While Father Ye steered the boat, Ye Yaodong sorted the catch. They had only trawled once today, and the haul was so-so, mostly squid.
What a shame. With the wind picking up, they could no longer fish.
The weather by the sea was truly unpredictable. Fishermen depended on the weather for their livelihoods and luck to get by. Who knew whether they could head out again tonight?
Although they had finished early today, they had still caught around 500 jin of squid, over a hundred jin of which they had picked up. Together with the other catch, they had sold everything for over 160 yuan. The price of squid had also fallen to thirty cents, and would probably keep dropping.
The squid Father Lin and Lin Mother had picked up sold for over thirty-seven yuan, a yuan more than yesterday. They were so delighted they hardly knew which way was up.
"What a shame we can't stay a few more days."
"Why can't you? Aren't my two brothers-in-law still at home? Just leave the work to them. There are so many adults at home-it's not like there's nobody there. Why does it have to be you? Staying a few more days won't hurt."
Father Ye agreed. "That's right. Dongzi has a point. Stay a few more days while the squid run is on and earn some money."
"That's true, but he gets restless if he goes a few days without checking the fields at home. Even when there's nothing to do, he normally shoulders his hoe and heads up the hill to do a little hoeing. Leaving it to our sons never gives him the same peace of mind as tending it himself."
"Besides, we didn't expect to stay when we came, so we didn't bring a change of clothes,"