Ji Huai did not go back along the original road, and drove to the dock.

The pier is full of fishing boats, including large fishing boats and simple small fishing boats. A sea breeze blows over, and the air smells salty.

At this time, few fishing boats come back, so there are few people on the pier.

"Brother Huai."

On the small fishing boat by the side, a black and thin young man called him.

Ji Huai stopped the electric car and heard about his reputation, "Aren't you going to sea today?"

The young man's name is Sun Bin, who is also from the village. The two grew up together when they were young.

Many young men in the small town rely on fishing for their livelihoods. Some follow large fishing boats and come back in a few days or ten days. Some are driven by small and old fishing boats. Generally, they can come back on the same day without going far. If you are lucky, you will earn a very objective income by catching dozens of catties of fish.

"Don't mention it, the engine is broken again, I am too lazy to repair it, and I won't go out to sea recently." Sun Bin said and said again, "Anyway, I'm tired, it's not a way to go on like this. I heard that there is a good job at the train station, my dad. Mom has taken care of it, and I plan to go over there in a few days."

Ji Huai raised his eyebrows: "Yes."

"Isn't this to please a wife? How can there be a wife when I go to sea all day? I also bought a car to put on a facade, maybe I can trick a wife back." Sun Bin smiled.

He is a few years younger than Ji Huai, but he is also considered an older bachelor in the village. The family is urging to marry a wife to come back and have children to pass on from generation to generation. It's not that he said that Ji Huai's life is better than him, his wife is so good-looking, and his daughter is also good-looking.

Ji Huai also laughed and nodded, "Isn't this simple? There are so many women."

Sun Bin is more diligent and quicker than him and can go to sea, but he is also the master of one son and another. Like him, he doesn't have the ability, but he is quite arrogant.

"I caught a lot of fish yesterday. I made fish soup tonight. I came to my house for dinner. I haven't had a drink together for a long time." Sun Bin listened to him and was in a good mood. He actively invited him and stretched out his hand to pat his shoulder. "Remember to come."

"Okay, there must be me for drinking." Ji Huai immediately responded.

"See you at night, come early." Sun Bin emphasized again when he arrived.

"no problem."

....

Seeing the other party walking away, Ji Huai withdrew his gaze, and his gaze fell on the dilapidated ship that Sun Bin had stopped on the shore.

The ship had been rusted a lot, and looked rudimentary. It used to be driven by grandfather. Later, when grandfather fell ill, he was replaced by Sun Bin, who drove out to sea to fish.

noon.

After Ji Ziqing finished the dance class, she carried her schoolbag, and the students greeted the teacher enthusiastically.

"goodbye teacher."

"goodbye teacher."

"Teacher bye."

....

Like the classmates, Ji Ziqing raised her hand and waved, but her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat. The other party couldn't hear it at all, so she turned and walked out.

"Ziqing." The teacher called her from behind.

Hearing that the teacher called her, she was startled at first, then looked at the teacher in a disturbed and confused manner, and grabbed her by the corner of her clothes.

The teacher walked over and smiled and said to her, "They all signed up for the city's dance audition. Did you go back and talk to your parents?"

A dance competition for elementary and middle school students was held in China, and they have divisions in the urban area.

"I don't want to go." She whispered.

"Go and see, they all go, and it's okay to go and play together." The teacher said with a smile.

The chance of promotion is small, but you can go on a bigger stage and practice courage.

"I don't want to go, I don't like it." She lowered her head.

The teacher said that he would buy clothes and make up his hair, which would cost hundreds of yuan.

"...That's it." The teacher's smile gradually faded. I didn't know what to say, so I could only say, "If you don't want to go, it's okay. There will be a small model draft next time."

Ji Ziqing is dull and inactive, and may not like such occasions. As a teacher, she can't force it.

"Goodbye teacher." She waved her hand, lowered her head and carried her schoolbag downstairs.

The dance teacher sighed softly.

Ji Ziqing walked all the way forward, not far from her school, there are many stationery shops around the school, thinking of drawing lessons in the afternoon, she walked into the stationery shop.

She wanted to buy crayons and found it after searching around. There are a row of crayons on the shelf, all kinds, eight colors, twelve colors, and twenty-four colors...

The first thing Ji Ziqing looks at is price.

So expensive, some cost more than twenty yuan.

She took out the thirty-five yuan her father had given her in her pocket, looked at the money, and then at the crayons. The largest box of crayons cost twenty-eight, with twenty-four colors. She picked it up, and finally put it down. She chose the smallest box, which had only twelve colors and very small roots.

When giving the money to the proprietress, the other party asked her for the money, and she collected it carefully, and walked to the feed shop where her mother worked.

Yin Cai was counting the feed on the truck. When she saw her coming, she hurriedly said, "The meal is still not ready. Wait a while before you can eat. Go back to the room and write homework."

"Okay." She carried the crayons and went upstairs.

The owner is a big boss. This building is all theirs. It has three and a half floors. There is a feed shop on the first floor, and there are no people on the second and third floors. Because of sympathetic encounters and Ji Ziqing's frequent visits, she gave it to her. Arrange a room.

When Ji Ziqing walked to the top of the stairs, a big mouse rushed over. She was taken aback and almost fell off the stairs. She stubbornly grasped the railing, her face instantly pale.

"Squeak." The big mouse was still very arrogant, and stopped in the corner for a while before running to other rooms.

Downstairs is the feed shop, there are rats everywhere, they can't be extinct at all, and they will be bitten if they are not careful. The boss's daughter was bitten when she came to live for a few days, and the family has never stayed since.

Ji Ziqing's eyes were red, and she silently stretched out her hand to wipe her tears, stood up and looked at the corner for several times, then gathered up the courage to walk towards the other side of the room.

Back to the room and put down her schoolbag, she began to carefully take out the newly bought crayons and began to draw seriously.

A princess slowly appeared on the drawing paper. She was wearing a crown and beautiful clothes with a happy smile on her mouth.

"Ziqing, have dinner!"

Yin Cai's voice came from below.

"Ok."

Yin Cai couldn't hear her answer at all downstairs, so she could only shout again:

"time to eat."

Ji Ziqing didn't answer any more, and trot off.

The rice is made by the proprietress’ mother, and the proprietress is also there. There are sea fish on the dinner table today, as well as sea white winter melon soup and two plates of green vegetables.

"Would you like some soup?" Yin Cai asked her daughter.

"Yeah." Ji Ziqing nodded gently.

Yin Cai served her daughter a bowl of soup, and then took another order for her.

"Zi Qing, eat more, don't follow your mother, look at her skinny." The proprietress said to Ji Ziqing, constantly urging her to eat more.

She has a round body and a round face. She looks like the legendary Vanguard.

"Yeah." Ji Ziqing buried himself in the meal.

"Yes, it's when you grow up to eat more." Yin Cai also pulled out a smile.

"Your daughter is quiet and worry-free. Take a look at the one in my house. She went to the house to reveal the tiles without beating for three days. She was not a girl at all, she was not obedient at all." The proprietress started talking about her daughter, cursing , With a smile on his face.

Yin Cai heard it very uncomfortably. Seeing that Ji Ziqing had finished eating the dishes in her bowl, she took another order for the other party.

If she doesn't pinch, Ji Ziqing won't eat more, no matter how hungry she is, she will only eat a little bit. Seems well-behaved, but actually dare not.

Ji Ziqing once said to her that she didn't want to come to the store to eat, it was eating other people's food. But where can I eat if I don’t eat? Let her eat out alone? No one takes care of her at all.

The proprietress also felt sorry for her. Seeing that she looked so good, she married a husband who couldn't help her, and she was useless. That's why her daughter was allowed to rest here and eat some food by the way. She only came for two days in a week, so it didn't matter.

A table of people was eating dinner, and the neighbors next to him came to visit and chatted with the proprietress.

The old lady in the neighbor complained about the girl her son had just brought back. She stretched out her hand to cover her mouth and lowered her voice, “It’s been a month. Four to five hundred yuan!"

As she spoke, she stretched out five fingers, verbally, with dissatisfaction.

"So many?" The lady boss was also surprised, and then said, "It's normal to turn on the air conditioner on a hot day."

The old man feels distressed about the money, so he sinks his face immediately, "How can money be so pretentious? You have to take a shower for an hour, all with hot water on, you tell..."

"Little young."

....

"Mom, I'm full." Ji Ziqing looked at Yin Cai with a thin voice.

"Eat more." Yin Cai frowned as she watched half a bowl of rice left in the bowl.

"I'm full." Ji Ziqing put down his chopsticks and went upstairs.

Yin Cai looked at the small figure of the other party, and suddenly she didn't have much appetite for food.

Summer is very hot. Ji Ziqing used to slept upstairs with sweat all over her body. She didn't dare to turn on the air conditioner in other people's homes, because she was afraid of the increase in electricity bills and was rejected by others.

The proprietress’ mother bought two bunches of grapes when she went shopping today, and asked Yin Cai to wash some for Ji Ziqing.

She washed the grapes and sent them up. Ji Ziqing sat at the table and painted. As expected, she didn't turn on the air conditioner. Knowing her daughter's temperament well, she bought a fan on the Internet and told her that the fan uses very little electricity. At this time, the other party turned on the fan.

"mom."

Seeing her coming in, her eyes lit up.

Yin Cai walked to her and looked at the paintings she drew with a hint of relief, "Is this a princess? It's so beautiful."

Hearing her mother praise her, Ji Ziqing rarely smiled innocently, Yin Cai couldn't help but touched her daughter's soft hair, "Eat some grapes, go to bed after eating, and have to go to class in the afternoon."

"Yeah." She nodded vigorously, washed her hands obediently, and fed her one grape before eating.

The grapes are very sweet, so Ji Ziqing took small bites.

This kind of grapes are not cheap, they have to sell for more than 20 catties when they are expensive, and she never buys them.

Looking at her daughter's contentment, Yin Cai still felt sore when her tears flowed down to her numb eyes. She quickly stood up and said, "Mom has gone down to see the store, and I will sleep for a while after eating."

Ji Ziqing nodded obediently.

In the evening.

Yin Cai got off work, launched a small electric car, and took Ji Ziqing home.

It was getting dark, the dimly yellow street lights were on, cautious, and the car drove a little slow. Ji Ziqing stretched out her hand to embrace her mother's slender waist, and pressed her face affectionately on her mother's back.

"You said you wanted to buy crayons last week, but my mother forgot about it. Can I take you to buy them tomorrow?" Yin Cai turned a corner and drove into the village road.

"I bought it." The person behind him replied.

"How much? Mom will give it to you later." She knows that her daughter is very economical. She may have taken it out of her pocket money, fearing that it is all the money.

"Daddy gave it." Ji Ziqing said.

Yin Cai was surprised, "Dad gave you money?"

"Well, I gave thirty-five yuan, bought eight yuan, and there are 27 yuan left."

Yin Cai thinks that Ji Huai may be in a good mood today, "You can keep the rest of the money, buy what you lack, and ask your mother to get it if you don't have it."

Ji Ziqing nodded and continued to hug her tightly.

Yin Cai thought for a while and then exhorted, "Next time you can ask your father to get money, and father will give it to you if he has money."

She asked Ji Huai to get the money. The other party always said that he had no money, and he didn't listen to him when he went to work.

If Ji Ziqing can get a little money from Ji Huai and relieve her a little pressure, she has to save her daughter’s aristocratic junior high school tuition as soon as possible.

"I don't want to." Ji Ziqing muttered.

"What?" Yin Cai didn't hear clearly.

Ji Ziqing did not speak any more and lowered her head.

When the two returned home, Ji Huai was taking a shower and was going out.

"Where are you going again?" Yin Cai asked.

"Sun Bin asked me to drink, you can eat by yourself." Ji Huai said, carrying a bundle of wine he bought, wearing flip-flops, and walking out without looking back.

Yin Cai had lost his temper with him, and did not ask a second sentence.

Ji Huai spent seven or eight days out of ten days to eat and drink, or if he made money, he took the money to invite others to eat and drink, regardless of their mother and daughter.

Other people's homes are brightly lit. They don't even have light bulbs so bright. The light bulbs in the yard are even less bright. Not only does she cook, she also has to use firewood to boil water to bathe her daughter.

Seeing that the fire in the boiling pot was still burning, did Ji Huai take a hot bath today? She walked over and opened the pot, which was full of hot water, already boiling.

Yin Cai's eyes were even more puzzled. Even if this person had boiled water, he would not add water after taking a bath, let alone add fire to continue burning. The sun really came out to the west.

She couldn't control that much, and said to her daughter, "Xiao Qing, go to the house to take clothes and take a bath."

Ji Ziqing ran back to the house looking for clothes.

Yin Cai brought the bucket over, poured half of the hot water in the pot, and carried it to the kitchen to fill up with cold water. After testing the water temperature, she carried it to the simple shed. The light inside was still dim. Fortunately, the place It is small and can also be illuminated.

Ji Ziqing came in with her own towel.

She was taking a shower, and Yin Cai was in a hurry to cook. There was a place in the yard where she planted vegetables. She went to grab a handful, and then took out the meat left over yesterday from the refrigerator and put it in and stir fry together.

The rice was cooked when she left today. It will be too late to cook when she comes back, so she can only cook it first and then reheat it.

After Ji Ziqing took a shower, the mother and daughter sat in the slightly dim kitchen, eating a plate of dishes. The dishes are not good, and the dishes are not rich, but Ji Ziqing ate two bowls of rice and found it delicious. With a smile on her face, she asked about interesting things about today’s class.

the other side.

Ji Huai carried a sheaf of beer to Sun Bin's house, which was fifteen yuan, which he found out through the bins and cabinets. He has no money, but he has a good face and can't go empty-handed.

Because of this, although he is lazy and poor, everyone likes to call him for drinking and eating, and he has a lot of meals.

"Brother Huai is here, sit down."

"Sit here."

A group of friends and friends greeted him.

Ji Huai leaned into the pot and said with a smile, "Oh, the food is good, there are some yellow croakers, and crabs, not bad."

"That's not it? I still sold half of it." Sun Bin also came over with a bunch of beer, "eat more, you're welcome."

"What are you polite?" Ji Huai sat down and looked at a table of shirtless greasy men. He was the least greasy one. The others were either bald or had a big belly.

As soon as the water boiled, the big guy couldn't wait to put the fish in it, drove the beer and began to eat and drink, and then he began to brag, not speaking properly.

From time to time, I threw the cup, and continued to laugh and brag.

Ji Huai heard that Sun Bin couldn't say how to go to sea, and asked, "Are you going to sell the fishing boat?"

"The engine is broken. How much can I sell for a pile of rotten iron? Who wants it?" Sun Bin smiled.

It's just a small broken ship.

"Sell it to me, and I'll go out to play." Ji Huai took a sip of beer and just about to drink fish soup, thinking that it would cause gout, and stopped abruptly.

"What are you going out to sea?" The men beside them laughed.

"Go and see, it’s boring at home. There are also fishing nets and so on. Don’t just give it to me, spend a few hundred dollars to repair the engine, and then go out and have a look." After Ji Huai said, he took the initiative, "I’ll give You will sell it all to me for a thousand yuan."

Those gadgets are not worth a thousand at all, but who is not tempted by money? Sun Bin's meaning is reduced a bit, "It costs two to three hundred to repair the engine, but seven hundred is fine, but you should not go too far."

He felt that Ji Huai was on a whim. He wanted to have fun. Anyway, he kept the fishing boat that was thrown away. Someone wanted it better.

"Do you still worry about this? When I was a child, I could go fishing with Chen Erbo every day." Ji Huai drank wine and started talking boastful, "How old was I then? No one in the village went more diligent than me, but I was counting That's some fish."

Everyone laughed and talked about what happened when they were young.

"At that time, there was nothing to eat, so I went to catch the sea if I couldn't go out to sea. In the middle of the night, I could catch a lot of delicious food."

"Hey, speaking of the low tide today, when I just came back, a wave of outsiders came to drive the sea."

"Come to play?"

....

Ji Huai didn't listen to the following words. He drank three bottles of beer, didn't eat much fish, let alone drank much fish soup, but ate a lot of peanuts.

After the sea ebbs, many fish, shrimps and shellfish will stay in shallow water due to their slow movement. Therefore, every time the tide ebbs, some fishermen will go to the beach to pick up seafood.

Ji Huai sat and ate with them until half past ten, found an excuse and went back.

Just as Yin Cai fell asleep, there were voices after another, and she was vigilant, "Who?"

"Me." Ji Huai's voice came.

Hearing that it was him, Yin Cai's heart settled down, checked the door, made sure that the door was locked, and went back to bed to sleep again.

In a daze, she felt that Ji Huai seemed to be out again.

Where did you go? What are you going to do? She didn't know, and didn't want to know.

It's half past eleven in the evening.

There were no people on the beach, the sound of waves coming and going one after another in the distance, and occasionally a little bright light not far away, it was a fishing boat in the distance.

Ji Huai was strapped to a light at this time, wearing water pants and water shoes, wearing gloves on his hands, and carrying a white bucket with a long clip inside.

Naturally, foreigners who come to catch the sea will not stay on the beach in the middle of the night. Most of them come to play during the day or evening. Some hard-working locals will also come to catch the sea to see if they can pick up some seafood.

But there were not many people, and Ji Huai looked over with only a few lights. Nowadays, people's living standards have improved, and they don't bother to look for some seafood at night, and they can buy it if they want.

Today's luck is good. The tide is heading up, and the tide is receding fast, leaving a lot of seafood.

At night, there were a lot of mosquitoes, and the lights above his head were buzzing. He didn't waste time and walked down quickly.

Crabs like to hide around the stones. When he sees a place with a stone, he opens it and sees it. If there is a puddle, he will reach inside and fish.

After fishing a few times, there is nothing.

He continued to walk forward, broke another stone, and just put it in, he stumbled on the crab shell, reached in with his big hand, grabbed an orchid crab.

Crabs have to be caught from behind so they don’t get bitten.

The orchid crab has patterns on its body and is light blue, which looks pretty. This orchid crab is quite fat, Ji Huai hooked his mouth, "Run."

When the words fell, he threw it into the bucket.

Continue to move forward, and when you reach the shallow water, fish will appear. No, he saw the mud fierce fish.

It's easy to catch fish at night, they don't move much, and then shine a light with the light to stay more stable.

Ji Huai leaned down, slowly reached in, lifted its tail, and threw it directly into the bucket. The fish churned violently in the bucket.

Mudfish has no scales, and its meat is delicious, but the spines of the dorsal, caudal, and pelvic fins have venomous glands, which cannot be pierced, or they will suffer severe pain.

After catching the fish, he filled the bucket with some water, but he couldn't let them die because they were worthless.

Ji Huai walked all the way forward, and from time to time he bent over and lowered his head to fish under the stone. The crab was quite good at running. He was carrying a stone crab's leg. Fortunately, he brought gloves, otherwise he would be caught.

Occasionally, some shellfish will be found, but they are all worthless shellfish, a few dollars a catty, Ji Huai will not let it go, pick it up and put it in the bucket.

He picked up the most crabs, only 20 minutes, he caught five or six, some of them were too small, and he let them go.

I also caught a few mud meng fish, but none of them were too big. Fortunately, there are many people who like to eat, and the price can be sold for more than 30 kilograms. Jihuai went to the shallow water area just to catch more.

In fact, it is difficult to catch a big fish in the sea, so he wanted to catch more mud fish and more crabs, but he did not expect that when he went inside, he saw a devil fish.

This thing looks weird, like a bat. It tastes good when braised in brown sauce. It costs 60 to 70 per pound.

When Ji Huai saw its eyes lit up, it was all RMB, no matter how deep the water was, I was afraid that it would run away, put down the bucket and walked quietly.

The other party was swimming in the shallow water and wanted to use the waves to return to the sea. When Ji Huai stepped in, it noticed that its wings were stirring.

He gritted his teeth, pointed the light at the fish, squatted down and slowly moved over.

The devil fish was wagging its tail, but there was a stone next to it. It was hit a few times, and it was spinning again.

Ji Huai found the right time and rushed over to catch. The other party flashed and was about to flee towards the exit. He turned over, rushed to catch it, and immediately picked it up.

"You have at least two catties, want to run?!"