Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: From Grandfather’s Generation to Grandson’s Generation

In an instant, Father Ye imagined living with his third son and having to work until death. He’d rather live alone.

“Father, I’m sincere!”

“If I believe you, I’ll have to work until I’m eighty!”

“Even if you don’t believe me, you’ll still have to work until eighty! My grandmother is eighty now and still growing vegetables!”

Father Ye said irritably, “Living with you, I’ll die young – from anger. I probably won’t make it to eighty.”

“Oh, well,” Ye Yaodong shrugged, “then there’s no solution. I’ll move out so you can live a long life! You can choose between Big Brother and Second Brother to live with and care for you here!”

Though he knew his father was planning to build three houses, he still mischievously said this on purpose.

First and Second Sister-in-law’s faces immediately darkened, but they didn’t dare directly say they were unwilling.

How could Father Ye not see through their thoughts? He just hadn’t pointed it out.

Mother Ye was busy feeding her young grandson and just listened without speaking, but her heart grew cold.

She felt she hadn’t treated her three daughters-in-law poorly, taking good care of them during their confinement periods and helping with the grandchildren, but in the end, only the third son’s wife was willing to live with them!

Actually, before bed last night, she had discussed with Father Ye about building three houses directly. Their current old house was quite dilapidated, and they were only in their early fifties – if they lived another 20-some years, this house probably wouldn’t be habitable anymore.

After they passed away, the three brothers could sell this homestead and split the money. There was no need to think about which son to live with. They could still work and didn’t need their sons’ support – if the sons wanted to show filial piety through daily care, they would accept it.

Who knew Father Ye’s impromptu test would reveal two daughters-in-law’s true thoughts? At least the two sons were good, and the third son’s wife was good too.

The children at the table didn’t dare interrupt when adults were talking, just kept their heads down eating, and left to play after finishing, not concerned with adult worries.

The three daughters-in-law finally sat down, but none had the appetite to eat, all waiting for Father Ye to speak.

Father Ye was quite unhappy but couldn’t vent his anger at his daughters-in-law. He just glared at his three sons and said clearly, “It’s been arranged with the commune to build three houses, one for each of you. Your mother and I don’t need your care, we can still work.”

He had really brought this trouble upon himself – he should have just said one house each from the start!

Upon hearing this, First and Second Sister-in-law relaxed and their faces broke into smiles.

At this point, how could the eldest and second brother not understand their wives’ ulterior motives? They both glared at their wives disapprovingly.

“Alright, hurry up and eat. After eating, Eldest and Second will come with me to hire workers and buy sand.”

Mother Ye added, “I’ll go find someone to check for an auspicious date before we start construction.”

“Mm.”

At the table, only Ye Yaodong and the old grandmother’s moods weren’t affected or disturbed. He was still smiling while picking fish for his grandmother.

The old grandmother had no teeth and could only eat fish!

“Grandmother, when I make money, I’ll buy you dentures, then you can eat anything!”

“Ah, good, good~” The grandmother beamed with joy at his coaxing.

Everyone else thought silently: When will that be?

But through his actions, the atmosphere at the table suddenly became lighter again.

After finishing his meal, Ye Yaodong moved his bowl aside before reaching for the clams. These were better with alcohol than with rice, and having to shell them with one hand was too troublesome. He always saved them for after meals to have with alcohol.

Unfortunately, there was no alcohol at home now, and even if there was, they wouldn’t let him drink!

So he was self-aware enough not to ask, avoiding getting scolded!

But even so, he still got scolded…

After eating a few, when he reached out his chopsticks again, his mother swatted them away.

“If you’re done eating, leave the table. Why keep reaching for more? Can’t you save some for dinner? You want to eat it all in one sitting – what will you have tonight when it’s all gone?”

Suddenly dropping from grandfather’s generation to grandson’s generation – damn, that’s quite a drop!

Ye Yaodong bit his chopstick tips and said glumly, “We dug up a whole basket this morning, enough to eat until tomorrow. Can’t we dig more tomorrow at low tide? Are we really going to run out?”

“You’re going to dig?”

“Yes, I’ll go. Didn’t I go this morning too?”

Just as Mother Ye was about to say something, the grandmother said concernedly, “It’s so hot out, you’ll get too much sun. Remember to bring a hat tomorrow, don’t get sunburned. I’ll fill a thermos with tea tomorrow for you to take and quench your thirst.”

Father Ye said disapprovingly, “It’s just beach combing, how much sun can there be? We’re on the boat from dawn till dusk and don’t complain. You’re making too much fuss.”

Ye Yaodong: This is so unfair… he hadn’t said anything!

“You’re used to the work, but Dongzi still has delicate skin, how can you compare? He already said he’ll go beach combing tomorrow, what’s wrong with letting him eat a bit more now? It’s not costing any money.”

Even Father Ye felt helpless when facing the grandmother, “Fine, keep spoiling him!”

“Being able to eat is a blessing. As long as our family’s children are healthy and safe, that’s what matters. Dongzi, eat, if you like it, eat more. When we finish these, we can dig more tomorrow.”

“Ai.”

His parents looked at him with obvious displeasure – how did he used to brazenly ignore this and continue doing as he pleased?

Anyway, he couldn’t do it now, couldn’t manage it. After eating just a bit more, he left the table.

After gargling with water, he tossed the water dipper aside and saw two large basins of clams on the stove, their siphons extended through their opened shells. The bucket on the floor was half full too, all with extended siphons.

Many hands make light work – the harvest wasn’t small. They’d gathered this much in just three hours, but with so many people in the family, it wouldn’t last long. Probably only enough for two or three days.

“Mother, did you specially bring back seawater to keep them in?”

“What else?”

He honestly shut up!

If he suggested using salt mixed with tap water, he’d definitely get criticized again!

They were using coarse salt now, which people carried over to sell, and it wasn’t cheap. How could his mother use salt to mix water for the clams? She’d rather walk ten minutes to the seaside to fetch a bucket of seawater.

“Move aside, I’m looking for a cleaning cloth.”

Ye Yaodong was pulled aside by his wife, so he stopped hanging around inside and directly moved a chair to sit under the tree shade by the door.

But just as he sat in the chair, before he could even stretch his legs, he saw his first and second uncles coming again?

They weren’t giving up?

“Ah, what wind blew First Uncle and Second Uncle back here, this damn southeast wind! Have you eaten?”

Second Uncle’s mouth twitched, “We’re full from the northwest wind, no need to eat the southeast wind!”

Ye Yaohua was gargling at the doorway and choked, coughing violently when he heard this. Really… really… how could they respond like that…

Ye Yaodong also looked at his Second Uncle in surprise – his mind was quite quick to respond like that.