A-Zheng glared at him in exasperation. "You can't make your own decisions about your own business? You need someone else to decide for you? How spineless can you get?"
Xiao Xiao had been watching with a frown for a while. Now he spoke up too. "I thought you had more sense than this. You had a perfectly good hand and played it into a complete mess. I thought with A-Guang giving you a hand, your life would get a little easier and you wouldn't have to work so hard. You really are..."
A-Guang looked at him, somewhat speechless too. "Do you think the same way as your father-in-law and the rest? You want half the money from the dried catch too?"
At that, Rat's wife stepped forward and declared loudly, "That's how it should be! If you'd sold it fresh, of course we'd take half the price of the fresh catch. Now it's been dried, so of course we get half the dried price."
None of the friends paid any attention to her shouting. They all let it go in one ear and out the other, not even sparing her a glance.
Ye Yaodong looked at Rat with his hands in his pockets. "You need outsiders meddling in your own family's business. Isn't that spineless? You earn all the money at home. Shouldn't you be the one making the decisions? You're making it look like you married into their family."
"What nonsense are you talking? What do you mean, married into our family?"
"What's it got to do with you when we're talking among friends?" A-Zheng glared at her.
Rat's in-laws were all talking over one another nearby too, but Father Pei and Father Ye rebuffed them.
"My family co-owns that boat with Rat. What's it got to do with