After Ye Father went out, Ye First Uncle and Ye Second Uncle also went to the wharf to check on the boats.
It was almost the first day of the lunar month, and the tide had been receding quite a bit recently. If the boats ran aground, they wouldn't be able to go out to sea tonight. They needed to go check and move the boats further out. They also needed to buy a barrel of diesel fuel for the boat, as they planned to go out to sea tonight while their luck was good.
The net of Large yellow croaker they caught yesterday was truly exhilarating. They wished they could go out right now, but they couldn't. The time was too short, and going out for only a short while would just waste diesel money.
The women at home also took their fishing nets and sat by the door, beginning their daily net-making routine.
The difference was that today they were exceptionally motivated. After the house was built, they could split off and move into a new house. Who wouldn't be happy?
Lin Xiuqing was also very happy. Even lips and teeth sometimes clash, let alone sisters-in-law. She also wanted her own small home, and her hands moved even faster as she wove the fishing net.
Their fishing Village was called Baisha Village, and it was far from the county seat, requiring more than an hour's walk through the mountains. Women had to take care of the family and couldn't go out to work and earn money. The only way to earn money was by making fishing nets.
Although this work paid little, it was easy and could be done at home. All the women by their Beach knew how to weave and mend fishing nets, while most of the men in the Village would go out for odd jobs or farm. Those with boats would go out fishing, but this was a minority.
Lin Xiuqing had been married for several years and had also learned to make fishing nets. After all, her man didn't do anything, so she could only rely on herself to save money.
Everyone had work to do, and Yao Dong, on the other hand, became the idlest one. Even Old Lady was helping them thread the shuttle needles through the nets.
He shuffled his feet, squatted beside his wife, picked up the fishing net she was weaving, and asked curiously, "How many of these gillnets can you weave in a day?"
Lin Xiuqing looked at him inexplicably. "Five or six. The children cry and there are many chores, so I can't do more. Second Sister-in-law and First Sister-in-law can do a bit more."
"Then how much money can you earn in a day?"
"A few dimes, less than one yuan!"
Yao Dong looked at the fishing net with disdain, pouting his lips. Labor was truly cheap!
He turned his head, about to say something, when his second son, Ye Chengyang, came over and shoved a cucumber smeared with saliva into his mouth, startling him so much that he plopped onto the ground and quickly spat it out.
"Ugh, yuck! Aren't you disgusting? It's bad enough you eat it yourself, but you shove it into my mouth."
Mother Ye glared at him from the side. "Your own son is being filial to you, and you're complaining."
"Mother, if you don't mind, I'll also take a piece of cucumber, smear it with a mouthful of spit, and feed it to you! Your own son, don't you dare complain!"
"Don't be disgusting. How old are you, and how old is he? A baby's saliva is clean."
"He's always touching things here and grabbing things there, shoving everything into his mouth. How clean can that be?" Yao Dong patted his bottom and sat up. Seeing his son about to step on the fishing net and cause trouble again, he quickly pulled him aside. "Don't be naughty, or I'll spank you."
"Don't scare him. He's so small, what does he know? It's rare that you're not out today, so just stay home and watch the children properly, let your daughter-in-law weave more..."
"Lixiang~ The tide has receded, stop making nets, let's go clamming together..."
Mother Ye's given name was Chen Lixiang, and she was the seventh child in her family. Her words were interrupted before she could finish. She looked up and saw that it was her eldest sister calling her.
She belonged to the type who married within their own Village. In those days, every household had many children, and in the entire Baisha Village, with four or five hundred households, half the Village were distant relatives.
"It's not the first day of the lunar month until the day after tomorrow. Will there be anything to dig today?" Although she said that, she still stuck the shuttle needle into the fishing net and stood up.
"We'll know when we go and see. It won't take long. I heard some people have already gone. Hurry up, I'll go check first."
"Alright, alright," Mother Ye responded, then said to everyone in the courtyard, "Let's put away the nets for now, grab your spatulas, tools, and buckets, and let's go check."
At this time, they mostly called it 'clamming' (Buy), and rarely 'beachcombing' (Sea-hunting).
Yao Dong, being idle anyway, followed them.
Since his rebirth, he hadn't been out to see their small fishing Village yet.
Lin Xiuqing held her son and looked at him in confusion, feeling that he was a bit off today. "Aren't you going out today?"
"Go where? Do you really want me to go out?"
She turned her head away. Who would want their husband to be idle and playing outside all day? "No, just asking casually."
"I don't want to go out today. I'll go clamming with you all, see if there's any harvest. It's been a while since I've wandered on the Beach."
It had indeed been a long time since he had leisurely walked on the Beach. In his previous life, he only occasionally took his grandson to play on the Beach during the fishing moratorium when he wasn't out at sea.
Lin Xiuqing sized him up, then looked up at the sun shining brightly in the sky. Had it risen from the west? This was truly rare!
Yao Dong watched her actions, his mouth twitching. What was wrong with going clamming with them?
Starting over, he wanted to work hard.
He turned his head away and said nothing, curiously observing the dilapidated surroundings. After forty years, he had somewhat forgotten what the Village looked like in the 1980s, but now, seeing it, his memories were reawakened.
Underfoot was a stony dirt path, not easy to walk on. One wrong step and you could definitely scrape your palms and knees until they bled. Weeds grew on both sides of the road, and there was a small ditch. Around them, uniformly distributed were rows of low stone bungalows, and also two-story brick and tile houses.
The brick and tile houses were newly built in recent years. Before, they used to build houses with stones. After 2020, stone houses would be rarely seen, and if they were, they would be covered with a layer of cement putty powder and painted.
"Ah~"
"Ah!"
Yao Dong was looking around and not paying attention to his feet. He accidentally stepped on his wife's heel, watching her stumble and fall forward, almost sending the child flying out.
He quickly reached out and pulled her, hugging her and the child together in his arms.
"Are you okay?"
"What are you doing? You're not even watching where you're going. It's fine if I fall, but what if the child falls?"
Lin Xiuqing, still shaken, patted the child's back reassuringly. The child was also very brave, not crying or making a fuss, and didn't seem to be scared, which relieved her a bit.
"I wasn't careful. This stony path isn't easy to walk on. Give me the child, I'll carry him."
The sun really had risen from the west; he actually offered to carry the child again. He had been acting unusually since he woke up this morning. Lin Xiuqing looked at him suspiciously.
"What's wrong with you today?"
Yao Dong's heart tightened. Sure enough, his closest person understood him best. He'd have to take it slow.
He put his hands in his pockets, no longer holding the child, and said casually, "Nothing. My father and Mother knocked some sense into me. Let's go."
Lin Xiuqing: "..."
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and catch up, they've already gone far."
"Oh, oh..."