Chapter 1144

Everything that needed to be bought had been bought, and both Ye Yaodong and Aguang were satisfied. This trip was a full harvest; the business was accomplished, and they had bought quite a few things.

The twins were also satisfied. Although they only looked around when they went to the Friendship Store, they had at least walked through and seen it. In the past, they wouldn't even have dared to walk inside.

The display of those high-end goods, along with some people in suits and leather shoes walking back and forth, made people shrink back just from looking from afar.

"Dong-ge, what is this chocolate thing?"

"Chocolate is chocolate, it's foreign stuff, what else could it be?"

"Is this delicious? What does it taste like? You bought so much, and these few tiny pieces cost 20 yuan in foreign exchange certificates. It's really expensive. How much does a jin of pork cost? With this money, you could buy half a pig."

"Foreigners' stuff is damn expensive, but there's no way around it. Who told us we've never eaten it? Things we've never eaten always have a bit more novelty and mystery, and if there's a chance, of course, one would want to taste it. I'll tell you what it tastes like after I go back and eat it, but I heard it's both sweet and bitter."

"That's so strange, are foreigners' tastes that different?"

"Foreigners' tastes are just that different. Have you ever heard of cat poop coffee? It's the poop a cat poops out, used to brew coffee."

"Holy crap, that's a thing? Do they have nothing else to eat? They actually eat the poop a cat poops out. It's too disgusting. Is it that they don't have cats there, and I haven't seen them? Oh my god, if it really can be sold for money, I'll go pick up cat poop all over the streets immediately."

"Hahaha... I heard that cat poop coffee is extraordinary, but I don't know how it's extraordinary. Anyway, it's definitely not the poop from an ordinary house cat. I just don't know what kind of cat poops it out to be so special."

He had only heard of it and hadn't specifically looked into it. Because he wasn't interested, he really couldn't explain the ins and outs of it.

"Then no matter how extraordinary the cat is, it's still a cat, and the poop it poops is still cat poop... Just like no matter how high a person's status is, what they poop out is still poop. It's really disgusting enough. Even if we're poor, we haven't reached the point of eating poop..." Aguang was also full of disgust.

"Every place has its own local culture. It's normal that foreign countries are different from us. Our local specialty dishes in every place are also different."

"That's still disgusting. I really want to go pick up cat poop and sell it to them."

Ye Yaodong chuckled, ignored them, and closed his mouth, not speaking anymore. There was flying dust in front of his eyes, and even with a hat and dust cover on, it was best to talk less.

After strolling around the store and then taking the vehicle, it was already 12:00 noon when they got home.

The whole family had been waiting anxiously. They thought that since he didn't come back last night, he would be home early this morning, but they didn't expect him to drag it out until noon to return.

Lin Xiuqing had been waiting at home. After hearing the sound of the tractor, she hurried out and walked to the workshop.

"What were you doing? Why didn't you come back earlier?"

"I strolled around the store, so I was late. Cook me something to eat, I'm starving."

"What's so good about strolling? We don't lack anything at home, yet you still went to stroll around the store. You didn't even know to come back earlier. Whatever we lack, can't we buy it here just the same?"

"That's different. No matter what, it was brought back from the provincial capital and the city. Once it's labeled, it's different. It sounds high-class, it adds points."

"What did you buy? It sounds high-class, how high-class does it have to be?"

"You'll know when we get home." Ye Yaodong put his arm around Lin Xiuqing's shoulder and walked toward the house.

Aguang, who was behind them, suddenly shouted, "Third Sister-in-law, Dongzi said today is your birthday, happy birthday."

Lin Xiuqing stopped in her tracks, frowned, and gave Ye Yaodong a strange look.

Ye Yaodong also frowned and glared fiercely at Aguang.

Lin Xiuqing said puzzledly, "Today isn't my birthday. Listen to his nonsense. It would be a miracle if he knew which day my birthday is. The sun would have to rise from the west."

"Hahaha~ I'm going home first." Aguang laughed loudly, swinging the cloth bag in his hand, and walked toward the side road.

Ye Yaodong stared with wide eyes, as if he wanted to shoot a few knives out to poke his back into a sieve.

Lin Xiuqing patted him, "What are you looking at? Let's go home. The two of you are strange, I don't even know what you're doing."

"Then which day is your birthday? I remember it seems to be recently?"

"Remember your head. There's still more than half a month, July 27th. By then, you'll have long gone to Zhejiang Province."

"Oh, I just said, I always remember there are a few sevens, I thought it was the 17th."

"What's going on? What kind of riddle are you two playing? Why did you suddenly ask me about my birthday?"

Lin Xiuqing looked at him suspiciously, thinking he looked wrong no matter how she looked at him, "Did you two do something behind my back? Or are you making some kind of bet?"

"What could I do behind your back? Who would be so bored to bet with him, betting on your birthday? What's there to bet on? You're thinking too much. I just suddenly remembered and mentioned it to him while chatting. I didn't expect him to pull this stunt. Let's go, it's hot as hell. Talking outside in such a big sun, let's go home."

"So mysterious..."

"Where's my daughter?"

"Eating watermelon at home, watching TV."

"So comfortable. Where's your son?"

Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't help laughing, "You distinguish so clearly, 'your daughter', 'my son'. One is rushing to do homework, the other is playing beside him. They just had a fight, I don't know if they're still together right now."

"Why did they fight?"

"Chenghu is rushing to do homework and feels that Yangyang is making noise playing with toys beside him, so he's very angry."

"Why doesn't he go herd sheep? Is Chenghu jealous? Seeing that he doesn't have to do homework, it must be uncomfortable, right?"

"No one is accompanying him, doesn't he not want to go alone? They are all rushing to do homework there. In two days it will be September 1st, time to register. They are all cramming at the last minute. Haven't you noticed that the children running on the road have become fewer?"

"Not one of them can study. At least your maiden family has a Dongxue, here it looks shaky."

"Whether they study or not doesn't matter. Anyway, there are so many things at home, there's plenty of work for them to do."

"That's true."

If they can't study, then come home and inherit the family business.

The noon sun could melt a person. The dogs at home were also lazy, all shrinking into their kennels. None of them wanted to stay in the sidecar, being exposed to the sun.

When they just stepped into the courtyard gate, all that emerged from the kennel were dog heads, filling the hole of the kennel completely. There were even puppies that couldn't squeeze out, and it took them a long time to squeeze a head out from the side.

He laughed and pointed at these dogs, saying to Aqing, "Look, it's all dog heads, filling the entrance. They aren't even afraid that their heads will get stuck later and won't be able to shrink back."

Lin Xiuqing stopped and laughed as well, "These dogs are indeed quite cute sometimes."

"If there were a big machete right now, I could just chop from top to bottom, and the cross-section could neatly chop off a pile of dog heads..."

"Woof woof woof woof woof..."

"Woof woof woof woof woof..."

The big dogs were all barking, and the little puppies twisted their heads and followed suit.

"Cursing so filthily, shut up!"

Lin Xiuqing turned her head, "You understood even that?"

"Guessed it."

She shook her head with a smile, "I thought you were the same species as the dogs."

"A dog of a man is the same species as a dog, I am not."

"Where did you get so many words? 'Dog of a man' wasn't wrong, that's you."

The old lady came out of the room, stood at the door, and waved at them, "Hurry up and come in, it's so sunny outside, why are you still talking in the courtyard? The noodles are almost cooked, hurry in and eat."

The two walked quickly toward the house.

Ye Chenghu, who was sitting at the table doing homework, had eyes that lit up, "Dad, you're back."

"Write your homework."

Ye Yaodong threw the cloth bag he was carrying onto the table, and the brothers immediately wanted to pounce on it and pull the bag.

"Let go..."

"I'll look first..."

"I'm the older brother, I'll look first..."

"I'm the younger brother, the older brother should yield to the younger brother..."

"Get lost, Mom and Dad only said to yield to the younger sister..."

"They said to yield to the younger brother and sister!"

Ye Yaodong pulled the bag back in one motion, "What are you arguing about? Everyone has a share, I'll distribute it for you."

He rummaged through the things in the bag, then pushed the copybook in front of Ye Chenghu, "For you, write one page of big characters every day. If you don't write enough, I'll beat you to death."

Ye Chenghu was happily picking up the copybook, thinking it was some good stuff. Hearing this, he opened it with a shocked face and took a look at the copybook.

Ye Yaodong also took the opportunity to hand him two pencils, two erasers, and a new pencil sharpener, "There, the equipment is complete."

He deliberately didn't take out the harmonica, only giving him school supplies.

"Why is it this? I don't want it."

Ye Chengyang laughed loudly, "I don't have to go to school, Dad, is mine a toy?"

"Hmm, yours is an illustrated comic book, take it."

Ye Xiaoxi also ran over with her short legs, stood on tiptoe, and tugged at his hand, "Let me see, I want to see..."

"Yours is a pile of little dolls, here you go. The dolls didn't grow from planting, Dad bought them for you."

She clapped her hands happily and jumped twice, "Great, great~"

Ye Chenghu stared wide-eyed, looking at this and that, holding the copybook, and shouted in grief and indignation, "Why is mine this? I don't want to write."

"It's brought back from the provincial capital~ There's also a pencil case for you to put pencils, erasers, and these things. All of them are bought in the provincial capital. If you don't want the copybook, then I'll take all these back and give them all to Yangyang for him to use when he goes to school next year."

Ye Chenghu immediately lay on the table, swept all the things that belonged to him in front of him, and protected them under his chest, "No!"

"Then keep it. One page of big characters every day. It doesn't matter if you're a poor student, just write the characters better."

"Ah~~" Ye Chenghu let out a strange cry while lying on the table, waving his hands wildly on the desktop to vent his emotions.

Lin Xiuqing kicked him while holding the freshly served noodles, "Sit properly for me, hurry up and do your homework."

"I haven't finished my homework, and Dad has arranged more for me."

"If you don't want these things, you don't have to write what he assigned you."

He sat up straight, looking at the brand-new stationery in front of him, which was even printed with cartoon characters. It was so novel; where could they buy these in the countryside? They could only buy the most ordinary stationery. How could he bear to part with them?

He reached out to circle that pile of stationery as usual, and said aggrievedly, "But I want it, it's brought back from the provincial capital."

"Then be honest and write your homework obediently."

Ye Chengyang smiled wickedly, held the illustration in his hand, and shook it in front of him several times, "Older brother, this illustration is Sun Wukong, look how good it looks..."

Ye Chenghu looked at it greedily but shouted at him angrily, "Go away."

In fact, his eyes kept following the illustration in his hand, reluctant to look away.

Ye Yaodong slurped the noodles, and Lin Xiuqing took the cloth bag away from him. She was a bit puzzled, seeing that it was still bulging inside and there were still quite a few things.

"What else is there? And it's still so heavy?"

"There are several more sets of stationery, one for each of the children next door, and also for the children of your second brother's family. You take them out and distribute them. I don't know if it's enough, just make do and distribute them. A little less is fine, anyway, everyone has a share. I originally bought quite a lot, but the cloth bag was cut open by a thief when Aguang was taking the vehicle on the road, and a lot was lost. I also gave a little to him."

"You really have a heart, even preparing for the children of my second brother's family."

"Your second brother's family is going to produce a college student, shouldn't I be attentive? Moreover, it's buying stationery, and it just happens that school is about to start, so sending stationery is also meaningful. Of course, they have a share. Your eldest brother's children also have a share. When I was in the city on the way back, I already gave it to Lin Guangyuan and the others."

Ye Chenghu's expression looked better at this time, and he asked, "Do Ahai-ge, Ajiang-ge, and the sisters have them too? Do they also have to write copybooks every day?"

"Hmm."

He was happy, "That's good."

"Your cousins also have to write."

He nodded happily, "Great, great."

Lin Xiuqing turned out all the things in the bag and organized them, but discovered several boxes with English letters written on them.

"What is this? Why are they all English letters?"

"This is chocolate, bought at the Friendship Store with foreign exchange certificates. It's very expensive, one box costs several yuan. It's a gift for you."

She was surprised, "These are for me? Then these 5 boxes must cost more than 20 yuan?"

"20 yuan in foreign exchange certificates, almost 20 or 30 yuan in RMB."

"What kind of thing is so expensive? How much does a jin of pork cost? Just these few things cost more than 20 yuan?"

"Foreign things are expensive to begin with, open it and eat it to see."

Lin Xiuqing held the boxes of chocolate and turned them over, suddenly realizing, "Ah, did you buy these expensive things for me, and Aguang thought it was my birthday, so he asked like that just now?"

Ye Yaodong was a bit embarrassed, struggled for a moment, but still said frankly and openly, "Yes, it's been so many years and I haven't remembered your birthday, I only remembered it was probably recently, so when I went to the Friendship Store, I thought about buying you something, but I only had 20 yuan in foreign exchange certificates, so I bought all chocolate."

She looked at him in surprise, cracked a smile, opened her mouth wanting to say something, but didn't say it, just kept looking at him and smiling.

Ye Chenghu suddenly stuck out his tongue and pretended to vomit a few times, "Cheesy."

The couple both glared over.

Lin Xiuqing also put away her sweet smile, held the chocolate box in her hand, and tapped his head.

"Hurry up and do your homework for me, put these stationery items away first, wait until school starts to use them, use the old ones for now."

After saying that, she even pulled out the copybook in his arms, "Start writing the copybook today, I'll check it when we eat dinner. If you haven't finished writing, I'll beat you to death, and don't even think about stepping out of this door tonight."

"I haven't even finished my summer homework."

"Is it justified to not finish summer homework?"

Ye Chenghu pursed his lips, but looked at the chocolate in her hand again, smiling flatteringly, "Mom, we've never eaten this chocolate thing either, can you open it and let me taste a bit?"

Ye Chengyang also pulled Ye Xiaoxi, who was sitting on the ground playing with dolls, "Mom, younger sister wants to eat too."

Ye Xiaoxi was pulled up and looked at everyone blankly.

Lin Xiuqing held the chocolate box and also smiled, tapping his head, "I think it's you who wants to eat, and you're still dragging her into it."

"Younger sister really wants to eat."

After Ye Chengyang finished speaking, he coaxed Ye Xiaoxi, "The chocolate in Mom's hand is delicious, do you want to eat it?"

"Want!" Ye Xiaoxi immediately dropped the doll, hugged Lin Xiuqing's calf, and sat on her instep, "Mom, want to eat... want to eat..."

Lin Xiuqing lifted her foot, but she didn't move at all, "You're really something, hugging my leg and still wanting to sit on my instep. Get up, I'll open a box and distribute it to you."

"Yay."

Three pairs of eyes were all fixed on Lin Xiuqing's hands, watching her open the package, all looking forward to tasting what it tasted like.

The old lady on the side also watched from beginning to end, smiling as she watched them make a fuss. Seeing Lin Xiuqing finish opening the box, she was surprised to see 12 individually paper-wrapped chocolates lying lonely inside.

"Just these few cost four or five yuan? Doesn't this tiny piece equal half a jin of pork?"

She held a cattail-leaf fan in her hand and patted Ye Yaodong, "You bought 5 boxes of just this? You spendthrift."

Lin Xiuqing also said, "This is too expensive, I thought it was a full box like cookies."

"Ahem, expensive has its reasons, eat it. Anyway, ordinary people can't eat it, and we don't buy it every day, we only buy it once in a few decades."

"Once is already being cheated, even if you beat me to death, I wouldn't think about buying it a second time."

As she said that, she also distributed the chocolates in the box to the three children, one each, and also gave one to the old lady.

The old lady immediately shook her head and took a step back, "I don't want it, I don't want foreigners' things, I don't like them."

The three children couldn't wait to tear off the outer paper. This was a small, bite-sized milk chocolate shaped like a water droplet.

"Ah, so it's brown?"

"Can it be eaten? It doesn't look delicious."

Ye Xiaoxi, however, put it directly on the stool, "Don't want it, it looks like dog poop."

She had never lacked food or clothing and was not like other children who wanted to stuff everything they saw into their mouths.

Ye Chenghu had already tasted a bite, his facial features wrinkled into a ball, and he stuck out his tongue, revealing the chocolate that hadn't completely melted on it.

"Yue~ it's not delicious, it's a bit bitter."

"It's also a bit sweet, what a strange taste."

Seeing their different expressions, Lin Xiuqing picked up the one Ye Xiaoxi had left on the stool, peeled it, and took a small bite.

"It's indeed strange, but it's not hard to eat either. The things foreigners eat are strange."

As she said that, she handed it to Ye Xiaoxi's mouth again.

"Don't want it." Ye Xiaoxi turned her head away and lowered it again to play with her doll.

Ye Yaodong drank all the soup in the bowl before putting down the bowl and chopsticks, "It's supposed to be this taste, it tastes bitter when eaten, but also a bit sweet."

Lin Xiuqing watched as the two sons had already stuffed the chocolates in their hands into their mouths, then chewed and swallowed them, and said with disgust, "Waste of things."

She put the rest in her mouth and held it, it was too expensive and she couldn't bear to just chew and swallow it, then she went to clean up the bowls and chopsticks, but they were snatched away by the old lady.

"Dongzi just came back, you two still have things to be busy with, I'll clean this up, you two go back to the room."

"Alright, there's still some money in the cloth bag, it should be from the store in the city, let's go back to the room and calculate the accounts."

Lin Xiuqing took those stationery items to the room by the way, planning to distribute them after calculating the accounts.

Among the many things Ye Yaodong brought back, the most must be left for their own children, and the others could just be distributed a couple of items each.

He also followed her into the room, secretly locked the door, and then took two quick steps, hugged her from behind, and whispered in her ear, "Is the chocolate delicious?"

"Not delicious."

"Then there's no bitterness in the mouth, sweetness in the heart."

Lin Xiuqing was amused by him, patted him, and then turned her head and said, "Hmm, indeed, what you said is right."

"Let me tell you, abroad, chocolate is linked to love."

"We're already an old married couple, what love or not love, don't mess around, let me calculate the accounts first. It's a hot day, I sweated just from walking a bit, and you're still hugging me, it's hot as hell, sticky and gooey, go away."

Ye Yaodong let go of her and complained, "You calculate accounts every day."

"Otherwise?"

"Don't you want to ask about my experience in the city?"

"I planned to ask properly after calculating the accounts, handle the things at hand first, then we can talk properly. If not, you say it first."

Bored, he sat on the edge of the bed and told her about his experience in the city on this trip, during which Lin Xiuqing also gave some reactions.

"So, your family really has overseas Chinese relatives? Then later when you worship the ancestors, don't you still have to hold a reunion meeting?"

"In imagination, it should be like this, that's right."

"Then the bottling machine you want shouldn't be a problem anymore, right?"

"It should be, but we also have to see what these overseas Chinese do, which country they are from. Anyway, we should be able to get news at the latest in two months when we worship the ancestors, right? I heard there are quite a lot of overseas Chinese, and they are quite rich, and they also want to give back to their hometown. Then helping their own family members shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Where do you want to put that machine when it's shipped back? Put it in the city or put it at home?"

"What do you think?"

"Put it in the workshop at home first. If we put it in the city, we can't reach it, and it's at a distance, which is inconvenient. If we entrust it all to outsiders to watch, how can we be at ease?"

"And now the fermentation is all in the workshop. After fermentation, it's more convenient to directly use the machine for bottling and then transport it to the city, saving you from having to transport the liquid to the city for bottling again. If it's like this, then what's the big difference from now? We have a bottling machine, yet we still have to use big vats to transport it to the city, isn't that doing something unnecessary?"

Ye Yaodong nodded, "You're right. If we can get the machine, then transport it to the workshop here. At that time, hiring people from the village to work can also provide employment for the village, and having the village committee help us in the village, it's not easy to have trouble."

"After it becomes bagged, anyway, we also have our own tractor that can transport it back and forth to the city. In the city, we can build a large warehouse for storage. After enclosing the wall, we'll build two large warehouses first, one for storing dried fish, and one for storing fish sauce."

He thought that if they did bigger and bigger business, they could expand the warehouse with the remaining land at that time. At that time, they only needed to take it to the city for shipment, and produce it here at home.

After all, the city is an urban area, and the transportation will be accessible in all directions in the future, so shipping and logistics there will also be more convenient.

Let's do it this way for now, whether to expand in the future, we'll talk about it later.

In case the workshop area here by the seaside is not enough and too small, he can also go to the town to buy a piece of land. It's better to be able to watch the production work nearby.

But this is also something to consider later. It's a bit too early to talk about the machine now.

"Oh, by the way, Ahai came back yesterday and said you were urging the boat at the factory. The factory has already repainted it for you, and the numbers to be sprayed have also been put on. You can drive it back whenever you want."

"Then I'll go drive it back tomorrow, let me rest for today."

"Don't you want to pick a day?"

"It's too late, it's just these two days. After I finish all the things at home, I have to go. Just pick a good time to drive it back. Anyway, just make do with the day, it's not the first boat, there are already so many."

"Good, then it's just right to wait until after the Ghost Festival to leave. You brought back quite a lot of food last time, take it back again this time, just supplement it with some melons, fruits, and vegetables. You don't need to prepare anything else, many things are ready-made. We haven't gone out to sea recently, and haven't brought it to the sea either."

"What date is the Ghost Festival?"

"The 30th, tomorrow."

"Damn, aren't you rushing me? You want me to get lost the day after tomorrow? Wait until Ye Chenghu registers on September 2nd before leaving."

Lin Xiuqing smiled, "I just mentioned leaving after the Ghost Festival, I didn't say it had to be the day after tomorrow."

"You calculate your accounts."

"Then you distribute the stationery according to the number of people. If it's not enough, give everyone a few less items, it's not necessary for everyone to have everything, just make a gesture. These stationery items look novel, completely different from ours. We don't have such good-looking cartoon patterns here. If you just give them one or two, they'll probably be happy to death, and they won't even have to attend class, they'll just play there."

"Good, the copybooks are definitely enough, I bought 20 sets, there are only more, not less. If there are leftovers, leave more for Ye Chenghu."

"Then he'll be angry to death, hehe, he has to write more than others for no reason."

"It's for his own good, these are all bought with money. Write more characters, if studying is not good, it's also okay to learn some side-door tricks. It's not bad to have a good handwriting. If there are conditions, let him learn calligraphy, so he won't have to buy couplets in the future."

"Thinking so far ahead, then don't give them these harmonicas? There's still a pile inside."

"Give them together at night, otherwise, they'll all be blowing and howling like ghosts later, and I won't have to take a nap."

"No wonder I said there were so many in your bag, why didn't you take them out to distribute? They were all covered tightly by banknotes and pressed at the bottom, no wonder it was so heavy."

The whole bed was full of things poured out from the cloth bag, the couple's heads were against each other, both lowering their heads to pick up and organize.

"Why don't you take the tractor back to your maiden family tomorrow? Bring these stationery items back to your nephews and nieces, and by the way, send some fish sauce and dried fish to them? Haven't you been back for a long time?"

"Yes, ever since my father and my eldest brother moved to the city, I have rarely gone back, but originally, except for sending New Year and festival gifts, I didn't go back either. Then tomorrow, after you drive the boat back, I'll make a trip, and by the way, go there to move some melons, fruits, vegetables, and dried vegetables back, which is just right for you to take away in a few days. Before, I turned over the land at home, and the vegetables were all hoed away, and they haven't grown yet."

"The 'daughter thief' is exactly you."

Lin Xiuqing also chuckled, "There's nothing else at home, but there are plenty of melons, fruits, and vegetables. Now it's just my second brother's family, they definitely can't finish eating them. Our family has a high demand now, it's not enough for you to take away, so it's just right to go back and get some."

"Then bring more things back. If I had known earlier, I would have bought more things in the city for you to take back. Then wait until next time I come back from Zhejiang Province, I'll bring more things, and let you take them back to show off. Distribute more stationery to them, anyway, the children at home won't study, and I haven't bought them fewer things usually."

"Good. It's a pity for the second brother too. If he could find some work or do some business in the city, it would be good. Look at the eldest brother, he's making no less money now, only the second brother is looking at those fields and mountains in his hometown."

"Wait a while and see. Whatever he wants to do, he has to think about it himself. What he can earn can only be within his own ability. Otherwise, let him learn to drive a tractor first."

"We'll talk about it later."