Chapter 1019: The Grudge-Holding Ye Ye Xiaoxi

"What sleep? Your daughter didn't come and you didn't even notice? How could such a big living person just suddenly disappear in the middle of the night?"

"You said it yourself, it's the middle of the night. Where could she have run off to? She must have fallen asleep in some corner. Did you check under the bed? Shine the light and take a look."

He was shivering from the cold, so he grabbed a cotton-padded jacket hanging nearby and threw it on. The icy feel of the jacket made him shudder the moment he slipped his hand into the sleeve.

His lower half was dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts, two bare white legs exposed. Not bothering to put on pants, he followed the beam of Lin Lin Xiuqing's flashlight, dropped to the floor, and peered under the bed.

Under the bed was empty—there was nothing there.

"I already shone the light once just now. She's nowhere in the house."

"What about the wardrobe? Where could she possibly have gone in the middle of the night?"

"No, I looked everywhere, turned the whole place upside down. She's not in the house, that's why I pulled your blanket off to double-check."

Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him, annoyed. "I told you to bring the child back, change her clothes, and put her to sleep, but you only cared about yourself and didn't bother with the kid, did you?"

"That's not true!" Ye Yaodong felt terribly wronged. "I carried her back, wiped her hands and feet, changed her into a thin outfit, even made her a cup of malted milk, watched her finish it and lie down—only then did I lie down and sleep."

"Did she fall asleep, then?"

"How would I know? The moment I lay down I was out. How could I wait for her to fall asleep? Who knows when she finally dozed off? I was so tired I dropped off the instant my head hit the pillow. Just managing to get her settled was already an achievement."

Lin Lin Xiuqing, frustrated, yanked open the bedroom door and headed outside to see if the child was hiding somewhere in the house.

Ye Yaodong followed her out, grumbling the whole way. "This bratty girl is getting more and more dishonest, more and more mischievous. Instead of sleeping properly in bed at night, where did she run off to? When we find her, I'll tan her hide good—give her a real beating. She knows how to wear people out."

"Let's just find her first. What's the point of tough talk now? Wait till you find her, then we'll see if you mean what you say."

"You search the main room, I'll go upstairs and check. When I was filling her hot water tonight, she took advantage of me not paying attention and kept climbing upstairs on her own. Maybe she climbed up again after I fell asleep."

"She's way too much trouble. After a whole day of work, we still have to look for her in the middle of the night—she really needs a good beating…"

The couple split up—one went upstairs, the other stayed in the main room—each grabbing a flashlight and shining it everywhere, determined not to miss a single corner. Lin Lin Xiuqing even made a point of opening the rice jar and the water jar to peek inside.

Ye Yaodong took his flashlight and swept through all three rooms upstairs. The other two rooms were still empty, nothing inside at all. Only the room where the two brothers slept had a bed and a table.

When he opened the door and went in, both of them were sound asleep—one had his head sticking out at the foot of the bed, and the other was nowhere in sight, only a lump visible under the covers.

He shone the flashlight into every corner first, and finding nothing, he went over and pulled back the blanket, gently lifting one half. He saw Ye Chenghu curled up into a ball, wrapped entirely in the covers, with a foot right by his mouth—he'd even open his mouth and lick it every now and then.

Their bed was stuffed with all kinds of toys—everything imaginable—and they didn't seem to mind the lumps at all.

Speechless, Ye Yaodong pulled the blanket back over him, then went to the foot of the bed to lift the other end of the covers, again only halfway.

There lay Ye Ye Chengyang, sprawled out in a star shape as he slept, one foot propped on Ye Chenghu, while the other foot's tip was roughly by Ye Chenghu's mouth. Toys of every sort were scattered around his body as well.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi wasn't in the brothers' bed either. His brows drew tight—he'd been expecting her to have climbed upstairs after he fell asleep to play with her brothers and then slept here.

She wasn't upstairs, so he really had no idea where she'd gone. He couldn't help feeling worried now.

When he hadn't seen her in the house earlier, he hadn't been that worried—he'd been about seventy percent sure she'd climbed upstairs.

Now they had a real search on their hands.

He tiptoed back out, closed the door carefully, and went downstairs.

Lin Lin Xiuqing hadn't found her in the main room either. She'd been hoping the child was upstairs, so she stood at the foot of the stairs waiting, flashlight aimed up the stairwell—only to see him come down empty-handed.

"Nothing? She wasn't sleeping with her brothers?"

"No. Knock on Grandma's door and check—maybe she crawled into Grandma's room to sleep with her? Did you check the other room downstairs?"

"I already looked. Inside there's nothing but an empty bed and dried fish stacked up to the ceiling. There aren't even any gaps between the fish for her to squeeze into."

"Then go knock on Grandma's door and see."

Before they could even knock, the old lady had already come out.

"What's going on? You startled me. Hearing all the noise outside and up and down the stairs, I thought the house had been robbed."

The old lady had actually woken up long ago when she heard the commotion in the main room—she'd just assumed it was Lin Lin Xiuqing coming back to sleep, or the two brothers coming downstairs in the middle of the night to pee.

But when she heard the sound of the next-door room being opened, she sensed something was wrong, scrambled up at once, threw on an outer garment, and went to open her door.

She only cracked the door open a tiny bit, peeking this way and that with her little eyes.

All she saw in the main room was the glow of a flashlight—no one in sight. Then she heard footsteps moving around upstairs, and her heart leapt into her throat.

Only when she heard the couple murmuring to each other did she finally breathe a sigh of relief—she'd been convinced the house was being robbed—and only then did she hurriedly pull the door open and step out to ask what was happening.

If it really had been a robbery, her old bones might well have given up the ghost that very night.

"Did we wake you? We were just about to knock on your door anyway, to ask if you've seen Ye Xiaoxi? Did the child crawl into your room to sleep with you tonight?"

"No, wasn't it you who brought her back to sleep tonight? The child's missing? The two of you are up in the middle of the night not sleeping just to look for her?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing's brows were knit, her face full of worry. "She's not in your room? Then where on earth could this child have gone?"

Ye Yaodong was getting anxious too. "She's not anywhere. So where could she have gone? She's only wearing one layer—if she crawled outside and slept in some bush or corner, she'd freeze to death!"

As he spoke, he headed for the door, and the two women behind him hurried after him, heading outside as well.

The old lady couldn't keep up with their pace and trailed at the back. She could only turn on the light first, then shout loudly.

Look around the courtyard first—under the cart, inside the baskets, check everywhere. Also run outside and call for her, see if she's gone to the workshop? There are so many people over at the workshop, all the lights are still on."

"I'll go out and check."

"You're not even wearing pants—shouldn't you put some on first? Don't catch a cold, it's right at the change of seasons…"

Ye Yaodong wasn't listening to any of that right now. The child was missing, he was frantic—how could he care that he was only wearing shorts, no pants?

He walked outside, calling out as he went, "Ye Ye Xiaoxi… Ye Ye Xiaoxi…"

Just then, the moment he stepped out of the courtyard gate, a little yellow dog appeared at his feet, spinning around his ankles and barking nonstop.

"Get lost, go die somewhere, no time to play with you."

"Woof woof woof woof woof…" Another little black dog came running out of the house too, blocking his path, standing in front of him with its neck stiff and barking nonstop.

"Get out of the way, don't get in the way here." Ye Yaodong dodged the two troublesome dogs and kept walking straight ahead, saying as he went, "Ye Ye Xiaoxi is missing, you two help me look for her too—see where she's run off to."

"Woof woof woof woof woof…"

"Woof woof woof woof woof woof…"

The two dogs ran in front of him again to block his path, licked his ankle once, then went to gnaw at his slippers.

Ye Yaodong irritably lifted his foot and kicked the dog.

The two dogs rolled around on the ground once, then saw Lin Lin Xiuqing following behind them, trotted toward her, and the little yellow dog bit her trouser leg and tugged her back.

Da Da Heizi barked at her twice or three times, then ran a couple of steps toward home, then ran back to her and barked again, then continued running a couple of steps toward home.

Lin Lin Xiuqing was surprised, "Adong, Adong…"

Ye Yaodong had already been walking and calling as he went, several meters away. Hearing her shout, he immediately turned his head, "What?"

"Look at these two dogs…"

She had already followed the direction the dogs were pulling her, walking back toward the courtyard. Da Da Heizi turned his head every couple of steps to bark at her once.

Ye Yaodong also noticed something was off, quickly turned back, jogged to catch up, and followed the two dogs.

"Your daughter couldn't have slept in the dog kennel, could she?"

"Huh?" Lin Lin Xiuqing was startled.

The old lady was still leaning on her cane searching the courtyard, and upon hearing this immediately headed for the dog kennel.

Ye Yaodong was tall with long legs and quick, and had already reached the dog kennel first.

He squatted down and peered inside.

"How is it? Is she in there?" The old lady also walked up close, asking as she squatted down to look inside.

Lin Lin Xiuqing, standing behind, asked the same question.

Ye Yaodong looked at the big black dog's shiny black eyes inside staring back at him, and the dog licking Ye Ye Xiaoxi's face with its tongue again and again. He said helplessly, "Yes, found her."

When they squatted down, the little black dog ran in first and burrowed into the kennel. The little yellow dog also let go of Lin Lin Xiuqing's trouser leg and quickly ran in and burrowed into the kennel.

Both dogs lay around Ye Ye Xiaoxi, covering her with their tails.

All three dogs lay pressed close together with her.

Today there were only three dogs in the kennel; the rest were at the workshop.

The old lady couldn't help laughing, "How did this child end up sleeping in the dog kennel in the middle of the night? Didn't you bring her inside to sleep? How did she get here?"

"You ask me, who do I ask?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing let out a long breath, then said, half-annoyed half-amused, "Searched everywhere and couldn't find her, scared half to death, and then found her in the dog kennel. She's really going to drive me mad."

Ye Yaodong relaxed after finding her and laughed too, "When she grows up we'll tell her about this. Too bad the light was bad at night and the flashlight wasn't much use, otherwise we could have taken a picture and shown her when she grew up."

"She's really something, pulling this stunt late at night. This child really needs a beating. Just when everyone was about to sleep, she actually ran out and crawled into the dog kennel."

"No wonder those two dogs were blocking my way just now, not letting me go. It's just that I wasn't wearing pants, my legs were bare, so they could only bite my slippers. I was wondering what they were up to."

"Hurry up and carry her out. How can she sleep in the dog kennel?"

"She had already taken off her clothes and lain down on the bed, yet she still managed to sneak out and crawl into the dog kennel while I was asleep. Good thing she didn't run outside…"

Ye Yaodong muttered as he tried to shoo the two dogs in the kennel out of his way, then carefully lifted Ye Ye Xiaoxi out.

The little girl was still sleeping soundly, warm all over, and not cold to hold.

Lin Lin Xiuqing and the old lady hurried to feel her little hands and feet — they were warm, warmer than both of their hands.

The old lady said with a smile, "As long as she didn't catch cold, hurry and carry her inside."

"Tired all day, back aching, come back and still have to look for her, fuss all night, and she ends up sleeping in the dog kennel. She's really going to drive me mad. So little and already this much trouble — what'll she be like when she grows up?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing scolded as she walked.

"The two boys at home weren't like this when they were little. Which one of them didn't behave when it was time to sleep? If they weren't obedient, the whip would have broken on them long ago. How could we let them run out?"

Ye Yaodong, seeing the light in the room and afraid it would hurt the child's eyes, pulled her closer into his arms, using his chest to block the light for her, while explaining on her behalf.

"Back then the two boys didn't even have the chance. We didn't have dogs before, and you weren't this busy. You could keep a close eye on them. How could we let them have a chance to run out when it was time to sleep?"

"You have the nerve to say that. I didn't have time to watch her — didn't I have you? She was clearly lying right next to you, yet you let her sneak away. You're really too unreliable."

"I'm tired. Haven't slept well in days. When I got back I just wanted to drop onto the bed. Who knew she'd be so naughty?"

The old lady quickly smoothed things over, "It's good that we found her, no need to complain. You two are both busy. Tomorrow let her sleep with me, I'll watch her."

"Besides, it's already very late, turn off the lights and sleep. We've been fussing all night." Lin Lin Xiuqing waved her hand, her face weary too.

The couple put the child on the bed and tucked her in with the blanket before finally relaxing and lying down themselves.

"Tomorrow you educate her properly."

Lin Lin Xiuqing turned her head and glared at him, "Why don't you educate her? Weren't you just talking tough, saying you'd give her a good beating, flay her skin?"

"That was just now when we couldn't find her, I was worried, wasn't I? Now we've found her."

"And that's that just because we found her?"

"How could that be? She still needs to be educated, otherwise next time she hides outside — how would we find her?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing pulled the blanket over herself, turned her back to him, too lazy to talk to him. He was always all talk anyway, and the child still had to be taught by her.

Her back ached, she was exhausted. Anyway, the child was found, so that was fine. Right now she just wanted to sleep.

Ye Yaodong eagerly scooted over and embraced the warm, soft bundle, "Going to sleep?"

"What else? Weren't you just muttering about being exhausted, asking me to spare your life?"

"Heh… heh… I was half asleep just now, wasn't I? Then sleep, sleep. Busy till this hour, you must be tired too. Sleep… sleep… tomorrow when we wake up we still have to educate the child…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing closed her eyes, ignoring him.

Ye Yaodong lifted his head to sneak a peek at her expression, then lay back down and closed his eyes to sleep too.

The couple had been exhausted the night before, and the next day they both slept until late morning before waking.

Mainly because the neighbors around them had all gone to the workshop to take over the shift early in the morning, the children had all gone to school early, and the surroundings were quiet with no one talking, so the couple slept very soundly.

Until Ye Ye Xiaoxi woke up, secretly ran to open the door, wanting to sneak out, but the door was locked from outside and wouldn't open. She had to stand by the bed, pinch Ye Yaodong's nose with her hand, and call out.

"Get up, get up, lazy pig, get up~"

The couple was woken up by her.

"Oh ancestor, haven't had a proper sleep in days, wanted to sleep in, and you're still making noise here."

"Open the door, I want to go out and play…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing also sat up, twisted her neck, and tapped her shoulder. "Last night's account still hasn't been settled with you."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi widened her innocent eyes and looked at her, arguing, "I didn't play in the water."

"Oh right, I almost forgot there's also the account for playing in the water. Two accounts settled together."

She scrunched her face up like a steamed bun, glanced at Ye Yaodong, then peeked at Lin Lin Xiuqing, and immediately went to push Ye Yaodong's shoulder.

"Daddy, time to get up…"

"Stop fussing, calling me is useless. You'd better get ready first, a good beating is unavoidable."

Panicking, she went barefoot, quickly turned and ran to the door, slapping the door panel with a bang. "Open the door, open the door, Great-Grandpa, open the door…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing also got up to find clothes to put on, letting her shout as she pleased.

After she had dressed herself, she picked her up and carried her back to the bed.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi, pinned under an armpit, flailed her two legs and two arms in panic. "Mommy, I was wrong, I won't dare, I won't dare, no more playing in the water… I won't dare, I won't dare…"

Ye Yaodong rested his hands behind his head, watching the little girl beg for mercy with a smile in his eyes.

"How did you end up sleeping in the dog kennel last night?"

"Huh?" Ye Ye Xiaoxi was set down on the bed, widened her eyes and turned to look at him, then blinked twice.

Lin Lin Xiuqing took a sweater and pulled it over her head. "Clothes are on. We'll settle the account with you in a bit."

"I went to play with the doggy, didn't want to sleep."

"And then you slept in the dog kennel."

She looked this way and that, then shook her head. "Sleep with Mommy."

"I'm not a dog." Saying that, Lin Lin Xiuqing went out to get a whip.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi obediently sat on the bed waiting, thinking her mother went to get her pants to put on, but who knew she'd see a really long whip.

She widened her eyes, panicked, and quickly scrambled hands and feet into the covers.

"Think you can hide?" Lin Lin Xiuqing flipped the quilt open in one go, and while the child was still lying there with no time to react, brought the whip down on her bottom.

"Ow~ ow~ Daddy~ help~" She shouted while climbing onto Ye Yaodong's body.

Little did she know, lying down made her an even easier target.

Lin Lin Xiuqing swung the whip in her hand, lashing her bottom nonstop, scolding as she hit.

"Not sleeping in the middle of the night and running outside, even crawling into the dog kennel — the whole family was scared to death by you. In the middle of the night we turned the whole place upside down looking for you. After being tired all day, you still give me trouble."

"Getting more and more naughty. Can't do without a beating, no beating no learning. Getting more and more disobedient — a good hard beating, let's see if you dare next time…"

"I won't dare, I won't dare…"

"Hiss~ hiss~ where are you hitting? You're hitting me now too…" Ye Yaodong dodged and shouted along.

He couldn't tell if she did it on purpose or by accident — the child was lying on his body, and besides hitting the child, at least one out of every three strikes landed on him.

But he was bare-chested and bare-legged, wearing only shorts, stark naked, and the strikes really did hurt when they came down hard.

"Who told you to lie here without putting on clothes? I'm teaching the child…"

"How can your aim be this bad? You're doing it on purpose. Hiss… that hurts~ You hit me harder than you hit the child. You're doing it on purpose…"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi kept climbing onto his body, so he had to hold the child and dodge inward, then he shrank into the corner himself, and the child kept climbing onto him and sat in his lap.

Ye Yaodong watched whip after whip swing right under his nose, each strike landing on his hand and Ye Ye Xiaoxi's body — truly killing two birds with one stone.

"Holy crap…"

He quickly set the child down, scooted to the foot of the bed himself, then hurried to get out of bed.

"Daddy… help~ help~" Ye Ye Xiaoxi watched with tears welling up as her daddy abandoned her and ran.

She hadn't cried when she was being beaten — her skin was still thick — but seeing her daddy abandon her and run, tears instantly poured down, and she wailed especially pitifully and loudly.

"Help~ help~ waaah~"

Lin Lin Xiuqing also glanced at the fleeing man and ignored him. He was just incidental anyway — beating the child was the priority.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi stood in the corner, hopping around like an ant on a hot pan, jumping from the left corner to the right corner, then from the right corner back to the left.

Lin Lin Xiuqing only aimed for her thighs and calves.

"I won't dare~ I won't dare~"

"Daddy~ bad daddy~ waaah~ I hate you, I hate you… Great-Grandpa~ Great-Grandpa~"

"Help~ help~ Daddy's a bad guy, a bad guy…"

She bounced and jumped on the bed shouting, wailing loudly, tears streaming down, and looked at Ye Yaodong with teary eyes to accuse him.

The moment Ye Yaodong got out of bed he started putting on clothes. Hearing her crying and cursing him, he felt sullen too.

"Why curse me? I'm not the one hitting you — your mother is! Curse her!"

"You're a bad guy, you're a bad guy~ bad guy~ waaah~ bad guy~"

"She hits you and you don't curse her, but you curse me?"

"You're a bad guy~ big bad guy~"

Lin Lin Xiuqing almost couldn't hold back her laughter while beating her, so she forced herself to stay stern, then stopped and glared at her. "Will you dare next time or not? Will you still run out in the middle of the night to sleep in the dog kennel?"

With misty tearful eyes, she quickly shook her head.

"If you're not good next time, I'll take your pants off and beat you. Today I still haven't taken your pants off to beat you."

She tilted her head back all at once, closed her eyes, and wailed loudly — looking especially pitiful and wretched.

Only then did Ye Yaodong turn around and play the good guy. "That's enough, right? About enough, right? No need to keep beating her, right?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing waved the whip in front of him, making him flail his arms and legs in panic to shield himself — only to realize it was a feint.

He simply snatched the whip from her and tossed it on the table, then spread his arms open and called out to Ye Ye Xiaoxi: "Be good, come here for a hug. I threw the whip away."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi straightened her tilted head and opened her eyes, but her mouth kept wailing loudly.

She looked left and right at the couple, then ran straight to Lin Lin Xiuqing and threw herself into her arms.

Ye Yaodong looked at his empty hands, even more frustrated. "No... she's clearly the one who hit you, so why are you throwing yourself into her arms? I'm the one who saved you."

She glared with teary eyes, pouted her mouth, and cried as she accused, "You big meanie!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing couldn't help but laugh. She held her on her lap, then took the pants by the bed and put them on her.

"Be reasonable, I'm not the one who hit you."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi stretched out her little feet and kicked a few times, trying to kick him. He stepped back.

"You stinky girl, you deserve a beating!"

"Meanie!"

"Stinky girl!"

"Meanie, you big meanie!"

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes at her. "Remember this: next time you get hit, don't climb on me, don't hide behind me, and don't ask me to save you."

"I hate you!"

He took the whip from the table and pretended to brandish it a few times in front of her, but she turned out fiercer than him—sliding down to the floor and rushing forward to hit him.

"Holy smokes, she's quite fierce. How come she was like a quail just now? Now she's all claws and teeth."

"I'll hit you~"

Tears still hung on her face, but she was fierce in a cute, childish way.

Lin Lin Xiuqing put the jacket back on her, and only then did she obediently tilt her head back and glare at her.

Ye Yaodong tapped her head with the whip. "You remember this for me—next time don't call me to save you."

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed and patted him. "Go brush your teeth, wash your face, and eat. Stop teasing her here."

"You can't tell right from wrong. Later I'll buy candy for your brother, but none for you."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi's angry little eyes stared up at him like that, with teardrops still on her face, but she had stopped crying.

Ye Yaodong also touched the watch on his wrist—it was already 8:30.

He opened the bedroom door and looked outside. The sun was blazing high, the sunlight blindingly bright. The open door let in a warm breeze.

"Another beautiful day!" He stretched his back. "Good, lovely weather."

Apart from his room, the house was completely silent. He could guess—the old lady had probably taken her radio and gone to the workshop.

On the table were pickled vegetables, pickled mustard tuber, dried radish, and dried fish. Lifting the lid revealed a small pot of congee with about half left. Only the three of them hadn't eaten yet.

So even though they had been disciplining the child for so long, no one came to knock on the door. Ye Ye Xiaoxi could have screamed her throat raw and still no one would have come to save her.

He ate quickly. After Ye Ye Xiaoxi came out of the room, she ran over and hit him on the back.

"So resentful? So petty—isn't it just that when your mother hit you, I abandoned you and hid?"

"Meanie!"

"So petty."

"Meanie!"

"I'm not playing with you anymore. I'm done eating, I'm leaving, I'm going out to play, going to buy candy, to give to my older brother and sisters—none for you!"

Ye Yaodong dodged her swatting hand again, set his bowl and chopsticks on the stove, and headed outside.

The surroundings were quiet, not a single person in sight—only the sound of the waves. Only after walking some distance did he hear the noisy bustle from the workshop, along with the storytelling from the cassette player inside.

Everyone inside was busy at work, not a single person idle. Even Ye Ye Chengyang was there, tiptoeing as he helped lay out the dried fish in the sun.