Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1227: Drying Kelp in Full Swing
Ye Yaodong checked the daily bottling volume of fish sauce and found that the output was quite stable every day.

It’s not that the workers are not diligent, but that the amount that is filtered out is limited, so the output of bagged products cannot be increased. It is no different from before. Everyone works half a day and rests half a day.

When I first got the machine, I worked non-stop for the first few days. After it was dry, the quantity could not keep up, and I had to keep some for big jars, after all, some grocery stores also needed jars.

After reading it, he tapped the worker, drew a picture, and then went to the next room to watch the goods being weighed. By the way, he also chatted with Lin Xiuqing about the order.

The eldest son has already taken the suitcase that had just been taken down from the car home. He asked Aqing to check the order later and prepare the goods in advance and remind him in advance when the time comes.

He would then arrange the ship to deliver the goods according to the time stated in the order, and he would also go along to deliver the goods and collect the payment.

Now the staff of the two workshops at home are all arranged properly. As long as there is a ship coming back, Lin Xiuqing doesn't need to make any arrangements. Everyone knows what to do and she just needs to supervise.

After touring the workshop, Ye Yaodong went home with A Qing, but he did not go directly into the house. Instead, he went to the surrounding wasteland slopes to watch them work, such as weeding, inserting bamboo and pulling ropes.

The old lady at home went home early and naturally prepared food for him. Lin Xiuqing was not in a hurry to go back either, but stayed beside him and explained things to him.

No one wanted the land around here before. It was too close to the sea, and everyone was worried about the waves. It was also too close to the beach, so the wasteland was often washed and soaked by the waves, and nothing could be planted.

When their family was building the house, they dug a lot of yellow mud from the mountain. They also had ready-made workers to tidy up the land and fenced off a yard so they could grow some vegetables.

It doesn’t matter if you are drying kelp, and it doesn’t matter if the terrain is uneven.

"The village committee went around the village and arranged for someone to come here to tidy up the land. They also cut down the trees that needed to be cut on the slopes and cleared the garbage."

"Originally, the old primary school in the village was borrowed by Wang Laowu's family to dry fish. Now the village committee wants to dry kelp, so they have no choice but to move away. I heard that they have moved to the village where the eldest daughter-in-law's family comes from to dry fish."

Ye Yaodong responded casually, and when he saw Secretary Chen was there, he walked over.

When Secretary Chen saw him, he was as enthusiastic as if he had seen the God of Wealth. A smile spread across his face and he was extremely enthusiastic.

"I'm back. I've gotten a lot darker. It must have been hard work. Haha. It's just right that I'm back. The weather has been good these two days. I'll probably be able to harvest some kelp tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"It has to be completely dry, not even a little bit wet. I'm back now and will rest at home for two days. You don't have to worry, you can't run away."

"We will definitely do it. Don't worry. Everyone is counting on these kelps, so we will definitely make them well."

Ye Yaodong also smiled and said, "Okay."

"The village has been buzzing with talk these past few days about Aguo and his two children being sent abroad, even more so than the kelp harvest."

"You can talk to your father later and ask him to come over to talk about this. After all, this is illegal and not so glorious. How can you bring it up and make a big fuss about it?"

"When they were borrowing money everywhere a few days ago, I went to their house to remind them. Who would have thought they would be so high-profile and wanted to shout it out so that the whole world would know."

Ye Yaodong also felt that it was inappropriate to listen to everyone's discussion in the workshop just now. Being so high-profile, if someone investigates, it will be troublesome if Lao Hai and the others are exposed. They will also easily bring trouble upon themselves, and the snakehead is also a ruthless character.

"I'll talk to my dad later and ask him to remind him."

"Well, everyone seems to be confused."

"Pick up the kelp in the next two days. As long as they don't talk about it, it will probably pass. Everyone's attention will be on the kelp."

"I think so too. We are all from the same village, and we can't just watch them get into trouble."

"Okay, I'll go back first. I just came back and I'm all dirty."

"You go back first. This is just land preparation work. There's nothing to see. I want to go back too."

Lin Xiuqing said as she walked: "Secretary Chen is a very clear-headed person. He has considered everything."

"Of course, otherwise how can you be a village cadre? Go and help call Dad over for dinner, and I'll give him a heads up."

"it is good."

Father Ye had been busy in the workshop for a while and knew everything that had happened in the village in the past few days. As soon as Ye Yaodong said something, he immediately agreed and hurried back after dinner.

They came back late too, but it wasn't time for dinner yet, and now they had eaten early, so they didn't need to have dinner.

After dinner, Ye Yaodong went to the workshop to check on it before going home to sleep.

When he woke up at night, he couldn't fall asleep. He looked up at the dark ceiling and then thought about it and planned his next arrangements.

It is now mid-to-late April, and next month will be the squid season. He plans to let his father drive the Dongsheng on the next voyage, after all, his father has to look after several other boats.

He planned to take the boat No. 007 that he had on hand and go squid fishing with his own people.

He can't look down on the flood season just because he is rich. He can earn a lot by working for more than half a month, and he also has to collect and dry squids.

No one knows when the flood season will arrive this year, so he leaves it to Aqing to arrange. He is afraid that she can't handle it alone, so he can do a better job if he is at home.

He did what he said and mentioned it to his father during breakfast the next morning.

Father Ye thought about it and felt that it made sense. "That's fine. You can still arrange to collect the squids at home. The price of this thing is dropping day by day. You have to plan when to collect them. They sold quickly last year. If you want to store more goods this year, you have to figure it out and ask Ah Cai to keep some for you."

"I think so."

"Then you might as well use the longline or trawling net at home and don't sit idle for the next few days."

"I see. The old fishing nets were paired with the fishing boats and rented out together. The new boat doesn't have a large trawling net, and it's hard to make one on the spur of the moment, so let's use the longline fishing. We still have some leftover materials at home, so we can ask someone to sort them out and add some more."

"It's up to you."

Lin Xiuqing and the old lady were also happy that he could stay at home for a while, under their supervision, and not go out to sea.

The old lady was particularly relieved. "It's good to be at home. I told you not to work so hard. Ask others to do the work that needs to be done. You already have so many workers. You don't need to do so much work yourself. Just give more work to others."

Father Ye said unhappily, "I am someone else, right? The one who does the work."

"What did you say to me? It's okay for you to share more. While you are still young, help more."

"Okay, I'll help more and he can rest more."

"Why do you always talk like this? Have I wronged you, or has someone wronged you? Who owes you something?"

"You are really old and confused. Even if you are not sick, you will get sick from anger."

Ye Yaodong quickly changed the subject, "Dad, did you tell Second Uncle yesterday?"

"He said that when he came back, he told his family not to say anything, so as not to cause trouble for himself. He also knew that smuggling was not a good thing, and it couldn't be said openly."

"But some time ago, because of borrowing money, relatives leaked the news, and it spread everywhere. Also, because of the meeting, too many people knew about it, so it was impossible to stop it for a while. He said that the rumors were so fierce in the past two days, and they didn't spread them outside. It was because everyone saw him coming back that they started spreading it again."

Ye's mother said disdainfully, "It's hard to say. I think your second aunt is quite proud of herself. She even told us that working outside can earn 10 years' worth of money in one month. Otherwise, why would everyone suddenly want to go abroad? Before, everyone said they were messing around, thinking that there were so many things to do with the 6000 yuan, just to go abroad."

Father Ye frowned, "What can you do with 6000 yuan? You can buy two boats, but you just send a child abroad. It's a waste of money. Two children cost more than 1 yuan, and a millionaire is gone. How can you be so stubborn?"

Ye's mother looked at Ye Yaodong, "Can you really earn as much as your family earns in 10 years in one month abroad? How much money do you make in a month? Is that true? Isn't that like picking up money? Here we can earn or yuan a month, but going abroad is risky and the salary is high, so you can still make or yuan."

Lin Xiuqing also asked curiously: "If you can earn the same amount of money in a month abroad as we do in 10 years here, wouldn't everyone go abroad like crazy? What's the 6000 yuan smuggling fee? Can you make back your money in a month?"

Ye Yaodong also asked Ye Yaohai in the provincial capital about his salary in recent years.

Now is indeed a prosperous period with rapid development of daily life, and the economic bubble has not yet burst.

Earning ten years' worth of money in one month may sound exaggerated, but it is not really an exaggeration if you work in a formal job.

In China, there are many people who make 30 to 50 yuan a month, which is only 500 to 600 yuan a year, and 5,000 to 6,000 yuan in 10 years.

How to compare...

That is to say, labor is cheaper in physical labor and fast food restaurant jobs, which is why Xiaoshi prefers to employ these outsiders.

"It's not an exaggeration. 6000 yuan is a lot of money here. It may take ten years to save that much money. You may think that 6000 yuan for illegal immigration is a sky-high price. You can use it for anything. But in foreign countries, 6000 yuan may be just a month's salary for an office worker."

The whole family opened their mouths wide, thinking that it was Uncle Ye's family who were bragging, and no one took it seriously.

Is it still true?

"However, since they sneaked in, it's impossible for them to get such a high salary. But if they wash dishes in a store, it should be no problem to make 1,000 or 2,000 yuan a month."

"One or two thousand!! A month!" Ye's mother was shocked.

Lin Xiuqing was also surprised, "You can earn one or two thousand a month just by washing dishes?"

Father Ye can no longer speak.

The old lady murmured, "Washing dishes, I can do it too..."

"Hahahahaha..."

Ye Yaodong laughed, "You can't do that. No one would want you if you don't want money."

"Dad, I can do it, I can do it. I'll go wash the dishes and give you half of the earnings. I'll go! Why should I continue my studies with so much money?" Ye Chenghu's eyes gleamed with a wolf's light, he was very excited.

Ye's mother was also excited. "Then they made the right decision to send their child abroad? If they send their child abroad, wouldn't they be able to make their money back immediately after working for a few months? And they would have extra money to send back? That would be 10,000 or 20,000 yuan a year? They'd be rich."

"Although I can earn one or two thousand a month, the expenses are also very high. Don't underestimate it. Food, drink, housing and other expenses all cost money."

Lin Xiuqing said, "That's better than being at home. If I can save a little bit of one or two thousand yuan, even one or two hundred yuan is much better."

Father Ye looked at Ye Yaodong hopefully, "Then can we send two away from home?"

"Send me, send me..."

Ye Yaodong glared at Ye Chenghu who was making trouble. "What does it have to do with you? Your father is working so hard for your future. Is it necessary to let you wash dishes when you are only eight or nine years old? You won't even know how you died. Shut up. Do you have the right to interrupt when adults are talking? If you keep talking, go stand in the corner."

Ye Chenghu immediately shut up and lowered his head to eat.

Father Ye explained: "I mean you can send your eldest brother and second brother's children out. You have a big family now, so you don't need to send your children out to earn money."

"It's not that simple. There's chaos abroad too. Who knows how much hardship one has to endure to earn so much money? They're of different races and from a different place. How could it be that easy? I heard that those who sneaked over here are all working illegally and are bullied by the locals. They also have to hide everywhere to avoid being found and sent back home."

"That...that really doesn't seem to be that easy."

Father Ye immediately gave up the idea. He was not that cruel.

"If they can really earn that much, they will be so proud of themselves, right?" Mother Ye pursed her lips.

"We just sent him away a few days ago. We don't know what he is like yet. What are you talking about now?"

The old lady said quickly: "Then we have to bless them to arrive safely, and then make a lot of money and send it back, so that everyone will be happy."

Father Ye also nodded in agreement, "Yes, if it's so easy to earn money, they will be able to pay back all the borrowed money in a few months."

His 500 yuan.

"Then you should eat more vegetarian food and chant more Buddha's name. Chant Amitabha more often."

Lin Xiuqing said with emotion: "I didn't expect the salary abroad to be so high. No wonder they dare to ask for 6000 yuan for smuggling. They can earn 1 or yuan a month, so asking for yuan is not too much."

"I heard it would cost 7,000 yuan, and since they were from the same family and my second uncle and his family kept saying good things, I gave them a discount."

"If they really go abroad and send money back, everyone in the village will go crazy and follow them to leave. How many people will go crazy if they send one or two thousand a month?"

"Don't think too simply. How can you send money across borders so easily? Wait until they work abroad for three years and get a black card."

"Oh, I was thinking that everyone would go abroad to work and earn money, and no one would raise kelp anymore."

"No, the benefits of kelp are clear to see. Going abroad to work is just a lie. I heard that there are so many people in the village, and many people are eager to farm it."

Ye Yaodong was not worried about this. There were more down-to-earth people there, and it would not be easy to see results from the two children sent abroad.

"It's true that those who are smart and like to think of crooked ideas can easily make money." Ye's father muttered.

Ye's mother didn't believe it was so easy to make money. "Just wait and see. If you don't make money, everything you say is empty talk. You are so happy now, but you don't know what will happen when the time comes."

"What are you talking about? Can't you say something good?" Father Ye was unhappy.

"You won't let people tell the truth? I just can't stand how high-profile they are. It's obviously illegal, but they act so gloriously, as if they have made a lot of money. They think they are superior to everyone else. I'm not as impressive as them."

Ye Yaodong lowered his head to eat, not caring about his mother's little thoughts.

I just feel that I have been sisters-in-law for decades and have been comparing with each other for decades. I have a decent job and my son is promising, but now I feel that I am being suppressed. I feel uncomfortable and I have to say something to make myself feel better.

He doesn’t know his mother yet?
Ye's father also started to criticize Ye's mother, and the couple spent the entire meal arguing with each other, neither of them willing to give the other the upper hand.

The whole family has gotten used to it. They don’t argue about right or wrong, but only about who is superior or inferior.

After finishing their meal, clearing the dishes and leaving the table, they naturally calmed down, then went out with a smile on their faces and greeted everyone they met.

After dinner, Ye Yaodong also walked to the open space next to him.

When he got up this morning and stood at the door, he saw several carts pulling kelp back and forth to dry in the sun.

The rich smell of the sea wafted into our nostrils during the meal. It was only because their family was talking about the smuggling incident so lively that no one walked out with their bowls in hand to stand aside and watch.

When he walked out, he saw a bunch of neighbors nearby holding their bowls, eating while watching others work and chatting.

In the open space not far away, on the earth slope, there are rows of neatly arranged bamboo poles. They were inserted when the open space was cleaned up yesterday.

Some bamboo poles were hung with large ropes, on which hung pieces of brown kelp more than one meter long. Some of the leaves were smaller, and the rich smell of kelp wafted into his nose, a familiar smell.

Some villagers worked together to lift the big rope full of kelp and prop it up on bamboo poles; some separated the kelp that were stuck together so that they could be dried more evenly; and some worked together to lift the kelp to hang it.

These kelps are pulled from the sea onto the boat after the ropes are cut directly on the seabed. Then the entire rope of kelp is dragged ashore and placed on a cart.

A rope carrying water weighs one or two hundred pounds, which is definitely a very strenuous job.

According to A Qing, most of the people working here are there to help voluntarily and none of them ask for payment.

Because everyone wanted to see the output, they also worked with the village committee in the second half of the year.

Anyway, everyone’s labor is cheap, so it doesn’t matter if they help out a little. They just think of it as lending a hand.

Helping out in advance can help you become more familiar with the work, and you will have more say when you participate in it.

Ye Yaodong looked at everyone busying themselves and walked towards a cart with a smile. On the cart was piled kelp higher than a person. He touched it and it was slippery. The leaves were thick, but the texture was a bit hard, feeling like plastic.

"This kelp is growing nicely, like a small quilt."

The village chief said cheerfully, "It's all thanks to your good guidance, and also thanks to the good care of the two workers. After raising it for a few more days, they said it has grown a little bigger."

"That's good. But I have to remind you that if the fresh kelp is not dried in time, it will easily go bad. Also, in May, when the temperature rises, the kelp will easily rot in the sea. You will have to work hard to collect the kelp in the next two days."

The village chief and Secretary Chen became anxious all of a sudden.

"Ah, we have to hurry up and collect them. It's the end of the month. We have to collect them no matter how late it is in the next two days. There are still a lot of them in the sea. It's just that the two boats are rowing back and forth too slowly. We have to go out when the tide is high and come back before the tide goes out."

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment and said, "My trawler has not been used these past two days, so I'd like to lend it to you. You can use my trawler to pull kelp. You can pull more in one trip, and it's faster to go back and forth, so you can collect it earlier and dry it."

Fishing boats can go out to sea only when the tide is high.

At the same time, they had to get back before the tide receded, otherwise the boat would not be able to dock, so they also had to race against time against the tide.

Generally speaking, when their fishing boats go out to sea, they will calculate the time of high and low tide in advance, so as to avoid wasting time when the tide does not come in and the fishing boats cannot get in or out.

"Okay, okay, I still have to rely on you at the critical moment."

"Everything is for the collective. Both boats have been donated, so it's okay to borrow one more. But I have to sail that boat in a few days, and I won't be able to borrow it if I need it later. So you should hurry up these two days, and take advantage of the good weather to dry it out quickly."

Secretary Chen agreed, "Okay, let's have them work overtime today. No matter how late they stay up, they have to collect more."

The village chief also said: "Fortunately, we cleaned up this piece of land in time yesterday, cut down all the trees that needed to be cut down, and now we have a place to dry the fruits."

"If we raise more next year, we will have trouble finding space to dry the fish..." Secretary Chen added.

"What are you worried about? There's such a large open space on the beach. What is there to worry about?"

Ye Yaodong pointed to the large stretch of beach in front of him and asked, “Isn’t this all open space?”
It was just that he came back late yesterday and they were already cleaning up the land here, so he didn't say much.

"Sunbathing on the beach? How can that be possible?"

"Why not? You hang the kelp on bamboo poles to dry anyway, so why not hang it higher? There are two high tides and two low tides a day anyway, so it won't be a problem if the kelp is not touched during high tide?"

The two thought about it, and then looked at the kelp hanging on the bamboo poles in front of them to dry, and thought that it might be feasible?
"Then we'll talk about it next year. The old primary school should be ready for collection later, and the space will be freed up for drying."

"I'll go take a look later."

"It's very busy here right now, and we don't have time to accompany you. You can either go by yourself, or wait until it's almost time for dinner and then go together."

"It's okay, you guys do your thing, I'll just turn around."

After the two old men finished talking to him, they rolled up their sleeves to help. They didn’t have the airs of village cadres at all and participated very enthusiastically.

These kelps are cultivated by the village committee. After paying for the expenses, the remaining profits will go to the public.

Once a village becomes prosperous, there are many things it can do.

Ye Yaodong stood aside and watched, listening to the nearby villagers chatting. During this time, some people came over and joined in to help.

After a cartload of kelp has been dried, the empty cart will be pushed outside the dock to wait.

He said he would lend the boat to the village committee to collect kelp, and they just asked them to arrange someone to drive the boat immediately.

Seeing that they were now in a rush to harvest in autumn, Ye Yaodong wanted to quickly harvest everything in the sea.

Therefore, when harvesting kelp, you must also pay attention to the weather and calculate the time. You cannot just let it grow whenever you want.

"Adong, how much do you think this much kelp can be sold for?"

"You have to weigh it to know how much it can sell for. Anyway, it's more expensive this year than last year, 1 cents per pound. You can do the math yourself."

"They said yesterday that a rope with water in it weighs more than 100 kilograms. There are 400 ropes in one acre of land. How much does it weigh? 20 tons?"

"You're stupid. You just said you brought over 100 kilograms of water. Now that you've dragged it here to dry, the water has all dripped off. How can it still be over 100 kilograms? Everyone said that after it was hung up, only or kilograms were left. A lot of it fell into the sea."

The villagers all want to know how much kilograms of output can be obtained from one acre of land so as to calculate the income and see whether it is cost-effective to engage in breeding.

A villager who was hanging kelp on the ropes to dry them said with a smile: "Some of them weigh 70 to 80 kilograms, and some weigh 60 to 70 kilograms. It's hard to tell. Some of the kelp on the ropes are a little small, and many of them have fallen into the sea."

"There are quite a lot of things being picked up on the beach these days, including some children and the elderly."

"We picked them up and put them in the sun. Will you take them back, Dong? Please don't look down on us for our scattered finds, okay?"

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "Go ahead, pick them up. As long as they are of good quality, I'll take them all."

"Okay, okay, my family has also picked up dozens of kilograms recently and hung them outside our house..."

"Me too……"

Ye Yaodong did some calculations and decided that after drying the kelps, he would have to pull off the ones with yellow tails and repair them. According to the villagers' estimates just now, the yield per mu might actually be 10 tons, which exceeded his expectations.

It is really a good harvest, probably because there was little rain and plenty of sunshine last winter.

It is not as good as the later output, but this output is really not low, it is a great harvest. Before last year, he thought it would be good to have 5 to 8 tons.

"You can't calculate it now. You have to wait until this batch of kelp is dried, cut off the ones with yellow tails and holes, and weigh them to know the total weight. I also receive dry goods, so I can have a reference after they are dried and weighed for me."

"Haha, everyone is looking forward to it."

"This year we have a bumper harvest, so let's follow suit next year. If we are as lucky as we are this year, every household will be able to buy a TV and a washing machine next year."

"Hahahaha...Everyone is looking forward to this day."

Ye Yaodong's words touched their hearts. Just thinking about it made them feel happy. All their efforts were rewarded. There was nothing better than this.

He looked at the place which was bustling with activity, everyone was talking eagerly. His father and mother came out first, and were already surrounded by people.

After looking for a while, he left and went to the old primary school.

Walking through the village, his nose was no longer filled with the smell of salted fish and the smell of the sea, but with the rich smell of kelp.

It seems that everyone has picked up a lot of kelp and hung it at their doorsteps.

It shows that the technology is not up to standard yet, so much kelp still falls into the sea.

When he got to the old primary school, he saw that it was densely packed with kelp. The smell was even stronger, and some of them had a little white frost on them after being exposed to the sun. It seemed that it was almost time to harvest.