Chapter 333: Raising a Few Chickens and Ducks

A few people cheerfully carried all the goods onto the boat, and Ye Yaodong piled the haul his father-in-law and mother-in-law had dug up and gathered by themselves into a separate corner.

"These ones you gathered yourselves, take them back with you, or if you want to sell them or whatever, that's up to you."

"These ones with shells, we'll take them back. Cuttlefish, you can take them and sell them together—after all, we're all family…" Lin Fu said with a smile.

"No need. We've already caught so many baskets. Yours, just keep them yourselves. That one bag alone should be over a hundred jin, you could sell it for around 30-something yuan. That's not bad."

Lin Mu smiled so wide her mouth couldn't close. "That much? Just one day out working and we can earn this much?"

"It's not like we can go out to sea every day. From the start of the year until now, the number of times we've gone out to sea you could count on one hand. And it all depends on luck anyway."

Ye Yaodong started the boat as he spoke, but felt the tide was a bit shallow. He used a long bamboo pole to push against the rocks on the shore, pried the boat open a little, then steered it toward the other side of the small island, planning to call Ah Zheng and Xiao Xiao over too, and head back together.

He wondered how much cuttlefish they'd caught that half-afternoon? They still hadn't come looking for them by this time, still working.

Just as he steered the boat away from the shore, they came over in their boat too.

"Finally willing to come over? I thought I'd have to go over and call you before you'd be willing to head back."

Once the two boats drew close, Xiao Xiao stretched out her head to look at their haul and asked, "Weren't we delayed a bit this afternoon? We figured we'd cast a couple more nets. How much did you catch?"

"Picked up two baskets at dawn, split one and a half baskets, caught 6 baskets ourselves. Total loss—being held up by that father and his two sons cost us several nets. Otherwise we could've gotten a few more baskets."

Ah Zheng also said, "Exactly! We didn't dare rest all afternoon, kept thinking we had to grab the time to cast a few more nets. My arms are so sore I can barely lift them now, killing me."

"At least there's compensation. Let's head back first, it's too late. We'll talk when we get back."

"Right, let's head back, let's head back…"

The two boats moved forward together, sometimes one ahead, sometimes the other.

There were quite a few fishing boats greedy to cast a few more nets. By the time they neared shore, the sky around them had gone completely dark, and plenty of boats on the sea had just returned, every one of them with their headlamps on.

Lin Fu and Lin Mu didn't keep that bag of cuttlefish either—they sold it all. How could they bear to haul it back to eat? Several dozen yuan, after all.

Once the whole family had sold their goods, they all headed home in high spirits. The exhaustion that had filled their bodies vanished without a trace once the goods were sold and the money collected.

Ye Mu had been waiting at home. Seeing them return under the stars, she went to greet them.

"How was the haul today? How many dan did you get? Are the in-laws alright?"

"Great haul. We picked up a little over a burlap sack of cuttlefish on the island—even at a reduced price we got over 35 yuan. Going out to sea really is exhausting though: leave in the dark, come back in the dark."

"That's how it is. Being able to sell 30-something yuan is already pretty good. In the past, people would drag-net for a day and only make 30, 40, 50 yuan. You all hurry up and wash your hands, let's eat first, talk while we eat."

"Oh, alright, alright…"

Ye Mu saw Ye Yaodong carrying two more burlap sacks of goods off the cart, went over to look, and said in surprise, "You even had time to dig these up?"

"My mother-in-law dug them on the side. Ah Yuan also went up the mountain and gathered a bucket of seabird eggs. You take them in and boil a few…"

"Ah? Ah Yuan even gathered seabird eggs!"

"Wow, there are seabird eggs too!"

"Let me see, let me see…"

"How many did you gather?"

"So many!"

"Ahhhh, how did you gather so many seabird eggs?"

Before Ye Yaodong could finish speaking, the group of children surrounding Lin Lin Guangyuan all excitedly rushed over to see the seabird eggs, every one of them green with envy.

"Third Uncle, when are you taking us too?"

"Yeah, Dad, we want to go raid seabird nests too…"

"Yeah, yeah, Third Uncle…"

"Go, go, go, don't get in the way here. I'm exhausted, I'm going to eat." Ye Yaodong looked at the children in front of him and felt his head swell.

"Third Uncle, you can't play favorites…"

"Play favorites my foot. Why don't you ask your own dad to take you? Get lost. If you keep making noise, when I boil the seabird eggs later there won't be any for you."

"These aren't even eggs you gathered!" Ye Chenghu piped up.

The others nodded too, sneaking little glances at him.

Ye Yaodong knocked Ye Chenghu on the head. "So what if I didn't gather them? Lin Lin Guangyuan rode on my boat and I didn't even charge him a fare. This bucket of eggs is just right to show respect to little aunt and little uncle-in-law."

Lin Lin Guangyuan rolled his eyes. "Then take me again tonight, I'll gather a few more."

"Aren't you tired?"

"Not tired. After a sleep I'll be a dragon again!"

Ye Mu laughed and said, "Go inside and eat first. You kids stop making noise. I'll boil one seabird egg for each of you."

"Yay, yay~"

Everyone cheered.

As Ye Yaodong was about to go inside, he saw a small nest in the corner by the wall at the doorway, with a few fluffy little chicks inside. He was a bit surprised. "When did they hatch?"

No wonder when he'd just gotten back, he'd seen a group of children gathered in a pile over there—he'd thought they were playing at something new again.

"They hatched a few days ago. Your grandma was watching them at home, let the hen brood them for a few days. Then I thought, might as well just bring the hen and chicks over to raise here. Exactly 15 hatched. Your family gets five. Tomorrow tie a mark on the chicks' feet and raise them together. I also sent your aunt 10 eggs, 7 hatched. I'm keeping the rest myself."

Ye Yaodong nodded. "Is there anyone who can catch ducks? Help me catch a few more ducks, eh? Right by the beach, free-range would be convenient."

Having a few chickens and ducks around the house wouldn't be bad. Later, the sea duck eggs could be pickled—better that way. That oily yolk, salty fragrance spreading everywhere, perfect with porridge.

Just thinking about it made him feel good. Whenever he wanted to eat, he could just kill one!

"Then I'll have to go ask around."

Lin Mu, hearing this, cut in, "Raising ducks? The ones at home are about to hatch too, it's been about 20 days. When the time comes I'll bring you a few."

"That'd be too much trouble, coming all this way. We'll ask around the village first."

"No trouble, no trouble."

After they all went inside to eat, the group of children started crowding around the wall corner again to watch the chicks, reaching out to touch them every now and then.

Ye Mu had just put the seabird eggs in the pot when she went to the doorway and called out, "Don't grab them, don't squeeze them to death, and don't touch them either. If you touch the down off, they won't grow up big."

Seeing that none of them had ears, Ye Mu chased them all away. "You all go play; don't stand here getting in the way. The chicks and the hen need to return to the coop."

If they kept touching them down there, a few would really die.

"Are the seabird eggs ready?"

"What's the rush? All day long, you're either thinking about playing or thinking about eating!"

"Then what else?"

"Have you done your homework?"

Instantly, the whole group fell silent.

"Look at you all. You've been back for so long, haven't done your homework, just played around. It's already dark. Your mothers have been going out to sea recently, so no one is watching you, and you don't do your homework..."

Ye Mu started another round of nagging.

The few children weren't afraid of her; with their thick skins, they started giggling again.

Anyway, Grandma didn't hit people.

Lin Mu also smiled and said, "Our few grandsons are the same. All day long, they're either thinking about eating or playing. Tell them to go up the mountain to pick fruit, and they run more eagerly than anyone; tell them to work, and they vanish."

Lin Fu also said, "Children being fond of play is normal. Where can we expect them to pass the university entrance exam? Just knowing a few characters and not being illiterate like us is enough."

"That is..."