"The master asked the little one to ask, girl, do you know the whereabouts of my sixth master? Did he go west to patrol the sea? ”

"Yes, he went west with the major general." Haizhu thought about it, the weather has changed at sea, and the helmsman will be the first to find out that even if the ship is on the sea, there is also a chance to return to the shore.

Shen Sui and his crew returned to the island before the rain fell, and the official ship sailed to the westernmost island of Quang Nam.

The people on the boat threw the iron-cast anchor into the water in the rain, and the anchor of the fishing boat only had a half-arm-long fixed iron ring at the very top, and the anchor of the official ship was a solid iron block and weighed thousands of pounds.

The people on the boat lived in the fishermen's houses on the island, and Shen Sui looked at the rain curtain and thought about it, using the reason that the boat was broken, he could just hide on the island for a few more days.

……

The rain fell violently, and in the middle of the night the rain came into the house through the crack in the door, Haizhu heard the cat bark and sat up, she listened to the sound of the rain outside and lit the oil candle, the candlelight illuminated a corner, and she saw the color of the water that flooded in.

"Sister, what's wrong?" Dongzhu sat up in a daze.

"The rain was so heavy that the doors and windows were seeping water." Haizhu released the two kittens, she thought of her hometown in Qijiawan, and when she went back to the wedding banquet after the sea opened, it was estimated that she would have to renovate the stone house first.

"What about this water? Plugged with a padded jacket? Dongzhu walked to the door and looked out through the crack in the door.

"Don't worry about it, dig out the soil and dry it when the weather is clear, and then fill it back."

I don't know what time it was, Haizhu couldn't sleep, she picked up the basin placed on the wall and continued to grind the dried fish, and the two cats lay at her feet, sleeping quietly in the clattering sound.

In the morning, when the rain was light, Haizhu took an umbrella to the kitchen to scoop two scoops of white flour and half a scoop of soybean flour, beat five eggs and mix them with water to form a batter, cut diced salted meat and mix it in, and finally sprinkled with bonito powder.

There was a fire in the stove, and she opened the door to remove the smoke, and the pan was heated and drizzled with a layer of oil and then a batter.

The aroma of noodles and meat wafted out of the yard through the rain, and the neighbor next door was eating the green vegetable batter soup and steaming a fish with firewood.

"Haizhu-you don't stop when it's windy and rainy?"

Chapter 117: Dolphins Chase Fish

The door was slammed, Dongzhu ran out with an umbrella, she thought it was her third uncle, and when she opened the door, she found that it was the neighbor who was the door.

"What's the best food at home? Is there more? Sell me two bowls. "It was windy outside, and the umbrella was almost blown out, and the man walked in and stood under the eaves to take shelter.

"We don't have much to eat." Dongzhu said.

The man ignored her, looked at the kitchen with the door open, and asked Haizhu, "What about the pancakes?" Sell me three cakes, Da Mao, they smell the fragrance of your house and don't eat. ”

Haizhu took three cakes and put them on the plate, and the two plates were buckled to keep out the rain, she stood at the door and asked him to come and get them, "Give them to Da Mao to eat, a few cakes are not worth selling." ”

"Okay, thank you." The man took the three pieces of bread and left, satisfied.

After a while, a plate came over, and the plate was full of fried peanuts.

Qi Laosan came over wearing a hat, holding a bowl of egg porridge and a bowl of marinated kelp in his hand, and said, "Your third aunt is cooking over there, so we won't come to eat." "He came here to dress and wash his second brother.

Haizhu chewed the braised kelp that had just come out of the pot, and asked across the yard: "Third uncle, does my third aunt have a lot of marinated sea vegetables?" ”

"A lot, the seaweed vegetables soaked yesterday are all marinated, the weather is not hot, and you can eat three meals a day."

"It's better to sell it, I don't have the heart to cook on a rainy day, and the braised vegetables are easy to sell." Haizhu came up with an idea, "You knock on the door with a basin, and someone buys it at a price of one or two pennies." ”

Qi Laosan's heart moved, he quickly cleaned up his second brother, opened the window to release air, the room was too dark and lit a lantern to hang next to the bed, and then went out with a commode.

After a while, the crackling rain was accompanied by the sound of door-knocking and shouting. Qi Laosan was still a little timid when he was selling alone, the door opened and ushered in smiling faces, slowly, he let go of his heart, and the shouting and shouting became more and more bold.

"Do you still sell it at noon and evening?" Someone asked.

Qi Laosan pinched his wet and heavy purse and said, "Come, there are still a lot of dried sea vegetables at home." ”

Before the alley was finished, the braised vegetables in the basin were empty, Qi Laosan sent the basin back, he handed the wooden basin with a lid to Bei Niang, turned around and went out with a shovel. He braved the wind and rain and walked down the street, which was empty, no one went out, the flags of the restaurants fell to the ground, the road was littered with broken tiles, and the water in the puddles was up to his ankles.

Wearing a hat is useless in the wind, the cold rain just slipped to the brim of the hat and was slapped on the face by the wind, Qi Laosan squinted his eyes and raised his head, wading to the door of the poultry store and knocking on the door.

"Who?"

"Are there any live chickens? I buy a few live chickens. ”

The shop door was open a crack, and the hot wind mixed with chicken feces and duck dung floated out, and the shopkeeper glanced at him and muttered: "How many do you dare to go out at this time?" ”

"Five." Qi Laosan didn't enter the door, leaned on the door panel and took out the copper plate of the purse, took the five chickens with wings and handed the copper plate, and followed the footprints of the shovel back again.

"Haizhu, don't cook at noon, I bought a hen to boil soup, and eat chicken soup and rice noodles at noon." Qi Laosan shouted against the door.

"Okay."

Bei Niang was still waiting for him to come back for dinner, and there were four cakes sent by Dongzhu on the table, which were still steaming.

The chicken was thrown in the yard, Qi Laosan walked to the eaves and took the hat and the robe, took off his shoes and walked into the house, he said to Bei Niang: "On windy and rainy days, everyone is troublesome to cook and stir-fry, and we work hard, just to earn the copper in their pockets." ”

Bei Niang nodded and shook her head, she didn't think it was too hard, what was so hard about cooking on the fire, just choking on a cigarette. She picked up the cake and gave it to the man, she tasted it when Dongzhu sent it, the bread was delicious, there was meat and noodles, the crispy bread chewed with the fragrance of the pot, and the soft flour was not boring, there was an indescribable taste, I don't know what Haizhu added to the noodles.

The rain outside the house was heavy again, and the water on the roof was drained down before it could reach the tile ditch, and a rain curtain of white flowers became under the eaves.

Qi Laosan glanced out while eating, glad that he came back in time, the rain was too heavy, and the things in the yard were no longer visible.

After the meal, the two began to work, Qi Laosan carried a bucket of rainwater and poured the water in the pot to burn the chicken, the smoke in the chimney choked out of the stove, and the kitchen was full of smoke.

Bei Niang walked into the rain with an umbrella, and carried a chicken to slaughter under the eaves, the chicken feathers were wet by the rain and had a strong fishy smell, mixed with the hot chicken blood, she smelled the throat and eyes were blocked, and retched twice before relieving herself.

When she scalded the chicken feathers and plucked the chicken feathers, she held her breath and frowned uncomfortably, and when Qi Laosan came over, she shook her hand and asked him to get it, she would rather smoke a pot than do this.

Occasionally, a child's scream sounded in the alley, and the sound disappeared in an instant through the rain and fog. Under the sound of strong winds and torrential rains, the doors are closed and the lights are lit, there is a feeling of not knowing the world day and night, the whole alley and even the whole town have disappeared, and only their own family is left under the vast sky, and there is a quiet and peaceful sense of happiness. It seems to have been abandoned by the world, without fame and fortune, and without the desire to be motivated, lying in bed and sleeping without dreaming, and the person who has been running for life has slackened from head to toe.

Haizhu and Dongzhu were both lying on the bed, no one spoke, quietly listening to the sound of wind and rain, and the two kittens got into the bamboo basket in the corner, and they scratched the basket and sharpened their paws from time to time.

I fell asleep listening to the sound of the rain, and woke up to the sound of the door. The rain outside the door continued unabated, Qi Laosan sold out the braised vegetables and brought Bei Niang over with a pot of chicken soup and rice noodles, the chicken was dismantled from the skeleton, and the belt meat was torn in the vegetable bowl.

"I don't know if I'm hungry?" The steaming two broke the silence in the small courtyard, the smell of meat was permeated, and a roar sounded in the belly of the person who had been sleeping for a long time. Qi Laosan stood under the eaves and asked, "You slept all morning?" Still able to sleep at night? ”

Grandma Qi yawned and said, "What do you do if you don't sleep on a rainy day?" The dinner table is placed in your second brother's house, so as not to toss him. ”

The old and young leaned against the wall and drilled into Second Uncle Qi's house, and the empty room was lively in an instant.

"You can make money by selling braised vegetables on rainy days, and I braised two pots of sea vegetables, and I sold them out after shaking around in the alley." Qi Laosan was happy, he said to Haizhu: "I bought five chickens, stew one a day, don't cook at noon every day, I cooked the noodles and brought them over." ”

"Okay, then I'm relaxed, the third uncle and the third aunt are tired."

Bei Niang waved her hand, not tired.

"What are you tired of? When you cook, we eat and drink for nothing. Qi Laosan picked up a bowl of noodles and poured chicken soup on it and handed it to his second brother, saying, "Cook for your own family, and talk about what you don't get tired." ”

The sound of rice noodles sucking rang out in the room, and no one spoke again.

After the meal, Qi Laosan and Bei Niang cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks and left with the basin, Dongzhu and Fengping led Chaoping to follow, and the three stinkers were going to teach Bei Niang to count and settle accounts.

But half an hour, Haizhu heard the sound and went to open the door, she was surprised: "Why did you come back?" Teach the third aunt so quickly? ”

"The third aunt is sleepy and can't open her eyes, so we'll come back." Dongzhu said.

"Just like me." Chaoping shook his head, he also wanted to sleep when he mentioned counting and recognizing.

No one paid attention to him, the next day Dongzhu and Fengping changed the teaching time, went over after breakfast, and taught her to count while Bei Niang was working.

……

After the five hens had finished eating, and the sky was clear, the people hiding at home opened the doors one after another and came out, the men cleaned up the stagnant water and broken tiles in the alley, the women took ropes and poles to dry their quilts and clothes, and the wardrobes, tables, chairs, and benches were all moved out, and the yard was full and put on the road.

The doors and windows of every house were wide open, and the sand and soil soaked by the rain under the doors and windows were dug up and spread out in the yard to dry, and the moldy and damp bamboo mats and clothes and shoes and socks were to be taken to the river to be washed.

Haizhu and Dongzhu followed Bei Niang to pull a cart full of things out of the house, and when they walked out of the alley and smelled the stench, Dongzhu covered her nose and said: "It must be whose salted fish stinks, buried shallowly, and it is too stunning." ”

Bei Niang covered her mouth and retched, pulling the wheels and running a few steps.

The river was crowded with people, in order to make it easier to clean, everyone took the dirty clothes to the river to wash, Haizhu quickly grabbed a bluestone slab, "Third aunt, you and Dongzhu sit and scrub, I will go to the river to fetch water and carry water." ”

She carried a few buckets of water into a large wooden basin, and carried two buckets of water to water the wet bamboo mat to soak, and when she saw several men hurriedly carrying baskets to the sea, she asked loudly, "Has the water on the beach receded?" ”

"I heard that it is retreating."

"I'll take a look, third aunt, you and Dongzhu continue to wash clothes here, and I will pull the wooden cart away." Haizhu took off the clothes, pants, shoes, socks and bed sheets in the car, pulled the empty cart with a bucket and ran to the beach.

The surface of the ocean is shrinking inch by inch, the flooded shops on the pier are exposed to the water, the stone houses are resistant to bubbles, the water recedes and the stone walls do not fall, leaving half-leg-deep silt under the roots of the walls, the bulging sandbags do not know whether crabs or conches are hidden, and the polished stones are covered with green shells and oyster shells, which make people goosebumps when they look at it.

The brave have stepped into the water, chasing the fish, shrimp and crabs that have fled for their lives in the retreating waters. Haizhu found a place to put a wooden cart, and also stepped into the water with a bucket, stepped on the crab shell and pinched two large tongs and threw it into the bucket, the slippery sea fish escaped from between her fingers, and before the conch got into the sediment, she took the first step to buckle the conch shell.

The pier was exposed, the grass pavilions and wooden piers were gone, and even the reef groups had changed.

"A baby shark!" An old man covered an arm-long black-skinned shark with a bamboo basket, and he held it up to show off to everyone, "The teeth are quite small, and it is estimated that they can't bite the meat." ”

"You put your finger over and see if it bites." The people on the side instigated.

The old man took a sip of him, walked to the dock and threw the little shark into the sea, "I won't kill you today, but I will meet my descendants at sea another day, and I hope you will not kill him." ”

After that, he lowered his head and got busy.

The baby shark swings its tail and swims to the bottom of the sea.

There was a loud splash on the sea, and everyone looked up, and a dolphin came out of the sea, and it devoured a school of small fish with its mouth open, and then three more swam over, and a school of flying fish was chased by them and washed ashore, and the tide receded, and they were stranded on the beach.

The people who drove the sea went crazy, and they swarmed the baskets and buckets to the walls, and scooped the fish into the buckets and baskets like dirt.

Haizhu also went to grab a bucket, and when she turned around, she saw four dolphins swimming away with the retreating tide, and she didn't know if they were the four dolphins she knew.

Chapter 118: Bei Niang is happy

A number of people came one after another, and the beach became crowded, and Haizhu walked to the wooden cart with a bucket, and she pulled the cart against the flow of people and walked down the street.

"The sea is receding?" The man on the road asked.

"Yes, quit." Haizhu said.

Passers-by looked at the wooden cart, half of the car's seaweed, on the board of the car was covered with a bunch of flying fish less than the size of a palm, and the bucket was filled with shrimp, crab snails and green shellfish, but there were no big fish.

"There is such a strong wind and no big fish stranded?" The man with the fishing net on his back slowed down, and he was ready to catch the big fish, and if they were all fish that were not big enough for a palm, he would not go.

"The water recedes slowly, the fish run fast, and there are no big fish stranded." Haizhu shook her head.

She pulled the wooden cart and turned into the alley, the stagnant water in the alley has been cleared, and the soaked mud and sand are piled up under the wall, and people are not afraid to stick to the soles of their shoes when walking on the road.

"Haizhu, wait." Shen Huai walked into the alley, "The water on the beach has receded?"

"Retreat, the guards were already there when I returned."

"Do you know the whereabouts of Xiaoliu and the major general? Where will they be now? Shen Huai said bluntly, "My father and mother in my family are worried that something will happen to him at sea." ”