better than his father. Ye Yaodong knew what the boy was happy about as soon as he saw his expression. It turned out that calling a tractor was a honor for him.
This habit of showing off needs to be changed.
The tractor took them directly to their doorstep, saving a lot of trouble. It would have been even better if his second sister-in-law hadn't said anything sour.
Ye Yaodong was moving goods into the house and didn't pay any attention to her. Only Lin Xiuqing spoke to her for a few words and then changed the subject.
"Are there no more starfish?"
"There are not many these days, and not many people go to the dock to pick them up. There were people killing each other every day in the past few days, and many people are scared. It just so happens that there are not many these days, and it is a low tide, and the tide cannot recede, so no one goes there." Mrs. Ye said with a smile.
Neap tide refers to the period around the seventh and twenty-second day of the lunar calendar. As the effects of the sun and moon on the earth's tides partially cancel each other out, the resulting tidal height is lower and is therefore called a neap tide.
This means that the tidal range between high tide and low tide is the smallest on this day, the sea water recedes less, and the sea water is still very deep when it recedes to the bottom of the tide.
"It's better to be gone. I find it scary to see them fighting every day. We are from the same village. We will see each other sooner or later."
"Who said it wasn't? After you left, we didn't pick them up. We just looked at them on the shore."
Lin Xiuqing said a few words, sent the two children to play by themselves, and went into the house to pack up. Her mother had packed a lot of things for them, one sack after another.
After she opened all the sacks, she saw that a bag of sweet potatoes had been put in there at some point...
"Oh my god, we told her we had seeds at home, and she even filled a sack for us."
Ye Yaodong was also speechless. Was his mother-in-law afraid that they would have nothing to eat
"Maybe they knew it would be more convenient for us to just ask a tractor to deliver it, so they temporarily carried an extra bag?"
Lin Xiuqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Then move this bag to the corner first. And that bag of pumpkins, my God, bring everything back to me..."
The couple was muttering to themselves as they sorted things out. It was truly a sweet burden. It was all the love from the elderly.
Ye Yaodong sorted out the things for her first. He went into the house to check it out. There was nothing unusual inside and outside. The babies were still there, so he felt relieved and went to help.
By the time they had finished sorting out the pile of local products, it was almost noon and time to start making lunch. Ye Yaodong took one of the two wild ducks he had just brought back and sent it to the old house for them to try.
The old lady saw it, but she took his hand, touched his arm, and then touched his stomach, "Is the food good at your mother-in-law's house? You are not used to the food in the mountains over there, right?"
The old lady still treats him as a child.
"Fortunately, I brought some fish and dried goods with me. Fresh river food is also very delicious. You don't have to worry about it. Look, we caught several wild ducks over there. They are just right for you to sharpen your teeth."
As Ye Yaodong said this, he handed the wild duck to his father and asked him to kill it.
Father Ye picked up the wild duck and weighed it in his hand. "It's too thin. It's not as fat as a domestic duck. The meat will probably be very tough."
"It's delicious if you stir-fry it. Add some dried radish slices and more ginger. My mother-in-law stir-fries it this way and it's delicious. If you don't have dried radish slices, you can go to my place and get some. She gave me a big bag."
"It's calm today. Are we going out to sea tonight?"
"Yes, after lunch, I will go collect the traps and get some bait. I haven't been there for a few days, so I don't know if there is much."
"It's probably another starfish."
Although no one was picking up the starfish outside the pier, it was because of the low tide and did not mean that the starfish were completely gone.
"Then I'll trade it with Ah Cai for some cheap fish and shrimp as bait. I'll go see if the sticky net I asked someone to make is ready. I'll go out at night and use it to test the water."
Father Ye nodded. "Well, when I was drinking with your uncle Lin yesterday, he casually mentioned that you were going to try the sticky net. He said he had a roller lying around and he could lend it to you. It would save a lot of effort."
"Okay, that's great, we'll go move to his place later. We can also bring the coal stove from the old house with us at night so we can have something hot to eat."
"Um."
After Ye Yaodong finished talking to his father, he chatted with the old lady for a few more words, and then went to see if the sticky net was ready.
Sticky nets are also called silk nets. They are usually woven with a relatively transparent and thin nylon thread and tied with lead sinkers and floats. They are relatively invisible in the water. Once a fish swims onto the net, its head and body will be stuck in the mesh because of the scales on its body. The more it struggles, the tighter it gets stuck, making it difficult to escape.
There are four types of sticky nets: floating nets, sinking nets, single-layer fishing nets, and triple-tail fishing nets.
The floating net has a larger float and a lighter lead weight, and is used to catch mid- and upper-level fish.
The sinking net has a smaller float and a heavier lead weight, and is used to catch mid- and low-level fish.
A single-layer fishing net has only one layer of net surface, with floats on the top and sinkers on the bottom, and the net is better concealed in the water.
The three-tail fishing net has two layers of large-mesh outer nets and one layer of small-mesh inner net. The inner net is long and the outer net is short. When the net is in the water, the inner net is loose and the outer net is tight, which has a good fishing effect and has a chance to catch larger fish.
Sticky nets are divided into different sizes, and different diameters are used to catch fish of different sizes. Generally, they are calculated by fingers, and are divided into 2 fingers (the size of two fingers side by side), 3 fingers, 4 fingers, and 5 fingers. Generally, 3-5 fingers are enough.
Ye Yaodong asked someone to make a three-finger, three-tail fishing net. If you are going to do it, you have to do it better. Now the marine resources are abundant and there are still many big fish in the seabed.
After taking a look and finding it was ready, he made an appointment to come pick it up after dinner, and then he went back with peace of mind.
The only difference between a sticky net and a gillnet is that the gillnet has hooks while the sticky net does not. The gillnet is extremely lethal, but it has not been banned yet, so he plans to try the sticky net first.
After a long walk, he was about to go home when he heard his eldest son bragging to a group of little kids...
"You don't know how high the wild ducks fly... My dad is amazing. He caught two of them in one go with a bamboo basket..."
"My cousins caught a big basket of them, saying there were eight of them. We caught one and stewed it that night. It was so delicious..."
"I have a big turtle at home. I caught two of them, but my father ate one of them. I managed to save this one from my father..."
"You can go to my house later and take a look. There is another one as big as a basin. My father said we can't catch it. What a pity. Otherwise, I could let you see it..."
"In fact, the tractor was not comfortable to sit on at all. My butt kept bouncing up and down..."
Ye Yaodong looked at the boy gesticulating excitedly with a frown on his face. He walked over with a frown and lifted him up by the collar.
"What are you talking about? Why are you so excited? You should go home and have dinner, but you're still bragging here!"
"Dad, let go, I'll walk by myself..."
He struggled and twisted, but he couldn't open his eyes. He was dragged further and further away. He had no choice but to resign himself to his fate and shouted to his friends: "Come to my house later to see the turtle. My dad said it's called a soft-shell turtle. It's very interesting..."
Oh my god, this brat...
"Dad, please let me go, stop dragging me, I can walk by myself..."
Ye Yaodong knocked him on the head, "Hurry up, if you drag your feet I'll beat you up when I get back. Why are you talking so much? You keep talking nonstop. Your brother is at home, why don't you keep an eye on him and keep him from running around?"
"He was playing with turtles at home alone. He was fine. I came out to play with my friends for a while and was about to go back."
"I didn't drag you, are you willing to go back?"
They were chatting so excitedly that if he hadn't been dragged away, he would have talked until dark!
"I have to go back and eat. If you don't eat, I still have to eat."
Ye Chenghu ran home as soon as he finished saying this, leaving Ye Yaodong staring at his back, wondering where he learned this from? He knows everything now, but he still says this!
He hurried after him; he was also hungry.
No duck was cooked for lunch. She had been eating it every day at her mother's house recently, so Lin Xiuqing planned to keep it there for two days before killing it.
Ye Yaodong looked at the stir-fried celery with dried mustard greens, steamed egg with dried small abalone, steamed dried fish, and radish clear soup on the table, and his appetite was whetted. The river seafood has its own deliciousness, and the seafood has its own freshness. It's nice to eat them in alternating order.
When the two children saw the steamed eggs, they stood up happily, holding the spoons with their hands stretched out. Lin Xiuqing supported the children and scolded them.
"What are you arguing about? Sit down, I'll prepare..."
"Don't just focus on eating, can you fill them up?"
Ye Yaodong looked at the piece of cake he had just picked up. He hadn't even picked it up yet. How could any eye have seen him eat it
He had no choice but to put the quick-dish down, pick up the spoon to serve the two children egg custard and dried abalone, and then pick up the quick-dish to eat.
"Do you have a lot of dried shellfish at home?"
"It's okay. It's fine for a month or two. You brought back a lot last month. You gave some to my parents. I think there's about half left. What's the matter?"
"I think these two are quite tasty. If they are almost gone, I will go to the isolated island and have a look around." Ye Yaodong said as he ate the sweet potatoes, his mind also spinning.
The sweet potatoes grown by my father-in-law are bright red and sweet when cooked. He thought that he could harvest the sweet potatoes at home when he had time. If there were a lot of them, it would be nice to dry some of them for his wife and children as snacks.
"I guess all the shellfish around here have been eaten by starfish? There shouldn't be any in the last few months."
"We can go somewhere farther away. Let's see. There's still some at home, so there's no need to rush. The weather is cold, and the wind blows from time to time. We may not be able to catch the high tide."
"It's enough to last until the beginning of spring. We have a lot of dried fish at home, and we occasionally go out to sea to eat some fresh fish. They are not picky and can eat anything. Eggs are even better."
"When spring comes, we'll see how many chicks my mother can hatch. If there aren't enough, we can go to other people's homes and catch a few. The eggs laid by our own chickens are more nutritious."
Lin Xiuqing smiled and nodded.
Their family had just started living, and there were no small animals in front of or behind the house, so they were just waiting to catch some chickens to raise in the spring.