Chapter 1003

"Ye Chenghu, have you finished your homework?"

"Not yet…" Ye Chenghu replied weakly.

"Then why aren't you going?"

"Oh."

"Ye Ye Chengjiang…"

Ye Ye Chengjiang spoke up quickly, "I'll finish it tomorrow!"

"So you haven't finished it yet tonight."

He gave Ye Yaodong a resentful glance, then gloomily went home to do his homework.

Ye Ye Chengyang watched them all with reluctant expressions and no longer wanted to go to school.

"Dad, when we buy the lamb, I'll take care of grazing it."

"Fine. Graze it for two years, then start school, and let your sister take over your job."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi clapped happily, "Good! Good! Baa, baa~"

"Can I just stay home and graze sheep forever?"

Ye Yaodong looked at Ye Ye Chengyang with a puzzled expression—wasn't this kid always smarter than his older brothers? Why did he keep wanting to graze sheep?

"Is grazing sheep really that good?"

"I see my brothers suffering so much with studying…" He shook his head like a rattle, then ran inside too.

"Really, Ye Ye Chenghai and the others set such a bad example—now the younger siblings don't want to study at all."

Ye Ye Yaohua laughed and said, "If you don't enroll tomorrow, I'll break your legs. All you do is play and run around everywhere—you only panic when it's too late."

The old lady chuckled and urged, "Come inside and eat first, come inside and eat first. Don't worry about them—if you don't enroll, just go out to sea and work."

"That's exactly what they'd want," Ye Ye Yaopeng said.

"Please. One trip, a few days on the boat, and they'll be crying and begging to come home."

Right now they dream of the freedom of not going to school, but once they stop, they'll realize how carefree school life was—and then regret it. Ye Yaodong didn't believe they could last even a few days.

Even Lin Lin Guangyuan and the others selling buns in the city were so exhausted after one summer that they longed for school to start again.

Life on the boat is harder than waking up early to sell buns—it's not as fun as they imagined.

Lin Lin Xiuqing stood at the door, her waist tied with an apron, wiping her wet hands on it, smiling at the group by the entrance.

"I heard you'd come back early, so I rushed home to add a few extra dishes and reheat everything. I thought I'd be too late, but you didn't even come in until now—don't just stand there chatting, come eat."

"Your clothes, Dad brought in already. But why didn't you bring down the quilt? It'll get damp if left on the boat—we'll have to move it down and dry it tomorrow. Also, Dad just brought back a crate of stuff and told me not to touch it—what is it?"

Ye's father sat at the table, already finished eating, sipping wine, and interrupted their chatter: "Eat first, eat first."

Ye Yaodong set the child down, took off his dirty coat, and pulled out the cloth bundle from inside his shirt, handing it to Lin Lin Xiuqing.

"All the money we earned on this trip is inside, along with the inventory list. Take it to your room, count it, organize it, and record the accounts."

Lin Lin Xiuqing wiped her hands on her apron again before taking the bundle. "Alright, alright. You eat first."

He went to wash his hands before sitting down.

Ye's father asked as soon as he sat: "Is the workshop still slaughtering fish?"

"The fish sauce workshop has shut down—everyone went home to eat, and they'll come back tomorrow. The dried fish workshop is still bustling with people. I saw Mom there, so I just circled around and came back—let her see for herself."

"Then she should finish up and come back soon. It's still cold, and it gets colder at night."

"Dongzi, you said this trip was very profitable. Your two boats sailed and worked together the whole time. When our boat arrives next year, we can do the same—close enough to watch out for each other."

Ye Yaodong nodded with his mouth full of rice, saying nothing. His older brother was already planning for next year.

"Your experience this trip was quite amazing. Even the fish gills turned out to be valuable—you never knew fish gills could be worth so much."

He kept nodding.

His father had said everything already, so he didn't need to speak—just eat. The rocking boat was nothing compared to the comfort of eating at home.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi climbed onto her chair, knees on the seat, arms propped on the table, spotted the braised pork ribs, grabbed one, and juice dripped everywhere.

The old lady rushed to the stove for a cloth, wiping and scolding, "You've already eaten so much meat tonight—now you're eating more? You'll go to bed and can't digest it. There are only a few pieces left—those were meant for your father…"

She stared with round eyes, her mouth full of braising sauce, completely unfazed by her grandmother's scolding, chewing the ribs with loud, satisfying crunches.

After gnawing, her cheeks bulging, she still held the bone out under the table to feed the dog.

"Hua Hua, good girl~ good girl~"

"Dongzi, since your haul was so good, how much did you make?"

Ye Yaodong, mouth full, swallowed before answering: "Didn't Dad tell you? I thought he'd already said everything by now."

"We just asked—he hadn't had time to tell us before you came back, so we went out to check."

"Four or five thousand? Something like that. We made more on the first day, but the following days brought little. Expenses were high. On the last day, two fishing boats collided on a reef—no catch from yesterday evening onward. We wasted a whole day. Luckily, we stocked up early, or we'd have had nothing left to bring back."

Both of them widened their eyes, mouths agape.

"This… this one trip earned four or five thousand? So we could break even in a month?"

"How could that be? You can't expect luck like this every day. Most of the profit came from the first day—the rest only brought a few hundred. Besides, can you really stay at sea all month? A few days are already exhausting, and it depends on the weather."

"Still, that's a huge profit. Just one trip earned so much—you'll break even soon. Big boats really pay off faster."

The two brothers were envious—just a few days and they'd earned four or five thousand. How long would it take them to earn that?

Ye Yaodong chewed slowly: "It's all about luck. Good luck, you get everything you need. Bad luck, you get nothing."

"That's true. We fishermen rely on luck. Your sea luck is truly exceptional. When our boat arrives, we'll follow right behind you, stay together, and borrow some of your luck." Ye Ye Yaohua had grown increasingly convinced of Ye Yaodong's sea fortune.

"But it's still far off. A few months from now, you'll get your trawlers too—figure out a plan first, decide your strategy, then think about next year's boat."

"We'll talk about that later. I heard the shipyard raised prices after the New Year—we'll save money by locking in our order early."

"Dad, how many days will you rest before heading out again?"

Ye's father took a sip of wine. "Depends on Dongzi. Rest two days."

Ye Yaodong also said, "Let's rest for a couple of days first."

At this moment, men and women from the neighboring houses had gathered over, seven or eight people peering at the courtyard gate, and the girls in the family led them inside.

Instantly, the house was in an uproar; everyone had come over because they heard they were back, so they dropped by after dinner to chat for a bit.

Ye Fu was also all smiles as he chatted away, telling everyone about the sights they'd seen on this trip out to sea.

This trip, whether it was running into a manta ray fighting a shark, the price of pufferfish swim bladders, or the two fishing boats hitting rocks and stacking up on top of each other before being hauled off by the Haishi Bureau, was all excellent material for storytelling.

After having told the story once to his two sons, then telling it again to a whole group, Ye Fu's enthusiasm hadn't waned in the slightest; he still spoke with animated gestures, his whole face in motion.

The neighbors were all listening with great interest, and as Ye Fu told his story, more people kept arriving one after another—some neighbors, some relatives.

They had all heard they were back, and had brought back several tens of thousands of jin of goods; the workshop was still lit up bright. Everyone had come with the attitude of joining in the fun to take a look around the workshop, and then stopped by the house on the way.

The house was packed full of people, hard to squeeze in; some were even leaning against the doorframe at the entrance to listen.

The more people there were, the happier Ye Fu was. It was rare for the house to be full of people, inside and out, even more lively than New Year's.

After the wine went in, Ye Fu got even more excited, talking so vigorously his spit flew everywhere; it was entirely his own show.

Ye Yaodong, hearing his father talk with such excitement, didn't dampen his spirits. He poured him more wine, poured himself a cup too, didn't interrupt, and just let him talk.

Everyone in the house was chattering away—exclaiming one moment, throwing out questions the next—and Ye Fu answered every single one.

The grown-ups were so caught up in their own conversation that none of them paid any attention to the children.

It wasn't until Ye Yaodong kept hearing little "ha"~"ha"~ sounds, and turned his head in puzzlement, that he noticed an extra little drunkard at the table.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi held Ye Fu's wine cup, took a small sip, then let out a "ha." Seeing her father looking over, she even raised the cup to clink it against his.

"Cheers~"

Ye Yaodong's eyes went wide, and he immediately snatched the cup away from her.

"Who told you to drink wine?"

"Gimme~ gimme~ more~ more~ hic~"

Her face flushed red as she reached out trying to grab it back, and let out a big, satisfied burp.

Ye Yaodong quickly pulled her onto his lap, afraid she'd fall to the ground if she got drunk.

He also glanced at the wine in the bowl, wondering how much she'd drunk.

Ye Fu, hearing the commotion, turned his head to look and burst out laughing too.

"Stole wine to drink? Was it good?"

"Good~ sweet~"

All the grown-ups present burst out laughing too.

"Right, rice wine is sweet."

"Rice wine gets even sweeter once it's warmed up…"

"Children shouldn't drink it carelessly. Hurry and give her a few sips of water, carry her inside to sleep."

"This girl eats everything, there's nothing she won't eat, even stealing wine to drink…"

The old lady smiled and shook her head, went to grab the thermos and pour her a small bowl of boiled water, then grabbed another bowl, pouring back and forth between the two to cool it faster.

Lin Lin Xiuqing, hearing the commotion and coming out, learned that Ye Ye Xiaoxi had stolen wine to drink, and didn't know how much she'd gotten down. Seeing her face flushed red, she couldn't help but glare reproachfully at Ye Yaodong.

"It's all your fault—every time you drink you have to dip a chopstick and let her lick it, as if it's something wonderful. You've spoiled her rotten."

Ye Yaodong, holding the child, looked utterly innocent. "I was just teasing her. How was I to know she'd sneak a drink when the grown-ups weren't looking?"

"Seeing you all drink it every day, and you often let her have a taste, wouldn't she think it's something wonderful? The color's pretty too, that red—she just remembered it in her heart."

"It's fine, it's fine. Rice wine is sweet, the alcohol content isn't high, she probably didn't drink much. Look, she's still so lively and energetic. Here, here, just let her drink a few more sips of boiled water and she'll be fine." The old lady hurriedly handed over the boiled water.

After Lin Lin Xiuqing fed her two sips of boiled water, she didn't expect her to spit it back out and keep shaking her head. "Doesn't taste good!"

"Be good, drink it and you won't feel uncomfortable."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi kept shaking her head, and even stood up, wrapping her arms around Ye Yaodong's neck, pointing at the bowl in front of him. "Want this~ sweet~"

"This is wine, children can't drink it. If you drink it you'll get stupid." Ye Yaodong said helplessly, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Want this~ want this~"

Everyone in the house watched her standing on Ye Yaodong's lap, bouncing around putting on a show.

"Haha, this child's tolerance for alcohol is definitely going to be great in the future."

"Looks like we'll have to hide the wine at home better from now on."

"My son last summer snuck and ate the bayberries soaked in the homemade bayberry wine, even swallowed the pits, and nobody knew. It was only when we found him lying on the floor napping at high noon with a bright red face, and tried to carry him back to bed, that we smelled the wine on his breath."

"Haha, kids are like that. Sleep it off tonight, and tomorrow morning they'll be fine."

Seeing that she absolutely refused to drink water no matter what, Lin Lin Xiuqing stopped trying to feed her, to avoid spilling it everywhere. After putting the bowl down, she picked her up and carried her back to the room. A bunch of grown-ups were still chatting in there, so she figured she'd spare her the trouble of making a scene in the main hall.

Without Ye Ye Xiaoxi making a ruckus, the grown-ups in the house chatted even more happily.

It wasn't until past nine o'clock that everyone, thinking they still had to go out to sea tonight or had work to do tomorrow and needed to sleep early, gradually dispersed.

During the casual chatting, when Ye Yaodong was asked how much he'd made on this trip, he didn't honestly tell them straight out that he'd earned four or five thousand. He just said the accounts hadn't been settled yet.

With his own brothers he could talk about it, but outsiders were out of the question.

After seeing everyone off, he stretched with a great big lazy yawn.

"How is everyone so enthusiastic? Just because I went out on one trip to sea, they all came running to the door."

Ye Mu had just finished up at the workshop in the middle of it all, and after closing up, came over to join in. The corners of her mouth were raised so high she still couldn't press them down.

"Isn't it because you're different now? This afternoon when the in-laws came back, they brought a whole pile of goods—over a dozen cartloads and still couldn't finish hauling it. Half the village ran to our workshop to watch the fun, and every one of them enthusiastically helped carry and weigh things."

"Oh right, we came back and got swarmed before we even finished eating, and didn't get to ask—how many jin did Uncle Pei weigh in this afternoon when he brought the goods back?"

"We didn't weigh the sundries. The toadfish weighed in at 9,658 jin, the mackerel at 4,220 jin, the lizardfish at 2,100 jin. It's so late today, you go settle the accounts tomorrow. The other sundries are a few hundred jin each. The weighing slip is with Ah Qing—she put it away."

"Got it, I'll go ask her when I go inside in a bit."

Ye Mu was still all smiles. "This afternoon I hired ten people to come kill fish. That load of over ten thousand jin didn't shrink by much, and tonight you brought back another ten thousand-plus jin. Tomorrow we'll probably need to call in another twenty people to kill fish."

"Just now at the workshop entrance, a whole bunch of people ran over asking for work, telling me I need hands. I must call them tomorrow. Some even brought a basket of oranges for me, others carried a big handful of plantains, and some hugged two pomelos. It was really laughable. I just put them all at your doorstep when I came over."

Ye Yaodong chuckled twice. "So it's like this..."

"You see for yourself. We can't let the fish rot. Hire a few more people to kill and hang them up within these two or three days."

"I know that. The small shrimp you brought back, let the two boys guarding the gate roast them over the fire while cooking them tonight. This batch is almost all fish. Tomorrow, we can dump all those small miscellaneous fish into the big barrels to ferment. Killing the fish is the hard part; it needs more people. Those pufferfish aren't like other fish; they're slippery and slimy, not easy to kill."

"Mm, call a few more people. Cleaning and drying all need hands."

"For cleaning and drying, you have your sisters-in-law and cousins-in-law. I don't even need to call the close ones; they all ran over to find work on their own. I told Lin Lin Xiuqing to calculate the time for them, and we'll pay them wages just like the others. The goods you brought back this trip are truly enough. Dragging the net back yourself is more cost-effective; no need to spend money buying..."

The old lady interrupted Ye's mother's non-stop chatter. "Stop talking for now. Let him take a bath and sleep early. We can talk about anything tomorrow. Everyone has been tired for several days. He just got back, and a huge crowd surrounded him talking all night. What time is it? You didn't even check, yet you're still talking there..."

"Ah, okay, okay. Then you take a bath and sleep early. Your father also needs to go back and sleep early. We can talk when you wake up tomorrow, or I can ask your father when I get back, same thing."

After Ye's father drank the remaining wine in the bowl on the table, he stood up unsteadily. "The villagers are truly enthusiastic. Such a huge crowd, everyone ran over."

"Isn't it because the goods brought back this trip were so many? Everyone heard that the fish in our workshop were piled up like a mountain. One told ten, ten told a hundred, and they all ran over to look. Tonight, Dongzi brought back another boatload. Of course, they all came to see the excitement and ask, all wanting to know how much cargo we caught this trip."

"Mainly because those two workshops are so big, too conspicuous. Dongzi is now a famous celebrity all over the ten miles and eight villages... It gave us face..."

"Right, right, right, it gave us face. If you've drunk too much horse urine, go back quickly. Talking is talking, but you still drank bowl after bowl of wine. I can't support you. You'll have to crawl back yourself later..."

"Then I'll sleep here..."

"Sleep your head! Seeing the upstairs building here, you don't want to sleep in the broken house anymore, do you?"

"Wait... wait for me... I... I was just saying that... Flashlight... flashlight... shine it, shine it..."

After the voices of the two old men grew farther and farther away, the old lady shook her head and said, "Look how happy they are. They can't even walk straight. Tomorrow, they'll have to walk sideways like crabs."

"Didn't we make money? We should be happy. If I made money, wouldn't you be happy?"

The old lady smiled and said, "Happy, of course I'm happy. It's already past the New Year, but the house is more lively than during the New Year. In the future, there will definitely be even more people coming and going."

"Of course. In a few years, when I've made a name for myself and earn more and more money, I'll hold a grand ninetieth birthday celebration for you. Then even more people will come and go."

The old lady smiled so wide her mouth wouldn't close. "Ai, okay, okay, okay. Then I'll wait."

"You go sleep. I'll take a bath. Turn off the lights and the door for me later."

"Are you hungry? I'll stew a few eggs for you to replenish. By the time you finish your bath, it'll be just right to eat and sleep."

The old lady was still worried that she hadn't stewed the eggs for him yet. Just now, there was a crowd of people in the room, even sitting in front of the stove, which made it impossible for her to move back and forth to work.

"Didn't we just finish dinner? No need. We agreed to kill a chicken tomorrow. Just eat chicken tomorrow."

"Tomorrow is tomorrow. It's been several hours since dinner. Eat the eggs tonight first. You wash your bath, and you can eat right after."

The old lady didn't care about what he said. She went on her own to take down one of the baskets hanging on the wall, then took five eggs out of it.

"No need for five. Two is enough. Just eat a little."

"Two? What can you eat with two? You're so tall; you definitely need to eat more to get full."

"Then three. Just leave two to hatch chicks. I love eating chicken."

"They haven't sat on the nest yet. Save them for a few more days; we won't run out. If it's not enough, go next door and take a few, same thing."

Old people get stubborn when they're old, only doing what they've decided. Ye Yaodong didn't say much more; let her do as she pleased. He took a washbasin, poured hot water first, and prepared to take a bath.

At this moment, two shadowy figures ran in from outside the door.

"When did you two run out? Ye Chenghu, didn't you go back to your room to do homework tonight?"

"You were so noisy; how could I do homework? I'll do it tomorrow. We're going to sleep."

Ye Yaodong just watched the two figures flash past again, then the stairs were stomped with a bang, bang, and the door was slammed shut with a loud thud.

"These two stinky boys. I should have gone to close the courtyard gate first. Lock them outside. They're busier than me every single day."

"If you don't want to study, I'll have you work as soon as you learn a few characters. Brother Brother Ahai is already that big; he can work for you too."

"Let's see after he finishes junior high."

Ye Yaodong didn't know if Ye Ye Xiaoxi was asleep in the room. He carried the bathwater and simply went to wash in the room downstairs where the two children used to be. Washing in the main hall was too cold; the front and back doors were both open, letting the wind in.

After he finished his bath, wearing boxer shorts, he hopped out like a grasshopper and quickly ran back to the room to get clothes to put on.

The old lady brought the stewed eggs, but she couldn't catch him in time. She could only deliver them to the doorway, then checked the front and back doors, closed the windows and doors, and turned off the lights.

Inside the room, Ye Yaodong ate the stewed eggs by the light of a flashlight in the dark.

"Didn't you just finish dinner? Why are you eating again?"

"The old lady pities her grandson; she insisted on stewing them for me."

"During the day, she told me not to boil the eggs, to save them for hatching chicks. Tonight, she stewed them for you."

"Have you calculated the accounts? How much is in the bag of money you brought back? Have you counted it?" He changed the subject and asked.

"I've counted it and written it in the notebook. The total is 9,979. It scared me half to death. So much money. I originally wanted to ask you how you got so much money. Earlier, hearing the talking sounds in the main hall, I listened at the doorway for a while too. No need for you to explain. This trip's luck was really good."

"4,756 is the account calculated from your father. Most of it was earned from dried sea hares. Just count it as five days' accounts; don't record it in the big boat's accounts."

"Ah, like that? I was saying there was so much money, it made my heart race. I was even thinking you did something bad again?"

"Nonsense. What bad thing could I do? I only do good things."

Lin Lin Xiuqing sat up and leaned against the headboard. "I heard that when they go out to sea, as soon as they dock, they find places to have fun, so I couldn't help but think too much."

"People like that are gone for several months. It's rare for them to dock. How could I? I've only been out for a week in total. We only dock because the cargo is abundant and valuable; otherwise, we wouldn't bear to dock. Going back and forth wastes half a day."

"Then what everyone said is true?"

"Uh... not necessarily. Some just eat and drink when they go ashore."

"I didn't ask about anything else. So besides eating and drinking, what do some people do?"

"I don't know! I've never done it." Ye Yaodong decisively ended this topic. "Remember to calculate the accounts separately tomorrow."

"Got it."

"When did my daughter fall asleep? Was she really drunk?"

"She was drunk. She hopped around on the bed for a while. I pinned her down on the bed, and she fell asleep in no time. She even started snoring."

"That's quite cute. She even stole a drink of wine, took a sip, and went 'Ha'." As he spoke, he smiled knowingly.

Lin Lin Xiuqing said, annoyed, "Little girl, so naughty. When she and Xiaoyu get together, they make an unholy ruckus. Xiaoyu used to be so quiet and well-behaved, sitting properly playing with her dolls for the first couple of days, but now your daughter has led her astray and they run around outside every day, both of them coming back filthy every day."

"It's fine, bouncing around is healthy. And Xiaoyu seems to have adapted pretty well."

"She cried for three nights, and during the day she kept almost crying, with a face full of grievance. Later, your daughter took her out to play, running around everywhere, and she got better, and she sleeps well at night now too."

"See, that's just a lack of exercise. Once she's tired from playing, of course she won't look for her mother at night and just falls straight asleep."

"The two sisters are quite close though, they even have to hug each other when they sleep. Probably because your daughter is with her, she adapted so quickly."

Suddenly, Lin Lin Xiuqing thought of something, threw off the covers, got out of bed, and slipped on her slippers.

"Oh right, I haven't asked you yet. When Dad came back, he carried a box of stuff down from the cart and put it in our room, told me to wait until you got back to talk about it. What's inside?"

Ye Yaodong also put down his spoon, got up, and followed her to the doorway. "It's a box of canned fish, and a few jars of caviar."

"Smuggled off the cargo ship? Fish can be made into cans? What on earth is caviar?"

"Yes."

He explained to her the value of this box of goods, and the situation.

"That's so expensive! Really? Then we can't sell it, we'd have to eat it ourselves? Wouldn't that be a waste?"

"What's there to waste? Am I not worthy of eating something good?"

"You want to eat everything, just like a child. So what do we do with these?"

"Keep them for ourselves. Tomorrow give a couple of cans to Eldest Brother and Ye Ye Erge, just say we brought them back from outside, eat them for the novelty. As for whether to give any to the others, you decide."

"Not giving any. So expensive, why give them away? Keep them for ourselves to eat."