Chapter 1005: Registration

Ye Yaodong listened to the wailing and crying of the others, feeling quite good, and returned to the workshop to take a look.

Inside, it was bustling with activity, and the sound of chatter was non-stop. A group of older aunties and women were gossiping without pause while they worked.

Several long wooden boards were placed against the wall. Originally, they were meant to be set up in a long row against the wall, but these women found it inconvenient to talk, so they moved them themselves, placing another long row right next to the first. Now, people on both sides could kill fish back-to-back and still whisper to each other.

Moreover, a long board could seat people on both sides, increasing its utility.

The two long lines looked to have forty or fifty people each. Everyone was wrapped in thick cotton-padded jackets, wearing sleeves and gloves. When they spoke, their breath formed mist, but their faces were filled with smiles; they didn't feel the cold of the sea breeze at all.

There were also quite a few people coming and going in the open space, moving, lifting, washing, and scrubbing; it looked like there were sixty or seventy people in total.

He walked around the workshop once. Everyone just greeted him and then went back to their own conversations, not treating him like the boss at all, but still as a young lad.

They were, however, incredibly enthusiastic about his mother, talking about how lucky she was to have such great blessings in her old age.

But after walking around, he didn't see his mother anywhere.

The few boys who had latched onto him early on were incredibly enthusiastic. As soon as he arrived at the workshop, they followed him, explaining how much had been killed and dried by mid-morning, and that over twenty baskets of shrimp had been boiled and dried overnight.

He looked at the open space, which was filled with fishing nets, either hanging or laid flat to dry. At a glance, it was all toadfish, and the strong scent of the sea hit his nose.

"Once they're full, dry them next door. The open space next door can be fully utilized. Hanging them to dry saves space. This batch is over twenty thousand jin, nearly thirty thousand jin of goods; we need a larger area. Anyway, there aren't that many broken fishing nets, so just hang them all up to dry."

"Got it. Auntie just said the same thing, saying there aren't enough broken nets to use for drying, so we should just use ropes to hang them all up."

"Where's my mother?"

"She said she was going to the village committee for a turn and would come back later."

His mother shouldn't be considered a ghost employee, right!

After walking around, he saw Lin Xiuqing drying fish and walked over to her.

"Aren't there so many people here? Why are you still working?"

"So I shouldn't do anything? Just stand there and watch?"

Shouldn't she be hovering around him? She was running around so fast earlier, pretending to be busy. With these chores, did it really matter if she was there or not?

"You've hired people, so just let them do the work. Your son isn't doing his homework and is still playing at the door; go take care of that."

"Isn't he your son? Can't you take care of him? You're specifically telling me? You're walking around with your hands in your pockets, and you don't know how to manage your son. Today is the last day for registration; you take him to school this afternoon, I don't have time."

"You're just busy for nothing."

"Every day it's your son, your son. Who knows whose seed it is or whose surname he follows? Go call him to do his homework, or he won't be able to register this afternoon, and I'll beat him to death. Go, go, don't get in the way here..."

Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose, failed in his complaint, and had to find somewhere else to wander.

"Hehe, Brother Dong, you're so obedient to your wife?"

"What? This isn't being obedient to her; this is letting her have her way. Seeing her manage the household, busy inside and out all day without a moment of rest, I just won't get in her way."

He turned to the fish sauce workshop next door. At the entrance of the warehouse on the innermost side, there was a small mountain of trash fish. Two women were moving them in and out, and his eldest aunt was inside sprinkling salt for fermentation.

This fish sauce fermentation wasn't like drying fish; it didn't require many people for slaughtering. For this, you just needed to dump the fish in all at once, sprinkle salt evenly, and seal it. Most older women knew how to do it.

So there were only three people there, cold and quiet, moving and working. Anyway, it was fast; they were just dumping them in basket by basket, and he guessed it would be finished by tonight or tomorrow.

He turned to the other rooms.

The other rooms were also filled with large barrels. Some were filled with vats of fish sauce that had already been filtered, and some empty vats hadn't been used yet, probably just replaced.

In the open space by the dried fish workshop, there were still over a dozen large barrels that hadn't been filtered yet; it wasn't time yet.

Everything looked orderly; it made no difference whether he was there or not.

Seeing this, Ye Yaodong felt more at ease.

Even when he wasn't home, both sides were running well. It was just that he was too tired when he returned yesterday, and he was surrounded by neighbors and fellow villagers, so he didn't have time to chat with Lin Xiuqing.

He didn't know how the fish sauce sales and deliveries had been in the few days after the New Year.

Also, just now, listening to those women chat, it seemed there was gossip about Awei and the Wang family, oh, and about her cousin Asheng.

These women were divided into several circles; this circle talked about this, and that circle talked about that, chattering away like tens of thousands of ducks.

He listened to a few sentences here and a few there, without beginning or end, and didn't understand anything clearly. Moreover, these people jumped to the next topic very quickly.

"You two go do your work, why are you following me? It's my own workshop, can't I be familiar with it? Don't be lazy!" Ye Yaodong walked around a large circle and found two people still following him. He looked left and right and said.

"Hehe, we were just afraid Brother Dong would have questions and find no one to answer. We're following so we can answer whatever you ask."

"Nothing to ask. If there is, just ask my wife. Go get busy. You guys pay attention to the shifts; twenty-four hours a day, three shifts. I took Chen Shi to the boat, and Chen Qishui went to the Harvest ship again. There are only 5 of you. If you're short one, I'll have Lin Xiuqing call someone else for you later."

"Okay, okay. We are indeed short one person. This way, each of the three shifts will have two people. We've only been scheduling one person during the day recently because there are people coming and going, so it's not that critical."

"Hmm."

Ye Yaodong finished his walk and found there was nothing for him to do, so he prepared to discipline the children, lest they all go to rush the construction of the unfinished buildings while his own two were having too much fun.

Earlier, in the open space in front of the door, the girls were playing "Malan Blossoms Twenty-One," and the boys were playing cockfighting. Now, only a group of girls remained; the boys were all gone, probably chased home.

No, wait, his two were still there, actually mixed in with the girls. They really had some ambition.

And the little girls who were singing and dancing earlier had changed their game; they were now playing with the rubber bands he had bought for them. Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang were jumping rope behind the girls; the two tails were them.

After he walked closer, Ye Chenghu made a mistake in his jump and was forced to stand as a post.

He slapped his eldest son on the back of the head.

"You've got ambition, huh? Can even jump rope now? You're a boy following a group of girls jumping rope, aren't you ashamed?"

Ye Chenghu rubbed the back of his head, looked behind him vigilantly, and only breathed a sigh of relief after finding his mother wasn't there.

"Not ashamed."

"Is there no one left to play with you? Everyone else has gone to rush their homework, and you're still not going to write yours? You don't want to register this afternoon, you don't want to go to school, right?"

Ye Chenghu's eyes lit up, "I'll go write it right away!"

In an instant, he took the rubber band hooked on his feet and put it directly on his father's hands.

"Dad, I'm going to write my homework, you stand as the post for me!"

Ye Yaodong looked at the rubber band on his hands, completely bewildered. The group of nieces in front jumped halfway, discovered the rubber band had changed owners, and also turned to look at him, then looked at each other—should they continue?

He looked at the rubber band on his hands; he couldn't really stand here for his son.

"Yangyang, come here."

Ye Chengyang shook his head, "No, I didn't jump wrong, I don't want to stand."

Ye Yaodong saw the niece at the other end just stretching one foot to hook the rubber band, searched the ground, and then beckoned to the Dalmatian.

"Come here, come here."

The Dalmatian wagged its tail and ran to his feet. He directly put the rubber band on the dog's neck, scaring it into struggling and rolling its body immediately, and then it fled in a panic.

"Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof..."

Ye Yaodong watched it run a hundred meters away, rolling and crawling, and then it barked at him frantically, dumbfounded.

When he aimed his gaze at other dogs around, the other dogs also retreated more than ten meters and barked at him frantically.

"Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof..."

"What are you guys doing? Why are you so uncooperative? I just wanted to call you over to stand as a post."

"Woof woof woof woof... woof woof woof..."

"Dad, they're afraid you're going to eat dog meat!" Ye Chengyang laughed until he was out of breath.

"Woof woof woof..."

Ye Yaodong thought of how Xiaohua had its neck looped before. Damn, it turned out they had psychological trauma.

He just thought that since it was the closest earlier, its neck should be about the same thickness as the little girls' legs, so putting the rubber band on it to stand there as a post should be about right.

It was actually scared like that, almost peeing its pants.

Running so far away.

He tugged the rubber band, straightened it, and flicked it, saying speechlessly, "If I wanted to stew dog meat for the New Year, I would have done it already, why wait until now?"

"Can't eat doggies!"

Ye Xiaoxi didn't know where she had popped out from, then ran to him and kept hitting him.

"Can't eat doggies~ Smelly Dad~ Hit you~"

"I didn't... Na na na, you're here just in time, then you come, you come stand."

Ye Yaodong put the rubber band over her head, put it on her legs, and moved her to stand properly, taking one foot out.

"You just stand here, stand as a post for them."

Ye Xiaoxi immediately quieted down and watched curiously.

The old lady also came out from the courtyard and said, "As soon as she heard you guys were going to eat dog meat outside, she was so panicked that she had to run out halfway through pooping."

"Did she wipe her butt?"

"Wiped, I grabbed her, wiped her butt before letting her come out."

No wonder he didn't see her earlier.

With someone standing as a post, the little girls could continue jumping rope. Ye Chengyang also followed a bunch of girls to jump.

Ye Yaodong, bored, crossed his arms over his chest and watched them jump.

The dogs around were still more than ten meters away from him, not daring to approach, and looked at him vigilantly, ready to run away at any time.

And the Dalmatian was still pacing back and forth more than a hundred meters away, just not approaching, not going home.

"Tch, I'm going for a ride on my motorcycle."

"Woof woof woof woof~"

"Dad, I'm going with you..." Ye Chengyang rushed over immediately.

Ye Xiaoxi also hurriedly came over to hug his leg.

Ye Yaodong looked at one on each side, tried kicking a few times, but couldn't shake them off.

"Go away, it's very cold when the wind blows while riding a motorcycle."

"I have a scarf, I have gloves, I'm not afraid of the cold!"

Ye Xiaoxi also nodded closely behind.

"You guys are hugging my legs, how do you expect me to walk? How can I go ride the motorcycle?"

The two immediately let go, but still followed him step by step.

And the group of girls on the side watched with envy. They had only touched it when they got close, and had never even sat on it. Only a few boys had climbed up to sit and play for a while, and then they were chased down, so it wasn't their turn.

Ye Yaodong lifted the nylon bag covering the motorcycle in the corner. This motorcycle couldn't just be left there without being driven, or it would break; machines needed to be operated frequently.

As soon as it started, two little ones climbed into the sidecar on the side, and he let them be.

"Sit tight, Yangyang, hold your sister well, don't get thrown out."

As soon as the motorcycle drove out of the courtyard, Ye Chenghu ran out of the house in a hurry.

"Dad!? Dad! Wait for me, there's me, there's me, don't leave me behind, Dad... Dad..."

All that was left for him was the motorcycle exhaust. Ye Yaodong deliberately pretended not to hear, didn't take him, and sped away.

This time, it was rare that the pile of dogs were all far away, watching him ride the motorcycle out, and they didn't run wildly behind.

Ye Chenghu chased for a while but couldn't catch up, and stomped his feet in anger on the spot.

"Ah ah ah ah ah... Damn it, actually left me behind, took them to play, didn't take me..."

When he was writing homework in the room, he heard the sound of the motorcycle starting, and he was puzzled for a moment, thinking he had heard wrong. When he ran out to look, he had actually been left behind.

He was so angry that he kept kicking stones and kicking the dirt on the ground. The whole person was about to explode, but he was the only one standing in the open space, and no one paid any attention to him.

As he got angrier, he started crying directly and ran to find Lin Xiuqing to complain, but he almost got a beating.

He could only cry and go home to write his homework.

His mother said that if he couldn't register this afternoon, all his New Year's money would be taken away, and all his toys would be sent by his father to his cousin Ayuan and cousin Awen; he wouldn't be able to keep a single one.

Ye Chenghu shed tears while writing his homework, falling down with a splash, feeling extremely aggrieved.

Until Ye Yaodong went to the town for a turn and bought some snacks back, he was still sulking and wouldn't eat.

"Got backbone! I was originally planning to ride the motorcycle to take you to register this afternoon, now you can walk there."

"Ah! I want, I want..."

Ye Yaodong glanced at him, took the bubble gum he had in his hand, threw it directly into his mouth, and put the rest back in his pocket, not giving him a single one.

"Dad~"

"Write your homework."

"Okay, okay."

Ye Chenghu instantly gained motivation and was no longer depressed.

But who knew, after he finished his homework in the afternoon, full of expectation waiting for his father to ride the motorcycle to take him to register, his father stepped onto a bicycle.

"What are you standing there for? Get on."

Ye Chenghu held his finished homework in his hand, originally walking out, but after being called, he stood at the door, puzzled, looked inside, and then looked at the motorcycle outside.

"No, it's the motorcycle, Dad."

"Who told you it was the motorcycle? Get on."

"You said it, you rode the motorcycle out for a turn this morning and came back and told me, saying you'd ride the motorcycle to take me to register this afternoon."

"Naive, what I said was originally, what I'm telling you now is that we're walking. Now I'm showing mercy by riding a bike to take you, don't be picky with me, otherwise you can walk there."

"You can't go back on your word..."

"I didn't promise you anything, nor did I give you any commitment, don't imagine things yourself, I only told you to do your homework."

Ye Chenghu's young heart was traumatized.

"You liar!"

"I'm not lying, I didn't promise you anything. Grow some wits in the future, this is a lesson for you." Ye Yaodong pushed the bicycle to the door, "Are you getting on or not?"

Ye Chenghu was full of anger.

"Look at that pouty look of yours, like a toad."

"You're the toad, a mangy toad!"

"Then you're a little mangy toad!"

"You're an old mangy toad!"

"What are you saying? Why are you two father and son blocking the door? What mangy toad, mangy toad, aren't you going to register? Why are you blocking the door and not going?"

The old lady was taking care of her vegetables in the courtyard, but ended up hearing the father and son scolding each other as mangy toads, and didn't know why.

"They... mangy toad..." Ye Xiaoxi stood in the courtyard, full of ignorance, stretched out her index finger and pointed at the father and son, saying to the old lady.

"Nonsense."

Ye Yaodong pushed the bicycle out of the door, stood in the courtyard, and said to Ye Chenghu, who was still standing in place with a stinky face behind him.

"Are you going to register? If you're a step late, you'll have to pay the registration fee yourself. Your mother said it during dinner, if you can't register this afternoon, all your toys will be sent to your cousins."

He moved his steps bit by bit, unwilling, his resentful little eyes constantly aiming at Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong didn't spoil him either, got on first, and only after the person behind him climbed up did he pedal the bicycle.

Ye Chenghu held it in the whole way, and only when they reached the school gate could he not help but ask, "Why can't we ride the motorcycle, why ride a bicycle?"

"Because it costs gas money."

"But you rode the motorcycle to town this morning."

"Yeah, I already rode it, no need to ride it again."

"The school is so close..."

"So you can walk here for registration next year."

Ye Chenghu was angry again.

"Walk faster!"

"Ye Chenghu... is this your dad? Your dad is so tall..."

"Ye Chenghu... wow, your dad rode a bicycle to bring you here?"

"Does your family have a bicycle too? My family has a bicycle, but my dad can't bear to ride it..."

"Ye Chenghu, have you finished your homework?"

"My dad said your dad is so rich..."

Walking all the way, the expression on Ye Chenghu's face kept changing, gradually turning from cloudy to sunny. By the time he walked from the school gate to the classroom, he was already full of smiles, jumping and hopping happily.

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but shake his head as he watched from the front.

"Walk faster, still talking there, which classroom is it? Which teacher is it?"

"Here, here, Dad, at this iron railing here."

Ye Yaodong looked at the window in front of him, with several rusty iron railings on it, and the bottom half was sealed, leaving the top half.

Looking at the side, the parents at the window were all on tiptoes, turning their bodies sideways, wishing they could stuff half their shoulders in, and the money and homework books in their hands were just sent in through the iron railings.

"Making it like a secret agent meeting, like visiting a prison..."

He muttered in a low voice.

The teacher inside asked sternly, "Which class is registering? What's the name?"

"Which class are you in?"

"Grade One, Class Two..."

"Oh, Grade One, Class Two, Ye Chenghu."

"Where's the homework?"

Ye Yaodong, with his long hands and arms, reached through the railing and stuffed it in, then grabbed the railing with both hands and watched the teacher flip through the homework.

"The homework is done so sloppily, the characters are written like dragons flying and phoenixes dancing. Did you do your homework properly during the winter break?"

He looked at Ye Chenghu, and Ye Chenghu also looked at him.

"Dad, you say yes."

"Yes."

The teacher looked up through the iron railing and glanced, "And it's still written like this? What kind of homework is this, writing one character as two... I'll register you first today, hand in the homework, if it's not qualified tomorrow, it has to be redone..."

"Okay, okay." Ye Yaodong hurriedly handed in the registration fee.

Fortunately, he was tall. At the window next to him, he saw that everyone was throwing it, coins scattered all over the table and floor, and it would take a while just to pick them up.

The teacher inside also made a complaining sound, "The money isn't handed in properly, throwing it like this... it takes half a day just to pick it up, who's going to sit there and pick it up for you all day..."

Suddenly, the parents queuing on the side were impatient.

"You stinky old nine, what's there to be proud and arrogant about? Hurry up and register, what are you chattering about?"

"This parent, how are you talking..."

"What I said is the truth, dawdling for half a day, came yesterday and said the homework wasn't done, have to come again today, am I just sitting there idle all day without working? Running back and forth... stinky old nine, really taking yourself for something..."

The window next door instantly became noisy. The parent who was cursing directly leaned on the window, knocked the board blocking the top with a bang, and after knocking the board off, grabbed the iron railing and shook it, pointing his index finger into the railing, pointing at the teacher's nose and cursing.

Ye Yaodong now understood why it was made like visiting a prison or secret agents.

Even using iron railings to block registration, preventing contact.

Originally thought it was for fear of robbing money or something, now it seems it was to protect the teachers, preventing extreme parents.

Recalling those dark years, such precautions were somewhat reasonable.

The window next door was making a scene, and the teacher at his window was also scared and hurriedly finished registering for them, issuing a receipt.

Ye Chenghu grabbed his trouser leg in fear, "Dad?"

"It's okay, just watch."

That parent was cursing at the window, spitting everywhere, just couldn't get inside. After a while, a large group of people came and stopped him directly.

But the person still kept cursing.

"What are you, if it were a few years ago, would you still have the chance to be arrogant? Just writing some homework, and it's this not good, that not good, and we have to run back and forth, we're just here to learn a few characters, do we have to be stinky old nines like you?"

"What's the use of reading so many books, that Salted Fish Dong from Bai Sha Village, heard he doesn't know a single big character, but he can be a boss. You who know characters can only be stinky old nines here..."

"Don't know what it is, a bunch of work not done, just running back and forth here, the children are all stupid from staying up late, didn't you see he's lost a big circle?"

Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose awkwardly, didn't expect this to lead the fire to him.

Fortunately, no one in the school knew him, and he hadn't shown his face for the scholarship matter.

No one present knew him.

Besides, that child was a big circle stronger than Ye Chenghu, and that's called thin?

"Don't call us stinky old nines, we are teachers. If you think reading is useless, then there's no need to come here to register."

"That Salted Fish Dong you mentioned knows the importance of reading, and even set up a scholarship in our school to help children read. He has no culture, but he knows reading is important."

"Nonsense... reading is important? Reading is important, then why were teachers beaten into stinky old nines?"

"That was a problem with the policy in the past. Now the college entrance examination has been restored, everyone knows the importance of reading and literacy. If you think reading is useless, then there's no need to register here..."

"Reading is useless, but knowing characters is useful, look at you teachers being picky, not doing homework is like a big deal, making us run several times a day..."

The two sides were arguing endlessly, and that parent was tongue-tied and fighting in all directions.

And when Ye Chenghu heard the name Salted Fish Dong, his eyes widened, and he looked up at his father.

Ye Yaodong pressed his head down and whispered, "What are you looking at? Haven't you heard your father's resounding name? Let's go, registration finished, let's go home."

He grabbed his son's collar from behind and retreated.

"Look, look, Dad..."

"Already looked."

The school compromised; if they were willing to register, they would register directly without looking at the homework.

Otherwise, it would keep making a scene there, and there were many students around who hadn't registered yet.

Those who could drag it to the last afternoon to register were all those who hadn't held the Buddha's feet well at the last minute, fearing that all the parents would follow suit and curse.

There were quite a few parents in the crowd who were dissatisfied just now.

"Oh, so this is registration? Then if I had known, I wouldn't have written it..."

Ye Yaodong slapped the back of his head, "If you don't write it, all your toys will be given away. What's more, your father is a civilized person, whatever the teacher says is what it is, we must respect the teacher and the way, can't point at the teacher's nose and curse, understand?"

"But that person just cursed."

"That person has no culture and no quality, we can't learn from them, at least we must know how to be grateful, the teacher teaches you knowledge, although it is also their job, and they also receive a salary, but at least we also learned useful things from them, we can't curse the mother after putting down the bowl and chopsticks..."

"Oh."

"I can't tell big truths, you just listen to it, anyway, whether it's for teachers or others, we must be respectful."

"Oh, then Brother Ahai and the others haven't come to register yet, didn't they earn it?"

"Are you going back to tell them not to write homework?"

Ye Chenghu shook his head like a wave drum, "No, I've finished writing, they must also finish writing to register!"

"Share the difficulties together, you're uncomfortable, they have to be uncomfortable too." ===== CHAPTER 1006 =====