Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

   Chapter 10 Woman Cursing on the Streets

Taking a look at their bellies, Ye Yaodong smiled with satisfaction, "Both are males, weighing over a jin combined. Today's harvest is good. It's perfect for stewing and nourishing the children at home."

He looked around and casually found a hemp rope washed up on the rocks by the sea.

He quickly tied the two blue crabs together with the rope and hung them on the bucket. With a happy expression, he resumed opening the oysters and digging for sea melon seeds on the rocky wall.

He wanted to complete the tasks his mother had assigned him to avoid listening to her nagging again. Tomorrow, with the tide receding even further, it would be a good opportunity for him to go out and gather seafood.

The closer he got to the rocks near the water's edge, the larger the sea melon seeds on them. After prying off a few, Ye Yaodong glanced at the position of the tide and decided to roll up his pants to his thighs. He planned to venture a little further out, expecting to find more there.

Today, most of the people who came out to the beach went searching for sand clams, leaving fewer people exploring the rocky walls.

The yield here is low, and during the low tides on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar new year, there are already people digging. With a growth period of only about half a month, there are fewer mature ones, so it's not as fruitful as digging sand clams.

Yaodong continued walking along the rocks until the water reached his knees before he stopped. Then, with rare patience, he slowly began opening oysters on the rocky wall.

The oysters he pried open here were indeed slightly larger, and the rock surface also had clusters of larger size spicy snails and sea melon seeds attached to it.

There were also mussels growing densely in a patch, but their size was only as big as a little fingernail, too small to be worth digging.

Everyone was busy with their work and no one noticed that he had ventured out so far. He could enjoy a peaceful time digging for a while.

As the tide gradually receded, he also moved further out, inch by inch. It had been decades since he last went digging by the sea, and his interest was completely reignited.

The feeling of this harvest fascinated him, but he realized he had forgotten to wear a straw hat and the sun was scorching.

At this moment, he still had a fair complexion because he hadn't done much labor, unlike the tanned appearance of the coastal dwellers.

But being exposed to the sun for a long time had turned his face red, and he was sweating profusely. Only when his lower body was submerged in the seawater did he feel a bit refreshed.

After waiting for the tide to completely recede by half-past ten, it slowly began to rise again. He could clearly feel the seawater gradually creeping up from his knees as the waves rolled and foamed.

When the water reached his thighs, he slowly moved forward, taking the opportunity to check his bucket. It was about one-third full, which was good enough. It would be sufficient to fry two bowls of oysters and there were also half a bucket of spicy snails and sea melon seeds.

Lin Xiuqing started to feel a bit tired after squatting. Seeing that she had already collected half a basin of seafood, she stood up, stretched her waist, gave her back a few taps, and glanced at her second son.

The little one sat alone playing with sand, filled with excitement. His head and face were covered in sand, and there was a large wet patch on his chest from his drool. He kept grabbing handfuls of sand and playing with it.

He's quite well-behaved, not crying, not causing a fuss, and not looking for his mother while playing.

She looked around again, but didn't see her man's figure. Her brows furrowed, realizing that she shouldn't have expected anything from this man after all!

When Mother Ye saw her standing up, she also felt a bit tired and decided to take a rest. However, when she looked towards the rocks, she didn't see Ye Yaodong anywhere. She grew annoyed and exclaimed, "Where did he go again? I told him to dig the oysters properly, and now he's disappeared without a trace."

"Mom, how can you trust what Yaodong says? For so many years, when have you seen him sincerely do any work? Every time he's just sneaky and tries to make a show of it for a while before running away," Second sister-in-law scoffed and pouted.

Mother Ye, frustrated, said, "Go back and have his father break his useless legs! He's always so unruly!"

"With Grandma around, forget about it."

Mother Ye was exhausted. Her once promising son had turned into such a lazy and idle person. She worried that once they were no longer around, he would truly starve to death.

Eldest Sister-in-law Ye chimed in, "Mother, we really can't let Yaodong continue living an idle life like this. Who can support him for a lifetime? Xiuqing? He's a capable man with hands and feet, yet he does nothing and relies solely on his wife. It's truly shameless."

Second sister-in-law continued, "Exactly! How difficult it is for Xiuqing to support the family on her own! It's only because Xiuqing has a good temperament and can endure it. Any other woman would have a hard time tolerating a man like him in the house."

Some of the women around who were digging for sand clams also chimed in, "Yaodong is indeed too outrageous. It's been so many years since they got married, and he's not a child anymore..."

"It’s time to have a serious talk with him. We can't let him continue like this..."

Upon returning to the shore with a full bucket, Ye Yaodong overheard a group of women gossiping about him, which infuriated him and his face turned dark in anger!

These nosy women have too much time on their hands!

His wife hasn't said anything yet, but these women sure love to talk!

"What are you talking about? Did I go somewhere? I've been right here all along!"

Everyone turned their heads in surprise, thinking that he had left after a while, but to their astonishment, he was still there. The people who were gossiping suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.

Unexpectedly, they were caught red-handed speaking ill of someone behind their back!

However, there were also a few individuals who felt they hadn't said anything wrong and confidently spoke up, "Yaodong, we're saying those things for your own good. A man should be responsible for providing for his family. If you keep idling around like this, do you expect your parents to support your wife and children for the rest of your life?"

Ye Yaodong looked coldly at the person speaking, "Auntie Zhu Hua, aren’t you overly concerned? Which eye of yours saw me idling around? Am I not working right now? Are you speaking with your eyes closed? No wonder your family is poor! You should have your eyes checked!"

Since he was used to being reckless, he just fired back directly!

"Nonsense! It's your eyes that have problems, and your family is the poor one. You can't even afford to build a house or divide your property. You're a poor ghost, and you have the audacity to say my family is poor..." Auntie Zhu Hua couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, one hand on her waist and the other pointing at him with a spatula, shouting at the top of her lungs.

Now it was Mother Ye's turn to get angry. "Who are you pointing at? Is it your place to scold my son? So what if my family is poor? Does my poverty affect you? If your family isn't poor, then why are you here digging by the sea?"

"Is this sea yours? You don't allow others to dig here."

"It's not my family's, but it belongs to our village. You're from a neighboring village, and yet you have the audacity to speak up! My son is diligently working and digging by the sea. Who are you to criticize and meddle?"

After saying a few words, Ye Yaodong fell silent and simply stood there, observing the situation. He felt that it would be more appropriate for his mother to handle the argument. As a grown man, arguing with women didn't seem dignified to him.

Anyway, half of the village is their relatives, and when it comes to scolding people, his mother has never lost momentum.

With many people around, a peacemaker stepped in after they argued for a few sentences, urging them to speak less. It wasn't a big deal to begin with, just a few idle words.

Someone mediated the situation, and both of them gave each other a glare before ceasing their argument.

Auntie Zhu Hua felt that there was no point in staying any longer. Since the tide was about to rise, she simply picked up her bucket and went home.

The atmosphere also eased down.

(end of this chapter)