Everyone waited patiently for a while before Lin Xiuqing put down the abacus and said, "It's 7,628 jin, totaling 1,601 yuan and 88 fen. There's no mistake."
"I told you it wouldn't be wrong. We're all from the same village. I wouldn't stoop to shortchanging you on the weight. Business is all about honesty."
Ye Yaodong smiled. "I wasn't saying you shortchanged us, Brother Cai. It's just such a big number that calculating it only once could lead to a mistake."
"It's fine. Nobody can guarantee they'll never make a mistake. Since everything checks out, I'll write you a receipt."
"Huh? We can't get the money right away?" A-Guang's eyes widened.
"How would I have that much cash on hand? Spanish mackerel isn't like large yellow croaker, where the price is so high I have to find a buyer first. This stuff sells easily. I'll write you a receipt, then you can bring it to my house tomorrow or the day after and collect your money. It's only a little over a thousand. You think I'll run off with it? Do you know how much catch I buy every month?"
"All right, write us a receipt, then."
Everyone knew the buying stations didn't pay cash on the spot. They had to wait until the buyers received payment for the catch. A day or two didn't really matter to them; A-Guang had simply gotten carried away with excitement and grown a little impatient.
"Dong, you keep the receipt. Have your wife put it away, and let us know once you've collected the money."
"Sure!"
Even after the excitement was over, the villagers were reluctant to leave. They remained gathered around the buying station, whispering over the baskets of Spanish mackerel.
Xiao Xiao, A-Zheng, and A-Guang excitedly followed Ye Yaodong toward the Ye family home, boasting to his family along the way about how capable and quick-witted they had been, and how lucky they were...
Their cheerful laughter filled the whole journey.
Only after reaching the Ye family home did they each head back to their own houses.
Mother Ye was all smiles. "Dong, are you going out again tomorrow?"
"Once A-Guang gets home, I'll ask whether we can rent the boat for another day. We'd originally planned to forage along the shore of the isolated island today. Running into that school of Spanish mackerel was pure chance."
Lin Xiuqing looked disappointed. "Work on the house starts tomorrow, so we have to stay home and help. Otherwise, we could go shore foraging with you again."
"That's fine. I can go by myself. You all do what you need to do."
Seeing him so unusually hardworking and sensible, Mother Ye felt pleased. "You wouldn't be much help anyway, so bringing back some seafood for the workers' meals would be good. With that many workers, we'll need plenty of food every day. Your eldest brother will be there tomorrow, so that'll do."
"Who knows whether they'll even rent us the boat tomorrow?"
"If they won't, you can come haul yellow earth from the hills and scoop gravel out of the river in East Bridge Village. That'll give the family another pair of hands!"
Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. If he told his mother he had overturned the cart while hauling yellow earth that morning, she would probably start glaring again. He really hadn't done much work in his previous life. He had been completely useless.
"We'll see tomorrow."
He went straight to the backyard to wash. He didn't care that the clothes he had changed out of that morning were still wet. After washing, he put on a pair of shorts and strolled brazenly into the house, then lay down. Once his clothes dried toward evening, he could head over to A-Guang's for drinks and save the family a little rice...
Lin Xiuqing followed him into the room and whispered, "Second Sister-in-Law looked like she wanted to say something several times just now. Did you notice?"
"Why would I be watching her?"
"No, I think she might have wanted to ask about the money from selling the Spanish mackerel!"
Ye Yaodong gave her a baffled look. "What does money I earned myself have to do with her? Each branch of the family has always kept whatever they earned themselves."
"Maybe she feels that your eldest and second brothers go out fishing with Dad and put their earnings toward building the houses, while you don't take turns going with them. Instead, you rent a boat to earn money for yourself. That might be bothering her."
Women were always scheming and overthinking. What a pain!
"The boat belongs to Dad. What's wrong with his sons helping the family out a little? Sure, I'm a bit lazy and fond of eating, but haven't I helped forage these past two days and saved the family some money on food? I've put in work too. Why shouldn't I get to keep money I earned myself?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Lin Xiuqing glanced at the door. Someone must have heard him.
"What's there to be afraid of?"
He felt completely justified!
He had earned that money himself. They had indulged his second sister-in-law so much that she actually thought she could reach into his pockets. Not a chance.
Lin Xiuqing didn't dare say anything else, afraid he would charge outside to argue.
As long as his second sister-in-law didn't bring it up, they could pretend they knew nothing about it for now.
Seeing her fall silent, Ye Yaodong reassured her. "Don't worry about her. In a few months, once the houses are finished, we'll split up the household. Each family can live its own life."
She answered softly, "Mm."
When Father Ye's fishing boat returned, his clothes still hadn't dried, leaving him with nothing to wear for the moment. He didn't go to the dock to help sort the catch and stayed home with a clear conscience.
When Father Ye came home, he even gave him a rare smile. "Not bad. You actually netted over seven thousand jin of Spanish mackerel."
"It's not really that much. There are four of us splitting it. That's only four hundred yuan each."
"That's still very good. It would have been even better if you'd gone alone."
Ye Yaodong thought, If I'd gone alone, you'd be down one son and inviting friends and relatives to my funeral feast!
After holding her words in all afternoon, Ye Second Sister-in-Law finally had a chance to speak.
"Dad, Eldest Brother and Ahua take turns going out fishing with you, and all the money they earn goes toward building the houses. Shouldn't the money Yaodong made selling fish go toward the houses too?"
"Hm?" Father Ye frowned and was about to speak, but Ye Yaodong immediately repeated what he had said to Lin Xiuqing that afternoon.
"But it's different. They put in their labor too, yet the money they earn isn't divided up. It goes toward building the houses instead. Yaodong doesn't go fishing with you, and he gets to keep what he earns. That means part of the money we earn is paying to build his house. Dad, that's a bit unfair. We're really losing out."
Father Ye frowned. "Who says so? How can you calculate it that way? Then wouldn't I be losing out even more by giving you my money to build houses? The boat is mine, not communal property. Have I asked you for money for all the repairs I've done bit by bit these past two years?"
"The eldest and second sons contribute to the family by going fishing with me. The third son contributes by shore foraging too. Apart from what he can sell, hasn't he given everything else to the family? Besides, I heard from my second son that he's also helped out at the building site these past two days."
"Put it another way: if I paid the eldest and second sons wages for going fishing with me, would that be enough to build each of your houses? How does that become you earning money to build his house? I'm clearly the one subsidizing your houses. The seafood my third son gathers saves us some money on food too. That's money, and it's his contribution. He simply contributes in a different way."
He had clearly taken his third son's words to heart. There was nothing wrong with keeping what you earned yourself.
Besides, of his three sons, the third had the least savings. Parents always worried a little more about the son who was worse off. Although they were frustrated by his failure to make something of himself, they couldn't help favoring him a little.
Seeing that she still looked unconvinced, Father Ye continued, "If he doesn't go shore foraging tomorrow, I'll break his legs and have him carried to the building site to help if I have to. You can't complain about that, can you? Which do you think is harder, going out fishing or carrying gravel and yellow earth?"
They had barely earned any money, and she was already complaining about an unequal division of labor. What would happen if the family really started making big money?
His second son's wife was far too calculating.
All these years, they had kept whatever they earned for themselves, while the family supplied their food and drink. They had hardly spent anything. Now that his third son had finally made a little money, she couldn't wait to jump in.
Father Ye saw it all clearly. He had long known exactly what everyone in the family was like, and had long wanted to split up the household and let them all live on their own.
Children and grandchildren had their own fortunes to find. Let them live however they would!
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