The next day, Ye Mu woke up early to cook.
As she stoked the fire, she noticed the burlap sack in the pile of firewood.
Recognizing it as a bag of cicadas, she muttered under her breath, “Stuffed yourself too much. At twenty-five, you should be acting like an adult. Haven’t you worked hard enough?” After venting her frustration, she planned to clean the cicadas and fry them for lunch to accompany her grandsons’ meals.
The early-rising children were excited and squealing, already talking about going to catch more at night.
“Are you all just bored? Don’t come back with mosquito bites all over your head.”
“It’s fine, we’re not scared! Uncle, take us with you tonight!”
“Am I so stuffed I can’t even move?”
“You’re not stuffed! Otherwise, would you be feeding the mosquitoes at night trying to catch these things? Such a waste of oil!” Ye Mu chimed in, sounding irritated.
It really was a waste of oil.
Ye Yaodong scratched his nose, choosing not to argue back with his mother.
Instead, he grabbed two big buckets and a carrying pole and headed outside.
“What are you doing? It’s so early to be out with those buckets and the pole! Aren’t you supposed to be working soon? You’ve been good for a few days, and now you’re going to start getting into trouble again…”
“Didn’t I set a trap by the river yesterday? I’m going early to check it and bring the trap back.”
“Every day it’s just more nonsense…”
Once outside, he could still hear his mother grumbling.
Ye Yaodong bore it and walked towards the main road.
As he went, he encountered familiar faces.
The village folks were all up early, greeting him as they passed by.
He smiled and returned the greetings as they praised his hard work, curious about where he was heading so early with a carrying pole.
He simply replied, “Just errands,” and moved on.
But as he walked farther away, he could hear them saying he had grown up and was helping out at home now…
And that a couple of youngsters from this or that family were up to no good…
In the countryside, everyone knew each other’s business.
As soon as something happened in a family, it didn’t take long for the whole village to hear about it.
Nobody could escape the chatter.
After walking a good distance, he spotted A Guang.
A Guang glanced back down the path with a hint of regret, as if measuring the distance, “Why are you up so early?”
“I should be asking you the same. You’ve been working a bit too hard lately, haven’t you?”
If someone didn’t know better, they’d think A Guang had turned over a new leaf!
Feigning innocence, A Guang replied, “No way! I just see you as a good brother and want to help out more. Besides, setting traps isn’t just your job, it can’t all fall on you.”
Ye Yaodong smiled widely and threw an arm around his shoulders, “You’ve still got a good heart. Let’s go check on the catch. We can drop it off at your place first.”
“I borrowed a cart and brought two buckets. I just parked it by the road. Do you want to take your bucket and pole back home?” He blinked his eyes mischievously as he spoke.
“No need! We’re already this far; going back would just waste time. Since we have the cart, we’ll just put it on there.”
“Oh, alright then.”
A Guang smirked, thinking the walk home wouldn’t be far.
“Let’s go! What are you looking back for? Is there gold for you to pick up?”
With a hint of annoyance, A Guang replied, “I’ll push the cart. I’m not pushing it back! I’m just here to lend it.”
Should’ve known better than to wake up this early!
“Good brothers should push together, right?”
“No way, you go ahead. No hugging and pulling on each other like two big men.”
“Hey! Are you really turning your back on me? Just a moment ago you called me your good brother!”
Ye Yaodong found his sudden mood change puzzling.
A Guang was flipping on him faster than his own wife! Just a second ago they were fine!
A Guang rolled his eyes, “Let’s hurry up before someone else gets our stuff.”
“Such a jinx!”
They quickened their pace, pushing the cart as they rushed along.
When they reached the river where they had set the traps the day before, they found it empty.
It really seemed like they were the only ones up early.
How could the others be so unfaithful!
A Guang grumbled, feeling irritated that he had gotten up for nothing, “Had I known, I wouldn’t have bothered!”
“Quit complaining. It’s just a net we need to check. If they can’t get up, then so be it,” Ye Yaodong said while loosening the ropes.
He tried to pull it, only to find it was heavy!
“Don’t untie it yet. Leave that one there. Come help me pull this one up; it’s really heavy, feels around a hundred pounds.”
“Really? It’s only been one night.” A Guang walked over as he spoke.
When A Guang grabbed hold and gave it a tug, he was surprised at how heavy it was. “It’s definitely filled with something!”
Together they pulled up the fishing net, and as the murky river water splashed, they caught sight of the small shrimp crawling all over the net.
The more they pulled, the clearer it became that the bag at the bottom was filled with fish and shrimp.
“Wow, we’ve only left it for one night and it’s packed!” Ye Yaodong was astonished.
People from surrounding villages preferred catching sea goods and usually didn’t bother with the local river produce.
He knew there had to be some goodies in there, but never expected it to be this plentiful; they’d just left the trap out and brought in this haul!
There were small shrimp, eels, crucian carp, carp, grass carp, silver carp, and catfish, all sizes—lots of shrimp, and the grass carp was the largest.
“Look, there’s a turtle!” A Guang rubbed his hands together happily. “Finally, waking up early has paid off. I might not catch a sea turtle, but I can at least boil some turtle soup.”
“Watch out! You don’t have a wife, be careful not to overdo it and end up with a nosebleed!”
“No worries! Who knows, I might have one soon.”
Ye Yaodong shot him a glance, “You’re so quick with your hands and feet?”
A Guang chuckled, not daring to say much more, steering the conversation elsewhere. “Looks like my two extra buckets won’t be enough. Let’s not untangle the net; just put it straight on the cart. We’ll sort it out when we get home; I’m sure the next catch will be just as big.”
“Agreed, let’s pull it up first.”
“Ugh, this net is heavy too!”
When they finally got everything up and onto the cart, they were a bit stunned by the sheer amount of local goods they had caught!
The entire trap was riggling with fish while the little shrimp scurried about.
“Lucky me! I didn’t want to carry it with a pole, so I borrowed this cart instead. Otherwise, I’d love to see how you would manage to get it all back!”
“That’s nothing. Just tie it to the pole at both ends and carry it back slowly.”
“Alright then, I’ll help you push it, uh… forget that, I’ll just help you push it to your place.”
Ye Yaodong frowned, “Why put it at my place? My house is packed. It’s easier for them to come to yours.”
“Exactly because your house is filled with people! If we take it to yours, it’s convenient for you to keep some more for yourself.”
After some reluctance, he was slightly persuaded, “Fine then.”
After reaching their destination, A Guang was in an excellent mood, “Just saw in the second batch that there was another turtle! With more of us, we can boil two together tonight; otherwise, one turtle wouldn’t be enough. We’ll also cook a pot of shrimp, a few fish for braising, and stew up some eels; that’d be a big feast.”
Ye Yaodong chuckled, “Sure! Let’s keep some aside for dinner, share the rest, and in a few days, we can go out again.”
And that’s just how simple the pleasures of village folks are.
(End of this chapter)