Mrs. Ye and Mrs. Ye both readily agreed to work if they had any. Although their family earned nearly 3,000 yuan from catching jellyfish, it was barely enough to cover the cost of the store. They had to do their daily work and earn the money they should.
There are so many mouths to feed at home, and they don't have any land. Vegetables are free, but food does cost money. When they have nothing to do, they just sit there and move their fingers, making some web-surfing to supplement the family income.
"Adong, when will the shops in that city pay us? Should we go and see how the construction is going?"
"Yes, this is something you can't see or touch, but you spent so much money on it. Should someone go and take a look?"
Ye Yaodong raised his eyebrows, "You can go and have a look. Ask the eldest and second brothers to take you there when they have time. You must also take a look at our own store. As for when will the money be paid? It is written on the contract. Look carefully. It will be after New Year's Day. It will be the Chinese New Year soon after the payment. Now it is still a month away from New Year's Day."
The two looked at each other and frowned again.
Mrs. Ye was full of reluctance. "This money hasn't even warmed up yet, and I have to give it away. It's such a large sum... I can't even see the shop yet. I should have known not to buy it... At least I can still see the money..."
"You didn't have to buy it. We calculated and thought about it again and again. Ah Hua was determined to buy it, so we gritted our teeth..."
"Ah~ Don't you all want to buy it?"
…
I've already bought it, why do I still talk about it? It will only affect the people around me and bring negative emotions.
Ye Yaodong listened to her yelling for a few words, but didn't say anything and just left. Anyway, the matter had been discussed, and if they had any complaints, they could talk to each other. He didn't want to listen at all.
"Hey, Adong, bring the fishing net line here now so you can weave yours first."
"good."
He walked towards the yard without looking back, then carried the nets on a shoulder pole and placed them at the door for them to pick up. After all, they were paid according to their work, 30 cents for a net, and if they were fast, they could weave 5-6 nets from morning to night.
Last year, because he had never set up sticky nets, he only set up two just to try it out. This year, he plans to set up more. After all, one or two is the same, and a large number is no different, so he just wants to do it seriously.
Trawling has been pretty bad recently. I don't know if the fish aren't passing through their area and have swum to the deep sea. Several large boats in the village are planning to only use longlines. Even small boats are following suit and doing longline fishing. After all, they all have to make a living.
It is relatively easier to use longline fishing, and it also saves fuel money. You can set the line today and collect it tomorrow.
Unlike trawling, which involves circling the sea from morning till night, there is not much catch recently, so the effort and income are not proportional.
He also planned to use Yanshen fishing lines and sticky nets, and then collect the ground traps every two or three days. This would be more relaxing and he would not have to go out to sea in the middle of the night. He could just go out to sea when the tide came in every day.
The old lady sat by the door, took out an old sweater that Ah Qing had just given her, put on reading glasses, and was using scissors to cut the seams, intending to take the old sweater apart.
Ye Yaodong sat over and helped her find the end of the thread, and also helped her untie the knot at the beginning, and then he rolled the thread for her.
"I'm wearing glasses now, so I can see clearly. Go ahead and do your thing."
"I'm fine. I'm just sitting around doing nothing."
As he spoke, he took the sweater and helped to reel out the thread, pulling the thread long to make it easier for the old lady to roll it up.
When the old lady saw him helping her with the work, she smiled kindly. What the old lady needed most was not money, but company.
Lin Xiuqing was halfway through cooking the fish when she saw the grandparents sitting at the door, one removing the stitches while the other reeling them in, chatting and talking in perfect harmony. She was about to ask Ye Yaodong to go check on the child, but she swallowed her thought.
I planned to take out the sea bass soup from the pot first, and then go into the house to take a look.
But at this moment, Dong's voice suddenly came from the house, and then the loud cry that broke through the roof startled the three people who were busy with their work.
"Hey young..."
"Why??"
The couple stood up at the same time and ran to the door. A little kid was lying on the ground crying heartbreakingly, which made them both heartbroken.
Lin Xiuqing stepped forward first and picked up the child. Seeing her crying with tears and snot, her mouth pouting and her eyes closed, she immediately coaxed her and patted her back.
Ye Yaodong also hurried forward to touch the child, and said distressedly: "See where she fell, her forehead seems to be bruised? Hey, little girl... This cement floor is too hard, it must be painful. Put her on the bed and see if there is any part of her body that was broken. I'll go get some tea oil."
The old lady also walked to the door and said quickly: "I'll get it, I'll get it."
The couple were both worried about the child and were circling around him. Ye Yaodong couldn't help but complain to Lin Xiuqing, "The child was sleeping, and you didn't even think of going into the room to take a few more looks..."
Lin Xiuqing glared at him angrily, "How could I not have come in to take a closer look? I always come in to take a look every once in a while. After you finished your work, did you come in to take a look? How dare you criticize me?"
"I'm busy too. I just came back from town..."
“I was just cooking there…”
The old lady interrupted the couple's argument and said, "Alright, alright, stop arguing. You've already fallen, why are you saying this? Just pay more attention next time. Hurry up and rub some tea oil on your body to see if you've fallen anywhere. Children grow faster if they fall. There's no child who doesn't fall. It's good that you didn't fall hard anywhere."
Lin Xiuqing ignored him angrily, took the tea oil and applied it on the child's forehead first, then undressed her and checked her body. She found that only her hands were slightly red, and then she felt relieved.
Ye Xiaoxi also had a pouty mouth and tears hanging in the corners of her eyes. She continued to cry there, looking extremely aggrieved.
"Daddy, hug me, daddy, hug me, don't cry anymore, don't cry anymore, it's okay, it doesn't hurt anymore, huhu, it doesn't hurt anymore..."
Ye Yaodong quickly picked up the child and tried to comfort him, but the child didn't want him and kept throwing himself towards Lin Xiuqing, so he had to let go.
Lin Xiuqing took the child and glared at him, "Go and pour out the fish soup from the pot, and fry two eggs for dinner."
"oh."
"I'll go, I'll go fry the eggs." The old lady quickly took over the job and walked out.
Ye Yaodong touched her head with concern as the child sobbed. "I'll go find some sticks or bamboo strips and nail them to the side of the bed. It just so happens that this is the only side of the bunk bed that's not fenced off. If we fence it off, we won't have to worry about her falling off next time she sleeps."
Lin Xiuqing glanced at him without saying anything, but just walked around holding the child and coaxing him.
Seeing that the child still had tears in her eyes, Ye Yaodong lay on her shoulder and quickly wiped her tears, then went outside to find a wooden stick and did what he said.
After finding it, he took an axe to chop it, and borrowed a wood-cutting tool. In an instant, he became a carpenter. This is the power of fatherly love.
After finishing dinner, he continued hammering and banging. Hearing the two children asking curiously and no adult answering them, they had to finish their meal quickly and run out.
Ye Chengyang squatted in front of him, propped up his chin, and watched curiously, "Dad, why are you sharpening the sticks?"
Before Ye Yaodong could say anything, Ye Chenghu suddenly jumped up, covered his butt with his hands, and stepped back several steps, "Ah! Dad, you are not going to cut a stick to beat us, are you?"
After hearing this, Ye Chengyang panicked and immediately took several steps back, "Ah, are you going to fight again?"
"It's been several hours, Dad is so vindictive... and he even specially sharpened the stick! It's terrible..."
Ye Yaodong turned his head and glanced at the two idiots. He would never admit that these two stupid kids were his own. They must have become stupid after playing with the kids next door.
"Your words reminded me. I'll cut an extra one and keep it as a backup so I don't have to use the whip to beat him. Next time if he doesn't behave, I'll use a stick this thick. I guarantee I'll break his legs in one go."
The two brothers trembled with fear after hearing this and quickly moved towards the gate of the courtyard.
Ye Yaodong was too lazy to pay attention to them and continued to busy himself, but he heard two idiots on the other side of the courtyard wall saying bad things about him.
"My father is so terrible. He actually cut several pieces of wood that thick and said he would break anyone's legs if they didn't behave. It's so terrible."
"Really? How thick is it?"
"It's very thick and long." Ye Chengyang also helped to speak up, "The legs will definitely break."
"Did you pick it up?"
"You just picked it up."
"You were picked up from the toilet!"
"You were picked up from the toilet..."
…
Ye Yaodong was very upset after hearing this. Just because there is a wall between us and we can’t see, does that mean we can’t hear it either
"Have you finished your homework?"
Suddenly, there was no sound from next door.
He saw that the work in his hand was about to be completed, so he kept working on it. It was almost dark, so as long as it was almost done, it would be fine. He was not a professional carpenter, so he did not have high requirements. He just wanted his hand not to be scratched by the splinters.
After whittling about five wooden sticks and feeling that they were all smooth, he took them into the house with confidence and started knocking on the bunk bed.
Anyway, it was just a broken bed he had slept on for several years, so he didn't care.
He was afraid that the fence was too high and it would be difficult for people to step in, so he simply left a hole at the end of the bed to make it easier to get in and out of bed.
Although it looked a bit ugly, at least it was enclosed and there was no need to worry about the child falling down while sleeping. He felt somewhat satisfied with himself and quickly ran out to call Lin Xiuqing to come in and take a look.
Lin Xiuqing frowned as soon as she entered the room. What were these messy nails doing
"Is this the result of your busy afternoon?"
"Yeah! Yes, it's a little ugly, but it doesn't matter. If you surround it like this, you won't fall."
Lin Xiuqing looked at his confident expression and felt reluctant to hit him, but she really couldn't help but speak out.
"Your net looks messy. Why don't I use a thicker fishing line to weave a new net and put it around the bed? I can take it down when I don't need it. If she is sleeping during the day and I am not in the room, I can hang it up, tie it tight, and tie a bell on it. It can remind me if there is any movement. Isn't it better?"
Ye Yaodong was petrified when he heard this.
He worked passionately for several hours, and then you told him that all his efforts were in vain
"Why the hell didn't you say so earlier?!
I've been busy all afternoon, and now you tell me you can just weave a web?"
Instantly his heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys all ached...
His hard work has gone to waste, all his work has been in vain.
Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him and said unhappily, "I didn't think of that at the time. Who knew that you would surround it with wood like this? It's so ugly. It's even difficult to get into bed with it."
"Isn't there a hole left? Why is it difficult to get into bed?"