Chapter 1671: The Poor Ye Ye Chengyang

Ye Yaodong sighed, "Compared to your dad, my dad's just a donkey in the production team—no wonder he doesn't want to go to sea anymore."

"Dongzi, you just don't get it!" Fatty teased.

"What? Am I supposed to find myself a few stepmothers? I haven't even found a few wives yet—how am I supposed to find mothers?"

"You could find some—why don't you? You're wasting that face."

"If my face were on yours, your feet would be limp like noodles every day—you'd probably catch an STD!"

"Pfft, jinx!"

……

The group chatted and teased each other back and forth, feeling unusually relaxed.

After lunch, Ye Yaodong took them to Tian Shang Ren Jian.

With just their close friends, they kept it casual and simple—lingering in the busiest hall, soaking in the atmosphere, watching men and women hugging and dancing together, then commenting and lamenting how old they'd become.

The next day, everyone slept until they naturally woke up and called Ye Yaodong—he finally got up and accompanied them to the shipyard.

All three wanted to order boats, so they'd have to visit several places; they couldn't decide just by looking.

They'd originally thought about making a trip to Shanghai to check things out, but then decided Huigang was more convenient.

If they had free time, they could occasionally check on progress—going to Shanghai would be too much trouble; if they could order here, better to order here.

Ye Yaodong only accompanied them on the first day; afterward, he let them look on their own, joining only when they'd decided to place an order.

He was busy too—he couldn't spend all day, every day trailing them around shipyards.

Luckily, the typhoon had grounded everyone, giving them extra free time to shop around and decide carefully before ordering.

The fishing boats returning to Huigang for rest didn't affect Ye Yaodong's processing plant at all—his cold storage had enough inventory to last several days.

Because of the typhoon, all the fishing boats had returned to port, so on the day they went to the Great Hall to receive awards, everyone showed up in full force.

They'd originally worried some boats might still be at sea and attendance would be spotty—but now they could all gather for a group photo holding their honor certificates.

When their names were called, they stepped onto the stage, lined up neatly, then each received their honor certificate, bonus envelope, and the standard-issue enamel mug and notebook.

Ye Yaodong, by merit, had the greatest contribution, so he was the last to go onstage and stood right in the center—the C-position.

Everyone held their certificates and bonuses, smiling at the camera, and took a group photo.

Ye Yaodong had woken up early to dress himself up nicely—he was now the best-dressed man in the room.

Most fishermen had dark skin—old or young, all shared the same deep tan, differing only in the number of wrinkles; he'd taken good sun protection, so he stood out like a crane among chickens.

After the group photo, they took a special individual shot of him, had him recount the scene in detail, with reporters nearby documenting the process.

Others didn't leave immediately—they watched curiously.

After Ye Yaodong finished speaking, he smiled and greeted everyone, "Comrades, since everyone's here today, let's have lunch together? A victory banquet."

"Sure, no problem—it's lunchtime anyway."

"Good idea, let's all go, split the cost evenly."

"I'm fine with it—let's all eat together; meeting is fate. I'll pay for my workers' heads."

"It's settled!"

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "Alright, then everyone count your household members—I'll have someone call to reserve tables. The staff too—on me. You've all worked hard for so long—let's all go eat together."

"Yes, yes, let's all go—the more the merrier…"

Over two hundred people walked together down the street toward Fatty's seafood restaurant.

Fatty had received the call the moment they confirmed the headcount and immediately went shopping.

With so many people, the walk was slow—giving him time to react—but inside he was cursing: Damn Ye Yaodong, pulling this last-minute stunt—earning this money is killing me.

Ye Yaodong and the other boat captains walked together, chatting as they went; those who could now sail deep sea all had real strength—expanding connections and building relationships could never hurt.

Ye's father sat in his office, struggling to read the newspaper, sighing heavily.

Damn it—working during the day, attending class at night, not a single spare moment to slack off—he had to read the paper and learn characters.

He couldn't focus anymore—he rolled the newspaper into a ball, stood up, carried it behind his back, and headed to inspect the workshop, seeking some sense of presence.

"Director Ye…"

"Director Ye…"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi, seeing her grandfather approaching, called out loudly, "Director Ye!"

Pei Yu, though curious why she didn't say "Grandpa," followed right after, "Director Ye!"

The surrounding staff couldn't help but smile at them.

Ye Ye Chengyang's scalp went numb with embarrassment—he twitched his mouth, "You can call it, but can you not shout it so loud?"

"Why not? Ajiang said you must call titles at work! Are you refusing to call it, or are you resentful?"

Ye Ye Chengyang clenched his fist, ready to punch her.

"He's doing it on purpose."

"But I didn't say it wrong—I'm just following everyone else. We should too." Ye Ye Xiaoxi said, then turned to Ye's father, who had just arrived, and called again, "Director Ye!"

Ye's father chuckled, "Tired today? You look full of energy—very motivated."

She immediately deflated, "So tired—I didn't realize earning money was this hard. I have to stay here all day, can't go out to play. Even studying has breaks—you can go out for a bit—but work has none."

"That's why you must study hard—studying is the happiest thing. You're already tired working in your own factory—imagine how hard it'd be at someone else's."

"Sigh, earning money is so hard."

"Don't sigh like that—you're just a child."

"Oh, good thing I didn't waste money—I saved it all."

Ye Ye Chengyang couldn't help saying, "That's because you spend my and Big Brother's money—whenever you want something, you whine to us! You drag us shopping right after school."

"Because you're my brothers—I ask you, not anyone else."

Ye Ye Chengyang rolled his eyes—so he was supposed to thank her? What a sucker.

"You can find someone else."

"Someone else isn't stupid," Ye Ye Xiaoxi laughed heartily.

"I'm the stupid one!"

Ye's father chuckled as he watched the two siblings bicker, then turned to Pei Yu.

"Are you used to it? If you can't stand it, go back and play—don't stay here forever."

"Then if I don't stay here, do I still get paid?"

"No, you don't."

She quickly shook her head. "Then I won't leave!"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi added, "If you pay us back wages, we won't come at all!"

Ye's father tapped her head with the newspaper in his hand. "Dream on—you're already eyeing my coffin money."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi clung to his arm, pouting. "You'll never spend it all anyway. If Boss Lady finds out, you're done for."

"What Boss Lady?"

"Huh? There are lots of Boss Ladies? Wow! You're done for!"

Ye's father was baffled. "Wait, which Boss Lady are you talking about?"

"You're done—you don't even know which Boss Lady!"

"Wait, girl, are you talking about your mother or your grandmother?"

"Don't play dumb. Everyone at the factory calls Grandma Boss Lady—it's obviously her. You can't even tell that?"

"How am I supposed to tell? Your dad's the boss—your mom's the Boss Lady!"

"Dad said the Boss Lady is the boss's mother."

"Then I ask you—what do others call your mother?"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi replied naturally, "Qing!"

Ye's father was speechless.

Ye Ye Chengyang and Pei Yu snickered.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi continued, "You're done—you didn't even know Grandma's the Boss Lady, and you asked me which one!"

"Stop fooling around. Get back to work. If you keep nagging, I'll dock your pay."

"You're the one who came over to talk to me—you're the one who should get docked!"

"Look at you, such a big mouth—so talkative."

She proudly shook her head. "That's how you stay bored!"

Ye's father shook his head and continued inspecting the back area.

Ye Ye Chengyang asked curiously, "Dad's the boss, but he doesn't call Mom Boss Lady—he calls Grandma Boss Lady. So besides using her name, what else can everyone call her?"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi was confused, not catching on—what Boss Lady, what boss?

She stared blankly at him.

Ye Ye Chengyang had to repeat himself. "People can't keep calling her by her name—they need a title. What should they call her?"

"I don't know. How would I know? Ask the brothers and uncles—whatever they call her, I call her that."

Ye Ye Chengyang sighed. "You sounded so confident just now—I thought you knew."

"I do know—I call her Qing. But you just said 'besides using her name'—so now I don't know. I've never heard anyone else call her. You should ask them."

"Just get to work..."

He felt utterly drained.

Taking care of kids is more tiring than working...

"I got it—I can call her Boss Lady Mommy~"

"... Just get to work. Talk less, do more."

Pei Yu looked at him curiously. "Cousin, what should we call Third Uncle's wife?"

Ye Ye Chengyang was exhausted. "Call her Auntie! Just call her Auntie! Is that okay? Can we stop now? I was wrong—get back to work!"

"Oh, so we can't also call her Boss Lady?"

"Fine! Call her whatever you want! Don't ask me anymore!"

Why did he have to take care of kids—two of them?

He's already taking care of two kids—why doesn't he get a raise?

He's getting paid the same as them!!!

Ye Ye Xiaoxi idly worked on her task, glancing around, suddenly her eyes lit up as she looked toward the back door.

"Cousin! Brother and sister, look—two cousins are waiting for us at the gate to get off work!"

Ye Ye Chengyang turned and instantly felt the sky was falling.

Two more!

Why did they bring them again?

Ever since Pei Yu started working here, he didn't just have to take care of two—he sometimes had to take care of four!

When Little Aunt was around, it was fine—she brought the two to pick up Pei Yu.

But when Little Uncle brought them, it was disaster—the twin cousins ran wild in the factory, vanished, and he had no idea where to find Little Uncle to return them.

Recently, with typhoon weather keeping them from going to sea, Little Uncle brought the two to pick them up, then dumped them at the factory and disappeared.

He was still shaken from taking care of four.

"Ye Erge, what time is it? Is shift ending soon?"

Ye Ye Chengyang checked his watch and sighed in relief. "Still an hour and a half!"

It's still early; by the time he gets off work, Uncle might already be here to take them.

"Ah~ That's still a long time."

"You could get off work early, lose a bit of pay; after all, you earn plenty, so losing a little doesn't matter."

"That won't do! Full attendance comes with a bonus!"

Normal hours are hard to endure, but the time approaching the end of the shift feels even longer.

Of the three siblings, fifty seconds out of every minute were spent staring at the doorway; two were eager to get off work and play, while the other hoped someone would come and take those two little ones away.

Otherwise, after the shift ended, the heavy burden would fall on him again.

Just like that, minute by minute passed until the end-of-shift bell rang; the two girls immediately took off their gloves and cheered as they rushed toward the door.

"Cousin, why are you here so early again?"

Pei Zuo: "My father has something to do, so he told us to play here and wait for sister to get off work; he'll come to pick us up a bit later."

The other one nodded vigorously.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi turned to look at Ye Ye Chengyang, who was still dawdling. "Ye Erge, hurry up! We're off work!"

Ye Ye Chengyang remained as slow as ever. "Got it."

Pei Zuo: "Cousin, hurry up~"

Pei You: "Cousin, hurry up, we want to go buy popsicles to eat."

He just knew it.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi: "I want to eat one too, I want one too."

Pei Yu nodded in immediate agreement.

It was five o'clock, the sun was still scorching; Ye Ye Chengyang didn't want to bask in the sun either, he just wanted to quickly take them to buy the things and then lead them to the dormitory.

"Then let's walk faster."

"You're the one dawdling; we've been waiting for you for ages!"

After tossing out that sentence, Ye Ye Xiaoxi immediately sprinted toward the canteen.

Three little tails followed behind, running and shouting "wait" as they went.

Seeing that they had all run off, Ye Ye Chengyang also broke into a light jog to chase after them.

That was really enough; earning a month's wages and not even having half a month's worth left...

"Did your father say when he'll come to pick you up?"

The twins, licking their popsicles, looked at him innocently, then shook their heads in unison.

"Did he say he'd take you home for dinner?"

The two shook their heads again.

"Did he not say, or is there no dinner at home?"

He had to hurry and take them to his grandfather; otherwise, what if his grandfather slipped away later?

"I don't know, my father didn't say."

"What about your mother?"

"My mother is sleeping."

I give up!

"You two eat faster; you can't just lick the top, you have to lick the bottom too..."

"It's dripping everywhere, look... look at your hands, they're covered..."

"Oh oh... it dripped on the collar, it dripped on the clothes; I told you, you have to lick the bottom too..."

Ye Ye Chengyang walked beside the two twins like an old mother hen, worrying that they were getting their hands and clothes covered in sticky mess.

Clearly, he was a child himself...

"You two walk faster; it's burning to death, it's so annoying..."

Snap! In his haste, Pei Zuo bit off a piece of his popsicle and it fell to the ground.

He immediately picked it up, blew on it three times, and shoved it back into his mouth without giving anyone else time to react.

Pei You explained, "If it falls on the ground for no more than three seconds, you just pick it up, blow on it three times, and it's fine!"

Ye Ye Chengyang: "..."

Ps: I'm stuck on the plot, so I'll update a little less today; refusing to stay up late.