Once the twelfth lunar month began, Mother Ye had already checked all the auspicious dates for the month, written them down, and told them. Country folk like them liked to choose an auspicious day before doing anything.
The sixth and ninth were both good dates early in the month, which was why they had settled on tomorrow, the sixth, to deliver their New Year gifts.
Even for the pre-New Year cleaning, they had to choose an auspicious day to wash down the house and courtyard.
When A Qing went to the market yesterday, she had prepared everything in advance and even ordered a pig's trotter from Fatty's father-in-law. But plans could never keep up with changes.
That morning, they noticed that the sea was calm, and a faint red glow had appeared on the horizon.
The wind had been blowing for over ten days. They had never expected the weather to clear today.
The neighbors next door were all saying that if the wind and waves stayed calm that night, they would head out to sea and set their nets to see what they could catch.
Ye Yaodong was considering it too. In weather this cold, there was no telling when the wind might pick up again.
Perhaps he could try a haul with the trawl net that night first. If there was a decent catch, he would keep trawling. If not, he would still have time to set the gill nets.
The trouble with the gill nets was that if he set them today, he would have to leave them for a day and retrieve them early tomorrow morning. It took a little too much time, and who knew whether the weather would hold tomorrow? Trawling was more convenient.
As for not having time to deliver the New Year