Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1128 Go Again
Lin Xiuqing stood at the stairs, panting.

"You have nothing to do all day long, so you just find things for me to do. Go take these three downstairs to take a bath, and I'll cook the remaining dishes and we'll have dinner."

Ye Yaodong quickly agreed and went upstairs to bring the three down and hand them over to the old lady.

As soon as the three little ones came down, they quickly hid in the old lady's room, waiting for her to fetch water for them to take a bath. They had just been beaten, so they didn't dare to carry the basin to the stove to fetch water by themselves.

He went out directly, went to Linji's home to leave a message for his wife, and then went to his hometown to ask his parents to come for dinner.

It has been four days since the typhoon passed. The waves have gradually calmed down, the tide has returned to two high tides and two low tides a day, and the weather has returned to being sunny.

By the fifth day, the fishing boats at the dock began to go out to sea to fish as usual, and everything seemed to have returned to its original calm.

On this day, the news that other people would be returning from Zhejiang Province the next day spread throughout the village. Everyone said that a nest of gold or silver was not as good as one's own doghouse, and that making a lot of money was not as good as having a safe family.

At this time, some people couldn't help but ask what happened to the people in the town.

When everyone comes back from the discussion, it is inevitable to ask about this topic.

"I heard that family members can visit him, but he won't be transferred back. They said the prison is in another city and that they will be transferred after sentencing, even if they bring him back."

"It's so miserable..."

"But I heard that the laborer can get a lighter sentence, as he is not primarily responsible. The 10-year sentence can be reduced by half."

"That's pretty miserable..."

"Then those who were originally invited to work will be implicated, and the ship owner will probably be in trouble again."

"That's all we can do. Boatmen are at high risk anyway. I heard that after the report was made, the higher-ups were furious and wanted to impose severe punishments, and to strengthen coastal waters management. I heard that even we are going to come up with some policies on fishing boat management."

"It's better to come back early. I'm worried about you outside."

"I'd better not go next year. I'd better stay at home and earn a living steadily."

The whole day, the topic in the village returned to this one instead of the typhoon.

When the fishing boats returned to the shore, most of the villagers ran to the outside of the dock to watch the fun.

It was evening and there was nothing to do anyway. The fishing boats that had gone out to sea at the pier had returned and the villagers were all there.

Ye Yaodong didn't go anywhere. He could see the crowded dock from where he was sitting at the doorstep. It was not the first time he had seen such a scene, and there was nothing to see. Anyway, his family was not there.

After a while, a large group of people moved towards the village again, and their neighbors Zhou Da and his brothers also came back together this time.

Out of curiosity, he walked to the door and greeted the people, and they stopped when they saw him.

"Adong, it would be better if you came back early."

"We stayed there for so many extra days but didn't earn much more. We were panicking every day and were trapped for 10 days during the typhoon."

"Yeah, if I had known, I would have come back earlier..."

Ye Yaodong also smiled and said, "How could we have known so much in advance? Who knew that there would be typhoons one after another, with only a few days of clear weather in between? We went out to try our luck. If we could have predicted it, it wouldn't be called a chance."

"Fortunately, I came back safely."

"Let's go home and settle down first, and then we can talk after dinner."

He nodded, and it was time for dinner at home.

Father Ye was standing by, and he waited until the people left before speaking, "They stayed for half a month longer than us, and we had to pay them half a month's wages more, and it was a typhoon day, so it's really not worth it."

"If you calculate it, it should be profitable. Working for four or five days should earn you a thousand yuan. How much does a worker earn in a day?"

"That's true. Compared to what I earn, the wages are nothing."

4 yuan per person, that's only 5 yuan for 67 days, and only about 5 yuan for three people, so it's all profit.

"Eat, and then come out and talk to them after dinner."

"They are all back. When are you planning to go over?"

Ye Yaodong looked at his father as he walked and asked, "Do you want to go with me?"

Father Ye was stunned for a moment, "If you go, do I have to go too?"

"I'm afraid you might have some psychological trauma."

"Nonsense, if there is a psychological trauma, it is your mother who brought it upon me. I am fine, I just went in for a walk, nothing happened, but she kept on talking, telling me to do this and that, not only to worship Mazu, but also to take a bath with moxa leaves to get rid of bad luck, and to eat vegetarian food to fulfill my vows, saying that I was able to come back only because of Mazu's blessing. What she said is true, but why do I have to eat vegetarian food?"

Ye Yaodong looked around and said, "Where's my mother? Didn't you two go to the dock to watch the fun together? Why didn't you come back together?"

"Who knows who she followed? She will be back soon. Don't worry about her. Let's eat our food."

The corners of his mouth twitched. His mother was probably walking with someone and chatting about gossip, so she just followed them along the way.

During the period after I came back, the people in the town provided some buffer, but not long after, another typhoon came. The villagers hadn't discussed who was arrested yet. At most, each family asked for an idea and knew the answer.

Perhaps because a lot of people were caught, no one gossiped, and no one was singled out for ridicule, so Father Ye walked with his back held high in the village.

Maybe it is really as he said. If there is any shadow, it should come from Ye's mother. If there is any joke, it would probably be Ye's mother who would say a few words in private. She has always been quite sharp-tongued.

No wonder his father didn't talk to his mother during this period...

The family had finished most of their meal when Ye's mother finally arrived.

"Hey? Why are you eating so soon?"

Father Ye picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, without even glancing at her, and said, "You've already followed those people home. You're full just by listening. What else do you want to eat?"

"I got carried away while talking, so I just wanted to hear what happened there."

Mother Ye went to fill the rice without a care in the world, then sat down and continued, "Do you know? Aguo and his crew lost two of their five boats, and the brothers-in-law and cousins ​​they brought with them all started to quarrel, so Zhou Da and his brothers next door also broke up early. It was because of their quarrels that the others decided to come back as well."

"Ah? They started it?" Ye Yaodong was surprised, thinking it was a pre-planned plan.

Mother Ye didn't eat a single bite of food and just sat there and started talking.

"Yes, the two missing ones were a brother-in-law and a cousin. They were just brought along on this trip. Four of them were also arrested at the time. The ransom money was paid by Ah Sheng, but they all signed on the IOU, which they cannot deny. But they wanted the government to pay for it."

"But the others refused, because no one made any money at that time, so they had to pay. Some were not happy about it, and asked whoever was caught to bear the consequences, saying that it was their own fault for not being careful. Then when they settled the accounts for not working during the typhoon, they started a commotion."

Ye Yaodong asked in confusion: "Didn't they say that when they first released me?"

"They said they felt ashamed when they first got out, so no one mentioned this matter. Besides, they didn't have any accounts to settle, so they didn't mention it. When the weather was sunny in the following days, they made a few days of money, and there happened to be a typhoon. They settled the accounts during the typhoon, and Ah Sheng took the opportunity to ask them for the ransom money while they were settling the accounts and dividing the dividends."

Father Ye said: "That's just pushing and pulling. No one is willing to pay..."

Mother Ye slammed the table. "Isn't it? When he wanted to get out, he begged and pleaded, and said the nicest words to anyone, and he was just short of kneeling down. Well, now that he's out and has to pay, he's not happy about it. No one pays, and he keeps pushing and shoving."

Ye Yaodong was curious, "Did he take it later or not?"

"I didn't take it, because they themselves hadn't figured out whether it was the government or the individual who paid for it. Ah Sheng watched them arguing and had no choice but to take it."

Lin Xiuqing suddenly whispered, "Are they deliberately quarreling to shirk the blame, thinking they can deny it after quarreling?"

Ye Yaodong looked at him in surprise and said in his heart: He is smart. This may be part of the reason why he deliberately made a louder noise.

"Everyone is like this. If you are a worker, the captain pays. If you are the captain, you pay for it yourself. If it is a joint ship, then of course they share the cost equally. If it is a leased ship like Dongzi, then it must have been agreed from the beginning that the person renting the ship will bear all the costs."

"Isn't it? In the end, they said that they were in partnership and that what they earned was only enough to pay the wages. After the money was divided, this had to be borne by each individual. After all, the money had been divided, and it was also the IOU they signed. But the person who signed the IOU refused and asked them to pay half."

Lin Xiuqing said: "It's really messy."

"The main thing is that we didn't make any money. If we made money, everything would be easy. But if we didn't make any money, we have to hold on to every penny, otherwise it would have been a wasted trip." Ye's father said honestly.

Ye Yaodong said: "The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. At the beginning, we all thought of making a lot of money, but in the end we came back disappointed."

Ye's mother picked up her chopsticks after she finished speaking, and said as she ate, "That's right. I just heard everyone talking about this, so I stayed a little longer. They all said that those who came back late must have been arrested and didn't make any money, so they were reluctant to come back early. If they made a lot of money, who would care about these 300 yuan?"

She glanced at Ye's father when she said this.

Father Ye glared back.

Lin Xiuqing said, "Anyway, whoever signed the contract can ask Brother Sheng to collect the money. As for how they are going to pay the rest, let them figure it out. He just needs to acknowledge the IOU. And after all, he helped to get the person out. It's fine if he doesn't show gratitude, but he still doesn't pay the money back. What kind of logic is that?"

Ye's mother nodded, "Yes, that's what I said. He doesn't care who will bear the responsibility. He just needs to acknowledge the IOU. Even if he's afraid, he won't ask for it."

Lin Xiuqing shrugged his shoulders and said nothing more. The one who owed the money was the boss.

Ye Yaodong asked: "They are not injured this time?"

"Yes, there were fights over jellyfish at sea, but they weren't that fierce. They just ran away after a few hits and stayed far away to avoid being attacked together. No one was killed."

"That's enough. There are always conflicts. As long as nothing serious happens, it's good enough."

"Also, I heard that they went to the trench before they came back. They said that there were very few people there in the morning. There were more ships than cargo, and they couldn't last more than an hour or two. They said that they probably couldn't supply so many ships in a day or two."

"Then we can only search everywhere on the sea." Ye Yaodong added.

"That's what I said."

Father Ye said, "Your time spent wandering around was not in vain. In such a short time, you have found out everything."

"Didn't you say that I was always gossiping and gossiping about other people's affairs?"

“That’s not wrong.”

"Your ears are erect like a rabbit, and you still have the nerve to call me a gossip. If you have the nerve, don't listen."

"You whispered that in my ear on purpose, how can I not listen?"

"Did I tell you that?"

"You said it to my face, too."

"You old fool, you're just so stubborn when you open your mouth..."

"No one is as good as you. You can even make the dead look alive..."

The two old guys were arguing there, talking about this and that, and they had completely deviated from the topic of the dinner, but the others ignored them and just let them argue and continued eating.

After dinner, it was getting dark.

When Ye Yaodong came out of the shower, his neighbors had already moved their stools to their doorsteps to enjoy the cool air. Especially in front of Zhou's brothers' houses, the doorsteps were full of nearby neighbors, and everyone brought their own stools to sit over and chat.

After watching, he moved a stool and sat over to listen to them talk about recent events, intending to filter out the parts that would be useful to him.

Although I had heard a lot from his mother during the meal, who knows if she had added any exaggeration by picking up bits and pieces from here and there.

"Adong is here? How much money did you earn this time?" Zhou Da asked as soon as he saw him.

"Ah? Me? I didn't make much, and I spent it all on the boat."

"Didn't you see them? They said you bought several boats, but I didn't see any on the shore when I came back this afternoon."

"I stopped at the shipyard. After all, I took over the ship from someone else. I thought I'd repaint it, fix it up, and bring it back when it's in good shape."

"Yes, we have to get rid of the bad luck. The boat they bought came straight back. We have to talk to them tomorrow. We also have to take it to the shipyard and have it repainted. Otherwise, if the people in the town see it, they will probably make a scene. I just heard from my wife at home that the day after you came back, the people in the town came to make a scene."

"Yes, that's a bit dangerous. If they see that the boat is in the hands of those people in town, no matter whether we villagers bought it with our own money or not, they will not be willing to accept it and will come to our house to make trouble."

Ye Yaodong agreed casually and asked about their fishing situation in recent days. The result was similar to what he imagined. If it weren't for the typhoon, they would have finished fishing long ago. There were more and more fishing boats.

"I think I probably won't have to go next year. The place has been exposed and all the locals know about it. I missed it in the past few years, and I finally caught up this year, but it's still the same as not catching up."

The people next to him also echoed, "Yeah, I almost lost everything. At least I can still earn a little in the next few days, so it's not a wasted trip."

"You should have made a lot of money, having been in partnership with Aguo and his five ships," Ye Yaopeng asked.

"It's not bad. It's definitely not as good as those of you who came back earlier and earned enough, but it's enough to make a living, and it's better than what we have at home."

"That's pretty good. After all, it's only a few days."

"I can say this luck is good, but it's not bad either. It's not that bad, at least it's just so-so."

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "We'll talk about next year's affairs next year. If that area is exposed and we can't do it next year, then when the flood season comes, we can search and salvage on the sea randomly. That's better than trawling at home."

"The prerequisite is that there must not be a typhoon, otherwise we won't be able to afford the workers' wages."

"That's true. At least there's less labor cost at home."

"Who said it wasn't? At least I made some money in the last few days. Otherwise, I would have lost money and had nothing to do after returning."

When Ye Yaodong was chatting with someone, someone called his name at the door. He turned around and heard a second call.

"Adong..."

"I'm over here."

It was Uncle Zheng, who brought him the key to his house.

"Why did you send it here right after I got back? You're not in a hurry."

"I'm worried about losing it. I'm free anyway, so I'll just send it over now that I'm back. I'll go settle the accounts with Old Pei while you're at it. You've settled all the accounts, except for my share."

"Why are you in such a hurry? You've already made a lot of money, and you bought a local boat. You're probably the one who made the most money among the group coming back today."

"Don't you have a clear conscience when you say that? It's obvious that you earned the most money. At that time, all those boats belonged to you. There were a bunch of small boats towing behind a big boat."

Ye Yaodong laughed and gave his stool to him. He then went to someone else's house and got one. They sat together and started chatting.

Then after a while, he invited people to his house for a drink and called Zhou's brothers back as well. They felt more comfortable and had more to talk about while drinking.

After a few drinks, I asked them everything that had happened in the past few days and understood it in detail.

And the next day, he decided to go there again in three days to take a look. After three days, the trench would probably be empty.

But A Guang ran over with the child in his arms and told him that the Harvest was planning to go out to sea tonight and asked him if he wanted to join.

"You're not going? Let Uncle Pei drive the boat there in the near future. I plan to go to Zhejiang Province again in two days."

“Salvaging sea urchins?”

"Yes, where is that nest of goods? I feel bad if I don't catch them all. I always feel like I've thrown money into the sea. I have to get as much as I can."

"It's almost September. When early autumn arrives, the weather will turn cooler..."

"Isn't there still a month left? No matter how much I catch, I still have more than a month to fish. I will come back when the weather turns cooler. It will be the same as the previous two trips, and I will be back during the National Day holiday."

Ah Guang was envious, "That's true, you are really good, where did you get those two sets of equipment?"

"Hey, I can't tell you this."

"There are really a lot of treasures under the water. The good stuff can only be seen at deeper sea levels. If you have this set of equipment and go to deeper waters, won't you be able to find a lot of treasures?"

"You're overthinking it. How could it possibly go too deep? The human body can't handle it, and the tube is limited in length."

"That's good too. You've earned what you deserve and what you shouldn't."

The two of them sat at the door chatting, enjoying the breeze, and watching the two little girls playing and laughing in the yard.

Ye Yaodong crossed his legs and handed him a cigarette, saying, "We plan to tow two boats, one large and one small. Boat No. 2 hasn't been rented out yet, so we won't rent it and will tow them together. I'll drive the small boat to fish for sea urchins, and my dad will drive the Dongsheng to haul the nets."

"The fresh food boat..."

"You don't have to stay that long. Just two or three days is fine. As long as you're making money, it's good. It's better to earn less than to just sit there idle."

"Okay, I also want to ask if you are free these two days, so that we can go to the provincial capital together."

"Huh?" Ye Yaodong looked at him in surprise, "Why are you going to the provincial capital?"

"Ask about Captain Chen's hometown. My father has been thinking about making him my brother-in-law. He has been interested in him since he drank with you twice. I have been thinking about finding out about it, but I have no time. Huimei is out of confinement now. She is not young anymore. My father is also very anxious. My younger sister is 20 years old. Only when Yingqiu is settled can Dongqing be settled as well."

"Actually, I think there are still some good ones near us..."

"But the age is not suitable. Yingqiu is 23 years old. Most of the people of the same age are married. Those older than her are not good. Either their families are poor, or they are not good people, or their family members have various problems. Those younger than her are more suitable for Dongqing. My father is fed up with dragging it on until this age. What girl is still not married at this age?"

Ye Yaodong looked at Ye Xiaoxi who was laughing and pursed his lips.

How is 23 old?
She is still a little princess at the age of 30.

"At what age do you think Pei Yu is suitable to get married?"

"What?"

"At what age do you plan to marry your daughter?"

"Marry a few hairs..."

“That’s right…”

"Grass!"

Ah Guang threw a punch in anger. Ye Yaodong quickly turned his head and said with a smile: "I was just joking. You are so anxious to marry your sister off. I just wanted to ask when your daughter is going to get married."

"How can it be the same? Girls in the village who are 18 or 19 years old are all married, and those of her age are all mothers, but she has lost one child after another. It's not that her family is poor, but she is worried about gossip, and she is also worried that she will marry a bad woman and live a hard life, or that the man is not good."

"Yeah, okay."

Anyway, she wasn't his sister, so he didn't argue or care about it.

"I'll have to go in a few days, too. How about I go to the provincial capital with you tomorrow? Do you know where my hometown is?"

By the way, I can also talk to Ye Yaohai. He called me a few days ago and invited me to worship my ancestors two months ago. He doesn't know much about other things, so I can go and take a look and have a chat.

Maybe you can also ask about liquid filling machines.

"I know. He wasn't home this month. During the last typhoon, he came to our village to repair the circuit. When it rained heavily and he couldn't leave, he happened to be hiding near my house. Aunt Ma invited him back home to greet him. When he came back, he told my father about it, and I got a general idea of ​​what happened."

"Then why not wait for a better day? Isn't the Harvest going to the provincial capital tonight? Let's set off together."

"Okay, then we can go there during the day and spend a day asking around. If we can't catch the bus, we can stay one more night."

"Um... hey... Ye Xiaojiu can't play in the mud. Did you forget about it after being beaten yesterday?"

Ye Xiaoxi turned her head and said, "Wow wow wow..."

"What's that wow wow?"

"Wow wow wow..."

Pei Yu also shouted, "Wow wow wow..."

Ye Yaodong: "?"

He looked at A Guang, who also looked confused.

"What are you talking about?"

“It’s wow wow wow…”

Two people: "..."

Ye Xiaoxi ignored them and pulled Pei Yu towards the small vegetable garden nearby.

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to get up and walk over.

"If you get beaten again later, I won't save you."

"No, I didn't play in the water."

“Same with playing in the mud.”

"It's not playing in the mud, it's wow wow wow..."

Ye Yaodong held his forehead with his hand, "Speak more clearly, what's that wow wow wow?"

Ye Xiaoxi ignored him and dug one hole after another, "Go away..."

He had no choice but to move aside and let her continue digging.

"Found it!" Ye Xiaoxi excitedly took out a dirty little baby from the soil.

"what?"

After she gave the baby to Pei Yu, she continued to dig the hole, "It's gone?"

Wasn’t it because the girls next door were rebelling and clamoring to call for little kids, so he asked Aqing to buy them two little ones as well?

"What's missing?"

"It's a baby, Dad said so."

Ye Yaodong opened his mouth and immediately realized, "What were you talking about just now? Digging up the doll?"

Ah Guang couldn't help laughing, "Fuck, who can understand this? Digging dolls, wow wow wow... Oh my god, I've been listening for so long."

"Gone? Where's the doll? Where's my doll?"

Pei Yu also squatted there, holding the dirty doll and looking at it curiously, "Sister, there are so many dolls?"

Ye Yaodong couldn't stop smiling. He remembered that he had lied to her a few months ago that if you plant melons, you will get melons, if you plant beans, you will get beans, if you plant babies, you will get a lot of babies...

"You have such a good memory? You still remember the dolls you planted a few months ago?"

She nodded and ignored him, just lowered her head and kept digging everywhere, and the mud covered her toes.

"Uh...where's the doll? There's no doll?"

"Well, did you fertilize? Did you water?"

She looked at him blankly, then shook her head.

"That's right. When you plant seeds, do you water and fertilize them? And it's summer now, not autumn yet. Autumn is the harvest season."

"Oh." She seemed to understand.

"Don't dig. If you don't fertilize and water the plants, you won't be able to grow them successfully. You won't get a bunch of dolls. Go play. Dad will bring you a bunch of dolls in a few days."

"Okay."

She immediately became happy again and just turned around and continued digging the hole.

"Sister, give it to me, I will plant another doll..."

Ye Yaodong stood up and shook his head, asking her to continue planting.

"You lie to children like this every day."

"No, I just said it casually. Who knew she had such a good memory and could remember it for so long, and still thought of digging it out."

The piece of land in front of her was planted with leeks, which could be harvested and eaten all year round, and would grow again after being harvested, endlessly. Therefore, they would never dig up this small piece of land, so what she buried was still there, and she had to dig it out again.

"After listening for a long time, I found out that wawawawa means digging dolls."

(End of this chapter)