He accompanied his eldest aunt's family to the old house, chatting and laughing all the way. Before he could even sit down, Ye's mother sent him back to ask his eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law to come and help cook, and also to ask his eldest brother and second brother to come and talk to his eldest uncle.
This is how Chinese New Year is, with a bunch of relatives coming and going, eating, drinking, playing cards, and chatting...
The Chinese New Year isn’t considered over until the 15th.
But just after the third day of the New Year, the weather turned bad and it started to drizzle. It continued to rain until the end of the first month of the year.
The children couldn't even go to their grandmother's house, which they had been longing to visit. They also didn't see the Lantern Festival lanterns that they had been longing for for a long time. Both children felt very depressed.
In fact, bad weather was one reason, and another important reason was that Lin Xiuqing's belly was already very obvious, but she thought it could be hidden before.
The Lantern Festival is on February 27th in the Gregorian calendar. She is already 7 months pregnant at that time. Although her belly cannot be seen because she is wearing a loose cotton jacket, you can tell that she is pregnant when she walks.
People nowadays are very sharp-eyed. They don’t necessarily have to look at the belly to confirm. If someone reports it, all their long-term concealment will be in vain.
He also asked someone to pass on a message that Lin's father and mother already knew about the situation and only asked them to come and hide when needed.
Ye Yaodong looked at his father angrily, crossed his arms over his chest, squinted at his two children, then reached into his pocket and took out eight 5-cent coins.
"Two cents per person, no one is allowed to be angry?"
"Humph! I'm going to grandma's house!"
"How can you go if it's raining? There won't be any lanterns or floats if it's raining, and you won't even be able to leave the house if you go."
"Then I want to go too."
"Then you can walk there by yourself." Ye Yaodong stuffed the coins in his hand to Ye Chengyang casually, "Your brother doesn't want them anymore. If you listen to me, I'll give them all to you."
Ye Chengyang nodded happily and took it.
Ye Chenghu refused to do that and turned around to grab his things, "This is mine, you can't give it to him!"
"You don't want it!"
"I want!"
Humph, there’s no way to cure him!
After dealing with the two and sending them to play next door, the room finally became quiet. Ye Yaodong frowned and said, "We are going to build a house next door. From now on, you don't have to go out. Just stay at home. If there is anything, ask the eldest brother to run errands. Normally, just close the door when there is nothing to do."
"I know."
As the month went by, Lin Xiuqing started to get worried. She originally thought that since there wouldn't be many people around the new house, she would be able to hold out until the birth, but now she probably would have to hide again soon.
Within a few days, someone came to measure the land next to their house, and they started construction just two days after the weather cleared up before the end of the first lunar month.
Every day, villagers come and go around the house working busily, and from time to time they often sit at their doorstep and chat.
Ye Yaodong was worried, so he would move a stool and sit at the door every day, fearing that as soon as he left, someone would come to his house to ask for tea or borrow this or that.
Big Brother Ye and Second Brother Ye waited until the weather cleared up and went out to sea. Most of the villagers also went out to work at sea in the drizzle after the 15th day of the first lunar month. He was the only one who was still at home. It was already the second month of the lunar calendar.
Alas, it’s not that he has become lazy, he is just worried.
His parents have been a little anxious these past two days. It had been raining before and there was nothing they could do about it, but it has started to clear up in recent days, so they come to urge him to go out to sea every day.
At night, Lin Xiuqing hesitated and said, "How about I go back to my parents' home? With my parents here, I don't have to go out. If anything happens, I can hide in the mountains."
He was worried only when he hid in the mountains.
"We also have a small hut in our tea mountain, where we can live if anything happens..."
Ye Yaodong patted her soothingly, "It will be a few days before the first tea harvest begins. The tea mountains are crowded with people, and it's hard to stay there. It's okay to go out to sea a month or two later. I made a few hundred yuan on New Year's Day, which is enough to cover my expenses for several months without touching my capital."
"That's too long. You can't do anything all day long. You can only stay at home and watch over me. It's too much of a waste of time. You can go out to sea with Dad tomorrow. Mom said she will come over to watch over me every day..."
"It's only been sunny for a few days, and it's just the end of the first month of the lunar year. There's no need to rush."
"You should go out to sea if you want to. Dad and Mom are urging you to go. If you miss a day, it will be a day's loss. I'm not going out anyway."
"Well, I'll see what the weather is tomorrow."
He kept caressing her round belly, and from time to time he felt a small bulge, but it disappeared in an instant and appeared again after a while.
He was very curious and kept searching his stomach with one hand, but it disappeared after just a short while.
"Not moving?"
Lin Xiuqing smiled and said, "He moved around for quite a while before I spoke. He must be tired now and fell asleep."
Ye Yaodong withdrew his hand with regret, "How long will it take to give birth?"
"Maybe after May 1st."
He calculated, "That's about two months."
"Well, hold on."
"Are all the little clothes ready?"
Lin Xiuqing touched her belly and nodded with a smile, "I'm ready. There's sunshine these two days, so I've washed and dried it again."
Ye Yaodong also felt a little more expectant. He didn’t feel much involvement in the first two, and this one was beyond his expectations, but it was the one he had always kept in mind.
Just keep holding on.
The next morning, shortly after the sun rose, there were sounds of banging and lifting outside the house.
The whole family can only get up with sleepy eyes and can no longer sleep happily until they wake up naturally.
"It's so noisy. Why are they building a house next to ours? Is there no more room in the village?"
“They think we are good here.”
"I hate it so much." Ye Chenghu was angry when he woke up in the morning.
"It will be fine after a while. The sun is shining on our butts. It's time to get up." Lin Xiuqing said as she put clothes on the two children.
Ye Yaodong stood at the door and looked at the clear sky. The tide on the beach was receding little by little, and it seemed that there would not be much wind and waves today.
But Ye Yaopeng rarely went out to sea, but instead urged Ye Chenghai to hurry up at the door.
"Was there any wind in the night?"
"No, we need to take this guy to the town dock to move goods for two days. Dad and the second son are going there at night."
"Oh ~ the good days are over ~ you have to be self-reliant? Remember to honor your third uncle with the money you earn." Ye Yaodong patted Ye Chenghai's shoulder with a smile.
"Would you like to go with me, Uncle San?"
"No, I'm waiting for you to show your respect, come on young man!"
Ye Chenghai's eyes sparkled and he nodded excitedly. For him, being able to make money by himself was undoubtedly new and worth looking forward to.
Ye Yaodong lit a candle for him in his heart and wished him good luck, young man!
"Dad, is Brother Hai going to make money?"
"He went to receive a severe beating."
"ah?"
"When he comes back in the evening, ask him if he is happy with the money he made today? Is the wind strong at the dock? Is the cargo heavy? Is the steamed bun delicious? Is his shoulder okay?"
Ye Chenghu looked at him in confusion.
Ye Yaodong patted his head and said, "Don't learn from your brother Hai."
"Oh, Dad, the tide is out. Can we go to the beach later? It's so boring. We haven't been to the beach for a long time."
"Okay, I'll play with you guys for a while after breakfast."
It's rare that the weather is good recently, so I'd like to play with them. I may not have time in a couple of days.
The two children jumped into the house excitedly and asked for food. School had already started and everyone went to school, leaving them at home. They were also very bored. It was a rare opportunity to go to the beach to play, so they couldn't wait.
Lin Xiuqing cooked noodles today and served each of them a bowl. They ate them quickly and even drank up the soup without being urged.
"If you go to the beach, look for clams and dig some up to make soup. They're tired of eating carrot soup every day. For lunch, I'll make a bowl of clam soup with some fried rice."
"Got it. Just close the door after we go out, and pretend no one is home when anyone knocks on the door."
"Well, I'll go catch up on some sleep later. I haven't been sleeping well at night lately because of my big belly."
Ye Yaodong nodded, then carried the bucket, two short-handled spatulas and fire tongs, and walked towards the beach with the two children.
The beach has just been exposed and not many people come to the beach yet.
The two children were running wildly in excitement in front. Before they had even run for a while, Ye Chenghu bent down and picked up a sea urchin, "Ah, so prickly!"
He threw it back to the ground.
"Dad, we found a sea urchin!"
Ye Yaodong trotted forward, picked up the 'undersea cactus' at his feet and threw it into the bucket, praising them, "You are lucky. Find a few more and I will make steamed eggs for you at noon."
Although sea urchins look unattractive in appearance, like a cactus, black and with some thorns, the yellow of the sea urchin after peeling it is amazing.
It is bright orange-yellow in color, with clear granular texture on the surface. One petal is only about the size of a little finger. No seasoning is needed when eating. It has a light and sweet taste with a natural ocean flavor and a light and smooth texture.
Sea urchin roe is the only edible part of the sea urchin and is particularly suitable for making sashimi.
Take the steamed egg with sea urchin roe. The smooth steamed egg has a rich seafood flavor. The sea urchin and egg each have their own unique deliciousness. One spoonful of steamed egg and sea urchin roe is a perfect match.
"Yeah."
The two turned around and ran on the beach again.
"Brother~wait for me~"
Ye Yaodong saw a big snail buried under the sand next to him. It looked bigger than his eldest son's fist, so he used a pair of fire tongs to poke it and dug it out of the sand.
I saw it roll over and there was a small one next to where it stopped.
The snail meat on the top of its head was still exposed, but it was suddenly frightened and began to shrink continuously. When Ye Yaodong bent down to pick it up, the entire meat had shrunk back, leaving only the lid.
This hairy snail looks similar to a conch, but its head is longer and pointed than that of an ordinary conch, and its skin is covered with hair. The color is completely different from ordinary ones, and it feels like cowhide.
But it is quite big, and the snail meat inside is very thick, which is absolutely delicious to eat.
He picked up another small one next to it and threw it into the bucket as a snack for lunch.
"Dad, Dad, there is a big ugly crab here. It has eyes. It ran away. Come quickly..."
The two children trotted and shouted excitedly.