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

On his way back to the village, Wu Sui stopped at the farmers' market at the entrance of the town and bought three jin of pork belly and a few jin of large bones.

The eldest brother, Wu Gang, pushed the empty cart, his steps so light they seemed to fly.

Upon arriving at the old house, the courtyard gate was closed.

Wu Sui threw the cloth bag in his arms directly onto the octagonal table in the main room.

The bag was opened, revealing stacks of brand-new 100-yuan bills.

The air in the room became quiet.

Wang Fengqiang stayed awake, waiting for the two brothers to sell their goods so he could find out how much money they made.

He stared at the money on the table, swallowed hard, and looked utterly incredulous.

"We made a total of 22600 yuan." Wu Sui pulled out a long bench, sat down, counted out four stacks of money, pulled out a few small bills, and pushed them in front of Wu Gang.

"Brother, here's 4500 yuan. Count it, and consider the extra 20 yuan as grocery money."

This time, Wu Gang didn't refuse. He happily accepted the money and handed it to his wife.

Wu Sui nodded in satisfaction, then counted out 4500 from the pile of money and handed it to Wang Feng.

"Sister-in-law, you were the most efficient at picking sea cucumbers last night. You did the work of me and my brother by yourself. This 4500 yuan is yours."

Wang Feng's eyelids twitched as she looked at the money handed to her.

In the past, she would have grabbed it long ago.

But today, she slammed her hand on the table.

"Wu Lao Er, who are you insulting?" Wang Feng shouted, hands on her hips.

"You promised your older brother would follow you, and you'd give him 20% of the profits. What's the meaning of you giving me money now?"

Wu Sui was stunned for a moment, not expecting his sister-in-law to react so strongly.

"Sister-in-law, I didn't mean anything by it. You really did put in the most effort last night, and you deserve it."

"Bullshit!" Wang Feng retorted immediately. "What good is your effort? If you hadn't led the way and found that rocky beach, even if I turned the whole beach upside down, would I have found a single sea cucumber?"

"You yourself said that even close brothers should keep clear accounts; once the rules are set, they cannot be broken."

"What's rightfully ours, we'll take every penny; what's not rightfully ours, we won't take even a cent more—it'll be too hot to handle!"

Wang Feng got more and more excited as she talked, staring at Wu Sui with her eyes practically rolling to the sky.

"Keep that money safe. You've only made a little money and you're already acting like a tycoon. Xiaoxue is really unlucky to have married you."

Looking at his sister-in-law's shrewish yet reasonable demeanor, Wu Sui felt quite uncomfortable.

That's just how my sister-in-law is; she has a sharp tongue, but she's more insightful than anyone else.

"Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll take the money back."

Wu Sui smiled as he took the money back and turned to hand it to Chen Xue: "Wife, keep the money safe."

Chen Xue walked over, her palms sweating as she looked at the remaining money on the table.

These past few days, money has been flowing into our house like water.

The butter crabs sold for 16900, sandworms for over 7000, abalone for over 2, plus today's sea cucumbers.

We currently have nearly 5 yuan in cash at home.

The lunch was extremely lavish.

Braised pork belly in a big pot, chicken stew with mushrooms, and bone broth.

The family sat around the table, eating with gusto.

Wu Sui picked up a piece of meat for Ya Ya, put down his chopsticks, and looked at Wu Jianguo, who was sitting in the main seat.

"Dad, I want to buy that vacant lot at the east end of the village."

Wu Jianguo was gnawing on a bone when he stopped.

Li Cuihua's meat fell back into her bowl: "A-Sui, what are you buying land for?"

"Building a house," Wu Sui said calmly, as if she were talking about something very ordinary.

The table fell silent again, save for the sound of Little Tiger gnawing on a bone and smacking his lips.

Wang Feng glared at him: "Second brother, are you running a fever? You've only earned money for a few days, and you're already thinking about building a house?"

"The stone house we're living in now won't do." Wu Sui glanced at Chen Xue.

"It's drafty everywhere, and water is seeping out from the base of the walls. Ya Ya is weak and can't stand the dampness."

"Besides, if you have money, you should always buy some household items."

Wu Jianguo put down his chopsticks and tapped his tobacco pipe on the corner of the table.

"Building a house is a big deal. Do you have enough money?"

"Including today's, I have about 5 yuan on hand," Wu Sui calculated.

"Building a two-story house will probably cost around 60,000 to 70,000 yuan, plus renovations, it'll cost around 100,000 yuan."

"It's not enough now, but we can get the land approved first, lay the foundation, and then make some more money from beachcombing later, building as we go."

5 million!

Wu Jianguo gasped.

This kid has unknowingly saved up so much money.

"Approving a residential land plot isn't difficult." Wu Jianguo pondered for a moment, then began to explain the village's rules.

"That wasteland at the east end of our village is all saline-alkali soil, which cannot grow crops and is not considered arable land."

"As long as you're a villager, you just need to pay some money to the production team, get the village chief's signature, and register it in town, and it will be approved."

"It's just..." Wu Jianguo paused, his brows furrowing.

"The village chief is Chen Youren. You just humiliated his brother at the beach last night. Do you think he'll sign anything for you willingly?"

Wang Feng sneered, "He dares not sign? If he doesn't sign, I'll go to his doorstep and curse him for three days and three nights, and expose everything about how his brother led the robbery of sea cucumbers last night."

"Alright, stop coming up with such bad ideas." Wu Jianguo glared at his eldest daughter-in-law, then turned to look at Wu Sui.

"Don't worry about this. I'll go to Chen Youren's house this afternoon. We're from the same village; do you think he'll really stop us from building a house?"

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Dad." Wu Sui nodded.

There was no real conflict between him and Chen Fugui; it was just that Chen was jealous. He believed the village chief wouldn't really be so heartless.

After lunch, Wu Sui didn't plan to take a nap.

It's really not safe to keep 5 yuan in cash in that drafty stone house.

"Brother, sister-in-law, how about we go to town this afternoon? It's safe to deposit money in the bank, and we can do some sightseeing while we're at it," Wu Sui suggested.

Wang Feng waved her hand and yawned.

"No, no, I'm so tired my back aches."

"You two should go ahead. You can buy some new clothes for Xiaoxue and Yaya. Look at Yaya's clothes, they're all faded from washing."

She was deliberately giving the young couple some time alone.

Wu Sui didn't force her, and went back to the room to let Chen Xue change into a clean set of clothes.

Chen Xue clutched the old cloth containing the money to her chest, so nervous that she could barely walk.

"Relax, nobody knows you're carrying tens of thousands of dollars."

Seeing his wife's alarmed expression, Wu Sui found it amusing and reached out to take Ya Ya into his arms.

The family of three waited for the bus on the national highway and bumped along the way to the town.

Only after handing over the money to the counter and exchanging it for a bank card did Chen Xue's tense shoulders finally relax completely.

He had 50,000 yuan in his account, and kept the remaining 2,000 yuan in cash on him for emergencies.

"Let's go shopping at the mall."

Chen Xue clutched her bank card tightly in her pocket, somewhat reluctant to part with it.

"Ah Sui, don't waste money. We need to save this money to build a house."

"The money for building the house won't be lacking."

Wu Sui took Chen Xue's hand and strode towards the shopping mall on the street.

"What's the point of building a huge house if my wife and kids are dressed in rags?"

Chen Xue blushed, struggled for a moment but couldn't break free, and let him hold her hand.

The town's shopping mall is basically a larger supermarket, with daily necessities sold on the first floor and clothing and shoes sold on the second floor.

Wu Sui took his wife and daughter directly up to the second floor.

The children's clothing section on the second floor had many brightly colored clothes hanging on the walls.

Ya Ya leaned on Wu Sui's shoulder, her eyes sparkling.

Looking into her daughter's bright eyes, Wu Sui finally understood why she was making money.

For an entire afternoon, the mother and daughter changed outfits one after another, just like a fashion show on a catwalk.

Wu Sui thought everything looked good, and with a wave of his hand, he bought it.

Chen Xue, unusually, didn't spoil the mood and bought seven or eight sets of clothes for Ya Ya, and two sets for herself as well.