Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982 - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Everyone Has Their Fair Share of Buddies

He was awakened by the sound of the door opening, the wooden door creaking as it was pushed.

Only his grandmother, his mother, and his wife would enter his room. Ye Yaodong kept his eyes closed, planning to doze off a bit longer – drowsy in spring, tired in autumn, weak in winter, but summer was perfect for sleeping.

Light footsteps approached, then climbed onto the bed from his feet. The wooden bed frame creaked, and when he opened his eyes, he saw his wife holding their younger son, who was asleep.

“Is he asleep?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Lin Xiuqing carefully placed the child next to him, then slowly withdrew her arm from under the child’s head. She looked at him hesitantly and said, “Since you’re not going out anyway, could you watch him? Just make sure he doesn’t fall off the bed.”

“Mm, okay.”

Rare for him to be so agreeable, not refusing. Lin Xiuqing felt relieved. “If he wakes up, call me, and I’ll come get him.”

“Won’t you stay and rest a while?”

“No, I’m not tired.”

He watched as she covered their younger son with a green sheet printed with red peonies, then carefully climbed down from the foot of the bed. Ye Yaodong didn’t try to stop her.

If she wanted to work and earn money, he couldn’t stop her.

“Where’s Ye Chenghu?”

He hadn’t seen his older son since after meals, and with such strong sunlight, who knew where he’d gone off to play.

Lin Xiuqing lowered the mosquito net and said, “Don’t know. That seven-year-old could be running around anywhere. He’ll come back when it’s time to eat. I’m heading out now.”

The door closed softly, and the son beside him kicked off his blanket. Ye Yaodong covered him again, but within ten minutes, another kick, and he covered him again!

Soon after, another kick!

His feet kicked out as his body tilted to one side!

Forget it – this kid never showed him any respect when he grew up anyway!

He contentedly closed his eyes again, planning to doze off, but just as he was about to fall asleep, a little foot kicked him right in the face, instantly chasing away any drowsiness.

Ye Yaodong glared at his still-peacefully-sleeping son. So he wasn’t going to let him sleep, huh?

Just during that glare, the little one changed position again, turning over to sleep on his stomach with his bottom in the air!

How could he sleep now? What if the kid let out a fart in his sleep? That would be too much!

Ye Yaodong lost all desire to sleep and sat up, planning to go out to the doorway.

But as soon as he opened the door, he heard his wife speaking rudely to someone, with his two sisters-in-law chiming in.

“He’s sleeping. Go find someone else to play with. Don’t come calling for him all day.”

Lin Xiuqing was annoyed by these people constantly calling for her husband, making him stay out all day. For once he hadn’t gone out, and these drinking buddies actually came looking for him – it was infuriating.

“Yeah, you all have wives and children, but instead of looking after your homes and helping with work, you’re out playing all day.”

“Why did you all even get married if you’re going to be like this?”

A male voice cheerfully replied, “I’d like to, but they can’t cook or bear children. They’re useless. If I lived with them, my parents would beat me to death.”

That voice sounds like A-Zheng?

“So you admit you’re all useless?” Second Sister-in-law said bluntly.

“Ah ha, Sister-in-law, don’t say that. When there’s real trouble, we’re very hardworking and loyal!”

Second Sister-in-law rolled her eyes – being loyal wasn’t as important as making money. Good thing she married the second brother.

“Just go home, A-Dong isn’t going out today,” Lin Xiuqing said impatiently.

“I’m here, I’m here!” Ye Yaodong quickly called out. If he didn’t appear soon, his wife would chase everyone away.

How can one live in this world without a few good friends to talk to? Although he might have failed somewhat as a son, husband, and father, he succeeded as a friend. These friends were all very loyal, even if none of them had amounted to much.

Birds of a feather flock together, after all!

Though he planned to be a better person, there was no need to cut off contact with friends.

“Dong-zi, why didn’t you come out today? Where were you this morning? Came to your house but didn’t see you. Asked your dad and almost got chased out!”

“I went to the shore to gather oysters and snails. Why are there only two of you?”

“What’s fun about that? We were tricked into doing that work as kids, played it out already. Come on, A-Guang caught a cobra this morning. We’ve already prepared it, just waiting for you to come so we can cook it.”

The one speaking now was Lin Jianyao, nicknamed Xiao-xiao. He often protested this nickname, shamelessly saying he was quite big, challenging others to compare while urinating, but then saying only his wife could look!

The previous speaker was A-Zheng, Li Xiaozheng. The two had come to find him together.

Ye Yaodong got excited, memories of his youth immediately flooding back. “Where’d you catch it? How many jin? We should kill a chicken too, make a dragon-phoenix soup!”

“Where else? Caught it behind the mountain. Couldn’t find you this morning so we didn’t go to town. Thought we’d check if the watermelons on the hillside were ripe. Who knew we’d spot a cobra? Now we’ve got a feast for tonight!”

“It’s not that big though, only one jin and three liang after cutting off the head.”

“That’s plenty big! Over a jin is perfect. Kill a chicken and it’s just right – one pot of dragon-phoenix soup is enough for us!”

Speaking of it made him hungry too. He hadn’t eaten cobra in many years.

“Let’s go, quick! If we’re making dragon-phoenix soup, we need to kill a chicken. I’ll go catch one from home!” A-Zheng excitedly put his arms around Ye Yaodong and Xiao-xiao’s shoulders, ready to head home.

“Aren’t you afraid your mother will beat you?”

“Those chickens? I used my private money to buy eggs last year and asked her to help hatch them. We agreed the chicks would be mine. I feed them usually, what’s wrong with catching one?”

“I dug up a basket of clams this morning, and several buckets of sand clams. I’ll go get some, we can stir-fry a couple dishes.”

“Then hurry up!”

The three excitedly discussed, ignoring everyone else. When Ye Yaodong came out of the house, they were ready to leave arm in arm.

Ye Yaodong pulled them back slightly and turned to Lin Xiuqing, who was standing there stone-faced: “Uh… A-Qing, I’m going out with friends for a bit. Don’t wait for me for dinner, I’ll come back early tonight. Also, the kid is still sleeping, remember to watch him, okay?”

He felt somewhat guilty – he had just agreed to help watch the child, but now he was leaving at his friends’ call. It felt like breaking a promise.

But they had been his close friends for decades. A-Zheng and Xiao-xiao, like others, had gone to work in other regions not long after and hadn’t returned for years.

Having just been reborn, he wanted to properly see these friends again.

Lin Xiuqing was angry. She didn’t even look at him, turning to go inside to check on how the child was sleeping.

He had seemed somewhat reliable this morning, seriously gathering seafood, but as soon as his friends showed up, he revealed his true colors. She told herself there was no point in getting angry – over the years, he had worn down her temper completely.