He Cuihua's heart pounded with anxiety as she led the children back to the purchasing agency.
The staff at the purchasing station were even less busy today, and they were all preparing to close up shop, mainly because there was a typhoon today, so basically no boats went out to sea.
If they weren't required to stay here for work, they would have closed down long ago.
Seeing that the wind was blowing and it was raining heavily outside, Neng figured no one would come and was about to close the door when he saw the mother and her five children.
I was a little surprised, but I didn't stop them.
"We're about to close, what are you doing?"
"Comrade, we found some things while beachcombing today, and we brought them to you specially. Please take a look."
He Cuihua emptied everything out of the basket.
The staff member's mouth twitched as he looked at the contents of the three baskets. Good heavens.
Who ever manages to find sea cucumbers while beachcombing?
Needless to say, there aren't many large yellow croakers in the sea this year.
Anyway, this is the second time I've seen this acquisition station this year.
It's very difficult to catch large yellow croakers in their area; catching one is a matter of luck.
This purchasing station has the worst monthly performance among the other state-owned purchasing stations, mainly because it can't collect anything of good quality; it only collects miscellaneous items.
The recurring situation year after year is determined by the waters and sea areas, and he is powerless to change it.
He held both the staff and the station manager positions at the purchasing station, because other staff members with connections had already been transferred. He couldn't perform well and was getting old, so he could only stay there and wait for someone to take over when he retired.
But unexpectedly, I saw something rare these past two days. Although a few large yellow croakers won't make much difference, at least I have more types of fish on my books, and it sounds better when I report to my superiors.
Without saying a word, they converted the fish, sea cucumbers, and other items into cash based on their work points.
Weighing things.
The staff asked curiously.
"With such strong winds, you still went beachcombing and even found a large yellow croaker. Where did you find it?"
These things are usually hard to find on the beach.
He Cuihua smiled awkwardly and pointed to the beach.
"Actually, it was just on the beach. We just happened to find it and don't know how we found it."
To be precise, He Cuihua was also a little dizzy at this point, as if she were drunk.
The main problem is that no men in their family go out to sea to fish, so it was already destined that the work points they could get each day would be at least not zero.
I couldn't sleep all day and night because I was worried about how I and my children would survive, but I never expected to have such good luck.
The staff member looked at the area of sea he pointed to. It was windy, and there were only two or three people there at the moment.
Could it be that the wind blew the large yellow croakers from the surrounding seas here? But that doesn't make sense.
However, having large yellow croakers is better than having none at all.
Yesterday, when the driver was hauling away the goods, he heard that the big yellow croaker had secretly bought one from him in cash. These days, even if there's something, they can't buy it.
Fortunately, this is just a matter of balancing the accounts.
I even told myself that if I encountered another large yellow croaker, I would save two for him, but I never expected to encounter one the very next day.
Behind every driver who comes to pick up goods is his boss's brother-in-law.
It was obvious who the large yellow croaker had gone to, and the staff immediately perked up at the thought.
Who knows, I might get promoted in the future, and I'm counting on these big yellow croakers.
Could it be that he, who is about to retire, can experience a second spring in his life?
But we'll get the large yellow croaker first, no matter what.
Today's large yellow croaker and sea cucumber earned a total of 120 points.
There's no way around it, these things are too precious. Even fishermen might not be able to catch them, let alone pick them up.
Upon hearing the score of 120, He Cuihua's face lit up with an excited smile that never stopped, her mouth stretching almost to the back of her ears.
With 120 points and yesterday's 50 points, I now have 170 points. You should know that an average strong laborer only gets about 10 points a day.
If you catch a lot of fish or the fish are good, you might get a few more points, but with so many people fishing on a boat, the average score isn't much.
Raising four children on my own, I managed to get a score of 170, which is something I never even dared to dream of.
After He Cuihua finished recording the scores, she quickly pulled the children away, beaming from ear to ear.
There were still some odds and ends of clams left in the basket, so we added them to the children's meal.
Following closely behind her, the few people who had gotten a good spot earlier also rushed in. Everyone had some gains today, more or less.
Qi Zai pursed his lips. He was afraid that his family would be too conspicuous, so he specially arranged some benefits for the people behind them as well.
It wasn't as amazing as his place, but everyone still found something of value.
Suddenly, the usually quiet purchasing station became bustling with activity.
He Cuihua led the children back into the house and solemnly pulled Qizai to her side.
He Cuihua isn't stupid. These past two days, she's noticed something strange: every time they catch these fish or other things, it's Qi Zai who finds them.
It seems like Seven will find something with this shovel.
Even if I dug through the sand, I wouldn't find anything.
He Cuihua looked at Qizai with kind eyes.
"Da Bao! You are truly our family's lucky star. If it weren't for you, we would all be starving this time."
"Sigh, if you were a little older, that would be great. With your luck, if you could go out to sea by boat, how many fish could we catch? At least we wouldn't go hungry for a while."
Although she said that, He Cuihua knew she was delusional. How could a child grow up overnight? After all, this was a child who was not even five years old.
The work points earned from beachcombing alone are definitely not enough to feed the family, but there's just nothing I can do about it.
Seeing the hope in He Cuihua's eyes, Qi Zai knew exactly what she was thinking.
He said in a low voice.
"If only our family could go out to sea, maybe we could catch a big fish and then we wouldn't have to go hungry."
Seven is eager to go out to sea so that he can find a way to get to the outside world.
Now we're hiding on this small island, completely isolated from the world; there's absolutely no way we can get out.
He Cuihua sighed.
“Dabao, I know you want us all to have enough to eat, but you can’t sail that boat right now, so you should stay home and behave yourself.”
Seven didn't waste any more words. It was no use saying anything now. He was too young, and what he said was not to be taken seriously by others.
It looks like it will take some time, but we just need to be patient. I hope my sister and Xiaoguai can get my help, and of course, I hope my dad will be more supportive.
For the rest of the days, the family still went to the beach early in the morning. Each time they found some or some things, but on average they found about 60 or 70 things a day.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
