Chapter 448: Pretty Satisfying, Just Hard on the Back

Two women were grappling with each other, locked in a fierce struggle, spitting and cursing wildly, dragging out every reproductive organ and eighteen generations of ancestors in their tirade.

Being someone's ancestor is pretty unlucky too—dead and still getting cursed every few days, scolded by descendants is one thing, but also by outsiders, and when necessary dragged out for swearing oaths, "may the heavens strike me with five thunderbolts…"

As the women nearby were helping to pull them apart, Fatty finally arrived, hurrying over to embrace his wife, who was in full fury, and while separating them he shouted, "Alright, alright, stop fighting. Everything was fine, I just went back to get a sack for the shells, how did it turn into a fight? What's going on with Dongzi?"

Ye Yaodong shrugged. "Fighting over fish, obviously."

Whenever public resources appear, there's bound to be a war.

"You damn stinking mouth, did you eat shit? Spraying feces everywhere. I didn't even bother arguing with you, and you still dare curse people and kick over my bucket—I'll beat you to death, you slut. You should be the one selling your ass for money… pfft, with a washboard like yours, no tits, no ass, even if you sold it you'd starve…"

"You fat sow, if anyone would starve selling it, it'd be you. Your face is bigger than my foot-washing basin…"

"Ling mu ji bai, sai lin mu, I can't earn money, so of course I won't go. If you can earn money, you go, earn more, get paid and have fun too…"

The men nearby, hearing this married woman curse without any filter, some of the older ones still felt embarrassed, while the younger ones found it hilarious and burst out laughing.

The unmarried young Misses blushed scarlet and quickly ran off to the side, not daring to stay there any longer.

Ye Yaodong also found it both funny and awkward.

Wang Wang Lizhen, ashamed and furious, was pulled apart with a bird's nest of messy hair on her head, still kicking her feet, trying to stomp people.

"Shut your mouth, spraying feces everywhere, do you live in a cesspit, got shit all over your mouth…"

Fatty's wife rolled her eyes, pressing her advantage. "Tch, if you want to go, just say so, don't be shy. This fat sow of mine only my man wants. If you want to go earn money, don't drag me into it. Our family is indeed a bit hard up, but if you want to earn this money, do it on the sly—why bring it out in the open like this? The whole village knows now, how are you going to come back and get married and live a normal life later…"

"Alright, alright, each of you say a little less…"

Wang Wang Lizhen trembled all over with rage. "You rotten-mouthed, rotten-tongued, rotten-eyed, rotten-asshole bitch…"

"That's enough, each of you say a little less…"

"Yeah, say a little less, each of you give a little and it'll be fine…"

Unable to do anything while being held back, Wang Wang Lizhen simply sat on the ground, slapped her thighs, and wailed at the top of her lungs: "Aiyoh~ my life is so bitter~ why is my fate so bitter~ Heaven has no eyes, good people don't live long, but scoundrels live for a thousand years, even a fish gets snatched from me, why is my fate so bitter, oh Heaven, take me away too…"

Hearing her say this, everyone present thought of her tragic past and felt sorry for her, turning to look at Fatty and his wife.

Some even advised, "Just give her that fish back, she's pretty pitiful…"

"Yeah, don't bother arguing with her, her life is hard too, her man's still lying at home half-dead…"

"Right, you two are doing fine, both of you are nice and plump and white, you won't miss one fish, just let her have it, she's pretty pitiful…"

Fatty's wife watched them try to morally blackmail her one by one, her chest heaving with rage. "Her man lying in bed isn't my doing, didn't she already find a man to take over in advance? Oh, so just because she's pitiful, I have to give her the fish I picked up? It's not like it's just a few cents."

"It's just one fish…"

"It is one fish, but this one fish is worth ten days of my man's wages. It's easy for you to talk standing there with no ache in your back, it's not coming out of your mouths, you don't feel the pain? You sympathize with her, then you give her money to support her. I clearly saw it first and I picked it up."

"Sigh, forget it, forget it…" Fatty glanced at the woman sitting on the ground and also felt she was pretty miserable.

He looked at the fish scattered on the ground—only one, a mouse grouper with a long pointed snout, was worth ten days of his wages.

Working in the hotel back kitchen this period, he'd seen plenty of rare seafood ingredients. Although they weren't his, he still felt his horizons had broadened.

Seeing it was a mouse grouper, he was a bit reluctant, but because he'd seen plenty, he didn't feel too bad about it, and still tossed it over to the woman.

Fatty's wife instantly widened her eyes. "Ah? My fish…"

Fatty quickly held onto his wife, not letting her rush forward. "Aiya, forget it, forget it, what are you fighting with her over?"

"What do you mean I'm fighting with her? It's that slut fighting with me, I'm furious, you damn well let me go right now, that's clearly mine, when have I ever just snatched people's things without rhyme or reason? You dead fatty…"

Fatty's wife kept slapping his arm with her palm, so angry she was practically roaring.

"Aiyoh, forget it, forget it, she's pretty pitiful too…"

"So pitiful she can just take my fish? Should I give her my man too, help her support the family?"

"Aiya, what nonsense are you spouting?"

After Wang Wang Lizhen took the fish, she was instantly overjoyed, beaming as she quickly put it into her own bucket, afraid Fatty's wife would rush over, she hurriedly grabbed the bucket and ran.

Fatty's wife, furious, cursed Fatty bloody and pinched him hard.

The crowd was reluctant to disperse, still gathered around watching the show. Ye Yaodong quickly shouted: "Break it up, break it up, hurry up and go pick shells, if you're late they'll all be picked clean by others, pick early earn early, it's all money! Go grab it!"

Only then did everyone remember they still had the serious business of picking up money to do, and they scattered like birds and beasts, running toward the shore, now afraid of being slow.

The show was over, nothing worth lingering for. The beach had already been visited by the villagers again and again, no fish had slipped through the net, and if there were any, they were probably well hidden.

Like that mouse grouper, it had been stranded under a big rock, with a small pool of water beneath it—without moving the rock, you couldn't see the fish at all. It was only because it stuck its tail out that the two women spotted it, sparking the great battle over who wanted to go to Dongguan.

Fatty and his wife were still making a scene. Fatty, being cursed bloody by his wife, felt he was in the wrong and didn't talk back—anyway, being scolded a couple of times didn't hurt, and no one was watching now anyway, Dongzi doesn't count as a person.

Ye Yaodong: "?"

"Are you trying to piss me off? Or is money burning your hands? Or have you seen and eaten too many good things and gotten a big head?"

"Aiya, just now so many people were standing around saying it, she really is pitiful, pretty miserable~ ow~ it's turning blue, turning blue~"

"So pitiful she can just take someone's stuff?"

Ye Yaodong didn't voice an opinion. To avoid the couple arguing again, he changed the subject. "You two go pick more shells at the beach now, you should be able to earn back what you just lost."

Obviously, the topic he changed to wasn't a great one, and Fatty took several more punches.

"I've been working myself to death, for whom? How many shells do I have to pick to make up for that fish's price? You're so good at feeling sorry for people, why don't you feel sorry for your wife? I'm furious, you dead fatty…"

Fatty shot a pleading look at Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong shrugged and spread his hands, indicating he couldn't help, he was just a bystander enjoying the show.

"If you two aren't going to pick shells, I'm going. If I'm late, the whole beach will be carried away by others."

Don't doubt the villagers' fighting power—even though they hadn't slept all night, they were still as excited as if they'd been injected with chicken blood.

After speaking, Ye Yaodong ran toward the coastline not far from his house. His father had already pushed the cart ahead of him.

That stretch of coastline piled with shells was now crouching full of people. The tide would occasionally wash over the shells and lap at the villagers' feet, over their calves, splashing their faces—they were all unmoved, all working hard to fill their sacks.

Time is money. If you're a step slow, the scallops running off with the waves is one thing, but don't let others pick them all clean.

Even if they run off, they can't be allowed to benefit others!

People were everywhere, but luckily after Lin Mu finished picking, she returned to the original spot, so she was easy to find.

"How come you're only just getting here? What happened over there just now? I could see it from far away, but didn't have time to run over and take a look."

Ye Yaodong took a sieve down from the cart. Several baskets of shells were already piled on top of the cart—all the spoils of his mother's battle. The bamboo baskets were small and took up space, so now his parents had switched to using burlap sacks.

Lin Lin Xiuqing suddenly saw him holding a big round sieve, and without waiting for him to tell her what had happened, she asked: "When did you grab another sieve? What are you doing with it? Aren't you going to help pack? When Mother sees it later, she'll scold you again."

"Don't bother with her. Unless I'm making money or working, nothing about me looks right to her."

"If you know that, why aren't you hurrying up?"

"Didn't I just grab the tools and get ready to work? And you keep nagging. I picked this up on the way when I went in to push the cart earlier."

"How do you pack with that thing?"

Looking at the ground cages bobbing with the surf along the beach, Ye Yaodong waded into the sea and demonstrated for her by scooping around in the water.

He scooped up a dozen or so scallops spread across the sieve, all of them decently sized. Some had just come out of the water and hadn't even closed their shells yet when Ye Yaodong caught them off guard, and they snapped shut in an instant.

"See that? I scoop like this, and everything I bring up is still alive. The way you do it, you rake everything back without sorting shells from meat—sorting it will wear you to death."

Lin Lin Xiuqing watched him scoop and thought it looked doable, but the quantity was too small, not as fast as raking them by hand into the dustpan.

Needless to say, Ye Yaodong knew at a glance what she was thinking—that his way caught too few, nothing compared to them reaching their hands into the shell pile and sweeping them into the winnowing basket in front of them.

"Have you noticed that more than half of the pile you swept over are empty shells, or oyster shells?"

"Mm, true enough! Then you go ahead and scoop. Don't go any further out, or the waves will hit you."

"Mm, you guys sweep the shells outside this shell line, and I'll scoop toward the sea inside the shell line. We won't get in each other's way."

Ye Yaodong deliberately avoided the two stretches where the nets were set. The fishing nets there were spread wide open, guaranteeing every scallop would walk right into the trap on its own. There was no need for him to go scoop with a sieve over there—that would just be cutting off his own catch.

Instead, he took the sieve and a burlap sack and headed toward the stretch where the ground cages were. Ground cages couldn't catch everything the way fishing nets could—how much they caught depended purely on luck.

Ye Yaodong casually scooped the sieve into the sea and came up with a dozen or so scallops. Seawater splashed and dripped through the bottom of the sieve, and he watched their shells go from open to shut right before his eyes.

Then he dumped them all into the burlap sack, and immediately repeated the scooping.

Scoop after scoop like this actually felt pretty satisfying—except it was a bit hard on the back!