Chapter 43: They All Want to Tag Along

Ye Yao Dong’s second sister-in-law was silenced by Father Ye’s words, though still unhappy. Even Ye Yao Hua glared at her, making her reluctantly stop.

She always felt her husband did more work while Ye Yao Dong reaped the benefits without contributing much. This resentment had built up over time, and now that the money they earned from fishing had to go toward the house, she was annoyed that Ye Yao Dong got to work independently and keep all his earnings.

Seeing his second daughter-in-law fall silent, Father Ye then glared at Ye Yao Dong. “Did you hear me? Stop disappearing to goof off. With the house being built, you’re to go to the site every day and help. If I come home and find you’ve vanished again, I’ll break your legs.”

“Got it, got it. You’re such a nag.”

“We lecture you so much because it’s for your own good,” added Mother Ye, unable to resist. “You’re over twenty now, not a child. The family work needs your help. You’re married with kids, so you should have some responsibility…”

Ye Yao Dong immediately felt a headache coming on. He had actually been pitching in and working at the shore since returning, but his parents still saw him as he was before, not noticing his gradual change.

Seeing friends was normal, too. He couldn’t just give up his friends, especially since they’d always been loyal and genuine. He figured he’d just have to keep proving himself.

“Yes, yes… I know. I’ll work hard, but can you make dinner already? Dad’s starving!”

“You brat, watch your mouth. Who’s starving?”

“Ah, yes… I’m starving. You all eat—I’m off!”

“And where are you off to right before dinner?”

“I’m going to Ah Guang’s to save some rice for the family…”

He was already on his way out, his voice fading as Father Ye’s curses followed him from the house, grumbling about how irresponsible he was.

When he returned home after hanging out with friends, he’d had just enough to eat and could tell the sky was growing dark, so he decided to head back.

“Drinking and smoking again?”

“Can you really tell? I only had two drinks.”

He raised his arm to sniff; sure enough, there was a lingering scent of smoke, and even his fingers still smelled faintly of seafood.

“I’ll go wash up.”

He took another quick shower before coming back into the house.

Lin Xiuqing immediately asked, “Can you still rent the boat tomorrow?”

“Yes, but it’ll cost more. Ah Guang’s grandma found out we used her fishing net to catch over 7,000 catties of horse mackerel today, so she came over to Ah Guang’s house and demanded extra money.”

She frowned. “Why’s she doing that? How much more does she want?”

“Ah Guang said his aunt and uncle are easygoing, but the old lady is more difficult. She said we can rent it tomorrow, but it’ll be five yuan, making it ten yuan for two days. We’d have to pay an extra eight, or she won’t rent it to us.”

She sat up in shock. “What? Five yuan? Why don’t they just rob you instead? Even when others go out fishing for a whole day, they only make around ten yuan, and they still have to pay for fuel. If you rent the boat for a month, that’s 150 yuan! Workers barely earn that in a month. And now they just lie there doing nothing.”

“Besides, you’re just going for shoreline scavenging. Today was just luck running into a school of mackerel. Spending five yuan to rent a boat for this is madness, and fuel alone costs at least a few cents.”

He didn’t want to tell her that he was renting the boat partly to face his fears. Otherwise, who’d be foolish enough to spend money renting a boat to go scavenging? And if you’re unlucky, you don’t even make enough to cover the cost of the boat and fuel.

People back then were extremely frugal, barely willing to spend even on vegetables.

“Shh,” Ye Yao Dong said quietly, noticing their two children stirring from the noise, rolling around and lying at odd angles. “We’re partly at fault, too. We only mentioned renting the boat, not the net, and the old lady is pretty assertive. There’s no point in arguing with an elder. We earned quite a bit, so let’s just pay from today’s earnings and split it up among us.”

After getting a taste of success, everyone was keen to go again tomorrow. Even Chen Wei and Fatty were eager, saying they wanted to join them.

They were friends, so it’d be awkward to turn them down.

“More people are going tomorrow?”

Her focus shifted, and she frowned even more deeply.

It wasn’t really about the money for now—they’d made 1,600 yuan, so spending an extra ten yuan was acceptable. But with more people, if they got a big haul, the split would be smaller, wouldn’t it?

“Yeah… when they heard we caught over 7,000 catties of mackerel, they were kicking themselves for missing it and insisted they’d join us tomorrow.”

Honestly, they didn’t love the idea of sharing with two more people either, but after all, they’d been friends for years, and it was hard to refuse. Plus, today’s success was pure luck—it wouldn’t happen every time.

“Can’t believe they’re even comfortable with it, seeing you made money and rushing to get a cut…”

“Ah, forget it, let them come. There’s hardly any valuable seafood nearby. We’ll probably need to sail further. With this many people, we might just break even with the cost of the boat and fuel, but at least we’ll get some seafood for ourselves. We’ll head to the isolated island, and if we come across another good haul, we can adjust as we go.”

But opportunities like today’s are rare, so he wasn’t too hopeful; as long as they could catch a bit, he’d be satisfied.

“You men and your loyalty and friendship…”

Women just overthink things; already worrying about things that haven’t happened yet. If he had a golden ticket to wealth, he’d quietly make his own money and keep it to himself.

Not wanting to hear more nagging, Ye Yao Dong swiftly silenced her with action.

“Stop, you’re still weak from yesterday…”

“Please, who do you think you’re underestimating?”

Youth was on his side, and besides, his pride wouldn’t let him back down!

The tide wouldn’t recede until the afternoon, but everyone was so excited they couldn’t wait until then. Early the next morning, Ye Yao Dong had just woken up when everyone showed up at his house, ready to go.

In the midst of their urging, he quickly ate a few mouthfuls of congee, barely cooled enough, grabbed the tools Lin Xiuqing had packed for him, and headed to the pier with everyone, all eager to set off.

Once they arrived, Fatty volunteered to buy the diesel, figuring that if he tagged along, he should at least chip in for the fuel.