Aunt Lin went out and only came running back a good while later, panting.
"Good thing I got there in time. They'd just finished weighing everything and were about to settle up. I managed to stop them just in time."
"Wasn't A-Cai hopping mad? He'd already weighed it and written it down, only for you to change your minds again." Remembering that this was already Uncle Lin's second time doing this, Ye Yaodong figured A-Cai must have been bristling with anger.
"Heh, nothing for it. They hadn't settled up yet, so he just crossed it out. A-Cai only grumbled a little. They're on their way back too, just behind me. We couldn't bring it all in one trip, so my son stayed at the pier to watch the goods. Old Lin's pushing the handcart behind me. I ran back ahead of him."
"Shall we start weighing, then?"
"Yes, yes, go ahead. Don't mind him. He'll be here soon. It's already dark."
"Then go get some paper and a pen so we can write it down as we weigh."
"All right, all right..."
Ye Yaodong went to fetch the big scale he had brought on the handcart and also asked Aunt Lin to bring out a carrying pole. Each sack weighed several dozen jin, so they could hook up two or three at once and have two people lift them with the pole to weigh them faster.
Seeing that they were finally going to weigh the fish, the villagers gathered around to watch. A neighbor helped Father Ye lift the carrying pole while Ye Yaodong and Aunt Lin read the scale.
"These two sacks weigh 132 jin. Put them down, just over to the side for now... Bring another two..."
They weighed them two sacks at a time like that and