The two chatted and laughed as they returned home.
Mei Yueqin went home first, while Wu Ping went to return the car.
Old Meng opened the door and saw Wu Ping smiling: "Looks like this trip back to your parents' home has brought good news."
Wu Ping said, "It's nothing."
"I'm quite happy that I didn't have to rely on Yueqin's family for financial assistance this time."
Old Meng nodded: "That's good."
The Wu family's life was clearly getting better.
Wu Ping said with a smile, "I never thought I would benefit from A'an's kindness one day. Before, when I left Yueqin's mother's house, I always kept my head down, but today, I walked with my head held high."
Old Meng said, "A'an has changed a lot. He's busy every day, and he's not just busy doing nothing. I heard that Mao's eldest son is also busy at the beach every day, but he didn't get anything."
Wu Ping said, "There's no way to say that."
"Ah An is probably protected by the goddess Mazu."
"Yueqin is planning to go and fulfill her vow on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month."
"Uncle, I'm going back now. I have things to take care of at home."
Back home.
Mei Yueqin was sweeping the floor when Wu Ping quickly took over. Mei Yueqin had just taken a sip of water when she heard Sister Duan calling from the doorway, "Yueqin, want to go fishing?"
Mei Yueqin asked, "Sister Duan, do you have any good places to go?"
Sister Duan said, "I heard there are lots of snails and oysters on the rocky beach east of the pier today. Let's go take a look."
"If you're going, hurry up and don't dawdle. I heard quite a few people have gone."
Mei Yueqin suddenly realized why Sister Duan had called her; it turned out she was going to the east side of the dock, which was close to a neighboring village and where conflicts often occurred with the villagers.
Having more of your own people means you can look out for each other if a conflict breaks out.
"Coming right away," she replied, quickly picked up the bucket, threw the shovel, tongs, rake, and other tools into it, and headed outside.
Wu Ping wanted to follow.
Mei Yueqin said, "You shouldn't go."
"You only get to go to the beach a few times a year, so don't fall or get hurt again."
"You still need to prepare lessons and teaching materials, you go ahead and do your thing."
"Oh, right, don't forget to go check on the old house. Dad said he'd go today, but I'm still a little worried."
Wu Ping replied, "Okay, I'll go right away."
He was able to devote himself wholeheartedly to teaching thanks to Mei Yueqin's understanding and support.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh.
But he still doesn't have a formal teaching position. I've heard that many private school teachers in the same situation as him are unable to teach anymore.
If he couldn't teach, he really didn't know what else he could do.
...
When Wu An woke up, there were already quite a few people gathering seafood on the beach. He checked the time and it was only a little past four in the afternoon. He turned his head and saw that A Qing was still fast asleep.
His sleeping posture wasn't very elegant, and I wonder what he was dreaming about. He even had a tent set up, so I quickly threw him my straw hat.
In the past, young wives or older women wouldn't frequently look this way.
Ah Qing woke up groggily and asked, "Brother, are we going fishing again later?"
Wu An shook his head.
The dog system is determined to give him a day off today.
Since he couldn't go fishing, he decided to go beachcombing.
The two carried the buckets toward the sea. When they encountered villagers, they all greeted them. The previous situation, where people disliked the dog and avoided them, was gone.
But afterwards, those people still couldn't help but gossip about it behind their backs.
There were kind words and unpleasant words.
People say he's a spendthrift, that he made some money but doesn't know what to do with it, and is even renovating his old house—what a load of rubbish!
Wu An's feelings were quite complicated.
Now everyone knows he's doing something right and making money, and his reputation has improved a lot. To be honest, he's quite happy, at least some people won't use him to criticize his father anymore.
But listening to everyone gossiping, their words were full of envy and jealousy, which showed that he hadn't been keeping a low profile lately. He should have kept a low profile and made his fortune quietly, but instead, everyone in the village knew that he had made money.
It's no wonder people are envious.
Aqing asked, "Brother, which way are we going?"
Wu An looked around. He didn't want to go to the mudflats. He was still waiting for the "crabs to cross the border" and didn't want to divert the flow to the mudflats anymore.
According to Lao Jiang and Lao Xie, fewer and fewer villagers are going to the mudflats to go beachcombing these days, which is definitely a good thing for them.
The fewer villagers go to the mudflats, the more opportunities he can monopolize when the crabs migrate.
Just as he was hesitating, a voice called out from behind: "Erzi, Aqing."
It's my sister-in-law.
Wu An quickly turned around and waved to greet him.
Mei Yueqin asked, "Are you going to go beachcombing?"
Wu An nodded: "Sister-in-law, didn't you and brother go back to your parents' home? Why don't you stay overnight?"
Mei Yueqin shook her head: "Not staying here would be too much trouble."
"Anyway, it's not that far away. I can just borrow Uncle Meng's car to go back."
Wu An thought to himself, nowadays every household has a car, and many families even own sedans, but his family only has two bicycles, which is really quite shabby.
He can't buy a fishing boat right now, so he plans to buy a car first when he has some spare money.
It can be used to transport seafood, and it can also be used by my brother, sister-in-law, and father for transportation.
Sister Duan said, "Don't just stand there and chat."
"Let's talk as we walk."
Wu An asked, "Are we going to the east side of the dock to go beachcombing?"
Mei Yueqin said, "Sister Duan said that a lot of snails and oysters were found over there."
Are you going?
Suddenly, Sister Duan asked, "Ah An, do you have a better place to go?"
Wu An shook his head.
Sister Duan pouted and said, "I think you're just hiding something."
"I heard that everyone hasn't had much success in the mudflats lately, and they haven't found many blue crabs or tiger crabs. Do you have a secret hideout?"
"And the Zhendong Sluice Gate, those guys who went fishing all came back cursing and swearing, saying they fished for half a day and only caught one sea bream."
"It's not even enough to cover the gas costs from the past."
Ah Qing grinned from ear to ear.
He cursed these bandwagoners inwardly, thinking, "Serves them right! Do you think everyone's my brother?"
Wu An's mind was stirred by what he heard. Everyone was staring at him, wanting to get rich by following him.
He could also do the opposite.
He's lucky; he's sure to succeed no matter where he goes.
You've been taking advantage of me, so today I'll take advantage of you too.
He quickly followed, saying, "I haven't gone beachcombing for several days."
"There's nowhere else to go, so I'll go with you to the east side of the dock."
Sister Duan didn't say anything. Anyway, there were only snails and oysters there, not much seafood that could be sold for money. If Wu An wanted to come along, so be it.
It's better to have more people.
The group walked towards the dock, and Mei Yueqin inquired about the progress of the old house's renovation.
Wu An gave a brief explanation, but there wasn't much to say. The renovation of the old house was relatively simple, just fixing the roof and adding doors and windows.
Mei Yueqin then asked, "Since there's nothing else going on, why didn't you go fishing today?"
Wu An shook his head: "The fish aren't biting very well."
Sister Duan interjected, "It's normal. How can you be so lucky every day?"
"Maybe it's just that your newbie luck has worn off, and you won't have such good luck again."
“You’re still young, you need to make more plans. You can’t just go beachcombing with us women every day.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com