Gu Ye and Bao Ni arrived home safely. Bao Ni quickly started a fire to heat the kang (a heated brick bed). The house hadn't been lived in for over ten days, and it was chilly everywhere.
"Gu Ye, don't get on the kang yet, it's too cold," Bao Ni called out to Gu Ye from the kitchen.
Gu Ye replied from the doorway, "I understand."
He had to protect his wounds so his wife wouldn't have to worry anymore.
Bonnie lit the kang (a heated brick bed), and filled the pot halfway with water, which she could use to wipe away the dust. It was so cold; Bonnie didn't want to use cold water.
Soon the pot boiled; Bonnie had used wood to burn it, and the fire was blazing.
The room gradually warmed up, and Bonnie fetched a few more buckets of water and quickly wiped the room clean. "Gu Ye, are you hungry? Tonight we'll eat the food we brought back from Uncle Chen's place. I'm going to go catch some seafood later and bring it to Uncle Chen tomorrow to exchange for some good food. I need to continue to nourish you."
Gu Ye didn't want Bao Ni to go into the sea in this weather; it would be too cold, and it would take too long to catch so much seafood. So he carefully said, "Honey, going into the sea in this weather is too much of a hardship. I've already replenished my energy. How about we skip it this year? With the amount you mentioned, you'd be watching until midnight. It's too dangerous, and I can't go with you."
Bonnie glanced at Gu Ye and said, "I'll tell you a secret. I have a secret base by the sea where I raise a lot of sea cucumbers and abalone. Otherwise, you'd really think your wife is so amazing, catching so many top-quality seafood every year. I've been raising them for over ten years. Don't worry, I'm going to the seaweed farm to get my diving equipment. I'll be right back."
Bonnie left, and Gu Ye stared blankly at his wife's departing figure, muttering to himself, "How many secrets does my wife still have that I don't know?"
When Bonnie arrived at the seaweed base, Han Weidong, Lin Hai, and the others were all there. Bonnie asked them to help with some work.
"I'm going to catch some seafood to trade with my uncle's restaurant for some meat. You guys help me carry it down for a bit." With that, Bonnie took out a set of diving equipment.
"Sister, aren't we going to go swimming?" Han Weidong and the others looked at Sister Bao Ni and took a set of equipment.
"The place I'm going to has a narrow opening that you can't squeeze through." What a joke! How could I let you know about my secret base?
Lin Hai wanted to ask more, but Han Weidong stopped him, saying that Sister Bao Ni must have her own secrets.
The group followed Sister Bonnie down the mountain and told them to wait for her there. She then took four baskets and diving equipment and disappeared before their eyes.
Bonnie hadn't been to the secret base for quite a while. The sea cucumbers and abalone here had multiplied considerably, along with other seafood, making it a small, natural aquaculture farm.
It was getting late, so Bonnie quickly went into the water and picked out the larger ones to put into her basket. Soon, one basket was full, so she changed to another, and so on, until all four baskets were full. Then she carried them out one by one, and carried them to the mountainside, where she called a few people to help.
"Sister Bonnie, where did you find this treasure? It's huge!" Lin Hai exclaimed excitedly. He rarely saw such large sea cucumbers and abalone.
"Quiet down! Is this something you can yell about?" Bonnie slapped Lin Hai in exasperation. Was this kid stupid?
"I'm sorry, I got too excited. I'll keep it a secret, really, you have to believe me, Sister Bao Ni." Lin Hai was afraid that Sister Bao Ni wouldn't take him along in the future, so he grabbed her arm and begged for forgiveness.
"Hey, get out of my way! If you keep bothering me, I'll really beat you up!"
Bonnie had already changed her clothes and tossed the diving equipment to Lin Hai; he was too annoying.
Under the cover of night, the group quietly delivered the items to Bao Ni's parents' house. Only Bao Ni's parents heard the noise and came out. "Bao Ni, when did you get back? How is Gu Ye? Has he been discharged from the hospital?" Bao Ni's mother asked anxiously.
"Mom, keep your voice down, don't wake up Liu Jiu and San Qi. I'm not planning to take them home today, I have things to do tomorrow. Gu Ye is coming over tomorrow morning, make him something nice to eat." After Bao Ni finished answering her mother, Han Weiguo and the others, under Bao Ni's father's command, had already started raising the seafood. They had a special place at home for raising seafood, just like any fisherman's family.
"Mom, make more abalone porridge tomorrow morning. We're going to the city after we eat it."
Knowing where her daughter was going, Bao Ni's mother quickly agreed, thinking about what kind of main dish to make for breakfast.
"Let's go, you guys go back too. Come over tomorrow morning for abalone congee, and then we'll go to the city."
After giving her instructions, Bonnie went back, afraid that Gu Ye would worry.
When he got home, the lights were on, and Gu Ye was waiting for Bao Ni to have dinner.
Why don't you eat first?
"I want to eat with you; it's no fun eating alone." Gu Ye brought the warm food from the pot to the table, and the two of them enjoyed a cozy dinner together. It had been a long time since they had a proper meal together.
The next day, when Gu Ye and Bao Ni arrived, Lin Hai and the others were already there, playing with Liu Jiu and the other girl.
"Mommy, Daddy, you're back!" Bonnie spotted her parents walking in, screamed, and ran over to them, throwing herself into her mother's arms.
Bonnie picked up Liu Jiu and spun her around several times, making Liu Jiu laugh heartily.
Sanqi walked up to Gu Ye with a displeased expression, circled around twice, neither greeting him nor looking directly at him or his father, only occasionally stealing a glance, displaying her arrogant and haughty persona.
Bonnie put down Liujiu, pulled Sanqi over, and said to the two children, "Daddy's tummy is hurt and it's not healed yet. You two mustn't bump into Daddy. You have to protect Daddy. Can you do that?"
"My brother and I will protect Dad, right, Sanqi?"
Liu Jiu looked at San Qi, waiting for his answer.
"Hmm!" Sanqi was quite aloof.
Bonnie picked up the little guy and spun him around several times. Sanqi couldn't help but laugh out loud.
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