Chapter 1025: Rushing to Be First, Afraid to Fall Behind, Leaping Out of the Water

Instantly, Ye Ye Ersao's voice rang out from next door.

"You hid a secret stash? Where did you hide it? You actually hid a secret stash?"

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

Ye Ye Yaohua glared fiercely at Ye Chenghe, "What nonsense are you spouting? When did I ever hide a secret stash?"

After saying that, he also turned to pledge his loyalty to Ye Ye Ersao, "Don't listen to his wild talk. When did I ever hide a secret stash? My pockets are cleaner than my face—where would a secret stash come from? Every penny I earn, the receipts all end up in your hands. Every time we settle accounts, I hand over every single cent without missing a bit. Where would a secret stash come from?"

Ye Ye Ersao gave him a doubtful look, then turned her gaze onto Ye Chenghe.

"Was it your father who hid a secret stash, or your uncle?"

Ye Chenghe quickly clamped his hand over his mouth and mumbled, "I don't know anything."

After saying that, he hurried off toward the open ground, running toward Ye Ye Chenghai.

Ye Ye Chenghai directly balled his fist and gave him a knuckle-rap, then hooked an arm around his neck and dragged him outside, to keep this silly kid from blurting more nonsense.

Ye Ye Yaohua was still explaining on the spot, "It definitely wasn't me…"

"Dad, I'm done eating, I'm off to school. Brother Brother Ahai, wait for me~" Ye Chenghu cheerfully slung his little satchel on his back and ran after them.

"I'm off to school, the principal doesn't know, pull a cord and I run, with a boom the school is gone~"

The little girls were led astray too, singing the silly song, and once they saw everyone was gathered, they ran outside along with them.

One by one, the children all went off to school, and the doorway fell quiet again.

Ye Ye Yaohua, afraid his wife would keep staring him down, hurriedly changed the subject and called out over the wall to Ye Yaodong, "Last night's weather forecast clearly said there'd be heavy fog today, but it turned out overcast—not a wisp of fog. They're messing around, not accurate at all. When I got up in the night to check, there was fog then."

"Right, not accurate at all. Could it be that the weather forecast was reporting for the same day?"

"Pure nonsense, can't be trusted. Looking at the time now, it's not convenient to head out to sea either—can't drag out two nets."

Ye Yaodong actually felt that today's overcast weather wouldn't stop them from going out to sea. As long as there were no strong winds or big waves, it should be fine. Overcast is overcast, cooler is cooler.

He figured he might as well go to the old house to discuss it with his father, then later move the stuff onto the boat, gather the boatmen, and just head straight out to sea.

Ye Fu actually thought the same.

When he came over early in the morning to eat, he saw there was fog, but after the meal the fog had cleared. At the time he'd also thought, no fog now, so they could head out to sea.

Only, Dongzi wasn't awake yet, so he could only wait a bit. He went to chat with Old Pei first.

So when Ye Yaodong went to the old house, he found no one there, and had to come back. On the way, he also took a stroll past the workshop. Seeing that they'd already handed over shifts and changed personnel, and that the fish drying inside didn't need any rearranging for the moment, they were all sitting there by the fire roasting sweet potatoes. He sat down with them by the fire too.

Although it was already early spring, today seemed to have cooled down again. The wind blew through, bone-chilling, without the warmth from the past couple of days.

In this era, compared to his previous life, temperatures were generally lower—there was no global warming yet.

Once he sat down, he sat until he'd finished a roasted sweet potato before patting his backside and standing up. So when Ye Fu came back, he missed him again. Asking Lin Lin Xiuqing, she only said he'd gone out to the old house ages ago. Ye Fu had no choice but to head back to the old house himself.

It wasn't until Ye Yaodong got home that he learned his father had just been looking all over for him—the two of them had narrowly missed each other perfectly.

"Holy crap, playing hide-and-seek all morning? He was looking for me, I was looking for him—in a village this tiny, the two of us somehow didn't run into each other."

"Where did you go? Didn't you say you were going to the old house to find Dad? How come Dad was also looking for you? The two of you went around in a big circle and still didn't find each other?"

"I was just at the workshop by the fire. I figured their sweet potatoes were almost done, so I sat there waiting to eat, and didn't come right back. Whatever, I'll go over to the old house again and check."

His backside hadn't even warmed the seat before he stood up again.

Lin Lin Xiuqing was busy with the shrimp-picking in her hands and didn't bother with him going in and out.

Ye Ye Chengyang was corralled beside her, helping pick through the shrimp. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere. He craned his neck longingly, watching his father walk out the door. The little stool under him wobbled with a thump-thump-thump—he really wanted to go out and play.

"Mama, how much more? How is there so much?"

His backside was greased with oil—he couldn't sit still, fidgeting nonstop.

"There's still a lot. Help out, don't think about going out to play all day. Your brothers have all gone to school, no one's going to play with you. Stay home obediently and help with the work."

"So much, for so long…"

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

He pouted and could only obediently keep picking.

But the moment he'd just peeled one, a little hand from the side reached over and snatched one. Two legs swung back and forth, kicking the chair beside her with a clatter.

"Mama, she keeps stealing the ones I peeled…"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi, a shrimp in her hand, turned her head and looked at her brother innocently, then stuffed it into her mouth right in front of him, baring her teeth at him with a grin.

"She's even laughing—why doesn't she have to work?"

"Because she's little and can't do anything. In a couple of years, when she's as big as you, she'll have to help out."

Ye Ye Chengyang, puffed up with anger, scooted his stool to the side, putting some distance between them, so the fruits of his labor wouldn't be stolen.

Lin Lin Xiuqing also called out to Ye Ye Xiaoxi, "You can't keep eating, your mouth hasn't stopped. You'll still have to eat lunch later."

She nodded, then kept kicking her legs nonstop, looking perfectly content.

Pei Yu had also been sent over this morning. She, too, had learned from Ye Ye Xiaoxi to sit on the stool kicking her legs nonstop, grinning with her mouth open.

Ye Yaodong, hands tucked in his pockets, ambled leisurely back toward the old house.

There was no sun today, so the village looked cold and deserted—no one sitting at doorsteps chatting or weaving nets. Everyone was hiding indoors.

Walking the whole way, he barely saw a few people. Just like when he'd come out earlier, only a handful of small children, not yet school age, were still running wild.

When he reached the old house door, it was also cold and deserted—everyone was huddled inside. He slapped the door panel, and only then did a voice from inside call out, "Who is it?"

"Me."

"Been looking all over for you. Wanted to call you out to sea, but couldn't find you."

"I've been looking for you too, okay? If we're heading out to sea, let's get ready. I'll move the stuff onto the boat, you go round up the workers. After lunch we go? Drop by and let Uncle Pei know too, get him to come along."

"Already discussed it with him earlier, he said it was fine. Since there's no heavy fog and no wind and waves, we should still go. That's why I was looking for you just now. Well then, nothing else, I'll pack up the stuff and call the people."

"Mm." After answering, he started to head out.

Actually, he still had quite a lot of things he hadn't done, but—let's go out to sea first. The weather this month was, by rare luck, decent—always overcast or sunny, never a rainy day.

"Hold on, let me ask you something. Those canned fish of yours—I saw them still piled up in the corner of the yard. Want to move them to the shop in town to sell?"

"No need, just leave it for now, no rush."

"That's fine too. After all, the ship only sank not long ago. Leaving it for a month or so is okay, it won't expire anyway."

Ye Yaodong glanced at the calendar on the wall. It still showed yesterday's date, not torn off, so he stepped forward, took a look, then casually tore off one page to reveal today's date, and flipped ahead two more pages while he was at it.

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

Ye Fu walked over to his side as well. "Go if you can. A little light rain now and then isn't a big problem, as long as it doesn't pour and doesn't keep raining."

During the Spring Equinox season, there is often cool, overcast and rainy weather, and precipitation along the southeastern coast increases rapidly. No wonder — he felt that today's perceived temperature was much lower than the past few days, chilly to the bone.

When it rains during the Spring Equinox, there are some sayings in their rural area, such as "If the Spring Equinox rain does not cease, there will be fine weather around Qingming," meaning that if continuous spring rain falls during the Spring Equinox, then by the Qingming Festival the rain will lessen, and there will be a stretch of clear weather around Qingming.

There is also the saying "When the Spring Equinox brings rain, the sick are few," meaning that if rain falls during the Spring Equinox, there will be far fewer sick people than in seasons without rainfall.

In addition, the Laozu Sect believed that rain during the Spring Equinox foreshadows the weather, harvest, and health for the rest of the year.

Rain during the Spring Equinox may mean that summer this year will have a longer period of rainfall, and it also foreshadows that the crops this year may have a good harvest — spring rain is as precious as oil.

The twenty-four solar terms are truly remarkable.

"Alright, then if you say go, we'll go. Remember to bring your rain cape, and when you go call the workers, remind them to bring their rain capes too."

He didn't know whether it would rain or not, but preparing in advance wouldn't hurt, just in case.

Thinking of this, on his way back he detoured to the pharmacy and had the barefoot doctor prepare a few packs of cold medicine. If it rained, someone was bound to catch a cold, and the blankets hadn't been sun-dried, and they wouldn't be back so quickly either.

Ye Yaodong never expected that he had prepared so thoroughly, only for the cold medicine in the end to be for himself to take.

After leaving the old house, father and son each went their own way, preparing things and calling people.

Actually there wasn't much to prepare. The vegetables in the field were ready to pick — pick whatever there was, fill up a basket and that was enough. At sea, of course, seafood was the main course, and steaming or blanching was especially easy and saved time.

Ye Ye Chengyang saw his father come back saying they would head out to sea after lunch, then bustling about outside, and as if he had seen a savior, he immediately ran out to help.

As long as he didn't have to keep sitting around, as long as he could get out the door, he'd do anything.

Ye Yaodong looked at his eager appearance and joked, "Helping with work — I don't have money to pay you."

"I don't want money!"

"Then it's yours to do. Remember to put all those baskets onto the cart."

After saying that, he sat down on the reclining chair by the door to smoke, watching his son work hard.

Ye Ye Chengyang happily agreed, bustling back and forth in the yard.

After finishing his cigarette, Ye Yaodong went back inside to give instructions to Lin Lin Xiuqing, who was cooking. "I won't be home. Keep a closer eye on the workshop these next two days. As soon as anything is sun-dried, bring it in right away — we don't know when it might rain next."

Lin Lin Xiuqing kept flipping the spatula and replied, "I know. Even if you didn't say it, I know. I'll remember. Have you got your things ready? Will there be enough time?"

"There's plenty of time. How could there not be? Nothing much to prepare — carry a bag of rice, grab a basket of vegetables, that's enough. Isn't everything else already ready? Just load it onto the cart, haul it to the boat, and that's that."

"This is too sudden. Didn't you say you'd rest one more day today?"

"Weather forecasts lie. They said heavy fog today, but yesterday had fog morning and evening, and today it's just overcast? While the weather hasn't affected things yet, we'll head out to sea in the afternoon. Anyway, we're not going for just a day or two — we'll be staying a few days. Leaving at night versus leaving during the day doesn't make much difference, as long as the tide comes in and the boat can get out."

"Then just do as you see fit. If the weather turns bad, come back right away. Don't take chances, don't think the rain will stop after a little while — that's hard to say."

The old lady also hurriedly got up and came over to say, "Yes, if the weather's bad, come back right away. Don't linger out at sea. It'll take you several hours to sail back — safety first… Or just don't go. Don't listen to your father…"

"I know. The weather looks alright now, but who knows if it'll rain. We can't just stay home waiting for it to rain. If the weather turns bad, we'll head back right away."

"Th-then… you decide for yourselves…"

Ye Yaodong then went back outside the door to direct his son in his work.

By lunchtime, Ye Fu, as expected, drew complaints again.

"Knowing full well the weather may not be so good ahead, you still want to go out to sea. You've gone senile. What harm would it do to rest a few more days? Going out to sea is so tiring, and you'll need to rest several days after coming back — that was the plan anyway. Rushing about like this — can you ever finish earning money?"

"How do you know the weather's bad? Are you the heavens? It's not that accurate. If it were really that accurate, there'd never have been droughts in ancient times. Going out for three or four days is pretty good too — we can still earn quite a bit."

"So capable at arguing…"

"At your age, just stop butting in. Eat your food."

"I'm only caring about you all."

Mother Ye couldn't be bothered with them and just turned to Lin Lin Xiuqing to say, "About the little lambs you want to raise — I've asked around for you. There are no ewes available; people can't bear to part with them. There are only lambs. You can buy three. How many do you want?"

"I want them, I want the little lambs~" Ye Ye Chengyang blurted out impatiently. After all, if they bought them now, they would be for him to tend.

Ye Chenghu also said in a rush, "I want them all, all of them. I want a little lamb too."

Ye Yaodong's eyes lit up. "You found some?"

"I found some. There's a household that raises sheep — they had too many lambs born this year and want to sell a few."

"How old are they?"

"Just two months, I think. They said they've already started eating grass. It'll probably take another half month or a month before they're weaned. We can go buy them then. For now, we'll reserve them in advance."

"All of them, Dad, all of them. There are three of us, one each." Ye Chenghu had already divided them up.

"They haven't even been bought yet and you've already divided them up? You're already in school — can you still go herd sheep?"

"I can herd them on weekends. Buy them all, Dad, buy them all. Otherwise we won't have enough to split."

Ye Fu spoke up in objection. "What sheep? Can we handle it? The house is already full of animals — chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, a whole bunch. Add a few more sheep and can your wife handle it all? There's already a mountain of things to do at home."

"Mom doesn't need to, I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll raise them." Ye Ye Chengyang volunteered eagerly.

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

"Just buy them. Let Yangyang raise them. In two years, when he goes to school, give them to Little Nine. If they don't want to raise them anymore and Lin Lin Xiuqing can't handle it, then we can slaughter them for meat. It's not much trouble anyway."

"Fooling around. There's already a pile of work at home, a pile of things to do, and now you want to raise sheep? Aren't the chickens, ducks, and geese enough to eat?"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi held her spoon with rice grains all over her face, looking left and right, not knowing what they were talking about — why did she hear someone calling her name?

"Then should we not raise them?"

Mother Ye actually felt in her heart that it was better not to raise them — save some trouble. Raising sheep for no reason, and she also felt he was acting on every whim.

"Yes, we want them. I already said all three. Letting the kids herd them is just right. If there are too many, he can't count them, but three he can manage."

"Right, right, right, I can count them."

Lin Lin Xiuqing actually didn't really want to raise them either. She spoke up, "If you go herd sheep, you can't work in the workshop to earn money."

"Huh?"

Ye Ye Chengyang froze for a moment, then immediately knit his brows tightly, his face full of conflict, not knowing which to choose—he wanted both.

"You herd sheep during the day and work at night. I read books during the day too, and when I get back from school I work—just like you, it's one yuan." When it came to something he liked, Ye Chenghu's mind also sharpened up.

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

Anyway, working more didn't earn him any extra either—just the same as his brother. Once Ye Ye Chengyang figured it out, his face was full of delight, and he went on.

"Let's just buy three, let me herd them. I'll definitely raise them fat and white, eating lots and lots of grass."

Ye Yaodong made the decision on the spot. "That's settled then. Wife, find time tomorrow to go tell them—we'll take all three. Reserve them first. Whenever they're weaned and we can lead them back to raise, we'll go pay then—hand over the money, hand over the sheep."

"Alright then, if we're going to raise them, let's raise them. If after a few months we don't want to anymore, we can sell them off then. Anyway, whatever weight they put on is profit."

"Mm, that's right. Anyway, we won't lose out."

After settling the matter of the sheep, they brought up the matter of going out to sea again.

As soon as lunch was finished, they all started hauling things. Two cartloads made two round trips before everything was moved onto the small boat, and then transported onto the big ship.

Last night's heavy fog meant the fishing boats basically hadn't gone out to sea—they'd all stayed docked at the pier. Only after the mist cleared this morning did small wooden boats begin to rock out to work.

At noon, the weather stayed overcast, with no moisture in the air. Once everyone finished hauling everything aboard, they sent the small boat back.

After the Harvest and the Dong Sheng finished inspecting the various machines on board, they started up too, and slowly headed out toward the open sea.

Some of the small wooden boats along the nearby coast raised their heads in salute, watching the two ships pass by one after the other.

The sea wind blew bitterly.

"Didn't freeze to death in the dead of winter, only to freeze to death in this spring—damn, it's almost April and still cold."

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

"Qingming is almost here. Once Qingming hits, it'll get hot."

"These past two days it looked like some people have already started visiting graves?"

"Yeah, some people might not have time, so while they're free recently, they go sweep the graves early…"

The deckhands chatted as they sorted through the things they'd just brought up.

As usual, they went to the town first to refuel and load ice. Seeing no big ships at the port, they casually asked a few questions while refueling and icing up. Turned out one or two ships had gone out that morning, but most were still out at sea and hadn't come back to shore.

Ye's father and the others felt a little more at ease. If other ships had gone, of course they could go too.

After finishing refueling and icing, they settled the bill, and the two ships pulled away one after the other.

At this point, they did feel the sky had brightened a little. A bit of red light appeared in the cloud layers, giving the feeling of a sun about to come out but not quite.

Ye's father said proudly, "See? The sky's a bit reddish. Feels like the sun's about to come out."

"This old heaven's like a child's face—wants to rain it rains, wants to clear it clears. Who's got it figured out? Let's just speed up a bit, get to the spot earlier to cast the nets. Can't make this trip for nothing."

"Take over here for me. You go sleep—probably won't be casting the nets until around four."

"Then I'll go take a nap."

It worked out well because the chirping at the door that morning had woken him a bit early. Now it was chilly and the sky was gray—not pleasant to stand outside. Lying back in the bunk was just right.

One straw raincoat each—it looked like a huge pile, with nowhere to hang them, so everyone hung theirs above their own bunk.

Ye Yaodong slept on the lower bunk and had to crawl in. But once he lay down, he kept feeling a shadow at the side, and his mind kept imagining all sorts of nonsense. He had to get up and take it out to hang it outside—after all, it wasn't raining.

Lying down again, he tossed and turned uncomfortably, flipping left and right like a pancake being cooked, cursing under his breath.

"Smelly and damp. That old man's memory is really bad—told him to take the blankets off the ship and air them out, but he didn't. Let him be lazy to death."

The other deckhands had all gone to bed too. The roar of the machines around them drowned out every sound he made—no one was affected at all, except none of them were actually asleep.

The ample rest these past few days had swept away their fatigue. They'd just boarded and their spirits were high, but with nothing to do, of course it was still better to lie down and catch some sleep in advance. Otherwise they'd have to work at night, and there was plenty more exhaustion ahead.

When it was time to cast the first net, the sky had already darkened a bit. Everyone timed it and climbed up—those who should cook, cooked; those who should cast the nets, cast them.

After casting the nets, while it wasn't completely dark yet, everyone hurried to eat, and then all went to rest together, just waiting two or three hours before taking turns to get up and haul the nets in.

After dinner, Ye Yaodong also went to relieve his father first, taking over operating the fishing boat for a while.

As Seeing Ye Mu slowly fell, the sky over the sea gradually began to be eaten away by darkness, bit by bit painted a deep black. The waves rolled in the night, flashing silver.

He gradually widened the distance from the Harvest. The two fishing boats could only see the faint lights on each other's decks, not interfering with one another.

But the weather is unpredictable—the promised spring rain really did come.

Plip-plop, small raindrops hit the glass in front of him, blurring his vision.

"Shit, it's really raining? That damn weather forecast is not accurate at all."

He walked out of the wheelhouse and held out a hand to catch some raindrops. "Good thing it's not too heavy."

At that moment, he also noticed many silver-white fish on the sea surface, leaping nonstop, scrambling to burst out of the water. Looking out, they were in patches upon patches.

"Damn! So many fish!"

He knew this was because it had rained—the oxygen in the water had dropped sharply, and had already started dropping before the rain. They'd probably been leaping for a long time, but he was inside the wheelhouse and hadn't seen it because it was dark.

It was also because the sea's resources were still abundant that you could still see such huge numbers of fish leaping out of the water for air.

The deckhands were all resting in the cabin. It wasn't time to haul the nets yet, and the faint patter of rain outside couldn't reach their ears at all—they could only hear the sound of the machines.

After a moment's hesitation, he still went back to the wheelhouse, fiddled with the marine radio, and prepared to contact Uncle Pei first.

After a burst of static on the other end, Uncle Pei's voice came through.

Uncle Pei's first words were: it's raining.

He also said, "It's raining."

"Let's wait and see. It just started—don't know if it'll stop."

"Oh, alright then, let's keep working. Damn it, whatever you're afraid of is what happens."

"If the rain gets a bit heavier later, we'll just head straight back. If it doesn't, it'll stop after a bit—no problem then, won't affect anything anyway."

"Mm, let's wait and see. Doesn't rain early, doesn't rain late, has to rain now."

Fortunately, he had earned quite a bit of money in the first two trips, so even if he returned now, he could afford the loss—just a few hundred yuan.

"That's what happens when you go too far out. You just can't read the weather right. Sometimes it's clearly sunny one second, and the next second it's raining. But as long as there are no strong winds or big waves, it's not a big problem. Just work in familiar waters, and don't go too far. The two boats need to be able to see each other, don't drift apart."

Ye Yaodong responded sincerely, "Ah, alright. Let's keep our current distance. Also, right now there are a lot of fish jumping out of the water on the sea surface because of the rain and lack of oxygen. Uncle, you can go out and take a look, tell everyone to cast the nets and scoop them up quickly."

"Ah, alright, alright, alright. I'll hang up and go take a look."

"Alright, if there's any problem we'll keep in touch. I need to hang up too and go call the others."

After Ye Yaodong switched channels, he also walked out of the wheelhouse, went down to the cabin to call the men, and woke everyone up.

"Get up, get up, time to work. It's raining. Put on your rain capes. There are a lot of fish jumping out of the water on the sea surface. Hurry up and cast the nets to scoop them up."

"What? It's raining?"

"It's raining?"

"Huh? What fish, is it fish or rain?"

Hearing his shouts, everyone hurriedly threw off their blankets and sat up, calling out loudly with questions.

"Yes, it's raining. There are a lot of fish jumping out of the water. You all hurry up and get up."

"We still have to scoop fish in the rain? Is it raining hard? I didn't hear a thing." Ye Fu grabbed his rain cape in a hurry and followed behind him, asking as he walked.

"Not heavy, just started, just a light drizzle, barely anything. I just got in touch with Uncle Pei. He said to take a look first, scoop up whatever fish we can off the surface."

"Oh my, so many?? A whole patch of Bai Bai jumping around over there…"

…………