Chapter 237: Shaking it off (Extra update 2 for monthly tickets)

After weighing the catch, he bought another 100 jin of cheap small miscellaneous fish and 20 jin of small shrimp from A Cai, all intended as bait. He still had over ten jin of catch from the ground cages in his bucket from today.

He figured he could drag a bit more with the trawl net tonight, which should be barely enough. He just put these on his tab; he could settle it later anyway.

After recording the tab, A Cai handed him two cigarettes and chatted for a moment, "Little brother, I haven't seen you for a few days. The sea has been calm these past two days, why didn't you go out? How come you only managed to get this little bit of catch?"

"My father-in-law broke his leg, so I went back with my wife to visit him and helped him with some work for two days. I just got back this morning. The ground cages had been in the sea for a few days without being checked, and the fish had all rotted and were thrown away, so it looks like there isn't much catch."

"Oh, I see. It was right to go back and check on him. Recently, there have been many more people in the village doing longline fishing, so my small fish and shrimp are selling especially well. It's only because you came early today that you got some; any later and they'd be gone. If you need them next time, tell me in advance and I'll set some aside for you, otherwise, it's not easy to get bait."

"Alright, then many thanks."

This "many thanks" was quite sincere, lacking his usual devil-may-care attitude.

It would be troublesome without bait. He needed quite a lot for his 1,000 hooks, so making this arrangement to have some set aside in advance was for the best.

Otherwise, if he went to buy elsewhere, the price might be higher, and it wouldn't be easy to find. Most families kept the small fish and shrimp to dry themselves, and few sold them.

He had heard that because some people in the village couldn't get enough bait, most used cut-up sardines or chub mackerel; these were the cheapest fish, but having small fish and shrimp to fill in would save even more.

This guy might be cunning, but he seemed quite decent at this moment!

Ye Yaodong chatted with him for a while. After finishing his cigarette, he saw another fishing boat coming in. Knowing A Cai would be busy receiving the catch, he said goodbye and left first.

The bucket of sea cicadas looked to be a little over ten jin. His own family definitely couldn't finish them all, so after getting home, he poured a bowl for his eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law next door, which looked to be about a jin each.

He also sent two jin to the old family home and two jin to Lin Ji Shang's place. A Guang's family was small, so he only poured one bowl for them.

Keeping about a jin for his own family, and seeing there were still a little over two jin left, he sent them to Lin Jingye's place, Lin Shu's home, and mentioned he would come over after dinner to move the rolling wheel.

Seeing him distribute everything, Lin Xiuqing didn't feel a pang of regret. If all of this were kept at home to eat, she would be the one feeling the pinch.

If this stuff were to be made delicious, it would use a lot of oil, so sending it out was fine.

"Wife, shall we deep-fry a bowl of sea cicadas tonight? That's all that's left; frying them up will be perfect for drinking."

"Hmm, and these large shrimp? Shall we blanch them?"

Ye Yaodong smiled ingratiatingly, "How about cutting them in half and doing them with scallion oil? We blanch shrimp every day; it's rare to have such large mantis shrimp heads, why not try scallion oil?"

Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him, "You're the only one who knows how to eat. You keep all the good stuff to eat at home and don't feel the pinch."

"The people regard food as their heaven; I'm just thinking about improving our family's meals, aren't I?"

"Where is our family's food lacking?"

"Just tell me if you're going to make it or not!"

Lin Xiuqing glanced at him without a word, then took the mantis shrimp heads and sea cicadas inside to rinse them. Following his wishes, she cut the mantis shrimp heads from top to bottom into two halves. He had kept four back, and she cut them all like that.

Just right, rice was cooking in the pot, so she set a few chopsticks on top to steam them.

Ye Yaodong proudly stretched his neck to peek behind her a few times, then picked up his youngest son who was hugging her leg, "Go play with your turtle, or I'll stew it tonight."

His eldest son, who was playing with his cousins at the door, heard this and immediately rushed in, hugging the basin containing the turtle to his chest. Looking at him vigilantly, he stiffened his neck and said, "You said you wouldn't eat it, you're raising it for me."

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. He only listened to half of what was said. Too lazy to bother with this little fool, he carried the bucket toward the back door.

Inside, besides small fish and shrimp, there were two not-so-small "silly dace." He could kill them to salt for a side dish, and while he was at it, take a little to make a hot and sour fish fillet soup tonight.

He felt he was becoming more and more like a good home-loving man. Even after returning from the sea, he helped kill fish. Other men would return from work and sit with their feet up, waiting to be served.

For example, his eldest brother and second brother—although they didn't wait to be served the moment they returned, they rarely helped kill fish either. They would rush to take a shower, then sit at the table to have a couple of drinks, and after eating their fill, go back to their rooms to lie down and rest.

They only helped with chores at home when they weren't out at sea, which was already considered quite good.

Generally, men in the village, whether they could earn money or not, were like masters at home; even their foot-washing water had to be brought to them.

After Ye Yaodong finished processing the fish, he handed them to Lin Xiuqing to cook, and only then did he go to the room to shower.

While showering, he heard a commotion in the room next door again. All he could hear was his second sister-in-law's loud voice; he didn't hear his second brother's voice, and he didn't know what was going on. In the past, although his second sister-in-law was a bit calculating, she was generally reasonable and wouldn't yell at his second brother.

By the time he finished showering and came out, there were still sounds of things being thrown and smashed next door. He looked at his wife with an inquiring gaze.

Lin Xiuqing took the freshly fried sea cicadas out of the pot and whispered, "Second sister-in-law went to her maiden home this afternoon and seems to have heard that Cousin Meiying's family owes a lot of money, so she went to their house to ask for it. It seems she didn't get it, and she's been sulking with a sour face ever since. Second brother just got back, and she started scolding him."

"Oh, I was wondering why I only heard her scolding and not Ye Erge's voice."

Ye Yaodong spoke while taking the large bowl from her hands, grabbing one and stuffing it into his mouth. As a result, the hot sea cicada rolled around in his mouth; only after it stopped being hot for a good while did he chew it and swallow.

"It's very hot just out of the pot, be careful not to burn your mouth. It should quiet down next door in a while, let's eat first."

"Hmm, don't worry about them, that money definitely won't be coming back."

Ye Yaodong pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth; it was a bit uncomfortable, as if he had burned the skin. "Blow on it for me, it seems I burned the skin."

He said while squatting down, mouth open...

Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him, ignoring him completely. She took the bowl from his hand, walked to the table, and called the two sons who were playing with the turtle to eat.

"Son's mouth was burned by the rice, and you could blow on it for him."

He followed her, and seeing she ignored him, he continued, "Then blow on it after the kids are asleep tonight?"

"Dad, shall I blow on it for you?"

Ye Yaodong looked at him with disdain, "What business is it of yours? Sit down and eat!"

"Yangyang, blow on it for your dad, his mouth was burned." Lin Xiuqing shoved the youngest son directly into his arms.

Ye Yaodong was forced to take him, watching his son purse his lips and lean over, blowing air in and out. Saliva sprayed onto his face, and he felt instantly disgusted, quickly carrying him away.

"Ah, don't blow, don't blow~ That's enough, that's enough~ You sit back next to your mother..."

Just after putting the youngest son down, he hurriedly wiped the saliva off his face.

Lin Xiuqing glanced at him with a smile in her eyes, pretending nothing had happened as she called the two children to eat.

She had seasoned the sea cicadas, marinated them for a while, and then coated them with a layer of sweet potato starch. Only after the oil was hot did she put them in to fry. The fried sea cicadas were light yellow and crispy, exuding an oily fragrance. As soon as the two children sat down, they immediately reached out to grab them.

The crispy texture instantly won their favor. Both of them grabbed several and put them in front of themselves, fearing there wouldn't be any left if they were late. This was a bad habit left over from eating at the old family home; as long as there was something delicious, the children would always rush to grab some for themselves first.

"Slow down, it's hot. No one is grabbing them from you, there's a whole bowl right there."

Once said, the two children also felt it was right; now it was just their family eating, no one was grabbing the dishes.

Ye Yaodong only felt that the roof of his mouth was really burned. He reached out to touch and tear at it, and a small piece of white skin was torn off by him.

"Look, I didn't lie to you, it really was burned."

"Who told you to be so impatient? It'll be fine in two days."

"Then blow on it?"

Lin Xiuqing glanced at him, giving him a look—figure it out yourself!

Ye Yaodong felt there was a chance.

He couldn't be blamed for being thick-skinned; who told him he had been eating a bit too nutritiously at his mother-in-law's house these past few days!

After the two children fell asleep at night, he skillfully moved them to a nest...

Lin Xiuqing looked at the person leaning over, pushed his shoulder, and whispered, "Can't you just quiet down a bit?"

"It's that turtle that's a bit nutritious..."

"Don't touch..."

"Blow on it and the pain flies away, wipe it and it's ten thousand eight..."

Lin Xiuqing instantly blushed, "What are you saying..."

"Nothing, just what you're thinking, there's another line..."

"What?"

"Shake it, and live to ninety-nine..."

"？?"

She instantly realized what he meant, her face flushing red, "You still have to go out to sea at night..."

"It doesn't affect it, I'm very fast..."