Chapter 688: Earthenware Jar Octopus

Taking advantage of the fine weather and calm seas, they went out to sea for two more days straight before resting, because Ye Ye Xiaoxi had reached her first birthday.

Ye Yaodong and his father decisively hauled back the gill nets that were about to be scrapped. The number of toadfish had dropped sharply over the past two days—only three or four hundred jin a day—yet it still took a whole day to retrieve them, and they couldn't run the trawl nets at the same time. What they earned barely covered the fuel costs.

So father and son discussed it and figured they'd be taking two days off anyway, so this was the perfect chance to pull the nets back and scrap them. In a few days they'd switch to trawl nets or longline fishing exclusively.

Even though the discarded nets were useless and took up space once retrieved, they weren't so heartless as to just dump them in the sea.

Discarded fishing nets in the ocean are extremely deadly to some marine creatures—the whale shark they'd encountered before had been a victim.

Ocean pollution would hurt their own interests too.

When the nets were hauled back today, two small green dragons got tangled in them. He kept them, planning to add them to the next day's meal. He also set aside some good seafood to store at Ah Cai's place for freshness, and bought a bit more from him.

As for the city, he asked Zhou Shu to ship over all the dried fish they had left at home. Coincidentally, the military had called yesterday wanting 2,000 jin, so he called his father-in-law and asked him to go with Zhou Shu to deliver it to the base. After the delivery, they could have Zhou Shu bring the two elders back.

After several trips, and with little stock coming in recently, all the goods at home had now been completely shipped to the city—nothing left at all.

The shop in the city probably had about five or six thousand jin in stock, enough to last a while. They'd gradually gather a bit more, but mainly they'd have to wait and see how the drying was going on Ah Zheng's end.

Since there weren't many nets, father and son finished retrieving them earlier than usual. When they docked, the sun hadn't even set yet—it was only a little past three.

When Ye's father took the nets back first, Lin Fu and Lin Mu were already at home. They greeted each other with broad smiles, exchanged pleasantries, and then helped unload the nets and pile them in a corner.

Then they hurried back to the dock to continue hauling the toadfish home.

Lin Mu volunteered to grab a cleaver and help process the fish. He couldn't stop her even if he tried.

Ye Yaodong truly felt that his father-in-law and mother-in-law were impeccable people—far better than his own parents, who scolded him at every turn, looked down on him at every turn, and never thought much of him at every turn…

Still, things were improving. The voices of opposition had quieted down a bit lately…

"Ah Dong, come here," Lin Fu beckoned him and pulled him inside. "You haven't had time to go to the city lately, so the money earned couldn't be handed over to you. It's just been piling up, and I've been on edge every day hiding it all over the place."

"Now that you're resting for a few days, I'll bring it all back. Come count it. All these days, having so much money right at hand—my heart's been in my throat. I sleep with one eye open, afraid to close them. Hurry and take it, so I can finally sleep soundly."

Ye Yaodong wiped his hands on his clothes before following him in. "Just give it to Ah Qing…"

"She's a woman—what does she know about running a shop? Of course it has to go to you. I explained it to you in detail. I hid the money in the children's room. I just happened to get back at noon and took a nap in there."

"It's all the same, all the same—giving it to her is the same as giving it to me…"

"No, it has to go to you. Like I said, what does she know…"

At Lin Fu's age, he saw things crystal clear. Money given to a daughter and money given to a son-in-law were not the same thing—hand it to the daughter, and the flavor would change.

As soon as he entered the children's room, he went to the cabinet in the corner and took out a large cloth bundle, handing it to Ye Yaodong. It was heavy—Ye Yaodong had to hold it with both hands.

"Quite a lot, and pretty heavy. Take it back to your room and count it. I put a slip of paper inside, recording how much was sold each day. I can't read, so I just wrote down a few numbers. Make do with it—otherwise I'm afraid after so many days, my memory won't hold up."

"Alright, alright. Thanks for your hard work, you and Mother. The shop in the city has been all on you two."

Lin Fu waved his hand and smiled. "We're family—why say such things? Helping where we can is only right. Take it back to your room and count it slowly. I'll go outside and have a look."

Ye Yaodong, seeing he was dirty and wet again, headed back to his room first. He handed the money to Ah Qing to count while he went to wash up.

Lin Lin Xiuqing took the heavy bundle of money. It felt soft to the touch—all banknotes. She beamed. "There should be two or three thousand in here, right?"

"About that. Didn't we send 2,000 jin to the base today? That's worth about 800 yuan. Add the sales from this past week or so, and there's easily over 2,000."

"Count out ten big unity notes later and give them—that's this month's wages, paid early. Tomorrow after lunch when we send them home, hand it over to them on the way."

"Okay."

Ah Qing happily dumped the whole bag of money onto the bed and started counting.

Ye Yaodong glanced at the pile of bills and coins heaped up like a small mountain and felt the amount was really not bad. Though costs made up more than half, the profit was still decent—no need to dig too deep into it.

He carried a basin of hot water into the room, sat on a chair, and washed himself while watching Lin Lin Xiuqing grin from ear to ear as she counted the money, her mouth never closing.

"Wipe your drool."

"Huh?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing had been counting happily. Hearing that, she wiped her chin—and there really was a bit. And when she opened her mouth to speak, a small drop fell out, instantly embarrassing her.

"Counting money while drooling, and it actually dripped down—hahaha…"

"I thought you were just money-crazy."

She shot him a reproachful look. "It's not like I've never seen money before—our savings at home are way more than this. Stop bothering me. Look, you interrupted me, and now I've lost count."

Ye Yaodong liked watching her happy expression. He wrung out a hot towel, grabbed both ends, and rubbed it back and forth across his back, thinking this was the meaning of earning money—a happy wife, well-off children, comforted parents, friends striving together toward a better future.

Just as he finished scrubbing his upper body, then his lower, then his feet, while she counted the money and he washed up—a picture of harmony—a voice rang out from far outside the house.

"Mom, I'm back."

"Mom, I'm off."

Without pausing for even a second.

Lin Lin Xiuqing had just stopped counting and turned to look toward the door, muttering, "Like a gust of wind—feet never touching the ground, and he's gone again."

"Off to the beach to collect bottles and jars?"

"Definitely. He's been like this these past few days. The moment he gets back, he tosses his schoolbag and takes off. His feet don't stay in one spot for two seconds."

Ye Yaodong flung the towel into the basin, grabbed the folded shirt and pants on the table, and pulled them on. "I'll go have a look. I haven't seen how they collect those bottles and jars. I'll also set aside today's Bai Zhang for them and add it to tomorrow's lunch. We didn't trawl today, so there's not much."

"Whether there's extra for lunch depends on your skills."

A couple of days ago, she had secretly taken advantage of them being at school, cooked the Bai Zhang, and told the two boys it had died. Since they'd caught new ones, they didn't mind too much.

Now, right under her nose, he still wanted to take the neighbor kids' ones too—so it all depended on his skills.

"What skills? Filial piety toward Third Uncle—any objections?"

His words were tough, but before heading out, he grabbed a handful of coins from the bed and pocketed them.

It wasn't that he lacked confidence in himself—it was that these kids definitely weren't that enlightened!

Money solved everything. Nothing couldn't be bought. If one cent wouldn't do, two would. If two wouldn't, five would. Selling to him was better than having their moms confiscate them.

Lin Lin Xiuqing watched his back, chuckled softly, and shook her head. "Tough talk! Still going to buy them off the kids."

Ye Yaodong heard her but didn't care about being laughed at.

In the yard, Lin Fu and Lin Mu were helping process the fish, and Ye's father was helping too. He'd changed his clothes—must have showered before coming over.

He went around them and jogged out, chasing after the group of kids toward the beach.

In just the time it took him to put on his clothes, the others had run so far they were little black dots, almost impossible to catch up with; only Yangyang's short legs lagged at the very back, trotting along and calling out "wait for me."

The tide hadn't fully receded yet. After running a short stretch, Ye Yaodong slowed his pace and, taking the opportunity, picked up Ye Ye Chengyang, who had fallen halfway across the sand ahead, and lifted him into his arms, patting his clothes and trousers.

"You're not even as big as a water bucket, yet you're lugging around a bucket this big — serves you right for falling."

If only the bucket hadn't been used to hold seafood, giving it a fishy stench, and it wasn't dirty and still had some water in it — he would have wanted to clap it right over the boy's head, sure to cover him completely.

Luckily, falling on the sand didn't hurt, and the spring trousers were thick. After being picked up, Ye Ye Chengyang only patted his palms twice before throwing his arms around Ye Yaodong's neck again.

"Dad, why are you back? Hurry, hurry, they've all run off…"

"What's the rush? The tide hasn't fully receded yet. If we walk slowly, we'll still make it in time."

"There's a crab, Dad, there's a crab…"

Ye Yaodong looked to the right where the boy was pointing — a stone crab. Better leave it alone.

"Forget it. Catching up with your brothers is more important."

"Oh, then walk faster, Dad, faster, faster…"

Watching the others run off into the distance, Ye Ye Chengyang grew anxious and could only keep urging his old man on.

Urged on by him, Ye Yaodong could only quicken his pace, chasing after those kids.

By now, with the tide going out, more children had appeared running about on the beach; many of them were tagging along behind them, joining in the fun.

As they jogged, the tide gradually receded further, but still not quite enough.

"Roll up your trousers and wade across, will you? It's only a little water, at most knee-deep, it's fine…"

"Okay, okay, anyway Mom can't see, she won't know…"

Ye Yaodong jogged forward and tapped Ye Ye Chenghai on the forehead. "I saw that."

"Ah, Third Uncle, when did you get here?"

"If I hadn't come, how would I know you were bold enough to go into the water?"

"It's not deep, nothing will happen for sure…"

"Not allowed. Where there's one, there's two. Go wander around the area, bring back something good for me. After one lap, come back — by then the water will have receded."

"Fine."

Adults are just so annoying!

After silently cursing in his heart, Ye Ye Chenghai had no choice but to obediently carry his bucket and wander around the area.

Other people's children, however, were fearless — they simply rolled up their trousers and went into the water, hoping to take the chance to peek inside the bottles and jars the boys had set out to see if there were any octopuses. But they were stopped by the boys.

"Don't touch! If you dare touch my stuff, I'll beat you to death!"

"Yeah, don't touch our stuff!"

"We're just looking…"

"Looking is not allowed either. We haven't even looked yet — no one is allowed to look!"

So overbearing!

"What's so great about it? Tomorrow we'll make a string of bottles and jars and bring them here too, to catch octopuses."

"Hah, copying us~"

"Who says only you guys can set them out? We can too…"

…

A bunch of little brats chattering away over there — they didn't actually come to blows, probably because they usually got along pretty well.

Ye Yaodong stood by the beach watching them run back and forth; following the receding tide, they too gradually made their way toward the low-tide point.

Only after the tide had receded enough did they finally run up to the bottles and jars.

"Wow, the tide's finally gone — we can catch octopuses now…"

"Catch octopuses~"

"Wow wow, we can catch octopuses again~"

"Hurry~ hurry~"