Ye Huimei looked at his parents who seemed a little shaken and laughed out loud, thinking that his third brother was really good at talking.
Ye Yaodong glanced at her and said, "I'm telling the truth, okay? Our parents have almost done all the important things they should do, so where is there any place to spend a lot of money? We don't spend much on food and drink on a daily basis, so why bother to be stingy?"
"Hahaha, so let's keep one little blue dragon for each person!"
"Yes!"
Mother Ye had nothing to say at this time. She just glared at the brother and sister and said, "You are the only ones who are good at talking and eating. You are good at picking out the best things. Wait until you get married, and see if you can still be so wasteful."
"You really don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are. When you get married, you have to save money. You will have two younger sisters-in-law to marry in the future. You can't be too loose with your fingers every day, and you have to take good care of your husband..."
Ye Huimei was so happy to tell her mother that she was embarrassed. She hadn't even married yet, and she was asked to take care of men...
"Don't say that, you haven't even gotten married yet..."
Father Ye also figured it out. He saved so much money by doing so stingily. In the future, he would leave it to his three sons. They have suffered for half of their lives. It’s about time for them to enjoy a little bit of food…
What's more, we can pick up so many abalone today, it doesn't seem too much to keep a small blue dragon for each person, right
He glanced at the third brother. After being with this prodigal son for so long, he felt that he was becoming like him. He actually thought it was okay for each of them to keep one...
Father Ye coughed dryly, "Then pick the smaller ones and keep one for each of you!"
The smile in Ye Yaodong's eyes was revealed. He looked at his father pretending with amusement, and felt that his parents were being led astray by him.
"Well, one of them weighing two or three taels isn't expensive. There are eight of us, so if we keep eight of them, it will only weigh a little over two kilograms."
"We've already kept them all, so why not leave a few more? Your eldest brother and second brother both have three children, so leave three for each of them so that the children can have a taste as well."
Father Ye is also a man who loves his children. Even if a grandfather has some good things and his son doesn’t leave them to him, his grandson will always remember them.
"Okay." Ye Yaodong had no objection. It was all earned by his mother and sister, and his father could decide on how to distribute it.
Mother Ye felt a little distressed and wanted to leave half for herself, but she couldn't bear to eat it all by herself and leave nothing for her grandchildren.
She had no choice but to frown and pretend not to see it.
"Okay, stop for a moment and take us to the island first. Otherwise, we'll just stand here and watch, wasting time."
"Dad, please send my mom and the others off, and take a rest on the shore. It's not good to just sit there like this."
He is still young, he can drink some sea snake wine to get rid of the dampness when he goes back.
"Okay, pour the contents of the barrel into the sack first. It's heavy to carry all the time."
Ye Yaodong also handed the bucket over to empty it, and then continued to climb up the reef. Digging from the top could allow him to soak in the water for less time. The tide had just begun to recede, and he could go into the water shallower when the water level was lowest at twelve o'clock.
These reef areas are rugged and slippery, so you need to be careful.
They are not in a hurry. Safety comes first. Anyway, the piles of abalone are still tightly attached to it and cannot escape.
Father Ye drove the boat to the nearby island, put the mother and daughter and the tool sack down, and told them to be careful and not to climb up and down. If they couldn't lift something, just put it anywhere and move it when they arrived. Then he drove the boat back to the reef.
By this time, Ye Yaodong had already dug out half a bucket with a lot of clanging. Practice makes perfect, and it really feels good to dig out these abalones as big as fists.
"Dongzi, we'll have to spend a whole day digging for these abalone and conchs."
"It shouldn't be that serious. Even though they look densely packed, that's because they're so big. It's quick to pick them off one by one. Look, isn't there a large empty area? Some places aren't densely packed. With two people, it's quick."
"Fortunately there are no starfish here, otherwise these abalones would be eaten again."
"really."
"Hurry up and dig. We'll go over to your mother's place around 8 o'clock and take a break to cook something to eat."
As Father Ye was talking, he climbed up a reef and poured out the water in his rain boots. However, he did not sit firmly and almost slipped. Ye Yaodong was so scared that he swayed and almost fell.
"Ah, Dad, be careful."
"My butt was too slippery and I couldn't sit still for a moment."
"Take it easy. Or go to the side. That reef is flatter. Stand there. I'll take the higher one."
Father Ye stretched his head to take a look, and said without forcing it, "Okay."
This reef is neither big nor small. With someone to keep them company, the father and son can chat and feel that time is passing quite fast. The key is that both of them are very motivated and are in high spirits at the thought of making a large sum of money.
Only after they each poured two more buckets and saw that it was already 8 o'clock did they climb onto the boat.
Ye Yaodong took off his rain boots and socks and looked at his feet which were white and wrinkled from being soaked. He suddenly felt that money was not so easy to earn. If you want to get rich, you have to pay a price.
Otherwise, why do people living by the sea suffer from rheumatism when they get older
People living by the sea love to drink, and they especially like to soak various seafood medicinal wines in order to remove moisture.
He picked up a piece of rag and wiped his feet. He didn't even plan to put on his shoes. He let his feet dry first and drove the boat to the island to have breakfast first.
Ye's father was also barefoot. He wrung out some water from his trouser legs and rolled them up high to prevent them from sticking to his legs.
Seeing an opportunity, he put water in the pot and boiled it. The pot was not big enough, so four people had to cook two pots.
By the time the boat docked at the island, the water in the pot was almost boiling. The two reef islands were not far apart.
Father Ye tore a few slices of cabbage and put them in. After reopening the pot, he put the rice noodles in, then threw in some dried Chinese cabbage, stirred it, and was about to cover it when he heard Ye Yaodong say.
"Dad, dig some abalone..."
When Father Ye heard this, his hands trembled, and when he covered the pot, he failed to put the lid on properly, and the pot tilted and fell onto the deck.
Ye Yaodong laughed and said, "My feet have turned white from being soaked. Is it okay to eat one?"
It would be unacceptable for his parents to be so stingy and unwilling to spend money on food and drink. He had to make things right for them!
Father Ye glared at his prodigal son, then silently dug out four abalones that looked smaller in size, scooped out the abalone meat, removed the stomachs, simply rinsed them with plain water, and threw them in to cook without even cutting them a few times with a knife.
"That's right. People work so hard just to live a better life, right, Dad?"
"Don't say that. Not only do you ruin the family, but you also want to bring your parents down with you."
"This is called sharing the blessings. My parents must be filial to me."
Ye's father was already powerless towards him, but fortunately he was willing to work hard now and earned a lot. Since he had made some money, he could just spend some on it.
It's better than doing nothing and playing around all day like before.
"Go call your mother and sister, and go aboard to eat something first. It's been several hours since nightfall, and you've been in the cold wind for so long. Come up and eat something hot to warm your body. There's no rush to dig."
"okay."
Ye Yaodong was too lazy to get off the boat, so he just stood on the boat and shouted at the top of his lungs. After a few shouts, their figures emerged from the reef, and they washed their hands with the sea water and went ashore.
"Finally I've eaten. I feel so hungry."
"Rice flour is not as good as rice cakes to keep you hungry. In a few days I will ask other families to buy some glutinous rice and take it to the workshop to make rice cakes. Anyway, I will have to stock up on rice cakes for the New Year, so I prepared it in advance."
"Isn't it too early to make rice cakes so early?"
"Do a little first."
"Let's eat first..."
As soon as Ye's father opened the lid of the pot, Ye's mother looked at the abalone in the pot without saying anything. Everyone scooped a bowl and ate happily.
"Let's cook another pot and add a few more abalone."
The abalone is thick, plump, soft, tender and smooth, and tastes much better than farmed ones.
“You really know how to eat…”
Mother Ye muttered something and looked at the sack in the corner which was quite full, so she took out four bags, one for each of them.
It can be seen that Ye Yaodong’s brainwashing was very successful!
Ye Huimei smiled secretly and winked at her third brother, and Ye Yaodong grinned.
In fact, his parents were not in very good health either. In the past few years, they were not full from the communal meals, and they worked very hard to earn work points. They overworked, and now that they are old, they should eat well to nourish themselves.
After cooking two pots of food, the whole family had their fill. After a short rest, Ye's mother and Ye Huimei went back to the isolated island to continue their work.
Ye Yaodong and his father also drove the boat to the reef island, ready to continue working. They picked up a sack in front of them which was not yet very full, only 60% full. Now that they were full and had energy, they went back to continue working.
But he didn't know if it was a psychological effect. Although the tide was receding, he felt that the water level had not dropped at all. Instead, it was a little high.
He frowned and looked at his father, "Dad, do you feel that this reef seems to be...sinking?"
Yes, it’s sinking!
He suddenly thought of this word. It was not that the tide had not receded, but that the reefs were sinking. So even though the tide was receding, the terrain of the seabed was not exposed more, but the water level had become higher.
Father Ye was also surprised. "If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have realized that this reef is indeed sinking."
"Shit, is the earth going to sink again after the crustal movement?"
"It's very possible. Maybe it has been sinking all along, and we were so focused on digging before that we didn't pay attention."
"Shit, hurry up and dig. It feels like the water level is rising again. It's clearly receding."
"Hurry up then..."
This was already a treasure trove, there was no reason to let it sink again. The father and son suddenly realized something was wrong and hurried down with the empty bucket.
Ye Yaodong noticed the water level. When he went into the water in the morning, the water was only up to his knees. But now it was just above his knees. It was clearly the tide receding.
"Shit, this is fucked, it's really going to sink again, is it just a flash in the pan? Hurry up and dig, the tide is receding, it can slow down the sinking speed, we can dig as much as we can."
"Well, hurry up."