Chapter 95

The next morning, Ye Yaodong thought about it and still let Fatty go call Uncle Awei and Haozi. Everyone was a friend of many years; there was really no need to have conflicts over a little money and small matters.

In his past life, such a thing had never happened; everyone hadn't quarreled like this even until they went their separate ways.

This life had really changed a lot.

Calling people over, giving them a way out, and having some fun together—this matter would naturally pass.

But he thought well, while others didn't buy it. Fatty went to call Haozi, but Haozi had gone to move goods and wasn't home. As for Uncle Awei, he had drilled into a dead end and wouldn't come out. No matter how Fatty tried to persuade him, he only said he didn't intend to come over and be a clown!

What could Fatty say to this? He could only return empty-handed.

Ye Yaodong patted Fatty on the shoulder, "Forget it. Everyone has their own thoughts, and we can't force our own ideas onto others."

"Sigh~ It's all caused by money~"

"If they really wanted to buy a boat, they could come up with the money; it's just that they're feeling unbalanced."

It was the same old saying; he couldn't control whether others ate shit, so he could only temporarily put this matter aside. When they drank together in a few days, he would see if they could reconcile.

The two stood on the shore for a while, but didn't see any shadows. Estimating it wouldn't be that fast, they walked to the door of the small shed at the acquisition point to sit and cool off.

Ah Cai saw them and walked out with his big potbelly to greet them, pulling out a cigarette for each of them, "What are you doing here? Good goods again early in the morning? Dongzi, there haven't been many trawl goods lately, right?"

"Maybe the beginner's luck has run out. How can you have a full net every day?"

"I heard you're going to set ground cage nets. Send all the goods to me for acquisition when the time comes."

"Sure, as long as you don't mind the small quantity."

"Many a little makes a mickle. When are you setting them? How many nets do you have?"

"Only a dozen or so for now. I'll set one or two rows first."

"Ah?" Ah Cai was dumbfounded. He had thought that saying "don't mind the small quantity" was just being polite; he hadn't expected it to be truly small!

How many goods could you catch with only one row?

Isn't that a waste of time?

"Are you joking? You're setting ground cage nets, how can you only set one row? Since you're going out to collect the nets anyway, why not set a few more?"

"I'm too busy to do it. I'm reluctant to pay wages to hire people, so I can only make them slowly myself!"

Ah Cai was speechless, "You guys haven't earned less from trawling every day. You're reluctant to hire people for just a few ground cages? Finish making them early, put them in the water early to catch goods and make money—don't you know how to calculate this?"

Ye Yaodong glanced at him sideways. The money earned from trawling was his father's, while the ground cages were his private property. He had to pay out of his own pocket, so how could they be lumped together?

Besides, it was mainly because his mother and wife were reluctant to spend money to hire people, saying that building a house at home required a large amount of expenditure. Although he didn't have to pay, they would need a lot of money to add furniture when they split the family later. Moreover, the material costs for the ground cages also required money to buy. They were going to make over a hundred of them, so they could save a little where they could.

A few days ago, he had finally managed to persuade his mother to pay some wages to let his two sisters-in-law and his older and second brothers help make them together. Keeping the benefits within the family would also be faster. Otherwise, his mother had wanted to take on everything and do it slowly, which would have really delayed things too much.

Country people were used to being frugal, and people at this time were also very capable of enduring hardship. They didn't want to hire people for things they could do themselves, preferring to be a little more tired.

Ye Yaodong flicked the cigarette ash and perfunctorily said, "The family is too busy. We have to trawl and build a house, so I don't have any free time to do private work for now."

"Then what are you doing here early in the morning?"

"Ah Guang and the others got a small boat, and we're waiting here to set off firecrackers."

It wasn't a big ship, so it wasn't appropriate to make a big fuss and let the relatives and friends know. Just the two of them coming over to set off two strings of firecrackers was enough to show the sentiment.

"Yo~ Not bad. In such a short time, you friends have gotten a boat."

"I'll have to rely on you to raise the prices in the future!"

"Easy, easy. I've always been fair in business!"

Ye Yaodong and Fatty rolled their eyes in unison.

The three had nothing to do, so they sat there chatting and bragging.

As the conversation went on, Ye Yaodong curiously asked him how much money he could earn from acquiring goods in a year.

This local rich man, however, kept his mouth very tight and didn't reveal a single word, only smiling and changing the subject, "There's a boat coming in. You guys look, is that it?"

The two stood up in unison and looked out at the sea. They saw a small boat far away, with a red embroidered ball tied to it, slowly sailing in.

"Should be, right?"

"Let's go out and take a look!"

Standing on the shore, they watched for a while. As it got closer, they saw there were three people on the boat; it was undoubtedly the three of them.

They had also ordered a six-meter-long boat, about the same as his, but it looked very new.

The two took the firecrackers, and as soon as their boat docked, they set them off with a crackle!

"When the firecrackers sound, ten thousand taels of gold!"

"Hehe, we have a boat too!" The three jumped down happily after tying the boat.

"Shall we sail out together tomorrow and cast a few nets to try it out?" Ah Guang said excitedly to Ye Yaodong.

"Sure, I'll just happen to take the ground cages out to sea to set them."

A Zheng rubbed his palms and said impatiently, "Why don't we go now? Anyway, we're idle."

"Then you guys go. I'm still busy at the house site and can't leave for the whole day. I'll go with you tomorrow."

【Honestly, I've been using Wild Fruit Reading to catch up on books lately. It has many sources and the reading voices are great. It works on both Android and Apple.】

"Alright then."

The three discussed and decided to strike while the iron was hot, taking advantage of the good day to go out and cast a few nets to try it out.

Ye Yaodong and Fatty had nothing to do, so they agreed to go to Ah Guang's house for dinner in the evening and went back first.

As a result, just as Ye Yaodong walked to the house site, he actually saw his father-in-law and brother-in-law Lin Xiang Hui had come, and they were even helping to work there.

He walked a few quick steps in surprise and called out a bit awkwardly, "Uh... Dad? Why are you here?"

Although his father-in-law didn't look at him very favorably right now, at least he wasn't pointing at him and scolding him like he would decades later, with eyes not looking like eyes and a nose not looking like a nose.

Right now, he could still smile faintly and say to him, "The watermelons at home are all ripe, so I brought a cartload for you to eat. I didn't expect you to be building a new house. Why didn't you go back and say something so we could come over and help?"

"It's such a long way, it's inconvenient for you to come back and forth. We can just hire people to do it ourselves. You sit and rest; I'll do it." Saying this, Ye Yaodong snatched the iron shovel from his father-in-law's hand to help him mix the pile of gravel and yellow soil.

Seeing that he looked a bit more mature and knew how to help with work, the smile on Lin Fu's face became more genuine, "It's fine, since I'm here, I'll help do some."

"It's rare for you to come over, and we don't have time to entertain you. Sit and rest for a while first. Does my mother know you're here?"

"She knows. She told us to go sit at home, but how could I stay idle? She had no choice but to go back first to cook some snacks."

His brother-in-law also wiped his sweat, walked over, and said with a smile, "It's been a while since I've seen you. You've gotten quite a bit darker lately."

"Isn't it because I come here to work every day? Under the sun, how can I not get dark?"

"Oh?"

Lin Xiang Hui was a bit surprised. This brother-in-law of his had always been used to being idle, so how could he come here to work every day? But looking at his complexion, it didn't look like he was lying; he had indeed gotten much darker.

"You guys came from so far away, there's no reason to make you work. Sit down and rest for a while; we've hired quite a few people."

"It's fine, I'm used to farm work at home. Since you're building a house, are you going to split the family?"

"That's what's being said."

Lin Fu said, "Then tell us in advance when the time comes. Don't be like building the house, not saying anything at all. We didn't know, and we had to come over and see it to find out."

"Okay, when the new house is built, I'll invite you over for a meal."

Seeing that he was indeed a bit more mature and sensible, Lin Fu and Lin Xiang Hui nodded secretly in their hearts.

Just then, Lin Xiuqing also ran over hurriedly, "Dad, why did you and Big Brother come suddenly?"

"If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known you were building a new house. Such a big deal, and you didn't even know to go back and say something."

She smiled, "Isn't it because we're too busy and don't have time to go back? We're so busy every day that our heels don't touch the ground. When did you arrive? The children went up the mountain and told me just now, and that's how I knew. Let's go home and sit and talk."

"It's fine. You still have a pile of work to do here, what's there to sit for? We didn't come here specifically to be guests. I only saw one of the two children just now; where's the little one?"

"Should be by the creek. There are workers working over there, and a few older children watching, so it doesn't matter."

"That's good. Children are young, so you have to keep a close eye on them; you can't just busy yourself."

Lin Xiuqing smiled and nodded, "I know."

With his wife here, Ye Yaodong only needed to act as a tool, accompanying them and listening to their pleasantries from the side.

"Ah? You guys have a small boat?" Lin Fu was extremely surprised. This surprised him even more than seeing Ye Yaodong working directly; the change was so big!

It had only been a few months since they last met, and his son-in-law had actually become so enterprising, even buying a small boat to prepare to set nets himself.

"Yeah." Lin Xiuqing explained the origin of the small boat to her father.

Lin Fu nodded with a smile, "That's very good. You people by the sea must have a boat; odd jobs don't last long. And after the house is built, you'll be splitting the family, so Ah Dong's responsibilities will be even greater. With so many mouths in the family, you can't keep playing around all day."

Ye Yaodong smiled and nodded repeatedly.

Lin Xiuqing also helped him speak, "He knows. Since building the house, the three brothers have taken turns going out to sea to trawl with his father. Even when he doesn't go out to trawl, he comes over to help every day."

Lin Xiang Hui was also very satisfied after hearing this; this brother-in-law was finally looking decent.

Lin Fu learned about their current life again. He had been a bit worried when he came, but now he was relieved. They had enough to eat and drink, and his son-in-law was sensible, so there was nothing to worry about.

Ye Mu cooked a pot of snacks and brought them over for them to eat. After eating, Lin Fu and Lin Xiang Hui didn't rush to leave; they picked up shovels and hoes and joined in the work together.

Until the sun set in the evening and work stopped, Ye Mu kept them for dinner and loaded their flatbed cart with a large basin of seafood she had specifically saved, as well as dried balang fish, dried small shrimp, dried sea mussels, and salted fish, piling it full.

Lin Fu and Lin Xiang Hui waved their hands awkwardly to refuse. They had only brought a cart of inexpensive watermelons; how could they be embarrassed to take a cart of seafood back? But they couldn't resist the enthusiasm of the in-laws and could only accept it with thick skin.