Chapter 1832: Showing Off

With Lin Lin Xiuqing's surgery completed, Ye Yaodong's major worry was finally put to rest, and he no longer needed to keep fretting over this matter.

At most, they would just need routine checkups every now and then; naturally, everyone had to do this, and in a few years, the factory would also launch basic health screenings.

Lin Fu and the others had no major issues in their checkups, though there were plenty of minor ailments; in any case, everyone who got checked was prescribed a pile of medicine to take home.

Seeing that Lin Fu and the others had all been diagnosed with various minor ailments, Ye's parents felt a strangely balanced sense of comfort in their hearts; everyone was taking medicine.

After arranging for Lin Fu and his group to depart, Ye Yaodong returned to his normal work.

Lin Lin Xiuqing only needed to rest for about a week before there were no major problems, and she also resumed her regular work schedule.

It was now not far from New Year's Day; this year's Spring Festival fell on February 9th, and the factory was now preparing for the holiday break, with everyone starting to get busy.

Besides handling the factory's official business, Ye Yaodong also had to attend to social engagements every day; the matter of collecting payments had already been handed over to the various salesmen, with each person responsible for their own orders.

The matter of collecting payments for fish goods had also been handed over to the finance department, allowing him to save some trouble.

His career was now basically stable, but with the year-end approaching, he had to visit many of his enterprises to check on their progress.

Especially the freight department launched this year and the fishmeal processing plant; all the various machines had now moved in, the personnel had been trained, and everyone was ready to take up their posts; they were just waiting for a start date to begin production.

At year-end, he had to run around everywhere, inspecting and checking accounts, plus attending social events; he was so busy his feet barely touched the ground, feeling dizzy every single day.

He might be in Zhoushan City today, in Shanghai tomorrow, and then back in Zhoushan City the day after, shuttling frequently between the two places.

However, even when he was this busy, he would still make time to read the newspaper every morning, usually while eating breakfast; this had long since become his habit.

With rapid development over these past few years, there were all sorts of policies every year; newspapers and TV news were the best channels for gathering information.

But since he was running around everywhere, he didn't have time to watch the news at a fixed time every day; the newspaper was more convenient for him.

Coincidentally, he also saw in the newspaper that the "Company Law" had been passed at the fifth meeting on the eve of New Year's Day, to be officially implemented starting July 1st of the coming year, 1994.

At the current stage, our country lacks unified legal regulations for companies, leading to chaotic market order and the inability to protect investors' rights and interests.

Our country is developing at high speed, vigorously developing the economy; we must have a set of perfect rules and regulations.

With the deepening of reform and opening up, the original enterprise forms divided by ownership, such as state-owned and collective ownership, no longer meet the needs of the market economy.

The several different units he was running now were all named after processing plants and had not yet been given the title of "company"; next year, he would definitely have to follow the regulations.

After seeing this newspaper, he called Manager Qi and the others over; they needed to keep pace with policy development.

After the Company Law is officially implemented next year, he plans to register Dongsheng Group Co., Ltd., and then establish several subsidiary companies, with each company having the currently promoted managers as the main persons in charge.

However, these are matters for later, but they still need to be planned and formulated in advance.

Every profession has its specialists; after he proposed it, the others naturally followed up.

At the same time, the holiday schedule for this year was about the same as in previous years; it was formulated in advance according to past precedents and announced.

The factory had developed for several years; now many things had precedents to follow and could be referenced for formulation, so he didn't need to worry too much; he just needed to hold his post until the very end.

Lin Lin Xiuqing and the others, as usual, went back a few days early, just like in previous years.

Ye Yaodong didn't stay too late either; he arrived home around the 27th of the lunar month; this year's New Year's Eve was only the 29th, with no 30th.

He also heard that the village had gone all out this year, actually hiring a troupe to perform a grand opera; when he returned to the village, it was decorated with lanterns and colorful silk everywhere, yet the roads seemed deserted, but he could hear the sound of opera singing from the loudspeakers.

Ye Chenghu, sitting beside him, got excited hearing the opera singing from the loudspeakers.

"Dad, they're performing a grand opera at the Tianhou Temple."

"Mm, there's no one on the road; they must all be at the Tianhou Temple. Let's go home and put down the luggage first, then we'll go take a look."

"Dad, the stone stele! There's a big stone stele at the village entrance. Wow, your name is in the first spot, and it's enlarged!"

When Ye Yaodong returned in the summer, he had already seen it and didn't find it remarkable; Ye Chenghu hadn't come back this year due to his studies, so this was his first time seeing it, and he was extremely proud.

"Dad, you're truly amazing! On the stone stele at the Tianhou Temple, your name is carved in the first spot! On this stone stele for the village road construction, you're also carved in the first spot!"

Ye Yaodong felt a bit happy from his son's praise. "This isn't anything special; it's just contributing to the village. We grew up in the village from a young age, and the village has helped us a lot; if we should repay, we must repay."

"I know; we are natives of this village, and we will eventually return to our roots, so naturally, we want the village to get better and better."

"Mm, that's right. Let's go."

Ye Chenghu touched it a couple more times with curiosity. "Did you take a photo? We should take a photo to keep as a souvenir."

"I already took one."

"That's good!"

The father and son headed home first.

After exchanging greetings, the others also hurried home.

On the boat returning with them were other boatmen, as well as Lin Lin Dongxue and her siblings; however, they were in a rush to get home, and since the town had now opened a shuttle bus, they couldn't wait and took the bus directly after getting off the boat.

When they arrived home, there was no doubt: only dogs, no people.

Before they even entered the door, they heard the dogs in the yard barking wildly nonstop, and they were lying against the door, barking through the cracks.

As soon as the courtyard gate was opened, the dogs pounced on them, almost knocking them over.

"Get lost! Bark again, and it's dog meat hotpot tonight!"

The dogs barked "Wang, wang, wang," but they were sensible enough to stand aside; after they came in, the dogs rubbed against their feet.

Ye Yaodong looked at the dozen or so dogs in the yard wagging their tails at him, his forehead covered in black lines; he couldn't even find a place to step, as there was dog poop everywhere.

"Dad, so many dogs are locked in here; they must have gone to listen to the opera. There's definitely no one at home."

"Probably so."

"Old trick; I understand it all!"

"Let the dogs out, and go inside first."

While speaking, Ye Yaodong was already driving the dogs out to frolic; seeing the dog poop on the ground, he could only go find a broom.

"You go get some wood ash from the stove and sprinkle it on the dog poop."

"Alright, luckily the door was locked, otherwise they would have pulled it all into the house."

Ye Chenghu muttered, then went inside first to do as told.

Now that the whole family was developing outside, the home by the seaside was basically uninhabited; even a thief wouldn't bother to visit.

As for this side, only two old women and several girls lived in the house; although their family was wealthy, everyone was away out of town, so anyone could figure out with their butt that the money wouldn't be kept at home, at most the elders had a little cash, so speaking of it, it was still relatively safe.

Their village had been very peaceful these past few years; the strong laborers from nearby villages were mostly hired by their village to do work.

With the family able to earn money and life being easy, no one would become a thief; only those who were idle, couldn't find work, and had crooked minds would.

Last year, it was only because a rotten egg appeared among their relatives that thieves came; it was his cousin's husband, who had been released from prison, who found some outsiders to try poisoning their dog, then break in to steal or retaliate against their family.

When the village committee severely punished them last year, it served as a deterrent; although most of the strong laborers in their village were earning money outside, a portion still stayed behind to raise livestock.

The income from livestock raising these past few years was also considerable, allowing them to stay comfortably at home, so it wasn't a dead village with only old people and children left.

After Ye Yaodong cleaned up all the dog feces, he put the broom and dustpan in the corner of the wall and went inside to rest.

Ye Chenghu, full of energy, threw his luggage aside and ran outside, "Dad, you watch the house; I'm going to check out the Tianhou Temple."

He indeed had no interest in the opera, so he collapsed directly onto the sofa to rest and casually glanced at the newspapers at home.

Just as he lay half-asleep on the sofa, a noisy commotion came from outside; he woke up and found that the village broadcast no longer had the sound of the opera.

His family, big and small, also came in from outside.

"Dongzi is back."

"Just in time to catch the last day; tomorrow the village can still put on the opera for one more day, but there won't be any on New Year's Eve."

"Third Uncle, our village has been so lively these past few days; the entrance to the Tianhou Temple is full of small vendors, just like a market fair."

"Did you go to watch the opera or to buy things?" Ye Yaodong asked them with a smile.

"Both; wherever there is excitement, there we are."

Ye's mother smiled broadly, "After a whole year, our village rarely gets this lively."

"How did you suddenly think of hiring an opera troupe to perform in the village? This must have cost quite a bit of money? Did the Village Committee pay for it?"

"How could that be? The Village Committee proposed it, and then every household chipped in money; each household put out 50 yuan, and that's how they hired the opera troupe to perform and make the village really lively."

Ye's father said, "These past few years, every household's conditions have improved; the average family income in our village is not less than 3,000 yuan; hiring an opera troupe to perform, everyone is very happy about it."

Ye's mother said, "How could it be just 3,000? One worker going along to run a ship earns nearly 4,000 a year; if two brothers or two generations of father and son go along, that's incredible. With a few more brothers in the family, just working for a year can earn 10,000 yuan."

"Good news; the per capita income in the village has risen, and every family is wealthy."

The old woman leaned on her cane and walked shakily to his front, "Dongzi, are you hungry? Let me cook something for you first; your mother is really something, all she does is talk and doesn't hurry to cook."

"Oh, cooking, cooking; let Dongzi just eat a can to fill his stomach for now; it's mealtime anyway, so save your appetite for the meal; getting it ready will be quick." Only then did Ye's mother hurry to get busy.

Not having seen each other for over half a year, he felt the old woman had aged much more; her back was more bent, her voice was even quieter, and one had to perk up one's ears and listen carefully to hear clearly.

Holding his hand, her palm was as rough and wrinkled as tree bark, and the veins on the back of her hand bulged.

Ye Yaodong gripped her hand back and only then realized the old woman was skin and bones; her hands had only bones wrapped in skin, with bulging veins one by one; his heart ached a bit.

"Why have you become so thin? It's all bones; don't you usually eat more rice?"

Hearing his concern, the old woman's face crinkled into a smile, "Yes, yes; I eat a bowl of rice every meal; I eat chicken, duck, fish, and meat; I'm just old."

"Did you drink the milk I bought for you?"

"No, no; that's very expensive; give it to the children to grow their bodies."

Ye's mother interjected, "The milk powder you bought, she wouldn't drink it; she absolutely refused to drink it, just hid it and saved it; then before the New Year, when Chenghe's son came back, she secretly gave it to Chenghe; Chenghe gave it back, and that's how we found out."

The old woman still smiled, "Give it to the little babies; I'm already old; drinking anything is a waste; if the little babies drink it, they can grow tall. Chenghe said you bought it; he absolutely wouldn't accept it, saying he has money to buy his own; you should hurry and send it to him."

Ye Yaodong put on a stern face and said seriously, "He should raise his own children; why are you worrying? The milk powder I bought is specifically for the elderly; children cannot drink it; if children drink it, they will have too much nutrition and won't grow; only you can drink it; no one else can."

"Ah? No one else can drink it? Then you should hurry and take it back to return it."

"It can't be returned; how long has it been? Who returns things after buying them? Besides, so much time has passed, the milk powder is about to expire; if you don't hurry and drink it, later it can only be thrown away."

"Can't throw it away! How can such good things be thrown away? That would invite thunder and lightning to strike."

"I already said only you can drink it; if others drink it, it's bad for their bodies; if you really won't drink it, then it can only be thrown away; otherwise, after storing it for a while longer, it will expire too; no one can drink it; it can only be fed to chickens and dogs."

"I'll drink it, I'll drink it; how can such good things be thrown away? What a waste; heaven would strike me with thunder."

"Then you must hurry and drink it; over half a year has passed; it will probably expire in a few months; if you drink a cup morning and evening now, you might finish it. If you don't drink it on time, the rest left over can only be fed to dogs."

"Ai, I'll drink it now; I'll go get it right now." The old woman finally knew to panic.

Ye's mother said with a bad temper, "Before, no matter who said anything, it was useless; she just wouldn't listen; she insisted on saving it, saying to wait for Chenghe's child to come back and give it to the child. I said if she won't drink it, give it to me to drink; she still wouldn't."

At this time, the old woman started to argue, "Dongzi said you guys can't drink it; wasn't I just saving it for the child to drink?"

Ye's mother rolled her eyes directly upon hearing this.

Ye Yaodong looked at Ye's mother, "A bit later, I'll go to the town and buy a few cans of milk powder back; you and Dad should drink it together to supplement yourselves."

Ye's mother raised her voice, "Supplement what? Your father and I are fine; no need to buy; I just can't stand the old woman, so I said that on purpose; I won't drink it; at my age, drinking milk is disgusting."

"You and my father are getting older too; you need to supplement calcium; drinking some middle-aged and elderly milk powder is good; it's good for the body and supplements nutrition."

"We haven't even finished a pile of medicine yet; drinking milk powder too? We can't even finish eating it all."

Ye's father also chimed in, "Right; eating a pile of medicine every day is already hard enough; adding two cups of milk, what's the difference from a task? No. If you want to supplement me, buy pig trotters."

"Suit yourselves; don't complain later when your body hurts here and there. Drinking milk can supplement calcium; it's good for the bones; maybe later you can swing the hoe a few more times and farm the land for a few more years."

"You think you can't work me to death..."

Ye's mother said, "Then let Dad drink it; let him work for a few more years; someone has to plow the fields at home."

The old woman said, "I'll give two cans of milk powder to your dad; if he can't work anymore and can't plow the fields, the land at home will lie barren; that won't do."

Ye's father's chest heaved; looking at the two of them, he only felt a headache.

Men really, once married, have to support their wives and their mothers until they die!

Ye Ye Xiaoxi then secretly moved to Ye Yaodong's side, propped her elbow on his leg, and smiled sweetly.

"Dad, they won't drink it; buy it for me to drink; I want to drink milk; I'll drink it every day; I won't get tired of it."

Ye Yaodong smiled and pinched her cheek, "Is there anything you don't eat?"

"Of course there is."

"Then tell me, what don't you eat?"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi stared at him, her brain froze, suddenly unable to recall.

"I forgot, but when I see it, I'll definitely remember what I don't eat."

"Alright, go play by yourself, don't lie on my lap, you're crushing me to death, do you even know how many jin you weigh? Got no idea at all?"

"How many jin do I weigh? I'm clearly thinner, I'm just wearing thick clothes, this is all the weight of the clothes."

She angrily sat right on his lap, facing the TV, back to him, and plopped down heavily a few times.

Ye Yaodong's thigh hurt so much he howled, "You damn girl, stop it."

"Milk powder, I want milk powder!"

"Buy buy buy, I'll buy a few cans later, the three of you siblings can drink it together."

Once he got busy, he didn't think much about how the three kids studying wore out their brains and needed extra nutrition; looking at the three of them, each one stockier than the next, he couldn't see where they were suffering.

They really did need to supplement more, all growing. Ye Chenghu had shot up quite a bit this year, looking to be about 175, already surpassing his height from the previous life.

It might also be because of the growth spurt, his body had stretched out, making him as thin as a hemp pole.

Lin Lin Xiuqing said, "I was thinking earlier of buying milk powder for the eldest and Li Li Laoer to drink, but when I asked them both said they didn't want it, they wanted to eat meat, so I didn't buy it. Your daughter better not drink it either, don't let her get over-nourished."

Ye Yaodong looked at Ye Ye Xiaoxi's still round little face, and Ye Chenghu's hemp-pole figure, and also felt that the eldest still needed to drink it, the youngest didn't need to.

But Ye Ye Xiaoxi refused, wriggling and acting cute, "I want to drink it, I want to drink milk, at worst I'll exercise more."

"Fine fine fine, buy buy buy, get off my lap, you're going to break my leg sitting on it."

"That's more like it." She contentedly got off his lap.

Ye Yaodong changed the subject, "Your maiden family's side, did A-Yuan and A-Ming bring their wives back? When are they holding the wedding banquet?"

"They say there's an auspicious day on the fifth day after New Year, they'll hold a big one then, to introduce the two new brides to relatives and friends."

"Then we'll just go then. A-Yuan still has quite a lot of vacation, he stayed so many days before the New Year, and after New Year he can stay until after the fifth."

"He also has to leave around the sixth, he'll be back by the Little New Year, he's already stayed quite a lot of days. Counting from the sixth, it'll be about 12 days before and after."

"Mm."

Ye Fu came over and asked, "Dongzi, did you bring the big brother big?"

"Hm? I brought it, what about it?"

"Where did you put it, give it to me."

"It's in this backpack, get it yourself, what are you doing?"

Ye Mu had been pricking up her ears listening to the commotion here, and quickly cut in, "What else could he be doing, taking it out to show off, right? These past few days at home he's been chattering to people nonstop about how amazing and expensive your big brother big mobile phone is. Now that you're back, wouldn't he take it out to show off, let the others see? To prove to people he wasn't bragging."

Ye Fu's old face reddened, "Where did I show off? Isn't it just that the conversation led to it, and everyone was curious and envious? Just want to take a look, that's all. I was waiting for Dongzi to come back so I could show them. Looking is fine, I definitely won't let them touch it, what if they break it, they couldn't afford to pay for it."

"Pfft, as if I don't know you."

"You've got the nerve to talk about me. The moment you came back you told people you could speak English, said you spent a few days in Yangcheng talking to foreigners in English every day, and even helped Dongzi get quite a few orders."

"What I said is fact. When Dongzi's stall was cold and deserted at first, it was all me pulling customers for him. Don't look down on people, I really can talk to foreigners."

"I don't believe a word of it. How much ink do you have in your belly, don't I know? Being able to recognize a few characters is already impressive, and you can speak foreign language? Then I could fly up to the sky."

"Then go fly up to the sky! I really can speak it, Dongzi can vouch for me, Dongzi even taught me several words."

Ye Fu looked at Ye Yaodong and chuckled, "Oh, so it was your son who taught you English."

Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose, feeling quite embarrassed, and quickly found the big brother big for his dad, stuffing it into his dad's hand.

"Alright, take it out to show off, don't break it."

"Did you activate roaming? Can you make calls?"

"Can't, our little backwater place can't activate roaming."

"Then forget it, looking is fine too." Ye Fu happily cradled the big brother big, then waved it at Ye Mu.

"You actually know how to speak English? Then say a couple of sentences for me to hear, and I'll admit you can."

"Don't need your admission, I can speak it anyway. Hurry up and go show off yours, don't be in the way here?"

Ye Mu rolled her eyes at him.

When Ye Fu took the big brother big out to show off, Ye Mu quickly turned to ask Lin Lin Xiuqing, "I forgot again how to say those few words, getting old, my memory's not good, help me think."

Lin Lin Xiuqing said helplessly, "Hello, thank you, thank you, eat, boss. That's the five words I taught you back then."

The English she spoke was no different from Ye Mu's, six of one half a dozen of the other, and Ye Yaodong laughed out loud hearing it.

Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him, "No laughing."

Ye Mu excitedly repeated after her, "I remember again, I'll recite it for your dad when he comes back, let's see if he flies up to the sky."

Ye Mu flipped the spatula, muttering the words to herself, preparing to show off later when Ye Fu came back and recite them for him.

Lin Lin Xiuqing walked to Ye Yaodong's side and explained to him, "The moment I got back, Mom asked me how to say it, then showed off at the workshop, the aunties all praised her up and down, these past two days she's probably forgotten again."

"That's pretty good, being old doesn't stop her from being eager to learn."

"They're all just vain."

PS: I've been writing too much daily life lately, it's getting a bit tiring, the high seas plotline is coming up next.