At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Liu Peiyun was waiting at the small pier again.
The eldest daughter-in-law came hurriedly, twisting two large empty buckets.
"Mom, the boat hasn't arrived yet? The tide seems to be rising quite a bit!"
Liu Peiyun was secretly a little worried and explained, "The island is submerged in water every now and then. When the tide is high, there is probably not even a few places to stand. The tide started to rise half an hour ago, why haven't you come back yet?"
The eldest daughter-in-law smiled naively and comforted her: "Don't worry, Mom. Our dad is a great sailor. It won't matter if the tide is a little higher."
"The waves over there are very strong, it's not that easy. Many nearby boats dare not go there." Liu Peiyun sighed, "And there is a large boat of people... I'm worried that they will be greedy and get more crabs, and then it will be even worse. The waves are big and the tide is high, it's no joke."
The eldest daughter-in-law quickly explained: "Mom, Daxing also drove a small boat over this morning. He can help carry some of the things, so don't worry too much."
"That's it." Liu Peiyun finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mom! Look! The boats are back!" the eldest daughter-in-law shouted, pointing into the distance.
Liu Peiyun smiled happily and said, "This is the best way to deal with this. It's better to come back early!"
The daughters-in-law behind also followed, each with a happy smile on their face.
"I wonder how much is left behind? Are there a few more barrels?"
"There are probably more! Lao Wu, you didn't go there this morning to see it with your own eyes - the island is densely packed with them! Really!"
"Oh my god! Xiao Huzi just said it was already 1,700 or 1,800 - that's too much!"
After a while, the boat finally approached and moved briskly towards the dock following the tide.
Soon, the ship docked.
Everyone was covered in mud, like clay figures. Everyone was exhausted, but they all had excited smiles on their faces.
"The buckets on the boat are all full! There are also two large bamboo baskets!"
"No way? Could it be that you have cleared out the entire island?"
"Of course not! We didn't catch any small ones! We let go any that were smaller than half a palm!"
Everyone headed home happily, some carrying, some hoisting, some carrying things on their backs, and the last trip still brought back a full load, which did not disappoint anyone at all.
Chen Xingling looked at the filled foam boxes one by one and couldn't help asking, "Thirty in a pile - shouldn't there be five more?"
"I let Xiaohuzi and his friends take the five big ones to play with." Zhao Xiaoxing explained awkwardly, "I thought there wouldn't be that many left... so my sister-in-law let them take them to play with first."
Chen Xingling laughed and scolded: "You're always messing with me! Go find them right away! Pack up the rest, I guess five won't be enough!"
After a while, several large, dirty foam boxes were brought back.
Some people were bundling, some were stacking, one box after another, and it was all done in less than half an hour.
The old mother and several brothers had already changed their clothes and took a bath. Ma Dali and Gu Yi hurriedly drank the ginger water and went to take a bath as well.
Chen Xingling drank ginger water while looking around, his eyes full of anxiety.
"Why hasn't Archie come back yet?"
Liu Peiyun scolded: "Why don't you take a shower? You are all wet - you are dissatisfied with the fact that you don't have a cold!"
"I'll go right away." Chen Xingling went to the backyard with the clothes in his arms.
When she came out of the shower, her mother gave her another big bowl of ginger water.
Just as Chen Xingling was about to refuse, his old mother glared at him a few times, so he could only take the drink silently.
"Mom, is Archie here?"
Liu Peiyun replied: "Not yet!"
Chen Xingling was extremely worried. The sky was already getting dark, but the most important car had not arrived yet.
"How about..." Chen Jixing suggested: "Let's use a tractor to transport it. If we set out now, we should be able to reach the provincial capital tomorrow."
"No." Chen Xingling shook his head: "It's too late to go there, and we won't be able to catch the morning market."
Chen Daxing couldn't help but remind him, "I don't think anyone will go to the market on the second day of the Lunar New Year. Usually, the food market will start selling it after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year."
"No." Chen Xingling blinked his eyes. "We need to sell it in two groups. One group will go to the places with a lot of people in the city center, and the other group will go to the black market."
Everyone: “…”!!!
After a while, everyone packed and tied up the foam boxes one by one.
The sky began to darken and everyone went home for dinner.
Ma Dali ate his rice in big mouthfuls and urged, "Lingling, eat quickly. Since Aqi said he would arrive before the evening, he is probably on his way."
Chen Xingling smiled bitterly: "No one is working at the gas station on the first day of the new year... It's really hard for him."
At this time, Daqiang, who was chewing beef jerky, ran in.
"Aunt! Uncle is driving here!"
Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this. They didn't even bother to eat and put down their bowls and chopsticks to greet him.
There were faint stains of motor oil on Gu Qi's coat and hands, his hair was slightly messy, and there was a hint of fatigue on his brows.
Chen Xingling secretly felt distressed and asked, "...Have you been looking for a long time? Look how tired you are!"
Gu Qi smiled slightly and shook his head: "Brother Liu and I went to find the manager of the gas station. He was very straightforward and took us to refuel. It wasn't that difficult. But when we were sending Brother Liu back, the car suddenly broke down. It turned out that the car hadn't been maintained for a long time, and the engine had some minor problems."
Chen Xingling smiled bitterly and muttered: "No wonder...it took so long!"
Gu Qi explained: "It was too big, and I didn't know where to find someone to repair it, so Brother Liu and I just pushed the car to the factory. There were all kinds of tools there, and I fixed the problem. Thinking that we would have to transport so many crabs at night and travel long distances continuously, we simply checked the car inside and out to make sure everything was correct before coming back."
Although it's just a few words, the hard work involved is self-evident.
Chen Xingling couldn't help asking, "How far did it take to get to the factory? Sometimes the cart was carrying people, and sometimes people were pushing the cart. It's really a changing world!"
Gu Qi laughed dumbly, "Brother Liu said that this was the most difficult first day of the Chinese New Year for him. I dragged him out of the house in the morning, and he didn't even have a bite to eat at noon. He and I pushed the cart on the main road, and we couldn't even have a drink of water at the factory. I could only go to the first floor of Linjiang and screw down a thermos. He helped out on the side until we finished our work earlier, and then I sent him back and rushed back."
"Thank you for your hard work." Chen Xingling pulled him home swiftly: "Come on! Let's eat! When you're done tomorrow, I'll treat Brother Liu to a meal to make amends when I'm free."
"Archie! Come and eat!"
"T."
After dinner, Gu Qi asked his father-in-law for a handful of tea leaves, stuffed them all into a military kettle, and then poured hot water into it.
The father-in-law couldn't help asking, "What's wrong? Make some tea? Do you want more?"
"That's enough." Gu Qi explained: "If you have to drive at night, you need strong tea to refresh yourself. This way you can stay awake and avoid accidents."
"Yes, yes." The father-in-law reminded: "Bring more. You may want to drink it when you come back."
Unable to refuse such a kind invitation, Gu Qi just wrapped another handful of it with his handkerchief.
Soon, several brothers and Ma Dali loaded the foam boxes into the car one after another.
Fortunately, they were all square boxes, so the space was used to the utmost. There was one person stuffed in the back seat, and two large bamboo baskets outside, so Ma Dali couldn't squeeze in at all.
Chen Xingling suddenly had an idea and took out a large foam box and went to the co-pilot's side and stuffed it at her feet, finally saving some space for Ma Dali to get in.
"A big gift, is that okay?" Gu Qi Guan asked.
Ma Dali leaned on the foam box and smiled, "Okay! It's not hard, it's soft and warm, so I don't have to worry about catching a cold when I sleep."
After packing their things, the three of them set off in a hurry.
Gu Yi watched the car go away and couldn't help muttering: "I really want to go and see what's going on..."
"Don't even think about it!" Chen Wuxing joked, "The back is so packed that there's not even a gap! Unless you lie on the roof, there's nowhere for you to get through!"
Gu Yi couldn't help but secretly feel jealous: "Brother would rather take Ma Dali with him than take me. I was planning to sell something, but he didn't even give me a chance."
"It was all arranged by my younger sister." Chen Jixing comforted him in a gentle voice: "My younger sister arranged it this way, of course she has her reasons."
Gu Yi still felt sad: "Actually, I can do it too——"
“There will definitely be opportunities in the future.”
"Yes! There will be another chance!"
…
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