Chapter 282: Swaying Tentacles

On the first day of the new year, the first thing he did after waking up early was light incense for the Kitchen God and Kitchen Goddess, and also light some at the door, then set off firecrackers after finishing.

A group of children covered their ears, and as soon as the firecrackers went off with a series of crackling pops, they all swarmed around excitedly calling for Third Uncle; he didn't even need to think to know what they wanted.

"The moment you stick your butts out, I know what you're after. Lucky for you, I really did win some money last night. Come on, line up properly—one person, two mao."

"Wahhahaha~ Third Uncle is the best~"

"Hurry… hurry…"

After each of them received their two mao, every single one was over the moon—they could buy a whole lot of firecrackers now.

Right after that, they started scouring the ground for any leftover small firecrackers that hadn't gone off yet.

"What are you looking for? Isn't what you have already enough to buy more?"

"Can't waste them! The ones that didn't go off can still be picked up and lit again!"

Before long, each of them had several small firecrackers in hand, and they all chattered excitedly about heading to the shore to set them off and splash water.

He wasn't sure if it was because the wind had picked up overnight, but early in the morning the waves already seemed a bit big, the sky was a little overcast, and the wind along the shore was fairly strong.

【Honestly, I've been using the Huanyuan app to read and catch up on updates lately. Switch sources at will, plenty of voice options for reading,. huanyuanapp works on both Android and iOS.】

Over the past month there had only been the occasional overcast or rainy day—most days were bright and sunny. Yet today, the first of the month, the sky had turned gloomy. The heavens weren't cooperating.

Ye Yaodong figured he hadn't eaten breakfast yet anyway, and it was too early in the morning to go play cards, so he walked along with them toward the shore. He watched them toss firecrackers into the sea one after another, sending up little splashes every now and then, while others fizzled out without a sound.

In no time at all, they had used up the small firecrackers they'd picked up, but still felt it wasn't enough. Feeling the two mao in their pockets that hadn't even warmed up yet, they scampered off back to the village to buy more firecrackers.

With nothing better to do, Ye Yaodong kept squatting by the shore, watching the tide go out, and casually picked up a few flat stones to skip across the water.

After managing several triple-bounces in a row, just as he was getting into it, he heard his wife calling from the door that breakfast was ready. He had no choice but to toss aside the stone in his hand and clap his hands clean.

Just as he was about to turn around, something caught the corner of his eye—far out on the sea there seemed to be something off. A few white tentacles were waving about wildly, but they stopped in an instant, then started moving again after a while.

He watched, feeling it was strange. What kind of tentacles could be seen clearly from this far away?

When something is out of the ordinary, there must be something fishy going on. He wasn't in any rush to head back and kept staring at the sea, but the tide was receding rather slowly—hard to wait for.

Lin Lin Xiuqing, finding she couldn't call him back, walked over. "What are you doing? I've been calling you to eat for ages and you won't budge. Still standing here staring—what are you looking at? Where are the two kids?"

"They went with the others to buy firecrackers. Probably won't be back anytime soon, stuck halfway there. Let's let the food cool a bit before eating."

"Then what are you doing here? Isn't the tide going out? Even when it recedes, it'll only be around eleven or twelve. If you want to go down, you'll have to wait till noon." she said, puzzled.

"No, look out there—do you see something like a whip flailing around and slapping the water?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing looked up and, sure enough, it did look like a whip thrashing about, though the movements were rather slow.

"What is that?"

"No idea, but it's definitely something big. Just don't know if it'll get stranded once the tide goes out."

Something alive and moving in the sea—definitely something big, no need to even think about it. And today being the first of the month, a big tide was normal too.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. Truly, a man sits at home and fortune falls from the sky. For the past half month he'd only occasionally gone to pull in fish traps, hadn't properly cast a net, and yet his sea luck was so strong that the good stuff just delivered itself right to his door.

When luck comes, there's no stopping it.

Lin Lin Xiuqing got excited too after hearing him say it was something big. "Really? What kind of big catch could it be? But those things that look like whips—those should be tentacles, right? They look so long, you can see them from this far away. How big must that thing be?"

"Haven't seen what it looks like, hard to guess, but it's definitely huge. The tentacles look a lot like an octopus's, just never seen one that big—pretty rare."

"An octopus? It does look like one, just the tentacles are a bit thicker."

"If it's big, wouldn't the tentacles be thick too? Must be the good luck from last night's New Year firecrackers—today it just sent a big catch right to me."

"We're outside, who knows who's listening, watch your mouth!" Lin Lin Xiuqing shot him an exasperated glare. "You stay here and keep watching, I'll go round up the kids first so they can eat."

"Go, go. I'll keep an eye on it here."

The location was awkward too—the boat couldn't get over there, the tide was going out, the water was too shallow. Swimming over? Too cold. He could only wait on the shore for the tide to recede.

Luckily, the weather was a bit overcast today on the first of the month, no sun. The women were busy cooking, the kids busy setting off firecrackers, the men busy playing cards—early in the morning, no one was coming down to the shore to brave the cold wind. Even their own kids had gone off to buy firecrackers and not come back yet.

Ye Yaodong just kept squatting by the sea, spacing out, smoking as he watched the surface. He watched the tide slowly recede, but that big thing was still swaying in the same spot, not drifting forward with the current—leaving the onlooker somewhat helpless.

But luckily, since today was the first of the month, the tide could recede all the way down. Once it went back a hundred or two hundred meters, it should be roughly, probably, almost close enough—just hard to wait for.

He had just flicked the ash off his cigarette when someone patted him on the shoulder.

"I brought your food out for you."

"Good wife, so thoughtful!" He grinned, snuffed out the half-smoked cigarette, and took the big bowl she handed him.

"The wind's strong by the sea. Want me to grab you a hat?"

"I'm fine. You go on in, don't catch a cold."

"Then do you want to come inside and wait? The tide won't go out that fast. Sitting here in the cold wind for hours won't feel good."

"I know, I'll watch a bit longer, you go on in." Keeping an eye on it here was safer—if he blinked and missed it, someone else might beat him to it, and he'd be slapping his thigh in regret.

Lin Lin Xiuqing, unable to do anything with him, had no choice but to go in first. The two kids were still eating on their own—she didn't know how properly they were eating.

Ye Yaodong ate while keeping an eye on the sea. After scraping down an entire bowl of porridge, he brought the bowl inside first.

Seeing him come in, Lin Lin Xiuqing quickly put a hat on him and wrapped a scarf around him. "It's New Year's, don't you dare catch a cold—it's bad luck. Wrapping up like this will keep you warmer."

He wrapped his arm around her now somewhat sturdy waist, grinned, and kissed her rosy cheek. "I'm fine, I'm used to the wind out at sea. It's not that easy to catch a cold."

"Daddy, shame shame~ sneaking a kiss on Mommy~ shameless~"

"Shame shame~ shame shame~"

Ye Ye Chengyang copied his brother's words, then even held up his index finger and scraped it across his own cheek.

Lin Lin Xiuqing felt a bit embarrassed in front of the two kids. She shot him a reproachful glare and said in a soft, coquettish voice, "In front of the kids, can't you keep it in check a little? Don't lead them astray. Kids have no filter—they'll go out and blab, how embarrassing."

Ye Yaodong immediately cast a sideways glance at his two sons beside him. Before he could warn them, Ye Chenghu, very tactfully, said: "I didn't tell anyone that Daddy sneaked a kiss on Mommy! And I didn't tell anyone that Daddy shamelessly hugs Mommy to sleep every day."

Ye Ye Chengyang nodded along beside him. "Me neither!"

He simply ignored his eldest son calling him shameless. "Mm, you can brag all you want, but you're not allowed to talk about family matters outside, especially things about your mom and dad. Got it?"

The two nodded together.

Ye Yaodong patted their two heads and headed outside. Seeing no one around the shore, he felt relieved—as long as no one had noticed, that was fine.

He had been about to head toward the shore, but after a moment's thought, he stopped and turned toward his eldest brother's and Ye Ye Erge's house.

If it really was a big one, he couldn't handle it alone—he'd have to call his two older brothers to help. Water fat shouldn't flow to outsiders' fields; their three houses sat right next to each other, and with the catch practically in front of their eyes, he couldn't possibly hog it all to himself.

He knocked on Ye Ye Erge's window first, and without waiting for his brother's response, he immediately went and knocked on his eldest brother's window too, then waited at the door.

Both Ye Ye Yaopeng and Ye Ye Yaohua were puzzled and each called out from inside their own rooms, "What is it?"

Seeing that Ye Yaodong didn't answer, the two of them simultaneously brought their bowls out to take a look. "What's up, Dongzi? Why'd you knock on the window without saying a word? What's going on?"

"Yeah, why not come inside and talk?"

"Finish your food quick, then come with me to the shore. I just noticed something different out on the sea."

"Huh? Another red tide?" Eldest Brother Ye craned his neck toward the sea. "The water doesn't seem to have changed, does it?"

Ye Ye Erge couldn't be bothered to keep eating either. He rose on his tiptoes and stretched his neck out. "Can't tell. Maybe the change only shows up at night?"

"Take a careful look. Don't you think something's different?"

"Wait—that thing out on the sea? Looks like it's moving?"

"Like a whip, flicking back and forth."

"You two finish your food first, I'll go to the shore and keep watch." With that, Ye Yaodong lifted his feet and headed toward the shore.

Eldest Brother Ye and Ye Ye Erge couldn't be bothered to eat slowly now either. They casually shoveled a couple more bites, poured the remaining porridge straight into their mouths, brought their bowls back inside, and with cheeks still bulging and not yet swallowed, hurried to catch up.

"Dongzi, when did you spot it?"

"Just before breakfast. I took a few kids to the shore to set off firecrackers. At first the sea was still calm, and only after a good while did I see something swaying out there. Looks like some big catch, so I didn't dare leave, but I couldn't make out what it was either."

The three brothers stood in a row at the shore, gazing into the distance together, discussing back and forth.

"It looks a bit like an octopus's tentacles to me!"

"I think so too. Apart from an octopus, I can't imagine what else would have tentacles that long."

"A giant squid's possible too."

Ye Yaodong stroked his chin. Either was possible—there were giant octopuses in this world and giant squids too. Those tentacles waving on the surface fit both creatures, but without seeing it up close, there was really no way to tell.