Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

Chapter 40 Stunned Everyone

Ye Yaodong smiled and said to everyone, "I'd like to keep two or three mackerels to take home. Tomorrow, construction will begin at my house, and I'll need to provide meals for the workers. It'll be perfect to make some mackerel balls. As for these miscellaneous seafood items, we won't be able to finish them all in one meal. I also want to take some back home for tomorrow's dishes. Since we're splitting everything evenly, whatever I keep, I'll deduct the cost from the total when we sell it, so everyone gets their fair share..."

"Oh, forget about deducting the cost. We're all good friends here. If you want to keep a few more, just take them.”

"Yeah, that's right! Take as many as you want, no need to worry about deducting anything. We're like family here, why make it complicated?"

"You're right, with hundreds of mackerel here, a few less won't make a difference. Since your house construction starts tomorrow, you can either keep a few more and cut them into pieces for curing. In hot weather, fresh fish won't keep for long, but cured salted fish can last a few more days. Besides, we caught them ourselves without spending any money, so what's the harm in keeping a few extra?"

The words of everyone are heartwarming. These friends have proven their worth, befriending them was not in vain..

He smiled and shook his head. "This fish is quite valuable, so it would be a bit extravagant to keep so many for ourselves. I'll just keep two. My father goes out to sea every day to trawl, and he always brings back some inexpensive fish. We can cook those for the workers without any issue."

"Let's divide these two buckets of seafood as well. We can keep some for ourselves to enjoy as appetizers with drinks in the evening, and everyone can take some home to add a couple of dishes for their families."

"And as for the mackerel, why don't you all take two each to bring back home for your families? They can be used to make delicious dumplings or fish balls."

He didn't like eating mackerel dumplings, but he enjoyed eating fish balls.

Since everyone is unwilling to deduct money from him, it's better to divide the fish evenly, with each person taking some home to add to their meals.

As everyone listened to his arrangement, they couldn't help but feel that there was something different about him.

Surprisingly, he actually thought about his family and considered theirs too.

Ah Guang patted his shoulder and said, “Yaodong, it feels like you've matured a bit all of a sudden. Could it be because of the separation?”

"Of course, soon I will be the head of the family. Once I no longer live with my parents, I'm certain I can become even more mature."

"Is it because you're getting scolded less? Hahaha~" Ah Zheng teased him.

"Get out of here! You're always trying to sabotage everything!"

"Then let's go with what Ah Dong said. Each of us will keep two mackerel, and go pick the smaller fish and shrimp yourself. Take whatever you want and leave what you don't. We can use the leftovers for drinking later in the evening."

Ah Guang shook his head. “I don't need them. It's just me and my two younger sisters at home, so we won't be able to finish them all. Having some side dishes for drinking in the evening is enough."

Ah Zheng also said, “All four of my sisters are married now, so it's just me and my parents at home. We won't be able to eat much, so I'll just take one mackerel and pick a bowl of small shrimp as well."

"You guys go ahead and choose. If there are any leftovers, I'll pick some later," Ye Yaodong said indifferently.

As they approached the pier, the four of them each selected the seafood they wanted to keep. They also set aside one or two mackerels per person according to their needs.

At this moment, the tide at the pier had not fully risen yet, and some people were still digging sand clams.

The shallow water prevented the boat from entering, so it had to anchor near the nearby reef. They had to go to shore from the reef.

They left one person on the boat while the others hurried to the acquisition point to grab baskets. They hadn't expected to catch so many fish, so they were completely unprepared and didn't even bring baskets with them.

As soon as they entered the acquisition point, Ah Cai, who was there, saw them acting like a bandit. Without even saying a word of greeting, they immediately took away all the stacked bamboo baskets, which were piled more than half a person high. They even asked him if there were any more left.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? Where are you taking my baskets? There are so many of them.”

"We've caught thousands of jin of mackerel. Come and help us carry them," Ye Yaodong said and quickly pulled Ah Cai along, hastily moving the remaining baskets as well.

"What do you mean thousands of jin of horse mackerel? Where did you catch them? Is it true or not? Don't fool me!" Ah Cai stumbled as he was being dragged by Ye Yaodong before managing to shake off his grip.

"Oh, stop nagging and hurry up. You'll see once we get there." 

Since the tide was too shallow at the moment, and there were no boats coming into the pier, Ah Cai had nothing else to do. He was skeptical but curious, so he reluctantly followed them towards the boat.

As soon as Ah Cai stepped onto the boat, he saw the live cabin filled to the brim with mackerel. His eyes lit up. "These are really mackerel! So many of them. Did you catch an entire net of mackerel?" 

Ah Guang, without lifting his head, replied, "More than just one net. There are even more inside the cabin. Hurry up and help us with the unloading."

"How much are you buying the mackerel for?" Ye Yaodong was particularly concerned about this.

"20 cents."

"Damn, can you give us a bit more?"

"It's high enough already. Even if I sell them, I'll only make a profit of one or two cents." 

“Don't give me that nonsense. Just help us carry them down first,"

"Ah~ There are still so many in the cabin? Where did you encounter such a large school of mackerel?" Ah Cai was astonished to see the boat's cabin packed full of mackerel.

"Why ask so many questions? Come and help already!"

As basket after basket of mackerel were carried off the boat and onto the pier, the people around were left dumbfounded.

The village's pier was just a small one, usually only receiving small boat loads of catch from trawling nets or crab traps. It was unheard of to see basket after basket filled with mackerel like this. The people at the acquisition point started discussing it among themselves.

"Good heavens, so many mackerel! Whose boat caught them?" 

"Why are there so many? Did a large boat dock here in our area?"

"There definitely isn't. We haven't seen any large boats around.”

"Tsk tsk tsk~ Another fortune made! Just a few days ago, Old Third Ye caught a net of big yellow croakers, and today someone has caught thousands of pounds of mackerel.”

"Whose catch is it? I think I saw Ah Dong and his group earlier."

“Ah Dong, Ah Guang and the others..."

"Really? Can those few do something productive?"

…

…

Basket after basket of mackerel filled the acquisition point, and the people digging sand clams on the beach below also heard that someone had caught thousands of jin of mackerel, with Ye Yaodong among them.

The members of the Ye family were all astonished. Yaodong caught thousands of jin of mackerel?

Is it true or not? When did he go out to sea?

"Let's go, let's go ashore and have a look. The tide is about to come in anyway," urged Mother Ye, unable to contain her excitement, as she stood up.

When did the third son become so reliable?

Lin Xiuqing held her son, feeling both surprised and delighted. She knew her husband had gone out to sea, but wasn't he supposed to be going to the isolated island to go sea digging? How could he have caught thousands of jin of mackerel?

With doubts lingering in their minds, the members of the Ye family walked towards the acquisition point. They looked at the piles of mackerel baskets covering the ground. Ye Yaodong and Ah Guang approached, carrying another basket, their mouths agape in astonishment, unable to close them.

It was still Lin Xiuqing who was the first to react. As soon as he put down the basket, she tugged at his arm and asked, "Ah Dong, did you catch all these mackerel?"

"It's not just me, Ah Guang, Little Xiao, and Ah Zheng all had a part in it too." 

"Did you really catch all of these?" Mother Ye still found it hard to believe. Her third son couldn't even handle simple tasks, so when did he ever do something serious like this?