Chapter 1760: Popularity

Once all the big and little kids in the family came back, they were like fish back in water—the whole place came alive, and their chatter was louder than usual.

The kids who had stayed in the village were especially thrilled to see them back, running over from every direction to play and asking them to tell stories about studying in the Magic City.

The adults still needed to rest a while after eating, to catch their breath, but the children, bursting with energy, didn't need any rest at all.

Ye Yaodong lay in bed with the blanket pulled over his head and could still hear the laughter outside. It was summer break, the kids were all home—they really could make a racket from morning till night.

After Lin Lin Xiuqing finished dealing with all of Ye Ye Ersao's questions, she finally went back to the room to lie down and rest.

"Huh? Why did it get so quiet outside? It was just terribly noisy."

"I chased them off to play somewhere else. They're not allowed to make noise at the doorstep—other people need to rest too."

"So noisy, every last one of them."

"It's summer break, the kids are all home—of course it's noisy! You want them to stay home and watch TV, no noise, but no one listens. They just got back and they're all so excited, already calling their friends over, can't even stay home."

"Let them play. Later after dinner and a bath, they'll fall asleep right away." Ye Yaodong finished speaking, patted the bed, and made room for her to lie down.

They were only back for a few days, so Ye Mu hadn't let them cook. It had been arranged in advance: in the evening, the three brothers and their three families would all go to the new house for dinner.

The new house had been moved into several months ago, but they had only gone in during the New Year move-in for the auspicious day, and hadn't gone back since—it had just been left to air out.

After Ye Chenghe's son had his full-month celebration, Ye Fu and Ye Mu only then officially moved their things in to live there, while they had gone to Zhou City. They really hadn't eaten at the new house before.

When it was time for dinner in the evening, everyone came.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi had just reached the doorway when she started shrieking, "The new house is so pretty! Wow~ you even planted morning glories by the door! Grandma is amazing, she can grow flowers now!"

Ye Mu beamed. "I saw some wildflowers by the road a few days ago and thought they were pretty, so I dug them up and brought them back. Come on in, come on in, sit for a bit, the food will be ready soon."

Ye Ye Chengyang said happily, "The new house is so grand and so tall! I want to go look around again—can I sleep here tonight?" He shouted as he ran inside.

"We've kept rooms for all of you. Sleep here tonight—go find your own rooms."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi also rushed in impatiently. "Second Brother, wait for me! I want to go see which room is mine!"

"Ran wild all afternoon, and only now you remember wanting a room?" Lin Lin Xiuqing teased with a smile.

Ye Mu said, "They spent the whole afternoon running around and making noise with the village kids—couldn't call them back no matter what. Later bring their clothes over. These few days they're home, they'll stay here at the new house. They haven't even stayed here yet—everyone else has been here for months."

"Alright."

Not to mention they hadn't even unpacked their luggage—they hadn't even set foot in the house. They had lunch at Ye Ye Ersao's place, and right after eating they ran off outside.

Only now were they called back, to come to the new house for dinner together.

Only the new house was big enough to hold so many people running up and down, jumping and playing. The once-quiet house, with all these noisy, jumping kids added in, immediately became lively.

"When you run up and down, go slower—don't fall."

"Good thing the stairs are wide enough…"

The neighbors next door all looked over curiously. "Your whole family's back? Looks even livelier than New Year."

"All the kids are back? What a lively bunch…"

At least five people per family—two big tables were set up.

Upstairs they were running, jumping, making noise and a ruckus; downstairs was also a hive of busy activity. Lin Lin Xiuqing and Ye Ye Ersao both rolled up their sleeves to help out. Most of the dishes were already out of the wok, but with so many people, there were still plenty more to come.

The three brothers had already sat down with Ye Fu to drink.

Ye Fu looked at the bustle and the lively atmosphere, and the smile on his face couldn't have been brighter.

"Rest at home for two or three days, then we'll all go together to Brother Brother Ahai's place. It's just too far, not convenient, and even if we go there's nowhere to stay. Otherwise going two days early would be fine too."

Ye Yaodong said, "We can stay at a guesthouse—afraid we won't have a place to stay?"

"It's not that there's nowhere to stay. If we go, won't they have to host us? We'd just be giving them trouble for several days for no reason, and there are so many of us. Let's just go a few days later, on the right day."

Ye Ye Yaopeng said with a smile, "I'll take the bus over a day early tomorrow. Sitting around at home there's nothing to do anyway—might as well go take a look sooner."

"Then it's fine if you go. You can lend a hand too. Your wife has already been there looking after things for over twenty days. Once you get there, just stay with her—no worry about having nowhere to stay."

"Right, I'll go over and see if there's anywhere that needs help, and get things arranged in advance. When you all get there, you'll have a place to stay."

Ye Fu looked at Ye Yaodong and Ye Ye Yaohua. "Should we go over a day early and stay one night?"

Ye Yaodong said, "Let's go a day early and stay one night. Otherwise going the same day is too rushed. The full-month banquet is at noon, so we'd have to set out in the middle of the night—too hard on the kids."

Ye Ye Yaohua nodded. "Going a day early doesn't hurt. We'll even get a chance to look around and take in the sights."

"Alright then, we'll go a day early and stay one night. You go over early and help get things arranged."

Ye Ye Yaopeng nodded.

Ye Ye Yaohua said enviously, "You got two grandsons in one go this year—you'd laugh yourself awake from the dream."

"Heh heh, in a few years let them each add one more, then it'll be even livelier." Ye Ye Yaopeng beamed, overjoyed.

Ye Fu picked up the thread, "The girls in the family also need more attention. They're all eighteen or nineteen now—in another year or two they'll be of age to marry. When that time comes, the house will really be lively."

Ye Yaodong glanced up at the ceiling, feeling the roof was about to be blown off. "A racket like crazy and you call it lively."

"Of course it's lively. Without them, the house has been dead quiet these past few months. Good thing there's still Xiaoze—your mother brings him over to play from time to time."

Ye Chenghe was up on the floor above now, holding his son and joining in the noise with the others.

His son was over five months old, giggling and waving his arms and legs—anyone who saw him loved him.

Right now he was set down on the floor to sit, wobbling this way and that like a roly-poly, making everyone laugh.

Not until someone downstairs shouted that dinner was ready did they all come tumbling down from upstairs.

The two big tables in the hall were fully set, everyone having found their spot—adults at one table, kids at another.

At the kids' table, every one of them was standing, grabbing their chopsticks and fighting to pick up food, mouths shouting "mine, mine!"—a noisy mess…

The old lady was still standing there, smiling all over her face, unable to talk them down no matter how she tried.

"Don't rush, don't fight, there's plenty more, there's still some in the pot… I'll let you all eat till you're full… slow down…"

"That's mine! Big Brother! Mom, look—Big Brother stole my chicken foot!"

"What's there to fight over chicken feet? You guys are fighting over chicken feet?"

"I just love eating chicken feet—give it to me, it's mine…"

The children's table was a scene of noisy bickering and grabbing, shouting for the older ones to give way to the younger ones.

The whole house was in an uproar; the smiles on Old Lady's, Ye Fu's, and Ye Mu's faces never once faded, and they were so busy breaking up fights they could barely keep up.

The louder they brawled now, the quieter they'd be once the meal was over.

They shoveled down a few bites and then couldn't wait to dash off and find their little friends; the table emptied in an instant, leaving only a mess behind.

"These kids—blink and they've vanished… The older ones are just as playful as the little ones."

Old Lady couldn't sit still either; she laughed and muttered as she went to clear the table.

Before long, relatives and friends began dropping by to look around, exchange greetings, and then be seated for a couple of drinks.

Even the village head and the new party secretary came over upon hearing the news; Ye Mu hurriedly reheated all the dishes and brought out the good liquor to entertain everyone.

Village Head: "The moment your family comes back, the village gets lively as you can see."

"Heh, not at all. The village has always had plenty of kids running and jumping about—it's lively anyway."

New Party Secretary: "Normally the kids in the village aren't this excited. It's just that your whole brood has come back, each one calling their friends over—the whole village is noisier now."

Ye Yaodong laughed and said, "That's the sound of getting spanked, isn't it, ha-ha…"

Village Head: "Since you're back, I wanted to chat with A-Dong about the road-building we talked about over New Year. The report's been submitted, but they say we have to wait for the funds from above—only once the money comes through can it be approved, so we'll have to wait. Everywhere's doing construction now, every place needs money, so we have to wait our turn in the queue."

Ye Yaodong nodded. "Then let's wait. If the higher-ups approve the road-building funds, I'll donate a sum to support the village's development."

Village Head: "Ah, good, good, good…"

Ye Fu said, "Most of the big fellows aren't home right now. Wait until the second half of the year when everyone's back, then you can invite everyone to a village meeting and bring it up then."

New Party Secretary: "That's definitely necessary. If you want to get rich, build roads first. Our village's development is plain for all to see—no village in the whole county, or even the whole city, can compare to ours."

Village Head: "It's all thanks to A-Dong. He pulled everyone up, and only then did all the fishermen in our village get a good way out, each one able to earn big money out there. The whole village finally had something to strive for. Now, more than a small fraction of every household's annual income has reached the ten-thousand-yuan level."

"How is that my doing alone? It's clearly everyone's achievement. I just wagged my tongue; you village cadres led the way, and the villagers did the hard work…"

He could now rattle off these high-sounding words without a second thought.

Anyone can put on a tall hat.

The group exchanged polite pleasantries back and forth, downing bottle after bottle of liquor.

Only when everyone was half-drunk did they finally leave, thoroughly satisfied, helped home.

When Ye Yaodong went to bed that night, he chatted it over with Lin Lin Xiuqing.

"If the village builds the road, how much should we donate?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing instantly sobered up. "How much do you want to donate?"

"We should be able to earn ten or twenty million this year, right?"

"About that. Still depends on whether we can snag a booth at this year's trade fair—if we can, it should easily clear twenty million."

"Let's donate 300,000. If we can get the trade fair booth, we'll earn more this year, so we'll donate more—what do you think? Right now it's just the village road being built. When the main road outside the village gets built later, we'll definitely have to donate then too, so let's leave ourselves some room."

And in a few years, the embankment out front will definitely need fixing too. The year after next is the Tianhou Temple's 10th anniversary—we'll have to donate a sum for the renovation and recast Goddess Mazu's golden body again. That's another expense.

In the future there were plenty of places waiting for his donations. Right now, the average worker's wage was only around two or three hundred, so the purchasing power of 300,000 was equivalent to three or five million in later years.

Lin Lin Xiuqing thought it over for a moment and nodded. "Sure, do as you see fit…"

"Mm, then let's settle on that for now."