Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1065 Discussion at the Dinner Table

Without the noisy children at home, the couple suddenly felt quiet and comfortable.

Only the old lady felt uncomfortable all over and turned her head to look for something out of habit from time to time.

"We've sent them away now, and we'll have to pick them up later. Why go to all that trouble? Can't we just find something for them to play with?"

"Be quiet."

After the old lady muttered to herself for a while, when she saw that the couple ignored her, she shut up tactfully, changed the batteries in the radio, and prepared to listen to the radio.

This one can be used with both power plugs and batteries. If there is a power outage and you can't plug it in, you can just replace the batteries and listen to it. It's nice to listen while working.

"How many days are left before the new tomb is worshipped?"

Ye Yaodong stood up and flipped through the calendar on the wall. "There are still 7 days left."

"Oh, there's no rush."

"I'll go to my fat father-in-law's place in advance and order a pig head and pig tail."

"Okay, okay. Then, prepare a few bowls of whatever chicken, duck, or fish you want and bring them up the mountain."

Lin Xiuqing interrupted and changed the subject: "Why don't you go and see if they have repaired the circuit? Go early and wait for them to come over..."

"Go pull the light cord and you'll know if it's fixed. Dad will be waiting there. If it's fixed, he'll bring it over. If it's not fixed, he'll bring it over at the appointed time."

"Oh, Dad is watching there, that's good."

After a while, Ye's mother came over after work and was shocked to see his bald head.

When she came over for dinner this morning, he had already gone out, and she didn't know that he had shaved his head last night.

"Ah!" She stared, and after taking another look, she recognized her son. "What are you doing? Why are you shaving your head? You shaved your head just after being released from prison. How unlucky..."

Ye Yaodong reached out and touched his head, "It's okay, I feel cool."

"How can you go out like this and face people? You were wearing a weird hat before, covering your face with only your eyes showing, like a ghost. Now you've shaved your head. I don't know what you're doing, you're just messing around..."

"Why should I care what others think? I just do what makes me feel comfortable."

"Comfortable...comfortable on your head. If you walk out onto the street, people will think you were released from prison and will avoid you."

Ye Yaodong slapped his forehead, his eyes lit up, "What a good idea! Let the brothers at home shave their heads and go to the city to deliver goods. Let's see who dares to make a move on the way. Those ruthless people who just got out of prison, we have to avoid them if we meet them on the road!"

Mother Ye frowned with disgust on her face, "What a stupid idea."

“That’s a good idea, hahahaha.”

Lin Xiuqing couldn't help but laugh and said, "Then when you go to Zhejiang Province to catch jellyfish next month, have everyone shave their heads. When you all have bald heads, when you walk onto the dock, everyone will have to hide. How can the local scoundrels dare to provoke you? It will also look safer."

Ye Yaodong laughed happily, "A group of ruthless people released from prison can really scare people when they go to the dock. However, when we have hundreds of people, no ruffians will dare to provoke us. After all, we have a lot of people and guns."

"Wouldn't it be more effective to be bald? It would be more intimidating."

"Right, right, hahahaha... let's have them all shave their heads when the time comes. After a month, they'll have their hair back in a buzz cut. Bald heads are cooler too, so that everyone's hair doesn't look like something out of a pickle jar, sour and smelly. Having no hair will save a lot of trouble."

"You shaved your head by accident and ended up with something good?" Ye's mother said unhappily.

"correct."

He really thought it was wise to shave his head before going out, so he would call a barber and shave everyone's head the night before setting out.

"Mom, did you call everyone yesterday? Give them some extra information. Before they leave next month, I will ask someone to come and shave their heads so that their hair won't be like straw. It will be easier to have no hair, and they won't have to wash their hair when they are outside."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course, they don't have to pay, I'll pay for the haircut."

"Is this a matter of money? Forget it. It's not so embarrassing to shave with a large group of people. When the rain stops, I'll go door to door and tell them."

"We are all from the same village. We all know each other well. There is nothing to laugh at, and no one will misunderstand anything. If we go out, it doesn't matter. No one knows each other. We can do whatever is convenient for us. We will be well grown when we come back."

"Well... Tiantian, my head is full of evil ideas..."

After muttering to herself for a while, Ye's mother decided to check if the food was ready, only to find that the table was already full of dishes.

She was surprised for a moment, "Why, are you guys tired of living like this? Are you going to prepare such a big table of food and invite the whole village to dinner?"

"We need to invite Captain Chen and his team who are here to fix the circuit to dinner, and invite all the village cadres to come along and talk about kelp farming."

"Do you really want to raise one? Is there anyone who wants it? What did they say on the phone this morning?"

After knowing that there would be a dinner treat, Ye's mother rolled up her sleeves to help arrange it, asking questions as she went along.

Ye Yaodong roughly told her that if she was free in the afternoon, she should spread the word and send the goods to the workshop when the weather was fine. They would take as many as they could, and the price would still be 6 cents.

"You can take as many as you want? What if someone brings all their relatives' belongings?"

"I want them all. I've asked for them all. Tens of thousands of pounds is not too much. The more the better."

A tractor can only carry 5 tons at most. If the number is larger than this, we will have to hire another tractor to transport it.

"So much, 5 tons... then it really needs to be sent farther away to be collected. Otherwise, who would have the time to dry so much? Are you sure you can sell it?"

"Ah."

The cost of collecting 5 tons is only 600 yuan, and he can sell it for 1500 yuan, making eight or nine hundred yuan by reselling it. The profit is very high, much faster than making a few cents by selling it in a store.

The fish sauce only made 6500 yuan in half a year, which was barely enough to make back the investment. Selling kelp was much faster, but unfortunately I can only do this now and have to wait until next year.

It's no wonder that people say the quantity should be as large as possible, even tens of thousands of kilograms is not too much. After all, it is seasonal, and the harvest is only one or two months a year. Dried goods will not go bad, so you can stockpile them and sell them slowly. What's more, people probably sell them wholesale.

"Dried fish, boats, and kelp... You are so busy, there is no one in the whole village who is more busy than you..."

Ye Yaodong was too lazy to listen to his mother's nagging, "You help here, I'll go out and see if they are almost healed."

After saying this, the man walked out the door.

There was not much rain at this time, only a few drops, so he didn't hold an umbrella or wear a raincoat, since he was bald anyway.

Big head, big head, no worries when it rains, others have umbrellas, he has a big head.

When he was halfway there, he saw his father coming towards him from afar with a group of people, and they were all talking and laughing.

He went to meet him.

"Is it fixed?"

Father Ye said, "Not yet. We are short of cables, so we asked someone to buy some. It's time for dinner now, so we asked them to come over and eat first. We can still have time to work after dinner."

"Then let's go eat first. The food is almost ready. I'm afraid it won't be ready soon, so I plan to go over and ask you to eat first before we get started."

"Haha, I have to shamelessly go to your house for dinner again. I'll buy the cables later and we'll have electricity soon after some repairs."

"What's so shameless about this? We are old acquaintances. We know each other so well. It's a rare occasion for you to come to our village, and you came to help. I should treat you well. You can even stay at my place for a few days."

"Haha, forget about staying here. I'll have a mission after the rain stops and the circuit here is fixed."

A group of them were walking towards the beach, talking and laughing. People nearby heard the noise and some ran out of the door to see what was going on, while others opened the window and looked out.

As everyone was talking, they all mentioned his bald head. How could they not have seen such a conspicuous bald head? But everyone was polite and didn't ask.

Ye Yaodong tried to please others by bringing up what he had just said to his mother in the house, which made everyone admire his clever idea.

Even Secretary Chen suggested that all the other fishing boats that would follow could have their heads shaved, for convenience’s sake, and also to make the team appear larger and more fearful to outsiders.

He nodded repeatedly and they were having a great time chatting.

When the food was served at home, the atmosphere became even more lively, and he also called his elder and second brothers to come and join the guests.

As for the children who came back from school, Lin Xiuqing had already left food for them in advance, allowing them to bring it to the door or upstairs to eat.

They were eager for this, and each of them would run out to visit friends and relatives with a bowl of rice in hand.

As for Ye Xiaoxi and Pei Yu, no one in the room thought of taking them back, and the Pei family did not go out of their way to send the children back.

When you get tired of eating at your own home, you will feel that the food at other people's homes is especially delicious. Ye Xiaoxi was also very happy staying at Pei's house. She enjoyed the food very much and did not clamor to come back.

After three rounds of drinking, when the atmosphere was lively, Ye Yaodong told the village chief and the village secretary about growing kelp.

"You want to grow kelp?" they both said in unison in surprise.

"I'm not the one raising the dogs. I want you to organize the villagers to raise them. You can ask four or five people to try raising them on a small scale."

"How do we raise them? Besides, does anyone want kelp? No one wants kelp here. We can just pick it up from the sea when it's in season. Why would we need to buy it?"

"I want it. As long as it can be grown, I will take as much as I can. Now the rain has stopped. After dinner, I will ask my mother to go to the village to advertise. I will take whatever kelp people have now."

The village chief and Secretary Chen looked at each other, feeling that their brains were not working properly and they did not understand his intentions.

Ye Yaodong continued to add, repeating what they had discussed at the dinner table yesterday about the prospects of kelp farming and how "personal prosperity drives collective prosperity".

Without waiting for the village cadres to speak to the village secretary, Navy Captain Chen nodded in appreciation.

"Your idea is great. You have a very high level of awareness. After you have become wealthy, you still remember the collective and want to make the whole village prosperous. Your ideology and morality are very good."

Other navies followed suit.

"Yes, your idea is great. You have your own shop, so you don't have to worry about sales. If you can keep the animals alive, and the village has income, won't the collective get richer slowly?"

"Nowadays, it's hard for people in the city to make money, not to mention the countryside. A lot of educated youth who have returned to the city can't find work. Some elderly people in the family have even retired from the factory and let their children inherit their jobs so that they don't have to sit around and do nothing, while they stay at home making matchboxes."

"Yes, if everyone in the village can have an income, it will be the hope of the whole village."

Captain Chen continued with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful and care about the villagers of the entire village. You also want to lead the entire village out of poverty. Whether it works or not, you have to give it a try."

"If it works, your village will definitely be able to be used as a model; if it doesn't work, it won't be a loss, as it's just the labor of a few people."

"It only takes a small amount of effort to get a big chance, so it's worth it no matter how you look at it."

Others continued to echo.

"Live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the sea, eat by the sea. This kelp farming is also done on the sea, which is very suitable. Comrade Ye Yaodong is really smart. No wonder he is so famous now."

"Anyway, as long as we can grow it, Comrade Ye Yaodong will sell it, right?"

Ye Yaodong nodded quickly, "Yes, as long as I can grow it, I won't have to worry about selling it. Selling it will be an income for the whole village. After all, there are more than 400 households in the village, and not even 1/10 of them have boats. Everyone can only make a living and save a little money. How can we compare to the workers in the city who have a stable salary every month."

If you tell them that they have high awareness and good ideology and morality, his face will turn red and he won't dare to say anything.

He has no awareness or ideology or moral character at all; he is simply driven by interests.

Captain Chen looked at the village chief and the village secretary, "Since it can bring benefits, it should be worthwhile to spend time researching it, right?"

You have said everything, what else can they say?
After being surprised for a moment, the two cadres pricked up their ears to listen to what was being said, and thought about it in their hearts.

The village chief pondered for a moment and asked, "Adong, when you say we should collect the kelp, do you mean we should collect it right after the weather clears up? Do all the villagers need to collect whatever they have?"

Secretary Chen also asked with concern, "How much do you charge? How much can you sell one pound for?"

"I plan to sell them for 6 cents. I'll take whatever I can get. If there are people from other villages who have picked them up and dried them recently, I'll take them too. No matter how much, tens of thousands of kilograms will do."

The two old men's eyes widened immediately, "How many tens of thousands of pounds?"

Captain Chen and his team were also surprised. "So many? Are they so easy to sell?"

"I don't have any problem selling fish here. Look at my dried fish. Basically, I can take away a cartload every once in a while. That's why I want our village to study growing it. As long as it can be grown, it will be good for everyone. All the villagers can have an income and don't have to rely on doing odd jobs every day to supplement their family income. Some families can't even save a few hundred yuan a year."

"No one knows how to grow it. No one has any experience. Kelp grows on rocks... It grows naturally. When the season comes, people dig some if they want to eat it, or pick some up from the sea."

"I know a little bit. I heard that some places have started breeding, and they not only breed kelp, but also sea cucumbers and abalone. These two things are very valuable, and they grow in the sea. Wild ones are hard to get. You have to dive into the water to catch them, and they have always been expensive."

"If there is a price, there will naturally be a market. Correspondingly, in recent years, people have solved the problem of food and clothing, and everyone has some pursuit of quality, so naturally there are laboratories specializing in breeding these."

"So some people are raising kelp, which can be sold as feed to people raising abalone and sea cucumbers. Otherwise, what will the sea cucumbers and abalone eat? Moreover, this kelp can be dried and stored. It can be stored without risk of spoilage and is easy to transport, and can also be transported to inland areas."

The village chief and the village secretary were surprised again.

"Are there people raising sea cucumbers and abalone?"

"Yes, I heard there is a research institute that specializes in this."

"You know that much?"

"Listen to what the leader said."

The two nodded immediately, knowing that he had a good relationship with the leader, it was normal for him to know more.

"So, I thought that there are kelp growing on some of the islands around us, and the environment is probably suitable for production, so I thought that our village could also cultivate it."

"We need to think about this."

"Yes, we need to think about it. It's not something you can just raise. We don't understand..."

"Is that why I asked you to organize people? I don't have the time, otherwise I could just ask someone to do it myself."

In fact, he can ask others to do it himself. Anyway, he has to tell them how to collect and raise seedlings, and what temperature is suitable for the weather.

But after he grows the crops, in order to get considerable profits, there will definitely be a lot of people in the village who want to come to him for advice and follow suit. He has to teach them, and that will definitely be very troublesome for him.

He didn't make money from breeding. He wanted to make money by collecting vegetables. It was really unnecessary for him to spend the effort to ask others to do it.

Therefore, it is quite necessary to let the village committee directly step in and organize manpower for breeding, and then gradually expand it to the whole village. Let the village committee worry about it. At most, they can tell you what to do in the early stage.

It would be better to let the village committee take charge of all matters and he would give some advice.

If the crops are really grown, we will not abandon him and let others collect the goods. He will definitely be given priority.

When it develops from a collective to an individual, it will be up to each family to choose who to give the goods to. By then, he would have made a fortune.

"Then we have to go back and discuss it. After all, this is a new thing. As you said, it is very likely to make the village rich. We also have to discuss who is the most suitable person to do it."

"Is this kelp grown in winter? I see it's more common in April and May, when it floats on the sea, and grows bigger on the islands."

"Yes, kelp produces seedlings through spore germination, and then the seedlings are attached to the seedling incubator, which is then placed in seawater for temporary cultivation. When the seedlings grow to a certain size, they are divided and raised. Now the kelp has just matured, and its base band will become darker and thicker, so just slice it."

Everyone was confused as he listened, but suddenly Secretary Chen grasped the key point.

"If you want to plant this on the sea, you need a boat, ropes, floats, etc. You said it grows on ropes, so the cost should be high."

"Yes, we can discuss this in detail later. Let's eat now, so don't disturb everyone else's meal, haha."

Anyway, a start has been made, so let them know. They will have to digest it when they go back, and then discuss it again. They also need to watch the process of him collecting kelp to assure them that there will be no problem selling it, and to give them some motivation.

Then we can talk about the investment cost and the sponsorship of two boats. This can only be discussed after their village committee is interested. It is not a good deal to chase after someone and ask for money. There is no point in chasing after them to donate money.

At least they have to be interested and then take the initiative to discuss it with him.

And now there are more than just them at the dinner table, so they should eat first and entertain several navy officers.

The village chief immediately smiled and said, "Yes, yes, this is about the development of the village. We can talk about it later. It sounds like your original intention is good."

"Of course, I am also a member of Baisha Village, and I also hope that our village will become more prosperous and wealthy."

Secretary Chen also said: "You are really becoming more and more promising. No one in the whole village can compare to you. And you are really smart. You can think of everything and have so many ideas."

"Let's have a meeting later and discuss it together. If this kelp can really be sold at a high price, it would be a good idea."

Ye's mother immediately responded, "I will go to the store to talk after dinner, and then you can just watch us receive the goods."

Father Ye also said: "If this can't be sold, it will be equivalent to Dongzi losing money. He will definitely not do something that will cost him money. It's not like too much money will burn his hands."

"He used to go fishing and sell fish, and he was doing well. He also had a shop in the city and so many boats. He had a steady income every month. The kelp didn't matter to him, and there was no need for him to bother with it."

"He was thinking about our village, so he wanted the village committee to organize the breeding. He also wanted to make our village better and better. Otherwise, there would be no need to do such a thankless job."

Everyone at the dinner table couldn't help but nod their heads after hearing this.

Captain Chen also said: "Comrade Ye Yaodong is really highly conscious, no wonder he is becoming more and more powerful."

"Oh, stop praising me, stop praising me. I'm shy and I blush when you praise me. Come on, eat, eat. Don't be polite. We've been chatting for a long time here. Will it affect your meal..."

"No, dinner should be lively like this. We also have such a lively dinner at home."

"Would you like to have a drink? I have homemade rice wine at home, it tastes good..."

Mother Ye glanced at Father Ye, then smiled and greeted everyone, "Eat more, don't be polite, just treat it as your own home, I'll go get you some rice wine."

"No, no, no, we still have to work. Why drink in the middle of the day? It will only delay our work."

"Yeah, how can I drink when I still have work to do? I have to report back in the afternoon. What's the point of drinking?"

Ye's father immediately called the village chief and the secretary, "Then have two drinks..."

"No, no, we still have to work this afternoon. How can we work after drinking? The circuit hasn't been repaired yet."

"I'll drink it next time I get a chance. You can't drink it in broad daylight."

"Hehe, then eat more..."

Mother Ye brought out the wine and put it back on the stove, then sat down again with a smile.

The atmosphere at the dinner table became lively again. Everyone talked about everything, but the most talked about topic was still around a few naval comrades, talking about their recent lighthouse project.

Just when everyone was eating happily, Pei's father and A Guang's eldest sister each came over with a clay monkey.

When the two of them stood at the gate of the yard and saw the hustle and bustle in the house, they were stunned for a moment, hesitating as to whether to go in.

It was Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang who were eating at someone else's doorstep and saw the scene. They immediately ran over with their bowls of food, kicked the dog away, let them in, and then ran back home to shout.

"Mom, my sister is back. She's so dirty..."

Then he put the empty bowl on the stove and ran out like a gust of wind.

Ye Chengyang followed suit, put the dishes and chopsticks on the stove, and ran out.

Everyone in the room looked towards the door, and Lin Xiuqing immediately stood up.

With so many people around, she couldn't scold the child. She just smiled and took Ye Xiaoxi and asked, "Why is it so dirty?"

Father Pei smiled and said, "They were playing hide-and-seek, and a small rat snake crawled into the house. Xiaoyu caught the snake and went to find Xiaojiu, but she got scared. She ran out screaming and fell, and Xiaoyu followed her and got wet too."

"There were no clothes for the two girls at home, so I brought them here to change."

Everyone stared at Pei Yu in Pei's father's arms with wide eyes in surprise.

People should not be judged by their appearance!

Seeing so many people looking at her, Pei Yu shyly hid in Pei's father's arms and buried her head in his neck.

"She's so young but so timid. Some time ago, I asked her to catch earthworms but she didn't dare to do so." Ye Yaodong said in disbelief.

The old lady smiled and said, "After that, I dug earthworms with Xiaojiu every day to feed the chickens. I became addicted to it."

"Is this okay?"

"Dad caught him..." Pei Yu turned around and whispered, "He said he caught the leader..."

"I knew it, she can catch snakes at such a young age. It turns out that Guang taught her. Like father, like daughter. That's amazing."

Ye Yaodong was amazed. He originally thought Pei Yu was quiet and well-behaved, and the little girl was easily shy, but he didn't expect that she was so good at catching snakes.

At this time, Ye Xiaoxi also hugged Lin Xiuqing's thighs and cried, "Wow wow wow ~ Scary scary scary ~ Old snake scared scary ~ My sister is bad ~ Don't play with her ~ Bad sister ~"

"Why did you shave your head?" Ye's mother exclaimed in surprise.

Just now, Ye Xiaoxi was held horizontally in the back, and his vision was blocked by Pei's father. Ye's father and mother did not notice that Ye Xiaoxi had become bald. Only when he cried did they look down and see the little bald head on the ground and were surprised.

Father Ye was also surprised, "Why would a little girl shave her head bald..."

"Your whole family is bald. The two sons who just ran away are also bald..." Captain Chen also smiled and said in surprise, "Four bald heads? Hahaha..."

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "Her hair is too long and it's easy to sweat in the summer. To save trouble, I shaved her head and asked my two sons to shave their heads as well. I didn't expect that this girl would also cry and make a fuss, so I shaved her head. It's okay since she's still young."

Father Pei looked at the table full of people curiously, "Are there any guests today?"

"They are from the navy. They just happened to come here to repair the circuit. Didn't the power go out because of the thunder yesterday? It just so happened that the lighthouse outside the town couldn't be operated, so they were assigned to come here to repair the circuit."

Ye's father added: "Captain Chen also came to our village to salvage the sunken ship two years ago and stayed at our house, so we are quite familiar with each other. I invited him back for dinner. Come on, come on, sit down and eat with us."

"No, no, I've already eaten..."

"It's okay. We can sit down and chat after we eat. We're not strangers anyway."

Ye's mother also immediately stood up and swept the mess on the table with a rag, made room for him, and added a set of bowls and chopsticks for Pei's father to sit on.

Lin Xiuqing and A Guang's eldest sister took the two children back to the house and gave them a bath and changed their clothes first.

(End of this chapter)