Chapter 90 Competition

Chapter 90 Competition

Chapter 90 Competition
Li Changle smiled and said, "Awei found some sea urchins and sold them for dozens of dollars. Last time, he got a snow eel and earned more than a hundred dollars.

My father can’t work now, so Awei and I pooled our money to get the boat off the ground. Once the boat is repaired, we’ll go out to sea to cast traps, fish, and go to the islands and reefs to scour the sea.”

"You two were just fooling around before, but now you have found a way." Ge Chang said with a sigh, "To be honest, there are more and more bamboo craftsmen now, but fewer and fewer families hire people to weave bamboo products."

“Since last year, the only work I could find was in the mountains. Sometimes I would be gone for two or three months and couldn’t even take care of my family. I didn’t even know when my children were sick.

"Alas, I don't want to go into the mountains anymore. I want to find another way out. My mother and Xiu both said that you two are good at fishing. My brothers are all moving boats and are not at home, so I thought of asking you two!"

When he met Li Changle a few days ago, he didn't realize how much he had changed. But this time when he came back, he listened to A Niang and A Xiu talking about his affairs every day. The two of them even advised him not to go to the mountains to find a job in the future, but to make a living by fishing at home.

He thought the two were exaggerating, but after playing together for a while today, he felt that Ale was indeed different from before.

He spoke much more steadily, unlike before when he was always thinking about taking shortcuts and making a fortune, which made me afraid to go and play with him every time I went home.

Li Changle thought for a moment, "How should I put it? I think if you work hard, you will have no problem making a living. You grew up by the sea, so you should know that if you want to find good stuff, you still have to rely on luck."

Ge Changfa nodded, "I understand. Since you two have pooled your money to buy a boat together, after you two have worked for a while, if the income is good, I have also saved some money in the past few years. Then I will ask my eldest brother to buy a second-hand boat together and go fishing with him."

He has been learning to be a bamboo craftsman from his uncle. As a man from a fishing village, he is okay with going to the mudflats to pan for food, but he cannot go out to sea to fish on a deserted island, so he can only ask his eldest brother to do it with him.

After hearing this, Li Changle told the truth: "Ah Fa, fishing and scouring the sea are the same thing. If you are lucky, you will catch a lot of fish, but if you are unlucky, you may come back empty-handed.

As for changing your profession, I think you made the right choice. For example, the plastic pots and pans on the street are beautiful and useful. I think it will become more and more difficult for bamboo craftsmen and coopers to keep their craftsmanship in the future.”

Ge Changfa didn't expect him to say such a thing. He looked at him in surprise, thought about the grocery store he saw in the town, and said:
"Ah Le, you really have a good brain. You saw that there were more and more types of plastic products, and you thought that it would become more and more difficult to be a bamboo craftsman. I didn't think of that.

I want to change my career because there are fewer and fewer jobs now, the wages are very tight, and I can't take care of my family if I stay away from home all year round, so I have this plan. "

"My brother is just smarter than us." Chen Yongwei was happier to see others praising Li Changle than to himself.

Li Changle, who was thicker than a city wall, felt a little embarrassed by him and made up an excuse, "You guys don't go to town very often. I just found it when I was wandering around town before."

He didn't expect that Ah Fa had plans to change his career at this time. He was also a little puzzled as to why he had been working in his previous life until 1989 before switching to pulling rickshaws and helping people carry goods.

Could it be because he had taken on the burden of supporting the family ahead of time in this life?
"Ah Le, you often hang out in town. Are the sewing machines you bring back from smuggling the same quality as those in the department store?"

"What's the matter? Your family wants to buy it?"

"My brother Xiu is getting engaged in mid-August. The girl wants a sewing machine. The price is cheap if we ship it back, and we don't need a ticket."

"I don't know about the quality, but I heard it's 30 or 40 yuan cheaper than the department store!"

He has remembered these days that the time when Wang Mazi's brother-in-law was inspected by the Maritime Administration was in early August. The ship was full of cargo, and large items such as sewing machines and televisions sank to the bottom of the water.

But many ships also salvaged wool, cigarettes, watches, clothes, cloth... This time he had to prepare early.

"That bastard Wang Mazi said that he doesn't need a ticket and the price is 20 yuan cheaper than in town."

"You forgot, there's an old saying, you bid the price, but you pay the money."

"That makes sense!"

"Dad, Uncle Awei, we want to catch lobsters too." Suddenly, the voices of Li Xiaoyang, Li Xiaohai and others were heard over there.

Li Changle turned around and saw a few kids running towards them with bamboo poles. "Why are these guys here?"

"It's not far, how come we can't find it?" Ge Changfa said while holding up a lobster.

Li Changle looked at the sweaty little guys running around, "How did you find us?"

Li Xiaohai looked at him happily, "Grandpa said you must be here, so we came here to find you."

Li Xiaoyang proudly picked up the net bag and said, "Look, we also caught frogs."

The younger son pouted, "Dad, you didn't even call us when you were fishing!"

"You guys would have come even if I hadn't called you." Li Changle rubbed him, "Do you know how to fish for lobsters?"

Li Xiaohai said hurriedly: "Yes, we used to come here and use dustpans to scoop up fish and shrimps to feed the chickens and ducklings."

"Uncle San, you don't believe it?" Li Xiaoyang grabbed a frog from the net bag, smashed it to death, and then stepped on it and tied it up with a hemp rope. He looked at Li Changle proudly, "Let's compete with you to see who can catch more lobsters?"

Li Changle smiled and said, "Come on, stand in a row. Today, the three of us old guys will compete with you little brats."

"There are five of us and you only have three. You are bound to lose." Li Xiaobo said confidently.

"Good boy, those little brats still want to beat us!" Ge Changfa rolled up his sleeves, "Come on, uncle will play with you today." "Come on!" Li Xiaoyang rolled up his sleeves, picked up the bamboo pole and was about to start working.

"Brother Xiaoyang, don't let go yet. We haven't decided what to give as the reward for the competition!" Li Xiaohai hurriedly stopped him and said.

After hearing this, Li Xiaoyang quickly picked up the bamboo pole and said to Li Changle and the other two, "Xiao Hai is right. Let's first agree on the rewards for winning, and then we can start."

"As expected of my son, he's so cunning!" Li Changle proudly stroked his eldest son and looked at the children with a smile.

"If you win, I'll buy you some sesame cakes. If you lose, you get to keep all the yarn in the house."

Li Xiaoyang shook his head, "We don't want fire-baked cakes, we want to drink a bottle of soda."

"Yes, we want to drink a bottle of soda. Grandpa Dong's store sells it."

Secretary Awei shows off in front of them every day and is jealous of them. If they win today, can they taste how delicious that thing is?

"What the hell! What's the point of eating soda?" Li Changle never dreamed that these little guys would actually be interested in a bottle of soda. "I'll fry some crayfish for you when we get home."

Li Xiaohai: "We should decide our prizes."

"Yes! If we lose, we will take the shuttle thread. If we win, we will get the soda!" said Li Xiaoyang and others.

Ge Changfa thought that the Li family's kids were fun to play with. "Okay, Uncle Fa promises you that as long as you win, we'll buy it for you."

Then he turned to Li Changle and said, "You don't know, nowadays kids all like to eat that stuff. My family likes to sprinkle the seasoning on the noodles the most, and they make a crunchy sound when they bite them."

Li Changle smiled and nodded, "Okay! We won one bottle each."

"Stand in a row, we'll count 1, 2, 3 and everyone put the bait down together." Li Xiaoyang said as he pulled him and asked him to stand next to him.

Li Changle waved his hand generously, "Little thing, I'll let you go first."

"Okay!" Li Xiaoyang hurriedly pulled a few of his younger brothers to stand in a row at the edge of the ditch, picked up the bamboo pole, and let down the hemp rope tied to the frog.

I don’t know if it’s because there are too many lobsters or if the frogs are too tempting to the lobsters, but they sank into the water as soon as the hemp line was lowered.

Except for Li Xiaozhou who was not quick enough and the lobster escaped after escaping the bait, the big ones all pulled up the lobster that was biting the frog meat easily and neatly.

After taking it off, quickly put it into the bucket, turn around and put the bamboo pole into the water, all the actions are done in one go.

When you ask them seriously to help with something, no one is willing to do it. But when it comes to fishing and catching shrimps in the ditch or on the beach, these kids are more enthusiastic than anyone else.

Chen Yongwei laughed and said, "Brother, you can tell from their looks that they are veterans. We are definitely going to lose today."

Li Changle didn't expect the kids to be so quick. "Come on, brothers. If you lose to these little guys, you'll be laughed at when you go back."

"I tried my best." Ge Changfa looked at Chen Yongwei with a smile, "Young man, why are you doing it so slowly? Be quick!"

"I tried my best." Chen Yongwei slowly lifted the bamboo pole. It looked as if what he caught was not a crayfish, but a big fish weighing seventy or eighty kilograms.

"..." Li Changle stared speechlessly at the two guys who were obviously letting him win.

Li Xiaohai and a few others kept throwing crayfish into the bucket, and the number of crayfish in the bucket increased visibly. Three adults only had half a bucket, which was not much different from before the competition.

"Ha ha ha! Uncle San, we are sure to win the soda game today." Li Xiaoyang laughed proudly and put the bait down.

"Okay, let's stop competing. You win." Chen Yongwei said good-temperedly.

Li Xiaozhou looked at their buckets, then at the buckets of the adults, and happily hugged his brother and jumped up three feet high, "Oh oh... we won."

"Oh! We have soda now..."

Li Changle looked at the children who were jumping and dancing happily, and his smile did not look like those who had just lost a few bags of soda.

"Dad," Li Xiaohai called him and concluded seriously, "You were not serious enough when you competed with Uncle Wei and Uncle Fa. Mom said that if you are not serious about doing things, you will lose no matter what you do."

Ge Changfa stroked Li Xiaohai and said, "Oh my! This little guy, a tiny little guy, speaks like a little adult."

"Uncle Ah Fa, that's what my mother said."

"Xiao Hai, come here quickly, there are a lot of small fish here." Li Xiaoyang took a scoop net to a water gap, and several children ran over, rolled up their trousers and went into the water to catch fish.

"Brother, there is a small fish here, hurry up, it will run away." Li Xiaozhou, who had short legs, could not go into the water. He stood on the edge of the field holding a net bag, excitedly directing his brothers to catch fish.

(End of this chapter)