Chapter 24: Picking Corn

Lin Xiuqing looked at his actions and asked hurriedly, "Where are you taking the son?"

"Nowhere, going to help Grandmother pick corn."

"Pick them all back, or just pick a few? Should I go help?"

Ye Yaodong looked at the old lady behind him, who was only carrying a basket. "Pick a few, didn't we say yesterday, keep them for ourselves to eat, tell Grandmother not to sell them. Just pick a few and come back. You go do your work."

Ye's mother saw that he was rarely diligent for once, and said with a pleasant countenance, "Pick a few more back today, don't peel the skin, boil them with the skin in the evening, and Father and the others can take them to the sea as snacks."

"Then take a sack to pack them, pack about 20 back."

"By the way, pick a few more vegetable melons, let Father and the others take them to the sea?" Ye's eldest sister-in-law also said.

"Got it."

After the old lady got the sack ready, Ye Yaodong carried his son and walked toward the village entrance with her. This was in the opposite direction to the seaside.

The old lady walked slowly, and he accommodated her pace, slow and leisurely, while looking around. Along the way, all he saw were women weaving nets at their doors, and children running and jumping around everywhere.

Their family's seven children were just running down from the dirt slope nearby. The youngest son in his arms saw everyone here and shouted excitedly, "Brother~ Sister~"

"Ah, Father, why are you here? Where are you going?"

Ye Chenghu also saw his father and younger brother and hurriedly called out, but didn't look at his feet. Not careful, he slipped and sat on the ground, sliding to his father's feet.

But he didn't cry, just shouted a couple of times, stood up, and patted his butt. "Ouch, hurts to death, good thing it was my butt."

Ye Yaodong's mouth twitched. Truly sturdy!

The old lady also stepped forward and patted his butt. "Walk slower, watch the road. Oh, it's broken a hole, hurry back and let your mother patch it."

"Ah, no need, right? Mother will beat me. I want to ask Grandmother to patch it. Father, where are you and Great-Grandmother going?"

"Going to pick corn and vegetable melons!"

"Owow~ I want to go too!"

"I want to go too!"

"We want to go too!" One by one, they expressed excitedly that they wanted to follow.

"Your butt is exposed, not going home to patch your pants first?"

"No, I want to go pick corn and vegetable melons first, patch it when I go home later." After speaking, he ran toward the village entrance. Even if there was a hole in his butt, it didn't matter, he didn't even think about covering it.

The others also ran forward excitedly, shouting.

"You guys slow down, be careful not to fall..." The old lady called out from behind, worried.

One is bringing, a group is also bringing. Ye Yaodong didn't care. "Don't worry about them, just be careful not to fall yourself."

"Father, hurry, hurry, brother, ran."

Ye Yaodong patted his youngest son's butt. He couldn't even speak clearly, yet still wanted to play with them. "What's the rush, we'll catch up in a moment."

That three-fen plot of land across the road at the village entrance, originally a slope overgrown with weeds, was reclaimed bit by bit by his grandfather when he was alive.

His grandfather passed away, so his father helped the old lady plant it. The old lady was also someone who couldn't be idle, helping her plant, she herself also had to make two trips a day, fearing things would be stolen.

"Don't pick randomly, don't pick the ones that aren't ripe." Ye Yaodong stopped several children who had already started picking corn.

"Oh, we know how to pick. The beard behind the corn tail has to be black before we can pick it, right? We know!" The one who replied was the eldest, Ye Chenghu, who was already twelve years old.

Several children shuttled through the corn bushes and were directly submerged. The youngest, Ye Chengyang, also struggled to get down. Ye Yaodong put him down, let him play by himself, took the sack from the old lady, and let Ye Chenghu pack it.

"Enough, pick 20 stalks first, you guys pick 3 stalks each, don't pick too many, come back tomorrow morning."

"Ah, not pick a few more?" Ye Chenghu looked at the two corns in his hand with regret, could only pick one more.

"Pick a few to eat a day, if you pick them all down and your Great-Grandmother takes them to sell, you won't have any to eat."

"Then forget it, better pick a few a day."

With many people, efficiency was high. In just a short while, they picked the corn. The old lady also picked a full basket of vegetable melons, some big, some small. The small ones were the size of a fist, the big ones were like a pestle, all ripe.

Ye Yaodong carried a small bag of corn on his shoulder and took the basket from the old lady's hand. "I'll take the things, you walk slowly."

Then he looked at the group of children. "Are you all out? One, two, three, four, five, six... there's still one? Who? Ye Chenghu?"

"Ye Chenghu!" He raised his voice and shouted into the corn bushes.

"I'm here, Father!" Ye Chenghu responded from the slope above, holding the corn, and then walked down holding the corn in his arms.

Ye Yaodong looked at the corn stalks he was holding open with his shirt. "Picked from above?"

"You child, why did you go pick from someone else's?" The old lady looked at the road and said in a low voice.

"Ah, isn't all the corn ours?"

"Only this part is ours!"

Ye Chenghu scratched his head. "I thought all the corn here was ours!"

Ye Yaodong put down the basket and happily threw the corn in his arms into the sack. "It's fine, as long as no one sees. When I was young, your father also thought the whole mountain was ours, picked whatever!"

The old lady whispered, "Can't pick other people's next time, if you're seen, you'll be scolded."

"More than that, you'll be chased all over the mountain!"

"Father, have you been chased?"

"Up the mountain, down to the sea, everything that can be played, your old man has played. Let's go, let's go home." Ye Yaodong shouldered the corn again!

"Wait, there's still Yangyang!" The old lady grabbed Ye Yaodong, who was about to lift his leg and leave.

"Oh right! Almost forgot this guy!"

He looked around but didn't see his youngest son, so he let the children go find him, and he himself put down the things.

"This one is only a tiny bit big, yet can run so well, where did he hide."

"Here, Third Uncle, Yangyang is sitting on the ground gnawing on a vegetable melon!"

Ye Yaodong walked in the direction of the voice, only to see his youngest son sitting on the ground, looking up and holding a vegetable melon bigger than his face, looking at everyone innocently.

That vegetable melon was still on the vine, and it had already been gnawed through the skin before being picked. It was hard for him to find one that grew low.

"Why are you hiding here stealing food?"

"Father!"

Ye Chengyang raised the vegetable melon in his hand to hand it to his father, but his strength wasn't enough. The moment he raised it, it fell down. As a result, the vegetable melon hanging on the vine swung, hitting his forehead. He didn't sit steady and fell four-legged to the sky...

"Hahaha~"

"Hahahaha~ idiot~"

Several children gloated without mercy!

Ye Yaodong also looked at his youngest son, who didn't cry or make a fuss on the ground, but flipped over and crawled up with his hands and feet, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Covered in dirt, dirty to death, you, you and your brother will be scolded together when you go back."