Hearing the exclamation in his ear, Ye Yaodong also quickened his planing movements, because he didn't want to be outdone by his son.
He threw aside the sand clams he dug out and piled them up on the open space.
In the past few months, starfish were rampant and there were no clams on the beach for a long time. After a few months, clams from the open sea were constantly washed in and buried under the sand.
In a short while, there was a small pile next to him, like a hill, and it was easy to dig.
At this moment, Ye Chengyang suddenly shouted, "Crab... The crab ran away... Dad... The crab ran away..."
Ye Yaodong turned his head and saw that crabs were crawling everywhere around him. There were two crabs hanging on the edge of the bucket, with their big claws clamped together. One of them was hanging in the air, and instantly both of them fell down.
"Ah? I didn't notice you've escaped from prison?"
Maybe the buckets were too full, so they stacked up high and escaped from prison.
He just came out to pick up some seafood, so the bucket he brought was not as big as the ones he brought with him in the past. It was just the common red plastic bucket at home.
He caught all the crabs crawling on the ground and put them back into the bucket, and put the clams he had dug in as well. The bucket was now completely full, about eight-tenths full.
I just came out for a stroll and found a bucket, which is pretty good.
Seeing the crabs in the bucket starting to pile up again, he shouted to the two boys, "Let's go, stop digging, and go home."
"You just came out so soon. Play for a while longer, Dad. I didn't dig much."
"The bucket is full. If you don't put the crabs back in the pot, they'll run away again and you won't have lunch. Hurry up. I told you to dig, but you didn't. Now you're busy..."
Ye Chenghu dug two more without giving up, and was picked up by Ye Yaodong, "Wait... my quack (sand clam)..."
Local children call sand clams "Gaga"...
After putting the few fish he had dug into the bucket, he reluctantly followed behind.
"You're going back so soon... Dad, when are we going to come back to dig for quacks?"
"Next time."
"When is the next time?"
"See if I'm free and in a good mood?"
Ye Chenghu muttered quietly: "Then I'll come here secretly..."
Ye Yaodong ignored him and just urged them to walk faster.
Although adults don't allow children to go to the beach, how can they keep an eye on them? The sea is right at the doorstep. Especially in summer, there is no child who doesn't play in the water. Nowadays, children are allowed to roam freely.
As soon as I walked to the shore, I saw his mother from a distance in the open space next to them, chatting enthusiastically with someone. She was smiling so hard that she couldn't stop. I didn't know what she was so happy about.
He called her directly. There was a full bucket of seafood, half of which was crabs. He couldn't finish it, so he asked her to take some back.
Mother Ye looked at the bucket of crabs that was almost full and asked in surprise, "Why are there so many crabs on the beach today?"
"There are other miscellaneous things underneath."
"It's convenient to live here. We can go to the beach when the tide goes out. Look, you can pick up a full bucket even on either the first or fifteenth day of the month. You still have to go early to get some." The person who spoke was his new neighbor's mother.
Ye Yaodong smiled, "I just happened to be free, and the tide has just receded, so I took the two kids down for a walk. These are all worthless things, would you like to take some back, Aunt Lan?"
"No, my family comes back from the sea every day with a pile of shrimps and crabs. I don't even have time to peel them. It's troublesome to eat them. I don't have the time for that..."
If they didn't want them, he would go through the back door, get a washbasin and pour a few for his eldest brother and second brother's house. His mother didn't want them either, because his father and second brother had gone out to sea, leaving only her and the old lady at home.
Lin Xiuqing heard the noise at home and knew that he had returned. She took a peek and only came out of the room after confirming that he was back.
When Ye's mother saw her, she reached out and touched her belly, and whispered, "Can't you tell?"
"It's just wrapped in a cotton jacket. It's okay if you don't look closely."
"Then just don't go out. Dongzi has to go out to sea. There are still two months left. You can't just stay at home and play all the time. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are good days, you can go..." Ye's mother muttered.
Ye Yaodong responded casually and picked out the blue crabs to stew for the two of them in the evening. He also picked out the sea urchins, fish and clams. He simply rinsed the rest of the crabs with water and steamed them in one pot later to save trouble.
"You should either not cook for lunch or just eat here. Bring the old lady down with you. It's a waste of firewood to cook for two people."
"Okay, I'll cook it. Ah Qing, go back to the house. There are people coming and going at the door..."
"I've already cooked the rice. I plan to make some stir-fried rice with vegetables for lunch. I've already cut the meat and vegetables..."
"Then I'll fry..."
It is a local custom to eat mustard greens rice (gaicai rice) on the third day of March. It is not the time yet, but the gaicai they grow at home have grown very big, so they can cut one in advance to make gaicai rice.
This is also very popular. The whole family loves it. The two children ate a big bowl of rice with sea urchin steamed egg and asked to have it again in the evening.
In the evening, Ye Yaodong had no choice but to go to the nearby vegetable garden to cut another tree, but when he entered the house, he saw his elder brother coming back, followed by Ye Chenghai, who had his shoulders slumped and looked desperate.
He raised his eyebrows, "You? You've done something big and made a lot of money. Have you bought anything to honor your uncle?"
Ye Chenghai had a sad face, but he showed a smile that was uglier than crying, "Uncle San, please stop laughing at me..."
"Didn't you say that you can accomplish great things without studying?"
"I was wrong. I almost crawled back..." He saw the chair at the door and sat down on it, with his limbs hanging naturally.
"How much money did you earn today?"
"One dollar..."
"Great, if I go again tomorrow, I can earn 30 yuan a month, 365 yuan a year, 3,650 yuan in 10 years, and 20,000 to 30,000 yuan in my lifetime. That's awesome. I can work a few more years than others..."
When Ye Chenghai heard him say that he had worked a few more years than others, his face turned pale and he almost fell to the ground, "Ah! No no no... I love reading..."
Ye Yaodong almost died of laughter, and pretended to be surprised and said: "What's wrong, isn't it good to make money?"
“I almost died... My dad told me to finish the job... My dear dad... Woohoo... I even walked a long way back... I love reading, I want to go to school..."
Other people playing in the room also came out and asked in unison: "Did Brother Hai make a lot of money?"
"Is Ahaige Pier fun?"
"Brother is so awesome, he can make as much money as dad..."
"Brother, are you going to treat us? Buy us something to eat..."
Ye Chenghai wanted to cry but had no tears. "Get out!"
Ye Yaodong patted his head and said, "Reading is the most comfortable thing. Cherish it well, young man. Your third aunt will make fried rice with vegetables tonight. I'll serve you a bowl later."
"Thank you, Uncle San." He said weakly.
After Ye Yaopeng was free to go out to sea at night, he no longer needed his father's help.
Ye Yaodong thought about it and went to talk to his father after dinner, asking him to get ready. They would go out to sea at night, and asked his mother to go to his place during the day to keep an eye on him.
I originally wanted to stay at home for two months, but now I can’t stand the urge anymore. Besides, if I stay at home all the time and don’t go out to sea, I will be easily questioned.
It is also possible to trawle without preparing bait in advance.
When they went to bed at night, Ye Yaodong kept stroking her belly and gave her some worried words.
He didn't know if it was because he thought about it during the day and dreamed about it at night. He actually dreamed that in his previous life, Lin Xiuqing was carried back after having a miscarriage. Her face was pale. After he woke up, he sat up immediately. He felt heartbroken just thinking about it.
"Is it time?" Lin Xiuqing was also awakened by the noise beside her.
He looked at his watch and it was exactly 2 o'clock. "Well, go to sleep."
It’s just a dream. It should be okay if I don’t go to the mountains in this life.
I've already talked to his father about it, so he can't just not go because of a dream.
Before going to bed, he moved all his fishing nets and tools onto the cart and only needed to take some food and water with him.
Ye Yaodong also attached great importance to the first day of going out to sea in the new year. On the way to the dock, he would pass by the Mazu Temple first. He stopped deliberately and went in to light three incense sticks.
Some more superstitious people will light three incense sticks before going out to sea, and burn three more incense sticks when they come back.
After arriving on the boat, Ye's father took out yellow paper, lit it, and circled it three times on his head, three times on each of his left and right hands, while muttering something in a prayer.
Ye Yaodong himself is okay. Young people are less particular, but the elderly are extremely superstitious.
After completing the ceremony, he went to drive the boat, and Ye's father also went to sort out the fishing nets.
The fishing boats at the dock were also heading out one after another.
The sea breeze in early spring was still icy cold, but fortunately he had experience and did not take it lightly. He wore a sewing cap and scarf, and also wore a mask that Ah Qing had sewn himself to block the wind. This made Ye's father look at him a few more times.
He felt in his pocket and took one out for his father. "Try it. It's good for blocking the wind. This way, your face won't hurt when the wind blows on it."
Father Ye nodded.
The first time he went out to sea at the beginning of the year, he planned to go to the sea area he visited most often. However, when he arrived, he found that there were already fishing boats operating there. He had to temporarily change direction, move a little to the side, and asked his father to prepare to set out the net.
They dodge while trawling the net to avoid unnecessary trouble, and also for fear of running out of cargo.
Unexpectedly, while the fishing boat was operating, he unknowingly sailed the boat to the isolated island where the oarfish was.
He shone the flashlight back and forth uncertainly before he was sure that it was the isolated island. While shining the light, he also discovered that the reef that had sunk before had a little pointed head that was about one meter long.
It is difficult to guard against underwater reefs, especially at night when it is pitch black everywhere. Fortunately, we discovered it in advance, otherwise we might have hit it and that would have been the end of us.
"Dongzi, there is a reef over there..."
"I saw it. It's the reef where the abalone came ashore in large numbers. I didn't expect that the sunken reef would emerge again in a short time. I'll go over to take a look after I finish collecting the nets."
Otherwise, the fishing net may easily get caught on the reefs and be damaged.
"Is it the abalone reef? It's rising again?" Father Ye's heart suddenly felt hot.
"Yes, I'll go there later and trawle the net nearby first."
It was dark and I couldn't see clearly.