Chapter Summaries

Ye Yaodong prepared to go to the city market with A-Guang, but his dogs began barking at a nighttime intruder near the house. He chased after the dogs and heard them catch someone, leaving the intruder's identity unknown.

• Ye Yaodong agreed to let A-Guang accompany him to the city market, and Lin Xiuqing heard their joking exchange.
• Ye Yaodong went to bed early and woke around midnight to prepare for his trip.
• The dogs barked fiercely, and Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing wondered whether someone had come near the house.
• Ye Yaodong saw a dog fall from the wall, then noticed a stool nearby and suspected an intruder had tried to enter.
• Ye Yaodong released Big Black Dog and sent the pack after the intruder, then ran after them with a stick.
• Ye Yaodong heard a scream ahead as the dogs caught up with someone.

Ye Yaodong and his dogs caught A-Qiu trying to snare one of them outside his home and beat him before tying him up. After recognizing him as a man from Haiqing Village with an old grudge, Ye Yaodong dragged him home with A-Guang while the dogs followed.

• Ye Yaodong caught up with the man as his dogs bit and restrained him, then beat him until he fell into a ditch.
• A-Guang arrived with a flashlight, and Ye Yaodong recognized the attacker as A-Qiu, the youngest son of a family from Haiqing Village.
• A-Guang freed Xiaohua from the snare while Ye Yaodong accused A-Qiu of targeting his dogs and possibly splashing water on his dried fish.
• Ye Yaodong forced A-Qiu facedown and A-Guang tied his hands behind his back.
• Ye Yaodong comforted Xiaohua, then he and A-Guang hauled A-Qiu toward home as the dogs barked around him.

Ye Yaodong and A-Guang brought the captured thief, A-Qiu, back to the courtyard, where they discovered he had tried to poison Ye Yaodong’s dogs. Under threats and blows, A-Qiu confessed to poisoning the bones, pouring seawater over the dried fish the previous night, and targeting Ye Yaodong’s courtyard because he had heard he made money selling dried fish.

• Ye Yaodong and A-Guang escorted A-Qiu home while Uncle Zhou drove ahead to tell the family they were coming.
• Lin Xiuqing learned that A-Qiu had tried to hang Xiaohua, and A-Zheng pointed out the bones scattered around the courtyard.
• A-Guang and A-Zheng suspected the bones might be poisoned, so Ye Yaodong demanded that A-Qiu confess.
• A-Qiu admitted that he had soaked the bones in rat poison and used a noose when the dogs would not eat them.
• A-Qiu confessed that he had poured seawater over Ye Yaodong’s dried fish the previous night and returned to poison the dogs after hearing about Ye Yaodong’s profits.

Ye Yaodong and the villagers caught a man from Haiqing Village trying to poison his dogs, beat him, and decided to string him up outside until morning. With the man dealt with for the night, they hurried to load dried fish onto the tractor for their trip to the city.

• The Old Lady learned that a man had tried to poison the dogs, and the villagers recognized him as someone from Haiqing Village who had clashed with Ye Yaodong before.
• Ye Yaodong beat the intruder until Lin Xiuqing stopped him, while A-Zheng suggested dumping him in the sea and the others rejected the idea.
• Uncle Zhou urged them to leave the man outside, but A-Guang proposed hanging him from a tree as a warning.
• Ye Yaodong told Lin Xiuqing to alert Secretary Chen and his father in the morning and explain the man's actions to rally the village against Haiqing Village.
• Ye Yaodong and A-Guang dragged the man toward a tree while the others, including Lin Xiuqing, carried dried fish out to load the tractor.

Ye Yaodong and A-Guang intimidated the captured thief A-Qiu by beating him and hanging him from a tree overnight, then prepared to leave with a tractor full of dried fish. The group set off after Ye Yaodong reassured his family, while Lin Xiuqing agreed to contact Secretary Chen the next day.

• Ye Yaodong and A-Guang dragged A-Qiu to a tree, frightened him with a story about Xu Laifu, and hung him with his feet touching the ground.
• A-Guang stuffed one of his socks into A-Qiu's mouth to keep him from waking the neighbors.
• Ye Yaodong and A-Guang returned to find Uncle Zhou and A-Zheng securing the dried fish on the tractor.
• The Old Lady gave the men boiled eggs and reminded them to drive carefully, while Ye Yaodong assured her that A-Qiu would survive the night.
• Ye Yaodong told Lin Xiuqing to contact Secretary Chen the next day, then the men climbed aboard and prepared to leave.

Ye Yaodong transported dried fish to the city, rented a house for Lin Mother, and handled the day's work while A-Zheng and A-Guang wandered through the market. After hearing how the villagers confronted A-Qiu's family, he discussed the possibility of buying the rented house with Lin Xiuqing.

• Ye Yaodong and Uncle Zhou unloaded the dried fish in the city, and Uncle Zhou told him he had bought the village tractor.
• Ye Yaodong rented a house in a neighboring village, moved Lin Mother's belongings there with Uncle Zhou's help, and gave the village chief dried fish to watch over them.
• A-Zheng and A-Guang bought two thousand jin of toadfish, then waited for Uncle Zhou to return so they could haul it home.
• Lin Xiuqing told Ye Yaodong that villagers had found A-Qiu hanging from a tree, confronted his family, and sent him away for treatment with a ban on returning to the village.
• Ye Yaodong gave Lin Xiuqing her reward and suggested buying the rented house so they could have a place to stay in the city.

Ye Yaosheng told Ye Yaodong that his broken engagement had been settled with a demand for two hundred yuan in compensation. Short by one hundred and fifty yuan after his mother contributed fifty, he asked Ye Yaodong for help and offered to work off the debt.

• Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing discussed fish deliveries and planned to split travel costs with A-Zheng.
• Ye Yaosheng arrived at Ye Yaodong’s home looking exhausted and explained that mediators had ended his engagement dispute by requiring him to pay the Wang family two hundred yuan.
• Old Lady criticized Ye Yaosheng’s parents for not taking responsibility and grew angry when she heard his mother had given him only fifty yuan.
• Ye Yaosheng explained that he did not want to prolong the dispute and said he was short one hundred and fifty yuan.
• Ye Yaosheng asked Ye Yaodong for a loan and offered to work for him to repay it.

Ye Yaodong lent Ye Yaosheng 130 yuan toward the settlement for breaking off his engagement, then learned the Wang Family had been terrorizing Ye Yaosheng’s household. Angry that Ye Yaosheng would not fight back, Ye Yaodong recruited A-Guang, A-Zheng, and Xiao Xiao to catch Banded Kraits and secretly put them in the Wang Family’s house.

• Ye Yaosheng explained that the Wang Family had splashed manure and dog blood on his house and left headless rats outside, so his family wanted to pay 200 yuan to end the dispute.
• Ye Yaodong warned Ye Yaosheng that the settlement was excessive and offered to help retaliate, but Ye Yaosheng insisted on settling peacefully and borrowed 130 yuan from Lin Xiuqing.
• After Ye Yaosheng left, Ye Yaodong told Lin Xiuqing he planned to use snakes to frighten the Wang Family and immediately went to find A-Guang.
• A-Guang agreed to catch Banded Kraits with Ye Yaodong and recruit A-Zheng and Xiao Xiao to help before nightfall.
• A-Zheng joined Ye Yaodong’s group after mistaking his talk of doing a good deed for a sexual escapade.

Ye Yaodong led A-Guang, A-Zheng, and Xiao Xiao into the hills to catch snakes so they could frighten the Wang Family after they had harassed Ye Yaosheng’s family. The group began catching snakes before dark, and A-Guang quickly caught a small banded krait.

• Ye Yaodong made A-Zheng and Xiao Xiao walk after they crowded onto his bicycle, then met A-Guang, who had prepared snake-catching tools and baskets.
• Ye Yaodong explained that Ye Yaosheng’s family had agreed to pay two hundred yuan after the Wang Family harassed them, and he proposed giving the Wangs a taste of their own medicine with snakes.
• A-Guang led the others along the hillside path, where they beat the grass with bamboo poles while looking for snakes.
• A-Zheng spotted a small banded krait and called A-Guang, who caught it by lifting it with a stick and grabbing it behind the head.
• Ye Yaodong called the small snake cute, and the others teased him about wearing it around his neck.

Ye Yaodong and his companions searched the mountains for snakes to cook, catching several with A-Guang’s help. After chasing a muntjac and hearing meowing in the dark, they discovered a leopard cat.

• A-Guang caught a snake while the others joked about eating snakes and chickens.
• Ye Yaodong and the others split into pairs to search rat holes, and Ye Yaodong and Xiao Xiao spotted a large Banded Krait.
• A-Guang caught the snake as it tried to escape, and Ye Yaodong found the rat it had spat out.
• The group searched the mountains until nightfall, then spotted a muntjac and chased it but failed to catch it.
• Ye Yaodong heard meowing, and A-Guang’s flashlight revealed a leopard cat down the slope.

Ye Yaodong and his friends searched the hills at night, caught several snakes, and found a leopard cat trapped in an animal snare. They headed back with their catch to test the results of their plan, but ran into Lin Jishang on the way.

• A-Guang recognized a trapped leopard cat, and the friends tied it up and removed the trap despite its injured leg.
• Xiao Xiao lost a game of rock, paper, scissors and took the leopard cat to Fatty to prepare, while A-Zheng later returned with rice crust.
• Ye Yaodong and the others searched for another half hour, caught a large snake, and decided to head back with their catch.
• The four rode their bicycles toward their destination, leaving a wild rabbit behind because they had no way to catch it.
• Ye Jishang encountered them on the road, noticed their bamboo basket, and heard the snakes hissing inside.

Ye Yaodong and his friends tried to sneak snakes into the Wang family’s house, but every window was locked, so they climbed onto the roof to drop the snakes through the tiles. Ye Yaodong found that the gap under a lifted tile was too small for his basket, leaving him searching for a way to get the snakes inside.

• Ye Yaodong warned his friends to keep their distance from Lin Jishang and led them toward the Wang family’s house.
• Ye Yaodong and his friends found every window locked and decided to use the roof instead.
• Ye Yaodong borrowed a handcart and climbed onto the roof with A-Guang, each carrying a basket of snakes.
• Ye Yaodong lifted a roof tile above a bedroom but pulled back when he realized the opening was too small for his basket.

Ye Yaodong and his friends dropped snakes into the Wang Family’s house and hid nearby to enjoy the resulting panic. As the neighbors gathered and the family fled outside, the four prepared to retrieve the snakes and approach openly.

• Ye Yaodong emptied a basket of snakes through a hole in the roof while A-Guang and the others finished their part of the plan.
• A-Guang fell when Ye Yaodong farted as they climbed down, and A-Zheng jabbed Ye Yaodong with a stick during their whispered argument.
• The four hid and listened as the Wang Family screamed about snakes, then moved to a window to watch Old Wang and his wife panic.
• Neighbors woke and came outside after hearing the commotion, while members of the Wang Family ran out calling for help.
• A-Zheng urged the group to join the commotion, and Ye Yaodong proposed retrieving their bamboo baskets before walking up to the house.

Ye Yaodong and his friends disguised their return to the Wang family home as a trip to collect seafood, then joined the villagers catching the snakes they had released. They recovered most of the snakes and continued searching for the last one.

• Ye Yaodong, A-Guang, A-Zheng, and Xiao Xiao circled back to the Wang family home with bamboo baskets and pretended they were heading to the beach for seafood.
• The villagers gathered outside as Old Wang and Auntie Wang escaped the snakes in their house and told everyone how frightened they had been.
• Ye Yaodong and his friends offered to help catch the snakes, using their baskets and A-Guang's Fire Tongs to support their beachcombing excuse.
• A-Guang caught four snakes in one room, including a 1.7-meter snake, while Ye Yaodong urged the villagers in the other room to let them handle the dangerous work.
• A-Guang caught another snake from under a bed, and the group realized one more snake might still be hiding in the house.

Ye Yaodong and his companions left the Wang house after the family accused the villagers of stealing two hundred yuan, then watched the old couple turn on each other. Ye had secretly left a snake behind, and it reappeared after the others went home; he and his companions later prepared a large snake, leopard cat, and chicken feast at Fatty’s house.

• The Wang Family drove the villagers out after they searched the house for snakes, but then accused them of stealing two hundred yuan.
• Ye Yaodong pointed out that many villagers had entered the rooms, and he and his companions stayed to show they had nothing to hide.
• Auntie Wang accused Ye Yaodong’s group of stealing, so A-Zheng threatened to put their snakes back inside until Old Wang backed down and the group swore to Mazu.
• After the villagers left, Old Wang and Auntie Wang fought over the missing money, and another snake emerged from the firewood in their house.
• Ye Yaodong and his companions went to Fatty’s house, where they cleaned their snakes to add to the leopard cat and chicken stew.

Ye Yaodong returned home after eating leopard cat soup with his friends and told Lin Xiuqing about the trouble he had stirred up over Wang Lizhen’s family. The next morning, he heard that a fight over two hundred yuan had ended with Wang Lizhen’s husband dead, then rode to the county seat while villagers discussed Ye Yaosheng’s timely broken engagement.

• Fatty’s wife joined the men for Dragon-Tiger-Phoenix Soup and explained that her children had begged her not to kill the leopard cat.
• Ye Yaodong brought soup home, told Lin Xiuqing about the evening’s events, and fell asleep from exhaustion.
• The next morning, Ye Yaodong heard that Wang Lizhen’s husband had died after a fight over the missing two hundred yuan and a fall on a dirt slope.
• The Old Lady warmed the remaining soup for Ye Yaodong, but he chose to eat porridge instead.
• Ye Yaodong rode to the county seat, while Lin Xiuqing and the neighbors speculated about where he was going and discussed Ye Yaosheng’s broken engagement.

Ye Yaodong visited the shipyard to inspect a nearly finished boat and learned that construction on his own boat might begin soon. Back home, Father Ye secretly gave him shrimp pots from their eldest aunt’s husband, and Ye Yaodong agreed to use them when the weather allowed.

• Ye Yaodong inspected a nearly finished boat at the shipyard and learned the factory might start building his boat before the other one was delivered.
• Ye Yaodong spoke with the manager about construction schedules, then left after seeing how busy the shipyard was.
• Ye Yaodong encountered Uncle Zhou driving a tractor loaded with sand on his way home.
• Father Ye showed Ye Yaodong the shrimp pots their eldest aunt’s husband had brought and asked him to keep them secret from his brothers.
• Ye Yaodong examined the shrimp pots and agreed to set them alongside his gill nets once the wind and waves calmed.

Ye Yaodong considered building a warehouse for his growing dried-fish stock, but Father Ye and Lin Xiuqing persuaded him to use the vacant city shop and arrange faster deliveries instead. A sudden thunderstorm then disrupted the afternoon, and Ye Yaodong set out to bring Ye Chenghu home from school.

• As the cloudy sky threatened rain, Ye Yaodong agreed to weigh and buy the neighbors’ dried fish before a downpour could spoil it.
• Ye Yaodong proposed building a warehouse, but Father Ye and Lin Xiuqing argued that the vacant city shop and deliveries by Uncle Zhou would be enough for now.
• Ye Yaodong agreed to ship the stock in several trips, though Father Ye warned that the storm might delay them.
• Lightning and thunder frightened Ye Xiaoxi and sent the neighboring children running as heavy rain began.
• Lin Xiuqing gave Ye Yaodong rain boots and an oil-paper umbrella, and he rode off to bring Ye Chenghu home from school.

After days of rain, Ye Yaodong struggled to keep his sons from fighting and tied them to a pillar, only for Ye Chenghe to ask to be tied up too. He took the other children to search the shore for fish and shellfish, leaving the three tied-up boys behind as they begged to join in.

• Lin Xiuqing went to gather bamboo shoots and left Ye Yaodong to watch the children.
• Ye Yaodong tied Ye Chenghu, Ye Chengyang, and Ye Chenghe to a pillar after the boys fought and Ye Chenghe asked to join them.
• Ye Yaodong took Ye Xiaoxi to the shore, found a stonefish in a tidal pool, and called the children to help catch it.
• The Old Lady refused to untie the three boys, who regretted being left behind when the others went to the beach.
• Ye Yaodong and the children found three stonefish and gathered clams, then one child spotted an octopus in a broken jar.

Ye Yaodong took a group of children to search the beach, showed them how to catch octopuses in jars, and gathered small fish and other finds. When their mothers returned and caught them disobeying orders, the children blamed Ye Yaodong and ran toward his house, where three boys were still tied up.

• Ye Yaodong pulled a second little white octopus from a broken jar and told Ye Chenghai to tie the jar to a rock so it could catch more.
• Ye Chenghu, Ye Chengyang, and Ye Chenghe stayed tied to posts, squabbling and pleading with the Old Lady to untie them while the others searched the beach.
• Ye Chenghai and the other children collected containers, small yellow croakers, and other finds as Ye Yaodong walked along the shore with them.
• Lin Xiuqing and the other two women returned carrying large burlap sacks, and they shouted at the children for going to the beach against their orders.
• The children blamed Ye Yaodong, left their buckets at his feet, and ran toward his house, then turned back when their mothers threatened to punish them.