Chapter 33: Going to the Dock to Pick Up Goods

After chatting with the group for a while, Ye Yaodong finally stood up around four o’clock.

“I’m heading to the dock to help pick up the goods. You all can handle the seafood; once I finish sorting, I’ll come back.”

Ah Guang looked at him in surprise, “You really are being responsible?”

“Shut up!”

He quickened his pace towards the dock, where the tide had come in, and the fishing boats were likely nearing the shore.

When he arrived at the dock, he found many villagers already waiting on the shore, all there to help unload the boats that had returned from the sea.

Ye Yaodong’s mother was waiting there too. Upon seeing her son approach, she felt satisfied.

She had been waiting for a while without seeing him and was worried he might be slacking off again. If he listened at least this time, maybe there was hope for him; she had noticed he seemed to be maturing a bit lately.

Ye Yaodong greeted her with a grin, “Mom, what brings you here?”

“Isn’t it because I’m worried about you? What if you don’t behave or forget something? Your dad and elder brother can’t handle everything alone, can they?”

“Why don’t you trust me?”

“Do you deserve my trust?”

Nearby villagers chuckled, “Ah Dong’s come out to help today?”

“That’s how it should be. With so much to do at home, it’s good to lend a hand. Young people need to be more industrious and attentive.”

He casually agreed, his gaze fixed on the boats at sea. Their village didn’t have many boat owners; aside from a few docked at the shore, most had already set out. The boat returning towards them was likely his father’s.

“Dongzi, isn’t that your dad’s boat?”

“Should be. Let’s wait and see; it will dock soon.”

As the small boat approached, its speed gradually slowed. They could clearly see the blue paint on its hull, confirming it was indeed their family’s vessel.

Ye Yaodong and his mother hurried down the stone steps, ready to help unload the goods once the boat was docked.

On the boat, Ye Yaodong’s father noticed his son had come to help, which was rare. However, he didn’t say much. Once the boat was secured, he and Ye Yaodong’s elder brother began transferring the goods to the dock.

The first item brought down was a basket of swimming crabs, followed by another basket of mantis shrimp, with a few pounds of scattered seafood after that.

There were some large prawns, estimating only about two to three pounds, a little over ten pounds of small prawns, two pounds of squid, and various sizes of freshwater fish needing sorting, looking to add up to a dozen pounds or so. There were also four or five pounds of small yellow croaker and some less valuable small fish.

Though today’s haul wasn’t huge, it still looked pretty good!

Once all the goods were unloaded, Ye Yaodong’s father moved the boat to another spot to clear the dock for incoming vessels.

Ye Yaodong and the others took the goods to the purchase point. The swimming crabs varied in size, each fetching different prices, so they needed to be sorted and the crab legs tied together with rubber bands.

While they were on the boat, Ye Yaodong’s father and elder brother had already tied up a good portion of them during their downtime, but there were still some left to be secured.

As they tipped the crabs out of the basket, their legs twitched wildly, lively and fresh.

He casually grabbed a few, feeling their hard backs. “They’re quite plump; even the small ones are firm and meaty.”

“Recently, the crabs have been quite fat, and the mantis shrimp are also full, some even have red roe.”

The three of them quickly tied the crab legs, sorting them by size.

Ye Yaodong’s mother and elder brother watched in amazement at how deftly he worked.

When had he ever done this kind of work? He was tying them up so quickly and skillfully, not slower than them at all!

“Third son, you’re pretty fast! Didn’t see that coming!”

“Come on, what’s the big deal? Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean I can’t do it!”

“You little rascal, you don’t help out at home and instead help others? Always so unreliable…”

Listening to his mother’s nagging, he didn’t bother to retort. Sigh, this was what he had to bear.

After sorting the crabs, they brought out a small basket of mantis shrimp. Sorting the shrimp was much simpler; they only needed to separate them by size, which was the same for the prawns and freshwater fish.

The larger ones could fetch a decent price, while the smaller ones weren’t worth much.

They put the less valuable small fish and shrimp into separate buckets, along with some tiny eels and miscellaneous fish to take home for drying.

Once all the goods were weighed, Ye Yaodong’s father went over to tally the accounts while the others took the fish home.

“Mom, how much can we sell today? The crabs must weigh over thirty pounds, the mantis shrimp around twenty pounds, a few pounds of prawns, and some other fish. It looks pretty good!”

“Today’s haul is decent. The larger crabs go for thirty cents each, the smaller ones for twenty cents. The big mantis shrimp are thirty-five cents, and the small ones are twenty-six cents. The prawns are a bit pricier at fifty cents. With all the other miscellaneous stuff, we should be able to make around thirty yuan. But the diesel cost us about two yuan, and the machine also incurs costs; it often breaks down and needs repairs.”

“That’s still pretty good! We can save quite a bit in a month!”

Ye Yaodong’s mother shot him a sideways glance, “Do you think we can go out every day and always have this much to show for it? We rely on the weather to make a living. We can’t predict what happens at sea. Just yesterday, some people sold only a few dozen yuan.”

“Still better than doing odd jobs.”

Ye Yaopeng earnestly suggested again, “Third brother, why not rotate with us to go out to sea? We should learn from Dad how to make a living from the sea.”

“Ah? You and second brother can learn first; once you’re good, I’ll learn!”

Hearing his evasive answer, Ye Yaodong’s mother opened her mouth to scold him but then held back. They were at the dock, and considering his decent performance today, she decided to let it slide for now.

Once they split the family, she would insist he go out to sea with them. Right now, the money earned could be pooled together for building a house.

After the split, wouldn’t the eldest and second sons go out to sea and share the profits? The third son, who was always idle, would be left to starve or rely on them for support. What kind of situation was that?

Other families raise sons to prevent old age; they had raised a “living Buddha” instead!

Ye Yaodong was unaware of his mother’s internal grumbling. As soon as they reached home, he slipped away, casually mentioning that he wouldn’t be having dinner at home since he had already helped with the day’s work.

Ye’s mother felt helpless yet thought that this was how the third son should be. He had gone to the land, scoured the sea, and helped at the dock today; he was so industrious that she almost didn’t recognize him.

Ye Ersao pouted, “Just when he seemed a bit reliable, he ran off again!”

“Let him be; as long as he’s helping out, that’s already good. You two, take a bowl of fish and shrimp to your mother’s side. The rest, we’ll prepare—big ones for braising, small ones to dry. The small shrimp as well; boil a bowl and dry the rest for shrimp jerky; this weather won’t keep until tomorrow.”

All three daughters-in-law agreed. Lin Xiuqing’s family lived farther away, so she wouldn’t have a chance to send any fish home and could only watch as her two sisters-in-law took fish back to their families while she stayed to help clean the fish.

After the two had gone far, Ye’s mother said to Lin Xiuqing, “When do you plan to go back home? I’ll save some good stuff for you to take back.”

“Okay, Mom, there’s no rush. I’ll wait to go back during the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

…

Ye’s mother always tried to treat her three sons equally.