Chapter 97: My Accursed Lucky Hands

"I won't say more. There's no ice on the boat, so it's hard to keep fresh. While this porpoise is still fresh, I need to row back quickly. It looks like it weighs thirty or forty jin, so it should sell for a few yuan. You guys can just slowly cast your nets here."

"Huh? We're not going to the deserted island anymore?" Zhang Wang was still unwilling to give up.

"Can't go. I checked several small islands, and the tide hasn't receded. They're quite steep, hard to land on, and the reefs are slippery. It's not very safe. Let's wait until the first or fifteenth of the lunar month."

Upon hearing this, the three of them had no choice but to give up.

"I'm off. You guys work hard!"

"Alright."

When he carried the two buckets to Acai, Acai also praised his good luck, saying he managed to catch a porpoise with just one bucket.

The porpoise, scientifically known as the finless porpoise, is a creature that looks round, chubby, and has strange tentacles. Large ones can grow to about 150 centimeters in length and weigh two or three hundred jin. Their entire body is lead-gray or grayish-white.

The one he caught was considered small, estimated to be only about seventy or eighty jin.

When Acai weighed it, it was indeed only 72 jin.

"I'll count this as 3 mao 3 fen per jin. No objections, right? This is already the highest price I can give. Don't try to bargain with me..."

Every time he sold private goods, as long as there were good items, Ye Yaodong would bargain once, and Acai was used to asking.

Ye Yaodong said with a smile, "Fine, no bargaining this time. Whatever you say, it is."

It was a windfall anyway, so he felt delighted inside.

Only then did Acai calculate the price with peace of mind, "A total of 23 yuan 7 mao 6 fen. Don't say I'm stingy; I'll just record it as 23 yuan 8 mao for you."

"Good, Brother Acai is indeed righteous and generous." Ye Yaodong happily put his arm around his shoulder and watched him record the number.

"Are you selling the 'dull fish'? 2 fen per jin."

"Not selling this. Taking it home to pickle as salted fish."

"Up to you. Keep the receipt."

He happily took the receipt, checked that the numbers were correct, folded it, put it in his chest pocket, and patted it, "I'm off."

After bringing the fish home, Ye Mu happened to be cooking. Seeing the three dull fish he brought back, she didn't say anything and just took them to slaughter.

"Mom, how much longer will the house take to build?"

"Looking at the progress, it should take another seven or eight days. If it weren't for changing the location and re-laying the foundation, our house would probably be finished by now."

"Hmm, when I came back, I saw that plot of land; the area was reduced and it was already built."

"Never mind it. Anyway, it has nothing to do with us anymore. I estimate that by the Mid-Autumn Festival, those three rooms of yours will be finished."

"How much will the three rooms cost to build? It's been windy for several days over the past month, and the machine has been repaired twice, losing more than ten days."

"Over a thousand, I suppose. It's very economical; no need to spend money on vegetables, only rice costs money. The materials were all transported by workers from the mountains and the river; only buying sand cost some money. We're only building one floor, so no need to buy red bricks; stones quarried from the mountain will do. It's just the workers' wages that are high—1 yuan 5 mao a day for manual labor, and 2 yuan 3 fen for the master who quarries the stones. Let's calculate after it's finished; it's not done yet."

Ye Yaodong nodded. The money from trawling and selling large yellow croakers during this period should be enough to build the house.

"Then I'm going."

"Hmm, take this bucket of tea that has cooled down with you."

"Got it."

Ye Mu looked at her third son's sun-tanned face and felt a bit heartbroken. A month or two ago, he still looked fair and clean. He had indeed been working hard during this period.

"If you feel tired, rest at home for a while, and bring the food over with me later."

"It's fine. I didn't do much in the morning, just set a ground cage." As he spoke, he walked out.

After such a long time, he had already adjusted his mindset after his rebirth. From the initial discomfort and the need to slowly change his persona, to now, his family had gotten used to seeing him wield a hoe.

He wanted to be down-to-earth, work hard to earn money, and live well.

When he arrived at the homestead, Lin Xiuqing happened to be drinking tea to quench her thirst. He secretly told her that he had picked up a porpoise at sea in the morning and sold it for 23 yuan 8 mao. Her eyes lit up instantly.

"Really?"

"Why would I lie to you? The receipt is in my pocket. I forgot to take it back to the room just now. It shouldn't fall out. I'll show you tonight."

Lin Xiuqing held the tea bowl and nodded happily. Ye Yaodong took her hand, drank the remaining tea in one gulp, scooped another bowl to drink, and then the two of them chatted and laughed as they went to work together.

Sharp-eyed people could see early on that the couple's relationship had improved a lot; they even had to stick together while working and laughed so happily.

That night, it was Ye Yaodong and Ye Fu's turn to go out to sea.

They took turns every three days. Sometimes they couldn't go because of the wind or the machine broke down. In this month or so, he hadn't gone many times in total.

If he continued to follow his father after the family split, he really might as well work alone. Although trawling earned more, it had to be split among four people. Besides, his parents had also supplemented him with a small boat, which was enough.

As usual, he got up after 1 o'clock at night and ate a full meal before going out to sea.

When they went out, because it was dark, Ye Fu steered the boat, and he also set the first net. It wasn't until dawn that he called Ye Yaodong to haul the net.

After this period, Ye Fu also understood that among the few people, the third son had the best luck. Every time he hauled the net, there would be one or two good items, or a whole school of fish.

Ye Yaodong tightened the net gear and dragged it from the slide to the deck with force, "Ah, it's a whole net of white pomfret. My accursed lucky hands, I'm really too good at pulling."

Ye Fu glanced at him. He looked steady, but his mouth was still unreliable, "Continue setting the net."

"Dad, I have a premonition that our next net will definitely be white pomfret again!"

"Do you think schools of fish are Chinese cabbage?"

"Want to make a bet?"

"Bet on what?"

Ye Yaodong chuckled, "Bet on two packs of Friendship cigarettes. I see you have exactly two packs in your pocket."

Ye Fu covered his pockets and stared, "Not betting. It was hard to save some private money, just enough to buy these two packs."

"It's fine, maybe you can win two more packs. If you lose, isn't there still water tobacco at home to smoke? Or you can take a piece of paper and roll some tobacco to smoke."

"No, stop coveting my cigarettes, work quickly!"

"Alright."

After his hope was dashed, he could only honestly go to steer the boat.

Ye Fu actually also felt that the second net might still be white pomfret. There was indeed a lot of white pomfret recently, and the collection point was piled with a lot of white pomfret yesterday.

Sure enough, the second net was still white pomfret, but it was mixed with a lot of flower crabs and stone crabs.

Many white pomfrets were pinched by the flower crabs, or their appearance didn't look good, which was a pity.

Acai wouldn't accept these white pomfrets that didn't look good or were pinched, so they could only take them back to eat themselves.

"Pick them for me here, you go steer the boat and set the net."

He also dragged around the surroundings for the second net. For the third net, he simply followed his own wishes and drove outward. Anyway, there was a compass, so it didn't matter as long as he didn't go too far. ===== CHAPTER 98 =====