Before Ye Yaopeng and his family started taking photos, many villagers had already made reservations to take photos later.
The photographer was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling and almost couldn't handle it.
Ye Yaodong stood beside him with his hands in his pockets, smiling and helping to shout: "If you want to take pictures, wait a moment, finish taking pictures here first, don't disturb the master yet."
After that, he turned to the photographer and said, "You see, I told you that the villagers would be tempted. Let me tell you, you might as well stop guarding the store all day long. The New Year is almost here. Although there are many people coming and going in the market, it's better to go to a few villages for a walk."
"It's almost the New Year, and everyone has more money on hand, so they're willing to spend a dollar or two. As long as one person wants to take a photo, many people will follow suit. It's better than just guarding your store and having only a few people come in a day. Or, you can guard the store for half a day in the morning and go out to the village for half a day in the afternoon..."
"Hey, you're right... you'll have to pay one dollar less later..."
Just by talking, you can send photos and get a reduction? You are quite good at dealing with people.
Seeing that he was also very busy and had already adjusted the camera, Ye Yaodong decided not to disturb them. Just then, Ah Qing came over and gave him the money and called him back to eat.
The two boys were reluctant to leave and kept looking back every few steps.
"I've already taken my own photos, what else is there to see? Go home and change your clothes, and then come out to watch after dinner, there's still time."
When Ye Chenghu heard that he had to change his clothes, he felt reluctant. He looked down at his body, tugged at the corner of his clothes, and was so shy that he didn't want to go home anymore.
"Can you please not change? I'll just wear this today."
The new clothes look so nice, but his friends haven’t even seen them yet, and he hasn’t even walked around in them, but he has to change them right away. What a pity.
Ye Chengyang looked here and there, bewildered and confused.
Ye Yaodong quickly picked him up and walked into the house, leaving his eldest son to be educated by his mother.
Lin Xiuqing put her hand on the back of Ye Chenghu's head and pushed him into the house.
"Don't be so long-winded. This is the clothes you're going to wear during the Chinese New Year. I just took it out in advance for you to wear for the photo shoot today. Hurry back to the room and take it off and put it away. Otherwise, if it gets dirty later, I'll beat you up."
Ye Chenghu walked into the house slowly and reluctantly at the urging of his mother.
After Ye Chengyang changed his clothes and went out, he finally couldn't stand his mother's power and took off his clothes and pants.
But when he was asked to wear old clothes, he crossed his arms and looked angry.
Lin Xiuqing was both angry and amused, "Chinese New Year is coming soon, wait until Chinese New Year to wear it, otherwise you will have nothing to wear during the Chinese New Year. This set was made for you last year, and it's still very new. I couldn't make a new set of clothes in a year before, and I wore the ones left by your brothers and sisters. Why are you picking them now? Don't like last year's clothes? Then don't wear them, just stay in the room and stay in bed..."
After saying that, Lin Xiuqing didn't indulge him and put the clothes directly on the bed. He could wear them or not. If he didn't want to wear them, he could just lie naked in bed with the quilt.
In the main room, Ye's mother was cooking. The food smelled delicious. Ye Yaodong, Ye's father and the others also sat at the table to eat.
The old lady saw Lin Xiuqing coming out alone with clothes, but Ye Chenghu was nowhere to be seen. She asked in confusion, "Where is the child?"
"Tell him to change into his new clothes. He's in a bad mood. Don't pay attention to him. Let's eat our food. When he gets hungry, he'll naturally put on his clothes and come out."
Sure enough, before the meal was over, Ye Chenghu put on his clothes dejectedly, moved to the table little by little, sat in his seat, and waited there, but no one paid any attention to him.
When he was about to cry, the old lady smiled and served him food.
"In the past, we couldn't even wear new clothes. We had to save our only set of clothes for visiting relatives during the New Year and other festivals. The clothes you're wearing are also new. They look so nice. Don't be angry. Look, everyone has changed their clothes."
Ye Chenghu looked around and saw that everyone had indeed changed into their new clothes. Father and Mother Ye also took off their new cotton-padded jackets and put them aside to avoid getting them dirty.
Ye Yaodong glanced at his eldest son and said, "Don't worry about him. Life has just gotten a little better this year, but he's already a little cocky. Let him wear the clothes he wants later. It'll be fine if he wears the torn clothes during the New Year. Other children will be wearing new clothes and will be happy, but he will be the only one wearing torn clothes and people will laugh at him."
Ye Chenghu felt aggrieved and dared not say a word. When he saw the food in front of him, he just lowered his head and slowly started to eat.
The adults didn't care about him. Every child likes to wear new clothes. No, everyone has that. Adults also like to wear clothes, and no one takes it seriously.
Father Ye asked Ye Yaodong, "We had good weather this time, so we've been out for five or six days, and we've harvested about 6,000 to 7,000 kilograms, right? Adding the dried fish we dried yesterday, we should be able to harvest another 1,000 kilograms this time."
"Well, the quantity delivered before the New Year is definitely enough, and there will be a few thousand kilograms left. I will transport the extra ones to the stores in the city to store them so that I don't have to worry about having no place to store them at home. If the army needs them after the New Year, we can talk about it after the New Year."
"We'll find time to set up a stall before the New Year. We can sell a little bit after a few days. It's New Year, and everyone needs to buy New Year goods, so things will sell well."
Mother Ye also interrupted and said, "I heard that some people in our village have gone to the big village next door to set up stalls to sell dried fish, and some have gone to the town to set up stalls to sell. I heard that they can sell a little in a day."
"How much can it sell for? Who in the surrounding villages still needs fish to eat?"
After refuting, Father Ye said to Ye Yaodong, "We still have to go to the city."
Ye Yaodong nodded, "It would be great if we could sell it to inland cities. Inland cities are not near the sea, so dried fish or some dried seafood should also be popular. Unfortunately, I don't have the connections, and I don't understand this."
"You have a shop in the city anyway, and you sell dried fish regularly. People will probably come to you when the time comes."
"What? You don't want to rent the shop anymore? You still want to sell dried fish at home?" When Ye's mother heard this, she quickly interrupted.
"Don't we have two? Dongzi is thinking of renting one and keeping one first. After all, we have a lot of dried fish at home. It would be nice if we could sell some in the store. It's more cost-effective than renting it out, and it doesn't need to be exposed to the wind and sun outside."
"Why do we need to hire someone? Are you confident? Just show the store and the goods to others. We don't have anyone there..."
Mother Ye frowned, looking a little worried. In this case, it would be better to rent it out.
Ye Yaodong took the opportunity to tell his mother about his plan to ask his father-in-law to go to the city to look after the store, and he also explained the reasons.
Mother Ye frowned but didn't say anything.
"If my in-laws are willing, that's fine. We don't have to hire outsiders. He's old now, so he can just live in the city and enjoy his life. I can leave the work in the fields and mountains to my two brothers-in-law."
…
The family chatted and discussed the matters concerning the store.
The two children were already impatient to listen to adults talking about things they couldn't understand. It was so noisy outside, so Ye Chengyang ate early and left early. After licking the rice in the bowl clean, he immediately dropped the bowl and ran away.
Ye Chenghu ate hurriedly in a hurry, having long forgotten his recent depression. He was afraid that he would miss the fun. There was a lot of noise outside, which they could hear from inside the house. It felt like more and more people were coming.
It was rare for Ye Yaodong to go out to see what was going on after dinner, so he just took a walk.
The entrance of Mrs. Ye's and Mrs. Ye's houses is now surrounded by three layers of people, all of whom are villagers who have finished their meals and come to watch the fun and take photos.
It was rare for the village to be so lively, especially the children, who were jumping around, making the atmosphere even more lively.
At this time, Ye Yaodong also saw a few familiar friends, and everyone came over to join in the fun.
They greeted each other and stood together to chat.
But I didn’t expect that the mouse, which I hadn’t seen for many days after I left that day, would also come over.
Ye Yaodong nodded expressionlessly as a greeting. When Haozi saw A Guang, he felt a little embarrassed but still came over with a smile.
"Dongzi, has your family taken photos?"
"We just took a photo. Why, are you here to take photos too?"
"Yeah, I thought that my family had never taken a photo before, and now that they have come to our village, I plan to take a photo. But taking photos is too expensive, and there are so many people, and I don't know how long I have to wait..."
No one responded, just let him mutter.
After the secret hiding incident, everyone looked down on him, thinking he was cowardly and timid, not like a man, and it was impossible to help him.
After talking for a while, seeing that no one responded, he chuckled awkwardly, said a few words casually, then found an excuse and walked away.
Everyone watched him walk away before speaking.
"It's useless. You rented him for half a month. I heard he made a lot of money at that time."
"It doesn't matter. Just take it as a glimpse into people's hearts. Anyway, my family hasn't suffered any loss, and it also saves them from coming to my house every few days to do work. It's quite embarrassing. It's hard to refuse even if I want to."
"It's better this way now. He won't be able to get on with you again, which will reduce future losses."
Ye Yaodong changed the subject and asked curiously, "So does your family still have a boat that goes out to sea on its own?"
"Yeah, since you're the big boss and you're giving me money, of course I have to work for you. I won't be gone for a few days anyway, so my father and I will take turns receiving the goods at home and hire someone else to go out to sea with us. Otherwise, if I entrust the boat to someone else, I'll have to give half of it away. I have to make more money from you, how can I give it to others?" A Guang said with a chuckle.
"What big boss is like me, going back and forth on the sea all day long in a dirty state? I earn my money through hard work. I have finally developed a way to make money, and I want to share it with you."
"This is called sharing the good times and bearing the bad times together! Good brother!"
"Pull a few and fall!"
"Then will you still collect them after the New Year? Have you collected enough now?"
"Not sure yet, let's see later."