After half a day of chatting, Captain Chen and his four companions became quite familiar with the outgoing Ye Yaodong. The key was that he was a good talker, his words were quite interesting, he was thick-skinned and could have a good conversation.
"My old home is in front of us. My mother should have prepared a bed for you. Do you want to rest or walk around?"
"Thank you very much. We may have to trouble you for a few days. We will do what we want. You can go and do your work later."
"Okay, I'll take you in first. The main thing is that we've all moved into our new home and moved our beds. Otherwise, you wouldn't have to sleep on the floor."
"It doesn't matter. As long as there's a place to sleep, it's fine. We've slept in difficult conditions before."
The old lady was sitting in the shade at the door, surrounded by a large group of neighbors who had come to listen to the radio. They were working in the cool air and were so engrossed in listening to the radio that they did not notice Ye Yaodong coming until their neighbors reminded them.
She stood up happily, "Dongzi is back? Your father said that you took the PLA comrades to the town hospital. You came back so soon. Are you tired? Sit down and have a rest. I'll go to the house to move a stool..."
"You don't have to work, just sit down and eat some fried buns. I'll take them into the house first."
"Why did you buy so much... I haven't even told you about adding to the house, why are you..."
"If you haven't said it yet, then don't say it. I'm taking you to enjoy yourself and you're not happy about it. Eat your food quickly. I'll take them into the house first."
"Hey... you kid..."
The old lady held the fried buns and looked at his back, mumbling to herself, and then said to the neighbors on both sides: "Dongzi is a kind-hearted and filial child. I scolded his father a few words that day and said I would move to his place, but he immediately wanted to build a house for me two days later. I would have stopped feeding him if I had known. He has to support me when he is good enough. There is already one more mouth to feed in the family this year..."
"It's not good to be filial. You are so lucky. I just bought you a radio and now I'm building a house for you. Ah Dong seems to be doing well now... He is getting better and better..."
"Yes, your love is not in vain... Ah Dong has become successful and still knows how to be filial to you..."
"This child has always been filial. He was carrying a pile of fried buns and oil cakes in his hands. He might have brought them to the children at home. All the children at home like him... It is said that children are the most sensitive. They know very well whether adults are good or not..."
The old lady now praises him to everyone she meets, especially when people see him showing filial piety in person, she has to say it even more to let everyone know how good Dongzi is.
In the past, she had nothing to show off and could only take care of herself. Now that he has made her proud, the old lady wishes everyone knew how good he is.
Ye Yaodong listened to the old lady's happy voice behind him. Without seeing her face, he could imagine that her eyes were about to disappear from laughing.
Just be happy, a good mood can lead to longevity.
After settling a few soldiers, he also sat at the door to chat with the old lady, and talked with her. He painted a big picture for her about what she could do after moving in, which made her smile.
After sitting for a long time, the old lady urged him to go home and report in first, as the fried dough sticks and dumplings were getting cold.
After returning home, he was surrounded by a group of children as expected. They kept calling him "Uncle San" or "Dad" which made his ears almost explode. Only after they were sorted out one by one did he have some peace and quiet.
The next morning, when he was sitting at the door helping to pick beans, he heard a gossip from his second sister-in-law, who didn't know where she got it from, saying that the village scrap collector bought two bronze bowls for 20 yuan yesterday evening. After the news spread this morning, a lot of people were driving boats to that sea area, all wanting to try their luck in the water.
"What? Is it true?" asked Mrs. Ye.
"Of course it's true."
Ye Yaodong frowned and said, "Are you stupid? Even if you take it, you have to hand it over."
"Maybe they want a reward, or just exchange it for money, so it's none of their business."
"How naive! Knowing that it was a cultural relic, they still sold it... Whether the crime is serious or not is up to people to decide, not the law."
"Scare! What does that mean?"
"You won't understand even if I tell you. Just don't let your relatives go. It's against the law."
Upon hearing this, Ye Ersao slapped her thigh and hurried away. She dared not disbelieve it. She had already suffered a great loss once. Adong was much more experienced than them.
Just then, four soldiers came towards them. They turned their heads to look at Ye Ersao, and then looked at the workers who were busy next to them.
Thinking of what they heard yesterday, that they were going to add a room for the old lady to live in, they took off their clothes one by one, wearing only their tank tops, revealing their strong bronze arms, and went to work.
"Hey hey hey... You don't have to work, there are workers..."
"It's okay, just help out."
As they spoke, they picked up their shoulder poles and dustpans and followed the workers to carry stones, some carried stones, some carried loess. The women in the village followed them from beginning to end.
When the people from the county came again, it was almost half past in the morning. A group of men, women, old and young, who were watching the fun, had already gathered at the door of his house. The curious villagers followed the leaders and came over.
Ye Yaodong discovered that there were some more people in the group.
"Good morning!"
"Early on, those PLA comrades..."
"I went to pick up stones. Now I'm back. Over there..." Ye Yaodong pointed behind them.
"Uh... the PLA comrades are really hardworking..."
"They are caring for the people! What plans do the leaders have for today? Are you going to go out to sea?"
The old man at the cultural center said, "It's like this. We came here today mainly to discuss the bronze tripod. These people are the staff of the museum. They just arrived yesterday evening and happened to come together today. They knew that the bronze tripod had been donated to the Mazu Temple, so they came here specifically to discuss it."
"Oh, we're not going out to sea today?"
No one mentioned the bronze tripod yesterday, and he thought they were planning to talk about it after the salvage was completed. Unexpectedly, they were planning to wait until people from the museum arrived to talk about it.
"If we want to go out to sea, we have to take our museum staff to the sea area first. We have already applied for salvage. After all, several PLA comrades are not professionals. They helped to explore the way yesterday, and that's enough."
"Then I'll take you out to sea for a spin, and then we'll go to the village committee when we get back. You have to discuss the matter of the tripod with the village cadres, and let them collect the opinions of the villagers."
"Thank you for your help."
Today, Ye Yaodong was just going out for a trip at sea, so he didn't bring any food or drinks.
I don't know if these people had taken seasickness medicine in advance, but they were in very good condition today and did not feel seasick. However, when the boat arrived at the destination, there were already several fishing boats around.
Everyone on the boat was soaking wet, and some were even emerging from the water. When they saw them coming, they all rowed or sailed away.
Everyone on the boat couldn't help but frown.
Captain Chen said, "I heard this morning that a rag collector in the village bought two bowls for 20 yuan."
"How can this be possible?"
The smile on the village chief's face froze. Seeing that several leaders were unhappy, he quickly said, "I didn't expect this to happen. Leaders, rest assured, leave this matter to me. It would be fine if I didn't know about it beforehand, but now you dare to take the opportunity to sell it. I will definitely solve it, otherwise the cultural relics will be lost."
"Okay, then I'll leave it to the village chief. Please check these fishing boats as well. They can't take away the cultural relics. Also tell them to leave this sea area immediately and not come near again. If they are found again, they will all be treated as obstructing public service."
"Okay, okay. I've already noted down who these boats belong to. When they dock, I'll have people check them one by one."
The leaders then nodded in satisfaction.
Ye Yaodong leaned against the side of the boat, thinking that those people were just bored and valued money over their lives. Knowing that others were interested in him, they still dared to go against the wind and do what they wanted. It was really about profit that their hearts were moved. He didn't even dare to leave a small wine glass, for fear that others would think he was hiding something.
In order to confirm the location of the seabed and avoid wasting time looking for it next time, the four PLA comrades took turns going into the water again to confirm the location of the sea area below. Ye Yaodong helped them drop buoys to mark it.
I didn't have time to mark them yesterday, they left.
After they were done, they took a tour around the surrounding waters and then returned.
Today is a very easy day.
But after docking, the village heads called a few village cadres and gave them the task of inspecting the boats. They also asked them to talk to the villagers and tell them that this was an illegal act of obstructing public affairs and that they were not allowed to approach that sea area again, otherwise they would not be able to protect them.
Suddenly, the villagers complained and cursed the leaders. It was clearly something from their sea area, and they salvaged it themselves, but it was actually illegal. Everyone was even more opposed to them taking the bronze tripod away.
"Since it's illegal, we can't do it. Then they can forget about taking the tripod from the Mazu Temple. Our Mazu is the sea god recognized by emperors of all dynasties and is the Queen of Heaven with various titles."
"Yes, yes, we can't let them take it away..."
"Let's all go to the village committee and see...don't let the village chief and his men agree to it."
"Go, go, go... They are not welcome in our village..."
"Yes, they are not welcome..."
The people on the shore became angry again and walked towards the village committee in a noisy manner. The village cadres were unable to suppress them and could only follow them to the village committee.
The leaders in the village committee who were putting pressure on the village head and others suddenly felt overwhelmed when they heard the noisy commotion outside and the voices calling for them to leave and expressing disapproval.
"This won't do, village chief. You villagers are hindering our official duties."
The village chief was also overwhelmed. The handkerchief in his hand was already soaked from wiping the sweat from his forehead frequently. He originally took it out of his pocket to wipe his forehead out of habit, but found that it was wet. He had to put it back into his pocket and sighed.
"I'm in a dilemma too! Leaders, we're stuck in the middle and it's not easy to do anything. If this tripod is in a Guanyin Temple, a Tudi Temple or some other temple, it's still easy to deal with, but it won't work in a Mazu Temple! We seaside people believe in the sea god the most, and it protects the fishermen's safety when they go out to sea. Please don't make things difficult for me."
"I've given you two days to do some ideological work for the villagers..."
"What can we accomplish in two days? The villagers will not agree to it, not to mention two days, even two months."
"But this tripod must be put in the museum. Someone from the higher-ups has come."
Hearing the noise outside the village committee getting louder and louder, Ye Yaodong couldn't help but worry. The villagers were in a bad mood at the moment, so he had to avoid a conflict.
He saw Secretary Chen beside him also frowned, pulled his sleeve, and made a gesture to him, a gesture in which the thumb, index finger, and middle finger were rubbing against each other.
Secretary Chen didn't understand.
Ye Yaodong couldn't help but complain in his heart, he had demonstrated the gestures of counting money so clearly, how could no one understand
He whispered, "Money!"
Secretary Chen was even more confused and whispered, "Money? Are you using money to bribe the villagers?"
He couldn't help but hold his forehead.