He stayed in the old house for a long time, until his father, mother and younger sister came back, and then he told his mother about the basket of fish and shrimp for her to feed the chickens.
Ye's mother complained, "What a waste! They knew there was an earthquake, but they didn't even bother to take back the traps. How much is such a big basket? I only make one or two yuan a day picking shrimps..."
Ye Yaodong felt that if he told her that it was the same thing last time, picking and throwing the things to feed the seabirds, he didn't know if his mother would beat him.
This is also a habit. If the fish and shrimp are not good enough when caught at sea, everyone will throw them into the sea. The seabirds will pick up what they can, and those that they can't pick up will sink and return to the sea. No one will bother to pick them up individually.
"Give it to whoever wants it to feed the chickens and ducks. Stop nagging me. I'm leaving now."
"Whoever wants one, come get it. I think I'll have to raise a few more chickens next year..."
Ye Yaodong put the basket covered with rags on the cart and walked away. He could still hear his mother calling out to the neighbors.
Lin Xiuqing was already making a fire and cooking at home. As soon as he entered the house carrying a basket of corals, two boys ran up. One of them hugged his thighs and tried to climb up, while the other stood on tiptoe to take his basket.
"Dad, what delicious food did you buy? Let me see... let me see..."
“Oil cakes… cakes… canned food… maltose…” Ye Chengyang pulled at his trousers, looking up with a bright face.
Ye Chenghu's eyes lit up, "Is that right, Dad?"
"It's your head, you've been thinking about eating all day, do you want to eat 'Wugengchui'? Go away..."
"So what's in your basket?"
"Why are kids so curious?"
Ye Yaodong lifted his foot and dragged the pendant on his leg with difficulty into the house.
Lin Xiuqing also asked him curiously, "What's in the basket?"
"Coral, I just got it from the old lady at the old house. She said it was useless to keep it with her, so she packed it all for me when she knew I wanted it."
"You got them all back? There are so many of them, they take up so much space..."
"Then put it in my locker. It won't bother you."
Humph... Each and every one of them feels like they're taking up space. Just wait a few decades and stop laughing secretly.
"Dad, what you took is not food, right?"
"Go, go, go... Go away..."
"Dad, when will you go to town to buy us delicious food?"
"Do you want to eat a fart? I'll make one for you right now!" As he said that, Ye Yaodong actually made one...
"Ah... it stinks..."
"Ah... It stinks, it stinks... Dad, why do you just let it go when I say so?"
When the two heard a loud noise, they immediately pinched their noses and dodged.
"Humph, how can it stink? Loud farts don't stink, and stinky farts don't make loud noises!"
"I know, I know, serial farts are both smelly and loud!" Ye Chenghu said excitedly, as if he was continuing the couplet.
Ye Yaodong glanced at this stupid son. Is this something he should be happy about
He first took a basket of corals back to the house, then killed the fish that were left. He steamed a one-pound Huangshan fish and cut two white pomfret into slices and planned to ask his wife to cook hot and sour soup.
He has often helped to kill fish in the past few months, and he has become very skilled in the job. He knows how to cook and cut the fish. By the way, he also marinated the sliced white pomfret with seasonings.
For Huangshan fish, add seasonings, ginger and garlic and place it directly on the rice. Steam the fish while cooking the rice.
The two kids kept circling around him, asking him when he would go to town again, and were really annoying.
"Stop following me, or I'll give you two more butts!"
"Tsk~ let it go again, let it go again~" Ye Chenghu said while playfully slapping his father's butt.
As a result, at this moment, Ye Yaodong suddenly burst out again, which scared him so much that his face changed color immediately and he jumped to the side.
Ye Chengyang was also slow to react. He pinched his nose and ran towards his brother.
"Ah, Dad, you're going too far. How can you fart just because you say so?"
"If you don't let out a fart, it will damage your heart. If you don't fart, you will keep your body healthy by squeezing it out! I told you to go away, but you didn't leave and even slapped my butt."
After Ye Chenghu was farted twice, he glared at him angrily and didn't dare to get any closer, for fear of another one.
Lin Xiuqing sat in front of the stove and laughed happily, "Go and have fun. I'll call you when it's time for dinner. Don't get in the way here, or your dad can squeeze two more out at any time."
"Oh, that's too much, too much, I'm going to tell Brother Hai that Dad is the king of farts..."
He said this and ran away.
"This brat is trying to ruin my reputation again!"
"What is your reputation among them?"
"That's too much. I buy them food every other day, and they gossip about me every day!"
"You are disrespectful to your elders and love to tease them all day long. How dare you say that?"
"It's obvious that they are just being disrespectful."
"That's your fault too. You don't have the authority of your third uncle."
"What kind of majesty? If you pick up the whip, you can still scare them to death."
Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes and didn't talk nonsense with him. How many times had he used a whip? She was always the bad guy, okay
After the rice was cooked, she served it to others to eat first, and Lin Xiuqing then cooked soup.
It is not tiring when men and women work together.
After the pomfret is marinated, pour out the soup, add some sweet potato starch and stir, then put some ginger, garlic, celery, and pickled bamboo shoots by Lin’s mother into the pot, and then add some chili peppers and pepper powder. Unfortunately, there is no golden needle mushroom.
A bowl of hot and sour soup in winter warms up the whole body.
"You're not going out to sea tomorrow, are you? Go pick up all the radishes in the field. While the weather is good these two days, shred them and let us dry some of them. It's more than half a month until the winter solstice, so we can dry some to make rice dumplings."
"Okay, the old lady was also there talking about making rice dumplings this afternoon."
He originally planned to rest for two days and then go out to sea a few more times while the weather was good, but his father's rheumatism came back, so he had to slow down.
This disease cannot be cured, it is quite troublesome, and it is easy to relapse. His father would definitely not tell him about it. If the old lady hadn't mentioned it in the afternoon, he wouldn't have known about it.
"I must be thinking about your love of food."
"Are you thinking about me too? That's why you're talking about me so early?"
Lin Xiuqing denied it, "I was thinking that the winter solstice was approaching and I needed to worship the kitchen god."
The local custom is to eat rice dumplings during the winter solstice and to offer sacrifices to the kitchen god. To offer sacrifices to the kitchen god, one must use glutinous rice balls. This is a small sacrifice, and the small New Year's Eve is a big sacrifice.
"You say one thing and mean another!" Ye Yaodong grinned happily, "I'll harvest the sweet potatoes in the field tomorrow, and we'll plant some radishes while we're at it."
"Okay, and sprinkle some spinach and mugwort seeds as well."
"Is my little sister's dowry ready?"
"The quilt has been sewn, and the clothes are still a little short of being finished. They should be ready in two days."
"After the winter solstice, it's time to..."
Lin Xiuqing nodded. It was still too early for that. She thought of another important thing. "Can we get the money for the abalone now?"
This has always been on her mind, because in the past two days, Mrs. Ye and Mrs. Ye asked her every day whether she had received the money and how much she sold it for. She always said that she had not received the money and did not know.
In fact, she really didn't know.
So, when we came back from picking dried shrimps in the evening, they asked if they could get them.
I care more about how much her house can be sold for than she does!
"Well, when I came back just now, I told Ah Cai that I would go there after dinner."
"Then eat quickly, don't wait until dark. It's cold now, and everyone lies down directly after dark."
"I'll be there, you wait at home."
Lin Xiuqing had no objection. She couldn't help much anyway. He knew a lot of words now. It was hard to deceive him when he didn't know how to read, and it was even harder to deceive him now.
Ye Yaodong shoveled the remaining food in and went to settle the bill and get the money.
Ah Cai, he seems quite reliable now.
The total weight of abalone was 277 jin 3 liang. They were weighed uniformly at the purchasing point and not all poured out to be sorted by size. After sorting through a bag, most of them were seven or eight abalone, so there was no time to pick the rest carefully.
But when Acai was looking for buyers, he carefully selected them. Different specifications mean different prices.
Although most of them are abalone with seven or eight heads, if you pick them carefully, you can find some that have reached the specification of five-head abalone, which also weighs more than 10 kilograms, and six-head abalone also weighs more than 20 kilograms, which can be sold for a little more money.
The saying of "how many abalones there are" comes from weight, which means how many abalones can be weighed in one pound.
Abalone weighing 2 per pound is called a double-headed abalone, and abalone weighing 3 per pound is called a triple-headed abalone…
Six abalones per pound are called six-head abalones... and so on.
Generally speaking, the larger the size, the longer the growth cycle, the better the quality, and the more expensive the price.
Double-headed abalone is extremely precious, so there is a saying in the market that "a double-headed abalone is worth a fortune."
Although the goods he received were not of such top quality, they were still very good. He sold the abalone, conch and the temporary goods that day for a total of 1,080.
This number was rounded off by Acai to make it an integer.
Ye Yaodong happily accepted it and said, "Thank you very much."
"Haha, I should be the one thanking you."
“Win-win, win-win…”
Ah Cai smiled and smoked two cigarettes for him. "You have been doing really well in the past few months. I heard that you are almost a millionaire?"
"Fuck, stop making fun of me. You believe the rumors in the village? Don't you know how much money I make? If there is a millionaire in our village, you will definitely be the first one!"
"Don't... I just earn some hard-earned money. The pig farmer in the next village became a millionaire at the beginning of the year, but now his family still can't live in peace."
"So, those false reputations are useless. The best way is to make a fortune quietly."
Unfortunately, most of his catch had to be brought ashore, and most people knew the truth under the watchful eyes of the public.
Never mind him. He will just refuse to admit it and just say he owes money. Fortunately, he has the boat to cover it up.
"Yes, I didn't expect that you are so young, but you can see things clearly. Usually older people can't resist that vanity, let alone young people."
Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "You underestimate me, brother. You are a wise man. Look at your stomach. No matter how much you give to others, it is better to eat more for yourself."
"Hahaha… "
"Let's go. I still have to share the money. This is not earned by me alone. I really didn't earn much. It's all those gossipy women in the village who spread it!"
"Haha, I understand, I understand!"