Chapter 383: A Different Kind of Big Cake

After getting home, Lin Lin Xiuqing also asked him about the big cauldron he'd salvaged.

"Why'd you just hand it over? You could've at least hauled it back and kept it at home for a few days so I could see what it looked like."

"Silly, this big cauldron may look rare, but it's extremely inauspicious—it's not something you keep at home." Ye Yaodong spoke as he stripped off his dirty clothes.

"There's a saying that in ancient times this cauldron was a cooking vessel, used to turn living things into dead ones. Later it evolved into an ancestral sacrificial implement, also used to hold sacrificial Offerings. That's why it's extremely inauspicious—an ordinary household can't suppress it."

"I hadn't thought about it that way at first, but later Ah Guang's father reminded me I could place it at the temple so it wouldn't take up space. Only then did I remember that an ordinary household really can't suppress this cauldron—it can only go to a museum or a temple."

Lin Lin Xiuqing didn't know much about cauldrons either. After hearing him say it was extremely inauspicious, she dropped the idea—she had wanted to take a look.

"Then better not haul it back. Offering it to Goddess Mazu is great, and it'll be put to use at the temple."

"Mm."

"Dad just brought me a bucket too, said the stuff you wanted is inside, told me to hide it well. I didn't dare peek—what is it?"

"Where did you put it?"

"Hid it inside the house."

Hearing this, Ye Yaodong headed straight for the room and scanned the inside of the house.

Lin Lin Xiuqing followed him inside and pointed out it was behind the door. Only then did he spot the bucket behind the door. He casually flipped off the cloth on top, saw the intact black case inside, and bent down to lift it out.

"What is this, Adong?"

"No idea, I haven't opened it yet either. There's a lock on it—go grab the machete."

"Oh."

The machete was in the firewood pile in the main room; Lin Lin Xiuqing went and came back in a flash.

He didn't know what wood the black case was made of, and Ye Yaodong didn't know these things either. The lock on it had already been corroded by seawater and was covered in rust. Two strikes of the machete and in a flash of sparks, the lock fell off.

He reached out impatiently, but just as he was about to open the lid, he suddenly thought of the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles from wuxia dramas…

He shook his head again, feeling he'd watched too many TV dramas and was overthinking it. But, ahem—

"Ah Qing, step back a bit, go to the side."

Lin Lin Xiuqing was a bit baffled, not understanding why she had to move aside, but she still obeyed and shuffled to the side.

Ye Yaodong also aimed the black case toward the doorway, then flung it open with a sudden jerk. Instantly, the couple both sucked in a cold breath, their pupils contracting.

The legendary Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles weren't there, but what appeared in the case was even more jaw-dropping than the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles!

Inside the black case was a sheet of golden yellow—a large pile of round golden cakes stacked inside. That gleaming, perfectly round look was utterly delightful, catching the eye.

"A… Adong…" Lin Lin Xiuqing's voice trembled with shock, and she clutched Ye Yaodong's arm tightly.

Ye Yaodong was startled too, then instantly slammed the case shut, pressing a hand against his wildly beating heart. Though the Melo pearls and ambergris were each worth no less than this, those things couldn't be cashed in—nothing hits as viscerally, as heart-stoppingly, as a pile of gleaming gold.

"Oh my god, you keep asking me every day if I picked up money—well, this time I really did pick up money."

"Huh? Adong… I wasn't seeing things just now, was I?"

"Probably not. Want another look?"

Ye Yaodong opened the case again, and the gleaming golden cakes came back into view. He couldn't help swallowing. "So many—we're rich!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing's eyes went wide too. "No wonder ancient Emperors had their robes made yellow—it's really beautiful!"

He nodded in agreement. "It really is beautiful!"

This time he took one out before closing the lid, weighed it in his hand, and figured each was about half a jin. "Take a bite and see if it's real?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing actually obeyed, took it, and bit it, then said joyfully: "It's soft! And a little sweet."

"Sweet? Well, isn't that right? Big cakes are sweet, after all."

"Why is this gold shaped like a cake? So weird—I've never seen gold shaped like this."

"How many times have you even seen gold?"

Uh… that hurt…

Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him, then continued: "This black case really came from the seabed?"

"Mm, found it together with the big cauldron, hidden by seaweed around it. Good thing I have sharp eyes—I spotted it and hauled it up."

"Why does this feel like a dream?"

She fondled the golden cake back and forth, unable to put it down, feeling it wasn't quite real. Just now she'd been clearing the table and sweeping the floor, and suddenly a huge pile of golden cakes appeared before her—this was solid gold!

The Melo pearls and ambergris were valuable, but she'd only heard him talk about them—she'd never had such a visceral, stunning sense of wealth falling from the sky.

Mainly because she didn't know the worth of those things. Nothing felt as real as a big pile of gold—sitting on a pile of gold was true wealth.

Country women were just this vulgar!

"Want me to pinch you? Snap you out of it?"

"Annoying!" Lin Lin Xiuqing swatted him, then reluctantly handed him the golden cake she'd bitten. "What do we do with these? Where do we hide them?"

Ye Yaodong put that golden cake back into the case, then thought for a moment. "The lock's busted too, keeping them at home isn't safe… mm… how about burying them under the two osmanthus trees we planted yesterday?"

"Under the trees?"

"Yeah, just bury them under the trees! Bury them deep. Don't put all your eggs in one basket—if all the treasures are at home, I'm afraid they'll be wiped out in one go. Anyway, the trees were just planted, the soil is freshly filled in. Just dig another hole, bury this in, and no one will notice. The neighbors on both sides already know I planted trees yesterday."

"And I've talked it over with the Zhou family next door—bought materials from them and borrowed their workers for a few days to build another room for the old lady. While we're at it, let's spend a bit more to wall off a yard too, enclosing the front door."

"Fine, do as you see fit. We're not short on cash anyway—bury them first. Holding onto them is useless."

"It is useless."

Ye Yaodong suddenly wasn't as happy as before either—these couldn't be spent or cashed in right away, so the joy was halved…

Sigh, still had to go out to sea and keep at it.

"Let's count them first before burying…"

Perhaps the couple's voices inside the room were too loud and directly disturbed the child's sleep—the baby's wail rang out instantly, and Lin Lin Xiuqing hurried off to soothe the baby.

"I'll comfort the baby. You go eat first, eat then get busy. We've already eaten."

"Alright. Where are the two boys?"

"Where else could they have gone? They ran off next door to play."

"All day long when they come back there's not a soul in sight—busier than Laozi himself." Ye Yaodong muttered a couple of lines and went out to eat as well.

After eating, he didn't bother bathing. He went into the room first to count the gold cakes—not one more, not one less, exactly 100. He did a quick mental calculation: about 50 jin!

No wonder this black box doesn't look big—it's actually quite heavy.

Actually, each gold cake weighs 248 grams, but he had no scale, so he could only heft them by feel with his hands.

After counting, he put the gold cakes back into the black box and closed the lid, but in an instant he took one out again. "Should I keep one by my side? Convenient for you to take out and look at every now and then, feel it in your hand?"

Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered—in her last life, she didn't seem to even have a single piece of gold jewelry. Their family was poor, he didn't do any work, and they had no daughter. By 50, with no daughter to melt gold and make ten for her, she didn't even have gold earrings.

Thinking of this, Ye Yaodong felt that since starting over, he hadn't really been much more dutiful—he hadn't even thought to buy her a gold necklace, ring, or earrings. He'd have to find time to arrange that.

"How many are there?" Lin Lin Xiuqing asked while breastfeeding.

"Exactly a hundred, not one more not one less. I'd guess they planned it that way."

"Then take one out and keep it by you. You can look at it once in a while, cheer yourself up… Just keep the one I bit earlier—the one with the tooth mark. The rest aren't much use sitting around. Take them and bury them."

Given the means, what woman doesn't like gold, silver, pearls, and jewelry? Those who say they don't either lack the means, or are just too understanding.

Ye Yaodong had originally pulled one out at random without checking which one it was. Hearing her say that, he started rummaging through them again, then took it over for her to play with.

Lin Lin Xiuqing took it and laughed: "How did the ancients think to make gold into the shape of a big cake? That's actually pretty creative—it looks festive."

"Who knows? Maybe they figured a big cake could fill your belly, so making it this shape carries a good meaning!"

"Maybe. Our family fortune has grown again—plenty to go around. Melon pearls, ambergris, and this chest of gold cakes. In the future, the three siblings can each pick one."

"You're thinking too far ahead. They're still so small, and you're already thinking about dividing the family property."

"Whatever I earn from now on will all be theirs anyway."

Ye Father: Those words sound a bit familiar?

"Go take a bath and get to bed early. Wait until no one's around at night, then get up and bury it."

"Mm, there's a lot of cargo these days. Once I'm done with this busy stretch, I'll find time to go up the mountain and chop some firewood. I heard you nagging the other day that we're almost out."

"Don't bother. You just go out to sea. Once the sun comes out for a couple of days, I'll ask Ye Ye Dasao or Ye Ye Ersao to help watch the kids, and I'll chop the wood on the mountain myself."

"It should still burn for two more days. We'll talk after it's gone." Who knows, by then someone might show up from the county or somewhere. He'd be resting anyway, and could find time to chop firewood on the mountain. The timing worked out just right for him.

Getting up in the night, he saw that the handcarts of his eldest and second brothers were already gone from the doorway. He knew they'd diligently left early again—out to sea.

He looked around—front, back, left, right—no one, not a sound. He quickly took a hoe and dug a deep pit right beneath the osmanthus tree, buried the chest of gold cakes in it, filled the soil back in, and restored the ground to its original state.

Then he hurried off to the dock.

He was late. Without a doubt, he got an earful from his father, scolded from head to toe.

"What were you dawdling around for so long before coming out? Rested for over 20 days and still not rested enough? What time is this? Only just arriving… your eldest brother's and second brother's boats left long ago…"

"Alright, alright, I was held up by something. I'm not a kid—there's this many people and you're still scolding."

"So what if there are many people? Even with this many people, you're still my son. Even when you're old, I can still hit you and scold you."

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll go back right now and tell the old lady, let her scold you to death!"

The villagers nearby burst into snickering laughter…

Ye Father, annoyed, cursed him a few more times as a good-for-nothing before getting on the boat himself.