Chapter 1134: Natural Disasters and Man-made Misfortunes

Ye Yaodong looked at his father's blank expression, which hadn't come back to its senses yet, and also felt it was magical.

This trajectory was truly completely different.

"My grandfather came out when he was a teenager, why didn't he think about going back to take a look?"

"In an era of war and chaos, was it that easy to go out?"

"That's true."

That was a turbulent and restless era, with invaders running rampant. It was only in the last two years that you didn't need an introduction letter to go out.

"Then are we really going over when the time comes?"

"Go take a look. Those who can repair the ancestral hall are probably also from a wealthy family. Since they invited us, there's no malice. Going to take a look at your grandfather's hometown is also fine."

"Then you tell Ye Dabo and Ye Erbo. Since we are going, they definitely have to go together too. But there are still two months, so we can also inquire about it in advance."

"Mm."

Ye Father held the shaved bamboo strips and bent them again and again, but didn't continue weaving the basket. It looked like he was still digesting it there.

The father and son just sat there blankly thinking for a while, never having thought that after his grandfather died, they could actually still recognize their ancestors and return to the clan? Something they hadn't thought about for a lifetime.

"This... you are becoming more and more capable, never thought you could even find back the ancestors?"

Ye Yaodong opened and closed his mouth. He hadn't thought about it either? It was just knowing this person, Ye Yao Hai.

"Oh right, there are also overseas Chinese, maybe it's even a big clan."

Ye Father nodded happily. "That's right, then we have to go take a look."

He shook his head. "Talk about it in two months. Anyway, you first pass the word to Ye Dabo and Ye Erbo's side."

"Mm."

Ye Yaodong got up and walked home again. When he went back and told the old lady and Lin Xiuqing again, both of them also had blank and surprised expressions. However, the old lady might know a little more and accept it faster, only saying that since there was an opportunity now, it would be good to go over and take a look.

During lunch, their family was also discussing this matter.

"Is our family moving to the provincial capital?" Ye Chenghu looked at them in surprise.

Ye Yaodong said unhappily, "Who is 'our'? What does it have to do with you? Eat your meal, adults are talking, what are you children interrupting for?"

"Oh, Cousin Ah Yuan said he was moving to the city, and he still has to study in the city in the second half of the year. I thought we were moving to the provincial capital."

"Thinking quite beautifully."

"Hehe."

"If we move to the provincial capital, we are moving to the mountain gullies of the provincial capital. Do you want to go?"

Ye Chenghu hesitated and said, "Then can we come back?"

"Reluctant to leave here?"

"I like our home here."

Ye Yaodong's expression softened. "Eat."

For the next two days, they were discussing this matter with the two neighboring families. However, after the weather changed, everyone didn't discuss this anymore.

It had only been sunny for a few days after returning, when suddenly the wind picked up. Under the scorching sun, a cool breeze blew, and the children were extremely happy, shouting from morning to night that a typhoon was coming.

The adults were all worried about the typhoon, but they were carefree and looking forward to the typhoon coming so it could be cooler.

In the evening, when the villagers were sitting at the entrance chatting, they were also talking about another typhoon coming.

"There hasn't been a year without a typhoon passing through."

"It doesn't matter if there's no big typhoon. I wonder how those people who stayed in Zhejiang Province are doing?"

"My man called home in the evening and said that they didn't go out to sea at all today, and it's been raining on and off over there. There have been more boats on the sea in the last few days, and they are grabbing like crazy. The locals are fighting, so they are afraid of being caught again and are staying far away, running to the outer sea to find them. They said that after a whole day, it was just so-so, and couldn't compare to the previous period."

"Then it would be better to come back early. Now that there's a typhoon coming, they have to rest for at least a week."

"Who says not? They said that what they earned in these days isn't as much as what they earned in a day or two before."

"Then it's good that there's earnings. At least it's better than resting at home. Now it looks like there's going to be a typhoon, so they really have to rest."

"I don't know when this typhoon will pass. Oh, the weather forecast is about to be broadcast. I'm going back to listen to the weather forecast, otherwise, if it's windy and rainy and the power is cut off tomorrow, I won't be able to listen."

One person shouted while patting his thigh, and the others also stood up one after another. Those with televisions went home to watch the weather forecast, and those without went to someone nearby to watch.

Ye Yaodong's family also went back to the house to listen to the weather forecast. After waiting for a while to listen to the news, it was time for the weather forecast. Sure enough, a typhoon was coming, which was why it had become cool today.

However, the next day was still sunny, but the waves by the sea were churning even larger. Those children were even happier, running to the coast whenever they had nothing to do to pick up some seafood rolled up by the waves. No matter how the adults shouted or scolded, it was useless. After a beating, once the pain passed, they would still run off with itchy skin.

His family's few were also like this, picking up bucket after bucket and bringing them home, only to get beaten again.

The abnormal weather continued for another two days before the sky became overcast. A whistling wind blew in gusts, but as long as it didn't rain, the children were still running wild outside.

One by one, they were still running with the wind, screaming like ghosts while running.

"I'm going to be blown away by the typhoon~"

"Look, I'm opening my mouth, I'm drinking the northwest wind..."

"You fool, it's a typhoon, you're eating the typhoon..."

"Wow, I was slapped against the wall by the typhoon..."

"It's so cool and refreshing..."

"Ah! It's raining, it's raining~"

"It's drifting over, the heavy rain is drifting over, hurry home..."

It was raining heavily. The rain was swept away by the wind in large sheets. Middle-aged women all ran to the entrance and shouted for their children to come back quickly.

Lin Guangyuan also rarely watched the typhoon by the sea. He found it extremely novel. Even after entering the house, he still stood by the window and watched the churning waves.

"Little Aunt, your house is really sturdy. It doesn't leak at all. There's no light rain in the house during the typhoon, it's so comfortable."

Ye Chenghu was triumphant. "Our house is a new house. Our old house used to leak everywhere and grow mushrooms whenever it rained."

"The waves outside are really big. The waves were big a few days ago, but I didn't expect them to be even bigger after the wind picked up. It's so spectacular, wow, crashing down..."

A large wave churned outside, and then with a "crash," it smashed down, turning into foam all over the ground and seafood crawling everywhere.

"Will the waves hit your house?"

"No, but fish will fall to our door. Let me tell you, during the typhoon before, there were so many fish, they kept falling to our door with a 'pitter-patter,' it was so magical."

"Really?" Lin Guangyuan's eyes burst with light, and his face was distorted as he pressed his head against the glass. "There really are fish. As soon as the waves hit, there are fish jumping on the ground. Oh, can we go out?"

"No, the typhoon has started. You can't go anywhere, you can only stay at home and play with toys. Go upstairs, the television can't be watched either, the power is out."

"Alright."

No one moved their feet, and several of them all huddled by the window watching the churning waves outside.

Ye Yaodong also sat on the table with his feet up. During the typhoon, nothing could be done, so he could only sit in the house and wait for the typhoon to pass.

Because the sky outside was dim, the house was also dim. It was clearly morning, but there was nothing to do in the house, so they didn't light candles and just sat there chatting.

From morning to night, the sound of the wind kept strengthening, and after nightfall, the whistling wind reached its peak.

For some reason, the typhoon always had the most movement at night, but the whole family felt exceptionally at ease staying in the house, and the movement outside couldn't affect the inside.

Ye Xiaoxi was exceptionally excited in the room. Even though it was almost time to sleep, she was still flipping somersaults without stopping.

"Daddy, it's so scary outside, are you going to catch ghosts again?"

Ye Yaodong's movement of lying down paused, and then he turned his head to look at Lin Xiuqing.

Lin Xiuqing glared back.

He laughed out loud. "Not catching them today, a bit tired, rest for a while."

"Ah, is catching ghosts very tiring?"

"Ghosts absorb people's Yang energy. If you catch ghosts too frequently, your daddy will be sucked dry."

"Then what about fighting fairies?"

"Cough, fairies absorb people's spirit and energy, and it can't be too frequent either, or you'll be listless. Hurry up and sleep."

"Why are you talking nonsense to the child?" Lin Xiuqing glared at him unhappily, then looked at Ye Xiaoxi, who had a curious face. "Hurry up and sleep, don't ask about this and that, why so many questions?"

"Why are there ghosts in this world?"

"Don't talk nonsense in the middle of the night."

"Why?"

"Because you have to sleep at night."

"But you also sleep during the day. You and Daddy were also sleeping during the day the past two days."

Ye Yaodong was worried that Ye Xiaoxi would blow Lin Xiuqing up, so he immediately covered her mouth, held her, and lay down. "Sleep."

"Don't know why so many questions every day." Lin Xiuqing complained, blew out the candle, and hurriedly went to sleep.

After Ye Xiaoxi saw the house was pitch black, she still asked about this and that, and rolled around everywhere, looking like she had no intention of sleeping at all.

The couple answered a few questions at first, but later couldn't be bothered to care about her, letting her roll around talking to herself. It was only after a long time that she quieted down and fell asleep.

Only then did Lin Xiuqing sit up and take a small quilt to cover her.

Ye Yaodong whispered, "After this typhoon passes, I might go to Zhejiang Province again."

"Are you really going?"

"Mm, after this typhoon passes, the sea trench will probably be empty, and the others should be back too. I'll just go over and stagger them."

"Then since you aren't salvaging jellyfish, there shouldn't be any conflicts. That's fine. See if anyone calls to report the situation after the typhoon passes."

"Mm, look at the movement tonight. When we wake up tomorrow morning, the typhoon will have passed, either landed or changed direction. Even if the sea is calm, we'll have to wait a few days, so we can rest at home for a few days."

"The wind force today looks quite strong. The weather forecast two days ago said it was a super typhoon..."

Ye Yaodong also listened to the window shaking and banging. "It won't land here, at most it's passing by. Super typhoon is super typhoon, anyway, we can hold up."

Suddenly, they heard a loud noise outside, accompanied by the sound of things shattering and hitting the ground. The wind seemed to have become even stronger, as if it were right in their ears. He hurriedly sat up.

"I'll go out and take a look, it seems like the glass was broken?"

Lin Xiuqing also sat up worriedly, lit a candle, and went out together to take a look.

As soon as the couple opened the bedroom door, they heard the whistling wind outside. The candle was blown flickering by the wind blowing through the window. Lin Xiuqing hurriedly reached out to protect it, so it wouldn't go out and they wouldn't be able to see anything.

The old lady also held a candle to protect it and opened the bedroom door to come out. "I seem to have heard the sound of glass breaking..."

"Ah! It really is the window that cracked. The wind is blowing in, and the rain is smashing in too."

"Move the things by the window first. Shine the light for me."

There were quite a few miscellaneous items piled up in the corners of the house. Now that the window glass was broken and the wind and rain were blowing in, they had to tidy up the miscellaneous items and move them to other places.

"There's a conch on the ground..."

Ye Yaodong also saw it and hurriedly walked over to pick it up. "It looks like this conch smashed the window. Living by the sea, it seems quite dangerous? During a typhoon, anything can fall from the sky..."

"So big... huh, this looks like one of the conchs at home..."

He examined it. "It's a phoenix-tail conch. I picked one up on the beach two years ago, and here's another one. It looks like I'm going to get rich."

"Ah? This conch isn't very expensive."

"This conch implies attracting wealth, a good omen! Breaking for peace!"

Lin Xiuqing said with a smile, "Then did we get rich these past two years because we picked up this conch two years ago? Now that we picked up this conch again, are we going to get rich again?"

"Exactly, that must be it!"

"Cut it into slices and stir-fry it to eat tomorrow, it's quite big."

The old lady said, "Go get a bucket, add some clean water and salt, and raise it in the bucket. Suddenly smashing a conch and breaking the window, we'll have to spend money to make a window tomorrow."

"It's normal during a typhoon. Without a conch, there would be tiles or stones, breaking the glass is normal."

The phoenix-tail conch is the first of the four famous conchs. Its color and pattern are very beautiful, and its shape is like a phoenix's tail. It has the implication of attracting wealth, and this conch can blow a sound like a bugle. Later on, even just the shell alone could be sold for tens to hundreds of yuan.

The phoenix-tail conch has very high requirements for the water environment and grows slowly. Later on, it was upgraded to a second-class protected species. Now, there was no issue with keeping the shell as a souvenir.

Their family already had many large conch shells, and they had two of these phoenix-tail conchs.

After handing the conch to Lin Xiuqing to handle, he moved all the things in the corner by the window. During this time, the rain kept smashing in, and his body was also wet.

The glass suddenly broke in the middle of the night, and there was no way to deal with it, so he could only leave it empty and let the wind blow in. There was nothing else to be done.

Fortunately, there was no dried fish in the house, as it had all been moved to the city, so he wasn't afraid of it getting damp.

After finishing the work, the couple went back to the room to continue sleeping.

Early the next morning, the wind was significantly smaller, leaving only the aftermath and light rain. When the children got up and saw that a window downstairs had suddenly broken into a large hole, they were all extremely surprised.

"How come I didn't hear any sound?"

"I didn't hear it either. I fell asleep and didn't even hear the wind."

"You guys are like pigs when you fall asleep. You wouldn't know even if the sky fell."

"There's a lot of seafood on the ground outside, let's go, let's go pick up seafood..." Lin Guangyuan excitedly wanted to go out with a bucket. "It's not raining much outside anymore, and the wind is smaller."

"It's still raining, you can't go out early in the morning. You guys just stay at home. If you don't listen, I'll send you back to the city tomorrow."

Lin Guangyuan instantly quieted down and sat honestly by the window, looking outside with eager eyes.

Ye Yaodong put on a straw raincoat and ran to the neighbors to call the two brothers. He first went to his old home, only taking a casual glance at the messy small seafood at the entrance.

When he entered the village, he was stunned. Many houses had half their roof tiles blown away, broken windows were not rare, pigpen roofs had been lifted, and most of the adobe walls had collapsed.

Early in the morning, many families, old and young, were wearing straw raincoats, either standing at the entrance in the rain busy tidying up, or cursing there.

Fortunately, their seaside village had stone houses. At most, the roofs had some problems, but the houses were sturdy and wouldn't collapse.

"Was the wind force that strong last night?"

"We slept quite peacefully..."

"Me too, I only felt the wind was loud, I didn't feel anything different from previous typhoons."

"That's because our houses are newly built and sturdy, so we weren't affected much and slept well."

Ye Yaodong also only felt the wind was loud at night. Apart from his own window breaking, he didn't feel that the power was that great, and he really slept quite well in the second half of the night.

Everyone looked left and right along the way, only feeling that this time seemed to be quite seriously affected. When they arrived at the old home and saw two pieces of glass broken and a small part of the roof tiles flying away, they really had an impression of this typhoon—it was truly a super typhoon.

"Forget it, no need to be busy. It's like this anyway. Let's take Father and Mother away first. When the rain stops, we'll invite someone to make glass, and then buy tiles to repair it. We can't do anything now."

"Mm, it's still raining, it's inconvenient to do anything. Anyway, we have rooms there."

Other people only had one room and no conditions. If the wind was blowing and it was raining, they had to repair it. Otherwise, it would be raining outside and raining inside, and there would be nowhere to stay.

Ye Father and Ye Mother saw them coming, so they immediately packed their things and followed them to the new house to take shelter first. Anyway, there was a place to live, and they didn't care that much about this old house. They didn't necessarily have to follow others and repair it in the rain.

Ye Mother said while walking, "How come this typhoon is so big... In the middle of the night, there was the sound of tiles being blown away and falling everywhere."

"Apart from the sound of waves and wind, everything else was fine."

"Have you been to the seaside? How are the boats? We didn't know it was such a big typhoon in advance, and thought it was just passing by, so the boats weren't sailed to the typhoon shelter."

"Only saw Dongsheng and Fengshou floating well by the sea. Don't know about other boats. When coming over, saw quite a few people going to the seaside..."

As long as these two boats were fine, it didn't matter much about other fishing boats. He had sold all his small wooden boats, and the trawlers were still at the shipyard, so he really had nothing to worry about.

"... Where to find... didn't know in advance, it was blown away directly..."

"... Demon cultivation... the boats were all blown away..."

Their family had just walked past a few people when they heard this. Ye Father hurriedly pulled someone to ask, "Whose boat was blown away?"

"Quite a few, some only have wooden pieces left..."

Ye Father looked at the three brothers. "Go to the pier and take a look first."

Ye Mother was also worried about the boats and followed them to the pier.

There were also quite a few people on the road going to the pier, and some coming back from the pier.

After people coming back from the pier spread the word, more people wearing straw raincoats went to the outside of the pier. Some didn't even care about the rain in their own houses and hurriedly ran out, fearing that their fishing boats would have some mishap. These were their tools for eating.

Before they even reached the pier, everyone saw quite a few wooden miscellaneous items floating all over the beach, as well as some wooden pieces.

Everyone cared about their own boats, and their eyes were searching for their own. Seeing their own still docked there, they felt relieved. Those who didn't see them started cursing, and those who were anxious continued to run forward, wanting to see clearly.

There were already women crying and howling at the pier.

"It was only just bought and hadn't been out to sea for two days, and it was blown away by the waves. Damn it, why are we so unlucky..."

"Damn it, there's a typhoon every year, how are we supposed to live? The roof is gone, and the boat is gone..."

Ye Yaodong looked at his family's few fishing boats, all of which were fine, and felt relieved. Hearing others crying and shouting, he also went to look for the few small wooden boats he had sold, and found that they were really missing...

That was really quite tragic. They had only been in their hands for a few days, and hadn't been out to sea many times...

"Ah? Ah Dong? Oh my, the boat we just bought was blown away by the typhoon..."

"Other boats are fine, why was yours blown away? Was the rope not tied well?"

"This... how is this possible..."

"Then you have to ask yourselves, why are others fine, but yours is gone."

As soon as someone pulled him, he knew they definitely wanted to ask him for compensation, to pay, etc.

What did this have to do with him? Still thinking about a 7-day no-reason return?

He had sold them for several days, could a natural disaster still be counted on his head?

Ye Mother immediately said, "We knew a typhoon was coming a few days ago, you didn't pay attention, and didn't come out to look more. Alright, now the boat is gone, what are you looking for Dongzi for? It was sold, so it's yours, you didn't watch it well yourself."

The other party muttered, "This... after all, it was just bought, and it's gone..."

"You also said it was bought, then what does it have to do with us?" Ye Mother replied, and then pulled the others away. "Let's go, let's go back, it's enough to have seen it."

Everyone also followed back together.

With no one around, Ye Mother said, "It's good you sold the boats fast!"

Ye Yaopeng said, "Don't know how the typhoon is over in Zhejiang Province..."

"As long as they don't go out and don't run around, the people will definitely be fine."

Ye Yaodong thought about how that old, dilapidated house didn't know what it had been ravaged into by the typhoon. After the typhoon passed, he really had to go over and take a look.

After the typhoon passed, the rain was still falling heavily until the afternoon when the rain became smaller and the sound of the wind completely disappeared. Some children were all running out, picking up things all over the shore, without any of the adults' worries.

And they also heard at the entrance that those who stayed in Zhejiang Province to salvage jellyfish had several small boats blown away, and even old boats were smashed to pieces by the impact. It was said that the degree of influence over there was much greater than here.

Some locals were worried about their fishing boats having accidents and also wanted to sail them to the typhoon shelter, but were blown away by the typhoon halfway.

Everyone at the entrance listened to the rumors spreading throughout the village and was terrified. Some family members went directly to the village committee to guard, just waiting for news to be called back from over there at any time.

"Don't know if there are any personnel injuries in our village..."

"The boat being gone is small, people being gone is big..."

"Oh my, if we had known, we should have come back early with them, shouldn't have thought about earning more money and staying over there..."

"That's right, and didn't salvage for many more days before another typhoon came. Typhoons are frequent in these two or three months anyway..."

"What can we do if we didn't earn money? Who was it that called back to say it, spreading it with nose and eyes."

Ye Mother went out for a stroll and came back. The family also knew the rumors outside.

"It's good you came back, otherwise the whole family would have to worry."

"Going to sea is dangerous in the first place, and being in a foreign place, those people are also unlucky, encountering everything..."

"It is estimated that after the typhoon, they will come back immediately."

Ye Yaodong's certainty didn't deviate. The next day, the whole village was spreading the news that those people were about to come back as soon as the wind calmed down.

Didn't earn much money, encountered prison disasters, typhoons, and local exclusion—all natural disasters and man-made misfortunes were occupied.

Ye Mother said at mealtime, "Heard that Ah Guo's side had two small boats blown away, and three are left. Said that what was earned on this trip might only be enough for the capital, tossing and turning blindly. It's good that your Big Brother and Second Brother came back."

"They still owe Ah Sheng the money for his redemption." Ye Father said.

"Then there will be a fuss when they come back. It's good that it's their own brothers, not outsiders' business. They can figure it out themselves."

Ye Father looked at Ye Yaodong again. "Calculate the accounts that haven't been calculated when they come back. After calculating the accounts, you go over again."

"What? Go where? Still have to go? Go over there for what? Everyone is back, why are you still running over there?" Ye Mother widened her eyes and glared at Ye Yaodong in surprise.

Ye Yaodong didn't pay attention to his mother, only saying to his father, "Definitely, how can we wait until they come back to understand the situation before I go over? After calculating the accounts, if they can't come up with the money, then deduct it from the dividends every month."

"You really want to go over? What are you going over for?"

"Go over to catch fish, what else?"

"With everyone else back, you alone going over there, isn't that dangerous? Those sea urchins aren't worth more than your life."

"Without those people, maybe I'll be safer alone."

Without a large group of people, and with the quantity in the fishing season decreasing, naturally the relative danger was also less.

Moreover, if he went again, he would definitely go to the urban area. There were many fishing boats coming and going in the urban area. As long as it wasn't a large group of people, foreign boats wouldn't be that conspicuous.

Lin Xiuqing was a bit conflicted. "Then wait until those people come back and inquire before going. It's only mid-August now, the fishing season lasts until October, right? It's just that with continuous natural disasters and man-made misfortunes, everyone can't stand it. Some people want to come back, and the rest don't want to stay."

"I was thinking the same thing. Since everyone says they are coming back, then definitely wait until they come back first."

The old lady sighed. "Dongzi has grown up, and his ideas have grown too. He really is the head of the family."

Ye Chenghu whispered, "Isn't it Mother?"

Ye Yaodong glared over.

"This is what you said... you said whatever my mother tells you to do, you do..."

"No one will treat you as a mute if you don't speak."