Chapter 48: The Boy

Chapter 48: The Boy

Chapter 48: The Boy

"You asked me to wind the shuttle thread again. Xiaoqing, Xiaohai and Xiaotao were all sitting there. Why didn't you call them? Is the boss so easy to bully?" Li Xiaoyang shouted dissatisfiedly.

"You want to be beaten, don't you?" Mrs. Li was about to hit him, but Zhou Ruonan quickly pulled her back, "Xiao Hai, take your brother and sister home to cut the melon for dinner, and then come and help wind the shuttle thread after you finish eating."

"Oh!" Li Xiaohai grabbed Li Xiaoyang who was standing there with his neck stiff, "Brother, go home and eat melon."

Li Xiaozhou and Li Xiaotao also held him back, and the children walked away together.

Mrs. Li looked at her son and shook her head, saying, "If my Xiaoyang were half as obedient as Xiaohai, I would be happy."

"Sister-in-law, don't ask for too much. Xiaoyang is actually very well behaved."

"Compared to a disobedient child, he is not bad."

The four of them were busy until after three o'clock. Seeing that time was almost up, Zhou Ruonan went to cook some corn cobs for the two of them to eat before leaving.

Li Changle and Awei took the children home, sat around the eight-immortal table, and each of them picked up a corn cob and started to eat it.

Grandma Chen grows glutinous corn. The yield is not high, but the taste is good, sweet and chewy.

Li Xiaozhou took a few bites, his bulging cheeks moving like a little hamster, "Dad, our corn is not delicious at all, why doesn't grandma grow this kind of delicious corn?"

"This is sticky corn. If you like it, please ask grandma to save some seeds for next year."

The Li family has a large population and they raise some chickens and ducks. They grow high-yield corn, which tastes okay when roasted, but a bit rough when boiled.

Chen Yongwei said hurriedly: "My family planted a lot this year. If you like to eat them, I will pick them for you when I come back from fishing."

Li Changle rolled his eyes at him and said, "Your family only has one mu of corn. Even if you break all of it, it won't be enough for my family to eat."

Chen Yongwei realized that he had said the wrong thing and hurriedly buried his head in eating corn.

After eating a corn, Li Xiaoyang asked excitedly, "Uncle San, are you going to the beach to fish or to the reef today?"

Li Changle was just lighting a cigarette and puffing away. He smiled and said, "Let's go to the reef and try out our new weapons to see if they work."

"We want to go too!" Li Xiaoyang said, nudging Li Xiaohai, "Xiaohai, do you want to go too?"

Li Xiaohai nodded and said, "Dad, we won't run around when we get there."

"Dad knows you won't run around." Li Changle reached out and stroked his eldest son's head. "Not this time. I'll take you there after the typhoon is over."

"Xiao Hai, the wind and waves at the seaside are very strong during a typhoon. It's not safe for you to go there," Chen Yongwei added.

"Okay!" Li Xiaohai nodded sensibly, and Li Xiaoyang had no choice but to agree.

"Stay at home and don't run around. Dad will be back soon." Li Changle stood up with a cigarette in his mouth and began to pack his things.

"Got it!" Li Xiaohai went to get the hat, "Dad, put it on."

"Good son!" Li Changle took it happily, feeling that her eldest son was as caring as her own daughter.

Li Changle asked Chen Yongwei to go home and get a pair of pants, because they had to go into the water to put the plastic can for catching octopuses, and they had to go into the water without a boat. Wearing wet pants was not good for the body, and they couldn't go into the water with their bare butts, so they had to go through the trouble.

After Chen Yongwei left, Li Changle asked several children to put the plastic cans into sacks, and he went to collect long bamboo poles, buckets, and tools for panning for the sea and put them in a backpack.

When Chen Yongwei came back, the two of them took their water bottles, put on their bamboo hats and went out. When Zhou Ruonan saw him coming out, she worriedly reminded him, "A Le, if the wind and waves are too strong, you should come back quickly."

"Don't worry!" Li Changle smiled and waved at her, "If the wind and waves are not too strong, we will come back later. Prepare the meal and you can eat early."

Zhou Ruonan nodded, "Okay! I'll warm the pot for you."

The two of them carried the things up the mountain, but they didn't see anyone else going up the mountain. When they were almost at the entrance of the cave, they saw Wang Mazi and Lin Changrong walking in front of them carrying buckets of water.

Chen Yongwei asked quietly: "Brother, why is he going this way? Why doesn't he go through the pier?"

Li Changle shook his head. "Who cares? The mountain road is not ours. They can go wherever they want!"

Lin Changrong heard the footsteps, turned around and saw Li Changle, and smiled awkwardly, "A Le, you are going to the sea to fish too!"

"Yes!" Li Changle responded briefly, and took Awei past the two people and walked towards the cave.

Wang Mazi looked at the two of them and curled his lips. He said to Lin Changrong, "Look at that A Wuluan. Now he can only play with that idiot A Wei."

"Haha!" Lin Changrong laughed dryly, "Forget it. You know Ah Le's temper. He is a donkey that likes to listen to nice things. If you make him angry, he will not care about anything."

"He's a mad dog, who would dare to bother with him!" Wang Mazi looked at the two tall men in front of him, and then at Lin Changrong who was as strong as a bamboo pole beside him. He really didn't dare to provoke Li Changle.

Li Changle was too lazy to argue with him and strode into the cave with Awei.

After the two entered, they heard a creepy whistling sound as the wind blew through the vent left on the sea side of the cave.

Li Changle leaned over to the vent and took a look outside, "Fuck! If a coward walked here alone, he would probably piss himself."

Chen Yongwei also came over to take a look, and followed him to ask: "Brother, have you been to the ghost cave on the back of Yantou Mountain?"

"I didn't dare go. I heard from people that someone saw a long-haired woman sitting at the entrance of the cave combing her hair, and sometimes you could hear the humming sound of a spinning wheel spinning thread."

Chen Yongwei said in a low voice: "My grandma said that before my father had the accident, he passed by that cave and saw a long-haired woman washing her hair in the pond at the entrance of the cave.

He felt it was unlucky, so he went to the temple to worship the Bodhisattva, waited for a while, became a "water head", and worshipped the "Dragon Lord" before going out to sea.

But something bad happened in the end. My grandma said that my dad was taken away by the water ghost, and the water ghost needs to find a replacement every three years.

The fishermen here believe that where there is a boat there must be a "boat dragon god". Fishing at sea for "one ocean" represents half a month, and after each ocean the boat must dock and go ashore.

Clean the fishing boats, repair or replace the fishing nets, replenish firewood and gasoline, and replenish the food, vegetables, and fresh water on board.

After the rest, a new sea begins. Before going out to sea, sacrifices must be made to the "Dragon Lord of Boats". Fishermen call it "making the water head" and this is done once every "sea".

Fishermen have a lot of taboos. Even if they have done the "water head" and picked a good day to go out to sea, if they encounter people or things that are considered unlucky before going out to sea, they must go out to sea another day.

Li Changle thought about the fact that he had lived this life again, and felt that some things should be revered. Otherwise, no one in the future would say that the end of science is theology.

"Awei, your father is most worried about you. If you live a good life, he will be relieved."

"Brother, I know."

The two men came out of the cave and felt that the wind was much stronger than yesterday, so they went down the mountain and walked straight towards the rocky beach.

(End of this chapter)