Chapter 1240: Weighing

Quite a lot was also dried on the empty lot around the entrance, all because there wasn't enough room inside, so they were dried outside.

Fearing that someone would steal the kelp, there were also old people from the village cadres' families moving stools to guard the entrance of the old primary school.

This was utilizing everyone who could be utilized.

Seeing this outside, Ye Yaodong smiled and greeted the old people, handed out cigarettes, and went in.

Who was he? The village-famous Ye Yaodong.

Everyone knew it was him who suggested raising kelp, and the kelp was all to be sold to him, so the old people naturally wouldn't stop him.

He didn't stay long either.

He went in for a turn and then left, then wandered toward his own workshop.

When it was almost mealtime, he walked out, but a mud-covered person rushed toward him, hugging his thigh tightly.

"Father, save me, save me."

"What's wrong?"

Ye Yaodong looked down at the little one by his feet and was startled.

"Why are you so dirty? What happened?"

Covered in mud and soaked through, he wanted to pull his foot out, but was hugged tightly.

"I..." Ye Xiaoxi looked vigilantly at the busy adults around, then hugged his leg and dodged.

"I caught loaches, Father... I don't want to go home... you give me a bath, don't tell Mother, don't go home..."

Ye Yaodong's brow furrowed so tightly it could crush a fly, and he reached out to pinch the two wet little buns on her head.

"Who did you go catch loaches with? Aren't you afraid of drowning?"

"With Dou Dou, A Bao, A Xue, A Yue, Qing Qing, Xiao Hong..."

She spat out a long string of names familiar and unfamiliar to Ye Yaodong, all children who hadn't reached school age or had reached school age but hadn't been sent to school yet.

"Father, don't tell Mother, I'll be beaten to death... save me..."

"You also know you'll be beaten to death if you end up like this?"

"But I caught a lot of loaches, look, look, outside..."

Ye Yaodong was dragged by his pant leg toward the outside, his heart already filled with worry. What to do about this lively nature?

Ye Xiaoxi's earlier fearful mood was now somewhat excited again, anxious to show off her treasure, running ahead excitedly.

Just as she ran outside, she saw the loaches she had worked so hard to catch jumping all over the ground.

There were also a few stray cats stealing and eating them. She let out a sharp scream and ran over excitedly.

"Ah! My loaches... stinky cat... stinky cat..."

She waved her little fists, driving the stray cats away, and fell down, sitting on the ground crying loudly. With tears flowing, she grabbed the loaches all over the ground, looking miserable.

Ye Yaodong looked at her, speechless, as she seemed even dirtier and more disheveled.

Where did his fragrant, soft, and well-behaved daughter go?

He just hadn't been home that much, so how was the gap from his imagination getting bigger and bigger?

"Father, come catch them... they're all running away, you come quickly..."

"Sigh..."

He sighed, walked over and squatted down, helping to catch them. At least so many loaches were enough to eat for two or three days, which could be considered an extra meal.

"How did you catch so many?"

Ye Xiaoxi wiped her tears with her dirty little hands, and there were a few more gray marks on her face, making her even dirtier.

She pointed to a wet school bag and said, "This is where I caught them, the cats got them out."

At this moment, it was already empty inside, and they had all jumped out. She was still holding a piece of straw in her hand, probably used to tie the mouth of the school bag earlier.

"This was exchanged for candy."

There was also a basket on the ground, which had also been overturned, but there were still quite a few loaches jumping inside.

"Isn't this Yangyang's new school bag?"

"Ah! I borrowed it and will return it to Brother."

"You're really going to be beaten to death."

Tears were about to fall from Ye Xiaoxi's eyes again. "I... I will, wash it clean, and return it to Brother."

"You can't even use it if you wash it clean, let alone wash the school bag clean."

Lin Xiuqing had sewn a new satchel as a school bag for Ye Chenghu in early spring, and had also sewn one for Ye Chengyang for him to use in the second half of the year. She didn't expect her to use it to hold loaches.

"Don't tell Mother, secretly give me a bath, okay? Is it okay? Okay... okay... Father... okay okay?"

"Now you know to be afraid? What were you doing earlier?"

She wiped her tears while catching loaches, her voice choked. "Everyone is just as dirty, it's not just me..."

"Others will definitely be beaten when they get home, so don't think about escaping it."

"I'm scared, let's secretly take a bath, don't tell Mother, okay?"

"Don't even think about it, it's mealtime, she's already cooking at home."

"Wuwuwu... it was so much fun, I won't dare to do it next time."

"It's okay, it was so much fun, it's worth a beating."

Ye Xiaoxi raised her head, eyes filled with tears, her eyelashes still moist, looking at him with blinking eyes, looking blank, and suddenly stopped crying.

"I was talking nonsense, hurry home and get beaten."

Ye Yaodong caught loaches for a while, getting his hands covered in mud, and some were slippery and hard to catch.

He simply stood up and went to the workshop to get a broom, sweeping them directly into a dustpan, and then pouring them into the basket.

Anyway, they had already rolled on the ground and were covered in mud and very dirty, so he had to take them home quickly to wash and raise them in clean water, otherwise they would all die later.

He swept Ye Xiaoxi twice with the broom. "Move aside, don't get in the way."

"Oh."

She quickly stood up and retreated a few steps, but didn't cry anymore.

After Ye Yaodong finished sweeping the loaches and put the broom back in its place, he pulled her and walked home with the basket on his back.

"Thought it through, not crying anymore?"

She nodded. "Everyone is getting beaten."

However, she was still afraid. When she reached the door, she hesitated and didn't dare to go in. When she heard the crying of familiar little friends nearby, she shrank back again.

Ye Yaodong grabbed her clothes and shouted into the house: "Lin Xiuqing, Lin Xiuqing, come out and see your daughter!"

Lin Xiuqing was stir-frying in the house. Hearing him shout, and even using her full name, she was a bit panicked, but upon hearing the words "your daughter," she wasn't so panicked anymore.

The dead girl must have done something again, which was why he used "your daughter."

"What's wrong?"

She walked to the courtyard door, her hands still wiping on her apron. Looking closely, the child in the courtyard, looking like a drowned rat and covered in dirt, was actually her daughter.

"Ye Xiaoxi, what did you do again? Get in here."

Ye Xiaoxi shrank her neck and immediately hurried to hide behind Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong was also afraid she would run, so he carried her into the house.

"She went to the river with other children to catch loaches. She must be beaten well. Who knows if the river water is deep? What if she drowns? A group of underage children, and they even dared to run to the riverside to play. She must be beaten to death."

He was also considering this point; he had to give her a lesson so she wouldn't keep going to the river, which was why he didn't shield her.

Children have to be beaten until it hurts to remember.

Ye Xiaoxi raised her head and glared at him. "Father, weren't you going to save me?"

"Saving you is harming you."

"I hate you!"

Lin Xiuqing dragged her into the house. "You just don't shed tears until you see the coffin. It's one thing to chase chickens and dogs every day, but you even go to the riverside. Don't you want your life? How old are you, only this big, not even as tall as the table, and your courage is bigger than the sky..."

Ye Xiaoxi stood there with her mouth closed, not making a sound, her eyes habitually looking around, but this time the old lady didn't help her either.

Playing by the river means getting beaten.

Otherwise, what if there's no adult watching at some point? Such a small child, drowning just like that.

Ye Yaodong took the basket to wash the loaches, thinking in his heart that he had to teach her how to swim at some point.

Take advantage of her being small, he could still teach her, otherwise when she got older, he wouldn't be embarrassed to teach her.

Although those who drown are all those who know how to swim, at least it's an extra skill, and sometimes it can save a life. The two sons had also learned to splash around and learned it a few years ago.

The old lady also helped him fetch water, acting as if she didn't hear Lin Xiuqing's scolding, muttering to herself.

"This stuff should just be fed to the ducks and dogs, it's only this big..."

"No, no, I don't want to be fed to the dogs, feed the ducks..."

Ye Xiaoxi heard "only this big" and thought the old lady was talking about her, and instantly broke down.

She hadn't cried when she was being beaten and scolded earlier, thinking about what her father said, anyway, it was worth it to have fun.

She was so scared she quickly hugged Lin Xiuqing's leg, crying with snot and tears. "Don't feed me to the dogs, I won't dare again... I won't dare to go to the river again... wuwu..."

Lin Xiuqing wanted to pull her away but couldn't; she was hugging tightly, her fingernails and joints turning white.

"You also know to be afraid? I thought you weren't afraid."

"Father said, it's worth a beating to have fun."

"Don't frame me."

He just blurted it out, just saying it casually!

"It's what you said! It's what you said!"

Lin Xiuqing glared fiercely at Ye Yaodong. "You're just a troublemaker, teaching the child wrongly."

The old lady immediately said, "It's good to know to be afraid. You must be obedient, not naughty, and even more so, don't go to the river or the seaside to play with water."

"Got it..."

Lin Xiuqing refocused her attention on the child. "It's too late to know. Look at you, what do you look like? Who is as dirty as you..."

"Dou Dou, A Bao, A Xue, A Yue, Qing Qing, Xiao Hong..."

"Still dare to talk back."

The whip in her hand lashed out fiercely. Her eyelashes blinked continuously in fear, and then she closed her eyes and cried.

No one saved her.

After Lin Xiuqing finished beating and scolding her, she took her to take a bath and then made her stand in punishment.

Ye Yaodong and the old lady washed the loaches and raised them in a large bucket.

"Later, take some to stew with wine. It's been a long time since I've eaten it, and I've been missing it. When should we go catch some swamp eels? It's been a long time since I've stewed them."

The little one gets beaten, the father benefits.

The old lady smiled and said, "It's just you who likes this earthy-smelling stuff. Pour more rice wine later."

"Don't say it, if the other children hear it later, they'll want to go catch swamp eels again, finding trouble for me for no reason, and I'll have to chase them with a whip."

Ye Xiaoxi stood against the wall, her face still stained with tears, sobbing continuously, her shoulders shrugging.

When Ye Chenghu came back and saw her like this, and even being punished, he was incredibly happy.

"Haha, you have today too... Father, what did Little Sister do? Why is she also standing in punishment?"

She was extremely angry and closed her eyes and cried again.

Ye Chenghu was even happier seeing her cry.

Ye Yaodong slapped him, and he didn't gloat anymore, quickly dodging.

However, he still ran to Ye Xiaoxi's side and twisted around to provoke her.

"Let you laugh, let you laugh, you're also standing in punishment, you're also beaten..."

"Go away, I hate you."

Ye Chenghu turned his back and twisted his butt at her. Seeing the unkind gazes of his father and mother, he quickly ran out again.

Ye Xiaoxi kicked her legs in anger. "I hate you!"

Lin Xiuqing said helplessly, "Every one of them is here to collect debts, not one is worry-free, all like you."

"Don't blame everything bad on me."

"If I don't blame you for the bad things, who do I blame?"

The old lady looked at both of them glaring and quickly pushed Ye Yaodong out. "They are all drying kelp outside, it's in full swing and full of people, go take a look, I'll call you when it's time to eat."

Ye Yaodong was passively pushed out. He turned his head and looked at the big and small ones glaring at him, so he'd better go.

Big or small, they all hated him now.

Yesterday, when he said he would stay at home to catch squid, everyone was very happy. At night, they even kissed him when they slept, burrowing into his arms, affectionately calling him Father and Husband.

Today, none of them were happy, really!

Being a man is really hard, being a father and a husband is even harder.

Ye Yaodong walked to the empty lot on the side. Several men were still busy drying kelp there, and they hadn't gone back even though it was mealtime.

He found Chen Shuji and asked, and was told that they just had to hurry up and work, and they could take turns going home to eat later.

Everyone was working so hard, and they were all full of expectations, with smiles on their faces. No one felt reluctant. Thinking that he had nothing to do now, he also rolled up his sleeves and helped out.

"Adong also came to help? You have a pile of work in your own workshop, yet you ran here to help?"

"Adong is already a big boss, yet he's still helping to dry?"

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "What big boss? If I were a big boss, I wouldn't need to go to sea, I'd just lie at home and count money. It just so happens I haven't eaten yet, so I came over to take a look and just happened to lend a hand."

"Hehe, you have a big business now, if you're not a boss, what are you?"

"It's President Ye, haha," Chen Shuji teased.

"Don't tease me. With this time, you might as well go file a report to apply to visit research units and apply for species suitable for farming here."

"Hehe, I applied last month, but it hasn't been approved yet. Now I'll wait until this busy period is over before going to file another report to apply and see."

The topic immediately shifted, and the villagers also asked the village cadres curiously about what species to farm.

Ye Yaodong only worked for a while, and hearing them call him to eat, he went home.

Ye Xiaoxi was still standing in punishment there, just somewhat bored, keeping her head down looking at her feet, playing with her two feet turning inward.

After turning them, she played with her fingers, then played with her clothes, a bunch of little actions.

Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang didn't know if they had just been scolded and beaten, but although Ye Chenghu was very jumpy before, now both of them were exceptionally honest, sitting obediently to eat, without gloating to provoke her.

Ye Yaodong just glanced at them and talked about business with Ye Fu, chatting about their going to sea at night, and also took the opportunity to tell his father to pay attention to safety.

He also planned to temporarily move the diving equipment from the Dongsheng to the small boat.

For at least the next half month, he would be in the near sea. Thinking that he hadn't been to the reefs near the Oarfish Island for two years, he was still thinking about the abalone and small lobsters underneath, and whether the nearby Jiang Yao (razor clams) had grown again.

It just so happened that he would be in that vicinity, so moving it to the small boat would be convenient for going into the water to harvest a wave. After all, it would be a bit hotter all day, and he would probably have to run to Zhejiang Province again.

The personnel on the boat also needed to change their work, and Ye Fu listened to all his arrangements.

Both father and son were talking about business, so this meal was eaten more normally. Their family basically talked about things at the dinner table, and they were used to holding family meetings while eating.

After finishing the meal, neither of them was idle, and they went to arrange the matters at hand.

Ye Yaodong was busy all afternoon, his feet not touching the ground, turning back and forth.

Near dusk, the village cadres pulled three large carts of dried kelp over, and a bunch of villagers were all surrounding them to watch.

After seeing this, he quickly called someone to take a bundle of nylon bags and spread them on the empty lot at the entrance of the warehouse next door.

Lin Xiuqing had people pull dried fish to the city every day these two days, and had emptied the warehouse in advance. At this moment, they were weighing at the entrance of the warehouse.

This way, after filling a large bag, it could be wrapped in a nylon bag, tied with straw rope, and carried into the warehouse to be stacked, and sent to the factory in the city to be piled up early tomorrow morning.

With such a large quantity, it wasn't easy to pack in sacks, so it was better to pack and tie with these nylon bags.

Fortunately, the piece of land in the city had already been utilized, and the space there was larger, which was more conducive to storage.

Otherwise, these tens of tons of kelp would also take up a lot of space.

After the ground was padded with nylon bags, workers also pushed the platform scale over.

Ye Yaodong also asked Lin Xiuqing to go get two more large wooden scales. The quantity was not small, and more large scales would weigh faster. Moreover, these dry goods could be tied with ropes, and hooking them with wooden scales would also be fast.

After the goods from the three flatbed carts were poured onto the ground, they continued to push them back to pull goods, and they also started the weighing in full swing.

Usually, the workshop didn't allow villagers who weren't working to come in and out, to prevent any accidents.

But at this moment, everyone was curious, so he let people in, just telling a few workers to watch well, and not to let people fish in troubled waters and destroy his family's fish sauce.

The village chief smiled and said to him, "You'll be at home for the next few days, right? You'll be able to pull them over for weighing, right?"

Chen Shuji also said, "The quantity dried out is too much, and we don't have a place to pile it up. The old primary school is dilapidated everywhere, and if it rains, it will all be ruined."

"It's fine, you can send them over for weighing at this time every day. I will arrange to pull them away the next day and store them in the city. Such a large batch requires a lot of storage space."

Everyone was relieved.

"That's good. These few days, they are drying there one after another, and what's dried is also one after another, so we can only collect what's dry every day and send it over."

Ye Yaodong nodded and picked up some dried kelp to check the quality.

After everyone collected these kelp, they piled them up casually and didn't roll them into rolls. After pouring them on the ground, they looked like dried salted vegetables, scattered in a big pile on the ground.

However, basically every piece was covered with white frost, and the thin yellowed parts at the tail had also been cut off. They were indeed tidied up when collected.

Doing it for the first year, everyone handled it seriously. He flipped through it casually and directly asked people to start weighing.

Now he couldn't ask for top-tier goods or anything; it was already very good to be able to dry them like this.

After it stabilized in the future, he could also set up a kelp factory to make top-tier kelp rolls, kelp shreds, kelp knots, and kelp heads.

At this moment, he wouldn't be particular; it was too much of a hassle, and there were no conditions for drying. Not to mention the dryer, the electricity wasn't stable.

If he really had the conditions, he would definitely arrange a dryer for the dried fish first; after all, it was his old profession.

The surrounding villagers were all watching the excitement and discussing it.

Some also shouted to Ye Yaodong: "Adong, can our scattered dried ones also be brought over later?"

"Wait until tomorrow daytime. It's not that fast to weigh these goods today. Later, Acai will also have dried fish sent over, which also needs to be weighed, and I'm too busy. You bring them over after 2 o'clock tomorrow, and tell others too."

It just so happened that tomorrow he would collect scattered goods in advance, and then collect the large amount of goods from the village committee. He didn't know how much the village committee had at this moment, but he estimated he would be busy until dark.

"Alright, then we'll bring them over tomorrow, so as not to keep you too busy."

"Is the yield of kelp raised this year too amazing? We've been collecting for many days and still haven't finished. I heard that when the tide rises later, we have to collect overnight."

"No way, we have to collect and dry it quickly while it's sunny."

"It's fortunate that it's not like this every day, otherwise people wouldn't be able to stand it."

"Everyone has calculated it. This kelp farming only requires working for half a year and resting for half a year. It's only busiest when harvesting. Compared to doing other things, it's much easier."

"Indeed, what can you do for half a year and rest for half a year, and still earn a lot of money..."

"Wait and see, it's already being weighed. Let's see how much weight there is today and how much money it can sell for."

"So much kelp, it's all money... the village cadres only sent a few people to work, and they could harvest so much..."

Everyone pointed and talked excitedly, and people kept joining the crowd to watch.

At this time, quite a few people had just returned from the sea one after another, and upon hearing the news, they immediately came over, not even having time to go home.

Ye Yaodong watched people coming in continuously, thinking it would be better to weigh at the entrance, at most it would be a bit of effort to carry it in.

The empty lot around him was full of large vats, and there wasn't enough space for people to stand and watch, and he was afraid that people would squeeze around and smash the water vats.

"After these are weighed, move to the entrance to weigh. There are too many people, it can't fit, and the carts are hard to get in."

The village chief also said, "I just wanted to say that too. The three flatbed carts can't get in now, it's all people. Let's park them at the entrance for now."

Ye Yaodong immediately asked someone to take a roll of nylon bags to the entrance and spread them out.

In his workshop, besides dried fish and fish sauce, nylon bags took up the most space. Because he was worried about rain, he had prepared a lot of nylon bags intermittently over the past two or three years.

The three flatbed carts pulled several trips before pulling all the dried kelp over.

They also weighed from dawn until dark. None of the villagers who cared about this matter left, all watching on empty stomachs. A total of five tons and 620 jin were weighed out.

Ye Yaodong immediately settled the account on the spot, which could also be considered as sending a good signal to the village committee.

The jin calculated sold for 743.4 yuan. He immediately asked Lin Xiuqing to take the money to the village chief.

The villagers' eyes lit up, and they were all excited.

This was only a part, there was still more in the sea that hadn't been collected. Selling so much on the first day, there was still more to come.

Everyone waited here for a long time without even going home to eat, just waiting for this moment of collecting money.

The crowd was boiling, and they were all talking at once.

"Doesn't this have to sell for several thousand yuan?"

"30 mu can sell for several thousand yuan? And only a few people worked?"

"Then if our family has four or five laborers, we can totally handle it, right? If we can't handle it, at most hiring people for a few days won't cost much..."

"Isn't this too much?"

"Selling for so much money~"

"Adong said this morning that if there's a bumper harvest next year, everyone will be able to afford a TV and washing machine..."

"Do it! Do it! In the second half of the year, we'll follow the village committee to farm kelp..."

"Yes, yes, yes, I also want to follow and learn how to grow kelp..."

The village cadres were also a bit excited looking at the money in the village chief's hands. Only by holding real gold and silver in their hands could they have a sense of reality.

This was the best proof of success.

The village chief's face was full of joy, and he was about to grin from ear to ear, but listening to the excited discussion of the fellow villagers, he was also worried that it wouldn't exceed their expectations later, and they would be disappointed.

Then it would be better to lower expectations now.

"Don't be happy too early. We sold more today, tomorrow might not be this much. Some worked this morning, just accumulating and selling together at night, so the quantity will be less tomorrow."

The village party secretary also pacified, "Right, we have to dry everything, and we'll calculate the total, then we can calculate the total output. When the time comes, we will definitely post it on the bulletin board and announce it for everyone to see."

"That won't be less either. There's still more in the sea, and such a large piece was dried on the construction site. There must be two or three thousand."

"Don't talk about two or three thousand. If a family can earn a thousand or so, they'll work their lives out."

"Yes, today these can sell for 700, which is already a lot, better than us working for a year."

Ye Yaodong was also worried that their expectations were too high, and said seriously and honestly: "Everyone shouldn't think too well. Everything has risks. After all, it's relying on heaven to eat. Even grain planted in the ground has times of poor harvest, let alone raising it in the sea."

"No one dares to guarantee what next year will be like. I can only say that it is indeed a big bumper harvest this year, which has opened a good start for everyone and increased the confidence of all the people in our village."

"And kelp farming is also suitable for long-term work. A poor harvest in one year doesn't mean a poor harvest every year. This can also be considered a way out for our village, and it can also be considered a hope."

"Fellow villagers don't have to rely on scratching food from the ground, and doing scattered hard labor at the pier to barely make a living. Kelp farming is always better than doing other things."

Chen Shuji also nodded in agreement, "Adong is right. A big bumper harvest in one year doesn't mean we can have such a harvest every year. Our village is also doing it for the first time. If everyone thinks well of it, in the second half of the year, each family can send one laborer, and we can collectively plant for another year."

"We can use the previous work-point system, work together first, and also take the opportunity to learn farming technology, and then distribute the results according to labor. This can also reduce the risks everyone bears."

Someone seconded and cheered, "This is good!"

"This is good, we can learn, and everyone can share the risks together."

The village chief raised his hand to suppress everyone's opinions.

"We have also discussed it in advance. The money earned this year, after deducting expenses, will be used as the cost for the second half of the year."

"Of course, if it's not enough, everyone will chip in a bit, and when the time comes, the harvest will be distributed according to the share of expenses. However, we'll talk about the specifics when the time comes, we still need to chat in detail." ===== CHAPTER 1241 =====