Chapter 257 My Third Uncle Is Not Stupid

Chapter 257 My Third Uncle Is Not Stupid

Chapter 257 My Third Uncle Is Not Stupid
"They are idle anyway, so they can earn some money to buy snacks and save themselves from asking their parents for money!" Li Changle thought that if they could finish the work, he could give them money to do other things next time.

Every family has two or three child laborers these days. Children as young as five or six years old carry large backpacks and go up the mountain to look for pig grass and chop firewood. If they do a good job, they will not be praised, but if they do not do a good job, they may even be treated to a meal of fried meat with bamboo slices.

When Li Changle and Chen Yongwei came back with the cart and fetched the sea water for the second time, they walked to the intersection and looked inside.

I saw that most of the weeds on the open space next to the house had been cut, and it looked like the work would be finished before dark.

The two of them walked to the alley with a few buckets of sea water, and Li Yufang came over carrying a bamboo basket, "Brother Ale, the ground cage net is ready."

Li Changle took a look and said, "Okay, pick it up and put it in the house."

"I made two sets. My sister-in-law said that the remaining mesh wires didn't need to be returned, so she asked me to weave a few more mesh sheets for you to use for drying the mullets."

"When you're done weaving, I'll send it to Nanshan and give it to your second uncle." Li Changle thought about it and said, "Weave more when you have time. If you don't have enough network cables, come to my house to get them."

After the net is woven, it needs to be clamped with bamboo strips and tied with fishing ropes. When used, it is directly straightened and tied to the bamboo frame.

When drying shrimps, shrimp meat or snapper heads, you can spread them directly on it. It will dry faster than using bamboo flats, and it won't take up much space when you bring it home.

"I understand." Li Yufang took the trap net out of the bamboo basket, put it in the basket, and went to help kill the fish.

She already knew about the two packages. Her brother told her to remember the kindness of her second uncle's family and come to visit them when she has time, lend a hand and help with some work so that her aunt and sister-in-law can have some relief.

Even without her saying it, she remembered that they were able to separate from the family business thanks to the help of their second and third uncles.

"Yufang, has your mother gone to the hospital to take care of your father?" When Li's mother and her sisters-in-law went to the hospital to see Li Asi in the morning, Li Changshui was still there, and there was no sign of Xu Xianmei.

"She went to take a look and came back. She said she wanted to sell the boat to give my father his leg treatment. My brother, my eldest sister and my second sister all disagreed. We said if she dared to sell the boat, we would not send her to the mountain when she died."

"Then what did she say?"

"She left without saying anything. When I came back from the hospital, no one was home." Li Yufang said angrily, "The Xu family has been digging sweet potatoes these days. She must have gone to help them."

"I've lived for most of my life, but this is the first time I've seen your mother like this. She doesn't even care about her children, but only cares about her mother's family."

The woman who was helping out laughed and said, "As the old saying goes, one rice feeds a hundred kinds of people. If there are men who don't care about their families, there must be women who don't care about their families."

"Yes, there is a man in my mother's family..."

Li Changle and a few others stood in front of the washboard, listening to the gossips of a group of women, and felt like they were standing next to a duck shed.

Thinking of the duck, he suddenly remembered something, "Brother, I promised to get ducks for Uncle Dong, but I was so busy that I forgot everything."

"It's okay, just go catch two tomorrow." Brother Li spread the chopped eels flat on the stone slab and wiped them with a towel dipped in wine.

It was gradually getting dark, and it took a dozen people to kill all the seafood.

Li Changle and his companions were just about to send the dried eels and cuttlefish to Chen's house to dry in the sun when Li Xiaoyang rode his bicycle to the old house.

"Uncle San, we have finished the work. Little Baldy and the others are all there, waiting for you to get your wages!"

After hearing this, Brother Li glared at him, "What kind of wages are you getting? What kind of money are you trying to get from your uncle?"

"...My third uncle is not stupid!" Li Xiaoyang responded angrily.

That's right, he's still trying to coax money out of him, making him sound like an idiot!
It is really bad that my elder brother and his wife have the habit of scolding their children without asking any questions.

"Brother, this is none of Xiaoyang's business." Li Changle washed his hands in the bucket and took the bicycle. "Let's go. I'll pay you."

Li Xiaoyang looked at Brother Li aggrievedly, "I did nothing wrong, you always scold me without asking clearly."

Knowing that he was in the wrong, Brother Li glared at him, picked up the bucket and walked towards Chen Yongwei's house.

Li Changle took Li Xiaoyang to Nanshan. As soon as they arrived at the intersection, they saw a row of children squatting on the side of the road. They gathered around him when they saw him.

"Dad, Third Uncle, (Uncle A Le), we have finished the work. If you don't believe me, go and check." The group of children looked at him, afraid that he would cheat.

"Okay, I'll take a look first, and then I'll pay you."

Li Changle picked up his youngest son, put him on the front bar, and rode his bicycle into the valley, with a group of children running behind him.

When he got there, he saw that the land next to the house had indeed been cleaned up, much cleaner than he had expected.

The little bald man looked at him and said, "It's clean, right? We picked up all the stones."

"Not bad, you are all good kids." Li Changle rubbed his hands at everyone, "Wait, I will give you money right away."

He went back to the house and grabbed a handful of change from his military bag. Seeing a group of children following him and guarding the door, he said, "Keep your word, plus the reward of 15 cents each."

"Come here, little bald guy, my boss, Wang Afei..."

"Oh! I have money now!" The little bald man held the money and jumped for joy. "Uncle A-Le, will there be any job to earn money in the future?"

"Yes, you can come and help cut the shrimp whiskers and peel the shrimp shells tomorrow afternoon, provided that you finish your homework and housework first, otherwise your parents will scold me."

Li Changle looked at him with a smile. Diligent children are the most likable.

"Oh! Or do you give me five points for doing it quickly?"

"Not only must you work fast, but you must also do a good job to get a reward. Then we'll give you mint water to drink!" Li Changle made the pie look big and sweet. "Don't worry, I'm the best at working." A group of children nodded like crazy.

"Little Baldy, it's getting dark. Hurry up and take your sister-in-law home for dinner." Jin Hui's wife shouted at the gate of the yard.

"Got it, we'll be there right away." The three bald brothers and sisters quickly hid the money and ran home, covering their trouser pockets.

"Right away, right away. You need someone to call you to eat. Believe it or not, I'll come and treat you with a stick." Mrs. Jin Hui glanced at him and turned back.

The three children of the Wang family also hurriedly hid their money and went home for dinner.

After Zhang Dejin and the craftsmen finished their meal and left, Li's mother and her group returned from the old house carrying bamboo baskets full of mantis shrimps and prawns.

During the meal, Father Li said to Li Changle, "Your brother said that Boss Lai, that monkey, was waiting for you at the dock early in the morning to cause trouble.

I think he probably knows that you got the stuff, and I'm worried that he'll report us to the police station."

"Don't worry, he doesn't dare!" Li Changle said nonchalantly, "So many families in the village have got things. If he dares to go, it won't just be our family that won't let him off."

Seeing Father Li's worried look, he remembered the big shipowner in his previous life. They had twenty or thirty ocean-going ships of several hundred tons. Lucheng directly bought the entire house, and each of them had seventeen or eighteen storefronts. The rent alone was not enough to cover the expenses in a year.

In his words, there is plenty of wealth in the sea. The brave ones who find the way can use sacks to scoop up the money, while the timid ones who don't know the way can only have enough to eat and keep warm.

They didn't do anything wrong. They just took advantage of the opportunity to make a little fortune and helped other villagers make a little fortune as well. There's nothing to be afraid of.

Chen Yongwei took over and said, "My brother told everyone about Lai Dagan's incident at the dock today, and everyone scolded him!"

"We'll talk about this in the village tomorrow," Grandma Chen said. "We can't give face to those who bully the weak and fear the strong."

"Yes, spread the word, otherwise he will think we are afraid of him."

"There's another good thing today. Uncle Kun said..." Li Changle told everyone about the restaurant's need for dry goods.

After hearing this, Li's mother laughed happily, "The school needs more than 100 kilograms of shrimps, but they haven't been dried yet. The restaurant needs dried shrimps again. They are worried that they can't sell them after drying, but we are worried that we can't make them."

"Mother," Brother Li looked at her with a smile, "Please don't say this outside. If others hear it, they will be jealous of us again."

"Don't worry, I'll talk to you at home." Mother Li said, "More than 100 kilograms of shrimp, at least 400 to 500 kilograms of large shrimps are needed to dry them out, so you still have to collect some."

Brother Li: "I harvested more than 200 kilograms today. Together with what we brought back, it's about 300 kilograms. It will be enough to harvest some more tomorrow."

"You can't collect any more. You have to collect more goods starting tomorrow to prepare for stockpiling."

Li Changle thought for a moment and looked at Zhou Ruonan, "Anan, when you go to school tomorrow, go to the brigade headquarters and call Lucheng to ask An Niang if Teacher Lin has seen the mantis shrimp?"

"Okay!" After Zhou Ruonan agreed, she went to help light the fire and blanch the shrimps.

Li Changle and his companions went back to the house and divided the money. Then Li's father and mother took their two granddaughters and followed Grandma Chen and her grandchildren back to the old house, where there were still a lot of shrimps to be processed.

They had to go out to sea tonight, so Li Changle and his two brothers helped for a while and then went back to sleep. When the time came, they were woken up by Zhou Ruonan.

"Ah Le, it's windy and there's not even a star in the sky. Why don't we just give up?"

"I'll go out and ask big brother. If he doesn't go, I'll have to go to the dock and tell Awei." Li Changle had just put on his vest and pants when big brother Li's voice rang out outside.

"Ale, the wind is quite strong. It looks like we can't go out to sea tonight."

Li Changle opened the door and said, "Awei has already gone to the dock. If he doesn't go, I have to tell him."

"That's fine. Let's go to Adong's house and buy some ice cubes. Otherwise, the bait will go bad." Brother Li said as he went to the kitchen and took out a wooden box of ice cubes.

Walking out of the valley and to the beach, I could only hear the whistling of the sea breeze and the rolling waves in the distance. As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the waves became bigger and bigger.

Even though it was windy, there wasn't even a mosquito when I walked on the road.

Brother Li looked at the dark sky and said, "It looks like it's going to rain tonight."

"It's been sunny for several days now, and the next one will be normal."

Li Changle just hoped that it wouldn't rain on the nights of the 14th and 15th, otherwise, with such big waves, their ship wouldn't dare to go out to sea.

Money is important, but life is more important.

"Yes, it will be cooler after the rain."

As soon as I turned around from the foot of the mountain, I saw Chen Yongwei walking towards me with a flashlight, "Brother, the wind is blowing. I saw two fishing boats going out to sea. They came back after a few minutes. Should we go out to sea again?"

"I'm not going." Li Changle thought of the dried fish in the yard. "When you came out, did you put the dried eels and cuttlefish in?"

"I have collected it. Grandma saw that there was not even a single star, so she asked me to carry the shelf under the eaves."

"That's good. You go home first. My brother and I will go buy some ice cubes."

Chen Yongwei nodded and walked towards the fork in the road.

(End of this chapter)