Ye Yaodong listened to the messy conversation around him and stood there for a long time. There was no movement for a long time and he felt it was a waste of time. When he was about to leave, he saw people moving in front of him, accompanied by noisy sounds coming from the crowd.
"Here it comes, here it comes, out..."
The villagers gathered in three layers outside were suddenly excited, as if some important leader had arrived. They all stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks to try to get a glimpse of the true face of Mount Lu.
The crowd automatically made way for him, and Ye Yaodong could clearly see that the village committee members all had smiles on their faces, and his cousin's wife also smiled and saw him off.
It looks like there's nothing unpleasant going on, and they seem to be having a pleasant conversation
"Okay, no need to send it again. We'll get to know you better and come back again..."
Secretary Chen also smiled and said: "The selection of the 10,000-yuan households is a big deal, and we must understand it clearly. Don't be anxious. Once the county understands it clearly, they will definitely hold a commendation meeting..."
Sister Ye nodded with a big smile on her face, "Okay, okay... It's also my fault that a village woman doesn't know much about the man outside. I only know that he made a lot of money in business. He should be back in a few days. Then I will go and tell the secretary..."
The group of people all smiled and nodded, then walked out...
Ye Yaodong touched his chin. In this situation, his cousin's wife probably didn't know anything. So it was difficult for these county leaders to make a direct conclusion. They would probably have to find out the whole story and then come again after his cousin came back.
As for what fate will come after returning, it is hard to say...
The village committee members kept smiling and followed the county leaders to the commune, followed by a long line of villagers who had not seen enough of the fun.
Ye Yaodong waited until they were far away before he walked towards his cousin's wife, wanting to ask what was going on. He saw a bunch of women gathered around her, asking her when she would be in the newspapers and on TV? And if they could invest in the business again
The corners of his mouth twitched and he stopped.
Never mind, there's no need to be curious about this.
Since I just said that the people will be back in a few days, we will know how the situation develops in a few days.
He turned around and walked straight towards the small path next to him, heading towards his hometown.
At this time, Ye's mother was beating the quilt at the door. The door was propped up with a bamboo pole, and a pile of quilts and clothes were hung there to dry.
His younger sister seemed to have just washed her hair. She was standing at the door with her head down, wiping her hair with a towel. There was a stool and a basin of water next to her.
The old lady couldn't sit still. While her father was cutting bamboo strips beside her, she was also weaving bamboo baskets.
"It's quite comfortable, we are all basking in the sun."
"Dongzi is here, come and sit here and bask in the sun." The old lady happily invited him to sit next to her.
Mother Ye also asked curiously: "Dongzi, when you came here just now, did you hear on the way that the county leaders went to your eldest cousin's house in the countryside? I heard that his family is a millionaire, and why did I hear that there was something about you, and that they went to your house?"
"I was washing clothes at the back door and didn't know what was going on. When I came out to hang the clothes, I heard the neighbors talking about it. What happened?"
Ye Yaodong came up with his own excuse to cover up the matter. Of course, he still said that the village committee had made a mistake in name, so they went to his house. Later, his cousin's wife came up and they naturally went to Ye Yaohong's house.
"What a pity! It would be great if you were a millionaire. You could be in the newspapers, but I don't know what kind of reward you get. It's a bargain for their family. They are so rich, and they still get rewards..."
He nodded casually, not responding to his mother's words, and turned to look at his father, "Let's take a look this afternoon. If there are no winds or waves, get ready and go out to sea at night."
Father Ye nodded.
Ye Huimei beside him also said excitedly: "It just so happens that the weather is good today. It has been cloudy and rainy for so many days, and it finally cleared up. Tomorrow should also be good weather. Mom, let's go out to sea with Third Brother tonight. It happens to be the first day of the new year tomorrow."
Mother Ye beat the quilt with a stick and said, "Luckily it's sunny now, otherwise we wouldn't be able to go."
"Instead of enjoying the sun at home, you have to go to the island to enjoy the cold wind..." Ye Yaodong said unhappily.
"It's fun to go fishing, brother San. Wear a hat, scarf, and gloves so you don't have to worry about the wind."
"Whatever!"
In fact, Ye Yaodong was just talking about it. When they went out to sea at night, he was still worried about them.
After hanging up the bait and lowering the hook, he dragged a net near the island before dawn. He waited until it was completely light before reeling in the net. Then he handed the catch to his father for sorting and drove the boat to Oarfish Island.
He had directly named that uninhabited island Oarfish Island...
The fishing boat docked at around 7 o'clock. The tide began to ebb at 6 o'clock, and the water level was still quite high in some places. Ye Yaodong circled around the island and docked near a low reef.
Then he helped my mother and younger sister carefully get off the boat and climb onto the reef.
There were densely packed water spinach growing on the rocks, and some hot snails clinging to them. As soon as Ye Huimei stood there, she happily bent down to pick them up, but she happened to notice one with a particularly large head.
The snail meat was stuck to it with great force. She pulled it out with great force and her body swayed, and she almost fell. Fortunately, Ye Yaodong grabbed her collar from behind and stabilized her.
He said sternly, "Why are you in such a hurry? We are the only ones on this isolated island. Are you afraid that there will be nothing to dig? You just stepped on it and you stretched out your hand before you could stand firmly. Don't you know how to be careful? There are sharp juvenile shells and various shelled creatures on the rocks below. If you fall and hit the back of your head, what will you do?"
Ye Huimei had never seen him so strict before, and she was really frightened. She was too guilty to say a word.
Ye's mother also scolded: "You are so old, but you don't know how to be careful. The wind is so strong that it can blow you down. You can dig it out next time without any more time."
Ye Huimei lowered her head in grievance, "I was wrong, I was just too excited, I must be careful next time."
"Alright, alright, don't talk about her anymore, let's go down first, it's a bit high here," Ye's father said, trying to smooth things over. "The water level is a bit shallow where the sand is exposed in front, so it's not easy to get to the shore. We can only stop here and go down from the rocks first."
Ye Huimei now walked down very carefully using both her hands and feet, and Ye Yaodong also went up to support her.
The exposed beach area below is only less than ten square meters, but the tide is receding, and a larger area will be exposed in the future.
As soon as they stood on the beach, Ye Yaodong saw the sea water rushing in front of him, and there was a giant octopus there rising and falling with the waves.
He trotted over and first grabbed it with the fire tongs to prevent it from being washed back into the sea. Then he bent down and grabbed it.
The dancing tentacles instantly wrapped around his arm tightly. The slippery touch and the tight suction made him feel a little sick. After he grabbed it, he walked back.
Mother Ye said happily: "Dongzi was really quick in reaction and caught a big red seal right away. This one is quite big."
Ye Yaodong used both hands to grab it from his hands and threw it into the bucket, but soon its tentacles climbed up the edge of the bucket again, trying to escape, so he had to grab it and throw it into the sack.
"Get to work, get to work. Be careful, don't climb up and down, dig up the easy ones first, especially Comrade Ye Huimei. If you make trouble again, I won't bring you here again."
After Ye Huimei recovered, she was no longer afraid of him. She even snorted twice, "Next time, you will definitely not bring me here."
"That's right, you will soon belong to someone else and we will no longer be in charge of you. We need to pack you up and send you away right away."
"Hehe, you used to say bad things about Brother Guangzi in front of me every day, but now you can't wait to kick me out. Third brother, you are so fickle!"
Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes, "The future is bright, and if one, two, or three of you have no objections, then shouldn't you just get married quickly to save trouble? Girls should not be kept when they grow up. If you keep them, they will become enemies! Do you understand?"
"Get lost, and go drag your net."
"No, I'm going to watch you today."
Seeing how impatient his little sister was, he and his father should just watch out. It was just a waste of one day, and he didn't mind taking that day off to avoid any trouble.
"Aren't you going to trawl the net?" Ye's mother had just pried off two small abalones (small pot lids) with a flat-bladed screwdriver when she heard him say he was not going, and asked hurriedly.
"It looks like there won't be much to catch today. I just caught a net full of frogfish. It doesn't matter if I catch more or not. I might as well help you dig up more seafood and dry it in the sun."
"That's fine. With more people, we can dig more and bring back more, and store more for the New Year. In the future, fewer and fewer people will go out to sea."
Father Ye had no objection and continued to work. He took the sack and started working immediately.
Ye Yaodong threw the sack containing the octopus aside for the time being, took out another one from the bucket and shook it open. Knowing that they were going to fish in the sea today, they brought extra sacks so they were not afraid of having nothing to put in.
As usual, he looked around for a while before finding a good spot, and started digging from the place where there were more small abalones (small pot lids).
There were many people around, so we chatted and time passed quickly. However, the island was isolated and windy, and the sea breeze was particularly strong, blowing into every pore and making me feel very cold.
He deliberately brought with him the woolen hat and scarf that his wife had crocheted a few days ago while she was free in bed, but his cheeks were still a little stinging from the wind, even when he turned his back and occasionally raised his head, he would still be blown.
He glanced at the other three people who were digging hard, all with their backs to the howling northwest wind.
I feel like I should ask his wife to make a few more masks when I get home. Just take a piece of cloth, sew it together, and make sure it can cover the face. Otherwise, it will be too uncomfortable to have the wind blowing on your face like this.
To be honest, his skin is still quite tender now. It would be better if he could keep it and not let it be damaged by the sea breeze.
His mind was spinning, but his hands were moving quickly.
After digging out a large patch of small abalone (small pot lids) in front of him, he was too lazy to waste time looking for them, so he immediately picked up the spicy snails, flower snails, cat's eye snails, Buddha's hands, etc. that were attached to the abalone, planning to go back and pick them slowly after he finished digging.
Except for water spinach, clams and scallops, everything else is accepted.
These three quantities are too large, so it would be better to put them in separate sacks.
After he had worked diligently and was almost done filling a sack, he twisted his neck and waist, paused for a moment, and then dragged the sack to the side.
There were two large sacks placed on the open space next to them. He turned around and saw that his father and mother were holding empty sacks in their hands. These two sacks were dug by them.
Sure enough, the older the better, and they are faster.
He then took another empty bag, unfolded it as he walked, and took a look at where the tide had receded ahead.
But, at a glance, he opened his eyes wide in shock, his pupils tightened, his heart skipped a beat, and the hairs on his hands stood up.
No way…
This kind of thing happened to him...