Chapter 1622: Black-hearted

"Dong Yu Hao."

Ye's father muttered the name twice, thinking it sounded quite good.

"You really know how to name things. Each boat has a meaning; this one is the East Sea Fishing Boat, which is very fitting."

"More or less."

"When will you bring it back? When are you going to Magic City? I'll go with you to take a look. Anyway, they are all doing well and don't need my management. I'll go with you for two days; if you have any matters to attend to, you handle them, and I'll return early."

"That works. Wait until later, and I'll ask the shipyard how the equipment and machinery debugging is going. We'll go once it's nearly ready, so we don't have to make trip after trip."

Ye Yaodong continued flipping through his wall calendar. "Did my mother say she wants to come? It's already December."

"Why would she come? She stayed here for over a month during summer break and got scared of it."

"If she's scared, then none of us should come. It's a hassle to take the boat back and forth, and we can't stay for long anyway."

"Don't let her come. If she comes, she just spends money, buying things for this person and bringing things for that one. She'd almost move the whole shop back to sell to the neighbors. She's so high-maintenance; by the time she leaves, I'll have to carry everything back for her."

"You're no different; you're two peas in a pod. When others smile and flatter you, asking you to help this person or that one, you happily scamper off to do it."

"Don't talk nonsense. If it's just lending a hand, how could I not help?"

"Heh..."

Ye Yaodong didn't expose his father's sophistry.

"Nothing much. I'm going to wash the car."

"Go ahead."

He continued flipping through his calendar, writing down every important thing he could remember on it.

This way, flipping through it every morning upon waking would show him what tasks were pending, and he wouldn't forget any important events on future dates.

Although Ye's father loudly insisted that Ye's mother not come, once he was busy and had free time, he still thought of her and specifically called to ask if she wanted to come.

This is an old married couple: complaining in words, yet still thinking of each other.

However, Ye's mother refused. She had come for the winter for two consecutive years and also came during summer break; she didn't plan to come this winter. Staying for over a month during summer break had scared her, almost making her sick from boredom.

The house had everything, and she had nothing to buy, so she didn't want to travel in the freezing cold.

The initial novelty had passed. Having seen the city's prosperity, she wasn't as interested in going to big cities anymore; it was better to stay home and gossip with a group of women.

She might think about going again next year, but after staying so long this summer, she didn't want to go at all right now.

The three children, however, had been looking forward to it for a long time. Whenever they called home, they would mention wanting to go again once school was out.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi wanted to go find Pei Yu. The two had been inseparable since childhood; they were only separated for the longest time this year, and both were longing to save delicious food and fun things to give to each other.

Ye Chenghu and Ye Ye Chengyang, the two brothers, were thinking of going up to their father's factory to work as child laborers and earn wages!

Earning over 100 yuan as child laborers during summer break had given them a taste of the sweetness, and since returning, they had been constantly thinking about going up to earn money.

The piggy banks confiscated had been out of their reach for a whole semester and still hadn't returned to their hands, making them even more eager to earn money.

As soon as they heard Ye's father calling home, they had been gathering around the phone, scratching their heads and pacing anxiously. They dared not urge him, only waiting for Ye's mother to finish the call so they could take over.

Who else but Ye's father would call at just the right time, specifically during mealtime?

"Hello, Grandpa? Grandma doesn't want to come up, but we do. Can you come pick us up? We're on break next month..."

"Why do you want to come up? At this time, we are about to return. Why would you come?"

"I want to come up to help Dad."

"You aren't needed; your father has plenty of workers."

"I want to go. Dad said before he wanted to keep us by his side so we could watch and learn more."

Ye's father usually couldn't be sure of Dongzi's intentions regarding whether to let them come up.

"Then you tell him yourselves."

"Then let him take the call."

"He's busy. When he has time, he will naturally call back, and you can talk to him then."

"Then you tell him."

Ye's mother exposed their true purpose from the side. "It's not that Dongzi wants to keep them by his side; they want to go up to work and earn money, pocket money. Every other day, they beg Aqing to return their piggy banks."

"Give it to them? They can't get it out anyway. Isn't that piggy bank supposed to only take in and never give out?"

"What do you know? They just take a couple of steel wires, hook the edge, and pull it out. Since the piggy banks were confiscated these past few months, they have to watch Aqing's face whenever they spend money, so of course they are anxious."

The two brothers looked around with shifting eyes as they listened to Ye's mother, but they were powerless to refute.

"Then you don't need to come up. The factory might close early next month. When you have winter break, the factory will be on New Year's holiday."

"Ah~"

Both were extremely disappointed.

Ye Chenghu gloomily asked again, "So what date does the factory close?"

"Probably all goods must be shipped before the 20th of the lunar year, and then work stops."

The old lady hurriedly took the calendar down from the wall, placed it by the table, and flipped through it while asking, "The 20th of the lunar year is February 4th. Does that mean we leave on the 4th to return?"

It was clearly a newly bought calendar, but the first few pages were already wrinkled, looking as if they were about to be flipped to pieces.

The page for the New Year on February 15th had a large corner folded diagonally, and the page for Little New Year's Eve was also folded diagonally; all pages before that were wrinkled.

A crowd gathered around the phone, talking over one another, and Ye's father could only answer them one by one.

"More or less. Dongzi said we'll be back by then at the latest. The workers are expected to start buying train and boat tickets to go home on January 31st."

The two brothers continued to wail.

"Then we can't work..."

Ye's mother glanced at Ye Chenghu, who was already taller than her. "There's plenty of work for you to do at home."

"Sigh, we do help out, but Mom never pays us."

Ye Ye Chengyang chimed in, "We help out with chores at home on our days off."

"Working for Dad gets paid, working for Mom gets nothing... Sigh..."

Ye Mu gave one thump, "Don't sigh all day long, you kids. Tell your mother later to return the piggy bank to you. Hearing you nag all day makes my ears calloused; how can she even stand it?"

The two brothers instantly perked up, faces beaming with joy.

"Fine, fine, return the piggy bank to us, it's fine if we don't go to Dad's place."

But Ye Ye Xiaoxi refused, protesting, "If you don't go, I will. I want to find my little sister."

"No need to go. Your sister will come back too. When you have your holiday, she will be back too."

"Really?"

"Mm."

"Great, then I don't want to go either. The boat ride is uncomfortable, takes several days, and it smells and sways."

Hearing Ye Mu settle the three, Ye Fu finally spoke: "Alright, I'll tell Dongzi. Since none of you are going up, it saves trouble, and we won't have to send a few bodyguards to follow you when you go out to play."

"I knew you didn't want me to go up."

"Don't say that. I even specifically called to ask you; it was you who refused to come."

"Alright, I'm hanging up."

The phone had barely been hung up when Ye Ye Xiaoxi asked her two older brothers for money.

"Big Brother owes me 5.5, Ye Erge owes me 3.2. You said if you got the piggy bank back, you'd pay me double!"

Ye Chenghu looked down and glared at her, protesting, "You're more cunning than a crooked merchant! Borrowing money from you and having to pay back double!"

"You said it. I clearly didn't want to lend it, but you shamelessly begged me to lend it to you, even saying you'd pay me back double, so I reluctantly lent it to you. Now you turn your back and don't recognize me, and even accuse me of being a crooked merchant. Pay back the money now, I'll never lend to you again!"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi was no pushover either; her eyes widened even bigger than his, and she put her hands on her hips, tilting her head back to glare right back at him.

"Are we siblings or not?"

"Even between brothers, accounts must be settled clearly. Don't think you can dodge it!"

Ye Chenghu grabbed the braid on her left side, "Then when you argue with people at school in the future, don't say you have two older brothers at school, using us to intimidate others!"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi slapped away his hand grabbing her braid, "Tch, I say what I want, none of your business."

"Considering I protect you at school, can't you calculate a little less?"

"No. What was agreed is what it is. You can't have one face when borrowing money and another face when paying it back."

"Remember this."

"Remember it, I remember it. I'll never lend you money again. Ye Erge won't be like you; Ye Erge didn't say a word."

Ye Chenghu turned his head to look at Ye Ye Chengyang again, "You think he's so good, so conscientious? His heart is black. He just stood behind, didn't lift a finger, didn't utter a word. If I succeed in telling you, he naturally won't have to pay back that much. He has the most cunning schemes."

Ye Ye Chengyang rubbed his nose, chuckling and dodging the topic.

"What? You were the one talking excitedly. I didn't think along those lines, so I just listened. If you don't want to pay back more, don't drag me into it. I never said I wouldn't pay back the money."

"I didn't say I wouldn't pay back the money. I just said let her calculate a little less interest. You didn't help say a word, just waited on the side to pick up the bargain."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi looked back and forth at the two of them with an unfriendly expression and said directly, "Then neither of you are good people. You both want to pay back less. Don't think you can dodge it. Not a single cent of what you owe me will be dodged."

Ye Ye Chengyang gave him a "See?" expression, "See? Saying anything is useless. It's meat already in the mouth; do you think she'll spit it out?"

"Loan sharks aren't as fierce as you. They at least give nine and take back thirteen; yours is one in, two out."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi lifted her chin, turning her head at a 45-degree angle, "That's right. They lend to outsiders; I lend to my own people. It's definitely different."

"Thanks, 'my own people'." Ye Chenghu said sarcastically.

"Big Brother, are you sure you want to talk to me like that? Mom hasn't returned the piggy bank to you yet. Who knows if Grandma's words hold weight? If she doesn't return it to you, hmm, you'll have to ask me to borrow money!"

Oh no.

Ye Chenghu: "..."

He was truly threatened. He really had no confidence in getting the piggy bank back; he had tried hard for the entire semester and still couldn't get it back.

Ye Mu was cooking rice nearby, ignoring the three's bickering, but now she couldn't help but say a word.

"You're so rich? Lend me a bit?"

"That's not allowed."

"Why not?"

"Because you're an adult. If you take my money, you definitely won't pay me back, let alone pay me back double."

"Quite sharp. Aren't you afraid they won't pay you back?"

"I can tell Mom to complain, have Mom take money from their piggy bank to pay me back. When Dad comes back, I'll have Dad beat them."

Ye Mu laughed and scolded, "You little rascal," not willing to suffer a single loss.

"Big Brother, don't let her get away with it. Later we'll go hug Mom's leg and kneel and beg Mom."

Ye Chenghu extended his index finger and poked her forehead, "Remember this. In the future at school, you are not allowed to use my name!"

"I will."

"Then give me some protection money."

"Dream on."

Ye Chenghu reached out again to grab the two braids on her head.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi was extremely annoyed; she hated it most when people pulled her hair.

"Go away... don't touch my hair..."

"I will!"

"Ahhh... go away, go away..."

"No, I just want to mess with you..."

The brother and sister, one deliberately teasing, the other furious, chased and fought around the room.

Ye Mu found it extremely annoying, "If you want to fight, go fight outside. Don't get in the way here. If you knock something over, I'll beat all of you."

"You're all grown up, yet you squabble day after day, giving us no peace. There's barely room to turn around in this tiny place, and still you're fighting."

The old woman sat on the stool, smiling as she watched them cause a ruckus, holding her cane horizontally between Ye Chenghu and Ye Ye Xiaoxi.

"Stop bothering your sister and go play by yourself. You're so big yet still bully her."

"Clearly she's the one bullying me. I only lent her five yuan and fifty fen, yet she remembers it so strictly and demands I pay her back eleven yuan. No one is as black-hearted as she is."

"Then you shouldn't have lent it either. She never forced you to lend it; you chose to do so yourself."

"Exactly!" Ye Ye Xiaoxi chimed in loudly. "It was all voluntary. I never forced you."

Ye Chenghu glared at her sideways.

"If you're so capable, go get your piggy bank back first."

"We'll see about that."

Ye's mother said, "Stop this nonsense and stop the noise. Go call your mother back; it's time to eat."

"I'll go. I'm going to tell Mother on you." Ye Ye Xiaoxi sprinted out.

"Tattletale!"

"Big brother..."

"Black-hearted ghost!"

Ye Ye Chengyang: "..."

What had he done wrong? He had merely kept silent, watching his older brother perform.

"What's all this noise? Hurry over and help bring the dishes out, then wash your hands and eat."

Ye Ye Chengyang called out loudly, "Coming."

"Show-off!" Ye Chenghu muttered, then shouted loudly as well, "Remember to wash the bowls later."

Ye Ye Chengyang turned to look at him. "You wash them."

"You wash them."

The two brothers each carried two dishes, huddled together, bumping elbows while trying to steady the plates in their hands, all the while saying to each other, "You wash them."

"If you two drop the dishes, you'll have to crawl on the floor and eat them."

The two brothers instantly fell silent, set the dishes on the table, then resumed their squabbling as they went to wash their hands.

"It's so noisy day after day. Why doesn't school have classes seven days a week?"

Ye Chenghu protested, "That's too much. Even a donkey in a production team gets a rest."

"The donkey works. Do you work? What's so tiring about studying?"

"It tires the brain."

"Not necessarily. You'd need a brain to begin with."

Ye Chenghu's face turned sour after being rebutted.

Ye Ye Chengyang laughed heartily.