Chapter 1006: Discussing

If you don't do the homework, you can't register—it's impossible. If the homework isn't finished, registration is held up and you won't be allowed to sign up.

Except for that parent who was making a scene, who got registered directly, the rest still had to have their homework checked before they could register.

Fortunately, those who came at this point had basically all finished their homework; those who hadn't arrived yet didn't know what was happening on-site.

Not being allowed to register because homework wasn't done—causing such a fuss was something Ye Yaodong hadn't expected.

No matter how stubborn a child is, when registration time comes they have to grit their teeth and write, otherwise they can't sign up, and a good beating at home is absolutely unavoidable.

To avoid one less beating, they'll try to write it no matter what.

If a kid really doesn't fear boiling water like a dead pig, then beat him half to death, and once school starts, the parent goes to the teacher, says some nice words, and stuffs him into class.

This kind of kid generally doesn't study seriously either—they sit in the very last row, the teacher doesn't bother with them, and as long as they don't disrupt the other students during class, they can do whatever they want. They purely learn a few characters haphazardly, get by day by day, and drop out once they're a bit older.

"Dad, we still need to get the books!"

"Ah, we still need to get the books?" Ye Yaodong immediately stopped walking, his face blank with confusion. "Aren't they handed out when school starts?"

"You have to go to that classroom in the corner to get the textbooks yourself."

"Like that? Then why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Wasn't it you who grabbed me and told me to go? I just forgot for a moment."

Father and son had no choice but to turn around and go back.

"That teacher just now didn't mention it either."

"There was a fight next door just now, they almost came to blows. The teacher probably forgot. I only suddenly remembered when I realized my hands were empty—last year we went to that classroom to get the books."

As father and son walked back, people were still gathered there, and the group of teachers who had arrived later were also still standing around, watching that parent register while cursing and complaining. The child looked quite pleased, chin raised high, not feeling embarrassed or ashamed at all.

Ye Yaodong thought to himself that this kid was probably done for.

He patted Ye Chenghu on the head. Although his eldest son wasn't anything special either, he had never done anything out of line, never made things difficult for his parents, had grown up step by step as expected, and then married and had children.

That was good enough, pretty good.

He didn't ask for great achievements from him, only that he be like a normal person—ordinary, taking it one step at a time, not going astray. And he had indeed followed the course step by step into old age, living steadily, and it would be fine as long as he died a natural death.

There weren't many books in first grade in total. Ye Chenghu took the books himself and held them in his hands. The notebooks weren't handed out—they said the teacher would distribute them when school started.

Father and son pushed the bicycle and slowly walked outward again.

When they came, Ye Chenghu had been holding his breath inside, sulking silently, not saying a single word, not even glancing at the bustle at the school gate.

Once they were outside, he couldn't bear to leave.

"Dad, can you buy me a pencil? Buy me an eraser?"

"You don't have a fever, do you?" Ye Yaodong felt his forehead.

"Then buy a sheet of little character heads..."

He flicked the boy's forehead.

"That's your real goal, isn't it? Isn't there already a whole tin at home?"

"But I don't have a Sun Sun Wukong one. This whole sheet is all Tang Seng, Sun Sun Wukong..."

"School's starting soon and you still want to play with this stuff? If I buy it and take it home, your mom's going to beat you."

"Just buy one sheet. I don't want the pencil and eraser anymore. Let's save the money we would've spent on the pencil and eraser and just buy this. This is cheaper, saves money." Ye Chenghu stopped in front of someone's stall, pointing at that stack of brand-new Sun Sun Wukong character heads.

"Is your skin itching? Let's go home. There's still half a pencil and half an eraser at home. Don't try to fool me."

"Then lend me..."

"No lending!" Ye Yaodong climbed straight onto the bicycle. "Get on!"

"I'm going to tell Mom that you just smiled at the female teacher who handed out the books, and the female teacher even gave me two candies."

"Getting brave now? Threatening me? Hand over the candy."

"I'm also going to tell Mom that you didn't want to give me the candy to eat."

Ye Yaodong almost laughed out of anger. "Who taught you this?"

"The aunties at the workshop said it. They said men go bad as soon as they have money, and told Mom to keep an eye on you, and told us kids to help Mom keep an eye on you too. They said you're so rich now and good-looking—if any Miss or young wife smiles at you, talks to you, or buys me things to eat, I should tell my mom."

Damn, the gossipy old women.

When that bunch of women at the workshop got together to chat, it was really possible they'd make up things to tease A Qing, and then tell the kids for fun.

Damn it—so being rich and good-looking is also a crime!

He was clearly behaving himself perfectly well.

Ye Yaodong's brow furrowed so deeply it could pinch a fly to death. He glared at his eldest son, but Ye Chenghu wasn't afraid of him at all and stuck his neck out defiantly.

"If you buy it for me, I won't say anything."

It was also his own fault—usually playing with these kids without any sense of propriety, fooling around with them, so he had no authority at all.

The stall owner beside them was also laughing and telling him to just buy one for the kid—a whole sheet was only two fen.

"Laozi really don't fear your threats now. Hurry up and let's go, otherwise I'll pull your pants down and beat you right here on the street."

Ye Chenghu gazed at the little stall with reluctance.

A whole sheet of little character heads—although they were all characters from Journey to the West, there were many different poses, and the proportions of each character varied.

"Hurry up, or I'm leaving."

"Boss, don't sell out so fast. I'll bring the money tomorrow. Remember not to sell out..."

"Ye Chenghu!"

"Coming."

He took one last glance before reluctantly climbing onto the bicycle. But on the way, remembering that Ye Ye Chenghai and the others hadn't registered yet, he cheered up again.

He didn't have to wait until tomorrow—he could come back with them later to buy it.

As soon as he got home and found no sign of his mother, he immediately ran next door to urge them on. The other kids, hearing there were Journey to the West character heads, also wanted some, and worked even harder on their homework.

The girls at the door were still jumping rubber band there, not the least bit tired.

Seeing it was still early before sunset and a round trip would only take him to about three o'clock now, Ye Yaodong went to wander around the workshop again.

Inside, everyone was still working at full tilt as usual, but the fresh fish covering the floor had visibly decreased by a large portion. With so many people, efficiency was high; it looked like they'd finish slaughtering by tomorrow at this rate, and everything was already being laid out to dry.

With several dozen people working in one workshop, it was now the liveliest spot in the whole village.

He also noticed some people who weren't working wandering in and out, some even standing beside the women chatting. It was probably mid-afternoon, and one by one they were all idle with nothing to do.

This wouldn't do—how could people be allowed to come and go as they pleased?

They needed some rules; idle folks shouldn't be let in. Who knew if some random idler might get crooked ideas and pour in some pesticide or something.

It would also save the children from running in and out and being led astray by these women—some of the older married women would even sneak in dirty jokes from time to time.

It wasn't just men who loved telling lewd jokes; when there were no men around, women also loved to crack a few dirty jokes, teasing the young newlywed wives.

When he came over in the morning, he had also heard those older married women teasing Brother Brother Asheng's new wife—a whole crowd cackling, only stopping when they saw him arrive.

His gaze swept around the room. Once he found who he was looking for, he walked over to Wang Wang Guangliang, who was carrying things, and signaled him to usher the irrelevant idlers out, then bar the main gate—anyone not here to work shouldn't be let in.

In no time, one irrelevant woman after another was being shown out while grumbling nonstop about their dissatisfaction. The children, on the other hand, were bouncing around happily as always.

"Brother Dong, all the idlers have been chased out."

"From now on, keep a close eye on the main gate. Anyone not here to work, don't let them in."

"Got it. Should we hire an old man to watch the gate? We're all strapping young men who need to haul and carry things, or chop firewood and carry water—we might not always be able to stand by the door."

"You're trying to peddle your old man again, aren't you? Watching the gate is my old man's future job. We don't need to leave someone specifically to watch it now anyway—after two more days of slaughtering it'll be quiet again, and it won't get busy until I come back from the next sea trip. Just keep an eye on it occasionally. During the day, pull the gate shut when people come and go, no need to lock it specially. Anyway, one tells ten, ten tell a hundred—once everyone knows non-workers aren't allowed in, they'll mostly just peek at the door."

"Alright."

As they finished talking, Lin Lin Xiuqing had just finished sun-drying a basket of goods and was walking in through the main gate carrying the empty basket.

"Finished registering?"

"All registered."

"Then if you've got nothing on, stay here and help out a bit. If you feel tired, go back and lie down for a while—we're heading out to sea again tomorrow night."

"Is Aguang still staying tonight and leaving tomorrow?"

"Don't know. Aguang didn't come by today either. Uncle Pei did come by though, chatted with Dad for a while, and then the two of them wandered off somewhere—no idea where they went."

"I'll go deliver the canned fish to him first, so we don't forget at the last minute when he leaves early tomorrow morning."

"Dad seems to have already given some to Uncle Pei, you don't need to deliver it."

"Oh."

Ye Yaodong watched her bustle about again, taking the empty basket over to the women washing fish, then pulling out a full basket. He helped her carry it to the empty lot next door to dry, chatting as they went.

He'd gotten back yesterday evening, chatted with the enthusiastic villagers until it was time for bed, washed up, went back to the room, and fell right asleep. Now, more than half a day had passed, and the couple hadn't exchanged more than a few words.

"Didn't you say yesterday that something had happened in the village recently?"

"Wang Chen Laoqi? Seems like we talked about that last night?"

"We did. No need to worry about other people's business—if he's really got the skills to make a living at it, then let him eat."

Lin Lin Xiuqing responded, "And then there's your friend Uncle Uncle Awei. He's come back—he seems to have come back on New Year's Eve. He didn't come out to socialize during the first few days of the New Year, and then a few nights ago he was spotted by someone talking to Wang Wang Chuyun near the Goddess Mazu Temple."

"The next day it got out. Wang Wang Chuyun got beaten black and blue by her husband and chased back to her parents' home. Uncle Uncle Awei also got cornered at his door by people her husband called over. The two families ended up fighting, with neighbors on both sides helping to pull them apart—it took ages to separate them, and it was quite a spectacle."

Thinking about it, there was nothing unexpected.

"And then?"

"Then the villagers embellished the story and spread it in vivid, colorful detail. Uncle Uncle Awei, afraid of being charged with molestation, left that afternoon—beaten in the morning, gone by afternoon. Then his wife went the next day to Wang Wang Chuyun's husband's house to curse her for being fickle, and also accused their old man of incest with his daughter-in-law, and then the father and son in that family had another fight."

"Those few days the village really had endless entertainment. The villagers ran here and there, plus Wang Chen Laoqi and his two sons lying battered and bruised at their doorstep—adding quite a bit of gossip material to the village for free."

Through his past life, Ye Yaodong actually knew that Wang Wang Chuyun hadn't been involved with that many people, nor with her father-in-law—it was just that she was a widow who remarried, and she was both pretty and delicate-looking.

The men were used to their own fierce wives at home, so some liked to use her as a topic for crude jokes behind people's backs. The gossipy old women couldn't stand seeing that soft, weak-looking appearance, so they loved spreading rumors about her.

Her father-in-law had originally been quite the old lecher himself, and back and forth like that, plenty of salacious rumors about her circulated in the village.

But then again, after all the back and forth, it turned out the rumors weren't wrong—she really was involved with Chen Wei, so she wasn't exactly innocent.

"And then? After the father and son fought, what happened next?"

"They said they split the household, and they don't want to live with the old man anymore. They're planning to come over to the beach area, pick out a plot of land, and just throw up a small house for now to live in."

Ye Yaodong raised an eyebrow. Moving over to their side again—this beach area really was a prime piece of land. Over the past two years, one after another, over a dozen households had settled here.

"During the New Year holidays, didn't expect things to be so rowdy."

"You said it. Then Uncle Pei docked yesterday afternoon and brought back tens of thousands of jin of goods, and the village got another piece of gossip. Those aunties and sisters-in-law in the workshop work all day long, and their mouths never stop—busy hands, even busier mouths. A lot of details I didn't know, they all know. We only just started work yesterday, and I feel like I've gotten myself an intelligence network?"

"Your feeling isn't wrong. Those aunties and sisters-in-law working next door are worthy of the title of Bai Sha Village intelligence officers. Let them work a few more days, and whether it's big or small in the village, you won't be able to not know. Whose old man hasn't bathed in half a month, whose old woman has gone through menopause—you'll know it all."

Lin Lin Xiuqing couldn't help but turn her head and glare at him. "Nonsense, no sense of propriety at all."

"You've been busy all day—aren't you going home to rest? Aren't there plenty of hands here?"

"I'll wait until dinner, when it's dark, there's plenty of time then. Helping out a bit more means we can finish sooner. Anyway, the kids can play on their own, I don't need to watch them all day."

Ye Yaodong saw she hadn't taken his hint, so he could only sigh inwardly and help finish the work at hand first.

He couldn't sit still either. After drying just one basket, since she wasn't going home, he went home first. He'd hired so many people—they weren't dead, so why should he do the work himself?

He'd been working day and night out there; the hell with working once he's home.

There were still plenty of things to say—wait until they got back to the room at night.

On his way out, he happened to run into his old man again, so he slung an arm around his father's shoulder and headed home.

"What did Uncle Pei come to say?"

"Nothing much. He was just idle and wandered over, saw we were busy here and came to look around. When are you going to settle up with him for that ten-thousand-plus jin of fish he brought back yesterday?"

"Did he come to ask for it?"

"No way. That cargo was only a few hundred bucks, and we're not outsiders—how could he possibly make a special trip just to ask for money?"

Look at what his old man was saying now—"only a few hundred bucks." For an ordinary household, that wasn't a small sum, and making a special trip to ask for it would be perfectly normal.

Sure enough, handling more money broadened his experience and his horizons. This bit of money was no longer worth their attention.

That's for the best; neither of them is shallow-minded or petty.

"Let's settle everything together when we calculate the accounts at the end of the month; after all, the delivery slips are all there."

"I was thinking one thing should be settled separately; let's settle it in advance, so later we only need to calculate the dividend, saving us from having to calculate the accounts of what you took from here."

"A-Qing has the prices calculated right there; nothing can go wrong. We settle once a month, and there aren't many slips in total, so we save the trouble of running back and forth."

"Alright then, you decide for yourself. I feel that since we've returned everything to you and didn't sell it directly on shore, we might as well be straightforward..."

"Not selling on shore still means the market price; there's no discount, and we've saved them quite a bit on transport costs..."

"That's the same; they both burn oil, isn't the difference negligible?"

"That's true... oh well, no need to be too particular. We'll settle the accounts in a few days anyway. That boat still has my thirty percent share; I didn't ask him to advance the money. If we had met just now, we could have had him bring it back along the way, but now making a special trip isn't worth it; I'm too lazy to go."

"Alright."

"What time are we setting sail tomorrow night? Have you told Uncle Pei?"

"He said two o'clock."

"Then two o'clock it is. Hopefully, we'll have a few more days of good weather."

Ye's father looked at the sky. "It should be sunny for a few days straight from now on. After the second day of the lunar month, the weather has been cloudy and rainy, but it looks quite good for the past few days."

"Let's check the weather forecast tonight."

"What's wrong with these dogs? When you approach, they bark and retreat. Normally, they'd jump all over you and hang on you."

He also felt speechless; they still held a grudge, remembering it for so long. Several hours had passed, yet they still hid from him when they saw him.

"Dad used a rubber band to loop around the dogs' necks; he scared them." Ye Ye Chengyang said with childish innocence, giggling.

"Do you want to eat dog meat?"

"Nonsense. Don't mind them; we were just playing with them. They got scared like that."

He and his father entered the courtyard. Seeing the sun was still just right, they didn't go inside the house but prepared to sit at the door and soak up the sun for a while before sunset, chatting idly.

As soon as he sat down, while he reached into his pocket to take out cigarettes, his father, an old chain-smoker, also reached into his pocket and pulled out his personal tobacco box.

He glanced at it; no need to offer cigarettes. For his father, only the water pipe smoke was truly satisfying.

The father and son sat together, one smoking cigarettes, the other puffing away at the water pipe with a gurgling sound.

After a moment of silence, his father, with smoke billowing from his mouth and nose, tapped his pipe and said, "I want to build a tomb for your grandfather. You mentioned it two years ago, and I've kept it in mind. Just right, these past two years you brothers have all been quite successful, so I want to put this matter on the schedule."

"I remember this too. Our family doesn't even have a cemetery; it's not proper. It would sound bad to others, making people think we are unfilial descendants who earned money but didn't build a tomb to let our grandfather rest in the earth, leaving him on the mountain exposed to wind and rain."

"That's exactly the point. In previous years, we hadn't selected a good site, and conditions were poor for every household. With so many mouths to feed, we temporarily left it aside. These past two years, your Uncle Ye Ye Dabo and Uncle Ye Ye Erbo have kept pushing, saying they have no money."

"You go do some ideological work."

"They would only listen to me if it were strange. When it comes to asking them to pay, it's harder than digging out their hearts and livers."

"I don't expect them to pay money; they just need to agree. As for building the tomb, we three brothers can divide the tasks."

Ye's father shook his head. "No, that won't work. We are all brothers; everyone must contribute money. Otherwise, if we contribute more, later they might ask, 'What if your grandfather only blesses your side?' Moreover, since they didn't pay, when they grow old, whether we bury them inside or not is up to us. They are also worried we won't bury them inside."

"Building a tomb is a matter of utmost importance; it concerns future generations and relates to the feng shui, life force, and fortune of all of us. Everyone should discuss and decide together; it cannot be decided by just our family."

Ye Yaodong frowned tightly. Matters involving ancestors are never trivial.

"Petty-mindedness. They can't bear to spend money, yet if we spend it, they worry the benefits will be ours while they get nothing."

"Sigh, it's always like this. That's why I'm telling you: I want you to talk to your cousins. Since you are all of the same generation, Brother Brother Asheng is renting our boat, and A-Fan worked for us a while back. You of the same generation can sit down, have some drinks, and chat. Once you convince them, let them go back and tell their Laozi. That might be more effective than me going."

"That could work. What's the Gregorian date today?"

"March 8th is exactly Women's Day; it's less than a month away from Qingming."

"Then there's no rush for this moment. Brother Brother Asheng should be out at sea today and hasn't returned yet; we don't know what time he'll be back. Wait a few days when it's not suitable for sailing, then call them all over for drinks. Once agreed, we can only start work after the Qingming tomb-sweeping is finished."

"Mm. I was just flipping through the calendar today and saw that Qingming isn't far off, so I remembered this matter. I wanted to tell you in advance so you brothers can sit together, chat, and discuss. Your eldest and second brothers haven't returned yet, so I'm telling you first."

"I remember. Eldest and second brothers definitely won't have any problems. The only issues will come from Uncle Ye Ye Dabo and Uncle Ye Ye Erbo's side. Wait a few days to see; everyone needs to be free. Anyway, this year's Qingming must be like previous years."

"Mm." As soon as Ye's father mentioned this matter, he became restless and continued smoking.

Ye Yaodong also wanted to solve this once and for all. Building a tomb counts as a top-priority task that must be done; naturally, the sooner it's built, the better. He wasn't worried about Brother Brother Asheng's side; he definitely wouldn't object.

The other cousins on Uncle Ye Ye Erbo's side could be entrusted to Brother Brother Asheng to persuade.

The real trouble is A-Fan on Uncle Ye Ye Dabo's side. He is the only son on Uncle Ye Ye Dabo's side. Ye Yaodong hadn't given him much favor or help; in the end, they still had a grudge with his family. It's not impossible that he might deliberately stall regarding the tomb-building matter.

Two years ago, both sides were colluding, both shouting they had no money. (A reader taught me this; I corrected it. Since writing the book, I've learned quite a few characters.)

Having a few terrible relatives is troublesome enough, and they are all close relatives, not distant ones.

Compared to the year before last, the situation for both families has improved somewhat in the past year and this year.

But he estimated that to truly reach a consensus, they would still have to shed some blood.

Otherwise, if the three families don't reach an agreement, work truly cannot start. Grandfather belongs to everyone.

After finishing this topic, the father and son each smoked in silence again.

It wasn't until the old lady came in cheerfully, leaning on her cane, that the silence was broken.

"Where did you go?"

"Went to buy some tonic herbs and stew the chicken with rock sugar. The chicken killed this morning hasn't been stewed yet. Tonic food should be eaten at night for the best effect. Anyway, with so many mouths at home, stewing one chicken won't last until tomorrow; one meal will devour it, so I saved it to stew tonight."

"Then just tell anyone to go buy it; why did you have to make the trip yourself?"

"Each of them is busier than me. I have hands and feet; walking around myself isn't a problem. It's good exercise for my muscles and bones."

"Is the chicken chopped yet? If not, I'll chop it." Ye Yaodong took one last puff on his cigarette butt, threw it on the ground, crushed it with his foot, and then went inside.

The old lady stopped at the door, watching him go in, and said with a smile, "Then you come chop it. The plucked chicken feathers are in the bucket in the corner. The girls at home are clamoring for chicken feather shuttlecocks; ask your father to make a few for them. Since you're just sitting there idle anyway, it's a good use of time."

"Giving me busywork for no reason. If I'm idle sitting there, I'd rather weave a basket than make chicken feather shuttlecocks."

Ye's father propped his elbows on his knees, tilted his head, glanced at the old lady, and said in a bad mood.

"Weren't you just smoking there? Why weave a basket? There are no materials you need here anyway."

"Can't I go back and weave it?"

"Then aren't you going to come over and eat chicken later too?"

Ye Fu said nothing, and the old lady didn't pay him any attention either, going straight into the house to start the fire and slowly stew it.

Stewing it now, and when it's time for the meal, she'll cook the rice, so it won't be hogging the pot, and it can also go with everyone's rice.

By evening, a row of chicken-feather shuttlecocks was lined up at the doorway, and a happy group of little girls cheered.

Ye Yaodong took advantage of Lin Lin Xiuqing clearing the table and washing the dishes to sidle up next to her.

"How much money do we have at home now?"

"Can't you do the math? Forty thousand before the new year, and you've brought back almost ten thousand more since then — isn't that fifty thousand?"

"I want to order a fish-collecting boat."

"What?"

"I want to go to the factory and order another fish-collecting boat, around thirty meters, with a load-bearing capacity of about a hundred tons would be fine."

Lin Lin Xiuqing couldn't be bothered with the dishes anymore. She quickly wiped her hands on her clothes and turned to look at him seriously.

"Are you serious? Didn't you just order seven boats? None of them have been delivered yet, not a single one, and now you want another fish-collecting boat. Why do you come up with one idea after another?"

Ye Yaodong saw that she didn't flatly oppose him outright, and he relaxed quite a bit.

"I'm not just coming up with ideas on the fly — I've been thinking this over and over on the boat."

"You've only just come back from one trip out to sea, and the moment you're back you want to buy a fish-collecting boat. Every time you go out on a trip, you come back wanting to stir up something new."

"This fish-collecting boat can make money for us. Once the boat we're partnering with Big Brother and Ye Erge is delivered next year, we'll have one more boat. Getting a fish-collecting boat specifically to connect with these three boats is very necessary — let's keep the benefits within the family. It can also, when we dock, bring back all the sundries on the boat at the same time, increasing efficiency."

"But what about those seven boats?"

"What's there to fear? Let the factory make them slowly, deliver them slowly, and when the time comes, rent them all out. I, Ye Yaodong, will change my name from Salty Fish Dong straight to Boat King Dong. Going bigger and stronger starts with these few boats!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing almost couldn't hold back her laughter and swatted him.

"I'm being serious here, and there you go talking nonsense again."

"I'm not talking nonsense — can't you see how serious my face looks?"

"Saying nonsense with a perfectly serious face. People out there flatter you a few times and you actually take it to heart?"

"What they said is the truth."

"Cut it out."