At night, Ye Yaodong finally had time to tell her what happened in the market today. He even said with some pride that the shop he bought was the second to last one, and that two people behind him had even fought over the last shop.
"And the number of stores that will release the next batch will be very small, and I heard that the price will increase by 500 to 1,000 yuan."
"Ah? 3,000 yuan is already expensive enough, who would want it if the price goes up?"
"You don't understand this, do you? If they spread the word in advance that the prices will go up later, wouldn't the people who bought in the front be secretly happy that it was worth it? The prices have gone up later, but the quantity is small, so some people are afraid that if they miss this opportunity, they will never see the store again."
"I don't understand all these twists and turns. Anyway, the money has been spent. I hope it will be worth more and more. I can get some rent by renting it out in the future, and it will save us from running back and forth."
"Well, I don't know when I can go out to sea these days. Fortunately, I earned 28 yuan today after deducting the travel expenses."
"Are you nervous now?"
Ye Yaodong took the palm-leaf fan she was using to fan her child and fanned the mother and daughter. "This is called a sense of urgency. Pressure brings motivation. Now we have to make money."
"Go to sleep. I'll fan her. You're tired after a long day. You can just take a nap in the afternoon." Lin Xiuqing said as she touched the child's neck. She felt relieved when she didn't feel any sweat.
"Um."
Maybe the previous typhoon had just passed and another typhoon passed by, so it rained a little here from time to time for several days, and then it cleared up again.
It was so unpredictable that even the tide rose again and did not recede for several days.
Ye Yaodong sat in the armchair at the door early in the morning, listening to the radio and reading the previous issue of the newspaper. It was a rare moment of leisure.
He heard the sound of a bicycle bell at the door. He looked up and saw that it was the postman delivering the newspaper.
"Ye Yaodong, there is your letter and your newspaper."
Hmm? There's a letter
Ye Yaodong sat up straight in confusion, "Son, go get me the newspaper and the letter."
"Oh." Ye Chenghu stood up in front of the doghouse reluctantly, but did not move for a long time.
Last night, the big black dog gave birth to six puppies. Lin Xiuqing discovered this in the morning when she was mixing leftovers for the big black dog. After telling her two sons, they called all their brothers and sisters over to gather around and look at the wet puppies.
It was so rare to see the little puppies curled up in a ball, motionless.
"I'll do it, I'll do it~" After hearing what his father said, Ye Chengyang stood up actively, ran outside, and rushed to do it.
"Dad~give it to you~"
Ye Yaodong took it and patted his youngest son's head with satisfaction, "You are so good."
Ye Chengyang happily leaned over and picked up the newspaper on his knees, "Dad, don't you want this anymore?"
"Don't want it anymore? You've seen it all."
"Can I make an origami airplane?"
"Okay, but don't get it wet. Remember to save it for wiping your butt..."
Ye Yaodong said this casually and held the envelope in confusion. It was not until he saw the newspaper written on the sender's page that he suddenly realized what was going on.
A few days before the typhoon, the people from the newspaper promised to send him photos, and unexpectedly, they kept their word and really sent them to him.
The mail delivery is really slow nowadays. It took twelve or thirteen years to send the package from the county to their village. I don’t know if it’s because the photos are developed slowly or because of the typhoon.
He quickly opened the envelope and saw two five-inch photos inside.
When I took it out and looked at it, it was black and white, and the picture was not that clear, but you could clearly see a huge monster on the sea with a person on it, and two boats docked right next to it. It was obvious that the distance at which the photo was taken was quite far.
Ye Yaodong complained with some disdain, "The filming is so rubbish, it didn't even capture my heroic demeanor, you can only barely make out that it's a person."
The old lady sitting next to them stretched her head to take a look curiously, "Is this you?"
"Yeah, isn't it cool? Look, I was untying the fishing net on the whale shark, and that's it... I was on top..."
Although she despised him, it did not stop him from telling the old lady about his heroic performance and heroic deeds at sea.
The old lady's eyes lit up as well. "Hey, you really are great. This photo is well taken..."
She couldn't let go of the two photos and looked at them over and over again, lost in memories.
"Such a big fish was stranded in our village before. I don't know if it was the one in the photo. There was a famine at the time and everyone was hungry. They were all dead so the team killed them and shared them."
Ye Yaodong just opened the newspaper and raised his head in surprise when he heard it. "Really? Then it's worth dying for."
"It's been many years. I'm old and can't remember clearly. My eyes are not very good either. The photos look blurry."
"It's not bad. At least the elderly in other families are getting old and muddleheaded. You can expect them to live for another few decades without any problem."
"Nonsense, I'm already 81."
"Look, you still remember your age, which means you are still a long way from being old."
As Ye Yaodong spoke, he flipped through the contents of this issue to see if there was any text published.
Unexpectedly, I saw it in a small section on the back of the second page. There were a lot of small characters written densely on it, and the name of their village appeared. There was an illustration attached to it that was the same as the one in the photo.
The salvage of bronze artifacts has appeared in the newspapers two or three times in the previous issues. It was reported in the newspapers even before the salvage was completed.
In this issue, he searched and found that only the whale shark was related to their village.
Although the space occupied was relatively small, the name of their village appeared in newspapers one after another in a short period of time, making it quite famous.
You know, the most common medium for receiving information from the outside world now is newspapers. As for radio and television, most people watch them less.
Ye Yaodong hurried into the house to get a pair of scissors. He had to cut out this page of the newspaper and keep it as a souvenir. No one would read newspapers in the future, and these would all be memories.
The old lady also saw his actions. Seeing that the picture in the newspaper was exactly the same as the photo in her hand, she felt proud and her face was full of smiles.
"Dongzi has made it big! You've even been in the newspapers. Now a lot of people know you and have seen you."
"The face hasn't even been revealed yet, it looks so gray, who knows who it is? But it's good that we know. When I have money, I'll buy a camera and take better pictures myself."
"Okay, okay, take more pictures for me next time."
"How about I take you to town to take some nice pictures when I have some free time these few days?"
The old lady smiled and waved her hands. "What's so good about an old woman with wrinkles on her face? Besides, I can't walk that long. You young people should just take a few more pictures and save them. Take them out and show them to me later. Come on, take the pictures in and put them away before they are lost."
"Um."
The ground has been wet recently, the road conditions are bad, and it’s not easy to walk on. Let’s talk about it later.
When Ye Yaodong brought the photo and the cut newspaper into the house and asked Lin Xiuqing to put them away, she looked at them curiously for a while and said it was a pity because the photo was too far away and the picture was not clear enough to even see the people's faces.
"When I can save more money in the future, I will buy a camera and take photos wherever I go. It's a pity that I didn't take photos last time."
"You want to buy everything. I've never seen a man like you who keeps saying he wants to buy a camera, a refrigerator, and so on. Even women don't want to buy this and that like you."
Lin Xiuqing shouted before putting his photo and the cut paper into the drawer. She also took out the family photo they took during the Chinese New Year and looked at it for a few seconds. She couldn't help but smile, and then put them together.
Ye Yaodong sat on the bed, his hands propped up behind his back, his body leaning back, his legs crossed and shaking, and said as a matter of course: "What's the big deal? Can't you have some ideals? How many goals do you have? I still want to buy a washing machine, a TV, a motorcycle, and a car."
"It's so early in the morning, you really wonder if you haven't woken up yet?"
"Tsk~ It will all come true. Times are changing."
"Then it's up to you. Just make sure I can see it before I close my eyes in this lifetime."
Ye Yaodong sat up and patted her fleshy butt, duang～duang～ sound.
"What do you mean by close your eyes? You are looking down on me. Just look at me. I will make everything happen for you in the future. I will let you live a good life and live in a good house."
"Stop talking big and do more work. If you have nothing to do, go out and help weave a web. Don't make empty promises to me here."
Lin Xiuqing had just learned the term "painting a big cake" from him a few days ago.
"Then I might as well go to the beach. Isn't there enough work for you at home? You can't make a dollar knitting all day. It's been a long time since you last knitted a fishing net. Why are you here to knit again?"
Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him. "Don't we have to pay 5,000 yuan by the end of the year? It hurts me just thinking about such a large sum of money. We have saved up so much with great difficulty. I can't do anything else. I will knit as much as I can in my free time. At least it can help me make some money. A little bit will add up to a lot."
"Besides, aren't you planning to send your eldest son to school as soon as the term starts? It's just right that I can save up some money for his tuition and two sets of clothes while there are still ten days left. He can't wear his older brothers' and sisters' rags when he goes to school."
Ye Yaodong felt touched when he heard her calm and matter-of-fact words.
Although she is just an ordinary country woman and does not have the glamorous looks of city women, she has many shining points and her heart and eyes are filled with this family.
She embodies the qualities of women of this era, such as hard work, diligence, thrift, love for family, and filial piety to elders. She is someone who can share the joys and sorrows.
"What are you doing? Don't we have plenty of money at home? How much will the tuition and fabrics cost? I don't need you to do anything. I'll make the money. Don't ruin your eyes. Just take care of the family."
"I just knit a little when I have free time. I have nothing to do anyway, so I can save a little, at least I can buy some food for the children."
Ye Yaodong didn't say anything to her. Anyway, there were old and young people at home, and it was impossible for her to sit there and weave a web all day long.