Chapter 682: Preparations Complete

"Dad, what are you all talking about, clay pots and jars and stuff?" Ye Chenghu watched curiously as they played charades.

After Ye Ye Chenghai and the others all chimed in to explain it to him at once, he slapped his thigh in regret for missing it earlier and not finding out right away.

"I want some too, I want some too, I want to play too, I'm going to ask Mom for jars…" Ye Chenghu darted back into the house like a gust of wind.

Ye Ye Chengyang had listened and only half-understood, but since his brother had run off, of course he followed right behind, lifting his legs into the house.

Apart from fighting, under normal circumstances they were inseparable brothers — wherever the older brother went, the younger tagged along.

Only Lin Lin Xiuqing was now busy rinsing rice to start making lunch, with no time to mind the two brothers, so she shooed them both out again.

They went on their own to rummage through the sacks in the corner by the door; with a clattering sound, the jars inside the sacks were instantly dumped all over the ground.

Most were the malted-milk-powder tins they had drunk — those could be used to hold things, and Ah Qing couldn't bear to sell them to the scrap collector, so she'd been collecting them all along. There were also other tin cans, a whole big pile.

At this, not just the two brothers got excited — the others stopped working too, and all crowded over, wanting to ask for some.

Ye Chenghu wasn't willing to share any of it and refused them all. "Go find them at your own homes! These are mine! I don't even have enough for myself, how could I give you any? Go back and find your own."

If they could go back, would they be hanging around here doing hard labor? They would have gone home long ago to tear the place apart looking.

"You can go look at your grandma's house, or at your maternal grandma's house, otherwise there won't be enough to share."

"Makes sense!"

With Ye Yaodong's tip, the group of children instantly became incredibly eager. But he'd also lost his little helpers, and could only keep peeling bamboo shoots by himself — that was a miscalculation.

With the big pile of tins at home, Ye Chenghu put them all to use, and even coaxed Yangyang, saying: once big brother finishes, we'll share and use them together, you don't have to do anything, just watch…

Ye Ye Chengyang nodded along, taken in by his coaxing.

Ye Yaodong didn't expose it either — the two brothers were both willing parties.

Ye Chenghu also found a screw, and ordered Ye Ye Chengyang to go outside the door and pick up a big stone, giving him a sense of participation. Then he spent the whole afternoon tapping away, trying to knock a hole in the rim of the tin so it would be easier to tie a string through.

The group of kids next door also spent the whole afternoon hunched over, tapping away with a clanking sound.

No choice — they'd just gotten a beating, and their bottoms still hurt, so they could only stick them out. But even though it hurt, it couldn't dampen their enthusiasm.

"Dad, is it strung together like this?"

"Close enough. Just tie it firm, as long as it doesn't get washed away by the waves."

"Then that's that!"

Ye Chenghu excitedly showed off his handiwork, and dragged it next door to brag. Along the way, the jars scraped against the ground, making a clinking and clanking sound.

It was also just in time — in the afternoon, the tide gradually began to recede.

The group of kids couldn't bear to go anywhere, squatting in a whole row at the gate of the yard, with sharpened long sticks in their hands — of course those had been whittled for them by Ye's father when he wandered over with nothing to do, after they'd clung to him and begged.

And in front of them was also piled a great variety of jars and tins, strung together with string on top.

The other little playmates were also drawn by their strange behavior and things, and all squatted over, asking them curiously.

They kept their mouths tightly shut and wouldn't say a word, but that couldn't stop the other children's curiosity — they all squatted together, ready to see what they were up to.

Under their eager, waiting gaze, just after two in the afternoon the tide slowly began to recede, and they excitedly sprang into action.

Ye Yaodong was afraid they'd chase the tide into the water, so he followed along, uneasy.

He also brought a bucket along, to see if there was anything to pick up after the tide receded. It had rained for several days, the water level had risen, and the waves out at sea were probably big too — picking up some seafood for an extra meal tonight wouldn't be bad.

"Can you slow down a bit? The tide hasn't fully receded yet, it's still early."

With a bucket in one hand and fire tongs in the other, he had just snagged a crab scuttling sideways, when he looked up to warn the children excitedly running ahead.

"Got it."

These days parents just let their kids run completely wild — also because they were too busy, working hard for a living, with a pile of chores to do, and no time to mind the children. Ye Ye Dasao and Ye Ye Ersao actually didn't really mind the kids playing by the beach, as long as they didn't go into the water to swim — let them go wherever.

The neighbors on either side were the same — as long as at mealtime they knew to come back, that was fine.

It was just that Ye Yaodong kept a tighter watch. His two sisters-in-law, influenced by him, sometimes also wouldn't allow the children to go play by the sea.

He had seen, and heard of, too many children who drowned while playing in the water — how many parents grieved and regretted. And the ones who drowned were often the ones who could swim. Especially mischievous boys — every child is a treasure in their parents' hearts; if anything happened, it would be heart-wrenching.

He'd rather keep a tighter watch now, to avoid regret later. Little children are small, they don't understand, and most of the time they won't obediently listen.

Ye Yaodong walked and picked things up as he went. The tide wasn't receding that fast, so he wandered back and forth around the waterline, keeping an eye on the children.

The children waited for the tide to recede while picking things up, and threw everything they found into his bucket.

"Dad, there are lots of bubble holes here…"

"Dig a bit and see."

Ye Chenghu obeyed, reached in and pried at one. "It's sand clams…"

"Then forget it, don't dig — it's a waste of time. Who knows how long it'd take to dig this little patch of bubble holes. The bucket's already got a bunch of big clams in it. You kids go look around, see if there are any stranded little fish, shrimp, or crabs?"

"Okay, then later we'll call Mom and Ye Ye Dabo's wife and Ye Ye Erbo's wife to come dig!"

"Then don't step on those bubble holes, otherwise you won't recognize them later and won't be able to dig."

Although sand clams tasted better than big clams, Ye Yaodong had already gotten picky — he turned his nose up at this little patch of sand clams.

After all, digging sand clams was too much effort, while big clams only needed to be picked up. And after everyone had just thrown things in, the bucket was already half full.

Fish, shrimp, crabs, octopus, shells, sea snails — the bucket had everything. Apart from the fish, the rest could be put in the pot tonight and steamed in a big batch over water — smells so good~

Amid the children's excited cries of finding a crab, a fish, a sea snail, the tide receded all the way, taking almost an hour.

The distance between the beach and the house had also stretched out long — pulled out to about two hundred meters. On the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, when the tide receded the most, it could go even further down.

"Third Uncle, has it receded all the way?"

"Third Uncle, can we put the jars down now?"

"Third Uncle, can we put them in?"

"Dad, can we put them in? The tide shouldn't recede any more, right?"

Ye Yaodong waved his hand. "Put them in, put them in. Find your own spots, put them in yourselves. Stick the sticks in deeper, and tap with the stones for a while longer."

"Okay!"

The children all leaped about excitedly.

Several children from the neighboring houses had followed them out, still not knowing what they were up to, and they pressed for answers again, only to be brushed off with, "You'll find out in a bit."

Whether boy or girl, each had a string of jars and pots trailing behind them, and everyone was in high spirits, splitting up to find a patch of ground to claim.

They weren't spaced far apart either — at a glance, they stood in a neat row, only two or three meters between each, and then began hammering away, driving the stakes down into the sand.

The other children all squatted around watching, curiously observing them work.

Once they had finished hammering the stakes and felt they were firmly driven into the sand, they wound the rope around the posts again and again, then carefully laid the jars on their sides one by one, facing the sea.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"Ugh, stop pestering — I told you, you'll know when the time comes. Don't ask."

"When the time comes is when, exactly?"

"You'll know when you get back from school tomorrow."

"We have to wait until tomorrow? I thought we'd find out right away…"

"Shoo, shoo, don't get in the way here."

After Ye Ye Chenghai finished tying down his own jars, he suddenly felt a bit empty, not knowing what to do with himself now that it was done. The wait seemed a little long — he'd have to wait until he got back from school tomorrow to come check on the beach.

"Third Uncle, are we done like this?"

"Mm, perfect. By the time you get back from school tomorrow the tide will have gone out too, just right for coming to collect them."

"So what do we do now? I'm so bored."

"Foraging the sea — all of you, scatter in every direction and look around. Whatever you find, bring it back. We'll steam it all in one pot tonight and split some among your families for an extra meal. It's been a few days since you've had fresh seafood, hasn't it?"

"Okay~"

This was something they loved doing too!

Good food and good fun.

Ye Yaodong also went for a stroll out past the reef, standing on a big rock to gaze out over the sea. It seemed the waves weren't big today — after the rain had cleared, the sea was uncommonly calm and still.

He figured after resting a few days, he'd have to head out to sea again to work and earn money.

By now quite a few more people had come out to wander the beach — adults and children, mostly children running down to play and picking up any small seafood that had washed ashore.

What adult would bother with such small pickings? Only greedy children would want to eat everything.

Some children, seeing the row of posts standing here and all the jars and pots on the beach, curiously circled around them, reaching out to touch — only to be chased off again by the stingy Ye Ye Chenghai and the others.

With a gang of child laborers around, Ye Yaodong didn't feel like working either. He tossed the bucket aside for them to fill, and squatted on the reef to dig up sea lettuce.

At some point, thick patches of sea lettuce had grown all around the rocks, and no one wanted it. He planned to pull up a good bunch to take home — enough for a couple of meals, or to make a cold salad.

For a cold salad, he'd need a larger quantity, otherwise it would shrink down too much.

He let them play on the beach until the sun sank toward the west, then Ye Yaodong herded the little monkeys home.

Seeing that the other children were also heading home one after another, they went back without worry.

One water bucket, filled to the brim by the labor of so many child workers — Ye Yaodong could feel the weight in his hand, guessing it was at least twenty jin.

He cheerfully waved his hand grandly. "Once we get it back and wash it, we'll pick out the small fish and fry them up as a reward for you all. The rest of the seafood we'll steam in one pot and split among your families."

"Thank you, Third Uncle!"

"Thank you, Third Uncle! Third Uncle is the best!"

"Awesome! We're getting fried small fish~"

"Yoo-hoo~ We're gonna eat fried small fish~ Crispy, crunchy fried small fish~"

Everyone cheered and jumped for joy.

A wish made in the afternoon, granted by evening — how wonderful! Third Uncle is the best!

The children on either side were envious — aside from New Year, who ever got to eat fried food?

Third Uncle Ye is so good…