Beachcombing: The beach is full of amazing seafood, but my wife won't let me get out of bed!

In Old Wu's courtyard.

Wang Feng was sitting on a small stool, rubbing his lower back with both hands, but his face was flushed.

Chen Xue was washing a towel in a basin of water.

The courtyard gate was pushed open, and Wu Gang rode in on his tricycle, followed by Wu Sui carrying pork belly and a cleaned chicken.

Upon seeing the two brothers, Wang Feng immediately started sharing the news in a loud and excited voice.

"You two finally decided to come back."

"You wouldn't believe it, the area under the flood control dike is teeming with bitter snails, they're everywhere. Xiaoxue and I collected over two hundred pounds of them this morning."

She stood up, patted her bulging pockets, and heard the sound of coins and banknotes rubbing together.

"I sold it for 320 yuan. The villagers were fighting over it like mad dogs. If I hadn't been quick, I wouldn't have even gotten a sip of the soup."

Wang Feng rolled her eyes at Wu Sui, "You two really don't know how to manage money. You didn't even call me over sooner. You've wasted several hundred yuan."

Wu Gang parked his tricycle, ran over with a smile, took Wang Feng's arm, and reached out to massage her lower back.

Wang Feng gave Wu Gang a disdainful shove, but her smile stretched from ear to ear.

Wu Sui carried the meat and chicken into the kitchen, turned around and came out, took a cardboard box out of his pocket and handed it to Chen Xue.

"What is this?" Chen Xue dried her hands on her apron and took it.

Wu Sui helped her unpack the box, and Chen Xue was startled, her hand trembling so much that she almost dropped the box.

She had seen this phone in the glass display case of the local mobile phone store; it was priced at over a thousand yuan.

"Ah Sui, why did you buy this? How much does it cost?" Chen Xue said with a pained expression.

"To keep you in touch, if I need anything when I'm out at the beach or selling goods in town, just call me."

Wu Sui took out another identical phone from his pocket and waved it.

He took Chen Xue's phone, turned it on, saved his number, and then taught her how to dial.

"Stay here and don't move. I'll go out and show you."

Wu Sui clutched her phone and jogged out of the courtyard, closing the gate behind her.

Chen Xue stood at the doorway of the main room, holding her phone, at a loss.

A few seconds later, the phone suddenly vibrated, accompanied by a ringtone.

"Come on, press that green button!" Wang Feng's back pain had vanished, and she leaned closer, her eyes shining as she stared at the button.

Chen Xue carefully pressed the answer button and held the phone to her ear.

"Hey? Xiaoxue, can you hear me?" Wu Sui's voice came from the phone, with a bit of static.

Before Chen Xue could speak, she heard Wu Sui shouting loudly from outside the courtyard wall.

"Did you hear that...?"

Chen Xue couldn't help but burst out laughing and shouted into her phone.

"I heard you. You were shouting so loudly outside the door. I could hear you even without this thing."

Li Cuihua came out of the kitchen carrying a basin of washed vegetables. She watched the young couple making a phone call through a wall and shook her head with a smile.

"Alright, alright, hurry up and come in. You're both grown up, yet you're still showing off like children."

Wu Sui pushed open the door and put her phone in her pocket.

Li Cuihua looked around, locked the courtyard gate, pulled Wu Sui into the main room, and lowered her voice.

"Stop joking around. Those boxes of goods from this morning, did they sell? How much did you sell?"

Wu Jianguo also tapped his pipe and walked over with his hands behind his back.

Upon hearing this, Wu Gang's simple smile vanished, and his expression turned serious.

He strode over and closed all the windows of the main room tightly, even pulling down the curtains.

Wang Feng was completely bewildered by Wu Gang's actions: "Why are you closing the windows in broad daylight? To make yourself get heat rash?"

Wu Gang ignored her and took off his short-sleeved shirt.

He had a worn-out canvas bag hanging around his neck, pressed against his chest.

He took the cloth bag off, unzipped it, and poured the contents onto the octagonal table.

"Splash!"

Two stacks of 100-yuan bills, neatly bound in kraft paper, plus a pile of loose change, were piled on the table.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Li Cuihua's legs went weak, and she collapsed onto the bench, her lips trembling.

The pipe in Wu Jianguo's hand fell to the ground with a "clang" and rolled to the foot of the table.

Wang Feng's mouth was agape, her eyes fixed on the money on the table. She pointed at the pile of red bills and stammered for a long time.

"This...this...this is all the money from selling goods?"

Wu Gang swallowed hard, his voice trembling.

"Yes, a total of 27150 yuan were sold."

"Twenty-seven thousand?!" Wang Feng screamed, quickly covering her mouth to make sure the sound reached outside the courtyard.

Wu Sui pulled up a chair and sat down, gathering the money on the table in front of him.

He counted out five stacks of coins, then four hundred-yuan bills and one fifty-yuan bill, and pushed them in front of Wu Gang.

"Brother, this is your share, 5430 yuan, please count it."

Wu Gang waved his hands repeatedly, took two steps back, and looked at the pile of money as if it were a hot potato.

"Ah Sui, this won't do. You're the one who found the goods and figured out the connections. I only did a little hard work. How can I take so much?"

Wang Feng panicked this time and rushed over, pushing the money back to Wu Sui.

"Second brother, your eldest brother is right, we can't take so much of this money."

"Your sister-in-law will be extremely grateful if you can help your brother make money. Just give him a hundred or so yuan."

Wu Sui's expression turned serious, and he forcefully stuffed the money into Wu Gang's hand.

"Brother, sister-in-law, even brothers should keep clear accounts. What's agreed upon is a 20/80 split, and that's what we'll do."

"If you don't want it, I'll go beachcombing by myself from now on, and I'll never call you 'Big Brother' again."

Wu Gang blushed and turned to look at Wu Jianguo.

Wu Jianguo picked up the tobacco pipe and sighed.

"Take it. The second son has made something of himself. This is a token of his appreciation. You two brothers should work hard in the future."

Wu Gang, his eyes red, clutched the money tightly in his hand.

Wang Feng's eyes also reddened.

She's usually stingy because she's terrified of being poor; she'd rather stretch every penny in half.

Seeing my brother-in-law being so loyal now fills me with mixed feelings.

She suddenly slapped her thigh, reached into her pocket, and pulled out all 320 yuan she had earned that morning from selling bitter snails.

She counted out 160 yuan and stuffed it into Chen Xue's hand.

"Sister-in-law, you must be exhausted this morning too. Let's split the money for these bitter snails."

Chen Xue quickly declined, "Sister-in-law, this won't do. You did the most work; I was just helping out. I can't accept this money."

"Just take it!" Wang Feng snapped, forcefully stuffing the money into Chen Xue's pocket.

"You look down on your sister-in-law, don't you? She used to have a foul mouth and said a lot of hurtful things. Don't take it to heart. Let's live a good life together from now on."

Chen Xue held the money, tears welling up in her eyes, and nodded heavily.

Lunch was sumptuous.

I stewed a big pot of chicken and potatoes, and also made a bowl of braised pork.

The large abalone that Wu Sui had deliberately damaged were also sliced ​​into thin pieces and stir-fried with scallions and ginger.

The table was piled high with food, and the aroma was irresistible.

The family sat around the eight-immortal table, eating with gusto.

Ya Ya was gnawing on a big chicken leg, her little face covered in gravy like a cat.

This meal was the most sumptuous and satisfying one the Wu family had eaten in recent years.

After the meal, Wu Sui helped clean up the dishes and then took Chen Xue and Ya Ya back to the stone house.

As soon as they entered, Chen Xue quickly locked the gate and pulled Wu Sui into the inner room.

She took her phone out of her pocket and put it on the table, then took out the money.

"Ah Sui, where should I put this money? I'm worried sick."

Wu Sui pointed to a broken brick hole under the bed.

"Keep it for now, and we'll deposit it in the bank when we go to town tomorrow."

Chen Xue nodded, wrapped the money in a plastic bag, stuffed it into the brick hole, and then covered it with something.

After settling Yaya down for her afternoon nap, Wu Sui went to the yard to fetch water and wash her face.

Looking at the radiant Chen Xue, he couldn't help but swallow hard.