Chapter 981: New Year

"Did you weigh how many jin it was this morning?"

Ye Yaodong only remembered as he walked along; after arriving home last night, he had let everyone rest first and hadn't weighed the catch. He had only mentioned it to his father while they were drinking, and he didn't know if his father had weighed it this morning.

"Weighed it. Before they started working, I had a few of the boys help weigh it all together. It totaled 3,392 jin. The estimate we made on the boat earlier was spot on."

"The miscellaneous fish, shrimp, and crabs added up to about 800 jin, and those were weighed separately too. Since you didn't plan on selling them anyway, I had them kill what needed killing and dry what needed drying. As for the crabs, I had them help pickle them into drunken crabs. It's almost New Year's, so we can distribute some to relatives and friends."

Although people nowadays complain that crabs have too many shells and don't like to eat them, once they are pickled, no one will turn down something they got for free. People by the sea love to drink, and when they are idle, they'll have a couple of cups; using them as a side dish for drinking is a pretty good choice.

"That works. Pickle them and put them in jars. It's cold now, so they won't spoil if you leave them out for a few days."

"Use a vat. How many jin can those malted milk jars hold? Pickle them and put them in a large vat. When you want to eat, it's convenient to just scoop out a bowl with a large ladle."

"Oh, then let's go check the workshop first."

He still trusted the skills of the older aunties. In this day and age, the skills of middle-aged women are generally not bad; they are very capable and can do everything.

Lin Xiuqing said with some unease in her heart: "Who knows if those people will blame us for ruining their good thing? Although we are all from the same village, you can know a person's face but not their heart. Some people are very malicious. We have to be more guarded with the workshop there and have people keep a closer watch."

"We have people watching the workshop day and night, working in shifts twenty-four hours a day. There shouldn't be any major problems. Later, I'll give those boys a reminder to not sleep too soundly at night and to stay alert. Plus, there are dogs, so it shouldn't be a big issue. I'm not worried about the daytime; there are people coming and going."

"You have to keep a good eye on these dogs too; don't let them be stolen again. Xiao Hua was stolen once before, and it was lucky we discovered it in time."

"They won't eat random things either."

"Just keep a closer eye on them. Those few Wang households all have some grudges against us."

"Mm."

They are all from the same village. Even if there are grudges, Ye Yaodong felt it wouldn't go as far as causing someone's death. It's not like there's some deep-seated hatred; at most, they might cause some trouble. The human problem shouldn't be too big.

However, they might be unwilling to let it go and try to damage the goods. This also cannot be guarded against, so he must keep a closer watch to avoid unnecessary losses.

As for the dogs, it might actually be quite dangerous. He had just heard that they wanted to steal his dogs.

Ye Yaodong looked at the dogs gathered around them, trotting along, "Tomorrow, buy some tube bones or ribs to stew into soup, and take the opportunity to give these dogs an extra meal. If they eat more good things, they won't be lured away."

"I'll see tomorrow."

Having raised them for so long, their whole family naturally had feelings for these dogs.

"Next time they go into heat, don't kick them away. It's fine to have another litter or two. By then, raising them at the two workshops to watch the doors will be just right."

"I'm also worried about having too many. Four of them are female. If they all have litters and produce dozens, how do you expect me to raise them?"

"Many people want one or two. If you distribute them, there won't be many left."

"Then I'll keep an eye out next year."

The older aunties in the workshop were all busy cleaning the small squid.

Cleaning over three thousand jin of small squid wasn't that fast. Half the morning had passed, and there were still dozens of baskets piled up in the open space that hadn't been dried yet, and those fish, shrimp, and crabs hadn't been processed either.

"It's quite labor-saving to dry them whole like this without cutting them open to take out the bellies. Just wash them, scoop them out, and throw them onto the net."

As soon as Ye Yaodong finished speaking, the older aunties on the side echoed him.

"That's right, this saves a lot of trouble. By noon, we can finish drying them all."

"But drying them whole definitely isn't as fast as spreading them out to dry. It should take an extra day."

"It's fine, do it however is easiest."

Anyway, they will still sell for money when dried. If dried whole with the belly, they will have more weight and be heavier on the scale. (Crafty)

"Is there no work to do these past few days? Are you going to rest early for the New Year?"

The older aunties were all thinking about doing more work and earning more money.

"It's just that there haven't been many boats going out to sea lately, and there's nothing to dry. Once you finish processing these goods, just go back to filtering the fish sauce. That needs to be filtered for a few days, so there won't be a lack of work. It will just happen to last until the New Year's break."

"That's good, that's good."

"Since you started making fish sauce here, it's been much more convenient for everyone in the village. We don't have to go beg for a little bit from other people's houses, and we don't have to ferment it ourselves. It's a huge hassle, taking over half a year before you can eat it, and once it's fermented, it's a huge vat. We can't eat that much ourselves anyway."

"That's right, it's much easier now. We can just go to the grocery store and buy a bottle."

"It's still better to be able to do business now. Everything can be sold for money. Like us, whose brains aren't sharp, we can only follow along and do the work."

"I heard that the old Li family also fermented a lot of fish sauce a few days ago, and they also made several vats. I don't know if they are also going to ferment it to sell for money."

"How much money can you make with just those few vats? And it still needs to be fermented for over half a year. Making only a few dozen yuan in half a year, isn't that a lot of effort? If you want to make money, you have to be like Adong, doing such a large batch. But who is willing to spend so much capital? I don't know how much he can earn. Can you even break even with these?"

The older aunties asked Ye Yaodong while working.

Ye Yaodong shrugged, "I don't know either. Haven't I only been selling for a few days? Anyway, I've already prepared for a long-term battle."

"Before, there were people in the village who learned from you to dry fish, but they ended up peddling it all over the village, and even when they carried it to the town, they didn't sell much. Everyone is from the seaside; whose family is short of fish? Everyone can dry it themselves, so who would spend money to buy it? In total, there were only one or two loads of goods. They were happy to sell a little in the first few days, but later it was hard to sell. It was all miscellaneous fish, so who would care? They stopped selling after a few days."

"If you ask me, you still have to go to a place further away to sell. Like Adong, doesn't he send it all to the city?"

"You just open your mouth and say it's simple. There aren't even a few people in the whole village who have been to the county seat. That winding mountain road takes several hours to walk, and you want to go to the city? You can't even speak clearly, so don't end up not being able to come back. It's not like everyone is willing to hire a tractor to run around every day."

"Don't say that. There aren't many trawlers in the village in total. It was only this year that Adong and the old Pei family bought a few more. Otherwise, everyone used small boats, and they caught whatever fish they could. Whatever could be sold for money was definitely taken to be sold, and only the useless ones were brought to be dried. How much could be dried? Save it for a year and see if it's enough to carry to the county seat to sell."

"That's right, who is willing to be like him, collecting tens of thousands of jin of the same kind of fish to dry? Before earning any money, he spends a large sum of money first. Who is willing? I'm not willing."

"So you can only work here and can't make big money."

"You're so capable, why are you also working here?"

"I didn't say I was capable enough to be willing to spend a lot of money. Usually, spending one or two yuan makes my heart ache. We are only suitable for doing labor to save up some money."

"We are unwilling to do this, unwilling to do that, so it's only right that Adong makes the money."

"It's indeed right that he makes the money. He's willing to spend on everything. The fish sauce hasn't even started selling yet, and before he's earned any money, he's already bought land for thousands of yuan, and the walls are already built. The money is all stuck on the walls and the ground. Even if you beat me to death, I wouldn't be willing to do it like that."

"Don't even mention buying land and building walls. I see you're even unwilling to buy wooden barrels and large vats. Look at these wooden barrels and large vats filling the open space. Not to mention, these alone cost thousands of yuan. Even if you sold my whole family, we couldn't sell for that much money."

"It would be better to kill me and bury me in the wall; at least that would save some material costs."

"Hahaha..."

"Tsk tsk tsk... All the money is spent on this. How many years will it take to break even?"

"Mind your own business. Anyway, he has the money to toss around. Those who went to Zhejiang province to catch jellyfish a few months ago are all ten-thousand-yuan households. With so many boats, he alone is worth several ten-thousand-yuan households..."

"He tosses and turns, and we also have money to earn..."

As the older aunties chatted, they had already ignored Ye Yaodong, chatting happily to themselves, already treating him as if he didn't exist.

Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose and stood in the corner, so as not to affect these aunties' chatting.

He patrolled the workshop once. The drying fishing nets were already neatly filled with small squid. Today was another cloudy day, and the cold wind was whistling, so they shouldn't dry slowly.

After strolling around, he returned home. Anyway, just leave the work to those older aunties. They were all his own aunties, so there was nothing to worry about regarding the work. Lin Xiuqing didn't stay in the workshop all day long now, only coming over to take a look from time to time.

"Our big boat is also in hand. Should we rent out that other boat? When those aunties came over this morning, they asked me a few questions. I said I had to wait for you to wake up and ask before saying anything, to see what your plans are."

She sat in front of the television, peeling radishes while raising her head to ask him.

Ye Yaodong also walked to her side and sat down to watch television. CCTV was actually playing "Journey to the West: Three Attacks on the White Bone Demon." No wonder everyone in the house was gathered in front of the television, watching with relish, not moving their butts. The children were quiet, neither noisy nor making a fuss.

"Rent it. Later, call the eldest cousin and Brother Asheng over to talk about it. The second cousin isn't doing anything now anyway. It's convenient for the eldest cousin and second cousin, the two brothers, to combine for one boat. As for Brother Asheng, he can see the situation and call someone else."

"Tomorrow is the Little New Year. We won't be going out before the New Year with the Dongsheng, which we just sailed back, right?"

"Actually, I kind of want to go out and try, but looking at the wind and waves, they are quite big. I probably still have to wait until after the New Year."

The old lady immediately said: "Don't be in a hurry. It's almost New Year's. Wait until after the New Year to talk about it. The weather hasn't been good these past two days either. The weather forecast last night even said it would rain and sleet today. Although we didn't see it, it was probably a lie. But when we got up this morning, other people's roofs were covered in a thick layer of frost. It's too cold; you'll catch a cold if you go out to sea."

"Mm. Besides, these two days we probably also have to prepare to go to the city and the county seat again to replenish a wave of fish sauce for the shops."

"Then you have to wear more clothes..."

"That's a monster, Tang Seng is confused..."

"Ah, he even drove Sun Wukong away..."

"This Tang Seng is a stupid egg..."

Lin Xiuqing suddenly heard a group of children quacking and cursing with dirty words. She backhanded a slap onto Ye Chenghu's mouth.

"What are you cursing? Which child curses all day long?"

"It's not that, it's that Tang Seng is too stupid. He drove Sun Wukong away and is about to be eaten by the monster. It's too infuriating."

"If you don't want to watch, then don't watch. If you curse again, I'll hit you with a whip."

Ye Chenghu glared at the television, pouting, "Not watching anymore, so infuriating."

"Then move away..." Ye Chengyang raised the stool under his butt with both hands and was about to move forward, blocking in front of Ye Chenghu.

Ye Chenghu immediately waved his hand and pushed him away, causing him to fall directly to the ground.

"Mom, he hit me!"

"It's him who wanted to block in front of me, I couldn't see anymore."

"You said yourself you weren't watching."

"I want to watch."

Ye Chengyang was not to be outdone and went to push him away, "It's you who said you weren't watching, and you still pushed me."

"Mind your own business, I'm just sitting here..."

The two brothers reached out to each other, pushing and shoving until they started fighting. Originally, seeing Tang Seng drive Sun Wukong away was already frustrating enough, and their anger instantly flared up. Lin Xiuqing shouted twice, but the two were still fighting there.

Annoyed, she immediately went to get the whip.

Ye Xiaoxi clapped her hands happily, "Whip, whip, hit hit~"

Ye Yaodong also shouted gloatingly, "Oh~ the whip is here~"

Both brothers hooked their shoulders and lay on the ground, then immediately separated and quickly climbed up using their hands and feet, running up the stairs with a bang-bang-bang before the whip arrived.

Lin Xiuqing stood below with the whip, looking up at the two lying on the stairs one after another.

"Just watch television, what are you arguing about? If you argue again, I'll take off your pants and hit you."

"It's all you!"

"It's all your fault!"

Ye Chenghu in front kicked Ye Chengyang below with his feet, and Ye Chengyang below slapped Ye Chenghu above with his hands.

Lin Xiuqing flicked the whip against the stairs. Hearing the sound of the flick, the two immediately shut their mouths and withdrew their hands.

Afterward, the two didn't dare to come down and just lay on the stairs looking down.

She stood with the whip for a while, and seeing that they had quieted down, she returned to the front of the television and sat down.

Ye Xiaoxi saw the whip her mother had casually placed by her feet, picked it up, and excitedly ran to the stairs, imitating Lin Xiuqing by slapping the stairs, shouting loudly at the two on the stairs.

"Take off pants, hit hit~"

"Take off, hit hit~"

Ye Chenghu glared at her, "Shut up, if you act like a fox pretending to be a tiger again, I'll hit you!"

Ye Yaodong also hurriedly went over and picked up the little fatty, "You better come here. If you shout two more times, the two will rush down and hit you first."

"Have this."

"Who is this for?"

"For hit hit~"

"It's also for hitting you."

"No~ no~"

"Just sit honestly and watch television." Ye Yaodong held her on his lap to watch.

After Lin Xiuqing finished cutting the radishes, she soaked them in water first, then took a cabbage and sat down in front of the television, saying gloomily: "They are not quiet at all when they are on vacation at home. It's either arguing or fighting all day long."

"It's good that there are only two."

"There are three. Do you think your daughter is very obedient? It's good that the eldest brother and second brother's families both bought televisions a few months ago, so they aren't all concentrated in our house. Otherwise, the roof would have been lifted."

The old lady said happily, "This is lively."

Lin Xiuqing shook her head in disgust.

Ye Yaodong sat for a while but couldn't sit still, thinking it would be better to just handle the boat matter first, to avoid being worried about, and then having wave after wave of people coming to his house.

It was just right to go for a stroll at the old house, tell his father, and take the opportunity to look at the newly installed doors and windows.

The bed he asked the carpenter to make was also ready, just waiting for a day to install it. In two days, if there is a delivery to the city, he will bring back a Simmons mattress on the empty return trip. New Year, sleeping on a new bed.

On a cold day without the sun, the village was cold and clear everywhere. On the road, there were only children with snot, not afraid of the cold, running and jumping everywhere. The adults were all huddled at home.

After Ye Yaodong went out for a stroll and finished his business, he also returned home to huddle.

It wasn't until the next day, when they started filtering fish sauce in the workshop again, that he went over to stroll around, taking the opportunity to look at the dried sea hare, which was already dried and waiting for the wind.

On the third morning, after there was enough for a truckload, he immediately started taking his younger brother to drive the tractor back and forth between the city and home.

He was busy until the night of the 29th of the New Year, when he replenished and delivered the goods again, and brought back the empty vats, waiting for the aunties to continue filtering and reusing them after the New Year.

The aunties' filtering work was also done intermittently. This was also to reduce the cost of buying large vats. After all, the quantity bought was large, and the cumulative calculation was not cheap. The early investment was too much, and he was also waiting to break even, so he was still a bit stingy.

On the 26th of the lunar calendar, when there was a good day, the bed was also replaced with a wooden frame and a Simmons mattress.

The old-fashioned bed was also dismantled by the carpenter and moved upstairs to be reassembled for the two sons to sleep in.

It will be ten years before they grow up. It's fine to change them into new beds each after ten years. This kind of old-fashioned frame bed is very durable for sleeping, and it's fine to use it for decades.

Ye Yaodong didn't expect himself to be diligent to this extent, just like the 996 in the future, having to work until New Year's Eve before resting.

In this day and age, women are used as men, and men are used as slaves.

The corporate slaves of the future are about the same.

It was dark when he finished delivering to his father-in-law's family and returned home. He didn't even take a bath. After finishing the accounts, he washed his face and feet and lay on the bed.

He prepared to save the dirt and leave it for New Year's Eve tomorrow night to wash, wash clean, change into new clothes for the New Year. Washing early lacked a bit of ritual.

"Soft and fluffy, is it comfortable, Ye Xiaojiu?"

"Comfy~"

Ye Xiaoxi was jumping up and down on the bed excitedly. The old-fashioned frame bed was often jumped on by her until it made a bang-bang sound. After changing to the Simmons, there was no bang-bang sound, only the sound of springs. She liked it even more, as it could let her jump higher.

Recently, every night after washing her feet and putting her on the bed, she started jumping.

Ye Yaodong was shaken by her jumping while lying on the bed.

Lin Xiuqing even specially spread a mattress on the Simmons to make it look softer and better to sleep on.

It's just that he felt that if she jumped for a few more days, the springs would collapse.

"Stop jumping, rest for a while."

"Don't want~"

"It will break."

He caught her directly and held her in his arms, but she struggled constantly, not having played enough. Ye Yaodong had to divert her attention.

"How old are you for the New Year?"

"Three years old!"

"Show me with your fingers."

Only then did she stare at her fingers, bending them back and forth, clumsily extending the three soft, fatty fingers in the middle.

"Like this?"

"Right, I'll train you once in advance. Next time someone asks you, you'll know."

She giggled with a bright smile.

"And you belong to the Pig, do you know? You can't tell people you belong to the Duck, you'll be laughed at."

"Don't want, don't want Pig, want Duck."

"There is no Duck in the twelve zodiac signs."

"You Pig!"

"I'm not..."

"You Piggy!"

Ye Xiaoxi laughed and played constantly in his arms, and also reached out to poke his nose, poking his nostrils up, making it a pig nose.

"Piggy, you Piggy."

Ye Yaodong also went to poke her nose, "You are the Pig."

"You are, you are..."

The room was filled with constant childish words, accompanied by the giggling of children, appearing very warm.

Lin Xiuqing returned to the room and watched the father and daughter who were making a mess together with a smile, "Sleep early, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, we have to start working early."

"Are the wages settled?"

"Settled. Just now, after the workshop floor was cleaned, I settled all the wages. I also gave each of them a New Year's red envelope. Everyone was very happy, and the good words didn't stop."

"Congratulations on getting rich!" Ye Xiaoxi immediately clasped her hands together as soon as she heard about wages, shaking them twice in front of her chest.

"Not bad! You even know how to say congratulations on getting rich."

"Give me the red envelope!"

She spread her hands out in front of Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong patted her little hands with his big palm, "Who taught you?"

"Brother!"

"I'll give you the lucky money tomorrow."

She nodded like a garlic clove happily.

"Alright, time to sleep."

Lin Xiuqing also took off her clothes and climbed onto the bed, urging the father and daughter who were still playing happily there.

Ye Xiaoxi didn't want to sleep, directly sticking her butt towards her mother.

Lin Xiuqing slapped her butt, laughing and scolding, "When did you learn to be so indecent, even sticking your butt towards me."

"Don't want to sleep!"

"Turning off the lights."

"I'll do it, I'll do it~"

Saying she didn't want to sleep, but as soon as she heard the lights were turning off, she excitedly ran to pull the wire, and then continued rolling on the bed.

The couple lay together talking, not paying attention to her, but in a little while, she rolled and rolled until she fell asleep.

"I saw the wife Brother Asheng just married today."

"Oh."

"She looks quite young."

"Didn't Mom say she was only twenty-six?"

"That's right, the two daughters she brought look very clean, one is four years old, one is seven years old."

"Oh."

Ye Yaodong wasn't very concerned about other people's widow matters, but Lin Xiuqing had a gossiping heart.

"Brother Asheng is over thirty. Being able to marry a twenty-six-year-old widow can be considered earning it, not a loss, and she didn't ask for money."

"Mm, a young woman and wife is also more sensible than a young maiden."

She smiled and patted him, "What are you saying? I'm telling you serious business, where did you think of?"

Ye Yaodong closed his eyes, drowsy, and woke up after she hit him, "Where did I say something indecent, where did you think of?"

"You said she was more sensible than a young maiden..."

"That's right, a young maiden still needs to be taught, this young woman and wife doesn't need to be taught. I'm talking about conduct, did you think about knowing how to change positions when patting the butt?"

Lin Xiuqing pinched him.

"I knew you women are very yellow. I didn't even say anything, and you understood it to that aspect yourself."

"Where, you were indecent yourself, that's why I thought crookedly."

"So you have yellow waste in your brain."

"You have yellow waste in your brain, I'm not talking to you anymore, sleep."

"You women are just like this, can't argue, and get angry from embarrassment when poked in the mind."

"Get lost, don't come over."

"Don't roll the quilt away, I don't have a quilt, otherwise do you think I love sticking to you to sleep?"

Lin Xiuqing kicked over, Ye Yaodong reacted quickly and clamped her.

"Hehe, you kick again?"

Lin Xiuqing kicked him with the other foot, and the couple played until they rubbed against each other on the bed.

"Stop messing around..."

"I was almost asleep, you messed with me first, now you have to be responsible."

"Where did I mess with you?"

"You told me about yellow waste."

"It's your own thinking that is unhealthy, I just mentioned the new bride, and you thought of a young woman and wife."

"I'm not wrong, you are also a young woman and wife, come on, little young woman~" Ye Yaodong said while laughing and pulling her clothes and pants.

Lin Xiuqing also struggled while laughing, "Don't mess around, I'm tired for a day, don't you save it for tomorrow night to cross the year?"

"You learned the cross-year cannon, this is still okay?"

"Who let you think about it every year, then I remembered it?"

"Come first at night, I can also do it tomorrow."

"Go away, didn't take a bath at night, don't mess around."

"Pants are all off, you tell me this? It's okay, it's okay not to wash once or twice..."

"Tomorrow night, tomorrow night, you save your energy first..."

"I'm full of energy, still a strong young man in his twenties..."

The couple tossed and turned in the quilt.

"I still have to get up early tomorrow..."

"I'm very fast..."

"Hahaha..."

"Shut up..."

In order to eat meat, Ye Yaodong also used all means, saying everything.

New Year's Eve was full of New Year flavor. A few days ago, their family had already prepared New Year goods. Ye Yaodong didn't have time to go to the market, but Lin Xiuqing went to all of them, buying everything needed for the New Year.

Early in the morning, Ye Yaodong also got up early to paste couplets and window flowers.

Then he and Ye's father helped catch and kill the goose.

They were tired of eating chicken and duck. They raised a group of geese this year, and the geese were large. Killing one was enough for their whole family to eat.

The children ran and jumped in the village, also feeling the atmosphere of the New Year, each pocket was rarely filled with snacks, and their mouths didn't stop.

"Mom, when will you give the lucky money?"

"Wait until after eating the New Year's Eve dinner."

"Can you give me half first? I want to buy firecrackers."

"Can't you take your private money?"

"That won't do, that's my private money."

Lin Xiuqing glanced at him and didn't pay attention to him.

"Brother, let's go pick..."

"Where to pick? Only when it's time to eat will someone set off firecrackers."

"Don't~ don't kill Whitey~"

Just when the two brothers were discussing where to pick firecrackers, Ye Xiaoxi started screaming heartbreakingly.

Lin Xiuqing was also startled by her and hurriedly went to the courtyard to take a look.

Ye Xiaoxi was hugging the goose's neck, crying and shouting, "Don't kill~ my Whitey~ can't eat Whitey~ 555~ Whitey~"

Ye Yaodong and Ye's father were both stunned holding the big goose, and even put the knife behind them for fear of hitting her.

"Can't kill~"