Chapter 596: Ten Days Without Going Out to Sea

With something to look forward to, the two children ate faster than each other, and once they'd quickly scraped their bowls clean, they stood off to the side waiting, their gazes fixed hotly on their father.

Ye Yaodong felt those two burning stares and couldn't even eat his meal in peace.

"You two go wait outside, find some wire first. There seems to be a little in the yard—if it's not enough, go to the old house and ask your grandpa for some."

"Got it."

Ye Chenghu excitedly ran straight outside, and Ye Ye Chengyang followed close behind with his little short legs.

Lin Lin Xiuqing, still eating, urged him with slightly muffled speech, "Eat faster, or else in a bit they'll come running back in to nag again. Wonder who they take after…"

"Their mother, of course! Who else could they take after?"

She couldn't help but laugh.

Ye Yaodong finished the last few bites of rice in his bowl before heading out the door. The two children weren't in the yard either—they'd run off out of sight.

He looked around for a while but only found a small bundle of copper wire.

Just then, the two of them came running back from who knows where, bringing with them a discarded iron bucket and a small piece of sheet iron.

"Dad, Grandpa gave me this bucket. He said it's rusted and leaks, no use at all, told you to just use the wide iron ring at the bottom of the bucket—no need to wrap one yourself."

Ye Yaodong took the discarded iron bucket from his hand, lifted it and turned it around, took a look. "How do I get this off? He made it sound so easy. Wouldn't it be easier to just take the iron ring hooped around some broken wooden bucket?"

"You don't know how to do it either?"

Ye Chenghu was nearly worried to death—how could his father not know how to do anything?

Ye Yaodong cast him a flat glance. "You know how, do you?"

"I don't know either! If I knew, I wouldn't have come to get you."

Ye Yaodong's brow furrowed so deeply it could have crushed a fly to death. Stinky little brat, truly annoying.

"You already ran all the way to the old house—why didn't you just have your grandpa make it?"

"Huh? Wasn't it you who said you'd make it for me!"

"You don't know how to adapt at all, you dummy!"

Ye Yaodong turned the iron bucket around twice more, then figured forget it—getting that ring off would be too much trouble. He'd just use the sheet iron to make one directly.

The other one could be made from the wire he'd just found.

After casually tossing the bucket into a corner, he took the sheet iron the two children had brought back, stretched it out to check the length, then bent it into a circle to test it. Sure enough, it was only enough for one.

This rolling hoop toy was made of two parts: one was the circle formed from sheet iron, the other was a long handle to push the hoop forward.

Making the hoop was very simple—just use iron pliers to bend the sheet iron into a circle, fix it in place, and the size should be about that of a wooden bucket's mouth.

The wire was the same: bend it into a circle, wind it tight, and try to make it as round as possible so it rolls well.

Given that the children were small and needed something easy to control, Ye Yaodong made one big and one small according to their heights.

While he sat there busy working, the two of them squatted down in front of him, eyes unblinking, staring fixedly at what he was doing.

"Is it ready, Dad? Is the hoop done? I told you it was simple!"

Ye Chenghu watched the hoop already take shape and couldn't wait to reach out and grab it. "The big one is definitely mine."

"What's the rush? There's still the handle."

"Then hurry up."

Ye Yaodong unhurriedly set the hoop on the ground and first lit himself a cigarette.

He took two drags, flicked the ash twice, then tucked it between his middle and index finger, and only then used the remaining wire to make another long-handled iron hook.

"It's done, it's done, finally done." Ye Chenghu couldn't wait to reach out again.

Ye Yaodong unceremoniously swatted his hand away. "What's the rush, wait a bit—I'm going to add something for you."

He kept tinkering with the last little bit of wire and made a very small iron ring, which he slipped onto the hoop.

"See that? This little ring—when you're not pushing it, you can hook it with the bent hook, hang it up and sling it over your shoulder, just like Lin Chong carrying a gourd on his iron spear. That way it won't fall off."

"Huh? Who's Lin Chong?"

"He's from Water Margin. That's why I tell you to study seriously. Later when you chat with people and they talk about all sorts of things, all you can say is 'Huh? Huh? Huh?'—makes you look uncultured and clueless."

Ye Ye Chengyang tilted his head and asked curiously, "Has Dad read a lot of books?"

Critical hit!

!

"Uh… cough, cough… this one's done, you can take it and play. The next one will be ready in a moment."

Ye Yaodong, brought down by the child's honest question, simply slipped the hoop onto him and slung it over his shoulder, just like Nezha carrying the Qiankun Ring.

Ye Ye Chengyang instantly jumped up excitedly. "Ah, I have a hoop too~ I'm going to find Brother Brother Ahai~"

Ye Chenghu watched Ye Ye Chengyang already run off with the hoop slung on him and felt terribly anxious. "Dad, hurry up, Yangyang already ran off…"

"Impatience won't get you anywhere."

Ye Yaodong took two more drags on the cigarette pinched between his fingers, which was nearly burned down to the end, before flicking it away. "Forgot I was at home, not at sea—too much muscle memory. Go over and step on it to put out the flame."

"Oh, why do all grown-ups have to smoke?"

Ye Yaodong also slipped an iron ring onto the hoop he'd made for him, and only then was the boy happy, thoroughly satisfied, and he too took it and slung it around his neck before running outside.

"Hey? Wait, didn't you say you'd let me play with it?"

"Let me play with it first…"

Before the words were even finished, the boy had already run off into the distance.

"A man's word can't be trusted, a boy's word can't be trusted either! A little boy's word can't be trusted either!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing finished washing the dishes, tidied up the stove area, and came out just in time to hear this remark. She found it hilarious. "Where did such a profound sentiment come from?"

"I was just saying it off the cuff, saying it for fun."

"I thought some man had tricked you."

"Nonsense, I'm not some young Miss."

……

After sending both of them off, Ye Yaodong had originally thought the world would finally be quiet, and he planned to go inside and take a nap so he could prepare for going out to sea at night. Little did he know, the excitement had only just begun.

He had just taken off his padded cotton jacket and lain down on the bed, his eyes not even closed yet, when he heard a burst of laughter and chatter outside the house, the noise rising wave after wave—all the playful shrieking of children.

A group of kids were playing the game of rolling iron hoops at the door, and just from the sound he knew exactly how they were playing.

Fortunately, after a while, as they rolled their hoops along, they rolled farther and farther away; otherwise he would have had to get up and chase them off.

Having slept plenty during the day, Ye Yaodong woke up naturally at night, full of energy.

Today he hadn't hired anyone—just him and his dad, the two of them. Trawling didn't require hiring hands either; if there was no catch, they could set gill nets, and that didn't need three people either—two could handle it just fine.

After many days without going out to sea, the dock had been desolate for a while, but now at night it was lively again. People who knew each other would exchange greetings whenever they met.

However, today there seemed to be quite a lot of people greeting him?

Every single face was beaming with smiles, making him feel as if he were a hot commodity. He had never felt the folks back home being this enthusiastic.

He hadn't been moving around the village for a few days—had the changes really been this big?

It wasn't until after he got on the boat that he asked his dad, "Have there been more rumors about me going around the village lately?"

The smile on Ye Fu's face hadn't faded yet—it was still hanging there. He nodded and said, "I don't know who spread it, but anyway everyone knows you bought two shopfronts in the city. You went to pay the money a few days ago, and these past few days everyone in the village has been praising you."

"Oh, let them spread it then, doesn't matter. Just as well, since I've emptied the family coffers again. But what are they praising me for?"

"Go walk around the village yourself tomorrow, listen a bit and you'll know."

"Can't you just tell me?"

"What's there to say? If I say more, your tail will stick up to the sky. Hurry up and start the boat."

"Fine. Even if you won't say it, I can guess anyway. It's nothing more than saying I've made something of myself, the prodigal son has turned back, earning such a big family fortune in just one year—no one's kid is as accomplished as yours. You and Mom are going to enjoy great fortune from now on…"

Ye Fu was speechless for a moment. "You already know, so why ask?"

"Huh? Really? I was just saying it off the top of my head. These people really have no new ideas—praise after praise, it's always the same few lines. They won't even say I'll definitely become an official or a boss in the future, start a company and make a fortune…"

"Stop daydreaming. A few casual compliments—don't take them to heart. Whatever work needs doing, you still have to do it just the same."

"Can't you say a few more words to make me happy?" Ye Yaodong muttered a couple of lines, then obediently went to start the boat.

When being praised, who doesn't feel happy inside?

He stood at the bow in high spirits, the wind blowing against him. In just over a year, everything had changed—life was looking more and more hopeful.

Actually, what he wanted most right now was for the whole family to be healthy and safe. The money he'd earned was already enough to spend; as long as he didn't touch gambling, prostitution, or drugs, his family fortune would slowly grow anyway.

On the sea surface, the sea wind was whistling and blowing, and the boat swayed unsteadily with it. Although there wasn't much wind on shore, and no visible waves from the coast.

But out at sea it was different—open on all sides. The whistling wind in his ears and the crashing of the waves were almost loud enough to drown out the diesel engine, ringing in his ears, but as long as the fishing boat could take it, it was fine.

The boat sped toward the waters where they usually trawled. It had been ten days since he'd gone out to sea, and he thought they'd set out early enough today.

He hadn't expected that upon reaching their destination, he would actually see boats already fishing on the nearby sea surface.

Were there people even more diligent than him?

Watching a boat over there cruising at a steady speed, he knew it was working—but he had no idea why it had suddenly barged into his territory.

But the waters weren't his anyway. They could trawl theirs, he'd do his own, and they'd just leave each other alone.

It wasn't long before the other boat noticed him too, and both sides silently kept to an unspoken understanding, each doing their own thing. They were all decent folk—as long as no one was deliberately picking a fight, everyone was generally peaceful.

The trawling went on unremarkably. Seeing that the first haul was decent, Ye Yaodong decided not to set gill nets for now—that really was more trouble.

But maybe after the trawling was done, if there was still time, he could pick a good spot and set a dozen or twenty nets. That way, if the weather was good tomorrow, he could both haul and set.

Even if the weather turned bad, hauling a dozen or so nets wouldn't take long, and they wouldn't have to linger too long either.

Ye Yaodong's abacus was clicking away—he wanted to make full use of everything. After all, he could practically count himself as in debt now, even though his fixed assets had increased.

After hauling in two nets, the boat had five or six extra baskets of toadfish and various other fish. He had originally thought that was all they'd get today—nothing special.

But he hadn't expected his dad to have been keeping an eye and ear on the other boat the whole time.

"Dongzi, something's off about that boat. It hasn't moved much in a long time."