After dinner, Lin Xiuqing handed over fifteen big bills to Ye Mu in front of her two sisters-in-law.
Ye Mu didn’t say much, just smiled and accepted the money.
However, when night fell, Ye Mu quietly slipped into Ye Yaodong's room.
Luckily, the couple hadn’t gone to bed yet.
“Mother?”
“Shh, come in and talk.”
Lin Xiuqing curiously closed the door softly and lowered her voice to ask, “What’s the matter?”
Ye Mu pulled out a square handkerchief from her pocket and opened the four corners, revealing the fifteen big bills that Lin Xiuqing had given her earlier that afternoon.
The couple both looked surprised at Ye Mu. “Mother, what are you doing?”
“I talked it over with your father. It’s rare for Dongzi to want to work hard. This small wooden boat can be considered as a start for you two; there's no need for you to pay for it. Your father and I are still young enough to handle it ourselves.”
Lin Xiuqing and Ye Yaodong exchanged glances. “Isn’t that inappropriate? The small wooden boat belongs to the public funds; if Big Sister and Second Sister find out, it’ll definitely cause a fuss.”
“Then don’t tell them. They won’t lose out either. We know what they’re thinking. They’re just aiming to go out to sea with your father; that way, they don’t have to spend any money and will still get a share later on. You two need the small wooden boat to be self-reliant, while they get to fish with your father and share the profits. That’s fair.”
“If you buy a small wooden boat on your own, while they fish with your father and profit without any investment, that would be truly unfair. Just accept it. Your father and I are clear on our intentions; we won’t let anyone suffer a loss.”
Compared to the family wealth of the eldest and second brothers, the third family's finances were indeed quite weak.
Ye Father and Ye Mother weren’t after their sons’ money anyway; they were already funding the house construction, so the 150 bills didn’t make much difference.
With everything said, Lin Xiuqing reluctantly accepted the money and expressed her gratitude. “Thank you, Mother.”
“All right, keep the money safe and go to bed early.” Ye Mu quietly left the room.
Her parents-in-law were truly commendable in their actions and mindset.
Perhaps a little biased towards their sons, she felt incredibly fortunate to have such in-laws.
If only the men were equally responsible and driven, things would be even better.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Ye Yaodong felt a bit awkward under her hopeful gaze.
“Your parents care about you so much. You should work hard to make money to repay their kindness.”
He adjusted his position uncomfortably and said softly, “I know, why talk about this late at night? Let’s just get to bed early; we have work to do tomorrow.”
Lin Xiuqing shot him a glance before putting the money away in the drawer and locking it.
Then, she went to comfort the two children who were playfully wrestling and instructed them not to mention anything about Grandma giving money to their parents.
No one should talk about it to avoid unnecessary trouble.
The next morning, as they made their way to the new homestead by the beach, they passed by Lin Ji’s family, who were gesturing about how to build their house at the old site.
They exchanged smiles and greetings before moving along, choosing to focus on their own house without worrying about others.
Last night, Ye Father had already visited each family, informing the workers that they would resume work today.
Since the foundation had already been poured once, restarting would be much easier, following the previous plans.
After finishing their lunch and having a short rest, Ye Yaodong finally found time to check on his small wooden boat at the dock.
He had learned about rowing from his father during the water test yesterday; now that he tried it himself, he was able to row out.
He paddled around the shore for a while, finding it not difficult and quite easy to manage.
Perhaps people living by the sea had a natural talent for boats.
By evening, he discussed with Lin Xiuqing that buying a ready-made ground trap net was rather expensive, and he could purchase some line to make one himself, asking his mother to help.
She would likely be glad to join in.
Lin Xiuqing nodded in agreement.
Now that they had the boat, they should plan properly to make good use of it.
The neighbors were envious of their family, having gained a small wooden boat due to their new land foundation.
“Lixiang, your family's luck is really good lately. Sitting at home and wealth is just falling from the sky!”
“Indeed, that small wooden boat is worth quite a bit. Why haven’t we had such fortune?”
“Wasn't the buyer of the land foolish? There are so many empty plots in the village; why did they choose yours?”
“Didn’t you hear? That land has good feng shui. They hired someone to check it out and were willing to offer a small boat as compensation. Otherwise, who would be willing to trade unless it had its benefits?”
“That’s true. You really chose your location well. We rural folk can only lend our muscles; working a few days without pay is nothing compared to owning that boat.”
Ye Mother cheerfully said, “We haven’t worked in vain these days; just like the workers, we’ll also be calculating wages.”
“Oh, then that’s truly a profit…”
“If it were me, I’d be all for it…”
While Ye Mother was enjoying a lively chat with her neighbors, Lin Xiuqing called her back inside.
After learning of the third family's plans, she was more than willing.
As long as her son could grow stronger, what was her contribution compared to a few more extra hands?
“Then you go buy the materials tomorrow. I’ll teach your wife how to make them; it’ll be quicker with both of you working together.”
“Sure.”
The ground trap net was made with an 8-gauge wire frame, wrapped with a 15mm mesh to create a square, foldable trap net.
The entire net measured 2 meters long, separated into ten internal square nets of 20cm x 20cm by eleven square wire frames.
Each small cage had interval fish entrance holes, which were trumpet-shaped, allowing fish and shrimp to enter but not exit.
Both ends of the ground trap net were conical collection bags for fish.
When shrimp entered through the holes, they would be misled to crawl into the collection bags at the ends and get trapped.
Making the ground trap net was much more labor-intensive than weaving nets.
They did this after dinner, with Ye Yaodong helping out, even turning down invitations from his friends to play.
Seeing him care so much, his family felt great relief.
As they approached the fifteenth day of the month, the children from last time, who had tasted success, came back to ask if Ye Yaodong wanted to go to the uninhabited island.
Ye Yaodong happily agreed.
“I have a small wooden boat, but no fishing net. However, rowing to the uninhabited island should be fine. That way, we save on boat rental, and such fortune doesn’t come often.”
“Is that the one your family recently got? Does your father really let you take it out?” A Guang asked curiously.
“Yep, tomorrow everyone going should come to my house; we’ll go together.”
A Zheng thought for a moment and said, “I think I have a spare casting net at home. I'll bring it along tomorrow; if we hit the jackpot, it would be a shame not to have a net!”
“Sounds good—any fishing net that can be used is fine.”
He originally thought about having his wife weave a casting net, but realized that this net was for throwing and required continuous work at sea, unlike the ground trap net, which could be checked every two or three days.
He couldn’t focus just on earnings at sea while neglecting the homestead; otherwise, his two sisters-in-law would have something to say again.
The ground trap net was indeed simpler to manage.
(End of Chapter)