Chapter 447: Scramble for Fish

While setting the bamboo fish traps in the shallow water by the beach, Ye Yaodong pushed the cart along the shore to haul the traps, and along the way he picked up quite a lot of big fish, small fish, shrimp, crabs, and sea snails. After just a short stretch, his hands were already overflowing.

After the storm and big waves swept the beach, plenty of fish and shrimp had been left stranded. Last night they had only picked up around their own doorstep; the places farther away had become the fish that escaped the net—there were always some that hadn't been carried back to sea by the waves.

He didn't know whether the neighbors nearby had already come by at the crack of dawn. If they had, they probably hadn't been too thorough about it. He simply told Lin Lin Xiuqing to first have a look around the beach.

In any case, he had already cast his net in the sea. Even if those scallops tried to flee, they'd only end up in his net. The ones that weren't going to run still wouldn't run.

Ye's father watched him fussing about, and after laying two nets in the sea, Ye Yaodong went back home to wheel out the cart to haul the traps. His father came over to help as well.

"What good is it putting the traps here?"

Ye Yaodong countered, "Then where would be useful? The typhoon just passed, the waves outside are big, and there's no way to take them out farther. Putting them by the shore is fine—the tide rises so high, wave after wave crashing up can still net a few fish and shrimp."

"We can also catch some fleeing scallops. Too bad we don't have any other big fishing nets at home—a purse seine would be even better. Spread it out wide and none of those scallops could possibly escape."

"Fooling around. There's so much piled up on the shore—not just scallops, but all kinds of shells and sea snails too. If you don't go haul those over there, how much can you net in the sea?"

"Underestimate me, will you? With so many shells piled so high on the shore, it'd be good if half of them had meat. My net specifically catches the scallops that run, plus live fresh ones. Who knows, the haul might be even better."

Ye's father didn't argue with him anymore—let him put them if he wanted. In any case, they had picked up plenty last night, and this morning they had gotten a step ahead of the villagers again, already raking in five baskets of shelled ones.

It might really net quite a lot for him. Just now he had also seen those scallops in the sea fleeing especially nimbly.

The villagers who had been running out and back for tools in twos and threes also brought along plenty of family members and neighbors to come back over.

Before they even reached the beach, they saw that coastline made of piled shells and were so shocked their mouths wouldn't close.

It was a white arc-shaped line, stacked along the shore, forming a stark contrast with the rocks, mud, sea sand, and murky yellow seawater beside it, like a white ribbon separating the seawater from the rocks and mud.

Instantly, everyone got excited.

"Oh my, you really weren't wrong—there really are piles of shells…"

"Quick, quick, hurry over there, someone's already picking them up."

"There must be plenty of sea snails too, and the big scallops can sell for some money. Picking up some oyster shells to crack open at home works too…"

"Ah! A yellow croaker! There's a yellow croaker!"

Just as they were jogging toward the beach, someone spotted a yellow croaker, and a sizable one at that. Now everyone started watching their feet and surroundings.

"A white pomfret—there are two white pomfrets. They must have been washed up by the waves…"

"You're lucky… Oh my, there's a white pomfret here too… There's a small shark over there, pretty tiny…"

"This mantis shrimp doesn't have much meat, this sea snail is big, ah… it's a hermit crab…"

"Ah… a spring fish, this one's big…"

"Wow, that one you've got is big, you could sell it for quite a bit…"

Before they even reached the front, everyone was already impatiently searching the surroundings.

As they walked, they kept their eyes peeled, looking around for any other good catches.

White pomfret, yellow croaker, spring fish—these prices weren't low at all, all high-quality good fish. Their pull wasn't any weaker than that low coastline cast in shells. Picking up two of them at random might be worth more than a whole basket of shells.

One after another, more people kept running out from the village. Seeing the others' hauls, they didn't rush to the shore either, but first started searching around.

That line of shells over there looked so long, they could dig through it slowly, no rush. Right now the sky was gloomy and not many people had come in response to the news yet—some were probably still catching up on sleep.

Ye Yaodong and his father also picked things up while setting the traps. When they passed by and saw something valuable on the beach, he'd pick it up and toss it onto the cart.

Their occasional trips ashore to push the cart and grab the traps were quite productive. Before the traps were all set, the cart was already piled with a dozen good fish, over a dozen sea snails, and some larger assorted fish.

There were also seven or eight green crabs still crawling—all of these he and his father had picked up on the shore, or grabbed by hand after being washed up by the waves.

There were plenty of blue swimming crabs on the shore too, but they were already dead, so he didn't want them.

As the rain gradually stopped, clouds and rosy clouds appeared on the horizon at dawn. The rising sun slowly emerged from the eastern clouds, and the sky brightened, giving one the feeling of the rain passing and the sun breaking through, parting the clouds to see the light. His whole heart felt open and clear.

In the village, one told ten, ten told a hundred. At first there weren't many people, but more and more came later.

By the time Ye Yaodong spent an hour laying all four rows of traps along the shoreline into the water by the shore, the beach was already crowded with people picking up shells. It felt like the whole village had come—except for the elderly, basically all the kids were there too.

There were still waves by the beach and the water level was high. Even though there was no wind or rain now, adults still wouldn't let the children come to the sea.

Just as Ye Yaodong was taking off his rain cape and walking toward the cart, cursing suddenly erupted from not far away on the shore, each voice louder than the last. From the sound of it, it seemed to be two women cursing at each other.

Since they were already done with work, he and his father curiously walked over, and unexpectedly heard some familiar voices.

It seemed to be two women fighting over a fish—a grouper?

"Who says you saw it first? Clearly I grabbed it in my hand first, it's mine…"

"Go to hell, you blind thing, you didn't see anything. I saw it first and walked over, and only then did you notice and rush over to try to snatch it, but you couldn't beat me to it. It's already in my bucket, and you still have the nerve to say it's yours? And tell me to give it back to you? Is your head full of shit?"

"You shameless dead fat woman, clearly you shoved me with your butt…"

The fat woman cut her off first, "Damn it, so what if I'm fat? All this meat on me—you couldn't grow it even if you wanted to eat it. You skinny rake, washboard, one little touch and you'd fall flat on your face eating mud on your own. Who's fault is that?"

"That grouper is mine, I just grabbed it in my hand, clearly I got it first. You shameless fat woman snatched mine…"

"Hilarious. Clearly I saw it first. You ran over to snatch mine, and you have the nerve to say it's yours? And you say I shoved you with my butt? With a butt like yours, if you could bear a son, that'd be burning high incense from a past life. Not sitting you to death with one butt-plop is already being kind."

"Fellow villagers, judge for me. I already had it in my hand, and she still shoved me away… This is the money to save my family's life. My husband is still lying in bed taking medicine…"

Unable to win the argument, the woman could only wipe her tears and play the sympathy card.

The plump woman disdainfully looked down on her, "Which husband of yours? Haven't you found another man to shack up with to support the family?"

"A person has to be reasonable. Whoever spotted it first, it's theirs. Just because your husband is lying in bed doesn't mean you can snatch someone else's fish, and I have to give in to you. Why should I? I'm not your live-in lover, I'm not supposed to support you! Instead of wasting time arguing with me, you'd be better off going to the beach to scoop up more shells."

As she spoke, the fat woman also softened her attitude a bit, stopped cursing, and planned to pick up her bucket and leave.

"You can't leave…" Seeing her about to go, the woman was furious and unwilling. She kicked at her bucket, then put her hands on her hips and cursed, "You shameless fat ugly freak, if you want money go sell yourself. Spread your legs and it's easier to earn than anything… Still have to snatch mine…"

Seeing the bucket slip from her hand and spill all over the ground, and before she could even react, she heard the other woman curse so viciously. This couldn't be let go now—she turned around and slapped her across the face.

Ye Yaodong stood outside the crowd listening to the voices and the cursing. The more he listened, the more familiar it sounded. It seemed to be Fatty's wife? Their whole village couldn't produce many fat women.

He stood on tiptoe and looked—good lord, it really was Fatty's wife.

That woman was fierce, directly grabbing the other woman's hair and slapping her twice more. The other woman also kept reaching out to scratch Fatty's wife's face. The two women instantly went at it, and the onlookers rushed forward to pull them apart.

Half of that woman's face was smeared with mud, but no matter how he looked at her, she seemed a bit familiar? And she had just mentioned shack-up?

At this moment, Ye's father spoke up, "Oh my? Isn't that Brother Brother Asheng's shack-up wife?"

Huh?!

He suddenly remembered — this was his second cousin Ye Ye Yaosheng's "pull-helper" wife, Wang Wang Lizhen.

That cousin was already in his early thirties; he'd married over ten years ago and his wife still couldn't bear a child — not even a daughter. They'd gone everywhere praying to gods and worshipping Buddhas, seen doctors, taken folk remedies, drunk talisman water — nothing worked. The year before last, his wife had somehow eaten something random and poisoned herself to death.

As for this Wang Wang Lizhen, her husband had gone to the city for work last year, fallen from a tall building, and been left half-dead. The medical fees had drained the family savings, and with no one left to support the household, she got her husband's consent and, through a matchmaker, found a strong, sturdy man to help support the family — that was his second uncle's cousin.

The main thing was, this woman could bear sons — three in two years, then another three in five years, six sons in a row. Only one had survived, though; one had fallen into the sea, one had fallen into a well.

Over the years, because his wife couldn't bear children, Ye Ye Yaosheng had spent everything seeking treatment everywhere, draining the family savings. At his age, he couldn't afford to marry a young Miss anyway — he'd have to marry a widow or a divorcée either way, so he might as well find one who could bear sons.

From what he'd just heard, the husband hadn't kicked the bucket yet. Once the husband was gone, Ye Ye Yaosheng could formally marry her and continue their life together — that was what "pull-helper" meant.

In these times there were still arrangements like this; later on they'd vanish completely.

He also remembered that afterward Wang Wang Lizhen went on to bear his cousin three more daughters in a row, and the fines nearly killed them…

"Go up and help break up the fight! What are you just standing there for?" Once Ye Father recognized the people, he stepped forward to help pull them apart.

"How am I supposed to pull them apart… let those women handle the breaking-up…"

Ye Yaodong watched the two of them tugging back and forth, their clothes badly exposed — only a step away from being torn off outright. As a grown man, how could he possibly bring himself to step forward?