"These are not mine. I brought sacks, these two are mine, and there is a small pile here. The others didn't bring sacks, so they were piled on the boat. Now everyone is running back to get their bags."
After explaining, Ye Yaodong handed the bamboo basket and bucket to his mother, "This is what I caught. Take it to Ah Cai and ask him if he accepts sea centipedes. There are also seven blue crabs in this bamboo basket..."
Ye's mother was stunned by his harvest. "So many blue crabs! There are so many things to catch on an isolated island, and there are also sea centipedes? This bucket is not light!"
Looking at the sea centipede squirming in the bucket, she didn't feel disgusted. Instead, she was very happy, with her eyes shining. This sea centipede was a good thing, as it could not be found on the mudflat in front of their door.
"No one has come to this isolated island, and the reefs are densely packed with everything. Look at these sea cucumbers and clams, each of which is very big. Others have also caught a few blue crabs, which are quite good. If I wasn't afraid that there would be too many shellfish and I couldn't eat them all, I could dig some more back."
"That's enough, that's enough. It would be a waste if you can't finish the food and let it go bad. I'll sell these for you. Do you have anything else?" Mother Ye was very happy, holding the bucket in one hand and the bamboo basket in the other. It was rare that her third son was so reliable. She was happier than making money herself.
Ye Yaodong kicked the small pile at his feet. "There are still some that need to be picked. Some of the snails are quite big and can be sold. There are also Buddha's hands. Those Dancai are not valuable, so forget it? Save them for the workers who are building the house."
"Okay, okay, I'll sell these first, and I'll take the shells back later to pick them out first."
When others came with sacks to load the goods, Ye's father's fishing boat also came in.
I heard that Ye's mother was muttering that the third child had a good catch today. He caught half a bucket of sea centipedes and seven blue crabs, which he sold for more than ten yuan. He also picked up two sacks of shellfish. Ye's father also looked much more friendly. Today's catch was not as much as yesterday, and they only sold for about 20 yuan in total.
It was great that the third brother went in the morning and came back in the afternoon and gained so much.
After the family helped to transport the shellfish back home, Ye's mother picked out some Chinese cabbage and used it to cook a pot of noodle soup for the workers as a snack. It should have been cooked a long time ago, but was delayed by coming out to pick up Ye's father and the others.
As soon as Ye Yaodong got home, he drank half a pot of tea, then sat in the main room to rest and wait for dinner.
Father Ye was shirtless, took a few puffs from his precious hookah, and then asked Ye Yaodong, "Did other people gain much?"
“Not as much as me.”
After a tiring day, he didn't really want to talk. He just wanted to eat quickly and then have a good rest.
"There will be no tide tomorrow. Let's wait until the 15th to see if we can rent another boat."
"That old lady is asking for too much. It's hard to rent. It's too expensive. We'll talk about it later."
What if I can’t even get my money back? Wouldn’t that be a day’s work in vain
Father Ye nodded, "Then we'll see when the time comes. After dinner, go to Ah Cai's house with your wife and collect the more than 1,000 yuan from yesterday's sale. We'll divide the money we deserve."
"Um."
After Ye's mother brought snacks over, Lin Xiuqing also knew that Ye Yaodong had returned. She took the sales money that Ye's mother secretly gave her and rushed home without even bothering to eat snacks.
When she ran back home, Ye Yaodong had just finished his meal and put down his bowl quickly, "Have you had your snack? There's still some left in the pot."
"good."
After eating, Ye's father and Ye Yaohua went to the homestead, leaving the couple alone at home to talk.
Lin Xiuqing asked as she ate: "There were many people around me just now, and my mother didn't say much. She just secretly stuffed a bunch of banknotes into my pocket and whispered that you were the one selling the goods just now."
"Hmm..." Ye Yaodong told her about today's catch and pointed to the back door, indicating that there was a pile of shellfish there.
"After you finish your meal, pick some out and see if there's anything you can sell. Send it to Ah Cai later and settle yesterday's bill while you're at it."
Lin Xiuqing nodded with a smile on her face. Nothing made her happier than her husband being able to make money.
Seeing his wife's obvious change in attitude these days, Ye Yaodong felt that being a little tired was worth it.
"It seems that my mother has sold three little white seals. Otherwise, I could have stewed them for you to drink."
"What to eat? I've definitely sold what can be sold. Dad recently dragged the net and left a bunch of small fish and shrimps. We don't lack food at home now. And you dug up so many shellfish that we can't even finish them all."
How can they be the same
She died of colon cancer in her previous life, which must have been related to her diet. He has always felt guilty about it, and when he came back, he wanted to try his best to make her eat better.
"Well, let's talk about it after we separate."
They can't eat alone as the whole family lives together, and he was a useless guy who didn't do anything productive before. If he cooks for himself, his two sisters-in-law will have something to say.
Lin Xiuqing ate her meal quickly and washed the dishes before going to the backyard to pick out everything she thought was worth some money.
She picked out the big snails, pen holders, wild abalone, etc. and put them in separate buckets, leaving only the small ones that could not be sold at a high price for herself to eat.
To be honest, when he was digging, he only picked the big ones. After she picked like this, there weren't many left.
Fortunately, she didn't like the dried vegetables and clams, so she still had two bags left.
"Are you going to start selling oysters?"
"Forget it? It's such a big bag, you'll definitely need mom and the others to help you open it. You definitely can't finish it by yourself tonight, so let's make it together and keep it for home."
"Okay then!" Lin Xiuqing felt a little regretful. Such a big bag of juvenile shellfish could open several kilograms of oysters.
Ye Yaodong looked at her money-grubbing appearance and smiled, "Okay, bring yesterday's receipt. I'll go call A Guang and the others, and we'll go to A Cai to count the money."
"good."
Coming out of Acai's house with a large sum of money in his arms, Ye Yaodong looked at the sea not far away. This is the treasure house of the whole village.
I heard that his grandfather was not originally from this village, but came here begging all the way from Zhejiang Province because of famine, and then settled in the village and lived by the sea.
This sea has nurtured so many people.
After retracting his gaze, he said cheerfully: "Let's go to Guang's house to divide the spoils!"
1601.88 yuan is a huge sum of money for people today. It is two years' salary for a worker. If divided among four people, after deducting the boat rental and diesel fees, each person would have 397 yuan.
"My wife has calculated it, and it's about 397 per person. Everyone count your own money. Count the whole amount and see how much change is left to check if it's correct!"
Ye Yaodong put a pile of banknotes on the table and asked everyone to count them themselves.
Lin Xiuqing had already kept the money they earned from selling goods separately and did not mix it with the others.
Everyone counted the money happily, and after putting it in their arms, there was still 1.88 yuan left on the table. Ye Yaodong smiled and asked, "There is still more than 1 yuan left. Do you want to share it or..."
"No need to divide it, right? There's no point in giving each person a few cents, just use it to buy wine."
"Yes, use it to buy some wine. We've been tired all day, so let's celebrate tonight. We just happened to have caught a few nets during the day, and there are shellfish, so we have some snacks to go with the wine."
"Sure, sure."
"Call the others!"
"They will be envious again..."