Time Travel: A Fisherwoman Goes to the Sea to Raise a Baby

The moonlight was as bright as water, and its silver glow fell on the sparkling sea, reflecting the sparks on the beach that were reluctant to go home.

The waves were rolling when Xu Yiyi brought the children home.

Many families in the village have quieted down.

It is mid-May, and the tidal force is strongest around the first and fifteenth day of each month, and high tides usually occur.

There are still many adults busy on the coast. During the fishing ban period of nearly half a year, they have to seize every opportunity to fill their stomachs.

Xu Er'er put the grouper she picked up into clean water like a treasure, planning to ask Uncle Li to sell it at the dock tomorrow.

There are many restaurants in town, so I like to buy some big items to take home.

Combined with their own unique cooking techniques, this is the skill to keep the business going for a long time.

Therefore, Xu Er'er's grouper can be sold at a good price.

Xu Yiyi looked at the rotten fish and shrimp in his backpack with depression. In the original owner's memory, going to the sea was very simple.

Why is it so difficult for her?

Could it be that her luck is still as bad as ever?

Even Sanchuan and Sihai, who were out playing, picked up a basket full of shrimps and crabs.

"What are you thinking about, sister?"

After Xu Er'er was happy, she saw her elder sister looking sad, and her face suddenly turned ugly.

"I'm just depressed. I worked so hard all night, but this is just a few small fish and shrimp. My great uncle couldn't bear it and gave it to me."

Xu Yiyi sighed, and Xu Erer's heart was finally at ease.

"It's okay, sister. I found a grouper and will sell it later. The money will be enough for us to eat until the New Year."

Xu Er'er's comfort made Xu Yiyi feel even worse.

She had promised to take care of these children and raise them up, but now she couldn't find anything, which made her feel a little frustrated.

The moon was at its zenith, and the siblings slept in each other's arms.

The next morning, I took the grouper to Uncle Li.

There is a small town fifteen nautical miles away from the island. At the dock of the town, fishermen who catch good things at sea usually trade them here, and annual taxes are also paid here.

"Uncle Li, can you help me find out where I can buy sheep in town?"

Sister Cuihua doesn’t have much milk, so we have to quickly get Wuyuan’s food supply.

Otherwise, once Sister Cuihua’s milk stops flowing, Wu Yuan will also go hungry.

"Sheep? We don't have those here. Didn't Wu Yuan send them to your Aunt Cuihua's house to help feed them? They can survive after feeding them with rice soup for a month or so."

Uncle Li had eaten mutton once when he was young, when Xu Yinli came back from the provincial capital.

We also brought back some roasted lamb that the adults gave us as a reward, which tasted a bit strong.

Apart from this, he has no other memories related to sheep.

He went back and forth to the town almost every day, but he had never heard of anyone selling sheep.

"Just ask around first! If all else fails, I'll go look for him in the capital. Even if I feed him for a month or so, Wu Yuan is only three months old. He can't just drink rice porridge all the time."

Xu Yiyi has never experienced this, but she has classmates who grew up drinking rice soup.

Serious illnesses are rare, but minor illnesses are frequent, and the body is in poor health.

Given the low medical standards in ancient times, Xu Yiyi didn't dare let her child get sick.

"Okay, okay, I'll ask for you."

Uncle Li rowed out in the fishing boat. Uncle Li's family was not well off, and this was the only small fishing boat his father's generation had.

When going out to sea, we always follow the people in the village who have big boats, and they will give us a symbolic amount of money if we catch a big catch.

I have saved money for decades, but I still haven't saved enough to buy a big boat.

But the Xu family didn't even have such a small boat.

It’s not that he can’t afford it, it’s that Zhan Jilan is unwilling to spend the money to buy it.

When Xu Yinli got married, the Xu family also gave him a small boat, and no one knew how many generations had passed down the family.

In short, this boat has been at home since Xu Yinli could remember.

The Xu family had a big ship and didn't care about this broken ship. It happened that Xu Yinli was getting married, so they gave it to him.

Unfortunately, Zhan Jilan thought the boat was an eyesore and sold it.

……

Wu Yuan took Er'er to drink milk, but the child kept crying even after eating and drinking enough, which almost scared Er'er.

I brought the baby back home crying and showed it to my elder sister.

Who knew that the little brat Wu Yuan would stop crying and show a toothless smile as soon as he was in his elder sister's arms.

There was no other choice, Xu Yiyi had to carry it on his back and go fishing.

I don’t know if it’s because Aunt Li is experienced or if Xu Yiyi was just lucky this morning.

She didn't straighten her back the entire morning.

I picked up a basket of abalone, seven or eight pearl shells, two large yellow croakers, and a nest of oysters.

Except for the pearl shells and oysters, I gave the rest to Uncle Li to sell.

Uncle Li, who came back from the dock, was already very surprised to see a bag full of abalone. When he saw the yellow croaker, he was so surprised that he couldn't even describe it.

"Did Mazu bless you today? Did you pick up so many good things?"

Uncle Li's eyes were filled with envy, but then he thought, maybe the child's biological father in heaven didn't want to see him suffer.

"There's news about the sheep you asked me to inquire about. A customer at Chunlai Restaurant in town wants to eat lamb, so he asked the owner to order two. There just happened to be a lactating ewe."

This time it was Xu Yiyi's turn to be surprised. She thought that this place was too remote to buy it.

"You're lucky today. The shopkeeper said he bought the sheep for one ounce of silver, but it cost six ounces to transport it here, so he plans to sell it for eight ounces. If you accept, you can go there this afternoon and bring it back."

We have forty-seven taels of silver at home now. If we buy this sheep and take good care of it, Wu Yuan can drink its milk for a long time.

Eight ounces is a bit pricey, but it’s worth it.

"Uncle Li, please bring me along to the dock this afternoon. I want to bargain with the boss."

This means he is willing to accept it, but Uncle Li did not take the child's words seriously.

A restaurant is a place for doing business. You can't sell it to you at a low price just by playing tricks on your ego and saying nice things.

On the way back, Wu Yuan seemed to be infected by his sister's joy and was in high spirits.

"Wuyuan, Wuyuan, I'll bring you the goat this afternoon. I'll let you and your brothers and sisters drink goat's milk every day so you can grow fair and tender..."

Only then can I be worthy of your dear elder sister.

"Sister, why do you keep the pearl shells? They don't taste good."

Xu Er'er was packing today's seafood in the yard, Sanchuan was lighting a fire in the kitchen, and Sihai was sitting quietly at the door in a daze. When he saw his eldest sister come back, he smiled shyly.

"Open the pearls!"

Xu Yiyi's words instantly made Xu Erer laugh.

"Sister, it's not that easy. If pearls were that easy to get, there wouldn't be so many divers risking their lives to fish for them."

Ama women make a living by diving into the sea without any safety equipment and using special sharp knives to pry pearls from under the rocks on the seabed.

Usually, you are lucky to get one pearl out of ten pearl shells.

The key point is that it would be fine if the pearls were obtained by the female divers themselves, but every female diner is registered and under government control.

All the pearls opened must be handed in.

If ordinary people got pearls, they could sell them or keep them for themselves.

Pearls are expensive, and it's not that no one has ever thought about pearl diving, but most people don't have the ability to do so.

Xu Er'er thought her elder sister was joking.