Chapter 1330: Peace of Mind for the New Year

Ye Yaodong offered an explanation.

The plan itself couldn't keep up with changes; he'd calculated it just right, but they were so enthusiastically dragging him along and wouldn't let him leave—what could he do?

"Hurry up and count your money, stop being long-winded."

"The accounts with A Cai still aren't settled. Tomorrow you…"

"Why don't you go settle with him tomorrow? You don't need me to go—I'm not even home, and I don't know exactly how many days' worth of goods haven't been tallied. You handle it every day, you know better. Besides, you women are the best at being thrifty—you can haggle a bit more with him."

"What do you mean 'you women are the best at being thrifty'? Who doesn't have to be thrifty running a household?"

"Right, right, right, right, right—whatever you say is right, everything you say is right…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him before she began counting the money in her hands.

"Tomorrow's the twenty-ninth. I need to make a trip to the city to check everywhere, see if anything was missed. Your father arranged for people to stay there and keep watch, right?"

"Yes, he left two people. I gave them double wages to stay and watch, and on the second day of the New Year we'll send someone else to relieve them. My parents took the kids back to the old home yesterday too. Only my eldest brother and Ye Ye Erge are still there—they said they'd go back on New Year's Eve, and they can help keep an eye on things."

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment. "Give them triple. I'll bring two more dogs over tomorrow—bring them to guard the place, and just keep them there permanently. We've got too many dogs at home. If any more get pregnant next year, we'll just send the pregnant ones to the city."

"Then do as you see fit. While you're at it, you still need to bring your godfather and godmother back."

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Then once it's New Year's Eve, we can stay home with peace of mind."

"You make it sound as if there are still several days after New Year's Eve before the New Year."

"Can't be helped—busy. You're busy at home, I'm busy out here."

"Go wash up."

Lin Lin Xiuqing counted the money with full concentration. After counting, she tallied the accounts again—the boatmen's wages and the accounts with A Cai—and prepared the money in advance.

Ye Yaodong was still thinking about the Far Voyage No. 1 going out to sea after the New Year. He planned to ask his father tomorrow whether he'd gone to see Lin Shu yet—the New Year was almost here, so his friend must have come back.

Just then, they heard a burst of explosion sounds from outside, nearly startling them.

"Those little rascals are playing with firecrackers out there again. Go out and manage them—don't let them blow their hands off. What a racket."

"I'll go take a look… never know what they're up to all day long… they can play with anything…" Lin Lin Xiuqing hurried out to check.

Ye Yaodong pricked up his ears and only heard cheers and the scolding of grown-ups, figuring there shouldn't be any big problem.

From the moment he'd come back until now, the laughter and firecracker sounds outside had never stopped.

Lin Lin Xiuqing came back in after only a short while. "It was some kids nearby who bundled the firecrackers into a clump and bundled the fuses into a clump too, then lit them and covered them with an iron box—that's what made the explosion. These kids are getting more and more unruly, coming up with more and more tricks. They'll be crying about it soon enough."

"That kind can't be played with. The fuse is so short—you can't run in time before it blows up in your face…"

"Isn't that right? They've each already been dragged home and beaten, or chased and beaten."

"The kids at home need to be told too—not allowed to play. Give them money to buy snacks instead, don't buy firecrackers."

"Why don't you say so yourself?"

"Damn it, I'm not home every day. Of course you have to keep a closer eye on them."

Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him. "Mm."

The next day, because there were things to do, Ye Yaodong didn't laze in bed either. He got up early, and at breakfast he mentioned to his father to remember to go to Lin Shu's house and ask.

Ye's father nodded and agreed, and only then did Ye Yaodong feel reassured as he prepared to head out to the city again.

The old lady muttered, "Just got back and you're leaving again—back and forth all day long, busy as this…"

"A few days ago you were still complaining that I sat at the doorstep all day long doing nothing but sunning myself."

"Your wife's so busy her feet don't touch the ground, and there you are lying around sunning yourself. I just wanted you to rest up and help her out a bit. I'm not that senile. Lin Lin Xiuqing has had to look after the kids and handle all these things for the past half year—how tiring that must be."

"One moment you think I'm too idle, the next you feel sorry for me being too busy. You're so contradictory." Ye Yaodong finished speaking and headed out.

The old lady's voice drifted over intermittently, "The New Year is almost here, you should rest a bit too…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing said, "Once today's work is done, we can rest…"

Indeed, it was just today—because tomorrow was New Year's Eve, so wasn't it just one more busy day and then it was over?

Workers can all take early days off to rest; the boss is the last one to rest.

Today in the village, the smell of all kinds of frying could already be detected everywhere.

The grown-ups all got busy too—well, actually it was the women who got busy. The men were still playing cards when they should be playing cards, and bragging when they should be bragging.

The happiest of all were the children. You could say this year was the happiest New Year they'd ever had.

Not every household, but 80% of the families in the village were better off this year.

Most of the children also had toys brought back from outside, pocket money in their pockets, and all kinds of candy and melon seeds. To them, this was simply the happiest thing.

Their toys had always been just junk they tinkered with themselves, little homemade things—how could they compare with the Ye family's bunch, who had all kinds of strange and novel toys?

The little toys their own father had brought back for them this year could keep them treasuring them for years, stored away like precious gems and played with for a long time.

When school started, they could even put them in their schoolbags and bring them to school to show off to the other kids.

Ye Chenghu, having learned the lesson of not being allowed to go to the city a few days earlier, also knew his father meant what he said, so he'd been unusually well-behaved these past few days.

Every day he'd set aside time to do homework for a while before going off to play. Mainly because Ye Ye Chengyang was there to keep him company, doing homework together.

He was truly afraid he'd lose even his New Year's money. It had taken a lot for his mother to finally agree these past two years to let him keep his own New Year's money and put it in his piggy bank.

His piggy bank was now what he was most proud of.

The older siblings had all emptied their piggy banks when they went to the city; only he and Yangyang still had theirs.

Every time he was mocked in the past few days—when everyone went to the city and he couldn't—he'd take out his piggy bank and say he had money and they didn't, using it to recover his lost face.

In truth, he was just being stubborn out of pride.

Tomorrow was the last day before the New Year. The two brothers were now working furiously at their homework. No matter how noisy it was outside, no matter how the neighbor kids called to them, they sat obediently and did their work.

Ye Chenghu even tore off a small piece of newspaper and stuffed it in his ears, afraid he wouldn't be able to sit still and would be distracted.

When Ye Yaodong came back at dusk, he was astonished to see the two boys doing their homework there, and his brows shot up.

He leaned in for a closer look—neat and orderly—and only then was he satisfied.

"Has the moon risen from the west? How come you two are suddenly so well-behaved?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing said with a smile, "Either you've been away from home for days, or you leave early and come back late — you don't know how well-behaved the two of them have been lately. After every meal they do a bit of homework before going off to play, and they write a little before bed too."

"Really? The Bodhisattva answered our prayers?"

"They're afraid of losing their New Year's money, so they're rushing to finish their winter-break homework before tomorrow's dinner."

"No wonder. I knew it — nothing wakes them up without a profit."

Ye Chenghu set down his pen, pulled out the newspaper stuffed in his ears, then proudly presented his homework to his father for inspection, his face full of expectation.

"Dad, look — check it over. I wrote really carefully, every character neat and tidy, not a single sloppy one."

Ye Yaodong took it and flipped through it — indeed, every line was neat and orderly.

"Not bad. You finally took it seriously for once."

"Hehe, I'll write a bit more tomorrow and I'll be all done."

"Fine. When it's done, go next door and show off — that'll let you win one back."

Ye Chenghu nodded like a pestle pounding garlic. "Right, right, right — that's exactly what I was thinking. Dad, you're really a tapeworm in my belly — whatever I'm thinking, you know it."

He grinned broadly and added, "They were laughing at me a few days ago for not being able to go to the city. In a couple of days it'll be my turn."

"Go to bed early. Don't write too late — the light's bad at night, it'll hurt your eyes."

"I finished today's already."

Ye Ye Chengyang also set down his pen and brought his homework to Ye Yaodong, his face expectant as he waited for praise.

Ye Yaodong patted his head too, gave him some praise, and only then let the two of them watch TV for a while before bed, or go upstairs to play with their toys. Sleep early — it's too cold outside, don't let them go out.

By now there weren't many people out either. It was dark, and on a freezing night most people were huddled at home playing or watching TV.

Lin Lin Xiuqing waited until he was back in the room before asking whether things had gone smoothly today.

"Smooth enough. Helped them move some luggage and delivered it to their home in the county. You see — no matter how many kids you have, no matter how successful they are, if they're not by your side it doesn't really mean anything."

"You can't put it like that either. No money, lots of kids, and all of them by your side — that's even harder."

"That's true enough. My dad has it easy."

Ye Yaodong said as he peeled off his clothes and trousers. Outside it was freezing to death — right now all he wanted was to crawl into the quilt and wrap himself up.

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed. "True. Dad doesn't even know how grand he is these days. Whenever he's free he strolls back and forth through the village bragging with people."

"I'm so busy my feet don't touch the ground, and he's the one getting all the glory."

"Not really. Today the old lady even called him to carry night soil — taking advantage of the time before New Year to clean up. Dad was still complaining — every single time it's so convenient, the moment you're not around they call him to haul the night soil."

Ye Yaodong laughed. "That is a bit of a loss of face. He'd have to go in the middle of the night or before dawn."

"He only went once it was dark. He just finished cleaning and brought the bucket back."

"Gotta think about it — build a proper bathroom. This septic tank isn't easy to dig, and there's no running water either…"

"What are you saying?"

"Some places in the city have had running water for ages. Who knows when our countryside will get it."

"Wait another couple of years. Some mountain villages still don't even have electricity."

"Are all today's accounts settled?"

"Mm, all settled. This year's accounts are all clear — every payment that was due has been paid out, nothing left on the tab."

"Then tomorrow we can have a peaceful New Year."

He sniffed the quilt — the fresh scent of laundry detergent. One whiff and he knew it had been washed today and put on the bed tonight; yesterday it hadn't had this smell yet.

"Comfortable. The quilt is the most comfortable place after all."

Lin Lin Xiuqing asked, "Weren't you supposed to set up that fish-cannery thing with that Hong Hong Wenle? Why hasn't he come looking for you lately?"

The moment Ye Yaodong heard her bring this up, he sat up straight.

"I haven't been home lately either. Probably the loan hasn't been approved yet, right? Once it's approved he'll come find me. I'll go ask Aguang and the others tomorrow — they've gone for loans too. Ask them about their progress and we'll know."

"You people even have to follow the herd on loans, and you act like it's some good thing. One borrows, and a whole pack has to borrow along."

"It is a good thing — you just don't get it. Tomorrow's New Year's Eve, not a good time to go knocking on doors. We'll see after the New Year. Why do you care about this? I thought you weren't all that keen?"

"I counted again today — our family has 750,000 now. That's a lot…"

"Holding it makes you a bit nervous, doesn't it? After the New Year I'll help you spend some of it."

She laughed and swatted him. "I really am a bit nervous. It feels like too much money. I've never seen this much in my whole life, never even imagined I could have this much — couldn't earn it in several lifetimes."

"Small vision. There'll be more and more later. This is just a few hundred thousand — what does it even count for?"

"Don't get cocky. You've been running around all day — if you're tired, go to sleep early. I'm going to call the kids to bed too."

Ye Yaodong also felt that he hadn't been home these past few days and hadn't checked on their loan progress. Before sleep he was thinking he'd go ask around tomorrow, see what he could find out.

"Daddy~ Gong xi fa cai! Red envelope, please!"

He had just been resting with his eyes closed, thinking over what else still needed to be settled, when he felt a heavy weight thud onto him.

"Oof… it's over, it's over, I'm going to spit blood…"

"Ah! Don't be scared, Daddy, I'll give you a shot." Ye Ye Xiaoxi eagerly climbed back down from the bed and went to rummage through the table.

Ye Yaodong watched helplessly as she picked up one of Lin Lin Xiuqing's knitting needles and prepared to poke him with it.

"Don't be scared. Close your eyes — one little poke and it'll be all better…"

She even stretched out her little hand to cover his eyes.

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed and snatched the knitting needle from her hand. "Little kids aren't allowed to play with this — what if you poke your eye?"

Ye Yaodong laughed and lifted her back onto the bed. "It's not even New Year's Eve yet and you're already rehearsing?"

"Big brother said so."

"Oh right — I told my godfather we'd go pay New Year's call on the third day, which works out perfectly since it avoids your going back to your parents' on the second."

After saying that he tweaked Ye Ye Xiaoxi's nose again. "Save those words for the third day when you say them to your god-grandfather — there'll be a big red envelope in it."

"Owie…"

"How can you be like this, egging the child on to ask for red envelopes? Stop pinching her nose all the time — you're going to flatten the bridge."

"It's not that easy to flatten. How am I egging the child on to ask for red envelopes? It's not like we're short of that bit of money. I was just joking, letting the child say some auspicious words. Children's innocent chatter is the most pure of all. Besides, when you visit someone's door to wish them a happy new year, you'd give a red envelope anyway."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi spread her hands open. "Daddy, red envelope!"

Ye Yaodong patted her hand. "Wait until tomorrow evening. Go to sleep now."

"Sleep with Daddy."

She scooted over, wrapped her arms around Ye Yaodong's neck, and kissed his cheek several times before lying back into the covers.

Lin Lin Xiuqing, all smiles, also got onto the bed.