Chapter 1382: Behaving

Ye Chenghu couldn't quite understand it.

"Aren't they all just workers?"

Ye Ye Chengyang also asked, "So is it the difference between being a big worker and being a small worker?"

"I heard there are levels…"

The two boys called back and forth across the distance, sharing their own analyses and understandings.

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment and said, "If you finish middle school, you go into the factory and work alongside Ajiang; if you finish high school, you can boss Ajiang around; if you finish college, you can arrange work for Ajiang. Which one do you pick?"

The two brothers understood instantly!

Ye Chenghu said happily, "I'm going to make Brother Ajiang suck up to me!"

"Then study hard, get into college, and only then will he suck up to you and try to please you."

"And I'll make everyone else suck up to me too!"

"That's right. Study hard and you can make it happen."

At least in this moment, the two brothers were fired up with fighting spirit.

Ye Chenghu stood there with his chest out, as if he were about to go do something big right away.

After the meal, he rushed off to tell Ye Ye Chengjiang.

Ye Ye Chengjiang looked at him like he was an idiot, then said, "Go stand somewhere cool, and stop pestering me every few days to buy stuff and split it with you."

"Just you wait, my dad said: thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river!"

"Just don't end up in the river for thirty years and you'll be fine."

Ye Ye Ersao said with a smile, "Why bother studying? Your dad earns enough for you to spend the rest of your lives. When your dad gets old, won't it all belong to you two brothers? When the time comes, won't you two be calling the shots? Will Ajiang really have to take orders from you two in the future?"

Ye Chenghu got happy again and hurried off to find Ye Yaodong.

"Dad, Ye Ye Ersao said you just need to work hard, earn lots and lots, and then when the time comes…"

Ye Yaodong slapped him across the face with one hand, grabbed him with the other, and reached for his belt with his free hand.

Ye Chenghu was so scared he begged for mercy on the spot.

"Dad… dad… I'll study hard and work hard, and you can just enjoy the good life I bring you later…"

"Enjoy the good life you bring me? Sounds more like I'll have to watch your face! How dare you tell me to work hard? Dream on! If I don't beat you once, you won't even remember your own surname."

"Dad, dad, I was wrong… I was wrong, I shouldn't listen to Ye Ye Ersao… I was wrong…"

"If someone tells you to eat shit, are you going to eat it?"

Ye Chenghu was whipped until he was crying for his parents, and he never dared to let his mind run wild again, never dared to just do whatever anyone told him.

In the height of summer, with thin clothes on, just a few whips left red welts all over his body as wide as a hairtail fish.

Ye Yaodong usually wore work clothes and didn't bother with a belt—just an elastic waistband.

Today, because he had gone to the factory, he was dressed more formally, with a belt around his waist, so the whipping really had some force behind it.

Ye Chenghu had really drawn the short straw.

Ye Yaodong normally wouldn't whip the kids with a belt either, but this kid really needed a good beating to put the fear of God into him.

They're all so thick-skinned—they remember eating but not being hit—he needed to give him a Shenkede Sect lesson.

The other two little ones watched Ye Chenghu getting whipped, standing at the doorway with their bodies twitching along, their eyes following the belt as it fell, blinking nonstop in fright.

Scared to death…

No one came to save him today. The old lady sat at the door enjoying the breeze, heard the commotion and wanted to intervene, but Lin Lin Xiuqing held her back and wouldn't let her interfere.

Only after the beating was over did she let the old lady go in, and she went in herself too.

"Oh my, my baby, how can your dad be so heartless, let your great-grandma have a look…"

Ye Chenghu, snot and tears streaming down his face, cried pitifully as he clung to the old lady and curled up into a ball.

"Ah, Hongtian, how did he beat you like this, your whole body is covered in red welts one after another… how could your dad hit so hard, quick, quick, rub some tea oil on it… let me rub it on for you…"

Ye Yaodong glanced over. It wasn't that exaggerated—he'd deliberately aimed for the buttocks. He was also afraid of hurting the child's thin little arms and legs if he hit other spots and causing real damage. Only a few swings had missed when the kid squirmed around and hit his arms or other places.

He buckled his belt back on and headed outside.

Ye Ye Chengyang and Ye Ye Xiaoxi were so scared they quickly stepped aside, hunched over with their heads bowed, the two heads pressed together, their bodies pressed tight against each other.

"I didn't hit you, what are you scared of?"

Ye Ye Chengyang, in a panic, hurriedly said, "Dad, I… I'll go finish all my summer homework right now."

"Mm, go on."

He rushed into the house.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi hesitated for a moment, then ran outside.

Ye Yaodong also lifted his leg to head out. Just as she was leaving through the gate, she turned her head to look, got a huge fright, and immediately ran even faster.

Lin Lin Xiuqing saw the old lady in there fussing over applying tea oil, so she came out too. She had originally been sweeping the yard, and conveniently stepped in to hold the old lady back.

It was the first time Ye Chenghu had been beaten this badly; he didn't even dare come out for dinner. The old lady wanted to bring him a bowl, but Ye Yaodong scolded her, and she didn't dare.

Later, after everyone had finished dinner and washed the dishes, and Ye Yaodong and Lin Lin Xiuqing had both gone off to be busy, Ye Ye Chengyang ran out and bought two packs of instant noodles, had the old lady cook them, and carried them up himself.

Ye Chenghu was so moved his eyes welled up with hot tears.

For the next few days, the two brothers were as meek as quails, obediently doing their homework at home, not running off anywhere, and refusing to go out no matter who came to call them.

But in just one week's time, they finished all their summer homework, and their sense of accomplishment instantly overflowed.

After holding it in for a whole week they were really about to burst. Feeling the heat had died down, and their dad was out at sea collecting goods and not home, the two of them happily went out to play again.

But the moment they saw Ye Yaodong come back, they became incomparably meek and obedient.

Ye Yaodong had no time to bother with them. He had to go out to sea to collect goods the very next day. When he wasn't out at sea, he was at home spending all day with Lin Lin Xiuqing at the canned fish factory. As the boss and boss's wife, they had their own office.

The two workshop workers at home had already gotten the hang of everything. Lin Lin Xiuqing only needed to come back at mealtimes each day to check that everything was running normally. After all, it was right next to the house, right under her nose, so she felt at ease and could handle both things.

The couple were both very busy. You could only catch sight of them at mealtimes and when they went to sleep.

Fortunately, Ye Yaodong's beating had its effect—when they were busy, the children at home were all very well-behaved, didn't cause trouble, and no one heard them getting into fights with anyone.

When Ye Fu returned from the sea and saw Ye Yaodong so busy, having to lead Lin Lin Xiuqing to the factory every day to hold things down, preparing for the next half year or so of being away from home, he could only rest a few days, then pinched his nose and set out to sea again, feeling depressed.

He had originally thought that on this trip back, it would finally be Dongzi's turn to go out to sea, right? It should be his turn to rest, right?

He didn't expect it was still him.

He had only rested at home for three or four days. The old lady saw Dongzi busy every day, nowhere in sight, while he was hanging around in front of her eyes all day, so she kept muttering words that sounded like she was feeling sorry for Dongzi.

Although she didn't say outright that he should go out to sea, every sentence was full of various ways of feeling sorry for Dongzi, and hearing it annoyed him.

He felt, whether Dongzi would work himself to death was unknown, but he himself was going to work himself to death—as long as he could still work, he probably wouldn't be able to get off the boat.

He had truly boarded Dongzi's pirate ship.

If back then Dongzi hadn't coaxed him into giving the old boat at home to the eldest and Li Li Laoer, then right now it would be him holding a pile of boats collecting rent, while the eldest and Li Li Laoer worked for him.

He, as the father, could have retreated behind the scenes.

Instead of the current situation, desperately working for Dongzi.

The old man felt bitter in his heart, and couldn't help envying Old Pei again.

Damn, that old guy really got the better deal—fifty-something years old and barely has to do anything.

If he hadn't divided the family, he'd be a landlord right now!

Ye Yaodong did know how to coax his father. Before his father went out to sea, he secretly gave him 200 yuan in private savings, and then bought him two bottles of Moutai.

He whispered and said he'd help him hide it, told him to sneak over at night and have a little drink, and then when he came back from the sea next time, he'd cover for him.

Only then was Ye Fu satisfied.

When Lin Lin Xiuqing was going to sleep, she was still smiling and said: "You've got Dad's pulse figured out perfectly!"

"The old man still needs to be coaxed a bit. Let him help out now, but in a couple of years we still have to let him rest. By then, the home side can let him help keep an eye on things more, to lighten your burden."

"We'll talk about it then. You're ordering more and more boats—who knows if you'll be able to do without Dad's help."

"We have to let him retire and enjoy life. In the next few years, train those workers, then promote a few boatmen to be boat captains, give them a share of the profits, and buy them some insurance, guaranteeing them for the rest of their lives—that'll make them devoted."

"What insurance?"

"Personal accident insurance, life insurance, pension insurance, that sort of thing. Make those workers devoted, with no worries behind them."

"How come I've never heard of these things?"

"There are plenty of things you don't know. You'll find out in the future."

"If we can guarantee those workers' later years, that would definitely be even better. But right now everyone's hearts are already with us—so many people are begging to work for us, wanting to come work at our workshop and on the boats, people from other villages are coming to our door too. And those women's aunts and cousins, all kinds of relatives, all want to ask about coming over."

"Now is now. The temptations outside will only keep growing. We have to give them enough security before people will be devoted."

Ye Yaodong figured he'd have to wait a few more years until the layoff wave came, and then these people would cherish the job opportunities on his side even more.

By then, if he offered a bit of benefits on his side for comparison, it would make people even more reluctant to leave.

After all, being able to guarantee personal safety, and also guarantee having money to collect when old—for rural folks, how could they bear to leave such a comfortable job, and it's right in their own village, no need to go out.

The best, best job.

His dad would definitely have to keep working for a few more years.

Once he made big money again this year, he'd get his dad a thicker gold bracelet, to reward him a bit, make him happy.

Although it would be confiscated by his mother, it was still his dad's—occasionally wearing it, looking at it, that was still fine.

Gold was a store of value anyway.

Although there was quite a lot of gold buried underground, those were antiques—melting them down would be a pity. No matter how much gold, it was never too much; it circulated better than money.

"Should I take time to teach you to ride a motorcycle? When I'm not home, it'll be convenient for you to drive into town—riding a bicycle is really too slow after all."

"No, no, such a big chunk, how could I ever learn it? A bicycle is good enough."