Chapter 1614: Brother and Sister

They didn't want to go out at all anymore.

The cheerful energy of boasting outside just now was gone; the two brothers slumped in their chairs, feeling as if their eyes were covered in darkness and the world was pitch black.

Ye Ye Chengyang looked at Ye Chenghu and asked, "What do we do?"

"You ask me, who do I ask? Isn't it usually you who has the most ideas?"

"It's all your stupid idea's fault."

"Blame me? You're so smart, why didn't you come up with a better idea?"

"Who made you tell Father all that? What else could I say? How could I have known Mother would take the piggy bank away?"

"Sigh, when Mother comes back, we can beg her?"

"Forget it. It's better to say school is starting soon and ask her to return the piggy bank so we can pay the tuition ourselves."

Ye Chenghu instantly brightened up. "That works. Tuition doesn't cost much. If we volunteer to pay it ourselves, Mother will be happier."

"Let's try it."

The two brothers squatted at the doorway to cool off, not wanting to go anywhere else.

The old lady smiled as she used a palm-leaf fan to pat their legs and backs, chasing away mosquitoes.

"Not going out to play?"

"Not going out. No money, no mood. It's so sad." Ye Chenghu said dejectedly, propping his chin on his hands.

These past few days had truly been a case of losing both the wife and the soldiers; they had lost their entire savings.

How could he have been so foolish? Could one threaten my lord?

"Hehe, if you aren't going out, then you'll have to watch the house. I'm going out for a stroll."

After speaking, the old lady stood up, leaned on her cane, waved the palm-leaf fan in her other hand, and wobbled her way outside.

Ye Chenghu hurriedly asked, "It's already so dark. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the workshop to listen to everyone talk. It's crowded and lively there. I'll go take a look. You two watch the house well and don't run around. If you do go out, lock all the doors."

"Oh."

Ye Ye Chengyang muttered quietly, "I thought Great-Grandma would give us money to buy food..."

"I thought so too..."

"Your excuse was just too good, so Great-Grandma doesn't care about us anymore."

Ye Chenghu pouted. At the time, when his father asked, he had a sudden flash of inspiration and said whatever came to mind. Who knew the return would be so miserable?

His father had even said the excuse was good, that the money they handed over wasn't wasted, and the excuse was ready-made and well-chosen.

He probably already anticipated that they would get beaten again upon returning, which is why he praised the excuse.

My lord has so many tricks up his sleeve.

"Where is Little Nine? Dead somewhere?"

"Who knows where she ran off to play? When she came back this afternoon and saw us, she was all affectionate. But the moment she saw Mother pick up the whip, she ran faster than a rabbit, afraid it would fall on her too. At dinner tonight, she was as quiet as a quail, pretending to be well-behaved."

"Why don't you go find her? Ask her to buy us ice pops? It's so hot; I want something cold."

Ye Ye Chengyang's eyes rolled. "Brother, let's fill a bowl with water and put it in the freezer. Tomorrow we can eat a big chunk of ice without spending money on ice water or ice pops."

"Hey? That's good, that's good. No need to spend money. Let's go fill it now? Fill a little bit; we can eat it before bed!"

"Let's go. Since Mother isn't here, we can sneakily fill it."

The two brothers happily got to work and didn't look for Ye Ye Xiaoxi anymore.

Lin Lin Xiuqing was too busy to pay attention to them and had no idea they were up to their tricks again.

The next day, hearing they wanted to pay the tuition themselves, she felt a bit gratified.

If they hadn't spent all the money earned from working, she would have happily praised them.

However, before her gratified expression could fade, the old lady undermined them.

"They don't actually want to pay the tuition themselves. They want you to return the piggy bank to them. Last night they were just whispering..."

"Great-Grandma..." the two brothers called out nervously, but it was too late.

"I heard everything, so of course I have to tell your mother."

The two brothers' shoulders slumped.

Great-Grandma didn't even help them anymore...

Lin Lin Xiuqing's smile faded from her face. She glared at them and said, "You claimed to be sensible, yet you've used all your tricks on me."

"Mother... we want to buy food..."

"We didn't even ask you for money. We're using our own money..."

"Don't you know where your money came from? It was all given by us and then saved up. I haven't even seen a penny you earned."

It's right inside the piggy bank!!!

Both of them desperately wanted to argue back.

Ye Chenghu looked at her with resentment and grievance. "Then when do you plan to return the piggy bank to us?"

"Depends on your performance."

"That's very vague, isn't it? It's all up to you."

"Whether or not to return it to you is also up to me."

The old lady chimed in from the side. "You two just be honest and behave well for a few days. Who is a child that spends money so recklessly? You need to be controlled. That much money is more than some families can spend in half a year."

"Did you hear?"

"We heard."

"But we want to buy food. What do we do if we have no money?"

"You've spent over a hundred yuan and still haven't eaten enough?"

The two brothers immediately shut their mouths.

"Have you finished your homework?"

The two dared not make a sound anymore.

"If you haven't done it, go do it! Why are you still standing here? Waiting to get beaten? Only three days are left until school starts; you two figure it out."

Early in the morning, the two were beaten up again, and after the meal, they could only obediently hurry to write their homework.

After Lin Lin Xiuqing's ears were finally at peace, she stopped worrying about them and went out to get busy.

The two were very calm about their homework, unhurried; they had already done most of it while in Zhou City, and they could finish it in two days no matter what.

They had just been thinking about their piggy bank, so they couldn't wait and spoke up early in the morning.

"Hehe, brother, I finished it long ago." Ye Ye Xiaoxi, bored after the meal, lay on the table watching them.

"I didn't ask you."

"I finished it when I was at dad's; dad even praised me and rewarded me with ten yuan!"

Jealousy!

Ye Chenghu glared at her, "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."

Ye Ye Chengyang held a pen and poked the paper surface hard, "You said that half a month ago."

"But I'm happy, and I still want to share with you. Hurry up and do your homework; don't mind me, I'll just watch."

Ye Chenghu: "If you didn't speak and shut your mouth, we probably could have written a whole diary entry by now."

"I'm just finding inspiration for you; you can write me into your diary."

"Fine, my lazy and gluttonous sister, after a whole summer vacation, has gained two jin..."

"Damn it!"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi angrily kicked his stool, then sat in front of the TV and turned the volume up.

Ye Ye Chengyang got angry from the noise, slapped his pen on the table, then ran out to call Lin Lin Xiuqing.

Ye Chenghu thought he was protesting and wouldn't write, but had run out to play again, and shouted from behind, "Hey? Where are you going? It's early morning; wait until you finish your homework, then we'll go play together."

After saying that, he threatened Ye Ye Xiaoxi again, "Turn off the TV; if you don't, I'll beat you to death."

"I won't turn it off; hit me if you dare! Mom specifically said to let me not run out, just watch TV at home."

"Don't try to bluff by borrowing someone else's power."

Just then, Ye Ye Chengyang ran back again, with Lin Lin Xiuqing following behind him.

As soon as Lin Lin Xiuqing entered the room, she turned off the TV, then held a whip and gestured at Ye Ye Xiaoxi.

"Who watches TV early in the morning? Where's the TV to watch early in the morning? Don't affect your brothers writing their homework; come with me to the workshop to work."

The instant the whip was raised, Ye Ye Xiaoxi had already bounced up and found a place to hide.

By the time Lin Lin Xiuqing finished speaking, she had already run out, heading to the workshop to help.

Those who know the times are the heroes.

"Finally, some peace..."

"Hurry up and write; once you finish, you can go out and play."

Only then could the two brothers calm their minds and write quietly.

After lunch, they continued to work hard with their heads down; they remembered what their mother said in the morning—that they had to perform well to get the piggy bank back.

Their mother probably hadn't even opened the piggy bank to look, otherwise she wouldn't know they still had a month's wages inside.

They had to get it back as soon as possible; school was about to start, their hands were tight, and those days would be very bitter.

Little sister looked unreliable again; she wouldn't help them out.

They just didn't expect that while they were writing furiously, they were backstabbed by little sister again.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi returned, covered in sweat from playing, looking for water to drink, then hurriedly rummaged through the fridge; she found two bowls of ice water, and overjoyed, she let out a cry, directly holding one bowl out and licking a mouthful.

Although it had no flavor, licking it ice-cold tasted very good.

Holding the bowl, she walked and licked, then asked the two brothers.

"Brother, did you two put the water in the fridge? It's so delicious, ice-cold."

"What!"

"That's ours!"

Ye Chenghu dropped his pen, ran over, and immediately snatched the bowl from her hand.

Just as his mouth was about to lean over to lick, Ye Ye Xiaoxi said in confusion: "I just licked it; I licked everything on top."

Ye Chenghu's piggy mouth immediately stopped; he cursed, "This is what Yangyang and I put in; this is ours; how can you steal and eat it?"

"Where did I steal and eat? I took it out openly to eat; didn't I ask you?"

"Where did you ask? You asked after you licked it."

"Well, I did ask; why didn't you make one more... you made it but didn't eat it... I'm helping you eat it, otherwise Mom would find out."

"I didn't not eat it..."

At this moment, Ye Ye Chengyang ran past them, opened the fridge, held out his bowl of ice water, and licked all the ice cubes on top as well.

Instantly, he grinned widely, feeling thoroughly refreshed; on such a hot day, ice-cold was truly comfortable.

Ye Chenghu's eyes went straight, and he let out a wail, "That's mine!"

"Hehe, your bowl is with Little Nine; this one is mine, and I've licked it all too."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi snatched the bowl from his hand and continued to lick it with her head down.

"Hurry up and write your homework; I won't disturb you."

Ye Chenghu was furious; he had worked hard to freeze it all night; it hadn't frozen properly before he went to sleep yesterday, so he saved it for today.

One couldn't eat ice early in the morning; originally, he planned to eat it after lunch.

She got off cheap!

"I'm going to write you into my essay, my lazy and gluttonous sister."

"Hmph, I'm going to write you into my diary: beaten with thick stripes by Father, beaten with thin stripes by Mother..."

PS: I've already arrived home. It's a bit late today; I hit a writer's block, managing only 500 words in an hour, and my eyelids won't stay open. I'll make up the updates tomorrow during the day.

?? Today I saw a news clip: an eight-year-old boy from Putian, missing for over fifty days, has been found. His body has already rotted. It's too tragic. When I saw it on a short video, my hair stood on end. He was so pitiful. How helpless he must have been when he got lost alone in the mountains, how terrified and desperate he must have been before he died...