Several people happily carried all the goods onto the boat, and Ye Yaodong piled the goods that his father-in-law and mother-in-law had dug and picked up in a corner.
"You can take these things back with you, or sell them or do something else with them. It's up to you."
"We'll take these with shells back, and you can sell the squids together. We are all family..." Father Lin said with a smile.
"No need. We have already caught so many baskets. You can collect them yourself. A bag should be more than 100 kilograms. We can sell it for 30 yuan, which is not a small amount."
Mother Lin smiled so hard that she couldn't close her mouth. "So much? I can earn so much just by working for a day."
"We can't go out to sea every day. From the beginning of the year till now, we can count the number of times we have gone out to sea on our fingers, and it all depends on luck."
Ye Yaodong started the boat as he spoke, but he felt the tide was a little shallow, so he used a long bamboo pole to prop up the rocks on the shore and propped the boat open a little. Then he drove the boat to the other side of the island, preparing to call Zheng and Xiaoxiao to go back together.
I wonder how many squids they caught in the afternoon? They haven't come to find them yet. They are still working.
As soon as he sailed the boat away from the shore, they also came over in their boat.
"Are you willing to come over here? I thought I had to go over and call you before you would be willing to go back."
When the two boats approached, Xiao Xiao stretched his head to look at their catch and asked, "Since we wasted some time this afternoon, I thought of casting two more nets. How much have you caught?"
"I picked up two baskets in the early morning, shared one and a half baskets, and caught six baskets myself. It was a big loss. I missed several nets because of the delay caused by the father and his two sons. Otherwise, I could have caught a few more baskets."
Ah Zheng also said, "Isn't it? We didn't dare to rest the whole afternoon. We were all trying to catch more nets. Now our arms are so sore that we can hardly lift them. We are so exhausted."
"Fortunately, there is compensation. Let's go back first. It's too late. Let's talk about it when we get back."
"Yes, go back first, go back first..."
The two boats moved forward at the same time, and from time to time they moved one in front of the other.
There were many fishing boats eager to catch more fish. When they were about to reach the shore, the sky around them had already darkened. There were many boats on the sea that had just returned, all with headlights on.
Lin's parents didn't keep the bag of squids, they sold them all. How could they bear to carry them back to eat? They were worth dozens of dollars.
After selling all the goods, the family went home happily. The fatigue they had originally felt disappeared without a trace after they sold the goods and received the money.
Ye's mother had been waiting at home. When she saw them coming back late at night, she went to greet them.
"How was the harvest today? How many loads did you harvest? Are your in-laws okay?"
"The harvest was good. We picked up more than a sack of squid on the island. Even with the price cut, we can sell it for more than 35 yuan. But it is really tiring to go out to sea. We go out at dark and come back at dark."
"It's like this. 30 or so yuan is good. In the past, people only made 30 or 40 or 50 yuan a day by trawling. Go wash your hands quickly and eat first. We can talk while we eat."
"Hey, okay..."
Mother Ye saw Ye Yaodong unloading two more sacks of goods from the cart. She looked over and asked in surprise, "You guys still have time to dig this?"
"My mother-in-law dug them up while she was at it. Ayuan also went to the mountain to pick up a bucket of seabird eggs. You can take them in and boil them for a few..."
"Ah? Ayuan, you even picked up seabird eggs!"
"Wow, there are seabird eggs!"
"Let me see, let me see..."
"How much did you pick up?"
"so many!"
"Ahh, how come you picked up so many seabird eggs?"
Before Ye Yaodong finished speaking, the group of children who were talking to Lin Guangyuan nearby rushed over excitedly to see the seabird eggs, and each of them was extremely envious.
"Uncle San, when will you take us there?"
"Yes, Dad, we also want to rob seabird nests..."
"Yes, yes, Uncle San..."
"Go away, don't get in the way here. I'm so tired. I'm going to eat." Ye Yaodong felt overwhelmed when he saw the children in front of him.
"Uncle San, you can't be partial..."
"You are biased, you are biased, why don't you ask your father to take you there? Go away, if you keep arguing with me, you won't get any share of the boiled seabird eggs later."
"This is not the egg you picked up!" Ye Chenghu shouted.
The others nodded as well, glancing at him stealthily.
Ye Yaodong knocked on Ye Chenghu's head and said, "So what if I didn't pick it up? Lin Guangyuan took my boat and I didn't even charge him for the boat fare. This bucket of eggs is just right to give to my aunt and uncle."
Lin Guangyuan rolled his eyes and said, "Then take me there again at night and I'll pick up some more."
"are not you tired?"
"I'm not tired. When I wake up I'm a dragon again!"
Mother Ye smiled and said, "Come in and eat first. Stop making noise. I'll cook a seabird egg for each of you."
"Yeah, yeah~"
Everybody cheered.
When Ye Yaodong was about to enter the house, he saw a small nest in the corner of the doorway with a few fluffy chicks in it. He was a little surprised and asked, "When did they hatch?"
No wonder when I came back just now, I saw a group of kids gathered together there, and I thought they were playing something new.
"They were hatched a few days ago. Your grandma was at home taking care of them and let the hen take care of them for a few days. Later, I thought about bringing the hen and the chicks here to raise together. Exactly 15 chicks were hatched, five for your family. Tomorrow, you can tie marks on the chicks' feet and raise them together. I also sent your aunt 10 eggs, and 7 of them hatched. I'm keeping them for myself."
Ye Yaodong nodded, "Is there anyone who can catch ducks? Can you help me catch a few more ducks? They are right by the beach, so it's convenient to let them roam freely."
It would be nice to have a few chickens and ducks in front of and behind the house. It would be even better if I could pickle the sea duck eggs. The oily egg yolk is salty and fragrant, and it goes better with porridge.
Just thinking about him makes him look beautiful, and I can kill one anytime I want to eat him!
"Then I'll have to ask."
Mother Lin interrupted after hearing this and said, "We need to raise ducks. The ducks at home are about to hatch. They will be there in about 20 days. I will send you a few when the time comes."
"That's too much trouble. We have to come all the way here. Let's ask in the village first."
"No trouble, no trouble."
After they all went into the house to eat, a group of children began to gather in the corner to look at the chicks, and touch them from time to time with their hands.
As soon as Ye's mother put the seabird eggs into the pot, she went to the door and shouted, "Don't catch it, don't crush it to death, and don't touch it. If you touch the grass bag, it won't grow up."
Seeing that none of them had ears, Ye's mother drove them all away, "Go play one by one, don't get in the way here, the chicks and hens need to go back to the coop."
If you keep touching them, a few of them will die.
"Are the seabird eggs ready?"
"Why are you in such a hurry? You've been thinking about playing or eating all day long!"
"What else?"
"Have you done your homework?"
In an instant, everyone fell silent.
"You guys have been back for such a long time, but you haven't done your homework. You just play there until it's dark. Your mom has also gone out to sea recently, so there's no one to take care of you. You don't even do your homework..."
Ye's mother started a new round of nagging.
The children were not afraid of her and started laughing again with thick skin.
Anyway, grandma doesn’t hit people.
Mother Lin also laughed and said, "Our grandchildren are the same. They are either thinking about eating or playing all day long. If you ask them to go up the mountain to pick some fruit, they will run faster than anyone else, but if you ask them to work, they will disappear."
Father Lin also said: "It's normal for children to like to play. How can we expect them to go to college? It would be better if they can learn a few words and not be like us who can't read at all."
"That is…"