"Dad, do you know how to cook conger eel?"
While waiting to sell the fish, Bai Yu asked her father, who had a level three chef's certificate.
"Conger eel? What kind of cooking method do you want? Steamed, braised, or grilled? I can make all of those."
"Dad, are you that awesome? What do you think about keeping a few eels for ourselves?"
It's getting late, and my second uncle and younger uncle haven't had dinner yet. How about we all eat at our house tonight? We can get a few eels to try.
Second Uncle, Younger Uncle, what do you think of my suggestion?
Bai Yu never expected that his father knew so many ways to cook eel, but why had he never eaten it since he was a child?
It's okay if you've never eaten it before. We caught so many conger eels today, so we can get two to try.
“Okay, I think Xiaoyu’s suggestion is good. Eel is also a good accompaniment to alcohol. Brother, I’ll come to your house for dinner today. I’ll have your sister-in-law bring a couple of dishes over later.”
"That's right, it's more lively when there are more people eating. Brother-in-law, why don't you take two eels home and prepare them? We can help you sell the fish here."
As Bai Yu's uncle spoke, he pulled a large sea eel out of his bucket. This sea eel was the largest in his bucket, over a meter long and weighing seven or eight kilograms.
Not to be outdone, Bai Yu's second uncle also grabbed a large eel from the bucket and handed it to his brother.
Seeing that his younger brother and brother-in-law had both said so, what could Bai Yu's father say? Of course, he took the two eels home and prepared to carry them away.
He originally planned to bring Bai Yue home to help him, but the little girl absolutely refused. She wanted to wait here to sell the eels in her bucket and see how much money she had made that day.
The fish are being sold very quickly, and it's high tide now, so most of the people selling fish are the same group who catch moray eels on the rocky beach.
Everyone sells the same things, so it's very easy for Uncle and Aunt to calculate the bill when they receive the goods. Unless there's a large sea eel weighing more than ten pounds, the price of other sea eels is the same.
There weren't many eels on this last trip, so the money they made wasn't much either. Each person only got about a thousand yuan, and Bai Yu and her sister Wang Yue wanted cash.
Because Wang Yue is still a minor, she not only can't use payment apps, but she also doesn't own a smartphone; she only has an old-fashioned flip phone.
After receiving the money, Bai Yu first asked Bai Yue to take his second uncle, his younger uncle, and other relatives home. He then went to Wang Hai's house first.
Like Bai Yu and his family, Wang Hai also brought his relatives home, or rather, his relatives escorted him home.
Wang Hai sold two batches of sea eels tonight and now has about three thousand yuan on him. His relatives are worried about him going home alone, even though the purchasing station is not far from his home.
However, they still took Wang Hai home, and then Wang Hai's mother invited these relatives to stay for dinner.
Bai Yu came to Wang Hai's house to bring him money. Today, the two of them earned half of what Wang Hai earned from going out to sea. As the saying goes, money should be divided and not left overnight, so it's better to divide the money sooner rather than later.
They really made a lot of money today by going beachcombing. They found four small green lobsters in the morning and spent the afternoon dealing with moray eels.
They earned over 15,000 yuan from selling fish. After deducting their expenses in the city that day, each of them could receive 7,503.5 yuan.
Adding in what they earned after they separated, Bai Yu and Wang Hai's combined income today easily exceeded ten thousand yuan.
Earning over ten thousand yuan a day just from beachcombing was something Bai Yu would never have dared to dream of before, and it's still something he wouldn't even consider now.
Because today's situation was rather unusual, he couldn't say whether it was due to his luck or something else.
Anyway, everything that happened today was strange. The group of people caught far too many eels. He didn’t know if it exceeded a thousand, but the number was definitely over five hundred. Moreover, they caught large eels, and very few of them weighed less than three pounds.
Bai Yu went to Wang Hai's house, transferred Wang Hai's share of the money to his mother, and then left quickly because if he didn't leave, Wang Hai's mother would ask him to stay for dinner.
When Bai Yu returned home, his father had already begun cooking the two large eels.
The two large sea eels provided by my second uncle and younger uncle were quite big. My father, Baiyu, planned to cook them in three different ways: the middle part of the eel for steaming, the head and the bottom part for grilling, and the last two tails for braising.
"Brother, Mom wants you to come over. Don't forget what you promised me, brother. You have to hang in there."
As soon as Bai Yu stepped into the house, Bai Yue came bounding over.
"Don't worry, if they say the money is for you, then it is for you. I'm sure I can convince Mom."
What Bai Yu promised Bai Yue? It's just a matter of the money from selling fish, right? Bai Yu patted his chest and guaranteed it on the spot.
Bai Yu then went to the living room to find his mother, who was chatting with several aunts, uncles, and other relatives. As soon as he entered, he greeted all the elders.
"Auntie, Aunt, Second Aunt, Auntie-in-law. Mom, my sister said you wanted to talk to me? What's up? Is there something you need?"
"Little Yu'er is back. Little Yu'er did a great job today. You didn't forget your own relatives even when you were making money. Little Yu'er, tell me what you want, and Auntie will buy it for you."
"Your aunt will buy it for you too. Today's earnings are almost equal to your uncle's monthly salary."
"Alright, ladies, you don't need to spoil him. You've been good enough to him. It's only natural that he thinks of you when something good happens to him."
And now this kid is getting bolder and bolder. Today he actually dared to tell Yueyue that all the money she makes from selling things belongs to him. And his second uncle is the same; he always gives Yueyue the biggest bucket. Now look what's happened—this little girl has four thousand yuan in her hands and can't get it back no matter what.
You started this whole thing, kid. What do you say we do now?
Bai Yu's mother, who was standing to the side, stopped her aunt and uncle from buying Bai Yu a gift. Then she launched into a tirade about Bai Yu, and also mentioned her second uncle.
The second uncle, who was helping to grill sea eels outside, had just reached the living room door and was about to come in for a drink of water when he heard Bai Yu's mother mention him. He immediately turned back to continue grilling sea eels.
Bai Yu acknowledged what his mother said, then took out his phone and fiddled with it for a while before hearing a notification sound: "Ding: WeChat payment received: 4,000 yuan."
"Mom, I'll transfer Yueyue's money to you. You don't need to keep her money. Yueyue is about to start high school, and she's still using a flip phone. If you ask me, just consider this money as a gift for buying Yueyue a new phone."
"I'll just say you agreed to it, Mom. What do you think?"
Despite Bai Yu and Bai Yue's confident assurances that they could handle things, Bai Yu knew perfectly well who was in charge in their family.
So Bai Yu gave the money, and his mother had to play the good guy, while he could only sit on the sidelines and enjoy his family's "empire".
At the same time, Bai Yu's willingness to pay this money does not mean that he dotes on his sister. Although he does spoil her to some extent, he also has his own purposes.
As someone who has been through it all, Bai Yu has memories of both his past and present lives, and he understands all too well the competitive spirit of teenagers.
This kind of comparison starts as early as adolescence, especially in high school and college, when it is most serious. Bai Yu doesn't want his sister to be ridiculed by others.
What he needs to do now is to make sure his sister has everything that others have, even if it's not the best, it can't be the worst or something she doesn't have at all.
"Hey, looks like you made a lot of money today. Even if this money is for Yueyue to buy a phone, she won't be able to use it in high school, right?"
"But this time it's up to you. It's your money, so she can use it however she wants, as long as it's used for good."
"Dinner's ready, Mom, Aunt, Great Aunt, Auntie, Brother, dinner's ready."
Just as Bai Yu's mother agreed with what Bai Yu said, Bai Yue's voice rang out from the courtyard outside: Dinner is ready, we can eat now.
There were quite a few people eating at today's dinner. Bai Yu's family alone consisted of four people, plus his relatives who all brought their families. There were two tables set up for dinner, with ten people at each table.
"Dad, this grilled eel tastes really good. It's a pity that we had to sell the rest of the eels. I should have kept a few to eat at home."
Bai Yu tried a piece of grilled sea eel. That thing was really fresh. Even the smoky flavor from the charcoal grilling couldn't mask its freshness.
Moreover, the meat is very firm and has a high fat content. In addition, conger eels don't have small bones, so taking a bite of this is a truly satisfying experience.
"If you want to eat it, we can go catch some more another day. We lack everything by the sea, but we never lack seafood."
However, I must say, my brother's cooking skills are really good. Brother, you must be the head chef at your restaurant now.
The person who answered Bai Yu's question was not his father, but his second uncle.
Compared to Bai Yu's father, Bai Yu had a better relationship with his second uncle because his second uncle worked at the docks, and Bai Yu often went to his second uncle's repair shop to play (and cause trouble) when he was a child.
However, his second uncle never disciplined him; instead, he would often use broken parts to make toys for Bai Yu and the others.
For example, there were pistols made from bicycle chains. When they were kids, Bai Yu, Bai Lang (the second uncle's son), Wang Hai, and others all had one.
"Second Uncle is right. Tomorrow, Ah Hai and I will go to the beach again. Maybe we can catch some more eels. I'll send some to each of your families then."
"Okay, then I'll wait for my nephew to bring me the conger eel."
Amidst laughter and cheerful conversation, the belated dinner came to an end.
Bai Yu wasn't sure if the other dishes were left over, but he knew that none of the three plates of eel on their table were left, especially the braised eel; the broth from that dish was used to soak rice.
In Bai Yu's opinion, tonight's dinner was in no way inferior to the buffet lunch. In any case, Bai Yu ate her fill and felt extremely comfortable.
During the meal, Bai Yu told Bai Yue that her mother had agreed to let her use the money herself.
Bai Yu planned to take her to buy a phone the next day, and Wang Yue did not refuse. She had been thinking about getting a new phone for a long time, and she had even saved up a lot of money. She just didn't expect to receive such a windfall today. Now she could choose a brand carefully when buying a phone.
.........
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