Chapter 229 Sleeping on the floor tonight

"I know the prices are different. For example, the price of miscellaneous fish like this is 1.2 cents per pound, and the price of Spanish mackerel is 1.1 yuan..."

Li Changle said to them, "My sea bass are sent to Lucheng to be sold. If you can do this, send them to my house and I will buy them all."

"Ale, I'll sell it to you at a lower price."

Li Changle said apologetically, "Uncle Ahua, next time you send me the ones from Achun's house, I will definitely accept them."

Ah Hua was a little embarrassed and pouted, "Forget it, forget it. They sell it to people in big cities. You should keep it for yourself!"

Brother Li said politely: "Uncle Hua, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Seeing that the two brothers were so polite, Ah Hua waved his hands a little embarrassedly and went home with the bag.

The woman from the house next door to Li Changchun put the bag in front of him and said, "Ah Le, take a look at mine."

Li Changle took a look and saw that the shrimp threads and shrimp whiskers of the dried shrimps had been cleaned up, and the eels had been cut neatly, stacked neatly and tied together with fishing lines.

"Yes, from now on, if it happens like this, you can send it to my house."

"Hey!" the woman responded happily.

When Li Changchun passed by Chen Yongwei's house on his way back, Li Changle asked him to go back and call Grandma Chen, and go to his house to discuss paying them their wages. The three brothers then pulled the cart back home.

Li Changle saw that the lights in the house were on, Zhou Ruonan was sitting at the octagonal table preparing lessons, and several children were jumping rope in the yard.

I don't know how they can be so energetic in this weather where you'll sweat just by sitting still?
Seeing that they had brought back so many dried fish, Mrs. Li asked about the price and said distressedly, "A pound of dried eels is two or three yuan more expensive than drying them ourselves. It's better to hire someone to dry them ourselves."

"Sister-in-law, you can earn more by drying the dried fish yourself, but it's also more tiring. A-Chun's dried fish is no worse than ours. You can earn money by bringing it home. It's much more cost-effective than waiting to dry it and then selling it."

"You're right. If they were available, they would have been sent to the school long ago."

Mrs. Li: "Ah Le, you can earn 40 or 50 cents per pound from mackerel and dried shrimp, right?"

"The shipping costs for the dry goods we send to school are only deducted. When the shop officially opens, we have to apply for a business license. At that time, we have to pay management fees, taxes, electricity fees, and my mother-in-law's commission. After deducting these expenses, we will make a profit."

"What are management fees and taxes?"

"The money we pay to the government is just like the head tax and public grain we pay."

Mrs. Li curled her lips in disgust, "They are still better, sitting there collecting money."

Li Changle shrugged. "That can't be helped. If the government doesn't accept the money, how can we support the army? Without the army, we will have to face the fishing gangs and pirates every day."

Li's mother had experienced some of this when she was a child, so she nodded and said, "It's better to hand it over to the government. At least they can have enough food and clothes now. If they were replaced by fishing gangs and pirates, they would eat people."

"Mother, those eels should be dried by tomorrow, right?"

"It will be dry tomorrow after another day of drying. You have to go collect the fresh produce, otherwise we won't be able to continue."

"We will go out to sea tomorrow morning and collect the goods at the dock in the afternoon."

"Your father said that if we work for another day tomorrow, the stone house behind the new house will be ready. Why don't you move there first? It will be more convenient for you to boil water and cook."

All the craftsmen will arrive the day after tomorrow. Although the unskilled workers don't need to be provided with meals, there are more than a dozen carpenters and bricklayers. It takes more than half an hour to walk from Nanshan to here, and the going back and forth also wastes time.

"Okay, we can cook and eat over there, and we can also store some things over here." Li Changle thought that it was close to the sea, so it would be convenient to go to the dock or go fishing.

After everyone moved the dry goods into the house, Chen Yongwei and his grandchildren came, and everyone went to Li's mother's room together.

Although Mother Li, Grandma Chen and the two sisters-in-law already knew about what they discussed that day, Li Changle still told them again.

"We all agreed."

Grandma Chen smiled and said, "Every family member needs to be paid, and only you and Anan are thoughtful."

"If you hire outsiders to do the work, you still have to pay them!" Li Changle looked at them, "My second brother told me today that my mother-in-law will take 10% of the profits from now on. You all know that, right?"

"We know." Grandma Chen and Mrs. Li replied.

Mrs. Li smiled and said, "Ah Le, An Nan, don't worry. We have already discussed giving 10% profit to my mother-in-law. We won't argue about it in the future."

Li Changle looked at Big Brother Li, Second Brother Li, and Chen Yongwei, "Now Grandma and Sister-in-law are clear. After deducting expenses, the payment for the goods and the profit, it will be the same as before.

You two will divide it and I'll divide it. If you think it's possible, I'll let Anan organize what we've discussed and write an agreement.

My brothers and I will sign and put our fingerprints on it, and in a couple of days I will go to Lucheng and bring it to my mother-in-law to sign as well."

Brother Li and the others all nodded, "Satisfied, the way to make money and the buyers were all found by you and your mother-in-law. If we are not satisfied with this, are we still human beings?"

Seeing that they had no objection, Li Changle went to find Zhou Ruonan and asked her to take a pen and paper to her parents' house to write down the agreement they had discussed that day. The four brothers signed and put their fingerprints on it, and each took a copy.

Everyone also signed one for Zhou's mother's copy, and after she signed and stamped it, they each got a copy back.

Li Changle handed the contract back to Zhou Ruonan, "I have to take a shower. I'm sweating all over and it's really uncomfortable."

"We'll go rinse off, too."

Brother Li, Brother Li II, and Chen Yongwei also followed him, leaving the women to talk in the house. Grandma Chen said to Zhou Ruonan and her mother-in-law, "Awei told me that Ashui wanted to buy my house. I thought about it and
We have lived in this old house for more than 30 years. If they want it, they can pay 800 yuan and we will vacate the house for them when we move to the new house.

It's not easy for Ah Shui and his sister either. I won't talk about the money they owe me, the interest, etc. I just want them to give it to me within two years."

"Grandma, your house is not expensive at all at 800 yuan, and there is no interest on the money owed. Ah Shui and the others should be very grateful to you."

Li's mother knew that the house of the Chen family was repaired by picking up tiles last year by Grandma Chen. A few days ago, she hired someone to press down the bricks, just like their family. This price was really considerate of them and their brother.

"They are pitiful, too, having ended up in such a family. Thanks to Aleti and Awei, our lives are better now. If we can lend a hand, we will lend a hand to them."

After hearing this, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law thought of the character of Li A Si and his wife, and shook their heads in disgust, thinking that people like that should not get married and have children.

Li Xiaohai and his brothers who were playing in the yard saw Li Changle and the others going to the well to take a shower, so they went back to the house, took off their clothes except for their underwear, and ran to the well, clamoring to take a cold shower.

After being slapped on the butt by several people, she went back to take a hot bath with a pout and muttering.

Li Changle took a shower and returned to the room. She saw Zhou Ruonan dressing her youngest son. She stroked his wet curly hair twice, then took the towel and started to wipe him.

"I'll wipe him, you go wash up and go to bed early."

"Yeah!" Zhou Ruonan took the clothes and walked to the door, then turned back and said, "The ten dollars I borrowed from Xiaoyu that day, the kid returned it to me this morning."

"You are the boss, just leave it alone."

"Dad, is the head of the family the one who manages the money?" Li Xiaohai, who was getting dressed nearby, asked.

"Yes, your mother is the head of our family, and your father is a free long-term worker who earns money specifically for your mother."

"When I grow up, I will give all the money I earn to my mother."

"Give mine to mother too." Li Xiaozhou said, holding his hand.

"You little heartless ones." Li Changle slapped one of them angrily, "When you grow up, I will be too old to pull the fishing nets or drive the boat. You will only care about your mother and not me?"

"Dad," Li Xiaozhou stroked his soft curly hair, "When we grow up, will you become an old man like Grandpa?"

"Probably?" Li Changle thought about what he would look like at the age of sixty, and felt that he was much better looking than his father, very handsome.

"Then we'll ask our mother to give you some."

"Thank you!" Li Changle patted the brothers' buttocks, "Go out for a while and blow dry your hair before coming back in."

"There are so many mosquitoes in the yard." Li Xiaohai thought of the time when he used medicine to catch flies. "Dad, you have a way to catch flies, but do you have a way to catch mosquitoes?"

"Mosquito coils can repel mosquitoes. Dad, buy some next time you go to Tuxiaqiao."

"There are so many bites in the toilet. I have several bites on my butt." Li Xiaozhou twisted his body and let him see his little butt.

"Dad will give you some cooling oil, it will be fine in a while."

The little guy looked disgusted and said, "The cooling oil stinks, I want to use floral water instead."

"You're so conceited!" Li Changle smiled and smeared some floral water on him, and then the two brothers ran out together.

When Zhou Ruonan came out of the shower, Li Changle grabbed the towel and wiped her hair, and told her about moving to Nanshan in a few days.

"I want to buy two brown bed slats. I think that is more comfortable than a bed slat."

"If you use palm boards, you have to measure the size of the bed and send it to the master who makes the palm bed to make it custom-made."

"That's easy. I'll ask my brother-in-law to get a steel measuring tape to measure it and we'll know." Li Changle said, "Ah Hui said it's cooler over at Nanshan at night."

"It's cool in the summer, but colder in the winter than here. I have to make two beds with thicker cushions."

"You can make it as thick as you want." Li Changle thought of how she used to be afraid of the cold. "You are weak. When the weather gets cold, go buy some mutton and stew it with sea cucumbers to nourish you."

Zhou Ruonan nodded, "Mother is afraid of the cold too. Next time you find some sea cucumbers, save a few of them, pickle them, dry them, and bring some back to Mother."

"Yes, sir!" Li Changle leaned forward and kissed her earlobe. "Wife, we had sea cucumbers last night, and today we'll have sand cucumbers and sea cucumbers for lunch. When Xiaohai and the others fall asleep, we'll go outside and sleep on the floor."

Zhou Ruonan froze for a moment, and her earlobes turned red. "The ground is too hard, it's uncomfortable."

Li Changle said with a playful smile: "It won't be hard if you put two quilts on it. You don't have to do anything. I guarantee it will be soft..."

"Pah~" Zhou Ruonan's cheeks flushed red, she spat at him, turned around and grabbed his ears angrily, "Tell me everything, did you learn these tricks from those people outside?"

"No, you and I are both virgins, you know that..." Li Changle quickly turned his head towards her hand, "I swear..."

"Don't you know you're going out to sea? Who asked you to swear?" Zhou Ruonan let go of his hand and glared at him, "Go and clean up the outside."

Li Changle was immediately overjoyed, and sang in a pinched voice: "My wife, your husband will go and clean up right away."

"..."

　I wish you all a happy New Year! May everything go well in the new year and may your family be healthy!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)

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