Chapter 1225

"Did you go too?"

Lin Xiuqing had a dark face and looked at him suspiciously.

"Are you crazy! What does that have to do with me? Even a dog isn't as loyal as I am."

Lin Xiuqing: "..."

She paused and said unhappily, "Hard to say. You're often away from home for months at a time. Even Lin Ji is keeping a woman outside."

He had said this matter shouldn't be brought up; once it was, it would surely bring fire upon himself.

Women are just unreasonable about these things.

He hadn't intended to say it in the first place; who knew she would keep thinking about it and even drag it out until night to specifically ask.

Ye Yaodong hurriedly coaxed her, "You're at home raising the elders and children for me, looking after the workshop, stabilizing the rear, and running around busy. How could I be so heartless? You can't compare me to Lin Ji."

"He was never a good person to begin with. A ruthless person who licks blood from a blade has a lot of pressure. Who knows what he'll be like in the future? I wouldn't be surprised by anything he does. As long as he has money, I'd find it normal for him to keep eight or ten."

"Wang Guangliang is also just 20, at an age full of vigor; it's normal to think about women. Which family's 20-year-old young man isn't impulsive? Even 70-year-olds are impulsive."

"It's normal for the men around him to lead him on and get his blood pumping. Don't worry about it; he'll be fine once he gets married."

Lin Xiuqing wasn't so easily fooled, "So you were like this before you married me?"

"How could that be? In those years, places like that were hidden deep... deep..."

Ye Yaodong slapped his own mouth; he knew he shouldn't drink at night.

"You know where they're hidden deep, so you've looked for them, haven't you?"

"How could that be? It's all hearsay. Let me tell you, there are no secrets among men, especially about these kinds of affairs; it's normal to know. Besides, didn't I get married early? Why would I need to look outside? I didn't have any money in my pockets before either; I was dirt poor, and even eating was a problem."

Lin Xiuqing slapped him hard a few times.

"Who knows if what you're saying is true or false? Men are all no good, just like lechers."

"No way, don't paint everyone with the same brush."

"Then before you got married, in your teens and twenties, weren't you impulsive?"

"Impulsive, yeah. Every day I had endless energy and couldn't vent it all. I had to secretly change my underwear every day when I got up. But I don't anymore; I have this."

Ye Yaodong smirked and held his palm out in front of her, grabbing at the air a few times.

Lin Xiuqing spat at him, "Shameless, you're all old lechers."

"It's a man's nature!"

"I think you men won't be honest unless you're hung on a wall."

"Hehe..."

"Rich or poor, you're all no good. As long as you go out, it's easy to mess around. You just earned a little salary, and as soon as you go out, you go to those kinds of places. Let's see which family's daughter will marry you in the future."

"Hey, hey, hey, you can't go around saying that; it ruins reputations. Just know it yourself. If it spreads everywhere, that'll be the end of it."

"Got it. Do you think I don't know this can't be brought up?"

"Hmm, hurry up and sleep. They're bachelors, they don't have wives, they haven't wronged anyone, and they haven't broken the law or committed crimes. I also gave them a warning when I was in the city yesterday; they'll restrain themselves. Besides, they're all talking about marriage at home; you're a woman, you don't need to worry about it."

"Just hearing about it is disgusting."

"I didn't ask you to listen either. I didn't want to say anything; you were the one who insisted on asking. Now that you know, you're disgusted. Anyway, you just need to know that apart from your husband, no other man is any good."

Lust is a knife, but what man isn't lustful?

At the age of teens and twenties, their things are as hard as iron, they're lovesick every day, and their brains are filled with a large amount of lewd waste; how could he not understand?

Therefore, he also hoped these people could get married; it would be better to get married early. Once married, they could focus on their work and have family responsibilities.

That's why he thought about asking, so Chen Shi could give up, and just introduce someone at home to get married and settle down.

"Bullshit."

"It's true. You can not believe your son, but you have to believe me; I've really only had you as a woman in my life."

"Hmph."

Ye Yaodong hugged her and said all sorts of things to finally put the matter to rest. It clearly had nothing to do with him, and he hadn't done anything, but whenever these lewd topics came up, he always ended up bringing fire upon himself.

It's just that he's too excellent!

From now on, he'll keep his mouth shut; he won't say anything, and he won't let a single bit of wind leak out. Women are just narrow-minded.

The next morning, Ye Yaodong drove his own trawler to the kelp aquaculture base to take a look.

Before he even got close, looking out, the entire sea surface was floating with rafts for kelp farming, and there were a few small boats floating around.

After all, there's no foam now, and production tools are slightly backward; this was grown using aquaculture rafts.

The roots of the kelp seedlings were tied to ropes; the roots were on top, fixed to the root ropes of the rafts, with the heads facing down, growing into the seawater.

This inversion facilitates the cultivation of kelp seedlings and the harvesting of finished kelp, and also allows both the roots and tips of the kelp to fully utilize photosynthesis, promoting the growth of the kelp.

At this time, the area under the water looked dark and dense; it should have been dark brown, but at a glance, the color was exceptionally deep.

As soon as he got close, a boat greeted him.

"Adong, why are you here? Haven't you been out to sea lately? You have time to come here?"

The one speaking was Chen Shuji's son, Chen Guoping, who had also been arranged to learn aquaculture from the hired workers.

"Just resting, so I came to check the progress. I heard from Chen Shuji that it should be harvestable this month, and at the latest, it won't be past next month."

"Yeah, they said we collected the seedlings early. If things go smoothly, we can harvest in a few more days of growth."

After Ye Yaodong parked the boat, when their small bamboo raft came close, he climbed down and jumped onto their small bamboo raft.

The dark brown kelp grew on the ropes, hanging in sheets into the water, crowded together, rising and falling with the seawater.

He casually pulled on a rope, bringing a large sheet of kelp out of the water; the width looked like it could be a blanket for a child. It was much larger than the wild ones, and also much thicker.

Touching the kelp with his palm, it was slippery; there was a layer of slimy mucus on the surface, and it was very fresh.

"This farmed one is still quite different from the wild one."

"Yeah, the wild ones are smaller and thinner. This farmed one has people specifically tending to it, coming every day to pull it up and down. Even if it's grown from the same spores, it will definitely grow better. It's not very long yet; the workers said it can grow longer."

"Once it's harvested, that will be a great thing. We'll plant more next year."

"Everyone is waiting for it. Every few days, small boats from nearby come to check the growth; they're all even more expectant than we are."

Ye Yaodong chatted for a few sentences and then paddled the small bamboo raft to the side to take a look.

This was something they made by hand, specifically tied to the back of the small boat; when working, the rope is untied to make it easier to travel into the kelp to do work.

He paddled the small bamboo raft, weaving into a large patch of kelp to take a look around.

They were all seedlings clamped at the same time, and the production situation was about the same; by then, a whole batch would definitely be harvested together.

After he finished looking, he had an idea in his mind, returned to his own boat, said goodbye, and went back first.

The workshop looked a bit deserted today; during the day, only a few scattered people were moving around due to shifts, turning over drying fish, filtering fish sauce, and packaging fish sauce.

It wouldn't be until the evening when Acai delivered a batch of goods that it would become bustling and busy again. Recently, the fishing boats hadn't returned, so everyone was doing night work.

This was also very friendly to the women in the village; during the day, they could do other things, such as looking after their homes and mending fishing nets, and after eating dinner early, they would come over to kill fish until night.

And the few workers hired permanently in the workshop wouldn't be idle either, working in day and night shifts; everyone had time to rest, and moving things around during the day and night also required a lot of manpower.

Now, only when their few boats came back to shore and brought a large batch of goods could a large group of people be busy and bustling for three or four days.

These past two days, the workshop had just finished processing the goods and had just finished being busy, so it was just a gap time.

Ye Yaodong passed by the workshop entrance, but only took a glance before going home to eat.

In the afternoon, he went to the back door to turn over the soil and plant what needed to be planted; the old lady had long since finished the small self-reserved plot inside the small courtyard.

He planned to stay at home for these two days, turn over all the soil that needed turning, and sow what needed sowing. When the other boats returned in two days, he would go out to sea again and go out with them.

The work at home still had to be done; while the workshop wasn't busy during the day, he could call two more people over to help him turn the soil, which would be faster.

In the evening, Ye Chenghu came back and wanted to run out as soon as he dropped his schoolbag, but was grabbed by Lin Xiuqing.

"Mom, I'll do my homework after I eat. I'll show them my crickets now..."

"Do your homework first."

"Wait a minute, I'll show the others and then come back to write... It was so hard to catch two..."

Lin Xiuqing grabbed his clothes and wouldn't let go. As Ye Chenghu struggled, the bamboo tube in his hand tipped over, and one cricket escaped.

"Ah..."

He just let out a scream and wanted to pounce on the ground, but Ye Xiaoxi had already crawled to the ground first, covering the cricket with her two small hands.

"Caught it."

"Give it to me quickly, put it inside."

Lin Xiuqing snatched the bamboo tube from his hand and handed it to Ye Xiaoxi, "Play later. You supervise your dad writing his copybook."

Ye Chenghu just wanted to protest, but upon hearing this, he turned to look at her in disbelief.

"Supervise my dad writing his copybook?"

"Your dad also has to practice his copybook with you. You practice together, and you supervise him."

"What? Did my dad take the wrong medicine? Or is he too full?"

Ye Yaodong stood at the bedroom door, knocked on the door, and reminded him, "Careful, trouble comes from the mouth."

"Dad, why are you being so self-destructive and wanting to write a copybook?"

"Your dad is going to Party School in two days. My value will be skyrocketing, so of course I can't be unable to write a few characters."

"Great, we'll share the suffering, but I have to go see my crickets first..."

Ye Chenghu struggled and lunged forward, but Lin Xiuqing still held onto his clothes.

Ye Xiaoxi put the caught cricket back into the bamboo tube and held it, looking at them curiously.

"Supervise your dad until he finishes writing first, and then you have to finish your own tasks before you can play. Sit down honestly."

Lin Xiuqing pressed him to the table, took out the copybooks for the father and son, and placed them on the table.

Then she knocked on the table, signaling Ye Yaodong to come over and sit down.

"Write. If you don't finish, don't even talk about playing; you won't even get to eat."

Ye Yaodong felt like he had lifted a rock only to drop it on his own feet. If he had known, he wouldn't have talked about practicing calligraphy yesterday; he could have just written whenever he felt like it.

Ye Chenghu saw that his own dad was getting the same treatment as him, and felt a bit more balanced; at least he had company, and wasn't the only one in jail.

"Dad, write quickly, don't dawdle."

Ye Yaodong glanced at his bold son, looked at the pencil on the table, picked it up, and spun it a few times. Ye Chenghu's eyes went straight, and he became interested too.

"Dad, how do you spin it? Teach me, teach me..."

Ye Yaodong put the pencil down, ignored him, and looked at Lin Xiuqing, "Get me a fountain pen; I'm going to practice fountain pen calligraphy."

"That still needs to be filled with ink."

"You take it out, I'll do it."

Lin Xiuqing happened to go into the room, got him the fountain pen and ink, and then left him alone; she also had to cook.

Ye Chenghu watched with great interest as he sucked ink into the soft tube inside the fountain pen. Although it wasn't the first time he'd seen it, as long as he wasn't asked to write, he could do anything.

Ye Yaodong had several fountain pens, all rewards from the village committee or the county and city over the past two years, but he had never used them. Now they were finally coming in handy.

When he went to Party School in two days, he would have to bring one, and then learn from others and tuck the fountain pen into his jacket pocket.

As he spoke, after he finished sucking the ink and wiped it clean, he tucked it into his pocket, tried it out, looked down, and felt he had a bit of the intellectual vibe.

"Do you feel like your dad has suddenly risen to become an intellectual?"

Ye Chenghu shook his head honestly, "No! Intellectuals with culture wear glasses, you're not wearing glasses."

"That's called a four-eyed geek."

"Huh?"

Ye Yaodong tapped the table with his index finger, "Write your own."

"But our teacher is also a four-eyed geek..."

Lin Xiuqing scolded, "Don't talk nonsense. Your dad doesn't teach you anything good all day, just teaching you this. Write quickly, don't drag your feet, both of you. Ye Xiaojiu, you supervise them both. If anyone stops writing, urge them."

"Okay, okay, write quickly..."

Ye Yaodong looked down at the little girl beside him with her hands on her hips, scolding with a stern face, and said with a smile, "Dad will draw a watch for you, do you want it?"

"Okay, okay..."

Lin Xiuqing was helpless; they had just agreed on something, how did he flip so quickly? She was too easy to fool.

She could only tap the table twice with a whip, signaling the two to write faster.

She had only intended to supervise one, how did it end up like she had given birth to another son?

Seeing Ye Chenghu secretly take the bamboo tube with the crickets back to his side, she took it away and put it on the stove.

"I told you to supervise each other. Look at you two, neither of you will eat dinner tonight."

"Dad, write faster, don't dawdle. Look at you, you haven't even written two strokes in half a day." Ye Chenghu shouted like a fox borrowing a tiger's might, but seeing the glare, he quickly picked up his pen and wrote.

Ye Xiaoxi saw the whip Lin Xiuqing put on the table, stood on tiptoe to take it, and kept patting Ye Yaodong on the back, scolding in a milky voice, "Write quickly, don't be lazy."

"Look at how capable you are."

Ye Yaodong felt the scratching sensation on his back and also picked up the fountain pen to start writing stroke by stroke. Since he said he would practice, he might as well practice seriously; it was always useful.

Ye Chenghu wrote two characters, then stretched his neck to see how his dad was progressing, then quickly turned back to write his own.

He kept repeating this, stretching his neck back and forth, busy and happy.

Ye Xiaoxi held the whip like a fox borrowing a tiger's might, patting this back, patting that back, until both of them finished writing and put down their pens.

She was so scared she quickly threw the whip away and ran out, fearing they would take revenge.

Ye Yaodong watched her run away and mocked, "I thought you were so capable, coward."

Ye Chenghu also quickly threw his pen away, "I'm done writing too, my crickets..."

"You still have homework assigned by your teacher, keep writing."

"Tomorrow is Sunday, no school, I'll tomorrow..."

"Don't give me tomorrow, write now."

Ye Chenghu dared to be angry but didn't dare to speak, stealing glances at Lin Xiuqing, holding the pencil in his hand, poking at the copybook character by character.

Ye Yaodong sat beside him, deliberately spinning his pencil to attract his attention.

"Mom, my dad keeps spinning his pen beside me and distracting me!"

Ye Yaodong received Lin Xiuqing's look and immediately stood up, "I'm going to check on the kids."

Lin Xiuqing felt that her daily workload had increased for no reason; she had raised another son who was almost 30.

Ye Yaodong pulled laborers at home to reclaim land for two days before he turned over all the soil on the slope behind the house and sowed the seeds.

On Monday morning, he dressed up like a human, put on a Zhongshan suit, deliberately tucked a fountain pen into his chest pocket, and had an extra briefcase in his hand, not knowing where it came from.

Lin Xiuqing watched him fussing over himself all morning, then dug out a flat folder, and put letter paper, a personal seal, and a pen and copybook inside.

"What are you doing?"

"The equipment must be matched and complete."

He zipped it up, tucked the briefcase under his arm, straightened his back, held his head high, and lifted his chin.

"How is it?"

Lin Xiuqing laughed, "It looks quite like the real thing, Cadre Ye."

"Please call me President Ye."

"Okay, Cadre Ye."

Ye Yaodong took the briefcase and tapped her on the head, "I'll deal with you when I get off work."

"Remember to ride your motorcycle, otherwise it won't be quite right."

"That would be too high-profile, riding a bicycle is fine."

Ye Yaodong happily opened the bedroom door.

The old lady said in surprise in the main hall, "Oh my, Dongzi, your outfit is just like the cadres who came before."

"Haha."

"Better looking than them."

"Haha, I'm off to work."

"Party School classes are all in the evening, why are you going during the day?"

"I don't know, maybe today is just calling me to report?"

"Then go quickly and come back quickly."

Ye Yaodong happily put the briefcase into the basket in front of the bicycle and then rode out.

His hair was already combed back, and the wind along the way made his hair even firmer.

Today was basically just notifying him to report to the Party School, submit a one-inch personal photo, and by the way, give him the class schedule for the upcoming lessons, so he could come to class according to the schedule.

So it didn't take much time, and he came back, and then waited until night to go to class together.

The Party School here really does have classes at night, which is to facilitate working Party members and cadres, who generally have to work during the day.

The villagers had long wanted to ask about Ye Yaodong's suddenly different outfit today, but he was in a hurry this morning and didn't stop to greet anyone.

When he came back, he wasn't in a hurry to go home, and when everyone greeted him, he was able to stop and say a few words to the villagers.

"It's an honor to join the Party. What's in your bag? I see many leaders carrying bags like this."

Ye Yaodong didn't mind and opened it for them to see.

"Tsk tsk tsk, so this is what cadres carry in their bags?"

"I thought they were all full of money..."

"Haha, who carries a bag full of money everywhere?"

"That's hard to say, big bosses' bags must be full of money..."

"And a personal seal too? I've only seen leaders have these things..."

"Adong is a leader to begin with, it's normal for him to have these."

"Oh right, I see him wearing gray work clothes every day, I almost forgot..."

"A few days ago I saw your dad carrying a personal seal in his pocket, taking it everywhere, saying you helped him carve one."

"Carved it by the way, can keep it as a souvenir even if it's not used."

Ye Yaodong laughed, zipped it up again, and put the briefcase into the bicycle basket.

"Going back first."

The posturing was done, he could exit the stage.

Just as he rode his bicycle to the beach, he saw several large ships coming from afar on the sea, so he turned back to the workshop entrance to notify others to pick up the goods.

Then he went home to notify Lin Xiuqing that it was time to work.

Lin Xiuqing couldn't care about asking why he came back so quickly, and hurriedly went to notify the women in the village to prepare to come out to pick up the goods and kill the fish.

Three ships entered one after another, parked side by side, floating in the middle of the sea.

The shore also began to get lively, and people gradually increased. The women all held knives and cutting boards; if it weren't for the smiles on their faces, one might think they were going to fight to the death with another village.

As soon as Ye's father returned, he saw Ye Yaodong dressed like a cadre and was extremely surprised.

"Why did you dress yourself up like this?"

"Going to Party School to study today."

"Oh, no wonder you look so decent, dressed so formally. It's actually quite good-looking dressed like this."

"Hmm."

Ye's father watched everyone weighing the goods and checking the scales, pulled Ye Yaodong to a corner and said, "Next time you go out to sea, I'll go back to your boat directly."

"Can Big Brother and Ye Erge graduate?"

"About the same. They've been brought along for two months. Today is the 31st, tomorrow is the 1st, just a full month. I'll tell them tonight that I'm going back to your boat."

"I have no problem with that. You just need to talk to them. When the time comes, just transfer the temporary boatman back to them."

"Hmm, anyway, several boats going in and out together can look after each other. Just let the two brothers take turns driving the boat, nothing else."

"Okay."

"You've been resting at home for a few days, when did you get back?"

"Four days."

Ye's father was envious, "Then after Qingming, won't you have to rest for ten days?"

"Don't tell me you think you've been working too hard with Big Brother and Ye Erge, so you want to go back to my boat? To rest more?"

"What are you saying? Have I worked less with you? It's more dangerous with you! Don't we basically go in and out together? Where's the extra rest? I haven't worked any less."

Ye's father said unhappily, "I just can't rest assured that you run to Wenzhou from time to time, it's so troublesome. Your brothers are both honest, dutiful, and disciplined. Even if I'm not there, there are other boats to look after them."

He still felt his dad was worried about missing out on some good thing!

After all, running around with him could also make one knowledgeable and experienced, with more opportunities to brag.

"Okay, you've already agreed to go out to sea after Qingming, right?"

"That's the plan. Qingming is on the 5th. I'm worried about the rain these past few days, so I told them not to leave goods for you to bring back, just leave a bit more miscellaneous goods to ferment fish sauce."

Fish sauce is produced every day, then filtered out, and the miscellaneous goods brought back occasionally are just enough for the workshop to digest.

What's collected in the city is put in the city, and what the fishing boats bring back is just enough to supplement the workshop.

"Hmm, it's indeed not suitable for drying these past few days."

Lin Xiuqing also saw that what was left today were all miscellaneous goods, and there wasn't much that needed to be slaughtered, so she apologized to the other women, saying she made them run for nothing, and told them to go back to eat first, rest for a few days, and wait until it gets warmer after Qingming to work.

"Rest for a few days, just in time for everyone to turn over the soil at home and plant what needs to be planted."

"I've already turned over the soil at home."

"So diligent?"

"Aren't there people in the workshop who can work?"

"Then next time fertilizing..."

"Are you embarrassed? People come to the workshop to work, not to be slaves for our family. Turning the soil is fine, are you embarrassed to ask people to carry night soil? Dad, you're really getting lazier, you don't even want to do work."

Ye's father blew his beard and stared, "Who are you calling lazy? Have you done it? Isn't all the dirty and tiring work done by me?"

"Mom asked you to do it."

Ye's father took a deep breath, otherwise he would have to beat him to death in front of so many people.

"I'm going to be busy, you tell Big Brother and Ye Erge yourself, otherwise they'll think I'm snatching people."

"Taking Big Brother and Ye Erge's salary, but still having to carry night soil for you."

"That's not it, the salary you pay for working for Big Brother and Ye Erge also comes from the public, so it counts as taking a salary from me."

Ye's father was choked and even angrier, "So I have to work for you until I die."

He was also cheap, working well with his eldest and second sons, both of whom obeyed him and did whatever he said, but he loved to come to the third son to find abuse.

Ye Yaodong put his arm around his father's shoulder and smiled, "Oh, don't say that, this is filial piety. Look, do Big Uncle and Second Uncle have your filial piety?"

Ye's father slapped his hand away, "I carry night soil for you, is it filial piety to her or to you?"

Ye Yaodong couldn't hold it in and laughed.

Ye's father's face turned even darker.

"I'll carry it, I'll carry it. Then next time I'll carry it. If the old lady calls you to carry night soil, you call me?"

Ye's father glared at him angrily and went to move the goods in a huff.

He only knows how to make people angry.

Lin Xiuqing watched Ye's father's face, which was just smiling, change as soon as he turned his head, while Ye Yaodong had a smile on his face.

"What did Dad say to you? Why is he still angry?"

"Nothing, he's sulking."