Chapter 1815: That Thing…

The couple went to the cafeteria to eat on their own, without bothering to check if the two behind them had caught up—missing one meal wouldn't kill them anyway.

The two behind them were so angry they didn't want to eat, staging a silent protest, but hunger got the better of them, so they could only dawdle along.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi stared at the figures ahead that had already vanished, her lips pursed enough to hang an oil bottle, and asked Ye Ye Chengyang beside her.

"Ye Erge, what do we do? The game console is going to be confiscated, we won't be able to bring it back to Modu to play."

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Dad won't give it to us, and Mom listens to Dad too."

"Can we sneak it back?"

"In your dreams. Dad's such a grown man—do you really think he'd let you sneak it back? If you bring it home, you won't play it? The moment you take it out to play, won't Mom find out? There's only one TV in the house. Once Mom knows, you'll never get to play again."

"Mom wants to play too. Maybe she won't say anything?"

"Hard to say."

"Dad listens to Mom."

"But whatever Dad wants to do, Mom hasn't successfully talked him out of it either."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Ye Ye Chengyang fell silent—how would he know what to do?

Kids have no rights; their little arms can't twist against grown-up thighs.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi said, "Then how about we wait until we get to Modu and use our own money to buy one?"

"I'm afraid even if we buy one, we won't be allowed to play—money down the drain."

"Sigh…"

"Sigh…"

"It's all your fault for playing so hard!" Ye Ye Xiaoxi suddenly crossed her hands on her hips and glared at Ye Ye Chengyang in anger.

She felt she hadn't even played much—she'd even let Mom have a turn.

And when she woke up in the morning, it was the sound of Ye Erge playing games that had woken her. She and Dad were still asleep, and he'd even gotten a scolding.

It was all Ye Erge's fault for playing too hard.

"You didn't play? And you're blaming me?"

"I played normally. You went overboard. You even got scolded by Dad this morning—already forgot?"

Ye Ye Chengyang didn't say a word. He couldn't sleep, so of course he played games when he woke up.

"It's all your fault, that's why Dad's confiscating it and won't let us play."

He strode toward the cafeteria, no longer talking to her.

Although the two were feeling gloomy, they didn't skip a single bite of the food they should eat. They just kept glancing at Ye Yaodong and Lin Lin Xiuqing with their eyes while eating.

Ye Yaodong put down his chopsticks after finishing, waited for Lin Lin Xiuqing to finish, then said, "You two eat slowly, we're leaving after eating."

The two watched with resentful eyes as their father and mother walked away shoulder to shoulder.

They were immersed in the sorrow of soon not being able to play games, unaware that their mother was linking arms with their father, urging him to walk faster.

"While they're eating, let's hurry back to the dorm. I'll teach you to play. I've already cleared the first level."

"What a grown person, still learning to play games from them."

"You don't get it. Once you play a bit, you'll know how fun it is."

"I'm not interested in eating mushrooms."

He was more interested in playing Contra; Tank was fine too. He'd peek from time to time—a few noobs had been playing for days and still hadn't cleared many levels of Mushroom or Tank, let alone the harder Contra.

"Then we can play something else. I'll play something else with you."

Ye Yaodong quickened his pace. "Then walk faster."

When the siblings slowly walked along, pondering their strategy, they arrived at the dorm and saw their father and mother each holding a controller playing Tank. The two were utterly shocked, feeling betrayed.

"Ah! You finished eating early and came back to play games!"

"Dad, is it because we didn't let you play that you confiscated the game console and plan to play it yourself?"

"Nothing of the sort. If I want to play, can't I just buy one? Why would I confiscate yours?"

"Then will you give it back to us?"

Ye Yaodong, in the middle of his busy game, turned his head to glance at Ye Ye Chengyang. "Dream on. You're not allowed to play during school. In two days, you'll go to Modu with your mother."

"No."

All three spoke at the same time.

Lin Lin Xiuqing chuckled. "Stay a couple more days. Registration isn't until September 1st anyway."

"It's only the 23rd today. There's still a whole week, no rush. It's not often I come over."

"What about your eldest son? You don't want him anymore?"

"He's such a grown person, what would he need me for? He can cook for himself when he's hungry. Besides, his little aunt is there. If anything comes up, he can just go to his little aunt, or give me a call. Whether I'm here or not doesn't matter to your son."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi suddenly spoke up for Ye Chenghu. "Big Brother is the most pitiful. He doesn't even know what a game console looks like, and he has to go to tutoring every day."

"Now you know how lucky you are, right? You even have a game console to play, and you've played for so many days. Your big brother doesn't even have a hair's worth."

"Oh right, you also went back to the hometown to play for several days and collected a bunch of red envelopes. You have to know contentment. It's good enough that you have something to play with now."

Without comparison, there's no sense of superiority. With this comparison, it immediately showed how much of an advantage they had.

Ye Ye Chengyang said cautiously, "Dad, then can you get up and let us play now? We'll be back in Modu in a few days, and then we won't get to play. Let us play a bit more now, okay? Once we're gone, you'll have plenty of chances to play, and no one to fight you for it."

"Wait until I finish this round."

Sigh…

The siblings could only obediently wait.

Ye Ye Chengyang even muttered, "It's all your fault. Everything was fine, why did you let Mom play? Now look, Dad's playing too, and the two of us can only stand and watch."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi also regretted it, but now the two of them could only stand and watch.

Ye Yaodong was still craving another round, but since the characters were dead, he returned them.

Otherwise, if they played one more round, he saw both of them about to cry.

The couple stood up, stared for a while, then left.

"What time does the social event start tomorrow?"

"I thought you'd forgotten about it entirely, playing games like that."

Lin Lin Xiuqing gave him a reproachful look. "I'm not participating—I'm just here for the spectacle. Knowing it's tomorrow is enough."

"I thought you cared so much about it you came running over, but now it seems the game console has more appeal."

"Why couldn't it be that your appeal is the greatest, so I came running over?"

"That works."

Ye Yaodong beamed and pulled her close. He groaned thinking about the two brats still playing games late into the night—last night they hadn't stopped until nearly eleven, and he'd had to scold them before they reluctantly went to sleep.

"We need to kick them out to sleep early, no more sleeping in our room. I'll move their pillows and blankets to the next room right away."

"They really should sleep earlier—their biological clocks need adjusting, or they won't wake up for school."

"Take a walk around first, then come back and tidy up the next room. Move their beds over. It was Ye Huimei's room before, not long ago, and it's not dirty at all."

"Alright, what time are the textile factory guests arriving tomorrow?"

"It's too hot now. Too sunny outdoors, too stuffy indoors. Moving the social event to 6 p. m. tomorrow is perfect—darkness suits romance. Just use the open space in front of the canteen."

"That's good. When the sun sets, we can hose down the front ground—no heat rising, and the natural evening breeze will feel comfortable."

"Since last year's social event, it seems two couples have married, and a few others are still keeping in touch—some even introduced people from their own circles."

"That's great. Whether they succeed or not is up to them. The factory's full of men who just bury their heads in work every day—they need occasional events to liven things up."

Ye Yaodong openly draped his arm over her shoulders as they strolled through the factory, smiling and greeting everyone, while explaining the schedule for tomorrow evening's event.

It's basically the same as last year—just moved to nighttime, and the entertainment activities have changed.

There's the game where men and women back-to-back squeeze a balloon and walk from start to finish, seeing who gets there first, then run several rounds with different pairs.

Then there's the one where men and women tie their left foot to each other's right foot and walk from start to finish, seeing which team arrives first.

Another is where the women are blindfolded and guided by the men's instructions to accurately feed dates into the men's mouths—the first one to succeed wins.

Compared to last year, these games involve slightly more physical contact—if someone stumbles, the contact could become even more intense.

Perfect for a social event, since it's just a bunch of shy young men and women who want to flirt but are too timid.

More physical interaction can stimulate romantic development, deepen understanding, and increase success rates—it's a matchmaking event after all.

Lin Lin Xiuqing, hearing about this year's new arrangements, began to look forward to it.

"Sounds like it'll be fun."

"What? You want to play?"

"Not really. Watching others play is different from joining in myself. Besides, I'm this age—I'd feel embarrassed just playing for fun, let alone competing with the young ones."

"What age? You make it sound like you're ancient. I'm 36, you're 36—if we hadn't gotten sterilized, we could still have a basketful of kids."

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed and slapped him. "What are you saying? Three is enough. If you ask me to have more, I won't—I already have a son and a daughter, and two sons at that. That's enough."

"It's enough, of course. I just feel I'm not old yet."

"Still think you're a young lad? If your son marries early, in two years you might already be a grandfather. Your older brother's already 39 and a grandfather."

Ye Yaodong was suddenly speechless—it really was true.

In thirty years, there'd be plenty of people still unmarried at 36.

At 36 now, those who married early are already grandfathers.

"Becoming a grandfather before 40 isn't impossible—but if I told people I was 25, they'd believe me."

"Always flattering yourself."

"Seriously—in a few years, if I go out holding my grandchild, people will think he's my son."

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed heartily. "Then I'd better take good care of myself—otherwise, when we walk out together in a few years, people might think I'm your mother."

"That just means they're blind. My wife's skin is getting whiter and more stylish by the day—no blind person would say you're my mother."

"I should learn makeup. The salesgirls at the cosmetics counters all look so beautifully made up—I need to learn too."

"Learn. Buy whatever you want."

"Let's go back. Go fix their beds in the dorm."

Ye Yaodong suddenly turned her head and whispered into her ear: "The factory has a car—why don't we drive out?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing was puzzled. "Drive out? Why? It's so late, everything's dark. This area isn't even bustling—it's still a bit remote, some places don't even have streetlights. Are you going out for late-night snacks? It's not even time yet."

"Snacks? We just ate. I'm not a glutton. I meant… we're going out for that…"

"That?" Lin Lin Xiuqing looked confused. "Go for a walk?"

Ye Yaodong whispered softly into her ear: "Drive out, find a spot without streetlights, then… you know… in the car."

Lin Lin Xiuqing's eyes widened in shock. "Ah?"

"No, come on—let's do it now. It's only 7:30. Let's go out, find a place by 8—perfect. Everyone in the countryside is asleep by then."

"But…"

"Come on, come on, it's settled!" Ye Yaodong grew more excited by the moment and eagerly pushed her toward the car.

"Stop it, don't get random ideas. Drive out in the car? Do… that… in the car? That's too shocking."

Just thinking about it made Lin Lin Xiuqing tense up, glancing around nervously, afraid someone might hear.

"Shocking? We'll find a pitch-black spot, turn off the car lights—who'd know?"

"No! If anyone finds out, I'll be so humiliated, everyone will talk about it, I won't be able to show my face again."

"How could anyone find out? There are no streetlights. Who'd know? And at 8:30, everyone in the countryside is asleep."

"No. Later, we'll just kick the two brats to another room. You can do whatever you want all night."

"Doing it like this every day is getting boring, want to go outside and try it? Give it a try, let's go."

"No."

"Just try it. The car's been bought for so long now. Other people don't have the means, but Laozi has two cars. Try it and see how exciting it is."

"Exciting your head. If someone sees us and finds out, we won't be able to show our faces ever again."

"Find somewhere more secluded then. Come on, let's go out for a stroll first. If we drive out and can't find a spot, forget it. But if we can find one, I'll definitely get it done quick and fast."

"No… Just thinking about what if someone discovers us, my scalp is already tingling. Stop messing around." Lin Lin Xiuqing swatted him twice, stopping him from walking forward.

"I won't…"

"Even if you wouldn't dare, that car is the one your dad drives. If we drive it out, well… you might not feel awkward, but just thinking about it makes me feel awkward."

"Do you have to feel awkward about this too? It's my car too."

"It's your car, but you're not the one driving it. Your dad drives it. It's equivalent to us, on your dad's car, doing that—how weird is that? No."

"Then we'd have to pick the Mercedes-Benz?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing, in order to dispel his spur-of-the-moment thrill-seeking idea, forced herself to nod. "Anyway, it can't be on someone else's car."

"Then next time we go to Magic Capital, we can use your Mercedes-Benz?"

"We'll talk about it next time."

"Then this time we don't need a car, just go straight out and find a place?"

"Huh?!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing's mouth opened and closed soundlessly, unable to keep up with his train of thought, but her hands reacted faster—she pinched him hard.

PS: In the afternoon I wrote 2000 words, then went to take a bath, wash my hair, do my makeup, and attend the housewarming banquet. Got back at 10 and hurried to keep typing.