After dinner, Ye Yaodong took the dogs to the clearing at the small workshop and handed them over to his two brothers-in-law. He left only Big Blackie in the yard, with Little Blackie keeping watch outside his eldest and second brothers' doors.
Dogs were much more alert than people, more useful, and more loyal too.
Sometimes, trusting a dog was better than trusting a person.
In May, sleeping outdoors at night wasn't cold. Lying on a reclining chair under a thin quilt, with a mosquito coil burning by one's feet, felt pleasantly cool.
There weren't the sounds of insects and birds in the fields to soothe the spirit, but they could still fall asleep to the salty sea breeze and the rolling waves.
Ye Yaodong felt quite reassured leaving his two brothers-in-law in charge of the clearing at the small workshop.
His father-in-law's family was far more dependable than his eldest and second uncles' families. They were all good workers. Compared with his mother's side of the family, they felt closer still.
After he notified his father-in-law to deliver a load of fish the following day, they no longer had to worry about finding space to dry the squid when they docked the next day. With Mother Ye scouring the village for supplies, his two brothers-in-law had spent a day working at the construction site and enclosed the small workshop's perimeter with fishing nets.
Only the side facing the beach had an opening like a doorway for people to enter and leave.
It looked quite respectable, and the small workshop was beginning to take shape.
Since yesterday, almost every villager passing by had stopped to look.
Ye Yaodong and the others were no exception.
Fresh back from sea, he was pushing a handcart of goods home. Seeing the clearing enclosed