Chapter 164: Shucking Oysters

They stayed awake all night until dawn, and this morning the whole family overslept; they had all gone to bed too late last night, including the two children.

But as soon as they woke up and saw Ye Yaodong, the two immediately remembered the oil cakes and malt sugar their father had promised them; they had fallen asleep waiting yesterday and didn't even know when he returned.

"Dad, Dad, where are our oil cakes, where are our malt sugar?"

"Dad~ Dad~"

The two climbed straight over to Ye Yaodong; one pushed him while the other sat on him, startling him awake instantly as he protected his vital parts.

"Get down!"

"Dad~ You promised yesterday to bring us oil cakes and malt sugar!"

"Mm-hmm, yes, oil cakes, malt sugar!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing was also woken up; she sat up and said, "You've been chanting since early morning; you were already nagging all night yesterday."

"Dad promised us! You must keep your word!"

Ye Yaodong scrunched up his face, his eyes not even open yet as the two tormented him, the younger one twisting and turning on his stomach; he turned sideways, directly laid him down, and quickly said, "Bought, bought, they're on the table outside."

"Oh~ Ye Yeye~"

"Ye Yeye~~"

The two, excited, didn't even put on their clothes before climbing straight out of bed and rushing out one after the other.

After Ye Yaodong sighed in relief, he grabbed the quilt, covered himself, and closed his eyes again.

Lin Lin Xiuqing sat beside him, laughing at him while dressing, "See if you dare tempt them again next time; say something else, they might forget, but if you say you'll bring them food, they'll remember for a long time without forgetting."

"That's true; the moment their eyes open, they ask; I thought after a whole night they would have forgotten," Ye Yaodong sat up, hugged her, pressed her back onto the bed, and took off the clothes she had just put on, "Lie down a bit longer; we went to bed too late last night."

"What are you doing? The two children are already up; we should get up to make breakfast."

"No rush; let's sleep a bit longer."

Ye Yaodong wrapped one arm around her chest and crossed one leg over her body to pin her down.

"Stop fooling around; it's already dawn..." Lin Lin Xiuqing struggled, speaking softly.

"I've been holding it in for a long time..."

It had been over half a month since returning from his mother-in-law's house; he hadn't dared to make a move, enduring whenever possible, but after such a long time, he would inevitably think about it; otherwise, what if it overflowed?

"There's nothing we can do about it; it's early morning, the two children are still outside, and they'll burst in any moment."

"Then what about tonight?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing hesitantly said, "Let's talk about it tonight... first, let me get up; the children might see us."

Reluctantly, Ye Yaodong indulged himself a bit before finally letting go, allowing her to rise; then he rolled up the quilt, intending to lie down a bit longer to calm down, as mornings easily provoke impulse.

Every day, the tide recedes about fifty minutes later than the previous day; since they overslept again this morning, it is now past eight o'clock and the tide is receding; the water level is too shallow for the boat to go out easily, so he could rarely stay in bed, waiting until after lunch to go out and collect the ground cage nets.

Only, wishes are beautiful, but reality is that the two children came running in again, chattering away.

"Dad, Mom put the malt sugar away and won't let us eat it."

Ye Yaodong turned over to look at them and said, "If your mom won't let you eat it, what can I do?"

"You talk to her; didn't you buy it?"

"I bought it, but if she won't let you eat it, I can't do anything; I'm under her control too."

"Aren't you the head of the household? Scold her, and she'll listen to you."

Lin Lin Xiuqing happened to walk in from outside to dress them and heard these words; she immediately twisted his ear and gave his buttocks a hard slap.

"Are you itching for a beating?"

Ye Yaodong also glared at his eldest son; saying such things and getting caught deserved the beating.

"Ah, I was wrong, Mom..."

"Why won't you let them eat it? It's already bought; are we supposed to let it spoil?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing said irritably, "Listen to his lies; he tells half the story and leaves out the rest. I told him to eat it after finishing the meal, not now; this kid couldn't wait and ran in to tattle."

Now Ye Yaodong didn't even speak up for them; he was actually taking things out of context, quite clever.

Watching her scold her son, he also woke up completely; he simply got up and went to the back door to see how the shelled ones from yesterday had been sorted.

He saw bamboo baskets piled in the corner of the back door, all sorted neatly by category, with only one sack of oysters still intact in the corner.

This was because he had instructed her yesterday not to touch them yet.

"Adong, aren't you going out to sea today?"

"Mm, Ye Ye Dasao, the tide hasn't arrived yet; we'll go in the afternoon."

"We made two more ground cage nets; do you want to take them out to set this afternoon?"

"Okay."

He now had nearly sixty ground cage nets, enough to set in six rows.

He silently calculated the family's savings again; adding the seven hundred and something he gave her for lunch and dinner, he estimated the family had only around two thousand in savings, which was still too little; even if they took it all, they could only buy a second-hand trawler, and the main cost was actually the machinery on the boat.

After thinking it over, he decided to use the small boat for now; this small wooden boat hadn't been used for long anyway; next year, after the children are safely born and the fine is paid, and when they have money on hand, they can switch.

Thinking this, he went inside, grabbed a basin for washing vegetables, washed it clean, set it aside, then dragged that sack of oysters out from the corner, untied the straw rope binding the opening, and poured them out.

Putting on gloves and holding a flathead screwdriver, he decided to take advantage of this free time before breakfast to help shuck a few; he wouldn't leave this task to anyone else.

Each oyster was over five centimeters in size; as soon as he pried open the shell, the meat inside was so full it almost overflowed, very plump.

Pity there was no wasabi; otherwise, squeezing a bit of wasabi on top and eating it raw would be very fresh.

After thinking it over, he simply called out to Lin Lin Xiuqing inside the house, "A-Qing? Is the porridge served? Shall I wash a few oysters and steam them?"

"Sure, I'll clear out the pot."

He scooped the meat out into the basin, then selected ten with beautiful shapes, took them to rinse, and scrubbed the sand and dirt off the shells with a brush.

Only then did he take them inside and hand them to Lin Lin Xiuqing to steam, while he returned to the back door to continue shucking oysters.

Every piece of meat shucked was extremely plump; drying them would be a pity, but without drying, they couldn't be stored; one sack like this couldn't be finished in two days.

He opened four or five in a row, none containing what he wanted, yet he wasn't very disappointed; after all, probability is unpredictable; it's possible to open an entire sack of oysters and find not a single pearl.

Just as he was busy, his mother arrived in high spirits; he had heard her loud voice at the front gate even from the back door.

In a moment, she approached from afar, emerging from the back door of his eldest sister-in-law's house, then looked at him with shining eyes and walked over quickly.

"Dongzi, didn't you open any yesterday? I thought you opened some yesterday too; I was just about to come ask how many you found."

He raised an eyebrow; seeing his mother so happy, they must have had a yield yesterday. "Did you find pearls yesterday? How many?"

Ye Ye Dasao, standing beside Ye's mother, was shocked upon hearing this. "Pearls?"

Ye Ye Ersao had just poured the oysters his mother brought into her own bowl and was holding it out to return them when she heard Ye Ye Dasao mention pearls!

What pearls?

Curious, she also stepped forward. "Mother, what pearls are you talking about?"

Ye's mother smiled with narrowed eyes and said joyfully, "Let me tell you, but don't go spreading it outside. Last night, Ye Huimei and I opened that entire sack of oysters, and we found three pearls. Adding the one she opened herself on the island, she now has four in total."

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"What? Four pearls?"

The two sisters-in-law widened their eyes in disbelief.

Ye Yaodong was also slightly surprised; finding two pearls in one sack was quite good; he wondered if his sack would yield any.

Fatso and the others weren't home last night just like him; he didn't know if their wives found any yesterday.

Ye's mother said happily, "Yes, they came out of the oysters. I never expected pearls to really be found inside oysters; I've only heard of it before, never seen it."

"Ye Huimei didn't say anything when she returned yesterday noon; only last night, after I found one, was she willing to mention it. That brat, she must have been afraid I'd take hers..."

As she spoke, Ye's mother began to complain. "She's still young and unmarried; if I help her keep it, would I not return it to her? There's also such a large sum of money; she should keep it herself. I'm her biological mother, not a stepmother; how could I steal it..."

The two sisters-in-law were stunned again. What large sum of money?

With pearls and money, why didn't Mother explain more clearly?

Only Lin Lin Xiuqing, who had walked out upon hearing the noise, understood and knew the whole story. She smiled and said, "Little Sister isn't young anymore; she's already twenty. Mother has always been asking people to introduce suitors to her; she's not far from marriage. Keeping what she earned herself isn't a bad thing."

The two sisters-in-law felt as if cats were scratching their hearts, restless and uncomfortable; why wouldn't she explain more clearly?

Ye Ye Ersao couldn't help but interrupt. "Mother, what pearls from oysters and what large sum of money are you talking about? Can you explain more clearly? We're completely confused."

"Oh my, I've explained it so clearly; how can you still not understand?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing smiled and explained it to them again from the side; only then did the two sisters-in-law understand, immediately feeling extremely envious and slapping their thighs, regretting why they hadn't shamelessly gone along yesterday.

They quickly stepped forward one after another to Ye Yaodong's side, looking at the oysters scattered on the ground and the sack beside them; they casually picked up an oyster to examine it but found nothing particularly special about it.

How could pearls be found inside?

When they heard about it before, they thought it was rumor spreading falsehoods, but who would have thought that oysters can really yield pearls?

Ye Ye Dasao still couldn't help asking, "Are they really from the oysters?"

Ye's mother rolled her eyes. "I've said it several times; you still don't believe it! When Dongzi opens one, you'll believe it."

Hearing the four women chattering there, their voices each louder than the last, Ye Yaodong couldn't help shaking his head; one woman equals five hundred ducks!

Ye Ye Ersao asked again, "Mother, did Little Sister really earn over three hundred yuan yesterday?"

Her expression of distress and conflict made it seem as if she had missed out on a hundred million!

Seeing this, Ye Yaodong felt sorry for her.

"How could that be fake? Dongzi helped take them to the town to sell. It's a pity; yesterday morning, I originally wanted to go along, but your aunts called me to the seaside to dig for sand clams, so I missed it. Oh, it's truly infuriating..."

Ye Ye Dasao also asked Lin Lin Xiuqing, "Little Sister's sold for over three hundred; did you sell for even more?"

How could she tell them exactly how much money she earned?

Lin Lin Xiuqing smiled. "Not much different; just a bit more than Little Sister. Little Sister even found pearls; ours haven't been opened yet. Adong didn't tell me yesterday; he just told me not to touch that sack of oysters and rushed out, only returning at night. When I went to the old hometown yesterday afternoon, Little Sister didn't mention it either; I didn't know pearls could be found inside oysters."

"That's wonderful; with pearls and selling for money, you've made a huge fortune again." Ye Ye Dasao was extremely envious.

Ye Ye Ersao was also dying of envy. "And you got several more sacks of goods too; these will last us a long time to eat."

"Ah!"

Just then, Ye Yaodong cried out in surprise; they immediately turned their heads.

"Pearl?"

"Really found one?"

Hearing others talk isn't as real or as incredible as seeing it with one's own eyes!