The waves were surging along the way, the fishing boat was up and down, the boat was a little unstable, shaking violently, and not as stable as when it came.
When the waves are high, they can hit the deck, which is quite thrilling. They need to grab something for support, otherwise they can't stand.
They had no time to look at or pay attention to the goods. Their excitement had almost worn off. Now everyone was paying attention to how high the waves on the sea were, praying that the next waves would not be bigger, otherwise they would have to find a place to dock halfway.
The waves are merciless, safety first.
Fortunately, although the waves were a little big, after we left that area and sailed for two or three hours, the waves became smaller, but not as gentle.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, hoping nothing would happen just before they got home.
"The sea is rough and windy. Just now a wave came up and splashed all over me. I was so scared that I thought I was going to fall into the water."
"Me too, my hands were almost sore from holding on to the edge, luckily that wave passed by."
Ye Yaodong also breathed a sigh of relief, then went to pick up the basket in the cabin and took out the dry food inside. "Eat some biscuits to calm your nerves and fill your stomach. It's already three o'clock, and we'll arrive in another three or four hours. The return journey today will take longer than the trip here, so it will probably take fourteen or fifteen hours to arrive."
Each of them took a salty pancake and started to eat it.
"It doesn't matter if it takes a little longer, as long as I can get home safely."
"The risks at sea are too great, so we should go back as soon as possible."
Ye Yaodong also took a bite and found it dry. He then took a small knife and cut the cake in half. He then put the extra oil cake he had bought in the morning in it and ate it. He found it tasted much better.
While chewing, he said, "So, the next generation should not be allowed to work as seamen. They should study hard if they can. Studying is the easiest way out for us poor country people."
"Who doesn't want a top scholar in the family? It's a fate that requires this. There are only a few people in my 18 generations who can read and write."
"Everyone knows that reading is good. In the past, anyone who could read could become an official. But my children get headaches when they see books. They are not cut out for it."
"At least I won't starve to death, as long as I have something to eat."
"Yeah, then you guys make more money, and it's the same if I have money to protect you."
"Giving birth to a son is for the sake of old age. Why should I work so hard to earn money to support him?"
It’s hard to say…
Ye Yaodong ate two bites of the cake silently. Fortunately, his son would be able to be self-reliant in the future, marry a wife and support his family in Hukou without having to rely on his father.
When I'm playing badly, it seems to be of some use...
He shook his head and decided to work harder to make up for the regrets of his previous life and create better living conditions for his family.
Looking around, the sea water changes from clear to green, from green to blue, and from blue to azure, stretching as far as the eye can see. The waves caused by the sailing ships roll gently.
Everyone originally thought that they would be able to get home safely, but who would have thought that just after they returned to the familiar waters and were happy for a while, they found that the boat of Brother Ye had fallen behind.
The ship was always sailing behind them, and they would only occasionally turn their heads to see if all the other ships had caught up. After all, the previous smuggling ship had suddenly fallen behind and was not discovered.
Unexpectedly, it was their turn and one of the boats fell behind. Pei's father's boat accelerated and rushed in front of their boat. When he told Ye's father and the others about it, they realized it and were shocked.
Father Ye's heart skipped a beat and he quickly stopped the boat, "Why didn't you catch up?"
Father Pei also said anxiously: "Maybe something went wrong. We just found out that they didn't catch up. Let's go back and look for them."
It’s no wonder that Ye’s father didn’t notice it. He was on the first boat and his attention was always on the front.
The others also thought they were almost home, and were so happy that their tense nerves relaxed and they didn't pay much attention.
Now everyone was lying on the edge of the boat and looking behind them, they saw a small black dot lying there motionless in the distance.
"It should be there! Fortunately, it's not completely dark yet, so we can still see it."
"It's fine, why is it just standing there motionless? Is there something wrong with the machine?"
“Maybe the machine really isn’t moving.”
"Could it be that the waves were too big before? The seawater came up and the machine kept running, causing the malfunction?"
"It's hard to say. The machinery on this boat breaks down easily. The boat was left by my grandfather. It was confiscated when the production team was established. It was almost scrapped when it was returned after the team was disbanded. Later, my father repaired it bit by bit. I guess it has a lot of problems."
…
Both Ye's father and Pei's boats turned around at the same time and headed towards the small black dot in the distance.
Ye Yaopeng, Ye Yaohua and several people on the boat were as anxious as ants on hot pan. They were almost home when the engine suddenly stopped working and the boat could only drift on the sea with the current.
The ship in front hadn't noticed it yet, and they cried out to heaven and earth for a while, but no one answered. It was already getting dark, and it was hard to see any ships on the sea. Most fishing boats would have docked at this point.
Just when they were at a loss of what to do, the two boats in front turned around, and they almost cried for joy.
As the two boats got closer, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that everyone on board was standing there intact.
When the boat stopped near the ship, Ye's father started to curse, "What's wrong with you? If the boat broke down and couldn't move, why didn't you shout loudly or wave a flag earlier? If my in-laws hadn't caught up with me and told me, I wouldn't have paid attention to what was behind us."
Ye Yaodong changed the subject and asked, "How could it break down when it was fine? Did the waves cause water to enter it?"
"We thought so too, but we have to go to the shore and ask the technician to take a look. We don't know how to repair the machine."
"We're almost home and there's all kinds of trouble. Hurry up and get the ropes in the cabin and tie up the boat. Fortunately, no water has entered the boat and we can still tow it back." Father Ye was frightened for no reason and spoke in a rather harsh tone.
By the time they tied the two brothers' boats behind the two boats, it was already dark, and everyone either brought headlamps or turned on flashlights for lighting.
Fortunately, we were almost home, so we could go slower the better. At this time, there were no ships in sight on the sea.
They drove forward slowly, and the journey that was supposed to take two hours ended up taking another three hours.
The return trip was much more involved than the outbound trip, but luckily it was safe and sound.
They first docked at the town's pier and let Chen Jianian go ashore first, and then continued driving forward. It took almost half an hour to reach the village pier.
What they didn't expect was that they thought there should be no one on the shore at this time, after all, it was almost 9 o'clock, but they found seven or eight young men waiting on the shore, and all of them squinted their eyes due to the stimulation of the flashlights shining on them.
The people on the shore were also shocked by them. They didn't expect that there would be a boat docking so late.
When the boat reached the shore, both sides saw who the other was and breathed a sigh of relief, asking at the same time.
"just came back?"
"You're still here?"
"Yeah, I just got home. I was exhausted from the journey."
"Well, it must be difficult to be away from home, right?"
Ye Yaodong got off the boat first and nodded, "It's not that easy to make money."
As he was about to start handing out cigarettes, he didn't have enough. As he was about to return, he didn't prepare a few more packs, and a pack of cigarettes was almost finished after smoking for a whole day.
Lin Jishang waved his hand, "I have it."
"I haven't seen it for a while, and I thought..."
"The situation was tense a while ago." He just said this in a low voice and changed the subject. "Are there a lot of things on the boat? Do you want me to help you move them?"
"There's no need to move. We've hired several long-term workers."
The people on the boat also started to move their things down. Lin Ji was surprised to see the things on the boat. "What are you going to do?"
"No, I'm an honest man. I fished these out of the sea. Many of them are soaked with water. I don't know if they are useful. I'll take them back and check them first."
"Is there a ship in distress?"
His heart suddenly skipped a beat. Could it be their ship that came back at this time
He immediately asked, "Where did you salvage this?"
"It's at the border between Fujian and Zhejiang, just entering the waters of Fujian Province."
He breathed a sigh of relief. "It looks like it should be very prosperous and lively over there."
"It's quite lively, not inferior to our town, maybe even more rampant. I saw forty or fifty boats passing by at the same time."
Lin Ji opened his mouth in surprise, but then said nothing.
"Okay, I'm tired after a day, I'll go back first. Let's have a drink together when we have time. I also brought you some local specialties, I'll take them to your house tomorrow."
"Thank you very much."
"You're welcome."
"I see you have unloaded quite a lot of stuff on your ship. I have a few carts here. You can push two over first."
Ye Yaodong turned around and looked at the baskets, bamboo baskets, sacks and various sundries that were already piled up on the ground. They were still moving them from the boat one after another. It seemed like a lot, so he didn't bother to be polite with them.
"Okay, then I'll lend you the cart and I'll bring it back to you later."
"I'll have someone help you push it back, and then you can push it out again when the time comes."
"also."
The two of them were chatting in a very reserved manner, without saying anything very clearly. The others were moving goods on the ship back and forth, and had no time to pay attention to what they were saying.
It would be much easier to have a cart to help push the things back, and Father Ye and the others were very polite and kept thanking them.
After they walked away, they didn't talk about it. After all, the people who helped push the cart were from Linji.
The road was pitch black and there was no light at the door of the house. I guess everyone was asleep.
They didn't call to say they would be back today before they came back. Ye Yaodong planned to give his family a surprise so that they wouldn't have to wait from morning to night.
What he didn't expect was that there really was someone at home, sitting at the door waiting for him so late.
Before they even got close to the door, the lights in the house suddenly lit up, followed by the lights in the two neighboring households. Soon, all three families rushed out at the same time.