Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1021: Scramble to Jump Out of the Water (7000 words)
In an instant, the voice of Ye Ersao was heard from next door.

"You hid your private money? Where did you hide it? Are you still hiding your private money?"

Her voice became clearer and clearer from inside the house to outside, and became louder and louder.

Ye Yaohua glared at Ye Chenghe fiercely, "What nonsense are you talking about? When did I hide my private money?"

After saying that, he turned around and expressed his loyalty to Ye Ersao, "Don't listen to his nonsense. When did I hide my private money? My pockets are cleaner than my face, where does my private money come from? No matter how much money I earn, the bill of lading is in your hands. Every time we settle accounts, I give you everything without missing a penny. Where does my private money come from?"

Mrs. Ye looked at him doubtfully, then turned her gaze to Ye Chenghe.

"Is it your father who hides the private money or your second uncle who hides the private money?"

Ye Chenghe quickly covered his mouth and answered vaguely: "I don't know anything."

After saying that, he quickly ran towards the open space and ran towards Ye Chenghai.

Ye Chenghai simply clenched his fist and gave him a slap, then hooked his neck and dragged him out to prevent this idiot from talking nonsense again.

Ye Yaohua was still explaining, "It's definitely not me..."

"Dad, I'm done eating. I'm going to school. Brother Ahai, wait for me~" Ye Chenghu happily chased after them with his small schoolbag on his back.

"I went to school, but the principal didn't know. He pulled the string and I ran. Boom, the school disappeared~"

The little girls were also led astray, singing weird songs and running outside when they saw everyone was gathered.

The children all went to school and the house became quiet again.

Ye Yaohua was afraid that his wife would continue to stare at him, so he quickly changed the subject and shouted to Ye Yaodong across the wall, "The weather forecast last night clearly said that it would be foggy today, but it turned out to be cloudy, with no fog at all. It's all nonsense and not accurate at all. When I got up at night to check, there was fog."

"Yeah, it's not accurate at all. Could it be that the weather forecast is for the day?"

"It's nonsense. It's not credible. It's too late to go out to sea at this time. I can't drag two nets."

Ye Yaodong felt that the cloudy weather today would not prevent them from going out to sea. As long as there were no strong winds and waves, there would be no problem. It would be cloudy if it was cloudy, and it would be cold if it was cold.

He thought about going back to his hometown to discuss with his father, then moving the things onto the boat, calling all the boatmen, and then just going out to sea.

Ye's father actually thought so too.

When he came to eat early in the morning, he saw fog, but after he finished eating, the fog dissipated. At that time, he thought that since there was no fog, he could go out to sea.

But Dongzi hadn't woken up yet, so he could only wait. He went to talk to Lao Pei first.

So Ye Yaodong went to his hometown but found nothing, so he had to come back. He also visited the workshop and saw that they had already handed over the shift and changed people. The fish drying inside did not need to be moved for the time being, so they all sat there warming themselves by the fire and roasting sweet potatoes. He also sat there warming himself by the fire.

Although it is spring, the temperature seems to have dropped again today. The wind is chilly and there is no warmth like the past two days.

Compared with the previous generation, the temperature in this era is generally lower and there is no global warming yet.

He sat there until he finished a roasted sweet potato, then he patted his butt and stood up. When Ye's father came back, he couldn't find him. When he asked Ah Qing, he just said that he had gone back to his hometown a long time ago. So Ye's father had to go back to his hometown.

When Ye Yaodong returned home, he found out that his father had just looked for him and the two of them just missed each other.

"What the hell, we played hide-and-seek for the whole morning? He looked for me, and I looked for him. We were in such a small village, but we didn't even run into each other."

"Where have you been? Didn't you say you were going to your hometown to look for your father? How come your father is also looking for you? You two have been going around in circles but still can't find each other?"

"I was just warming myself by the fire in the workshop, and by the way, I thought that their roasted sweet potatoes were almost done, so I sat there waiting to eat them, so I didn't come back right away. Forget it, I'll go to my hometown to take a look."

Before his butt could even get comfortable, he stood up again.

Lin Xiuqing was busy picking shrimps and didn't care about him coming in and out.

Ye Chengyang was held beside her, helping her pick the shrimps. He was not allowed to go anywhere. He stretched his neck eagerly and looked at his father walking out the door. The small stool under his buttocks shook and made sounds. He really wanted to go out and play.

"Mom, how many are left? Why are there so many?"

His butt was like it was greased, moving non-stop and he just couldn't sit still.

"There are many more things to do. Help out. Don't think about going out to play all day. Your brothers are all in school, and there's no one to play with you. Stay home and help with the work."

"So many, so long..."

"What? You just got a dollar yesterday, and you don't want to do anything today?"

He pouted and had to pick and choose.

But just as he peeled one, a little hand next to him reached out and grabbed one, and the two legs swung and kicked the chair, making a banging sound.

"Mom, she has been stealing the ones I peel..."

Ye Xiaoxi held a shrimp in her hand, turned her head to look at her brother innocently, then stuffed the shrimp into her mouth in front of him and smiled at him with bared teeth.

"She's still laughing, why doesn't she have to do anything?"

"She's so young, she doesn't know how to do anything. When she's as old as you in two years, she'll have to help."

Ye Cheng moved his stool to the side proudly, a little further away from her, to avoid having the fruits of his labor stolen.

Lin Xiuqing also called out to Ye Xiaoxi, "You can't eat anymore. You keep eating. You still have to eat lunch later."

She nodded and kept swinging her legs, looking very comfortable.

Pei Yu was also sent here this morning. She also imitated Ye Xiaoxi, sitting on the stool and kicking her legs continuously with a grin on her face.

Ye Yaodong put his hands in his pockets and strolled slowly back to his hometown.

There is no sun today, so the village looks deserted. No one sits at the door to chat or weave webs. Everyone hides inside the house.

As he walked along, he didn't see many people. Just like when he came out before, there were only a few small children who were not yet of school age and were still playing there.

When he arrived at the door of his old home, it was deserted. Everyone was huddled inside their homes. He knocked on the door and then a voice came from inside the house: "Who is it?"

"I."

"I've been looking for you for a long time. I wanted to call you out to sea, but I couldn't find you."

"I'm looking for you too, okay? If you want to go out to sea, get ready. I'll move the things to the boat, and you can call the workers to get ready. We'll go after lunch. By the way, go talk to Uncle Pei and ask him to come along."

"I've discussed it with him before, and he said it's okay. Since there's no fog and no waves, we should go anyway. That's why I kept looking for you just now. It's nothing, I'll just pack up and call someone."

"Yeah." He responded and prepared to walk out.

In fact, he still has a lot of things to do, but he decided to go out to sea first. It was rare that the weather was pretty good this month. It had been cloudy and sunny all the time, and there had not been any rainy days.

"Wait a minute, let me ask you something. I saw those canned fish of yours piled up in the corner of the yard. Do you want to move them to the store in the city and sell them?"

"No, let's put it aside for now. There's no rush for now."

"That's fine. After all, the ship just sank not long ago. We can leave it for a month or so. It won't expire anyway."

Ye Yaodong glanced at the calendar on the wall. It was still yesterday's date and he hadn't torn it off. He walked forward to take a look, then tore off a page to reveal today's date, and flipped through two more pages.

"Tomorrow is the spring equinox. If we go out to sea in the afternoon, we probably won't be able to stay for more than a few days before we have to come back."

Father Ye also walked over to him and said, "Go if you can. It's not a big problem if it rains lightly occasionally, as long as it doesn't rain heavily or all the time."

The climate is often cold and rainy during the Spring Equinox, and precipitation will increase rapidly in the southeastern coastal areas. No wonder he feels that the temperature today is much lower than in the past few days and feels chilly.

It rains during the Spring Equinox. There are some sayings in the countryside, such as "If the rain does not stop during the Spring Equinox, there will be good weather around Qingming Festival." This means that if there is continuous spring rain during the Spring Equinox, then the rain will decrease during the Qingming Festival, and there will be a period of sunny weather around Qingming Festival.

There is also a saying that "if it rains during the Spring Equinox, there will be fewer patients", which means that if it rains during the Spring Equinox, there will be far fewer patients than when there is no rain.

In addition, our ancestors believed that rain on the Spring Equinox foreshadowed future weather, harvest, and physical condition.

Rain on the Spring Equinox may mean that there will be a long period of rainfall in the summer of that year. It also indicates that the crops of that year may have a good harvest. Spring rain is as precious as oil.

The 24 solar terms are exceptionally magical.

"Okay, then go if you say so. Remember to bring your raincoat. When you go to call the workers, remember to remind them to bring their raincoats too."

I don’t know if it will rain, but I’ve made preparations in advance just in case.

Thinking of this, he stopped by the drugstore on his way back and asked the barefoot doctor to get him a few packets of cold medicine. If it rained, he might catch a cold, and his quilt wasn't dried in the sun, so it wouldn't be that fast to go back.

Ye Yaodong didn't expect that he was so well prepared, and in the end the cold medicine turned out to be for himself.

After coming out of the old house, the father and son rushed around to prepare things and call people.

In fact, there is nothing much to prepare. The vegetables in the fields are ready. Just pick whatever you can and fill a basket. Of course, when you are at sea, you will mainly eat seafood, and steaming or blanching them is especially convenient and time-saving.

Ye Chengyang saw his father come back and say that they would go out to sea after dinner, and then he was busy outside. As if he saw a savior, he immediately ran out to help.

As long as he is not allowed to sit still and can get out of the door, I will do anything you ask him to do.

Ye Yaodong looked at his enthusiastic appearance and joked, "I don't have any money to pay you for helping me with the work."

"for free!"

"Then do it for you. Remember to put all those baskets on the cart."

After saying that, he sat down on the chair at the door and smoked, watching his son work hard.

Ye Chengyang also responded happily and busied himself in the yard.

After Ye Yaodong finished smoking, he went back into the house to tell Ah Qing who was cooking, "I'm not at home, so you should keep an eye on the workshop for the next two days. Put away anything that's dried. We don't know when it will rain next."

Lin Xiuqing kept flipping the spatula and responded, "I know. I know even if you don't say it. I will remember it. Have you prepared everything? Is it too late?"

"It's still in time. How could it be too late? There's nothing to prepare. Just carry a bag of rice and a basket of vegetables. Aren't the rest ready? Just load them onto a cart and transport them to the ship."

"This is too sudden. Didn't you say we'd take another day off today?"

"The weather forecast is a lie. It said it would be foggy today, but it turned out to be foggy yesterday morning and night, and it's cloudy today? We should go out to sea in the afternoon while the weather is not bad. Anyway, we are not going there for just one or two days. We have to stay for several days. There is not much difference between leaving at night and leaving during the day. As long as the tide comes and the boat can go out, it will be fine."

"Then you can just do whatever you want. If the weather is bad, come back quickly. Don't rely on luck and don't think that the rain will stop after a while. It's hard to say for sure."

The old lady also stood up and said, "Yes, if the weather is bad, come back quickly and don't stay at sea for too long. It will take you several hours to drive back. Safety first... Or don't go at all. Don't listen to your father..."

"I know. The weather looks good now. Who knows if it will rain? We can't just stay at home and wait for it to rain. If the weather is bad, we will return immediately."

"Well...then you can see for yourself..."

Ye Yaodong then went out to the door and instructed his son to work.

When it was time for lunch, Ye's father was blamed again as expected.

"You know the weather might not be so good next time, but you still want to go out to sea. You are so old and confused. It's okay to rest for a few more days. It's so tiring to go out to sea. You should rest for a few more days after coming back. Why are you in such a hurry? Can you earn all the money?"

"How do you know the weather is bad? Are you God? How can you be so accurate? If it is so accurate, there would not be drought in ancient times. It's not bad to go out for three or four days. You can earn a lot of money."

"So you can tell..."

"You're old now, so stop interfering and just eat your meal."

"I care about you, too."

Mother Ye was too lazy to care about them. She just turned to Ah Qing and said, "I've asked you about the lambs you want to raise. There are no more ewes, and they are reluctant to sell them. They only have lambs. You can buy three. How many do you want?"

"Yes, I want the lamb~" Ye Chengyang said impatiently. After all, he bought it now and let it go for him.

Ye Chenghu also said hastily: "I want both, I want both, I want the lamb too."

Ye Yaodong's eyes lit up, "Did you find out?"

"I asked a family who raises sheep. They have too many sheep this year and want to sell a few."

"how old are you?"

"It's only two months old, and it's already started eating grass. I think it'll take another half a month or a month to be weaned. You can buy it then. Make an appointment now."

"I want them all, Dad. We want one for each of us. There are three of us." Ye Chenghu had already distributed them.

"I haven't even bought anything yet, but you've already allocated it? You're already in school, can you still herd sheep?"

"I can go and play it on the weekends. Buy them all, Dad. Buy them all, otherwise we won't have enough to share."

Father Ye retorted, "Why buy sheep? Can your wife handle it? We already have a lot of animals at home, chickens, ducks, geese and dogs. If we buy a few more sheep, can your wife handle it? We already have a lot of things to do at home."

"No need, mother. I'll do it. I'll take care of the child." Ye Chengyang volunteered.

Ye Chenghu also hurriedly said: "And me, I can do it too."

"Let's buy it first and give it to Yangyang to raise. After two years, when he goes to school, give it to Xiaojiu. If they don't want to raise it anymore, Qing will be too busy. We can kill it and eat the meat when the time comes. It won't take much effort anyway."

"What a waste of time! There's already so much work and stuff to do at home. Why do you still want to raise sheep? Aren't chickens, ducks, and geese enough to eat?"

Ye Xiaoxi was eating rice all over her face with a spoon, but she looked left and right. She didn't know what they were talking about, and why did she hear someone calling her?

"Then don't keep it?"

In fact, Ye's mother also felt that it would be better not to raise sheep to save trouble. She also felt that there was no reason to raise sheep for no reason and that he acted on impulse.

"Yes, I said I want all three. It's just right for the child. There are too many for him to count. But if there are three, he can still count them."

"Yes, yes, I can count."

Lin Xiuqing didn't really want to raise sheep. She said, "If you go herding sheep, you won't be able to work in the workshop and earn money."

"what?"

Ye Chengyang was stunned for a moment, then frowned, looking conflicted. He didn't know which one to choose, he wanted both.

"You herd sheep during the day and work at night. I also study during the day and work after school. I get the same pay as you, one dollar." After Ye Chenghu encountered something he liked, his mind became clear.

"Yes, I can herd sheep during the day and work at night."

Anyway, he didn't get more pay no matter how much he worked, just like his brother. After Ye Chengyang figured it out, his face was full of joy and he continued.

"Let's buy three and let them go. I will make sure they are plump and white and eat lots of grass."

Ye Yaodong made the decision immediately, "That's it. Mom, you can go over and tell them tomorrow that we want all three. We'll reserve them first, and when they're weaned, we can take them home to raise. We'll go over and pay for them. We'll hand over the money and the sheep."

"Okay then, then keep it. If you don't want to keep it for a few months, you can sell it later. Anyway, every pound you raise is profitable."

"Well, that's it. I won't lose money anyway."

After finalizing the sheep issue, they talked about going out to sea.

As soon as they finished lunch, they started to move things. It took two carts to move all the things back and forth twice before they moved all the things onto the small boat, and then transported them to the big ship.

There was heavy fog last night and almost no fishing boats went out to sea. All of them were docked at the pier. Only after the fog dissipated this morning did small wooden boats start to sway and go out to sea to work.

At noon, the weather continued to be cloudy and there was no moisture in the air. After everyone was busy moving everything, they let the boat go back.

After checking all the machines on board, the Fengshou and Dongsheng also started up and slowly sailed towards the sea.

Some small wooden boats near the shore also raised their heads and saluted, watching the two boats pass by one after the other.

The sea breeze was blowing fiercely.

"I didn't freeze to death in the cold winter, but I'm going to freeze to death in this spring. Damn, it's almost April and it's still cold."

"It'll take two rains before it warms up."

"It will be Qingming Festival soon, and it will be hot during Qingming Festival."

"It seems like some people have started visiting the graves these past two days?"

"Yes, some people may not be free, so they go to visit the graves in advance while they are free recently..."

The boatmen were chatting while sorting out the things they had just brought up.

As usual, they went to the town to refuel and add ice. Seeing that there were no big ships in sight at the harbor, they asked a few questions while refueling and adding ice. It turned out that two individual ships had gone out to sea in the morning, and most of the ships were still outside and had not yet returned from the shore.

Father Ye and the others were relieved. They knew that other ships had already gone, so of course they could go as well.

After refueling and adding ice and settling the bill, the two boats sailed away one after the other.

At this time, they felt that the sky was a little brighter, and a little red light appeared in the clouds, as if the sun was about to come out.

Father Ye was also there and said proudly: "Look, the sky is a little red, it feels like the sun is about to come out."

"The weather is like a child's face. It rains when it wants to and clears up when it wants to. It's hard to predict. Let's drive faster and get to the place to cast the nets earlier. We don't want to come out for nothing."

"Give me this, go to sleep. I guess we won't be able to log off the internet until four o'clock."

"Then I'm going to take a nap."

I got up early because of the chirping sounds at the door in the morning. It's chilly now and the sky is gray. It's not good to stand outside, so I just go back to bed.

Each person had a straw raincoat, and there looked to be so many of them, and there was no place to hang them, so everyone hung them above their beds.

Ye Yaodong slept on the lower bunk and had to crawl inside. However, after lying down, he always felt a shadow beside him and his mind was full of random thoughts. He had no choice but to get up and take it out to hang it outside. It wasn't raining anyway.

When he lay down again, he tossed and turned in discomfort like a pancake, cursing in his heart.

"It's fishy and damp. The old man has a really bad memory. He didn't even take the quilt down to dry on the boat as I asked him to. He must be too lazy."

The other boatmen also went to bed. The roar of the surrounding machines covered up all his movements. No one was affected at all, except that no one fell asleep.

The adequate rest these days has made them feel much better. They are fresh on board and full of energy, but since they have nothing to do, it is better to lie down and catch up on some sleep in advance. Otherwise, they will have to work at night and will be very tired afterwards.

When we were preparing to cast the first net, it was getting dark. Everyone calculated the time and got up, some to cook and some to cast the net.

After casting the nets, everyone took the time to eat before it got completely dark, and then went to rest together, waiting to take turns to collect the nets two or three hours later.

After dinner, Ye Yaodong went to replace his father and took over the control of the fishing boat for a while.

As the night slowly falls, the sky above the sea begins to be gradually eroded by darkness, painting the sky into a deep black bit by bit. Waves roll in the night, flashing silver light.

He gradually distanced himself from the Harvest, and the two fishing boats could only see the faint lights on each other's boats, and they did not interfere with each other.

But things happen unexpectedly, and the promised spring rain finally came.

The sound of small raindrops fell on the glass in front of him, blurring his vision.

"Fuck, is it really raining? The damn weather forecast is not accurate at all."

He walked out of the cockpit and held out his hand to catch the raindrops. "Fortunately, they are not very heavy."

At this time, he also discovered that there were many silvery-white fish jumping non-stop on the sea, scrambling to jump out of the water. At a glance, there were large groups of them.

"Fuck! So many fish!"

He knew that this was because of the rain. The oxygen in the water decreased drastically. It had begun to decrease drastically before the rain. It probably started to jump a long time ago, but he was in the cockpit and didn't see it because it was dark.

It is also because of the abundant marine resources now that we can still see so many fish jumping out of the sea to breathe.

The boatmen were all resting in the cabin. It was not time to pull up the nets yet, so the sound of the dripping rain outside could not reach their ears at all. They could only hear the sound of the machines.

After hesitating for a while, he returned to the cockpit, fiddled with the maritime radio, and prepared to contact Uncle Pei first.

After a while of the sizzling sound from the other end, Uncle Pei's voice appeared.

Uncle Pei’s first words were, it’s raining.

He was also there and said, "It's raining."

"Let's take a look first. It just started raining. I don't know if it will stop."

"Oh, fine then, let's continue with our homework. Damn it, whatever you fear will come true."

"If the rain gets a little heavier, we can just go back. If it's not too heavy and it stops soon, then it doesn't matter. It won't have any impact anyway."

"Well, let's wait and see. It's better to go down now than to go down earlier or later."

Fortunately, he had made a lot of money in the first two times, so if he returned it immediately, he could afford to lose only a few hundred dollars.

"It's like this when you go too far. You can't control the weather at all. Sometimes it's sunny one second and raining the next. But as long as there are no strong winds and waves, it's not a big problem. Just operate in the familiar waters. Don't go too far. The two boats must be able to see each other and don't go too far away."

Ye Yaodong responded sincerely, "Okay, let's keep the current distance. Also, there are a lot of fish jumping out of the water because of lack of oxygen due to the rain. Uncle can go out and take a look and ask people to cast nets and catch them quickly."

"Okay, okay, I'll go check it out after I hang up."

"Okay, we'll keep in touch if you have any questions. I'm going to hang up first and call someone."

After Ye Yaodong cut off the channel, he walked out of the cockpit and went to the cabin to call people and wake everyone up.

"Everyone, get up, get up, get to work, it's raining, put on your raincoats, there are so many fish jumping out of the water, just cast your nets and catch them quickly."

"What? It's raining?"

"It's raining?"

"Ah? What fish? Is it fish or rain?"

When everyone heard his shout, they hurriedly threw back their quilts and sat up, shouting questions.

"It's raining. A lot of fish are jumping out of the water. Hurry up and get up."

"Are you still going to fish when it's raining? Is it raining heavy? I didn't hear any noise at all." Father Ye hurriedly took his raincoat and followed him, asking as he walked.

"Not much, it just started, just a little rain, a little bit. I just contacted Uncle Pei, and he said to take a look first and catch as many fish as we can on the sea."

"Oh my, so many? A large white mass of them jumping around there..."

…………

(End of this chapter)