Chapter 1248

The two of them watched for a while, reached out and touched the squid eggs, and after exchanging glances, they turned around the area again.

They couldn't talk or communicate now, so they could only do the serious work first.

Ye Yaodong chose a ground cage to rescue.

He also followed to help.

After untying one, the two of them pulled along the end of the rope, tested that the ground cages in the same row were not snagging the bottom, and then swam upward pulling the rope.

As soon as he broke the surface, Ah Zheng took off his mask and air tube and said impatiently, "Holy crap, so that's how squid lay eggs. I've learned something today. Damn, that transparent string hanging there like grapes."

Xiao Xiao immediately took over, "How do they lay eggs? What did you see? Hurry up and come up, come up and talk."

"I saw a string of transparent squid laying eggs on the ground cages..."

As soon as Ah Zheng came up, he vividly described what he saw underwater, which made Xiao Xiao itch with impatience.

After his equipment was taken off, he immediately took it and put it on.

Ye Yaodong handed the rope he brought up to the others and also took off the things on his body.

"There are too many ground cages at the bottom. Don't let all the squid run over here to lay eggs and not go to the branches."

The others were talking excitedly, and when they heard this, they all reacted.

"No way?"

If that were the case, their harvest would definitely be less.

"Then wouldn't it be better to just come here and cast the net? Isn't this the same as us throwing branches to trap squid?" Ah Zheng scratched his head, feeling that it didn't seem to have much impact, just changing the fishing spot.

"How is it the same? There are reefs here, brother, they will snag the bottom. Use your brain to think."

Although some ground cages were only three to five meters underwater, they were all snagged by reefs. When they fished, the nets would still easily snag the bottom if thrown down; they couldn't gamble.

And some ground cages were on the seabed, how could they net them?

"Oh, right."

"If you guys want to go down and see, go take a look. A portion will definitely be dispersed here. I'll take a look these two days and hurry to collect these ground cages at the bottom."

"Fine."

He thought to himself, it was mainly the ground cages around the reefs.

As for the seabed, it was too deep. Squid only lay eggs at a depth of 2 to 10 meters underwater, not in very deep locations.

"Hurry up and look, and by the way, bring a few ground cages up before going to the branches to take a look and see if you can net some. If you can't net much, you guys continue to trawl."

"Got it, got it, we'll help collect a few ground cages." As soon as Xiao Xiao finished speaking, he jumped down with Chen Shi.

Ye Yaodong wasn't worried about them anymore; it wasn't their first time going down.

He continued to fiddle with the pile of miscellaneous cargo on the deck, picking out the fresh ones, sprinkling them with ice cubes, covering them with cotton, and moving them to the side to avoid them turning stinky. The direct sun at sea still made them very easy to spoil.

After the two of them went down for more than ten minutes, they came up, and at the same time brought up ground cages.

He ignored their excited chatter and exchange, and as soon as the ground cages were collected, he drove them all back to their respective boats, and then sailed the boat to the area where he had thrown the branches.

Perhaps the squid had just come to lay eggs, and perhaps they had been diverted by the ground cages over there, so the quantity wasn't large. After casting a few nets around, he only got a few jin of cargo, and the harvest wasn't ideal.

He gave up directly; it was better to go underwater and hit the ground cages, as the profit was higher.

Here, when night fell, he would come out again to pick up the dead squid that had laid eggs on the island, which would be even more straightforward.

After making the decision, he drove the boat back to the reef and continued to go underwater to salvage the ground cages.

He couldn't see the other two boats from where he was, as they were on the other side of the island, so he didn't know the harvest of the two childhood friends, nor did he see their fishing boats trawling, so he didn't bother with them.

It wasn't until he saw the sun was about to set that he changed positions to collect the longline fishing gear. At this time, he also saw the two boats heading toward him one after another.

"Dongzi, I said why didn't you trawl? So you were setting longline fishing gear."

"I don't have fishing nets. This boat is a new one, previously used to transport cargo, and it's not equipped with fishing nets."

"That's true, weaving nets temporarily is also troublesome and time-consuming. Longline fishing is simpler. Since you're temporarily at home anyway, we'll go back first."

"Alright, I'll be done collecting this soon."

They greeted each other and left first. After Ye Yaodong finished collecting the longline fishing gear, he also hurriedly returned, rushing to get home before dark.

Today, the villagers all had more or less some squid, and now that the fishing season had just arrived, they could all sell them at a good price. Ye Yaodong didn't plan to collect them now; he planned to wait until the peak season, as the quantity was small now and he couldn't get much.

However, his boat full of fish cargo covering the entire deck attracted everyone's shock, and they asked him one after another how he caught them.

"How did I catch them? Just caught them like this, how else could I catch them?"

"Why do I feel like it's a bit stinky?"

"I think so too, the stinky seafood smell is so strong?"

"Usually seafood is fishy, but it's not this stinky. What's going on today?"

Ye Yaodong's mouth twitched. Seeing that the people he called to push the flatbed truck to get the baskets had arrived, he hurriedly asked them to get on the boat to deal with the spoiled fish and shrimp.

When they were just dragged up, there was only a bit of odor, not enough to be very stinky. When they were picking out fresh goods, they specifically threw away some that were more seriously rotten.

It was just that there was nothing to hold them, so these non-fresh ones were piled on the deck and exposed to the sun for a day. Although cargo was constantly being pulled up and piled on, after docking, the strong stench still drifted to the shore with the sea breeze.

In just a short while, a pile of big-headed green flies had already flown onto the deck. Now that the weather was warming up, there were more flies.

Ye Yaodong took a look and looked away. Whoever wanted to keep them at home could deal with them. He asked people to lift his cargo to be weighed first.

"Adong, why are there so many flies on your boat?"

"Are those spoiled? So many flies?"

Ye Yaodong nodded, "Yeah, those are all not fresh."

"So they're all stinky fish and rotten shrimp!"

"No wonder, so stinky..."

Ye Yaodong: Felt offended, as if they were scolding someone?

"Picked up a few ground cages, these are the non-fresh cargo inside the ground cages, they want to take them back to feed the chickens and ducks."

"I said why is there so much cargo? So it's all stinky. Won't the chickens and ducks get sick if they eat this?"

"Not necessarily, don't the ducks eat the fish and shrimp that are stranded and stinky on the beach?"

"So many flies..."

Everyone pointed at the stinky fish and rotten shrimp and discussed.

After Ye Yaodong finished weighing, the cargo on the deck was also dealt with, and those damaged ground cages were all moved onto the flatbed truck and pushed to the workshop.

When he got the cargo list and returned to the workshop, Lin Xiuqing was weighing kelp at the entrance.

As usual, a crowd was watching, but there weren't as many people as the previous few days; they had no sense of novelty after watching too much.

Those still watching there now were fishermen who were more concerned about the output. The women didn't join in the fun anymore; it was more interesting to kill fish next door and communicate with other women.

"Still so much quantity today? I see there's no kelp around our place?"

"There's still some. Today we collected all of it from the vacant lot on the side. There's another batch at the old primary school to be collected tomorrow. Once collected, it should be all done."

"That's quite a few days of collection."

"Originally, it took many days to collect from the seabed."

"We'll know the total output tomorrow."

"Yeah, I've recorded it all. I'll calculate the total after the last batch is collected tomorrow. Also, Boss Zhou called this afternoon asking for 10 tons. I told him it would be the morning after tomorrow, and he said that was fine. The quantity collected today is still a little short, it will be enough after collecting tomorrow."

"How many tons are there?"

He said it definitely wouldn't be enough to sell. These bosses wouldn't just want one batch. If they wanted the first batch and it sold well, they would definitely continue to want more later.

10 tons is only 20,000 jin. With such a large population in China, this thing is cheap, can be stored, and is highly seasonal. After this harvest season, it would be impossible to get it later, so hoarding is inevitable.

"Collected more than 4 tons yesterday. The quantity will be a bit more today. After weighing, it should be over 5 tons. As for tomorrow, the village chief said the quantity won't be that much, probably only about 3 tons left."

"Then there should be about two or three tons left, store it and sell it slowly."

"Pretty much."

"Definitely. Let's go, all get on the vehicle. We'll talk when we get to my place. It's not easy to talk out here."

Lin Xiuqing smiled, "Who knew this thing would sell so well? It's also the first year. Last year didn't count at all. Last year, that ten thousand jin was collected intermittently for several days, and it was only enough for one truck, and it wasn't as pretty as this year's."

"Yeah, we can safely collect more next year. The storage space in the city is big enough now, so we don't have to worry about storing dozens of tons."

"Got it."

She asked curiously about the situation where several workers transported several flatbed trucks of stinky fish and rotten shrimp home just now.

Ye Yaodong explained it to her.

"So many ground cages? Give them all to us, we have no use for them even if we take them? The boats are all rented out, only one is left, and even if washed, they'll just be piled there. Why not send them all to them?"

"That's fine. Anyway, they spent money to have people make them. The cargo salvaged belongs to us. We sold a lot of money today, and we save the trouble of cleaning."

"Yeah, so many ground cages, I was surprised when they were transported back just now, why so many. There are so many water plants and silt on them, cleaning is troublesome. So many ground cages, I don't know how long it will take to wash. We can't use them anyway."

"Alright, then let someone send them to them. They can divide them themselves, and we save the trouble."

"Yeah, mainly because we can't use them. How much money did we sell today?"

"136 yuan and 82 cents. Also kept four single-legged blue crabs back, stew them tonight to nourish everyone, and a small lobster that's a bit thin. Chop it up tomorrow to cook porridge, sprinkle a handful of green vegetables."

"Alright, that sold quite a lot of money..."

The couple stood there talking. After Ye Yaodong waited for Chen Guodong and the others to push the borrowed baskets back with the flatbed truck, he asked them to move the stinky ground cages piled in the corner onto the flatbed truck again and take turns sending them to Ah Zheng and Xiao Xiao.

As for how they want to divide them, let them arrange it themselves, no need to worry.

Ye Xiaoxi grabbed half a fried dough stick, ate with a mouth full of oil and nodded.

Ye Xiaoxi was driving ducks by the beach with a branch at this time. Ye Yaodong waved at her, and she threw away the branch and ran back happily.

And the dogs that were originally helping her drive the ducks also ran over with her.

The old lady had to get up to pick up the branch and smiled as she took over helping her drive the ducks.

"Dad, you're back, I missed you so much~"

Ye Yaodong smiled, "You only know how to say nice things."

Ye Xiaoxi hugged his leg, rubbing her head back and forth.

A group of dogs also followed suit, lifting their front two feet and clawing at his legs.

He suddenly became unable to move.

"Alright, alright, hurry up and let go, I can't even walk. It's a good thing I'm all dirty."

He carried a bucket in his hand, swinging it to drive away the dogs, and led Ye Xiaoxi's hand into the house with one hand.

"Why didn't you call your brother to drive the ducks?"

"This is my job! Brother is not allowed to do it!"

"Alright."

At this time, Ye Chengyang shouted at him. He was about to step into the courtyard, turned his head to look, and saw him walking over limping and wiping his tears, still holding a one-mao coin in his hand.

"What's wrong? Did you fall?"

Ye Chengyang pouted, about to cry, tears swirling in his eyes, and said aggrievedly: "Mom told me to buy something, but I forgot what she told me to buy?"

"Buy what? Is that worth crying over? If you fell, you fell. Go into the house, you haven't taken a bath anyway, I won't hit you."

He wiped his tears and followed him in limping.

Lin Xiuqing was just a step behind them. They had just entered the house, and she also came back to get money. After weighing and calculating the quantity, she had to give money to the village cadres to settle the account.

As soon as Ye Chengyang saw her, he was teary-eyed again, then handed the one-mao coin to her, and said about to cry: "Mom, I forgot what to buy?"

"I told you to remember, where did you remember it? I told you to buy ginger and star anise."

He said aggrievedly: "I kept reciting it, but I fell, and when I got to the shop I forgot. I said airplane and cannon, and they all laughed at me."

"Ah?" Lin Xiuqing frowned.

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but laugh.

She said: "Then go again, do you remember now?"

"Oh, ginger and star anise, ginger and star anise..." He held the money, muttering constantly, and then walked out again.

Lin Xiuqing shook her head, "These kids... what's in their brains? Every day they just look at those weird comic books."

"He's only 7 years old, and the grocery store is 200 meters away. It's normal to forget after falling and only caring about the pain. Did you finish weighing the cargo?"

"Yeah, a total of 5 tons and 1525 jin. One truck can't finish it tomorrow, so leave a little for the day after tomorrow."

"Oh."

"The food is ready, just missing the braised pork. I was afraid it would get cold and be all oily, and there was no ginger or star anise, so I waited for you to come back to cook it. Wait for me, it'll be ready soon."

"Yeah."

Ye Yaodong took off his dirty clothes, planning to take a bath first, but saw Ye Xiaoxi squatting by the bucket, not knowing when she had taken a chopstick and was poking the crab to play, and then muttering to herself.

He squatted down to look and listened.

"Ginger cannon... ginger cannon... ginger cannon... grab cannon... eat bean bubbles..."

"Dad... old duck eat bean bubbles..."

Ye Yaodong: "??"

"I want to eat bean bubbles."

"Oh, you want to eat bean bubbles."

"Yeah."

Ye Yaodong was overjoyed. It's really interesting when children speak vaguely sometimes.

Ye Xiaoxi poked the crab with the chopstick, but the chopstick was stuck by the crab's big leg, and she excitedly lifted the crab up.

"Dad, Dad... look, look, so amazing, I'm so amazing, I hung it up..."

"It's okay to play with the crab, just don't get bitten."

Ye Yaodong was worried that she would be too naughty and get bitten. That crab's big leg was bigger than her fist. If it pinched her, her fingers would break.

He warned her not to reach out randomly, went out to the courtyard to get some straw and thick thread for weaving fishing nets, tied the big legs of several blue crabs, and then tied them with the thick thread of the fishing net.

Ye Xiaoxi's eyes were sparkling, squatting there looking up at her father admiringly, constantly flattering him.

"Dad is so amazing, not afraid of biting hands~ You're so great, you're the most amazing... Dad, wow~"

The arc of Ye Yaodong's mouth grew larger and larger, lifting all the threads and placing the crabs on the ground.

"Yeah, take it, play with it, don't reach out to grab."

"Got it..."

Ye Xiaoxi threw away the chopstick, excitedly grabbing all the threads in her hand, shouting happily, "Walking the crab... walking the crab..."

She jumped and skipped out, and before she ran out of the courtyard, she had already shouted a series of names.

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

Worried that she would lose them, he hurriedly warned, "After playing, remember to bring them back to cook."

She shouted without looking back: "Got it! Dou Dou, A Bao, A Yue, A Xue, Qing Qing, Xiao Hong..."

Ye Yaodong watched her excitedly looking for little friends to show off her new toy. This is the meaning of having children.

Seeing her happy, he was also happy.

After the old lady drove a group of ducks back to the cage, she smiled at him and said: "I originally thought about killing a duck tomorrow to make ginger duck for you, but since there's crab to eat tonight, I'll let the duck live for a few more days."

"Keep it to lay eggs."

"There are ones laying eggs, and there's still a jar of salted duck eggs, enough to eat. In a few days, the little ducks will hatch too."

Ye Yaodong nodded, entered the house to continue drawing bath water, and took a bath first.

Jumping into the sea back and forth all day, it was a bit uncomfortable to have dried seawater on his body.

However, when he was taking a bath in the courtyard, he heard children crying everywhere in the vicinity, all clamoring for crabs...

Luckily, Lin Xiuqing also came back to cook braised pork in a short while.

The rich aroma of meat drifted far away, attracting all three children back. They didn't run wild outside or provoke children's envy, all sniffing their noses and standing by the stove waiting for dinner.

Ye Yaodong mixed rice with braised pork juice and ate two big bowls, feeling satisfied.

"My father and the others should be back in a day or two. You should chop a pig's trotter tomorrow to stew."

"Fine."

"By the way, help me inquire and see if there is anyone who is literate and can do accounts, whether male or female, married or unmarried, as long as they are willing to go to the city."

Lin Xiuqing asked curiously: "Need to find someone to keep accounts?"

"Yeah, now there are more expenses, and the factory in the city also supports so many people. Wang Guangliang and the others going to collect miscellaneous fish every day is a fixed expense, and there are also accounts for ordering large vats and wooden barrels. The wages of so many people are also an account."

"At first, it was just the shop's turnover, and your father could just record it casually and explain it so I could understand. Now there are so many accounts, it's troublesome for your father to keep them, and it should be very strenuous. It's better to find someone specifically to keep accounts, so he doesn't have to be so troublesome."

"It's best to take over the shop's turnover and do the accounts together, so he doesn't have to record it. He just needs to collect the money well and record every payment from the accountant's side, no need to record anything else."

Lin Xiuqing nodded, "What you said is also true. Now the stall is getting bigger and bigger, and there are many expenses. It's better to find someone specifically to keep accounts. I'll pay attention tomorrow."

"Yeah."

He looked at his mother again, "Are the twins almost one year old?"

"Not yet, next month."

"That's soon."

As a grandmother, she should also give gold as a first-birthday gift for her grandson.

After Ah Qing finished her work and returned to the room to count money, he returned to the room to mention it to Ah Qing, asking her to also have his mother make a few bracelets and necklaces when she goes to make gold.

"A few bracelets and necklaces? How many to make? What are you doing? Everything is fine, why make gold bracelets and necklaces?"

"It's just seeing your two hands bare. Your neck is also bare, I want you to wear gold and silver!"

The smile on Lin Xiuqing's face couldn't stop, "Why wear that? It's not convenient to work, and if people see that big gold bracelet, isn't it asking for thieves?"

"Who dares to steal from our house? There are so many dogs at home, and so many workers raised. The village is counting on selling kelp to me next year, relying on me to make money, letting me lead the whole village to prosperity. Who dares to provoke public anger without blinking? If caught, everyone could beat them to death with a shoulder pole."

"That's still not good to be too flashy."

"It doesn't matter, anyway our family has a lot of money now. You don't have to wear it out, you can take it out and look at it often at home. I see you taking that gold cake to look at from time to time, shiny, how beautiful."

Lin Xiuqing was also particularly moved by what he said. She didn't have to wear it out, she could look at it at home, and she could wear it at home. She couldn't wear that gold cake on her neck.

"Then how many do you want to make? Should we also make one for Mom?"

"Make one for each, the old lady also make one, a gold necklace, a gold bracelet, a pair of gold earrings, each of you get a set."

"So many... Gold is over 100 yuan per qian. If you make so many, if they are solid, it will cost several thousand!"

Ye Yaodong was stunned, "Is gold so expensive now? How much is one gram?"

It actually costs several thousand. He thought it was about 20 or 30 yuan per gram.

"I don't know, I only know one qian is over 100. I have to ask to know the specific amount."

"That doesn't matter, several thousand is several thousand. Spending several thousand to buy it and keep it won't depreciate, and it can be worn for decades. You have so much money at home anyway."

He had long wanted to make gold jewelry for them, letting them enjoy some happiness, otherwise they just worked hard and didn't enjoy any happiness, just watching the money increase.

"No, I just think our family has a lot of gold now, no need to spend so much money to buy again..."

"Those are for looking, you buy them to wear, the difference is huge. Listen to me, we have nearly 300,000 yuan on hand, what's wrong with spending a few thousand to buy some gold to wear? This isn't eating or spending, it's always there."

"Then we'll see later. It's not a holiday, and there's no major day, why buy so much gold..."

"Who says it's not a holiday, isn't Mazu's birthday coming soon? Wear a big gold bracelet to celebrate."

"Crazy, Mazu's birthday is not our birthday."

"Wait a few years, watch me reshape the gold body for Mazu."

Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him, not taking his words seriously.

Actually, what Ye Yaodong said was also the truth. He had always wanted to reshape the gold body when the Mazu temple was built, but he had no money on hand.

The current money wasn't enough for him to reshape the gold body for Mazu with great fanfare, otherwise he would have to drink the northwest wind, so he had to earn more for a few years before talking.

"Mazu's birthday this year happens to be during the fishing season, everyone will probably be very busy."

"The village also said so, just sing a few days of opera, no need to be so grand, no need to set up so many tables to eat. Those willing to help can sign up, not forcing every household to send people. Anyway, it's providing food and drink, and people from surrounding villages are welcome to come and help."

"That's fine, then you look at it and donate more money."

"Got it, donated 500 yuan last year, this year can't be lower than last year, still donate 500 yuan."

"Alright."

"You lie down for a while, don't sleep yet, I'll go stew the blue crab for you to eat."

"Alright."

Ye Yaodong lay on the bed, hands behind his head, looking at the mosquito net on the ceiling.

But he was a bit drowsy after lying down for a while, so he simply sat up, planning to look at the recent account book income, he hadn't looked at it for a while.

Unexpectedly, when he pulled open the drawer, he saw 4 boxes of chocolate neatly arranged.

He took them out to look. Didn't he buy these for Ah Qing at the Friendship Store two months ago? Not finished yet?

Doesn't like to eat?

Wasted, won't buy it next time. He held it in his hand and walked out, planning to distribute it to a few little ones, so as not to waste it.

"Ah Qing, you don't like to eat, I'll distribute it to a few?"

Lin Xiuqing was burning fire, turned her head to look, and hurriedly got up to snatch it, "Why give it to them, so wasteful, they can just eat maltose."

"You don't like to eat, it will expire if left there."

"How can it expire so fast, I'll keep it and eat it slowly, eat one occasionally."

"Why eat slowly, if you don't like it, forget it, don't force it."

"I don't dislike it, I quite like it."

Ye Yaodong was puzzled. If you like it, why don't you eat it? And eat it slowly.

Lin Xiuqing smiled embarrassedly and said: "Didn't you say chocolate is related to love? I'll keep it and eat it slowly."

So that's it.

He laughed, "Alright, then I'll put it back for you, you eat it slowly, eat one when you miss me."

"Cheesy."

She also laughed, and then sat back in front of the stove.

The firelight reflected on her smiling face, making it look even more gentle and bright.

Ye Yaodong looked twice before returning to the room, putting the chocolate back in its original place for her.

However, just after putting it back, he took it out and opened it to look, two were missing.

He smiled and put it back, thinking about when there would be foreign exchange coupons again, buy it for her, and eat it slowly.