Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982
Chapter 91

With seven people and two flashlights, they decided to split into two teams.

Cicada nymphs are easy to catch at night. When the flashlights shone on the tree trunks, they were everywhere, just in low positions, close to the ground.

Perhaps because it had just gotten dark, they had just crawled out of the soil along the tree trunks.

All seven of them crouched there catching them. It was incredibly easy, and they kept moving to new spots.

“Damn, I killed another stinking mosquito!”

“Shit, I should’ve worn long sleeves and pants!”

Hearing their complaints, Ye Yaodong and Ah Guang were grateful they hadn’t bathed yet and were still wearing their work clothes with long sleeves and pants.

By the time their legs were numb from crouching and they were covered in mosquito bites, they gave up catching more.

“I can’t take it anymore, there are too many mosquitoes. Let’s go, this is enough for drinking.”

“Next time we need to come prepared.”

“I’d already showered and was wearing a tank top, can’t believe I came out here to go crazy with you guys. We really must be too well-fed!”

Ye Yaodong lifted the bag, feeling its weight, “Should be about 4-5 jin. When we get back, everyone take some home. Ah Guang, take more. We’ll keep some for drinking tomorrow. The river catch should be enough too, so we don’t need to buy seafood at the dock. It’s nice to eat these local river catches occasionally.”

“Sounds good. I’m about to throw up from eating so much shellfish lately. We dug up too many, have to eat them every day! Even dried them to eat! Next time we definitely shouldn’t dig up so many.”

“Let’s get down the mountain before discussing this.”

They were all scratching here and there, really suffering from mosquito bites. Ye Yaodong only felt a slight itch on his neck.

“Let’s try pulling up the traps in the river, see how much we’ve caught in this short time. After that, let’s head back. We don’t have anything to put the catch in anyway. I’ll come back to collect in the morning, you guys don’t need to bother.”

“Dongzi, you’ve been working for a few days. Looks like you’ve matured a bit, huh?” Haozi had been busy recently and hadn’t seen Ye Yaodong for a while. Tonight, he felt something was different about him, he seemed more mature and steady compared to before when he was always fooling around without any seriousness.

“People grow up, you know. Working… sigh… it really does shape a person. Haven’t you noticed I’ve gotten several shades darker?”

“Indeed. I only realized how hard it is for my dad and mom after my dad took me to Yujiing dock to carry cargo for a few days.”

Ye Yaodong patted his shoulder, “As long as you’ve thought about working hard and earning money, it’s not too late. We’ve only lived about 1/3 of our lives.”

“What if we die young?”

“Damn, cursing yourself? Tired of living? I’m going to live to 80…”

“Did you guys hear something?”

“Isn’t it just us talking?”

“Damn it, don’t scare people in the middle of the night. My hair’s standing on end. Let’s go quickly.”

“Coward, it’s not even 8 o’clock yet. Wait until midnight to get nervous.”

Ye Yaodong admired these guys’ train of thought. They couldn’t stay serious for a few sentences before going off-topic, and they had quite the imagination, jumping from one thing to another…

The group chattered noisily as they hurried down the mountain, heading towards the river.

“It’s been years since we’ve done something like this. Can’t even handle mosquito bites anymore. In the past, we’d be happy even with heads full of bumps.”

“That means you’re old!”

“Too bad the pomelos around here aren’t ripe yet, or we could steal a few.”

“Come back in two months!”

“You think this is your backyard?”

“As if you’ve never stolen any!”

…

In the summer fields, the evening breeze carried the fresh scent of soil. The surrounding fields were filled with frog calls, without any of the city’s noise. On the small path, there was only the sound of their group chatting and joking around.

They reached the riverside and untied the rope from the big rock, slowly pulling up the trap.

Both flashlights were aimed at the trap. As they slowly pulled it up, everyone could see several crayfish crawling on the net of the trap. Ye Yaodong was delighted, he knew there would be crayfish in the river.

By the time he pulled the whole net up, the fish-gathering bag at the bottom was filled with many crayfish, loaches, and small fish.

Everyone was quite happy, not expecting to catch so much in such a short time.

“We didn’t bring anything to put them in, so I’ll put it back for now. Leave it overnight and there’ll definitely be more tomorrow. They won’t die after just one night.”

He had used the sack he brought earlier to hold the cicada nymphs. Anyway, they would be left until tomorrow to cook.

Ah Guang also pulled up the other trap to check, excitedly saying, “I’ll get up early with you tomorrow to collect. There are quite a lot of crayfish, and they’re not small.”

“Come if you can get up. I’ve been getting up early every day recently anyway.”

“Alright, let’s head back then.”

After putting the traps back, the group headed back in a grand procession.

At least they didn’t return empty-handed from this trip. Ah Guang’s house was close to the village entrance, so everyone went there first. There were no adults at his house anyway, so they could divide up the catch there, each taking some home.

Ye Yaodong waited for everyone else to take their share before pouring some for Ah Guang, then shook out the little bit left at the bottom of the sack, which seemed about right.

“Take more, just leave a little for drinking tomorrow. There aren’t many people in my family, and my two sisters don’t eat this stuff. You have more people at home.”

“Alright then, there are indeed more people in my family!” He didn’t stand on ceremony with Ah Guang.

When he got home in the dark, the house was completely quiet. He carefully latched the front door and tied up the sack, throwing it onto the firewood pile next to the mud stove. His mother would deal with it when she saw it tomorrow.

Afraid of waking his wife and children, he didn’t go into the room to get clothes. Instead, he went to the backyard, stripped down to his shorts, and took a shower. Only then did he enter the room, still wet, to get a towel to dry off.

Lin Xiuqing wasn’t asleep. She sat up when she heard the sound of the front door being latched, but it was a while before the bedroom door opened.

“Didn’t you say you were just going to set traps by the river? Why so late?”

“We also went to catch cicada nymphs. Brought some back, Mom can fry them tomorrow.”

“Won’t the traps in the river be gone after a night?”

“It shouldn’t be. I’ll go collect them early tomorrow morning. Were you worried about this, so you couldn’t sleep?”

“No, I just put the two kids to bed a little while ago and was about to sleep myself.”

Ye Yaodong changed into clean shorts and walked to the bedside. He leaned on the bed with both hands, his forehead touching hers. “Is it that you can’t sleep when I’m not back?”

“Nonsense. It’s better when you’re not back, there’s more space in the bed, not so cramped.” She moved her bottom back, about to lie down, but he stole a kiss.

“You say one thing but mean another! If I hadn’t come back, you’d be crying!”

Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him and lay down on her own.

Ye Yaodong was in a good mood too. The daytime work was already very tiring, so going out to play with friends for a while in the evening and coming back to tease his wife made him feel relaxed.