The next day, Mother Ye got up before dawn to cook and spotted the sack in the firewood pile. When she saw it was full of cicada nymphs, she merely muttered, "Nothing better to do. Twenty-five years old and still acting like a child. Working doesn't tire you out enough, does it?"
After grumbling a little and getting it off her chest, she still found time once daylight came to wash and clean the cicada nymphs, planning to fry a bowlful at noon and leave them at home for her grandchildren to eat with their rice.
The children who got up early saw them too and whooped with excitement, chattering about going to catch some themselves that night!
"Got nothing better to do, huh? Don't come back with your heads covered in mosquito bites."
"That's fine, we're not scared! Third Uncle, take us tonight!"
"Do I look like I've got nothing better to do?"
"You certainly don't have anything better to do! Why else would you go out in the middle of the night to feed the mosquitoes and catch these things? As if frying them doesn't use up oil!" Mother Ye snapped from the side.
They really did use quite a bit of oil. Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose and, rather than talk back to his mother, picked up two large buckets and a carrying pole and headed out.
"What are you doing? Where are you going with buckets and a carrying pole this early? What are you up to now? You've got work to do in a bit. You've only behaved yourself for a few days, and now you're at it again..."
"Didn't I set a trap in the river yesterday? I'm going early to collect the catch and bring the trap back while I'm at it."
"Always