Chapter 333: Men's Gossip Skills
Chapter 333: Men's Gossip Skills
Li Changle helped pour the remaining basket of mantis shrimps into the pot and carried the cooked mantis shrimps out.
Patting his eldest son on the shoulder, he said to the children who were working hard, "Children, finish peeling these, and Uncle A-Le will reward you with a glutinous rice popsicle."
"Dad, can we pick the flavors we like?"
"Uncle Ale," Jin Pengfei stood up and said, "I don't like glutinous rice ones, I like red bean paste ones."
"Uncle San, I like glutinous rice." Li Xiaotao said hurriedly.
“I like fruity ones.”
“Buy whatever flavor you like.”
Wang Laowai waved his hands excitedly, "Wow! Buy whatever you like!"
"Tell Xiao Hai the flavors you like, and Uncle Le will give him the money to buy them for you."
Li Changle counted them and found there were nineteen children in total. He took out two yuan and put it in Li Xiaohai's pocket. "After you peel these two baskets of shrimp, you can buy popsicles for everyone."
"Okay!" Li Xiaohai nodded happily.
"Xiao Hai, your father is so generous. My mother doesn't even buy me popsicles."
"I won't give my mother the money I earned today. She always takes it away and never gives it back to me."
"That's right. I asked her for my money and she scolded me! I won't give her the money I earned today. I'll find a place to hide it myself."
"Don't put it in the schoolbag. My last wages were found by my mother when she was washing the schoolbag."
"I hid in the crack of the wall, so my mother didn't find it."
"If you hide it in the cracks of the wall, mice will steal it." Jin Pengfei said, "I hid the money I earned last time in the cracks of the wall next to my bed, but I couldn't find it when I went to look for it. My mother said that the money smelled like shrimp meat, and the mice stole it when they smelled it."
Li Xiaohai gave him a slight derision, "I was always paid after the work was done. Your mother must have taken it, saying that rats stole it."
Jin Pengfei showed an expression of sudden enlightenment, "You are right, it was my mother who took it."
"Yes, I still have mine hidden in the cracks of the wall! I have saved more than three yuan. When the National Day holiday comes, I will buy a military green schoolbag. I don't want a flowered cloth bag. My deskmate said it's for girls."
"Mine is also a flowered cloth bag. My deskmate doesn't dare to say anything to me. As long as I cross the 38th parallel, I will poke her with the tip of my pen and she won't dare to provoke me."
Li Changle was still laughing as she carried the bamboo basket into the kitchen. She thought these kids were so funny. They racked their brains every day to find places to hide money.
……
The Li family and more than 20 hired women worked until the sun went down before they killed and cleaned all the fish and shrimps and hung them out to dry.
There were seven or eight drying racks for large and small yellow croakers, yellow croaker, and fish maws.
When the woman who helped with the work left, Li's mother gave each of them some saury and hairtail before sending them away.
The children drank the sugar water, ate popsicles, received their wages, and skipped back with the saury given by Li's mother.
Before leaving, he also told Li Xiaohai and his siblings to remember to ask them to do some work next time. Boys all want to save money to buy school bags, and don't want to carry flowered bags to school.
Li Changle shook his sore arms, handed the two sea cucumbers, hairtail and pomfret left for Uncle Adong and Uncle Li San to Li Xiaohai and Li Xiaotao, and asked them to deliver them to the two families.
The dried eels and cuttlefish that were dried in the sun at noon have some moisture already dried up.
As it was getting dark, several men stacked the drying racks together and carried them back to the empty house.
All the fish catches for this batch were gathered together. The family temporarily cut some bamboo and Zhang Dejin and several craftsmen helped tie up about ten rows of bamboo racks. All they had to do was bring the drying rack in and place it on the bamboo racks.
Father Li looked at the dried yellow croaker on the shelf and said to Big Brother Li with concern, "You guys are the same. You let Ah Le do whatever he wants. It's a pity to use such a big yellow croaker to dry the dried fish head."
Brother Li smiled naively: "Dad, Ah Le is the captain of the ship now, of course we have to listen to him."
Father Li laughed after hearing this. "Tell me, he is the worst at steering and has the least experience in the family, yet he became our boss. Who can we complain to?"
After hearing this, Brother Li said, "Dad, I think Ah Le's steering skills and experience are much better than mine and my eldest brother's. His judgment is not like that of a novice who is driving a big ship for the first time."
Brother Li looked at him in surprise, "An, Ah Le got up last night and went to steer the ship?"
Brother Li nodded and said, "I took over when I arrived at Huzi Island."
Father Li didn't think there was anything wrong with it. "That kid has been smart since he was young. He was led astray by Wang Mazi and his gang. Otherwise, he would have been the captain of the ship long ago."
Brother Li nodded repeatedly, "It would be better if we broke up with Wang Mazi sooner."
"Uncle Aping," Li Daxiao took over the conversation, "During the days when you were not at home, there were more people in the village who gathered around to watch Wang Mazi and A Biao's show than those who watched the show in front of the stage."
Chen Yongwei became alert after hearing this, "Ah Xiao, has Ah Biao discovered Wang Mazi's affair?"
"Yes! Ah Biao chased Wang Mazi for several miles with an axe and almost killed him. A long line of people from the village followed him to watch the fun."
"Didn't he beat his wife?" "Her eyes were black. A Biao's wife said A Biao wronged her. She also drank dimethoate and was sent to the hospital for gastric lavage before she was saved."
Chen Yongwei curled his lips, "Tsk tsk! Could it be Leguo mixed with sugar water?"
Brother Li pointed at him and laughed, "Look, you used to be such an honest kid! Now you learn to be tactful from Ah Le every day, and you are so tactful now."
"It's not that I'm mean, but the wife of a soldier who was sailing overseas was caught having an affair two years ago. She drank dimethoate mixed with honey, and we didn't know until we were sent to the hospital."
"I heard that even the child is not A Bing's. After A Bing and his wife broke up, he became a live-in son-in-law in Zhoushan Fishery."
"What's so strange about this..."
Li Changle came in carrying a drying rack, and the others were still talking with great interest, feeling that men were just as good at gossiping as women.
"Brother Ale, I helped you retrieve the fish."
Li Changle went out upon hearing the noise and saw Li Changshui had already arrived outside the house. He smiled and stepped forward to take over the backpack, "Thank you for your help, Shui. I didn't have time to collect the traps and jars when I came back this morning.
Let Awei go out to sea with you tomorrow to retrieve the traps and jars. Next time we will bring them to the sea area we have found now."
"You don't have to make a special trip. You can just collect them before you go out to sea." Li Changshui said, "Where did you buy the plastic can you used to catch octopus?"
"I bought it from the scrap dealer Zhang's. It's in the alley opposite the Tuxiaqiao bus stop."
"I'll buy it if the weather is bad!" Li Changshui thought about it and said, "When I came back, the broadcast at the dock said,
Air convection has made the weather complex and changeable recently, so everyone should pay attention to the radio and try to reduce going out to sea during this period."
"We also plan to take a break for two days and see what the weather conditions are like then."
"It's better to wait for a few days for the weather to change. You just killed so many fish today and dried them."
"It won't take a few days. As long as it doesn't rain tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I won't worry even if it rains heavily later."
Li Changle sent him to the intersection and came back. After Li's mother and Zhou Ruonan cleaned up the pots and bowls left by the craftsmen after they had eaten, they started to wash the pots and cook.
The adults were very busy, so Li Xiaoqing and Li Xiaohui also went to the kitchen to help. They saw that not only a big rooster was killed, but also two big pig's trotters were bought.
"Grandma, why are you eating so well today?"
Li's mother, who was plucking the pig's trotter, looked at the two of them cheerfully and said, "Your grandpa, dad, and uncle have been tired for a few days. Make something good for them to replenish their energy."
"Grandma, braised pork trotters are delicious." Li Xiaozhou and Li Xiaomei were eating a roasted sweet potato with ashes all over their faces.
"Okay, grandma will make you braised pork trotters." The family made a lot of money, and Li's mother was in a very good mood. The smile on her face never disappeared all day.
Zhou Ruonan was also very happy, "Mother, don't forget to prepare bowls to go to the Lord's Temple to offer sacrifices to the gods tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I'll remember it in my heart. Ghosts and gods can't fool you."
Outside in the yard, Master Li Changle and a few others collected all the dried fish into the house and put them away, then went to the old house and the Chen family to help collect the dried fish.
The villagers they met were all praising the Li father and son for their good luck, as they caught tens of thousands of kilograms of fish in one trip. Some even expressed envy with a sour tone.
Father Li had a big smile on his face. He stood there and talked to a few old friends who were on good terms with him, showing off to them the experience of encountering a school of big fish.
Everyone cried out in surprise when they heard the marlin jumping around on the boat and poking people. When they heard that a big fish weighed two or three hundred kilograms, they all said that when they made money in the future, they would also order a metal boat to go to the open sea to catch big fish.
Li Changle was also very happy when he saw Father Li, who was so happy that his face was beaming with joy. He left him there to show off to others, and the others continued to walk towards the old house.
When they reached the entrance of the alley, they saw Li Xiaoyang and Li Xiaobo helping Grandma Chen collect the dried fish into the house. When they saw them coming, they cheered and ran towards them.
Li Xiaobo pulled Li Erge and said, "Dad, we have been guarding here for the whole afternoon. Please give us some money to buy us a bottle of soda."
"Dad didn't even change his clothes, and there's not a penny in his pocket." Brother Li turned out his trouser pockets to show him, "I'll go back and get the money to buy you something!"
"I have some here." Li Changle took out a few dollars. Seeing that there were four or five dollars, Brother Li hurriedly asked, "What are you giving him so much for?"
"Aniang and sister-in-law have been busy all day. They don't drink alcohol, but they have some drinks." Li Changle gave the money to Li Xiaoyang, "Buy all the soda and take it home to drink together."
"Hey, hey!" Li Xiaoyang nodded repeatedly, "My third uncle is still generous." After that, he pulled Li Xiaobo and ran out like a gust of wind.
While running, he excitedly showed off to the kids he knew, "Look, my third uncle gave this to us. He told us to all buy some soda and drink it together with my brother and sister."
Soda costs more than 20 cents a bottle, it's so expensive, they didn't dare to ask for money to buy it before...
Brother Li couldn't help but shook his head after hearing this. "My Xiaoyang is not like me and your sister-in-law at all. He is most like Ah Le in that he likes to show off."
Li Changle also felt that this guy was a bit like him. "Children cry when they are unhappy and laugh when they are happy. You want him to be like you, acting like an old man at such a young age?"
Grandma Chen looked at her grandson and nodded with a smile, "Yes, it's better for children to be cheerful. Those who act like adults don't act like children."
"Brother, let's go and carry the bamboo frame back." Chen Yongwei smiled at the old lady, took Li Changle's hand, and walked towards the alley.
(End of this chapter)