Fisherman Fubao made his fortune by fishing

In order to reward everyone for their hard work in recent days and to get rid of the bad luck, the Li family prepared a sumptuous meal.

The pork belly stewed with white cabbage is greasy, the dried yellow croaker is fried fragrantly, and there is also the roast chicken brought back by Li Yuer and the fried eggs with green onions, which are all yellow and make people's mouths water just by looking at them.

There are not many dishes, but the quantity is large, with plenty of meat and oil.

Served with brown rice, it's simply delicious.

After the meal, Old Mrs. Cai distributed the cloth and cotton she had bought to each household.

Old Mrs. Cai bought brown sugar and a basket of eggs for her second daughter-in-law to eat during her confinement.

I also bought some refined rice to make porridge for my grandson. It would be best if my second daughter-in-law was in better health and I could breastfeed her.

In front of the whole family, Old Man Li took out a set of silver noodles and placed them in front of his wife.

"Grandma, this is the dowry given to you by the children. Please keep it well."

Old Mrs. Cai stroked the carved wooden box and her eyes turned red.

A woman's life is very difficult, and dowry is very important to her. Whether she can gain a foothold in her husband's family in the first half of her life mostly depends on the size of her dowry. Whether she can gain the respect of her children in the second half of her life also depends on how much dowry she can pass down.

She thought she would never be able to get back her dowry in this lifetime, but unexpectedly her granddaughter found a stranded whale, and everything she had lost was returned double. The Li family turned their fortunes around, and a poor islander could actually have so much wealth, enough to settle down on land.

Being able to buy a house and land on land is the lifelong dream of all islanders, but after so many years, not a single family has left Rabbit Island.

Old Mrs. Cai opened the wooden box with trembling hands, and a silver-glittering head ornament was placed in the red satin.

A carved silver hairpin, more exquisite and heavier than the previous one, a pair of silver earrings, the filigree and hollowing technique is incomparable to the previous pair, and a heavy silver bracelet with intricate patterns on it, which is obviously worth a lot of money.

At that time, her husband insisted on dragging her into the jewelry shop and would not let her look, saying that the Li family had let her down and that he wanted to help her buy back her dowry himself.

She knew that he was afraid that she would be reluctant to spend the money and refuse.

"Good, that's great! You are all filial children."

Old Mrs. Cai carefully closed the wooden box and put it next to her.

These will be passed down to our children in the future, and will be the capital for them to make a living, passed down from generation to generation.

“Now that our family has received unexpected wealth, your father and I have discussed it and decided to make inquiries in the spring so that we can settle down on land.

"Clap!"

Some people were so excited that they dropped their chopsticks.

"Auntie, are you serious?"

The most excited person was Li Laosan. He had always wanted to go out and make a lot of money so that one day he could fulfill his ancestors' wish and lead the Li family to move to land.

Now that his long-cherished wish is about to come true, how can he not be excited.

At the same time, he felt a little lost. It was not that he looked down on his family, but he always felt that the Li family was too content with the status quo, had no enterprising spirit, and no ability. It was impossible for anyone to take the whole family to fly out of Rabbit Island.

He always thought that the person who could lead the Li family out of Rabbit Island would be himself.

In the end, not only did he fail to help his family, he also caused his family to lose a large sum of money and owed someone a favor.

He felt that he was not even as good as a little girl named Li Yuer.

Old Lady Cai nodded solemnly to everyone and said, "It's not safe to keep the money in your hands. Only by exchanging it for a house and land can we settle down in the future."

The island fishermen were living in poverty, and suddenly they received a large sum of money. She and her husband were worried that their children would squander the money or have it robbed by thieves.

If you change it to houses and land, it won’t be easy to lose everything.

"Then where do we settle down?" asked Li Laoer.

Settling down is a big issue. If it is done well, your life will be good in the future. If it is not done well, trouble may arise.

The ancients would not easily leave their homeland. Most of them lived together in clans for generations and had a certain degree of xenophobia.

The Li family has been fishermen on Rabbit Island for generations. People from outside the island are unwilling to marry in, and people from the island cannot leave easily, so they have almost no relatives on land.

Mrs. Cai replied: "We plan to visit your uncle during the Spring Festival."

Old Mrs. Cai has a younger brother, who, in terms of seniority, is Li Yuer and his friends’ great uncle.

When my parents were still alive, the two families would visit each other during the Chinese New Year. After my parents passed away, the Li family had a hard time and could not even afford decent New Year gifts, so the two families visited each other less and less frequently. Over time, they lost contact for several years.

But at this time, the Li family didn't know anyone else, and Mrs. Cai's younger brother was considered a reliable and respectable relative.

The settlement was thus settled.

At this time, Li Erlang took out four pairs of silver earrings.

Each woman in the Li family has a pair.

Zhang didn't expect that she had it too, and was so surprised that she was at a loss.

She wiped her hands on her apron again and again, then picked up the beautiful flower-shaped earrings. The sterling silver earrings sparkled with white light, which made people happy.

Old Mrs. Cai complained, "You kids have money now, but you save it to start a family. What are you buying for us old ladies?"

But the smile on his face couldn't be hidden.

Fan has been taking good care of herself these past few days, and her complexion has improved a little. She held her youngest son in her arms and said with a smile, "My Dalang and Yubaoer know how to be filial. I am blessed, and so is Hainiuer. Life will be good once they are born at home, and they are in a hurry to enjoy their happiness."

The Li family smiled as they looked at the baby in the cradle, who was sleeping soundly and blowing bubbles.

The birth of a new baby always brings joy, especially when the baby is born when life at home is better than it used to be.

At the village chief's home on the southern slope of Tuwozi Village, the village chief's wife was scooping noodles with a gourd ladle. Half a bag of noodles looked like a lot, but to survive the winter, she had to budget carefully every day.

She scooped a ladleful of flour, paused, and shook her hands, then shook out a small half ladleful of flour into the bag.

The village chief, who was sitting on the boat deck, sighed and said, "We can't keep the things. We have to return them to Old Eleven. Old Eleven's family is in trouble."

"Bang!" The village head's wife threw the gourd ladle and the flour back into the bag and complained: "He has a hard time! Isn't our family also in a hard time? Juanzi sent someone to send a message back that she will not come back this year."

The village chief was stunned for a moment, then heaved a long sigh: "What? Juanzi's stomach is still not moving?"

"What can happen? I work before dawn every day, like a slave. My body is broken. How can I get pregnant again?"

The village head's wife kept complaining, as if she wanted to pour out all the suffering she had endured for decades at once.

"If our family had a little ability, would we let our daughter suffer like this? What did we say before? Let me ask you, old man, you are so generous. Today, this person is in trouble and asks you for money. Tomorrow, that person will be short of money and ask you to borrow food. You are so generous even though you are poor. Your generosity will cost your family everything!"

As she spoke, she choked up and said, "If you didn't lend the money, you could buy some brown sugar and eggs to visit your daughter and give her some face. Over the years, your daughter has given us so much money, but what about you? You haven't even given her a fart in return. Don't you feel guilty?"

The village chief felt upset at being scolded, but he couldn't refute a word.

Li Juan is the eldest and only daughter of the village chief. She is the couple's oldest daughter. She married a peddler in Fushui Village, Fuzhou Bay, which is considered a high-class marriage for the islanders.

Li Juan gave birth to a baby the second year after her marriage, but it was a girl, so she was not welcomed by her husband's family. She had to work hard and endure humiliation in her husband's family. There was no news for the next seven years.

Li Juan's life in her husband's family became increasingly difficult, and her daughter also suffered.

The mother and daughter served the whole family like servants, and they were not well fed or clothed, and were often humiliated and beaten.

The village chief is also powerless. They are on the island and out of reach. They can't take care of them even if they want to.

In addition, the islanders were poor and could not help their daughter financially, so they looked down on Li Juan.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and the village chief shivered his shoulders, looking even older and weaker.

He thought for a while and said gloomily, "Isn't our family still able to survive? The Eleventh Brother's family lost two adults and also spent most of their wealth. We can't be greedy for his little stuff."

The village head's wife stopped talking, and just kept shaking her shoulders, suppressing her tears.

The village chief took a cloth bag, put a few pounds of black flour in a gourd, went to another boat, took his grandson Futouer with him, and left.

Futouer opened his big curious eyes and asked: "Grandpa, where are we going? Are we going to see my aunt on land?"

The village chief's body trembled involuntarily, but he didn't say anything and continued to lead his grandson.

Fu Tou'er thought he had guessed it right, and kept thinking about what delicious food he could eat at his aunt's house.

In the past, every Chinese New Year, my aunt would bring a lot of good things to our family, such as pork belly or cakes.

When the village chief arrived at Old Man Li's house, the Li family had just finished breakfast.

Seeing the village chief carrying something to his door, holding his grandson, the deputy chief, in his hand, Old Man Li was a little surprised.

"Old Eleven, I'm sorry, Futou has caused trouble for your family."

Old man Li, who was chopping wood next to the stove, quickly dropped his tools and rushed over.

"Brother Jiu, where did you get this from?" He was a little confused.

Old Mrs. Cai led her eldest daughter-in-law out of the kitchen shed, wondering if there was a conflict among the children.

The village chief quickly brought Futouer, who was holding his mouth shut, to him and said, "Two days ago, Futouer didn't know better and exchanged a conch for Yubaoer's pearl. I'm returning it to you."

Fu Tou'er had originally imagined going to his aunt's house to eat and drink delicious food, but who knew he was actually taken to Eleventh Grandpa's house, and he was here to return the pearl. His mood instantly plummeted from the clouds to the sea.

As he spoke, the village chief took out a pearl from a handkerchief wrapped in layers of cloth.

Mr. and Mrs. Li looked at each other, and Mrs. Cai said, "Brother Jiu, don't worry, I'll call Yu Baoer to ask what's going on."

So, Yu Baoer, who was taking a nap, was pulled up.

She looked at the dejected Fu Tou'er across from her with sleepy eyes and said with a smile: "Brother Fu Tou'er, why do you come to our house so early to play?"

Fu Tou'er glared at her and said, "You scabby dog, you're a snitch."

As soon as he said this, he was hit on the head violently by the village chief.

"This matter has nothing to do with Yu Bao'er. I heard it from Da Bao from Seventh Brother's family."