Chapter 438

People living on the southeast coast have to suffer the intrusion of typhoons every year from July to September.

It was only afternoon, but the sky was already rolling with dark clouds, blocking out the sun, as if a black curtain had been hung to shroud the sky, and everything before their eyes was dim.

Ye Yaodong and his wife listened to the wind whistling and blowing in their ears, which had a strong tendency to intensify, so they hurriedly moved everything that should be moved into the house, and all the chicken and duck cages were moved into the house to avoid unnecessary losses.

Even the black sunshade net hanging above the doorway was temporarily untied and collected inside to avoid being blown away by the wind.

By the way, they also chased the two children inside, not letting them run wild outside anymore, and they also told the other children to hurry home.

On the sea surface not far away, the waves were also rolling up two people high from time to time, crashing onto the shore with a loud bang before receding again.

"Wow~ Such high waves!"

The children stood at their own doorways, watching in a daze.

When they lived in the old house before, they had never run to the shore on a typhoon day, and they had never known that waves could roll up so high. No wonder the adults hadn't let them get close to the beach casually these past two days.

Ye Yaodong also looked at the distant beach, and through a wall, he said to them, "What's this? Wait until night, the waves will be even bigger."

"Then we'll crawl up and watch again at night!"

"And by the way, eat a meal of bamboo shoots fried with meat; it's just a typhoon day, and your parents are idle anyway."

"Ah?"

At this moment, the voice of Ye's second sister-in-law came from next door, "Why are you all standing at the doorway? Hurry up and come in for a bath, wash early, otherwise if the power goes out later, you'll have to feel around in the dark. Day after day, I don't know what you're doing? Your clothes are dirtier than your father's..."

Ye Yaodong still stood at the doorway watching the churning tide; the yellow, turbid sea waves were one layer higher than the next, looking quite spectacular, and from time to time, he could see big fish jumping into mid-air and falling back into the sea.

He couldn't help but admire that his eyesight was truly good; he could still see the fish's figure from a distance.

After standing for only a little while, raindrops the size of soybeans fell from the sky, drifting with the wind, deviating from their original intended landing spots, blown by the wind into a curve as they dripped, hitting the roof and falling to the ground with a pitter-patter sound.

Rolling ink-colored clouds obscured half the sky, and the heat from the ground mixed with the cool breeze, mingled with the damp soil and green grass; the scent of damp earth swept across the tip of his nose with the wind.

"It's raining, Dad, is the power going to go out?"

"Not yet, the power should go out a bit later. You two go inside first, see if your mother has finished cooking? Let's eat early today."

The two still stood motionless on the spot. Ye Yaodong saw the rain getting heavier and heavier, so he went back into the house directly, to save the two children from following him and not going in.

"This rain started so heavily all of a sudden, it's like a basin of water was poured directly down, it's so loud."

Lin Xiuqing said while using a spatula to stir the food in the pot; Ye Yaodong couldn't distinguish whether the sound of her spatula stirring was louder or the sound of the rain was louder.

"It's a typhoon day, how can it not rain when a typhoon is blowing..." Ye Yaodong tilted his head, looking at the ceiling, "I'll go to the other rooms to see if there are any leaks?"

"There shouldn't be, right? During the rainy season two months ago, there were no leaks."

"That's different; how can a rainy day be the same as a typhoon day? The wind outside is so strong, I hope the tiles aren't blown off. I don't know how much the old house is leaking..."

Ye Yaodong checked the inside and outside of the house and found that there were no signs of leaks, and he felt relieved at once; the newly built house was indeed comfortable.

I remember that last year, when the typhoon blew, the whole family's pots and pans were all put to use, and it still wasn't enough; they were there catching water and pouring it out all night long.

This year, they can finally have some peace, and they should be able to sleep well at night.

The old lady was sitting in front of the stove helping to burn the fire, and she also looked up at the beams overhead, sighing, "In all these years, this is the first time the house hasn't leaked on a typhoon day. This house is built well."

"It won't leak in the future either. In a few years, when we've saved a bit more money, we'll add a second floor on top and turn this house of ours into a multi-story building. You can just rest assured and enjoy your blessings with me."

The old lady smiled with a face full of joy, "Good, good, good. I didn't enjoy any blessings following your grandfather or your father, but I'm enjoying them following you. Living in a new house, listening to the radio, and drinking malted milk every day—not even the immortals live as well as I do!"

Ye Yaodong chuckled, "This is just the beginning. The immortals aren't this shabby; the good days are still to come. In a year or two, I'll buy you a television set so you can watch TV every day, and I'll buy a Simmons mattress so you can sleep on a soft bed. What's malted milk? You won't even care to eat it by then..."

He was telling the truth; in a few years, all of these will be popularized, but buying early means enjoying early. For the old lady's sake, he couldn't wait until they were popularized; she was already at this age.

The old lady was coaxed by him until her face was glowing, and she couldn't close her mouth from happiness, "Good, good, good, then I'll just count on my good grandson. I'll wait for you to get rich and show filial piety to me, and I'll enjoy my blessings slowly."

"Dad, I also want to watch TV, when will you buy one..."

"What does that have to do with you? I'm in charge of you while you're young, and you have to be in charge of me when I'm old. I'm waiting for you to show filial piety to me and buy me a TV. Hurry up and wash your hands, we'll eat in a moment. Look at your fingernails, they're pitch black; if I didn't know better, I'd think you just finished picking your nose. Come over later and I'll trim them for you."

"Hmph, I'll wipe them on you! Saying I just finished picking my nose, I'll wipe them on you." Ye Chenghu mischievously wiped both his hands on his father twice, and then, when his father raised his hand to hit him, he hurriedly ran to wash his hands.

"You little brat, if you don't get a beating for three days, you'll be tearing the roof tiles off."

Lin Xiuqing glared at him, "Who told you to say such nasty things. We're about to eat, and you're still talking about noses and such."

"You're saying it too!"

"I'm just learning from you."

"That's still saying it!"

Lin Xiuqing was furious, wanting to take the spatula and slap his face twice, "You hurry up and wash your hands too."

While their family was eating warmly, the sound of the wind outside grew louder, blowing more and more fiercely. The glass on the windows was also vibrating violently from the wind, and the trees on the dirt slope behind the house were swaying and dancing a crazy "disco," making a rustling sound.

The small light bulb hanging overhead was swaying, flickering on and off, feeling like it was about to go out at any moment.

"The power is going out!"

"Ah! The power is out~"

The two boys suddenly had an inexplicable sense of excitement; I don't know what there is to be excited about when the power goes out?

"All of you be honest, I'll go find a candle and light it in advance."

The light bulb overhead flickered on and off. Ye Yaodong got up to go to the cupboard to get the candle he had prepared in advance. Just as he got it in his hand, before he could light it, the light overhead went black with a snap.

"Wow! The power is out!"

A burst of exclamations came from next door at the same time, along with excited shouts. Of course, there was no shortage of scolding, after all, they were all quite asking for a beating.

"Sit obediently, don't move, your father has gone to light a candle, it will be bright in a moment."

"Wow~ Hoo ah hoo ah~ So scary~ Hoo hoo hoo~ The ghost is coming~"

"Ah ah ah~"

Ye Chenghu was mischievously howling like a ghost there, scaring Ye Chengyang into howling.

Lin Xiuqing scolded him, "Shut up, your skin is itching, I'll give you a whip later."

Once the light went dark, the room instantly became pitch black. He had checked the time before; it was only five o'clock. Today they had even eaten early, but the sky outside was already so dark you couldn't see your fingers, pitch black and heavy, with dark clouds covering the top.

He was very familiar with the layout of his own house, so he felt his way in the dark to the stove to find matches. What he touched was the stove, which was still warm.

They had just finished cooking, and the surface still had residual heat. He felt along the corner until he found a small, square box. He struck it skillfully, and the weak candlelight instantly dispelled the darkness in the room.

"Dad, put it here, put it here..."

"Put it here, I want the candle."

Ye Yaodong didn't pay them any mind; he gave the candle to Lin Xiuqing and told her to put it in the corner inside, dripping some candle wax to weld it to the table to fix it. Otherwise, if he put it beside the two children, they wouldn't be able to focus on eating.

If they accidentally knocked the candle over, it would be troublesome.

"Alright, hurry up and eat. After you finish eating, I'll light another one for you to take into the room."

"Eating by candlelight is so fun; we haven't eaten by candlelight in a long time."

The orange light of the candle made everyone's facial features look exceptionally soft, giving a romantic and warm feeling. This made him feel a bit that being able to sit and eat together like this every day in this life was enough; no wonder candlelight dinners are so popular.

"The village is all electrified, why light candles when there are light bulbs? Other villages didn't get electricity so early, and you don't know how much they crave it. Hurry up and eat, don't be long-winded; you haven't eaten a few mouthfuls of rice, but you've said a basketful of words."

The old lady listened to the typhoon howling and circling outside, accompanied by the torrential rain and the sound of the sea waves churning from time to time, and she also felt some worry about the old house in her heart.

"I should have taken your father and mother over together before it started raining. I don't know how much the old house is leaking; they probably won't be able to sleep at night. Bringing them over to lay a floor mat would be better than being in the old house."

Ye Yaodong also put down his chopsticks, frowning as he looked at the doors and windows that were constantly vibrating. It was pitch black outside, and he could only hear the sound of the wind; he couldn't see what the situation was.

He stood up, "I'll go over and see. While the sky has just darkened and the wind has just started to blow, I'll go and bring them all over."

Lin Xiuqing held his hand and said worriedly, "The wind outside is already so strong, not many people dare to linger outside..."

Ye Yaodong held her hand back, "I'm walking into the village, not toward the seaside, it doesn't matter. I'll put on my straw raincoat and wear my hat to take precautions later, I'm not afraid of things hitting me?"

The old lady also spoke up to stop him, "I was just saying that, don't run out. The wind outside is already blowing so hard, it's fine if you let your father and mother tough it out for one night; it's not like they haven't toughed it out before..."

Although she was worried about her son, she didn't want her grandson to take risks.

"Don't worry, don't look at how the sound outside is louder than usual; there's also the sound of sea waves in here, which is why it seems so imposing. It hasn't reached the truly fierce moment yet, I'll just walk along the main road, I'm not afraid."

As he spoke, he had already put on his straw raincoat.