The next morning, Ye Yaodong thought it over and decided to send the Fatty to call Ah Wei and Haozi.
They had been friends for many years, and it wasn't worth causing a rift over a bit of money or a small issue.
Such disputes had never occurred in his past life; they had parted ways without such quarrels.
This life had seen many changes.
Bringing everyone together would smooth things over naturally.
However, reality was not as simple as he wished.
Fatty went to call Haozi, but Haozi was out moving goods and was not home.
As for Ah Wei, he had retreated into a dead-end, claiming he wasn’t going to come over to play the fool, no matter how Fatty tried to persuade him.
What more could Fatty say? He could only return empty-handed.
Ye Yaodong patted Fatty on the shoulder. “It’s fine; everyone has their own thoughts. We can’t impose our views on others.”
“Ah, it’s all about money…”
“If they really wanted a boat, they could scrape together the funds. It’s just that they're feeling unbalanced inside.”
As he mused, he reminded himself that he couldn’t concern himself with others’ feelings.
For now, he would set this matter aside, and perhaps in a few days, he could invite everyone for drinks and see if things could be smoothed over.
The two stood by the shore for a while without seeing any signs of the others.
Assuming it would take a while, they decided to sit at the small shed by the procurement point to cool off.
Seeing them, Ah Cai waddled out with his bulging belly and greeted them.
He handed each of them a cigarette. “What are you two doing here? Is there good stuff this early? Dongzi, you haven’t dragged in many nets lately, huh?”
“Maybe the newbies have used up their luck. How can there be good catches every day?”
“I heard you’re going to set traps in the water. Make sure to bring the goods here for me to collect!”
“Sure, as long as you don’t mind the small amount.”
“Every little bit helps, right? When are you putting them out? How many traps do you have?”
“Right now, only a dozen or so. I’ll just set one or two rows to start.”
“Huh?” Ah Cai was taken aback, thinking it was just polite talk to not mind the small amount.
He didn’t expect it to actually be so little!
With just one row, how much could they catch? Wouldn’t it be pointless?
“Are you joking? You're about to set traps, but can only put out one row? Since you’re going to be out, why not put out a few more?”
“I can’t manage it all. I don’t want to spend money on hiring help. I’ll just do things slowly myself!”
Ah Cai was at a loss for words. “You guys drag nets every day and still earn a decent amount; you can’t spare a bit to hire help for a few traps? If you finish early, you can go out and earn money. Are you kidding?”
Ye Yaodong shot him a sideways glance.
The income from dragging nets belonged to his father; the traps were personal, and he’d have to dig into his own pockets.
How could they be mixed together?
Besides, it was mainly because his mother and wife were reluctant to spend money.
They were already facing big expenses building the house.
Though he didn’t have to contribute much, splitting up later would lead to a lot of money spent on furnishing their own homes.
Plus, they needed to buy materials for over a hundred traps; saving a little where they could was essential.
Just a few days ago, he had barely convinced his mother to pay a couple of his sisters-in-law and older brothers to help out.
It would expedite practices; otherwise, his mother would’ve taken on everything slowly, which would be a huge waste of time.
Country folk had always been frugal.
These people were tough and hard-working; if they could do something themselves, they didn’t want to hire help.
Ye Yaodong flicked the ash off his cigarette, dismissively saying, “It’s too busy at home. We need to drag nets and build the house, so I don’t have the time for side jobs right now.”
“Then what are you two doing here this early?”
“A'guang and the others are working on a small boat. We’re waiting to set off firecrackers.”
It was just a small boat, no need to bother family and friends.
It would be fine for just the two of them to come over and set off a couple of strings of fireworks as a gesture.
“Oh! Is that so? It hasn’t been long, and you guys have got a boat already?”
“Going forward, we’ll have to rely on you to raise the prices a bit!”
“Sure, sure! I’ve always been fair in business!”
Ye Yaodong and Fatty exchanged eye-rolls, both finding it amusing.
With nothing else to do, the three started chatting and bragging.
Out of curiosity, Ye Yaodong asked Ah Cai how much they could earn in a year.
But this local was tight-lipped, revealing not a word, only smiling while deflecting, “There’s a boat coming in; isn’t that it over there?”
The two stood up in unison, gazing out at the sea.
In the distance, there was indeed a small boat, decorated with a red pompon, slowly making its way toward the shore.
“Looks like it!”
“Let’s go take a look!”
Standing by the shore and watching for a long while, when it got closer, they finally recognized the three figures on the boat—there was no doubt it was them.
They had also ordered a six-meter-long boat, similar to the one approaching, though this one looked quite new.
Holding firecrackers, they waited for the boat to dock, and then started popping them off!
“When the firecrackers go off, gold comes in!”
“Hey, we’ve got a boat too!” The three happily jumped down after tying the boat securely.
“Shall we go out tomorrow to throw a few nets?” A'guang excitedly asked Ye Yaodong.
“Sounds good! I’ll bring along the traps to set in the sea.”
A'zheng rubbed his hands together eagerly, “Why wait? We might as well go now; it’s just sitting idle anyway.”
“You all go ahead. I still have work to do on the house and can’t leave all day. I’ll join you tomorrow.”
“Alright then.”
The three discussed it and decided to take advantage of the good day and throw out a few nets to test the waters today.
Ye Yaodong and Fatty had nothing pressing, so after agreeing to have dinner at A'guang's place that evening, they headed back.
However, as Ye Yaodong reached the homestead, he was taken aback to see his father-in-law and brother-in-law Lin Xianghui there.
They were helping with the work too.
He hurried over a few steps in surprise, finding it somewhat difficult to call out, “Uh… Dad? What are you doing here?”
Though his father-in-law wasn’t particularly fond of him at the moment, at least he wasn’t glaring at him as if he were an enemy, already having settled on eventually shouting at him from across the room.
At this time, he was managing a light smile, saying, “The watermelons at home are ripe, and I brought a cart over for you guys to enjoy. I didn’t expect you were building a new house. Why didn’t you let us know so we could help?”
“It’s a long way; you should’ve saved yourselves the trouble. We could have just hired help. Please, sit and take a break; I’ll do the work.” Saying this, Ye Yaodong snatched the shovel from his father-in-law’s hands and helped mix the pile of gravel and yellow earth.
Seeing his son-in-law taking on a bit of responsibility and knowing how to help, Lin's face lit up a bit more genuinely, “No problem, since we’re here, let’s lend a hand.”
“You rarely come over, and we haven’t had a chance to entertain you properly. Here, sit down for a moment. Did my mother know you came?”
“She knows. She sent us to sit at home, but I can’t just sit still. So she had to go back and cook some snacks.”
His brother-in-law wiped his brow and added, “It’s been a while; I was surprised to see how much you’ve tanned lately.”
“Isn’t it because I come here to work every day? When you’re under the sun, how can you not get tanned?”
“Oh?”
Lin Xianghui seemed surprised.
His sister's husband had always been a drifter.
To think he’d been working hard every day? But looking at his face, it did seem he wasn’t lying; he had indeed gotten much darker.
“Since you guys came all this way, there’s no reason for you to do work. Please sit; we have plenty of help here.”
“It’s nothing; we’re used to farm work at home anyway. Now that you’re building a house, are you planning to split the family?”
“That’s the idea,” Ye Yaodong confirmed.
Lin’s father added, “Just let us know ahead of time; I don’t want it to be like the house-building, where we knew nothing until we saw it for ourselves.”
“Alright, once the new house is finished, I’ll invite you all to a meal.”
Seeing Ye Yaodong show signs of maturity, Lin’s father and brother-in-law quietly nodded in approval.
At that moment, Lin Xiuqing hurried over, “Dad, what brought you and my brother here all of a sudden?”
“If you hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have known you were building a new house. You could have at least mentioned it.”
She smiled, “I’ve been too busy and haven’t had the chance to return! Every day has been a whirlwind; when did you arrive? Just now, a child came from the mountain and told me. Let’s head home and talk.”
“It’s fine; you all still have a lot of work here. Let’s not just sit around; we didn’t come just to be guests. The kids just saw one of them; there’s still another young one, isn’t there?”
“He should be by the creek; that’s where all the workers are too. There are several older kids keeping an eye on them, so it’s okay.”
“That’s good. The little ones need to be supervised carefully; we can’t just focus on our own work.”
Lin Xiuqing nodded with a smile, “I understand.”
With his wife present, Ye Yaodong could simply play the role of assistant, standing to the side to listen to their greetings.
“Ah? You all bought a small boat?” Lin’s father was extremely surprised, finding it more shocking than seeing Ye Yaodong working.
The change was mind-blowing!
It had only been a few months, but his son-in-law had become so ambitious, even buying a small boat to set nets himself.
“That’s right.” Lin Xiuqing explained how they acquired the boat to her father.
Lin’s father smiled and nodded, “That’s excellent. Living by the sea, it’s essential to have a boat. Relying solely on odd jobs won’t last long, and once the house is finished, the family will be splitting. A'dong has more responsibilities now; with so many mouths to feed at home, he can’t just keep playing around.”
Ye Yaodong smiled and nodded in agreement.
Lin Xiuqing added to support him, “He knows. Ever since the house-building began, the three brothers have been taking turns going out to drag nets with Dad. On days they don’t go out, he still comes here to help every day.”
Lin Xianghui seemed satisfied; this brother-in-law finally seemed dependable.
After asking about their current living situation, Lin’s father felt relieved.
He had come with some worries but now saw things were in order, without any concerns over food or drink.
His son-in-law had matured, and there was nothing left to ponder.
Ye’s mother brought over a pot of snacks for them to eat.
After having finished, Lin’s father and brother-in-law did not rush to leave.
They grabbed tools and joined in the work.
It wasn’t until the sun set in the evening that they finished for the day.
Ye’s mother invited them to stay for dinner and packed a large basin full of seafood for them.
She included sun-dried wrasse, small dried shrimp, dried mussels, and salted fish, filling their cart to the brim.
Lin’s father and brother-in-law awkwardly waved their hands to refuse, feeling it was too much for just bringing over watermelons, but no amount of persisting from their in-law could overcome their generosity.
They could only accept it, thickening their skin in gratitude.
(The End of This Chapter)