Although the temperature in Quanzhou is not as low as in the north in winter, because the water vapor in the south is large, it is wet and cold in winter, especially in Quanzhou, which is close to the sea, whenever the cold wind in the north blows the ground, the wet and cold feeling can directly penetrate into the bones of people, no matter how thick the clothes are, they can not stop this clammy and cold wind.

Wu Laosi tightened the shabby padded jacket on his body, one hand on crutches, and the other hand kept waving at a fishing boat on the sea, there were not only his sons on the boat, but also a few nephews, it can be said that the young and strong of their Wu family are on the boat, it was windy in winter, and it was not a good season to go to sea to fish, but there was still a group of old and young people waiting to eat at home, and if the fishermen did not go to sea, they could only sit and eat empty, so taking advantage of the relatively small wind on the sea today, the young and strong of the Wu family could only venture out to sea again.

Seeing his fishing boat slowly disappear into the sea, Wu Laosi silently recited a few words in his heart, "Mazu bless, Buddha bless", then slowly turned around with a crutch, and some of the surrounding villagers who also came to see off the fishing boat to the sea chatted a few words, and then carried a basket to a messy reef beach, and began to collect the seaweed growing on the stones little by little, this is already the last batch of seaweed this year, and when the weather gets a little colder, the seaweed in the sea will no longer grow. Harvesting can only begin again in April.

Wu Laosi is only in his forties this year, and it is said that he is in the prime of life, and a man of his age is the main force on the ship, but he injured his leg when he went to sea when he was young, and he can only walk on crutches at ordinary times, and he can't get on the boat at all, so he can only do some chores at home. Fortunately, he has five brothers, and each brother used to help a little, so that his family would not starve to death, but unfortunately the life of his five brothers is not good, none of them can live past the age of thirty, and every few years one brother will die at sea, and now Wu Laosi's generation is the only one left of him.

Thinking of his brothers who died early, Wu Laosi recited the sentence "Amitabha Buddha" in his heart, hoping that the Buddha would bless his brother to ascend to the Western Heaven Elysium as soon as possible.

In fact, Wu Laosi did not believe in Buddhism, and the fishermen in Quanzhou believed in Mazu. Every time you go out to sea. They would all pray to Mazu to bless them with a safe return, but the year before last, a master of the void came from the capital, not only to help them treat their illnesses for free, but also to help them recite the longitude of their dead relatives. Wu Laosi's wife is over 70 years old. Often coughing and breathless. But under the treatment of Master Kong, he was cured, and the souls of several brothers and elders were also spent by Master Kong's recitation. This made Wu Laosi extremely grateful to Master Kong, and even began to believe in the Buddha, even when he went to sea, he had to add a word of Buddha's blessing after asking Mazu.

"Fourth, are you picking seaweed again?" At this moment, someone suddenly shouted next to him.

Wu Laosi looked up, but saw a middle-aged man with a missing arm standing on the beach next to the reef, this person he knew, it was Zhang Bing, who lived in the same village with him, this Zhang Bing was a little older than him, the two grew up together, and more coincidentally, both of them were injured when they went to sea, one of his legs was lame, but the other party was missing an arm, and now they can't get on the boat, similar encounters made him talk to Zhang Bing very much.

"Brother Zhang, what are you doing here?" When Wu Laosi saw Zhang Bing, he immediately greeted with a sincere smile.

"What else can I do, a few boys in the family also went to sea just now, I'll send them off." I saw Zhang Bingyi sitting on the reef, then patted the stone next to him and said, "I said that the fourth brother, you don't pick seaweed anymore, sit down and talk to my brother, you look at these villages around now, who is as stupid as you and comes to pick these useless things every day?" ”

Regarding Zhang Bing's invitation, Wu Laosi shook his head with a smile and said: "Brother Zhang, sit down, I can talk to you while working, in addition, this seaweed is not a useless thing, Master Likong has already said before leaving, and someone will definitely be willing to pay for it in the future." ”

"Oh, why are you so dead-eyed, fourth?" Zhang Bing saw that Wu Laosi was still picking seaweed with both hands, and said a little anxiously, "Master Likong is a good person, yes, he also saved many people's lives back then, but no matter how powerful Master Likong is, he is not a Bodhisattva or Buddha, at the beginning he said that let us collect laver, and someone will pay to buy it in the future, and we all did it, but Master Likong has been gone for more than a year, but still no one has come to buy laver, and now everyone no longer picks laver, and even some people think that the laver they used to collect takes up space, It's all used to feed the pigs, and you're the only one who comes to pick it every day. ”

It turned out that Likong was here to see a doctor for the fishermen, and before he left, he showed the wonderful use of seaweed, so he asked the local fishermen to collect more, and when he made the reputation of seaweed in the capital in the future, someone would definitely come to buy it, so that poor fishermen like Wu Laosi could also have one more way to make money.

At the beginning, the fishermen here were very convinced of the seaweed, and they followed his words to the beach to collect seaweed, but after leaving the sky for more than a year, there was no news, and there was no one who came to buy seaweed, which made the local fishermen a little discouraged, and most of them stopped collecting seaweed, and only people like Wu Laosi still insisted.

"I don't care what others do, but since I, Wu Laosi, have promised Master Kong to collect seaweed, then I must do it, and I believe that Master Kong will never lie to us, since he said that someone will come to collect it, then someone will definitely come, but the capital is too far away from us, so it may be later, I can afford to wait!" Wu Laosi is honest, and at the same time, he also has the unique stubborn temper of honest people, as long as it is the right thing, he will definitely do it, which is also the main reason why he has been insisting on it after others have given up.

Seeing that Wu Laosi was still so unenlightened, Zhang Bing shook his head helplessly and said: "You are really a stubborn donkey, according to your method of picking, it is estimated that the seaweed at home is almost unable, wait until you fill the house, and there is still no one to collect it, see what you should do?" ”

"Hehe, it's a big deal to use seaweed as a quilt, anyway, it's so cold in winter, maybe it's warmer to sleep in a dry seaweed nest." Hearing Zhang Bing say that he was a stubborn donkey, Wu Laosi was not angry, but joked with a smile, which made Zhang Bing also angry and had nothing to say.

Seeing that Zhang Bing no longer spoke, Wu Laosi instead opened his mouth to persuade: "Brother Zhang, since you are okay now, you can only help the family take care of the children when you go back, and you are idle when you are idle, so it is better to pick some seaweed and bring it back, in case someone is willing to spend money to buy it, then it can also be exchanged for some money to spend, but the empty master said that if someone comes to buy seaweed, it will never be sold for less than five cents a catty, so if we pick back a basket and take it back to dry, it will be a few pennies." ”

Zhang Bing saw that Wu Laosi persuaded himself to pick these seaweed that no one wanted, and he was also angry at that time, when the prestige of Master Kong was still there, everyone collected seaweed, but as the days went by, most of them were deflated, and now the people who still insist on picking seaweed are all regarded as fools, and he would rather go back to take care of the children than be ridiculed behind his back like Wu Laosi.

It was precisely with the above thoughts that Zhang Bing naturally did not come down to pick seaweed, but chatted with Wu Laosi for a few more gossips and left. Wu Laosi didn't care about this, dragged his inconvenient legs and feet to fill a basket, and then slowly returned to the village, the small fishing village he lived in was called Fishtail Village, it is said that because the small bay next to the village is shaped like a fish, and the village where they live is just opposite the fish's tail, so it is named.

Wu Laosi has three sons and two daughters, the three sons became families early, and now they have all moved out, and the eldest daughter has also married, leaving him and his wife, the Hun family, and the youngest daughter to live together.

"Dad, why are you picking seaweed again, the seaweed at home is almost out of stock!" As soon as Wu Laosi walked to the door of the house, he saw a girl with a red face with a frozen face coming up, and when he saw the seaweed in his hand, he immediately asked a little unhappy. This girl is his youngest daughter, and she doesn't have a name, she is usually called Erya, she is ten years old this year, and she will reach the age of talking about her mother-in-law in two years.

"Hehe, I'll be fine after sending your brother and them to the sea, so I picked some back, maybe your dowry will come out of these seaweed in the future." Wu Laosi once again showed his signature honest smile and said. In fact, not only are other families in the village reluctant to pick seaweed, but even the people in his family are not willing to pick seaweed, such as his little daughter, who thinks seaweed takes up too much space, and has persuaded him not to pick seaweed more than once.

"My brother will prepare my dowry, and no one wants these seaweed of yours, so they can only be used to feed the pigs in the end." Erya didn't believe Wu Laosi's words at all, but although she was unwilling, her hands and feet were very nimble, and she put all the seaweed she picked on a bamboo bed in the yard, and dried it for storage while the sun was good now.

While his little daughter was busy, Wu Laosi grabbed a handful of fried seafood from the house and ate it, the so-called fried seafood is to take advantage of the low tide to pick up some small crabs, small fish, small shrimp and the like from the beach, and then fry them in a big pot at once, no oil or salt, directly put them in the pot and fry them, not to mention the taste, anyway, it is fishy and dry, and it is easy to have diarrhea if you eat too much, only the poorest fishermen's homes will prepare these things to deceive their mouths.

Just when Wu Laosi was eating fried seafood without a bite to kill time, suddenly there was a sound of hurried horses' hooves on the road outside the yard, which made him and Er Ya stunned, Da Song was already short of horses, plus they belong to the poor countryside here, usually there is an ox cart can already attract a group of little babies to run behind the cow's buttocks, not to mention horses, Wu Laosi is so big, and only the last time he entered the county seat, he saw a noble son riding a horse from the street, which made the people on the street drool with envy at that time.

"Fathers and fellow villagers are coming out to take a look, take a look, our Runan Commercial Bank has purchased a large number of laver, there is one family, direct cash transactions, how much is collected!" At this moment, a high-pitched voice accompanied by the sound of horses' hooves spread throughout the village, and when Wu Laosi's father and daughter heard what the other party shouted, they were stunned all of a sudden, with a look of disbelief on their faces. (To be continued!)

Tips: The new domain name "biquge.info" has been launched by Biquge, and the original domain name is about to be discontinued. Please tell each other, thank you!