After deciding to go back, Ye Yaodong was also very happy.
Lying on the boat at night and looking at the stars in the sky was very relaxing. After being away from home for so long, he really missed home.
After wandering outside for a while, he missed the warm atmosphere of home even more. He also missed the group of children surrounding him, calling him dad, calling him third uncle, and doing all sorts of things. He used to find those children annoying, but now he misses them a lot.
He also missed his wife. When he occasionally called her, all he heard were her instructions and concerns. When he told her that he had sent her money, her happiness was only momentary. On the phone, he heard more worries from her, asking him to come back soon.
The same goes for the old lady. While she was talking on the phone, I could hear her wiping away tears, and her voice was different.
If he could start over again, having these relatives would be enough, he didn't want much more.
Thinking of this, he wanted to go back immediately and was eager to return home.
The people around me were tossing and turning. When it was time to go back, everyone found it difficult to sleep.
Ye Yaodong was also counting the money he had earned during this period. He transferred more than 2,000 yuan the first time, and he transferred 2,000 yuan each time the second and third times. Now he has more than 1,100 yuan on hand.
Over the past month, it has rained intermittently for more than ten days. In addition, they have to change their place of residence every few days, so it took a lot of time to find a village and they lost a lot of money.
And now that it’s almost the end of the year, the price has dropped dramatically, and there’s only about 200 left.
If you do the math, he has earned nearly 8,000 yuan in less than two months since he came out, and he will give 800 yuan to his father when the time comes.
As for wages, since we were not sure how long they would stay, it was calculated on a daily basis. We hired high-paid short-term workers at 3.5 yuan a day, and the total wages for three people was about 500 yuan. I would give each of them two red envelopes at that time.
He didn't spend much money on food and drinks, all from Haidilao. He did spend 300 yuan on gas, but that was because they didn't go far. They used up a lot of gas when they got here, which cost him more than 60 yuan. If he fished in the surrounding area for a day, he would save a little on gas.
After working for another two or three days, his net income would be around 6,500 yuan.
After thinking about it, he was quite satisfied. After all, the risk was not in vain. He earned back the money from the two shops and even had some money left.
His eldest brother and second brother will get less. If they share it between the two of them, it should be just over 2,000 each. However, it seems like they are already very content.
Uncle Pei also made a lot of money.
Ye Yaodong kept counting the accounts, his thoughts became clearer and clearer, and he became more and more unable to sleep. The person next to him was snoring, but he was still very awake.
I am afraid of using my brain before going to bed. The more active my brain is, the harder it is to fall asleep.
There is no doubt that he had been sleepless all night.
Not only was he settling accounts, he also thought about his past and present lives, silently comparing the completely different trajectories in his heart. It turns out that people still have to work harder to change the status quo.
By the time he fell asleep, it was already dawn, but no one woke him up. Later he was awakened by the dazzling light. There were already several jellyfish piled up not far from him.
"You just got up when the sun is already shining on your butt? You have such dark circles under your eyes? Have you been a thief?" Ye's father asked casually.
"Where are you going to steal? Are you going to steal from the boat next door? I have to go back home if I don't get beaten to death by my brother and Uncle Pei. I'm too excited to sleep..."
"Well, hold on for two more days."
When you are out, safety is the most important thing.
It was time to return, so they were very careful and would only go to nearby villages to get a few buckets of water when they needed it. They would take turns going to different villages to fetch water, and would exchange fish and shrimp for some vegetables, or buy some fruits and vegetables when they went to the town to sell goods. So they could spend the next two days in peace.
On the day after the work ended, after Ye Yaodong received the settlement money, he immediately paid them all their wages. He also went to the town to buy a piece of red paper and wrapped a red envelope of 30 yuan for each of them. They were so happy that they almost lost their minds.
The two elder brothers and Uncle Pei were the same. We all came out together. It's impossible that you have it and I don't? This kind of thing must be the same for everyone. They have to do the same as others.
What's more, since they have earned so much, they think it's okay to be generous for once.
Chen Jianian also said happily: "We are finally back. This time everyone has made a good harvest. We came at the right time. I have never heard of anyone in other villages making as much as you. I will ask for the money from today's sales tomorrow and settle it before we leave the day after tomorrow."
"Okay, then I'll ask you to make one more trip tomorrow, and we'll have dinner together tomorrow night."
"Okay, okay~ I can benefit from it again..."
"It's just a win-win for everyone, we can make money together."
"Then you will still sell jellyfish blood tomorrow, right? Or stay for another day?"
Ye Yaodong shook his head. He wished he could fly back now. He didn't want to stay outside for a moment. He had already stayed here long enough and didn't want to stay there another day.
The jellyfish blood we harvested today will be dried tomorrow and taken home to eat. Uncle Pei also said he would take some back for his younger sister to eat during her confinement.
Jellyfish blood is delicious to eat during the confinement period.
"We plan to keep some for ourselves so we won't bother selling them. We've been working so hard outside for over a month and we can't afford not to eat a single bite. We'll bring some back for you to try."
"Thank you very much..."
Ye Yaodong looked at the others again, "Let's just sleep on the boat tonight. Tomorrow morning we'll sail to town and buy some things at the morning market to bring back the day after tomorrow. Then I'll go to the guesthouse and get a few rooms. Let's find a bathhouse and take a good bath before dinner. Let's have a good rest tomorrow night and go home fully refreshed."
"good."
"OK."
"Just arrange it."
No one had any objections. They had been on the isolated island for the past few days and water was inconvenient. They had hardly taken a shower. It was very hot and they sweated every day. Their bodies had already had a smell, but everyone was the same and no one needed to dislike anyone else.
Ye Yaodong actually disliked himself.
When they arrived in town the next day, passers-by looked down on them as they walked on the street...
Self-esteem has been severely hit!
Everyone saw many looks of disgust. Some people pinched their noses and fanned their noses with their hands. They also raised their arms to sniff, and immediately showed expressions of disgust.
“It seems to be quite smelly.”
"It's not like it, it's already gone bad."
"If I squeeze into the crowd to go shopping, I'll be scolded, right?"
"It's hard to say. They might think we are beggars from somewhere, and we will definitely be scolded."
Ye Yaodong was also very self-loathing. "Forget it, let's go to the boat and get some clean clothes. Then we can find a bathhouse and wash ourselves first."
"Good, it also saves me from being disliked."
"I've never been so disliked by passers-by on the street before. It's so embarrassing..."
"Who said it wasn't?"
A few people hurriedly ran to the boat again, picked up their clothes and took some money with them, then shamelessly asked people how to get to the bathhouse despite people's disgusted looks.
Besides being despised for being lazy, a gigolo, and a loser, Ye Yaodong has never been despised for being dirty... smelly...
For him, this feeling is more embarrassing than being despised as a waste. He doesn't feel embarrassed even when others call him a waste.
As soon as he entered the bathhouse, he rubbed his skin vigorously, and a large area of his skin turned red, but the result was very pleasing. The gray and black dirt was rubbed out in long strips, and a pile of it fell off like snow.
He estimated that if he collected them, he could make an elixir for Houyi, but he didn't know whether Chang'e would dare to steal it.
Normally, five minutes of washing is considered a long time, but today everyone scrubbed for half an hour before leaving the bathhouse one after another.
"I finally feel relieved. I feel like I took a shower and lost several pounds."
"I feel the same way. I feel like I have rubbed off several kilograms of dirt and I feel refreshed."
"It's better to be clean. After washing, the whole person will feel comfortable..."
"Come on, now we can go shopping..."
"Walk faster..."
Now they can walk into the crowd with light steps. Although they did not use Rejoice, they have regained their confidence after washing.
Ye Yaodong also walked around the street, looking around. It was early in the morning and there were quite a lot of people on the street, speaking all kinds of languages, mostly the local dialect.
Various carts, bicycles, and many people carrying shoulder poles were squeezed in the crowd, so he simply walked to the edge.
As for shopping, he didn't want to squeeze in the crowd. He wasn't a woman who liked shopping. He just wanted to stroll around and buy a few mooncakes and some local specialties.
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, there are many mooncakes on the roadside stalls, which are called "meat pie, meat cake" locally. Each one is bigger than the face. I heard that it is filled with meat, red and green silk, winter melon strips, peanuts, and the skin is crispy and sprinkled with sesame seeds. There is also a salted egg yolk in the middle.
I don’t know why the locals eat it so strangely. The pancake is both salty and sweet when combined together. I heard it tastes very good.
There is also pork scraps, which is also quite famous. Ye Yaodong buys some of them.
When he saw someone selling fried dough twists, he bought a bag of them. He also bought osmanthus cake, brown sugar cake, and nine-layer cake, and he accepted them all.
Anyway, there are many children in the family, so we don’t have to worry about not being able to finish the food. Besides, since I have come all the way here, I have to bring some local specialties back to my father-in-law’s family.
With this calculation, he would have to buy about ten mooncakes for his father-in-law, his two brothers-in-law, and a few of his friends, and Acai would also have to send one to him.
And in Linji, Secretary Chen... some relationships need to be maintained better.
He counted on his fingers, then turned back to bargain and buy more.
"Why did you buy so much, Dongzi? Those relatives don't need you to send them off..."
"I didn't send it to my relatives. With you here, it's not my turn to do favors. I brought it to my father-in-law's family and a few friends. Anyway, I made some money, so I gave some to my friends to prevent them from saying that I am not righteous."
“That’s too much…”
"Not much. I'll continue to look for something. I have many children at home, so I have to bring something for my wife..."