Chapter 870: Arranging Work for Lackeys (Two Chapters in One)

Lin Xiuqing kept paying attention to the pot, and seeing the pot lid being pushed up by the boiling foam again, she knew it could be taken out of the pot again.

She dropped the chatting crowd, took the bamboo woven round tray and went to scoop shrimp, and Ye Yaodong also helped.

The big guys sitting and chatting didn't just watch, but after both pots were poured into the newly set up bamboo flat to dry, looking at their courtyard, there was not much empty space, and they stood there chatting, only occupying space, so they returned to the house one after another.

Ye Ersao was reluctant to leave, afraid of delaying showing off, seeing that people were gone, she pinched the money in her pocket, and pulled Ye Erge home with a happy face.

The courtyard was restored to quiet, only their own family, the two sons had long run away, and the old lady had been watching Ye Xiaoxi, afraid that she would run around when it was dark, and also afraid that she would run around inside and outside the house, both pots inside and outside were still burning.

Lin Xiuqing asked after people left: "Do you think they will also partner to order a large boat?"

"Don't know, maybe, anyway, it doesn't have much to do with us, if they want to order, order, more boats, when earning money, the village will be more lively."

"Also, everyone earns money, our village is also richer. Then how much money did you spend on these small fish and shrimp? Second sister-in-law asked earlier, second brother didn't say."

"Ten yuan."

"Ten yuan is all packed? That's quite cheap, no wonder second brother didn't say, estimated to be afraid of second sister-in-law saying seven or eight in front of so many people."

Ye Yaodong nodded, "Saying it is not much, saying it is not less, calculated at 2500 jin, one jin is also 4 cents, all are some miscellaneous goods that no one wants, just mean it, it counts as subsidizing some extra fuel money, anyway, it is by the way, pouring back into the sea is also wasteful."

The key is that he and A Guang added up to eight shares, they completely occupied the initiative but didn't take it for nothing, giving ten yuan to mean it is enough.

"It's a pity, heard that these are only one day's quantity, and it is the surplus brought back after sorting, other useless goods were poured back into the sea, if only all the goods every day could be collected and brought back."

"Don't think about it, impossible, the fish warehouse can't be used to hold these worthless things that no one wants, only occupying space, if placed on the deck and dried for a day, it will stink, and it will hinder the crew from working. Can only be brought back by the way every time."

"I just feel it's a pity, just say it casually."

She also knew it was unrealistic, don't know how much fuel the fishing boat consumes back and forth.

Second sister-in-law said earlier that they didn't even want to dock to sell goods, knowing that the fresh-receiving boat was cheap but had no choice, just afraid of delaying time and consuming fuel.

These are just small trash fish.

"There is such a quantity, it is about the same. After we dry this batch, it happens that Pei Shu will transport a boat back in a few days, and we can start working again, seamless connection."

Lin Xiuqing also nodded with a smile, "Come over and lift two baskets to the stove."

Ye Yaodong also stood up and went to lift shrimp with her.

At this moment, a head that was going up and down appeared on the wall again, and was still calling Dongge, almost scaring the couple.

"Damn, can you guys be human? Jumping up and down by the wall every day, and calling me sneakily, people scaring people will scare people to death, especially in the middle of the night."

The person outside the wall hurriedly turned to the main entrance, one after another jumping into the courtyard, the dog was still barking wildly and climbed onto their legs, but Ye Yaodong helped to scold it back.

"Dongge, we are here again."

Ye Yaodong looked at them with disgust, "Come directly through the front door next time, don't jump around the wall corner."

"Mainly because there were people in the courtyard before, we were afraid of causing you trouble, and left after hearing the movement at the wall corner."

"It's okay, come directly and openly next time."

"Don't be afraid of being seen by people in the village?"

Wang Guangliang asked curiously, before still worried that the village would associate them with the group that beat people, exposed, now not afraid?"

"Hmm, it's been so many days, anyway, I have sworn, everyone knows it wasn't me, it doesn't matter if you appear again, even if they argue again, there is the oath made before."

What's more, now the two families are arguing endlessly, because of the matter of burying nails in the two families, harming neighbors and their own mother-in-law, both wounds have worsened, and they have been sent to the hospital these two days, who has time to manage them.

"That's good, that's good, then we will walk through the front door openly next time."

"Then push the firewood in..."

"Right, right, right, push the firewood in..."

Ye Yaodong was happy, "You guys chopped firewood and sent it over again?"

"Right, little stutterer went back and said you want to dry shrimp dry at night, want a lot of firewood, called us to go to the mountain to chop, we went to chop as soon as we finished eating, and picked up a cart before dark."

"Dongge, do you want to carry some water? You have quite a lot of shrimp, ten baskets, have to boil until midnight."

"Fine, then you guys put down the firewood and go carry some water."

They happily moved the firewood down immediately, then took the water bucket, and pushed the handcart to fetch water.

Lin Xiuqing watched from the side, and only asked after they left: "Didn't you feel reluctant to accept their firewood before? Why are you so straightforward to order them to work today?"

"Isn't this heartache for you? Afraid that you will boil these shrimp too late and be tired? Thinking of keeping them to work at night."

She just felt that his sweet words were a bit uncomfortable to hear, and then heard the words behind, surprised, "Hand over all these shrimp to them to boil?"

"By the way, call them to guard the night at the workshop, move both pots to that side later, use stones to simply build two stoves, let them boil on that side, dry on that side, and watch on that side at night."

"Can this be trusted..."

"What's not to trust, these shrimp are not valuable, and didn't keep them in our house, all are country children, can they not boil? If such a simple thing can't be done well, then don't come to our house tomorrow."

"That's also true... didn't leave them in our house, it's fine..."

"Hmm, how could I leave them at home, I wouldn't be able to sleep."

Staying in the courtyard, he was even more worried. The old lady probably could sit at the door until dawn.

Lin Xiuqing was also relieved, it was fine to let them all go to the workshop to get busy.

"Then do you want to calculate wages for them? 7 people is a bit too many, this work doesn't need 7 people..."

"Chen Shi followed me to sea for a whole day, definitely go home to sleep later. The other 6 people, one sent to A Sheng and eldest cousin's boat at night, learn; one let him follow Pei Shu to run the large boat to exercise."

"The remaining four will stay to work, there are still ten baskets of shrimp to boil, estimated to have to go to transport water, or send two to help our mother, so many fish also have to be moved, also need people to help, relying on Father and Mother, two people have to be busy until very late, Mother"

"Still have to go to work tomorrow."

Lin Xiuqing was surprised, "Are you really going to take them as lackeys?"

"Don't say lackey or not, just give them a job, save them from being idle all day, can take Chen Shi to play, looking at the character should not be bad, but also have to look again. Anyway, our family needs people to work now, let them work for a few days and see."

"Then how do you plan to calculate wages? We don't have so much work, and don't need people every day, just busy at night, and have to wait a few days."

"Chen Shi follows me to sea, give a separate share, the one following Pei Shu to run the large boat has public money. The other 5 people, work one day and give one day, calculated according to the wages of hiring people in the past, one and a half yuan a day is enough, the one learning on the boat is also calculated as a small worker. Work for a few days and see, if you are lazy, don't call them."

"This is also fine, no need to calculate month by month, calculate as short-term workers, otherwise, if calculated by month, the expenditure is too large, so many people, there is not so much work, and don't need them to work every day."

Ye Yaodong nodded, "This also saves them from growing in our house all day, call them when there is work."

"You let one person go to A Sheng and eldest cousin's boat, is it also holding the idea of supervision..."

"You are a villain, right? Told you to learn, I take one person is fine, take two people, I am also worried about my own safety. It is just right to put on A Sheng and their boat to help. What's more, I won't go to sea tomorrow."

Lin Xiuqing smiled and didn't speak.

Those few boys were very happy after hearing Ye Yaodong's arrangements for them, finally assigned them work.

Wang Guangliang patted his chest and guaranteed, "Dongge rest assured, I will definitely supervise them well, don't let them be lazy, if anyone dares to be lazy, we will beat him together."

"That's best, you discuss, who follows to run the large boat, must be able to endure loneliness, go once definitely have to return in three, five, seven days, but will calculate wages. Chen Shi can go home to sleep first."

Chen Shi was satisfied, so many people, only he followed Dongge.

"I-I-I-I w-w-w-wait... w-w-w-wait... a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a

"That's progress. From now on, just speak word by word like that; it can ease your stutter."

He nodded with a smile.

Wang Guangliang and the others huddled together with their arms around each other's shoulders, heads bowed as they whispered and discussed.

After a good while, they all stood up straight, and Wang Guangliang, acting as their representative, said, "We've discussed it, Brother Dong. A-Shui will follow the big boat out to sea, A-Rong will go to your other boat to learn, and the four of us will stay at the workshop to work."

As he spoke, Wang Guangliang pulled Chen Qishui and Li Jiarong out for him to see, and while he was at it, pointed to the other two, saying they were twins and that he would send them to help at the old home later, while he and his other cousin would stay at the workshop to work.

Ye Yaodong nodded. "Mm, alright. I'll take you to get to know everyone in a bit. The two pots are almost done boiling now; once they're out, pour out the water, carry both pots—inside and out—to the workshop, and you can do the cooking there tonight. You should take a few stones now and build two simple stoves."

"Got it, we're going to move the stones now."

The few lads eagerly rolled up their sleeves and hurried toward the workshop.

Ye Yaodong shouted from behind, "Don't rush! The gate is locked; I'll go get the key to open it for you."

He still had to bring over the idle fishing nets from home that were used for drying dried fish, so it would be convenient for them to spread them out to dry the shrimp meat.

A small shed had been built over at the workshop, and a small light bulb had been strung up. Once he went over, he would also have to run the electrical wire out and support it with bamboo poles to make the open space a bit brighter.

But it was fine; once both pots were lit, the firelight would be bright enough, and he would leave them a flashlight later to make it easier for them to come and go while drying things, since the open space was quite large after all.

"We'll go to the construction site on the side to find stones first..."

Seeing Ye Yaodong head into the house, Lin Xiuqing reminded him, "There are leftovers from building the wall inside the workshop; no need to look for any."

"Alright, then we'll wait at the entrance..."

"You can move these broken fishing nets onto the flatbed cart and transport them over together; you'll need them later to spread out and dry the shrimp."

Hearing Lin Xiuqing's reminder, they hurriedly got moving again.

After Ye Yaodong took the key and led them to the workshop to open the door, Lin Xiuqing immediately followed by scooping the shrimp out of the pots and placing them in the courtyard to dry.

The group kept moving and carrying things, even borrowing the flatbed cart from next door to help transport them. Not only did they move the pots over, but they also made several trips to transport the dozen or so baskets of shrimp, and while they were at it, moved the large water vat and firewood over again.

The bamboo bed that had been in the main room was also carried over; having a bed meant they could lie down and sleep for a bit when they got tired at night.

Ye Yaodong also took the two dogs over while he was at it, but they ran back after only a short while, so he didn't force them and let them be.

It was just that at night when sleeping, he planned to lock them outside the courtyard gate, and they could run wherever they wanted.

Anyway, the house and the workshop were close, separated only by his eldest brother's and second brother's houses and a main road.

After everything was moved, Ye Yaodong told Chen Shi to go home and rest first, then took the two men and the twins, leading the twins to the old home first to help with the work.

His parents happened to be there carrying fish, and they both breathed a sigh of relief when he brought two people over to help.

"I thought I'd have to work until several hours past midnight. It's good to have two people helping. Just carry these fish inside first; I'll be responsible for sprinkling the salt, and you can have your father help out."

Ye Fu also wiped away some sweat; the undershirt he was wearing was already soaked through and stuck to his back. "It's good to have two people helping, otherwise we'd be half-dead from moving all this."

Ye Yaodong nodded. He had also been thinking that his mother's workload wasn't light either; with such a large quantity, having people to help carry was completely different from relying entirely on themselves.

"Don't these fish need to be washed?"

"How can we wash so many? It's not like that little bit from before, where we could wash and gut them. If we did all these like before, I wouldn't need to sleep; I wouldn't be done even after three or five days."

"Don't you worry. There's a way to salt them if you wash them, and a way to salt them if you don't. You don't need to fret; I know what I'm doing and will get it all done properly for you."

"The fish I've salted would be more than you could eat in several lifetimes. I've been doing this work at the brigade for decades; I guarantee nothing will be wasted, and a year from now, I'll have them all packed into vats for you."

His mother's mouth was a bit sharp, but she was exceptionally reliable when it came to getting things done, so of course he was at ease.

"I know, I was just asking out of curiosity, thinking I should tell them to go fetch more water."

"Then wait until they're done, and have them help me fill the water vats at home while they're at it. For now, just help move these inside..." Ye Mu started ordering people around without ceremony.

"After they're done with this, I'll have to tell them to fetch more water and help clean the house, otherwise it'll all be fishy, and these fish are dripping water everywhere as they're carried back and forth..."

"You handle it; if there's anything that needs doing or any help needed, just call them."

Ye Fu also said, "You go get busy with your own work too; you've got over 20 baskets of shrimp over there that need to be boiled and dried."

"It's fine, with these strong young lads helping, you two go ahead and get busy."

Ye Fu and Ye Mu didn't have time to worry about him; after nodding vaguely, they hurried into the house to get to work, hoping to finish early so they could rest early.

Ye Yaodong took the remaining two, leading one to Brother Asheng's house to have him take an extra person out to sea at night, and leading the other to Aguang's house to get to know the place.

Fortunately, they hadn't gone to sleep yet and were all there talking.

However, after he left Brother Asheng's house and hadn't gone far, still walking along the side of the house, he heard his second aunt muttering.

She was saying whether he didn't trust them, so he specifically shoved someone over to supervise or something? Or did he want them to bring the person back and not let them work?

Brother Asheng actually retorted to Ye's second aunt, "Whatever Dongzi says, I'll just do it. We're all working for him anyway; it's not like it's our own boat, so why so many opinions? Besides, that one is clearly still a kid; it's normal to learn a bit on the boat."

"But now you two are the ones driving the boat, so why is it only calculated by wages and not by a share? I heard others can get half..."

"It's good enough to have work to do. I'm going to sleep..."

"I heard that the big boat docked in the middle of the sea outside the pier also has his share. They came back today saying they earned several thousand yuan; it's spread all over the village tonight, and who knows how much he can get."

"Since he's so capable of earning money and is so rich, when are you going to talk to him and ask if you can get a bigger share, so you can save up a bit more and get a wife sooner..."

Ye Yaosheng's tone was a bit impatient, "Don't you start; I'm already scared of that. You don't need to worry about my affairs; hurry up and go to sleep..."

Ye Yaodong was extremely satisfied listening to the mother and son's conversation from the corner of the wall. Although his second uncle and second aunt were quite unreliable, Brother Asheng was actually pretty good.

Once he saves up a bit more money and gets a wife, his mother won't be able to control him either.

"You two go back to sleep first; you don't need to be busy at night, just prepare what needs to be prepared."

"Alright, alright, thank you Brother Dong, we will work hard."

"Mm, if you don't understand, ask more, watch more, and learn more."

"Yeah."

After Ye Yaodong let the two go back, he returned to the small workshop.

The two pots in the workshop had already been lit, and Wang Guangliang and his cousin were busy spreading out the fishing nets and hanging them on some bamboo poles in the middle of the area.

When they were leveling the ground, they had used some small bamboo tubes to leave holes, making it convenient to insert the bamboo poles into the ground holes when drying, which was the only way to hang the fishing nets.

The edges of the holes were level with the ground, so there was no risk of tripping while running or jumping, and if they weren't needed in the future, it wouldn't be a problem to pour a bit of mud to plug them up.

Lin Xiuqing was also helping back and forth.

He checked his watch; it was already 8:30. When he went out, the village lights were still quite bright, and there were still people sitting at their doors enjoying the cool air, but when he returned, there weren't many people left, with only a few scattered households still having their lights on.

Although it was summer, most people had already gone inside to sleep early at this hour, as they still had to get up early to work the next day.

"Have the children all gone home?"

"They're back. Right after you took people out, the second sister-in-law went to call them all back to sleep. I was busy and didn't have time to look after them, and they didn't know to go home either. There was hardly anyone left in the village, and they were still playing hide-and-seek."

"Oh, it's good that they're all back. You go inside and coax the children to sleep too; I'll keep an eye on things here for now."

"Alright."

Wang Guangliang turned to look at him, "Brother Dong, you go home and sleep too. Leave this to us; don't worry. When you get up tomorrow morning, I guarantee everything here will already be boiled and dried for you."

Ye Yaodong nodded, "There's nothing to worry about; it's all stuff that isn't worth much. But I won't let you work for nothing; I'll calculate your wages. Hiring anyone is hiring, and it's only right to get paid for work."

As he spoke, he felt the two packs of cigarettes in his pocket and handed them to them, "When you're guarding here at night, you can smoke if you're bored. Once you're done boiling and you're sleepy, go to sleep. These things aren't worth much, and since we're all fellow villagers, no one would be that wicked."

"That's hard to say. Some people hope for your misfortune; they don't care if the things are valuable or not, and those who want to cause trouble will do so regardless."

"That makes sense. But the perimeter wall here is covered in broken glass, and I've also put two dogs here; if anything happens, the dogs will bark. You rest when you're tired."

"Alright, alright, we'll see how it goes."

After Ye Yaodong finished giving instructions and watched them start a pot to dry, adding water and pouring another pot to continue boiling in a professional manner, he felt reassured enough to go back first.

He only told them to knock on the window at the back door if anything happened, as no one could get into the courtyard anyway.