Chapter 1761: Setting Out

The children were all sent off to sleep in the new house, and the couple couldn't be more at ease—the whole house belonged to just the two of them.

Ye Fu and Ye Mu could still laugh today, thinking it lively and full of life, but by tomorrow they'd already start finding it noisy.

Another thud.

"What fell on the floor now? Be careful when you play upstairs—don't fall here, fall there, either a person falls or something falls."

"What's all this racket so early in the morning… you even have to fight over squeezing toothpaste, always making a fuss…"

"Come down for breakfast now, all of you! Breakfast! Hear me? Breakfast! Did you hear me?"

Ye Mu stood at the stairwell on the first floor as if her life depended on it, head tilted back, calling out from the edge of the stairs—she'd already started getting a headache after just one day.

Normally she never saw them being this noisy, did she? They're all so big already, yet they quarrel from morning till night.

"Come down for breakfast, quick…"

Her back ached from shouting before she finally heard someone clattering down the stairs—Ye Mu's head was pounding.

The old lady, tottering unsteadily, was nevertheless overjoyed, calling out the whole time, "Slow down, you'll fall if you run…"

"Hey, hey, hey—no pushing on the stairs, no roughhousing, walk slowly."

After great difficulty, they all finally came down for breakfast, big and small filling up a whole table.

"Sit down and eat, why are you standing? Eating like you're rushing to a fair? What's the rush, sit down and eat slowly, no need to grab—there's plenty."

Another clatter of stools being pulled out.

Half-grown boys eat their father into poverty—with so many grandsons and granddaughters, she had to cook a huge pot of rice, and adding the adults, two huge pots.

"How about you all go back to your own homes today?"

"No." Everyone answered in unison.

This house was far brighter and more spacious than their own, the beds were still Simmons mattresses, each of them had their own room, and they couldn't be more comfortable staying here.

Everyone was still in one big house, no need to run around visiting each other, the place was big, they could all stay together and play—it was convenient.

The key was, there was no old mother nagging.

Not leaving—going to stay right here!

A table full of children, big and small, were all digging in, with three elders standing at the side—one beaming with loving kindness, another all smiles, looking thoroughly pleased—only Ye Mu had her brows knit so tight they could pinch a fly to death.

Once the little ones put down their bowls and chopsticks and ran outside one after another, Ye Mu finally came over with a washbasin to collect the dishes, muttering on and on.

"These kids, it's a good thing they're only back for a few days, otherwise I'd have to wait on them every day—I'd lose ten years off my life."

"Nonsense, just cooking a meal and washing some dishes, and you'd lose ten years? I never saw you doing any less normally." Ye Fu casually carried over a bowl of porridge and sat down.

The children finished eating, now it was the adults' turn at the table.

"Quarreling from last night till bedtime, can your ears take it? Calling them for breakfast in the morning, I had to shout my lungs out dozens of times before they came down—first thing in the morning and my temper's already up. If they weren't my own, I'd be grabbing a stick."

The old lady helped tidy up alongside her, "It's fine, it's fine, noise is liveliness, what children aren't noisy? It's only a few days."

"Right, lots of people make it lively. If it were just you two old folks left, you'd also find it too quiet."

"Quiet, my foot. Normally there are three granddaughters here too, and those three are pretty good—they even help with chores, help mop the floor. Look at these boys, then look at all these footprints on the floor—I just mopped this morning, how can their feet be that dirty, leaving marks first thing in the morning."

"Probably from the clothes and pants they played in yesterday, they just tossed them on the floor in their rooms."

Ye Mu's eyes went wide, "Oh dear, just thinking about having to wash dozens of clothes later."

"There's a washing machine, just toss them in. You won't enjoy your blessings, insist on suffering for no reason, still want to wash by hand."

"How could that get them clean? Whatever stains went in, the same stains come out. Only your dirty clothes can just be tossed in and washed any old way."

Ye Fu paid her no mind, let her mutter all she wanted—once she was done she'd still have to do what she had to do. By noon he'd still have to bustle about cooking, asking the little ones with a grin what they wanted to eat.

"Your sons don't know if they're coming over to eat or not? Only Li Li Laoer's wife came over to eat, and there's still a whole big pot of porridge—she got up early and cooked two big pots, afraid there wouldn't be enough."

"It's already this late and they still haven't gotten up, the food's going to get cold in a bit…"

"Hurry up and eat, then go over and call them when you're done. Otherwise, dawdling along, by the time they come back who knows when it'll be. Eat quickly, give me your bowl and I'll wash it together…"

Ye Fu hurried to eat, finished quickly and hurried out—otherwise there'd be more nagging.

Ye Yaodong and Lin Lin Xiuqing lay there without a shred of shame—with no children at home, no elders, it was bliss—just the two of them!

It was a rare chance to laze in bed, neither of them had to get up.

Lin Lin Xiuqing also felt it was a rare moment of leisure.

"Feels like coming back this time, like there's nothing to do…"

"We've become guests!"

"Right, right, feels like we've really become guests."

"Nice, isn't it?"

"Mm, nice."

"Then let's do it again."

"Huh?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing was stunned for a moment, only realizing what he meant when he leaned down on her.

"Crazy, do you just echo whatever I say? Stop messing around, time to get up. They've probably already gotten up for breakfast—if we don't go over to eat soon, they'll come over and call us."

Ye Yaodong regretfully got pushed back again, lying back in his own spot.

Lin Lin Xiuqing added, "The housework here has been handed off, no need to worry about it. The kids have moved to the new house, the old lady has moved over too, only the two of us are left at home. Seems like there's really nothing to do—occasionally come back and eat at Mother's place and that's enough."

"Mm."

"Get up, stop lazing around, they'll be coming to call us in a bit…"

Before he could finish, he heard Ye Fu calling from outside, "Are you all up? Come eat."

"See, your father's already come to call us, good thing…" She quickly got up in a hurry.

Ye Yaodong also sat up, dawdling as he put on his clothes.

They were the latest of all—just the two of them. The eldest brother and Ye Ye Erge had already gone over first.

The departure time for the provincial city had already been set for the day after tomorrow, so there wasn't much for them to prepare. They just relaxed at home for two days.

The happiest ones, of course, were the children. Apart from lunch and dinner, Ye Yaodong and Lin Lin Xiuqing hadn't seen the children at all — they had no idea where the kids had run off to all day long.

Then in the evening, they'd come back filthy to the new house to bathe, making sure their mother didn't see them, saving themselves a beating.

Lin Lin Xiuqing could only learn from Ye Mother at the dinner table what the children had been up to.

"... The older ones led the younger ones. In the afternoon they brought back two big buckets of eels, so we've got something to eat tonight. That mud on their pants is a nightmare to wash."

Ye Yaodong saw the bucket in the corner and beamed. "Well done, you really caught a lot. We can stew them tonight for some nourishment."

Ye Ye Yaohua also agreed. "At least they're useful, pretty good at catching. Finally not just messing around."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi shouted: "Brother Ajiang caught the most. He's really amazing."

Ye Ye Chengjiang said proudly, "Tomorrow I'll take you all to catch loaches. I already set the net this afternoon — tomorrow we'll go collect it! It's definitely going to be a big haul!"

"That's great…"

Ye Yaodong said with a smile, "That's all stuff I used to play with when I was younger."

"We're just learning from you, Third Uncle. Otherwise how would we have thought to use a cage trap to catch loaches?"

"Where did you get a cage trap?"

"There were some left over from before, piled in the corner gathering dust. I grabbed one and took it to the river."

"Be careful, and look after your younger brothers and sisters."

"Don't worry, we're not three-year-olds."

Ye Mother muttered, "The moment they get back they run off everywhere, giving me extra work."

The old lady said with a smile, "It's fine, it's fine. I'll clean up, I'll stew them. You all go ahead and catch them."

Ye Father also looked at Ye Mother and said, "Let them play however they want. Otherwise, if you want to see this much liveliness again, you'll have to wait until New Year."

"I'm just saying. How could I stop them from going out to play? Just don't come back so filthy. Look at this floor — I've already mopped it five or six times today. After dinner I'll have to mop again, and again before bed. I have to mop over a dozen times a day."

"Then we shouldn't have laid such shiny tiles in the first place. A cement floor would've let them do whatever they wanted, and saved all this trouble of mopping all day long."

Ye Mother protested, "How could that work? Such a big house with a cement floor — how shabby would that look? Of course we had to lay clean, bright tiles like this."

Ye Father rolled his eyes. "Then stop complaining about the mopping being a hassle."

Ye Yaodong said, "Mom, let me tell you a trick. Just save it up and mop once before bed every night."

"That filthy? You might be able to stand it, but I can't."

"What's the big deal? It's the height of summer now, just a little dirt on the feet. Wait until winter — that's when the stench of feet will be overwhelming."

Ye Mother's face instantly scrunched up like a steamed bun, imagining the stinky feet of all the grandsons, sons, and the man of the house…

Everyone burst out laughing. Ye Ye Xiaoxi lifted her foot to her nose and sniffed. "Mine doesn't stink! Big Brother's is super stinky."

Ye Chenghu shoved his foot right in her face. "Then smell this!"

The whole room was filled with laughter and joy.

……

Ye Mother held out for two days, finally sending all the children in the house off, and then set off herself by boat for the provincial city.

For many of them, it was their first time going to the provincial city, and they were already full of anticipation.

They set off early in the morning and only reached shore by evening. The children went from being full of excitement at the start to wilted and droopy later on, but the moment they heard they'd arrived at their destination, they were full of life again.

Ye Ye Xiuxiu pointed ahead. "There are so many people in the provincial city…"

"We only see this many people when the factory gets off work."

"Wrong — there are this many people at the market too. On the fifteenth of the first month, Lantern Festival, there are even more than this…"

The three girls had never traveled far, and everything they saw felt fresh and new.

The boys, being generally older than the girls, had been taken out to earn money early on, so they'd seen a bit more of the world.

As for Ye Yaodong's three, there was even less to say — he'd been taking them everywhere for years now. Seeing anything didn't excite them anymore; instead, they felt it was behind the times, nowhere near comparable to Shanghai.

Ye Father said, "Your eldest brother said he's arranged a guesthouse. Let's go find the guesthouse he mentioned first. Dongzi, do you know where it is?"

"I have a rough idea. Anyway, the mouth is right under the nose — just ask someone and we'll find out."

With such a huge crowd of them, taking taxis would have required an unknown number of cars and wouldn't have been easy to find. Ye Yaodong did as usual and found a tractor. After haggling a price, everyone swarmed on board, and the tractor took them straight to the guesthouse.

Ye Ye Yaopeng had been waiting at the entrance of the guesthouse for a long time. Watching them tumble off the tractor like dumplings, he hurried over to greet them.

"You're finally here. You said you'd set off today, so I've been waiting at the door since after lunch. I waited until the sun went down before you arrived."

"It's too far, it couldn't be that fast," Ye Father said.

"Yeah, too far," Ye Ye Yaopeng sighed. "It's really not easy to make the trip. Just riding here, I had to transfer again and again, and it took me a whole day. In the future, it'll probably be rare to see Brother Brother Ahai bring his wife and kids back home."

After saying that, he sighed. His son had run off so far that even meeting face to face felt difficult. From now on, he'd probably see him at most once or twice a year.

Ye Mother patted him. "What are you sighing about? Such good days and you're sighing. You talk as if you go home every day — don't you also only come back once a year?"

Ye Ye Yaopeng's emotional sigh vanished in an instant. It did seem true — he himself only went home once a year too…

"Brother Brother Ahai takes his wife and kids home every day, and you still don't get to see them. You ran off so far yourself, and you have the nerve to talk about others?"

"Heh… that's true too…"

"Stop standing around talking outside. Hurry up and go in to arrange rooms for everyone. We're exhausted."

"Oh, right, right, hurry on in. The rooms are all arranged and ready. One room per couple, then one room for the girls, one room for the boys."

Ye Chenghe asked, "When do we go to my brother's place? Can we go today?"

"Rest a bit first. He'll come over during dinner — he's already booked a restaurant. After dinner, if you want to go check out his place, you can."

"Alright, let's rest for a bit then."

Ye Yaodong had also given his children a longevity lock necklace. Under his influence, everyone else had also given little gold pieces.

Some gave little gold rings, some gave red-string zodiac bracelets, and some gave little longevity lock pendants.

Among the same generation, apart from his three, everyone else had a stable job and was earning money, so they all had the means to give gifts. And his three were little moneybags themselves.

Working a summer job at the factory, her wages from last month had only just been paid, so the little treasury was well-stocked again. Having a little gold ring made for her little nephew was a simple matter for them.

Ye Ye Chenghai and Ye Chenghe's two sons had only just been born, yet they had already reaped a pile of little gold pieces and were already little rich kids.

Gold has been popular in every age for several thousand years up and down.

And in their family, even the younger generation each chipped in to buy little gold pieces for the little nephew. Ye Ye Xiaoxi and Pei Yu had both spent their own money, which surprised Brother Brother Ahai's wife, let alone her family.

After dinner, when they went over to Ye Ye Chenghai's house, even Ye Ye Xiaoxi was holding a zodiac red-cord bracelet, eagerly holding it up for the little nephew.

"Baby, this is your little auntie earning money at work to buy for you~"

Brother Brother Ahai's wife immediately stood up in surprise and said, "You bought it? You're so young, and you're already earning money at work?"

"Of course! I went to work at my dad's factory, I started earning money last year! This is all saved up from the money I earned myself. Xiaozhe has one too, this one is for little Binbin."

"How are you so amazing, so capable!"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi was overjoyed, and proud as well, "Of course, I've saved up a lot of money!"

Pei Yu also offered up her little ring like presenting a treasure, handing it over, "Cousin-in-law, this is what I bought, also saved up from money I earned at work."

"Wow, how are you two so amazing, turns out you're both little rich girls! Then little Binbin thanks his little aunties."

"No need to thank us, just let me hold him~"

"Ye Ye Dasao, this is the little ring I bought, for the little nephew..."

"Ye Ye Dasao, this is what I bought..."

"This is mine..."

One by one, everyone took out what they had bought like presenting treasures, and Brother Brother Ahai's wife accepted them all with a smile.

And her family was both surprised and at a loss — even the younger generation each chipped in little gold pieces, how well-off must this family be?

Logically speaking, the younger generation aren't married and are still young, so they don't need to give any gifts.

Ye Ye Dasao said with a smile, "This is their good intention, and it's because the siblings are close. When Chenghe's child was full moon, they each gave gifts too, anyway it's for the child. When they have children in the future, they can return the gesture then."

"The siblings really do have a great relationship."

Ye Ye Chengjiang said with a smile, "That's right, we all wore the same pair of pants and grew up taking beatings together."

"Hahaha..."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi's features scrunched up into a ball, "Brother Brother Ahai's pants have already been passed down to my eldest brother and Ye Ye Erge, looks like it'll be my turn soon."

"Hahaha..."

Everyone laughed themselves forward and backward.

Ye Yaodong patted her head, "You're a girl, so when the time comes we won't pass them to you, we'll pass them to the twins."

Ye Ye Chenghai laughed heartily, "My pants have become a family heirloom? Tomorrow when they get passed around again, they'll end up on my son."

Ye Chenghu rolled his eyes, "I'm the one always wearing them, always picking up your junk to wear, your old clothes and pants are now mine to wear while working at sea, I guess they can't be passed down anymore."

"Of course you wear ragged ones when you go work at sea, you don't think you'd wear good ones, do you?" Lin Lin Xiuqing said with a smile.

Ye Ye Chenghai was surprised, "You already went to work at sea? Aren't you still in high school?"

"Isn't it summer break now? Only went to sea during summer break."

"Goodness, among our generation with so many people, none of us ever went out to sea, only you? Damn, clearly Third Uncle is the richest, yet you live the hardest."

Ye Chenghu was stunned for a moment, looked at the crowd, looked around the circle, and only then realized in an instant — damn, so he was the only miserable one?

None of them went out to sea, they all jumped out, yet he jumped into the fire pit, right?

Ye Yaodong saw Ye Chenghu's expression and quickly said, "How is that living the hardest? He's experiencing life, understanding more about everything, learning more can't hurt him. With such a big family business, doesn't someone need to manage it?"

"Once Yangyang is a bit older, he'll also have to go out to sea to take a look, you can't know nothing about your own fishing boats."

"Also Ajiang and Chenghe, you two can't just drive, you also need to get on the boat and learn from your dad, in case something happens you can step in for your dad, give him a hand, help out."

"In the future you can choose not to go out to sea, but you can't know nothing, understand nothing about it, after all this is what started our family. You live off the mountain if it's a mountain, live off the sea if it's a sea."

Ye Chenghu nodded repeatedly as he listened, "Exactly, my dad's right. I just want to understand our family's fishing boats. Right now I can even pilot the Pioneer, over a thousand tons — can you guys do that?"

By the end, he was already proud.

The skills he had were far more than theirs!

Ye Ye Chenghai gave him a thumbs-up, "Not bad, you're still the best, you can pilot any boat. We just can't take the hardship of going out to sea."

Ye Fu looked at Ye Chenghu with approval, "Chenghu has really grown up."

Ye Mu also nodded in agreement, "He's grown up, he's capable."

Ye Chenghu's back straightened up.

At this moment, the pager clipped to Ye Ye Chenghai's waist buzzed from time to time, also making beeping sounds. He picked it up and glanced at it.

The others' eyes lit up, and they hurried over.

"Brother Brother Ahai, what's that? What, is that a pager?"

"Damn, you already have a pager? When did you buy it, let me see?"

"So this is a pager? Smaller than a pack of cigarettes."

"You've already bought a pager? That trendy?"

The screen only showed a string of phone numbers, nothing else.

Ye Ye Chenghai showed it to them, feel free to look, "Just bought it not long ago, for clients to contact me easily. In a bit I need to find a phone to call back."

Ye Yaodong also took it and glanced at it, especially small, just a string of numbers on the display screen — to him it was too much of a half-measure.

Someone who had used a mobile phone wouldn't think much of this thing? He'd rather not buy anything.

"Third Uncle, they have big brother phones now, you could buy a big brother phone!" Ye Ye Chenghai said.

"My dad said he'd look into it when he's free."

Ye Yaodong said, "Two years ago I went to Magic City to look at them, then said if you buy it in Magic City, you can only use it locally in Magic City, can't use it or receive signals elsewhere, so I didn't buy it in the end."

"This thing is useless to me too. Big brother phones, actually aren't that useful either... I'm going out to sea, carrying one is completely pointless. If I'm not going to sea and staying at the factory, the office has a phone, or I can just make a call from any factory phone and they'll find me. Big brother phones also tend to have bad signal."

"That seems right too."

"But if you want to buy it, you can. Just use it casually; you can keep it as a souvenir later."

Ye Ye Chenghai gave him a thumbs-up. "Impressive. You're using a ten or twenty thousand yuan brick phone just as a souvenir."

"Technology is developing. It will become more advanced in the future, and there will be better ones. These are just a transition for now."

"That's true."

"Your business is doing well now; you've even bought a pager."

"It's okay, showing some progress. You all sit for a while; I'll go find a phone to return a call first so I don't miss any orders."

"Then hurry up and get back to your work. Business comes first; don't mind us. There are so many people here."

"Mm, okay."

PS: I fell asleep last night; I actually went to sleep at 10. One major downside of typing while lying down is that it's too easy to fall asleep. I'm making up for it now; regular updates tonight.