All the way there, Ye Yaodong walked along sweet-talking his wife. Lin Xiuqing's cheeks flushed pink. She felt he was getting more and more shameless, actually saying such things out in public, though... though she hadn't heard them in years...
"Shut up. Save it until we get home!"
Ye Yaodong: She says one thing and means another!!!
"All right, I'll say it tonight, then!"
Lin Xiuqing: Honestly, I can't even get angry or scold him!
After the couple got home, they waited ages without seeing the others return. Their two sons were still down by the sea too. Worried, they prepared to go out together again to check on them and bring back a bucket of seawater for the clams while they were at it.
Ye Yaodong had originally thought fresh water with a little salt stirred into it would work just as well for keeping the clams alive. It would only take a small handful of salt, but Lin Xiuqing insisted he was being wasteful and said Mother Ye and the others would bring seawater back.
He could only go along with her.
So frugal. In the end, it all came down to having no money!
The two hurried toward the sea again. Just as they reached the shore, they saw a crowd standing on the beach near the water, with heads bobbing in the sea as well.
"What happened?"
"Did someone fall into the sea?"
The couple exchanged a look, both frowning deeply. Worry rose in their hearts, and they broke into a run at the same time. Please, let it not be their children.
As Ye Yaodong ran, he remembered something too. The village secretary's eldest grandson had drowned. The hospital was too far away, delaying treatment, and the boy had died because he hadn't been rescued