Chapter 818: Getting Ready to Go into the Water Again

The sky was a clear blue, the sun blazing high. It was a bit hot, but still better than a rainy day.

During the few days he was resting, his father had hired someone to help repaint both boats, and the paint had dried completely on the two sunny days.

Taking advantage of the good weather, they had also sun-dried and put away the last batch of dried squid and dried fish. But just as he was about to take the freshly maintained fishing boat out to sea, the weather turned fickle, and right around noon thunder suddenly started and rain began pouring down.

The small workshop had only just had its foundation filled in these past few days, and the adobe wall had only been stacked up a little bit, when the heavy downpour hit, washing away the freshly stacked section and causing it to collapse.

Ye Yaodong still waited until the rain stopped in the afternoon to go take a look, and discovered that the wall they had built over the past two days had all fallen down, with mud everywhere.

After the rain stopped, his father also rushed over worriedly at the first moment to check, and after looking came back to the house to discuss it.

"Dongzi, looks like an adobe wall won't work. The next three months—July, August, September—are all typhoon season. This wall hasn't even dried for a few days. If we hit heavy rain again, the parts we just built won't last long before collapsing over and over. Can't do it, can't do it. It's not as solid as a stone wall or a brick wall. At least using stone and brick to build it would be sturdier, and it could last for several decades."

Actually, he didn't need his father to say it—he had just seen it all himself. The small workshop faced the open sea, and sometimes when the waves hit, the spray would come up and make it even more humid. An adobe wall just wouldn't hold.

Actually, during the first two days of work, because his shoulder hurt, he had been sitting around at the small workshop, and the foreman had mentioned it to him, saying adobe walls weren't very moisture-resistant, and when there was a lot of rain, they weren't very sturdy.

He had thought that since they'd already decided, they'd just stack it up first, and after a few days of blazing sun it should be sturdier, and the collapse would be something for many years later. He hadn't expected that just a few sunny days later there would be a heavy rain, and the freshly stacked wall, not yet dried through, would collapse directly because of the downpour.

"I know. Luckily we were just laying the foundation these past few days, and this adobe wall had only been stacked for two or three days. We can still cut our losses. I'll go find the foreman in a bit and tell him to just pile up stone instead."

"Mm, let's spend a bit more money. After all, once it's built it can last several decades. Anyway, we've already bought the land, so we don't have to worry about someone taking it over and tearing it down or anything."

"It's just that hauling stone from the mountain and hiring a master to chisel it takes more time, and there aren't any brick kilns nearby. Forget it, I'll go talk to the foreman in a bit anyway, tell him to keep chiseling stone and build a stone wall. We won't be drying that much every day going forward either—at most drying a batch of fish every now and then. For now let's just dry them in the open space at the door and at Big Brother and Ye Erge's place."

"We've got quite a bit of stock piled up during this period, should be enough to sell for a while. Anyway, if the weather's good we'll dry a bit at the door."

"Mm."

After the father and son finished their discussion, they went together to find the foreman to change the plan to building a stone wall.

The weather this year could be considered good—consecutive rainy days were rare, and most drizzles would only last two days before stopping. Unlike last year, when the rainy season came, it would rain on and off for practically a whole month.

For people by the sea like them, what mattered most was no storms, no big waves, and favorable weather all around.

Lin Lin Xiuqing knew they had to rebuild the stone wall, and didn't say anything. During Fishing season they had already earned a huge sum, so spending a bit more now was fine—sturdiness mattered more.

It was just that when he came back, she asked, "When are we going to invite the small statue of Goddess Mazu onto the boat? I heard that lots of people in the village, on the second day after Goddess Mazu was moved into the Tianhou Temple, picked an auspicious time to invite her onto their boats."

"Dad's been using his free time these past two days looking for materials, and welded an iron plate inside the cabin of all four boats. Once that's done, we'll pick a good day to invite Goddess Mazu onto the boat."

"Then I'll go buy a few incense burners tomorrow, and buy plenty of incense too. Let's see what date it is, and buy a few offerings in advance too. The first day we invite her onto the boat, we have to do it properly."

"Mm." Ye Yaodong listened to the sounds next door and knew his two older brothers had come back from sea. "Big Brother and Ye Erge are really hardworking—they haven't missed a single day. They only came back early today because of the heavy rain."

"Yes, but they haven't earned as much as you." Lin Lin Xiuqing said this with a rather proud, share-in-the-glory feeling.

He smiled. "True, but they should have saved up a few thousand yuan by now."

"A few thousand yuan for sure—they haven't been spending any money either."

"It's called: the more someone knows how to spend money, the more they know how to earn it."

Lin Lin Xiuqing spat at him. "Stop putting gold on your own face."

"Just stating facts. And every penny I spend, I spend on you all. I never spend on myself. Look at all the big-ticket items I've bought—aren't they all for you? The sewing machine, the radio, the TV…"

"Did you forget the bicycle? You're the one who rides the bicycle. And that machine on your boat, and all that random stuff—those are all for your own use. Who else would use them?"

Ye Yaodong thought about it and agreed—those were all for his own use.

"Fair enough, then let's call it half and half… No wait, that's not right either. Don't you ride the bicycle too? The machinery on the boat is for earning money better, not for enjoyment. Everything I spend money on has a purpose. The stuff I bought for entertainment is all for you to use."

"Don't you listen to the radio? Don't you watch the TV? Don't you wear the clothes made by the sewing machine?"

"That's different. I'm not interested in those things. I bought them for you to use. How many times have you seen me listen? How many times have you seen me watch…"

She said with a smile, "Alright, alright, you bought all this for us, for the whole family—everyone benefits."

Ye Yaodong was satisfied—as long as she admitted it.

The heavy rain at noon had plunged the sky into darkness. Now that the rain had stopped, evening had arrived, making it seem even darker. Standing at the door looking toward the beach, he could only see surging waves—the high tide water level was clearly higher than usual, brought on by the heavy rain.

He figured he probably wouldn't be able to go out to sea again tonight. Still, it was worth being thankful that Fishing season was already over, and there hadn't been continuous heavy rain and big waves during Fishing season, which hadn't delayed him from making the big money.

It wasn't until three days later that the sea calmed down again, and the sun hung high in the sky once more, before he went back out to sea.

The June sky, with its blazing sun, made the sea shine dazzlingly bright. The calm sea surface glittered, a refreshing sight. Standing on the boat, enjoying the faint sea breeze, smelling the fresh sea air, his mood couldn't quite be called relaxed—he was quite tired.

He hadn't gone out to sea for over ten days, and felt his whole body had gotten lazy. When he first set out at night he was still quite full of energy, but after staying up the whole night and morning, his body was already feeling exhausted.

He had just eaten a simple lunch and was leaning against the side of the boat to rest a bit, when he saw his father also steering his boat over. His father had probably just finished hauling in a net, and seeing their boat stopped there not moving, figured they were eating lunch and came over.

"Lots of catch, Dad?"

"Not bad. The waves were big the past couple of days, the sea catch all got swept in. Just now I hauled in several deep-sea fish." Ye Father cheerfully turned and reached into the bamboo basket beside him, took out a large-eye seabream of about two jin, and showed it to him.

A bright red color, the scales on the fish still wet, glinting slightly under the sunlight.

"That fish looks good. I hauled in quite a lot of mantis shrimp. From last night until now, that small basket should add up to about 20 jin."

"We have some too, just not as many as yours—should be eight or nine jin."

"That's not bad either. This shrimp is expensive. Good haul today."

Ye Yaodong thought that it had been quite a while since he had gone into the water, and there were still quite a lot of Jiang Yao down there that he hadn't collected. He thought for a moment and said, "Dad, you guys eat first. After you eat, I'll swap places with Brother Brother Asheng. Big Cousin and Brother Brother Asheng will go haul nets in a bit, and I'll go with my dad to collect the ground cages and shrimp cages, and look around to see if there are any Jiang Yao nearby. Splitting up the work won't hold either side up."

Being straightforward about it, it was better for him to look for Jiang Yao nearby, so that if his boat later hauled in a pile, he wouldn't have to explain it separately.

Telling them two to go haul nets first also gave a reasonable explanation. It didn't hold either side up, and could explain why he and his father didn't want others to know the exact location.

No one objected—they all nodded. Whatever the boss said, that's what they'd do.

Ye Yaodong treated them very well too. As soon as Fishing season ended, he immediately had A Qing settle their wages, and told them that going forward they'd be paid monthly—60 yuan a month, regardless of whether they went out to sea or how many times. He'd fixed them both in place.

It was also because during that period he had seen them perform well and be quite diligent. Calculating by the day was also troublesome—always having to count the days. Monthly calculation saved them from having no work during idle times and anxiously looking for temporary jobs.

Not going out to sea during this period could be called paid leave—it was absolutely wonderful.

Actually, being able to go out to sea half a month in a normal month was already pretty good.

They were all relatives, and they had indeed worked very hard during the previous period. Anyway, before the big boat arrived, he didn't plan to let these two boats out for now. Fixing these two as long-term workers was also good for the family—saved him from having trouble finding people if they suddenly went off to do other work.

They also didn't have to worry about unstable income, one day on one day off, and could work a bit harder.

Ye Yaodong waited for his father and the others to finish their simple meal of noodles, then swapped places with Ye Ye Yaosheng.

The boat his father was driving was his first boat, and the one he'd used the longest, with the deepest attachment. Actually, if you really calculated it, this boat wasn't as new as the second and third ones he'd gotten from the pirates.

But there's always a first-time attachment; he just felt the first boat handled more smoothly.

After watching the boat beside them sail away, Ye's father said, "Should we launch now or wait? The ground traps and shrimp traps are set at night; isn't it too early to retrieve them now? Let's wait until tomorrow."

"Let's retrieve them tomorrow evening then. I was just speaking casually a moment ago, making an excuse. I'll steer the boat closer to the reefs first."

Unless he harvested all the Jiang Yao from the seabed, he felt as though the task remained unfinished, like something was left hanging and incomplete.

Although he, Azheng, and Xiao had taken turns diving down last month to collect several hundred jin, who knew if that was merely a drop in the bucket?

Taking advantage of the good weather, he'd find a chance to dive and explore; who knows, there might be other unexpected gains, after all, the seabed is a natural treasure trove, and you simply cannot know how many good things lie hidden beneath.