Chapter 202 Some Money Is Not What We Can Earn

Chapter 202 Some Money Is Not What We Can Earn

Chapter 202 Some Money Is Not What We Can Earn
As soon as Li Changle arrived home, he saw Li's mother standing by the washboard with a bowl of rice in her hand, chatting loudly with a few old ladies who were helping to kill fish, her tone full of satisfaction.

Several aunts praised her for being blessed. Her two older sons were diligent and hardworking, her youngest son worked in the army and was appreciated by his superiors, and now even the most disobedient Ale was so promising.

Li Changle couldn't help but smile when she saw her mother's proud look.

When Li's mother saw him coming back, she hurriedly walked towards him with a bowl in her hand, "You've been busy all day, why don't you hurry up and eat? What have you been doing?"

Li Changle was worried that Xiang Xiaoyu and his brother would come later, and his mother would think that they were not doing their job well and were earning their wages in vain, so she stepped forward and told her about inviting the child to come to work at home.

"Do you think I'm so cruel?" Li's mother glared at him in reproach. "Now our family is different from before. You brothers are all trying to make a living on the sea. I'll just consider this as a good deed to accumulate blessings for you."

"I am still more conscious!"

Li Changle, who received a roll of the eyes from Li's mother, smiled and walked into the house. Seeing that Chen Yongwei had returned, he asked, "How is it, did Uncle Kun take the swordfish?"

When Brother Li saw that he would have to sell the swordfish for dozens of dollars less if he sold it to Adong's family, he did not send it to him, saying that he would rather sell it to the restaurant at a lower price.

"Yes." Chen Yongwei said cheerfully, "Uncle Kun is not back in Haimen, so Ah Sheng called and asked Uncle Kun to collect it. Ah Sheng said that their boss's restaurant in Haimen is doing very good business.

He also said Uncle Kun told us to send good stuff to him if we have it, and if we get good stuff but it’s too late to go, we can call him.”

Brother Li said happily: "Uncle Kun is still very righteous. Ah Dong also said that there were too many large items shipped yesterday and the price could not be raised."

Chen Yongwei looked at him and said, "Brother, you don't know that fresh food in the restaurant is very expensive. I heard from Ah Sheng that a plate of tuna sashimi has about a dozen slices, and when it is served with some sauce, it costs a few yuan per serving."

Brother Li was envious when he heard this. "It's better to open a restaurant to make money. A plate of fish fillet is only a few dollars, but one fish must sell for hundreds of dollars!"

He and his brothers worked so hard to fish, but others could earn back the money they had invested in several fish with just one fish.

Li Changle: "Brother, a bowl of rice noodles in a small restaurant costs more than 10 cents. How much is a pound of rice noodles? Some of the money is not something we can earn. You watch them make money, but if you open one, you might lose money."

Ah Sheng's mouth is not good. If he continues like this, he won't be able to take over Uncle Kun's job and he won't even be able to keep his current job for long.

Mrs. Li: "Ah Le is right. Just like the last time we went to Tuxia Bridge to sell fish, the managers of the two markets didn't bother others but us. If it wasn't for Uncle Kun's help, we would have been in trouble that time."

Father Li nodded, "An, you are doing pretty well now. You should be content. There are so many twists and turns in a village, and there are even more tricks in the city. Some of the money is not earned by us."

Mrs. Li glanced at Brother Li and said, "That's right. Many people in the village want to get in touch with the restaurant and sell their fish to them, but they can't get in touch with them yet! Only when the restaurant business is good can we make more money."

Li Changle felt that the second sister-in-law was still sharp, and gave her a thumbs up, "Second sister-in-law, what you said makes sense!"

Brother Li smiled awkwardly, "I don't want to open a restaurant, I just said that."

"It's time to eat." Zhou Ruonan put the bowl in front of Li Changle, "Did the child agree to come to work?"

The child was sensible and had good academic performance. Unfortunately, his parents passed away early. Although she helped apply for subsidies for needy families and the brigade waived tuition and miscellaneous fees for the two brothers, the two children had to eat, so they eventually dropped out of school and stayed at home.

In the past, the family’s conditions were not good and she was powerless. Now that conditions are better, she lends a hand to help them so that the younger one can also go to school for a few more years.

Li Changle nodded, "He agreed. I said you asked him to come, and he said he would do a good job."

Everyone looked at the two of them. Father Li asked in confusion, "Who? Which child?"

Brother Li understood, "Ah Le, were you going to ask the kid from the Xiang family to come home and help with the work?"

Li Changle: "It was that kid. Xiao Tao said that the two brothers didn't even have enough to eat, and they had to peel shrimps, cut shrimp whiskers and pick shrimp threads at night, so I went to call him to do the work."

Mrs. Li said, "I know that child. He works very well. He is no worse than those lazy women in the village."

Grandma Chen thought that when her son passed away, her grandson would be about the same age as the youngest of the Xiang family, and sighed, "It's hard for children without a mother or a father! If you need to hire someone in the future, just invite him."

Li Xiaotao pulled Li Changle and said, "Uncle San, are the Xiaoyu brothers here to earn money as well?"

"Yes, they are here to earn wages." Li Changle looked at the older ones, "Xiaoyu and his brother earn wages to support themselves, what do you earn wages for?"

"Uncle San, let's save up to buy pens and notebooks..." Li Xiaoyang and the others looked at him, unable to continue speaking, and buried their heads in counting the rice grains in the bowl.

Li Changle knocked on the table and said, "Okay, I didn't say I wouldn't give it to you. The wages have been paid to you, so they are yours. Think carefully about how to use them."

Li Xiaohai looked confused, "I don't have any wages."

Zhou Ruonan smiled and said, "Last time you were working, you and your brother were in Lucheng and didn't come back, but your brother and sister worked very hard and helped us a lot!"

Father Li looked at the older ones and said, "We provide you with food and clothing at home, and when we are too busy, we even give you money to coax you to work.

When your father and his friends were the same age as Xiaohai and Xiaomei, they had to help take care of their younger siblings, pick up cow dung, cut grass, and scoop up seafood to earn work points to support the family. "

Li Xiaohai looked at his brother and sister and said, "Grandpa, I don't want any wages!"

The older ones all looked up at Father Li and said, "We don't want any wages anymore!"

"Grandpa, I don't want it either!" Li Xiaozhou pulled his father, "Dad has to earn money to find us a wife, and finding a wife is very expensive."

"Hahaha! You haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you're already thinking about getting a wife." Both adults and children couldn't help laughing.

After the family had eaten, they went about their own business. Zhou Ruonan and Chen A-nai cleaned up the stove and started blanching the mantis shrimp. Li Changle and Li Erge continued to pickle the slaughtered mackerel and green bream, while Li's father and several children cut the shrimp whiskers, shrimp bones, and pick out the shrimp threads.

This is how the Li family prepares their own dried shrimps. Although it is a little more troublesome, the dried shrimps taste better and look fresh.

The price of dried shrimps dried in this way is one dime more expensive per pound than dried shrimps without shrimp whiskers trimmed and shrimp threads picked out.

The two little kids, Li Xiaozhou and Li Xiaomei, were also helping there. They would act coquettishly from time to time, pointing to their hands that were pricked by shrimps and showing them to their father, asking him to apply medicine on them.

“Woof woof…Woof woof…” Dahuang and Awang, who were lying in the yard, started barking towards the alley.

"Uncle Ale!"

Li Changle looked up and saw Xiang Xiaoyu standing outside the yard, holding a child who was so thin that his head looked a little big. He scolded Gouzi and took the two brothers to their parents' room.

"Teacher Zhou is cooking mantis shrimps in the house, just take your brother in!"

"Okay!" Xiang Xiaoyu took Xiang Xiaoxing in and greeted Li's father stiffly.

"Come in and sit down!" Father Li asked Li Xiaoyang to pull a stool for the two brothers, and then asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Grandpa Li, we've eaten." The two brothers said after sitting down.

Li Xiaoyang handed him the scissors and bamboo sticks and winked at him, "If you're hungry, you can eat mantis shrimp!"

Xiang Xiaoyu smiled, picked up a bamboo stick and neatly picked out the shrimp thread on the shrimp's back. Xiang Xiaoxing also picked up a pair of scissors to help cut the shrimp's whiskers.

Li Xiaohai said with a smile: "We just ate a lot, and we can't eat dinner tonight."

"We ate it last night and again today. Our farts all smelled like mantis shrimps." Li Xiaotao said with a wrinkled nose.

Li Xiaoyang rolled his eyes at him and said, "You little idiot, don't sleep in the same bed with me tonight!"

Zhou Ruonan also came out after hearing the noise. Looking at the skinny child, her nose felt a little sour. "Xiaoyu, did you really eat? If not, the teacher will serve you some more."

Xiang Xiaoyu stood up quickly, "Teacher Zhou, we've eaten!"

"Okay, be careful when you work and don't cut your hands."

Zhou Ruonan gave some instructions and went to the kitchen to busy herself.

Pour half a bowl of salt into the pan and stir-fry for a few times. After the salt is heated, pour the mantis shrimps in the bamboo basket into the large iron pan, then pour some old wine and stir-fry for a few times.

Then cover the lid and simmer over high heat for a few minutes, take out and pour into a colander, take it out to cool down before peeling the shrimps.

To make dried shrimps, you have to fry them till the water is dry, then take them out of the pot and spread them out to dry in the sun.

The Li Changle brothers were busy until nine o'clock, and then they put the fish that needed to be pickled after being killed into a large vat.

Li's mother, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law brought a dozen other women to start killing the cuttlefish. Chen Yongwei had already brought back several large vats of sea water to clean the cuttlefish.

Because the fishermen in the fishing village found that the cuttlefish dried after being washed with sea water and dried in the sun has better texture and color than the cuttlefish dried after being washed with fresh water and dried in the sun.

Since then, cuttlefish has been washed with sea water when dried.

There are also some tricks when cutting open the cuttlefish. Gently cut open the cuttlefish's belly, then cut open its two eyes to release the black water inside, keep the spine, and take out the internal organs of the cuttlefish.

Cuttlefish is a seafood delicacy that is full of treasures. Not only the fish meat is edible, but also the cuttlefish roe, cuttlefish paste, and cuttlefish ink.

After cutting it out, just do some minor tidying and sprinkle it with salt for pickling.

It usually takes two to three days to marinate. When cooking, scoop out a spoonful, put it on a plate, and steam it in a rice steamer.

After steaming, the cuttlefish ink, cuttlefish roe and cuttlefish paste will become hard and taste salty and delicious.

Cuttlefish bones are also a commonly used Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine calls it "cuttlebone", which has the effects of antacid, hemostasis and astringency.

In the old days, scammers often used cuttlefish ink to write IOUs or contracts to commit fraud.

Words written with cuttlefish ink look no different from those written with ordinary ink at the time, but the words will gradually disappear after a period of time.

Later, when people learned that cuttlefish ink was the culprit, they also used cuttlefish as a metaphor for a liar.

Cuttlefish are usually dried in the sun. After the cuttlefish has been cleaned, use bamboo strips to stretch the fish body as wide as possible to prevent it from closing together and affecting the drying and appearance. Dry the back in the morning and evening, and the belly at noon. Turn it over and dry it twice a day. In sunny weather, it can be dried in three or four days.

The dried cuttlefish should be put into a large vat to ferment.

Before putting it into the tank, in order to prevent moisture, you need to lay a layer of straw inside the large tank. After covering it for a few days, a layer of white frost will appear on the back of the cuttlefish, similar to the white frost on persimmon cakes.

Only this kind of cuttlefish jerky can be considered as the standard high-quality cuttlefish jerky.

(End of this chapter)