Although the two boys had quieted down, they still stared wide-eyed, reluctant to sleep.
Ye Yaodong patted both their heads. "Go to sleep!"
"Oh? I think I forgot to deal with the snakes."
It suddenly came back to him. He had started talking about the boat as soon as he got home, leaving that bucket of sea snakes sitting there. He sat straight up, got out of bed, and put on his clothes.
"Do you have to deal with them tonight? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
"I should get them dealt with tonight while they're fresh. They won't be fresh tomorrow. I forgot to take any over to my eldest and second brothers, too."
"I'll help you..."
"No need. It's too disgusting. Don't touch them. Get the two boys to sleep first. Oh... get me some more money, too. I'll buy some tonic herbs from the little pharmacy in the village, and a few dozen jin of liquor while I'm at it."
"Is it that urgent?"
"Yes. They're already dead, after all. I should get them steeping while they're fresh. I'll save one, clean it, and blanch it in the pot later, then make soup tomorrow."
He also needed to take one over to A-Guang later.
"All right, then. I haven't counted the money you gave me earlier. It's all in the drawer. Take however much you need."
"Okay."
Ye Yaodong only ever kept a few mao in his pocket for cigarettes. He no longer played cards or did anything else, so enough to get by was fine. When he ran out, he could just ask his wife for more. Nothing shameful about that! He wasn't living off a woman now.
Once outside, he shook the bucket and counted eight left. Earlier, he had only kept however many seemed right