Chapter 403: Gained the benefits, won the reputation

Just as he hooked another squid, the two of them also surfaced together.

Having been in the water many times, the two of them were very familiar with the seabed here. In just two or three minutes, they quickly picked up half a bag, which looked to be about three or four jin.

Ye Yaodong took the scallops they were carrying. Once he held the bag, he immediately had a sense of how many jin and liang it weighed. He dumped it all with a clatter into the basket, joining the ones they had picked earlier.

"You guys are amazing, you picked quite a lot in such a short time."

"That's enough to eat tonight. If we didn't catch a bit more, it wouldn't be enough to go around. Now we can even share some with the two brothers next door; two each should be fine."

Asan took off his clothes and pants, wrung them out, and hung them on the ship's rail to dry in the sun, saying.

Xiao Gaozi did the same, both of them revealing their lean, strong physiques. "If you like eating them, we can go into the water again tomorrow. Two or three trips a day is no problem."

"Alright, then I'll count on you guys."

After saying that, Ye Yaodong planned to pick up his father and then head back. Anyway, there was no money for him to earn, and he had already chased away several boats intermittently today.

No need to be so diligent; good enough is fine. Finish work early, go back and rest early, and come back tomorrow to continue fishing.

The harvest for Ye Fu and the others was also quite good; each of them had pried open two or three full bags. Now they would have their hands full carrying them back.

Asan and Xiao Gaozi looked at the bags of shellfish piled up on the boat and couldn't help but say, "Digging up so many to take back, are you planning to use them as meals?"

"Yeah, with so many shells, how long will it take to eat them all? It's hot now, they'll go bad in two days."

Lin Aotian also scratched the back of his head and said embarrassedly, "I just dug them up when I saw them, I didn't think there were too many. If we can't finish them, we'll just give them to the neighbors on the left and right."

"Take them to dry, how could you not finish them? After drying them, store them and eat them slowly. Don't look at the quantity of these bags and think it's a lot; actually, it's all shells, there isn't much meat. Once you dig them out and dry them, the quantity will be even less."

"That's true..."

"Let's go back, these will take a long time to deal with." Ye Yaodong went to start the boat.

"Is it a bit early? The sun hasn't set yet..."

He discovered that these soldiers were too straightforward. "What does it matter? In the middle of summer, the days are long and the nights are short, so of course the sun sets late. Anyway, we've been drifting at sea for a whole day, and those officials aren't here, so can they keep staring at how long you drift at sea? Let's go, let's go..."

The boat was his, so of course he would go back when he said so. Chen Shuji didn't say how long they had to stay at sea. Anyway, he had been watching the field for a whole day. By the time he went back and moved the things, it would be five or six o'clock, and the village committee would be off work, so of course he had to be off work too.

Acai was receiving goods at the pier. Seeing him dock so early today was one thing, but the fish he brought were only a few, and although there were two big fish, the quantity was very small, and they were all alive. He was a bit puzzled.

"This shouldn't be, why did you only net so little stuff?"

"Didn't go trawling, was used as free labor to work at sea. These were caught by my hand line, so the harvest looks a bit small."

He didn't bring those few jin of scallops in for Acai to see, only separating the few fish to be sold and bringing them in.

The scallops and those ten bags of shells had already been lifted onto the flatbed cart by him, his father, and the four soldiers.

"Big loss, they've had a lot of trawled goods recently."

"Isn't that so? Damn, don't know how many more days we'll be requisitioned. There's almost no rice left to put in the pot at home."

Hearing this, Acai couldn't help but roll his eyes. Didn't he know how much money he had earned? He just liked to cry poor, and he wouldn't feel guilty saying such things.

The villagers nearby also said, "Why don't you go ask those officials for a subsidy? Otherwise, who would work for them?"

"There is, they said they would calculate a subsidy for me, but who knows how much they'll give? If it's one or two yuan, it's not as good as us going to sea to trawl a net."

"That's true. You fished up a bronze tripod, and you fished up a bloody loss. If you had known, you should have just thrown the bronze tripod back into the sea. Not only did you not get any benefits, but you also brought trouble upon yourself for nothing. You didn't go to sea for a day, and how much did you lose? They've trawled a lot of goods recently..."

"Sigh, who's to say it isn't? But, being able to let our Mazu Temple have funds for reconstruction, I don't count it as a loss, it can be considered as contributing a bit of heart."

"Right, right, right, Dong's awareness is still high. If a bronze one could be exchanged for a big temple, that would be good too..."

"It's just that Dong lost out, donating the tripod and putting in effort, not having time to earn money is one thing, but also being ordered around by them for free..."

Ye Yaodong was extremely satisfied with the villagers' understanding. He gained real benefits in secret, and won a reputation on the surface.

He pretended not to care and said with a smile, "It's nothing for me to lose a little. Being able to build a bright and big temple for our Mazu, and our villagers can also be better protected, that is the big thing."

"Right, we must tell those officials to take out more money to build the temple for us."

"Yeah, it's a rare opportunity to repair the Mazu Temple..."

"When the time comes, each family can contribute money if they can, and effort if they can. This is a good deed to accumulate blessings..."

"For sure..."

Ye Yaodong walked back with his father and the others, feeling satisfied. Ye Fu couldn't help but look at him a few more times. When did he become so cunning?

He took all the benefits and the reputation, yet everyone still thought he had lost out and felt sorry for him.

Who knows, after knowing that his mother entered the Women's Federation, they might still think it's as it should be, and it could make up for his losses?

Ye Fu shook his head while walking. He was truly cunning!

At this time, Ye Mu had just finished work and was at the door of their new house, chatting with the neighbors left and right, talking about what she did at the Women's Federation at work today? Saying that she also followed along to the literacy class and even recognized five characters...

With that radiant face, everyone knew how excited she was.

The fellow villagers were all very perceptive and wouldn't dampen Ye Mu's excitement, all smiling and congratulating her, but everyone didn't forget to ask how she got into the Women's Federation?

"Oh my, it's Dongzi. Isn't this child always cooperating with the county leaders' work recently? The village has been assigning him work these past two days. That big tripod he donated to Mazu, they say it can be exchanged for building a big temple for our Mazu, and he has made a great contribution to the village. The Women's Federation in the village happened to be short of people, so they thought of calling me."

"Oh my, hehehe~ Didn't expect that at my age, I could also bask in my son's light and eat public food, hehehe~ This isn't something just anyone can eat. In the past, only educated people could be officials..."

When Ye Mu reached the point of excitement, she even slapped her thigh, "I can't lose face for the children in the family, I have to recognize a few more characters... Hehehe~ I have to review the characters I learned today in a while..."

As soon as Ye Yaodong and the others returned, they heard Ye Mu's loud voice from afar. That joyful appearance was even happier than picking up a big unity note.

He guessed that his mother must have said it once at the old house yesterday or during lunch, so she ran over here to promote it after getting off work...

"Dong is really amazing, and can let you bask in his light, getting an iron rice bowl. This is even better than going to the city to eat public grain. Workers aren't as glorious as village cadres."

"Isn't that so? How much salary does this Women's Federation pay a month?"

"Not little, right?"

"This is only the first day, how could I be embarrassed to ask how much the salary is? Hehehe~ Won't I know next month..."

"Your family has really prospered. You have two boats at home, and you've become a village cadre. That's too capable..."

Ye Mu's mouth was almost crooked from their flattery.

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but shake his head when he heard it, and hurriedly shouted "Mother" to interrupt what she wanted to say.

His mother was just like this, so high-profile. If the Women's Federation in the village had any publicity work, it would be quite suitable to hand it over to her. In less than half a day, it would definitely spread throughout the whole village, and everyone would know.

Fortunately, he didn't tell her that Xiuqing also went to the village committee to do clerical work. He would ask Xiuqing later. It would be good if she went to work a few months later, it wouldn't be so eye-catching, and it wouldn't be so hard.

Ye Mu turned her head and saw that they had all returned, and greeted them with a smile, "You came back quite early. Oh my, why did you bring back so many mussels? And sea clams. Didn't you say you were going to sea to watch the field? Why did you dig up so many..."

"Father said he heard you nagging that there was nothing to eat at home. Anyway, drifting at sea, idle is idle, so half the people were assigned to dig a little on the nearby small island."

Ye Mu nodded, "It's just right that there are so many workers working at home. Taking them as vegetables for the workers to eat for a few days can also save a little. The rest, take advantage of the good weather to dry a little more."

"The plum rain a while ago, everything at home was eaten up. That rain was so heavy we couldn't even leave the door. We almost dug up the mushrooms growing behind the door to eat. Everything that wasn't finished at home also got moldy..."

She nagged and reached out to help move the bags of shelled things on the flatbed cart, but just as she stretched her hand out, she retracted it again.

"Oh my~ You guys move them, you guys move them. The clothes I'm wearing can't be scratched. This is Dacron, I couldn't bear to take it out to wear, haven't worn it many times."

Ye Yaodong was between laughter and tears. He wanted to laugh, but was afraid of being scolded.

"Mother, you've become a village cadre, and you're still short of this set of clothes! Tomorrow, hurry up and make a few more good-looking ones. You are a person who eats public food properly, so you can't be reluctant anymore. Don't wear tattered clothes again. Just wear those patched clothes for work."

"Oh, I know... Let your wife, and your eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law all come out to help clean up these things first. I'll go back and change my clothes first. These things will take a long time to deal with once started, don't ruin the clothes on me..."

Ye Mu pulled her hem, reluctant to wear such good clothes to work. After saying that, she twisted her hips and walked back quickly.

Ye Yaodong dumped two bags of these shelled things on the flat ground first, and took several bamboo baskets for everyone to sort.

The reefs around the small island they went to this time were quite rugged, and there were no beaches exposed for people to stand on, so everyone didn't pick and choose, just dug whatever was in front of them.