Chapter 344: Happier than Chinese New Year

Chapter 344: Happier than Chinese New Year

Chapter 344: Happier than Chinese New Year
Brother Li and his two companions met Xiang Xiaoyu and Li Changshui halfway, pushing a wheelbarrow towards them.

The little guy came late and only picked up about 200 kilograms, while Li Changshui picked up more than 400 kilograms, which was better than the catch of a trip out to sea.

Hearing from them that there were already many people waiting at the dock, the two of them hurried towards the dock.

When Brother Li and his two companions got home, they kept the grouper, pomfret, eel, hairtail and other fish that had been sorted out, as well as the swordfish and other large fish that weighed less than ten kilograms.

The unsorted fish were moved to the cart and loaded onto the tricycle. Two baskets were hung on the back seat of the bicycle, but all the fish were not loaded yet.

"Ah Le also said that there were only more than 4,000 kilograms. The big fish and good stuff were all left behind. I think more than 5,000 kilograms were given away."

"I thought I could catch tens of thousands of kilograms!" Father Li happily put the remaining fish into a bamboo basket and said, "I'll have to make another trip after I send it there and come back."

Zhou Ruonan saw that there were only three loads left. "Mother and grandmother will stay at home to roll the dumpling wrappers. My sister-in-law and I will each carry one load and bring back the ice cubes."

There were several large mackerels weighing eight or nine pounds that were broken into two pieces when they fell. The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law planned to chop them up and make dumplings.

When the group arrived at the dock, they saw more and more people queuing up, waiting to be weighed with grins on their faces, looking happier than during Chinese New Year.

Everyone hurriedly rushed to Chen's, where the last two baskets had just been sorted out.

Zhou Ruonan and her sister-in-law brought the ice cubes home, while Li Changle and his son and Chen Yongwei stayed to help sort them.

Several families queuing behind also came up to help. With strength in numbers, more than a dozen people sorted out all the catches in less than half an hour.

Fifty-six pounds of red snapper were sold for 140 yuan, and a total of 395 pounds of mackerel, mullet, and sea bass, each priced at 3 cents per pound, were sold for yuan.

Two thousand six hundred and seventy kilograms of fish at 427 cents a kilogram were sold for 2 yuan, and together with the miscellaneous fish, the total sold was 1100 yuan.

"Brother Ale, come and get the money tomorrow." Chen Dong wrote a receipt and handed it to him. "The ships have all gone to the safe harbor, and my family has closed the shop. I've left some pocket money at home."

Li Changle took the list and said, "It's okay. Who would have thought that God would give us New Year's money in advance?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. "We thought it was going to be bad again. The rice was about to turn yellow, and the strong wind would reduce the yield again. Now it's good. After selling the fish, we have money to buy food."

Amid the joyful discussions among the group, Li Changle and a few others loaded the fish containers onto the car and drove back.

When they reached the corner store, Li Xiaoyang pulled Brother Li and said, "Dad, I'm so thirsty!"

"You little brat!" Brother Li smiled and reached into his trouser pocket, looking at him with an awkward smile, "Dad didn't bring any money, go back and get some..."

"I have some here!" Father Li happily took out a few dollars and handed them to his eldest grandson, "Buy some for your younger brothers and sisters, too."

"Okay!" Li Xiaoyang took the money and rushed to the store, then ran back quickly with a bag of soda tied with a hemp rope in each hand.

Seeing Father Li sitting on the cart, he climbed on and sat next to him, "Grandpa, have a drink."

Father Li patted his eldest grandson on the back happily, "Drink! Grandpa is not thirsty!"

Li Xiaoyang raised the soda bottle towards Brother Li and the others again. Seeing that everyone said they didn't want to drink, he started drinking leisurely.

When they got home, the hairtail fish and radish soup and cold kelp salad were already prepared, and mackerel dumplings were steaming in the pot.

Mother Li said with a smile: "You're back. There's hot water in the plastic bucket. Go wash them and the dumplings will be ready when you come back."

"I need to take a shower. I stink."

The guys took their clothes and went to the hut to take a bath. When they came back, Mother Li brought some ginger tea and old wine and put them on the table to ward off the cold for everyone.

Li Changle handed the bill to Li's mother, "Mother, remember to go to Chen's to get the money tomorrow."

"Hey! How much did it sell for?"

"One thousand and one."

"Wow!" When Li's mother and Chen's grandmother heard that they had sold more than a thousand, they were so happy that they couldn't close their mouths. "We still have four baskets of good stuff at home."

"We can still sell a lot of these. We'll send them to the restaurant tomorrow morning and sell them back to split the money." Li Changle said, "This time we'll split it among the six of us."

"Brother, the children have picked up a lot too, they should have a share too." Chen Yongwei said hurriedly.

Xiaohai and Xiaobo were at home with their younger siblings, picking up all the fish in front of and behind the house and bringing them home. The kids were rolling around like mud figures.

There are also four others, Xiaoqing, Xiaohui, Xiaotao and Xiaoyang, and they work no slower than the two adults.

Grandma Chen took over the conversation, "Awei is right, these kids can work more efficiently than two adults, they should be given a share."

"We have it too?" The children's eyes lit up after hearing this and they looked at their parents eagerly.

"You guys don't want to eat?" Li's mother patted Li Xiaotao in an angry tone, "You guys are drinking soda and wearing clothes and pants for free, right?"

"Ah Hua!" Grandma Chen pulled her aside, "I'm not being polite. I think we should give some to the children. Otherwise, we would be embarrassed to share the money."

Li Changle said, "Mother, just listen to grandma and give the children a share of the money when you come back from the sales."

"Okay, give them some too." The children danced with joy, "Wow! We have money to share too!"

"I can buy the army green one I like..." Li Xiaotao turned his head and looked at Mrs. Li, "Mother, the floral bag is so ugly. I want to buy a small one like Xiaohai. Can I buy it with my own money?"

The other children also looked at her eagerly.

"You can buy a schoolbag like Xiaohai's!" Mrs. Li said, glancing at him, "I'll take you to buy it, and the remaining money from the bag must be given to me."

Li Xiaotao hurriedly asked, "I want to choose by myself!"

"Okay, you choose!" Mrs. Li glared at him in reproach, "Come and help me get the chopsticks and the bowl."

"Ooh!"

Li Xiaozhou and his friends also took the opportunity to make a request, "Dad, I caught a lot of fish today, I want the same kind as my brother's!"

Li Changle rubbed his youngest son's fluffy curly hair after washing, "Okay, you can pick the one you like."

Li Xiaobo and his friends got what they wanted, and the house was filled with the cheers of children.

We all sat around eating steamed dumplings, refreshing and delicious side dishes, and drinking hairtail and radish soup, and we didn't leave the table until our stomachs were full.

Zhou Ruonan poured some of the remaining hairtail and radish soup into a large bowl of mixed grain rice for Awang, and left a bowl for Dahuang who was guarding the old house.

Li Changle took out the money from selling dried goods and said to Big Brother Li and Second Brother Li: "I got 1,500 yuan from my mother-in-law, and 2,120 yuan from the school."

After hearing this, Mrs. Li said happily, "Anan brought back more than 2,000 yuan last time he came back. Is your mother-in-law's business so good?"

"Not bad!" Li Changle distributed the money to them. "After the shelves and containers in the town are completed, sales will be even greater."

After hearing this, Father Li said, “It’s a pity that the fish we picked up today were caught.”

Brother Li nodded, "Yes, the price has dropped a few cents. If the weather is good, we can collect some and dry them in the sun."

Li Changle has been thinking about this problem these days. "Brother, we can't just rely on the weather for our livelihood. We have to find a way to solve the production problem."

"Alas!" Father Li sighed, "What can we do? Drying dried fish is like this, it depends on the weather. If it rains, we can't do it."

"Why not?" Li Changle looked at everyone proudly, "I thought of a solution this afternoon. When the new house is finished, we will go buy some yellow bricks and tiles.
I cut off half of the vacant land next to my house and built a warehouse with ventilation on all sides like the one in the brigade..."

"It's OK to hang dried fish heads that are almost dried in the warehouse, but if you hang freshly killed or half-dried fish heads in a room without ventilation, they will get moldy in a few days in weather like this."

"Brother, listen to me!" Li Changle said with a smile, "After the warehouse is built, buy a few blowers and install them on the walls. Hang the dried fish heads in the room and turn on the blowers to ventilate it!"

After hearing this, several people nodded repeatedly, "Yes, use a blower."

Grandma Chen looked at them with a smile, "Ah Le is still smart."

Father Li looked at his son proudly, "Don't praise him, he's just a little smart!"

After solving a big problem, everyone discussed how to build the warehouse.
After they finished talking, they found that Li Xiaozhou and Li Xiaomei had fallen asleep in the adults' arms, while the others were sitting there, dozing off little by little like chicks pecking at rice.

Father Li stood up and said, "Let's go back to sleep. We'll go check the rice fields tomorrow morning. I don't know how many have fallen down."

"It's still raining, so we can't harvest even if the plants are lying flat. We can only drain the water from the fields, prop up the plants that have fallen, and wait until the weather clears before harvesting."

"It's the only way. Otherwise, the fallen rice will sprout."

Father Li sighed. The rice that he had planted with great effort for several months was about to be harvested, but a strong wind started to blow again. Fortunately, he had the fish, and his family's life was better than before. Otherwise, he would have to endure it again.

After Chen Yongwei, his grandson, and Li's mother returned to the old house with the battery lamp, Li Changle picked up Li Xiaozhou and patted his eldest son who was lying on his lap, "Come on, Dad will take you back to the house to sleep."

"Oh!" Li Xiaohai held his back and followed him back to the room. He yawned and climbed onto the bed. He lay down without even taking off his clothes and pants and fell asleep in seconds.

Li Changle put his youngest son down, took off his shoes and pants, and put him to bed. Zhou Ruonan, who had just washed up, also came back.

"Anan, look at our boss. He fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow."

"The children are so tired after helping to pick up the fish and sort them." Zhou Ruonan said as she took a palm-leaf fan to drive away mosquitoes.

Li Changle lowered the mosquito net from the hook and tucked it in. "The children in our family are quite obedient."

"That's why they say that children from poor families grow up early!" Zhou Ruonan took a dry towel and sat on the edge of the bed, "Help me wipe my hair."

"You're still talking about me! Don't you have a headache?" Li Changle took the handkerchief, wrapped it around her long hair and rubbed it, the fresh scent of soapberry lingering around her nose.

"You stink all over, even your hair smells like fish. If you don't wash it, you'll faint."

Li Changle leaned close to her ear and held her earlobe in his mouth, "Wife, I'm not afraid of the smoke!"

Zhou Ruonan felt as if her whole body had been electrocuted, and the tingling sensation made her heart palpitate. She quickly looked at her son on the bed opposite her, and pinched Li Changle with a flushed face, whispering, "Your son is grown up now, be careful."

(End of this chapter)