Ye Yaodong had taken off all his clothes except for his shorts and was sitting at the table waiting, pinching his daughter's little face.
"Do you miss me?"
"Ah ...
"good!"
The old lady patted his shoulder and said, "Are you cold? I'll go close the door. Your mother didn't even bother to close the door when she went out. The wind blowing in at night is still cold..."
Lin Xiuqing smiled and brought the basin of water to him, then went to get him a towel and handed it to him.
"Hurry up and wash yourself. You're all wet. Don't catch a cold. I'll go get you some clothes."
"Um."
Ye Yaodong first wrung out a towel, washed his face, and then began to scrub his body.
There was still work waiting for him, so he finished quickly, wringing out the towel two or three times to finish washing his upper body.
The lower body was also quickly rubbed, the front, the back, the thighs were rubbed, and both feet were soaked in the basin, and then wiped with a foot cloth.
Lin Xiuqing took out the clothes to wash and he finished washing them too.
"So fast?"
Ye Yaodong glanced at her and said nothing.
Lin Xiuqing smiled and said, "Now that you're done washing, put on your clothes first to avoid catching a cold."
"Um."
Lin Xiuqing virtuously took the foot washing water to the back door and poured it out. When she came back, she asked again, "You haven't told me why you came back alone? And you're all wet."
Ye Yaodong smiled now. "I'll tell you when I get back to the house tonight. I don't have time to talk about it in detail now. Give me five dollars. I'm going to go out for a while."
"It's so late, what are you going to buy? And you want five dollars? Are you going after dinner? Why are you in such a hurry?"
This man is now spending money more and more lavishly, acting without authorization and asking for permission later. You can't keep too much money in your hands.
A pack of cigarettes only costs 20 cents now, why does he suddenly want five dollars
"I don't have time to eat. I need to go buy two buckets of paint and get down to business. If I'm late, the store might be closed and I'll have to wait until tomorrow."
"Let's do tomorrow. Are you going to paint and maintain the boat? No wonder you swam back. Let Dad sell the goods at the dock first, and I'll get them for you."
This time Lin Xiuqing went into the house and got the money.
Ye Yaodong didn't explain either. There was no way to explain it in detail now. He could only wait until he lay down at night and slowly tell her by her pillow.
After taking the money, he rode his bicycle and hurried out. Lin Xiuqing kept calling him from behind to eat first, but he didn't listen.
The words on the boat were black, and it was difficult to cover them up with paint of other colors. He thought about buying a bucket of black paint to cover them better, and then painting the entire hull black.
Then he used other colors to mark the area. He had some leftover red and white paint at home that could come in handy.
However, the small shops in the village do not have such a complete range of colors. The most common colors are white, green, red, and blue. These colors cannot cover black well. No matter how many layers of paint are applied, there will always be black marks.
He had no choice but to run to the town again. Anyway, the town was still quite lively and there were shops open there at night. It was only dark not long ago, so it should not be too late to go to bed.
The fishing boat was stranded on the beach, and he was still relieved. It was already dark and no one would go to the beach.
He pedaled his bike quickly. There were no street lights on the road to the town, so it was pitch black. He was in a hurry and didn't bring a flashlight, so he could only move forward by the moonlight.
However, he has walked this road for decades and is very familiar with it. He can walk it with his eyes closed.
The paint shop in the town was closed, but the shop was also someone's home, so he just knocked on the door and called for help.
When he came out, he had two 5-kilogram buckets of paint in his hands. He hung one bucket on each side of the bicycle's back seat, which was just enough to balance the paint, but it kept hitting the rear wheel, making a rattling sound.
Ye Yaodong could only slow down his pace and return.
It was not easy to bring a large ship back. After a tiring day, he didn't even have time to eat when he got back. He was still running around outside. He was so hungry that his stomach growled countless times.
But these are all small things, what matters most is that everything goes smoothly.
I rode out in the dark and rode back home in the dark.
There are only a few houses in the village with lights on now, and his house is the only one on the beach with lights still on.
Father Ye sat at the gate of the yard holding a hookah. He was not in the mood to smoke at the moment, but just holding it in his hand made him feel a little more at ease.
He muttered to himself, "I haven't come back yet. The tide is almost receding. It's been a long time. Where can I buy it?"
Ye's mother stood behind him, confused. "What are you two doing? You two came back home strangely at night. One of you came back first, all wet, and then disappeared. We haven't seen you since. You didn't say anything when I asked you. What did you do? Is there something shameful that you can't tell me? You're hiding it..."
The truth is out...
There are indeed some shameful things that cannot be talked about.
"Hush, hush, why are you talking so much? I told you that I would tell you when I get home tonight. Why are you talking nonsense here?"
Fortunately, at this time, the neighbors have all gone back to sleep. After a whole day at sea, the women also go to bed early. They are now digging for a day and resting for a day to deal with it. Otherwise, the labor force cannot keep up, and the work cannot be done in time, so the waste will just be left to stink.
"What are you talking about? I don't want to bother with you. If you don't go back, I'll go back first."
"Then you can go back first after you kill the fish. I will come back later."
Father Ye waved his hands twice as if waving away a fly, wishing she would leave quickly. She kept buzzing around him, which was so annoying. He was anxious to get things done, so he didn't have time to listen to her nagging.
Ye's mother ignored him and went back.
Just as she left, Ye Yaodong came back.
Seeing him from afar, Ye's father immediately went to greet him excitedly, "Why did you come back just now? Where did you go to buy it? I finished my meal and sat at the door waiting for a long time. I didn't even feel like smoking a hookah."
"There was no black paint in the village, so I rode to town to buy it while it was still early. It took me a little longer."
“Why did you buy the black one?”
He whispered, "Because the mark on it is black, it is difficult to cover it up with other colors."
Father Ye thought about it and felt that it made sense. He nodded and said, "Just buy it back. The tide has just receded. I'll take it down first. You go eat first and come back after dinner."
"good."
Lin Xiuqing had been keeping his portion of the meal warm in the pot, and seeing that he had only just returned, she could not help but complain.
"You were gone for so long? I told you to go out after dinner, but you didn't listen."
"Yeah, where's the food?"
"Everything will be prepared well for you, and the meal will be served to you."
"Okay, okay, go do your thing and take care of the kids. I'll do it myself."
Ye Yaodong put his arm around her shoulders, pushed her towards the room, and went to get the food from the pot.
He felt a little headache listening to her words. He was very anxious. If he wasn't so hungry and afraid of being busy later and not knowing what time it would take, he wouldn't want to eat at all. It would waste too much time.
Normally he would just let her say whatever she wanted, but at this moment he just wanted to eat quickly so he could get back to work.
Lin Xiuqing did not enter the house either. She walked to the table and asked curiously, "What are you and Dad doing?"
"I'll tell you when we get back to the room tonight." He said vaguely, picking up the food quickly, wishing he could just pour it in.
"Eat slowly, you are in such a hurry."
"Um."
"Then go ahead and get busy. When you're done, come back to the house and we'll talk."
"Um."
Seeing that she stopped talking, he felt relieved.
After taking a few quick bites, he put the bowl down and ran out.
"If you run right after eating, you'll have a stomachache..."
Ye Yaodong didn't have time to care about what was said behind him and ran towards the beach as fast as he could.
The tide was out now, and when I got closer I could see a fishing boat stranded on the beach.
Father Ye was walking around on the boat, touching here and looking there.
"Are you here? I forgot to ask you to bring a hoe and a shovel. By the way, shovel away all the barnacles and shells under the boat so we can paint it."
"Ah? Why didn't you tell me earlier? They all ran out."
"I thought you would know."
"You forgot it yourself, how could I have thought of it?"
Both the father and the son were so excited that their hearts were on the boat and no one thought about this for a while.
When I arrived and saw them, I remembered that they didn't bring any tools. They either came here impatiently with paint, or ran away in a hurry with empty hands.
"Then go back and get it, and bring a few baskets to put it in. Just push the cart here, and you can also take it back."
"Fine."
There's nothing wrong with young people walking around.
Ye Yaodong went back again and brought back all the useful things and tools on a cart, and also took the remaining red and white paints at home.
He had a feeling that he would have to struggle all night!
The father and son, one holding a shovel and the other holding a hoe, were scraping the barnacles and clams off the hull while chatting.
"Dongzi, if no one finds out, we'll have made a fortune."
"Luzhou Island is far away from us. It's not easy for people to find out about it."
In those days, information was blocked and everything was basically passed on by word of mouth. It was not easy to find out about the missing ship. Moreover, Luzhou Island was notorious and not many people came and went on the island.
In fact, this island is not small, and there are many villages on it. Some of the villages are inhabited by the original inhabitants, but they have been affected by the later arrivals and the customs of the people are a bit more tough.
"hope so."
"Let's clean the boat and repaint it. I guarantee that even his ancestors won't recognize it. Later, we'll also paint the cabin white to make it newer and brighter. Who dares to say that our boat is theirs?"
"Well, after scraping it clean, apply a coat of paint to cover up the mark first. Tomorrow morning, ask a few people to help move it up there and stand it up. Otherwise, we won't be able to paint it when the tide comes in."
"Shovel first. The bottom of the boat is full of them. I don't know how long it has been since we cleaned it. It's hard. Fortunately, I just had a meal..."