Chapter 462: Warm Greetings

When they arrived, their hearts were filled with trepidation and uncertainty, yet also a hint of longing and excitement. By the time they returned, only excitement remained.

Looking at the scenery along the way in the city, everyone felt their eyes weren't enough to take it all in. Daytime was, of course, incomparable to nighttime; the tall buildings were so numerous they couldn't even count them, and they all wished they could tell the tractor driver to stop so they could count them one by one.

Then there were the bicycles weaving everywhere on the streets, the people dressed in bright and beautiful clothes, and the peddlers calling out to sell food as they came and went. Their mental outlooks all looked different—each one full of vigor, brimming with longing and hope for their future lives.

At this moment, they also sprouted the idea: if they had the money to buy a shop or a house, could they also stay in the city and become city dwellers?

This wasn't a county town; this was the city.

Their hearts couldn't help but stir. Since Ye Yaodong bought a house, didn't that make him a city person, a cut above the rest?

Everyone's hearts underwent subtle changes; they felt Ye Yaodong was already a notch above them. Although they didn't think much of that shop, he had still invested in property.

If they moved to the city in the future, they would never have to smell that fishy odor again, or blow in the salty sea breeze, and they could go out every day dressed in bright and beautiful clothes...

It was only a few minutes of travel, yet the thoughts in everyone's minds had turned a hundred times. Their ideas were no longer like before—staying in a small fishing village, living one day at a time, just hoping to have enough to eat.

Which man didn't have an ideal in his heart? The reason they had no ideas before was that their horizons and lives had limited them.

Not until they passed through the city center and the surrounding houses returned to a low-lying stretch did everyone recover their senses. It seemed not everything in the city was a high-rise?

These low-lying residential areas were about the same as their town back home, but still better than the stone houses in their village.

"These city people live really well; their clothes look so good..."

"And they don't have to work to get commercial grain."

"They were born into such good families. Why are people so different? I wonder when we'll be able to eat commercial grain."

"That seems quite difficult. You need to register a household in the city and have a commercial grain household registration."

"Eh~ then can Ye Yaodong eat commercial grain?"

"No," Ye Yaodong said affirmatively. "That's a shop, not a house. You can't register a household there, and there's no grain ration book."

"That's a pity. If we had known, we would have bought a house."

The Wenzhou house-speculation group wouldn't appear for several more years. Buying a house so early wasn't just tying up money? Besides, this was a city, not Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou. Today was just a lucky encounter, so he bought a shop for the time being.

"You all work hard and earn more money. When the time comes, come to the city to buy a house, eat commercial grain, and become people a cut above the rest. Anyway, if money is just sitting in your hands, it's just sitting there. Buying a house and leaving it there isn't a loss."

"How many years would that take to earn?"

"You'll earn more and more as you go."

A typhoon had passed through the night before last, and it had rained. Yesterday had been overcast all day, so the roads hadn't dried yet. As the tractor drove along, there was no yellow dust flying, so no one had to eat dirt, and their passion for chatting was even higher.

If it had been a sunny day, the bumpy ride back would have left them covered in dust and grime, not to mention the large chunks of boogers they could pick out of their noses.

The tractor rattled along. On the mountain roads, they would occasionally encounter people walking or pushing carts. Everyone just gave an envious look before lowering their heads to walk their own way.

People nowadays were truly hardworking and could walk so far! A pair of Liberation shoes could walk the whole world.

When they were almost at the village, they calculated the travel expenses in advance. It was two yuan per person for the round trip by carpool, which they paid directly when getting off.

When Ye Yaodong set off, Lin Xiuqing had put a few yuan in his cloth bag. Now that he was home, after incurring a debt of 350 yuan, he still had over 6 yuan in his pocket.

He touched his jingling pocket and looked at his wife, who had run out to stand at the doorway, happily welcoming him after hearing the sound of the tractor. He gave a guilty smile.

The others gave him a look that said "good luck," patted his shoulder, silently lit a candle for him in their hearts, and then each walked toward their own wives and children.

"Daddy~"

"Third Uncle~"

"Little Aunt's husband~"

A large group of children came running to welcome him, and his legs suddenly had a bunch of attachments.

"Daddy~ Mom said this morning that you went on a long trip. Did you earn a lot of money back? Did you buy us anything good to eat?"

"Little Aunt's husband, why are you back so soon? Don't people go on long trips for several days? Why are you so fast? It hasn't even been a day."

"Yeah, Third Uncle, why are you back so early?"

A group of children were chattering, one word after another. Usually, he would have felt a headache, but at this moment, he didn't feel it at all. Being able to delay time was good!

"I went to handle some business, not to play. I came back as soon as I finished. I didn't wander around, and I didn't buy anything."

Seeing their disappointed expressions, he reached into the cloth bag in front of him again. He hadn't eaten the canned food or the flour tea cakes that Lin Xiuqing had brought him the night before; he had only eaten an egg while wandering around after selling the goods.

"Take these two and share them."

"Wow wow wow~ canned food to eat again."

"And sweet flour tea cakes..."

Their faces instantly turned from cloudy to sunny, and they became excited again. They no longer surrounded him, but ran off holding the items.

Lin Xiuqing also smiled and came out to welcome him. "You're back quite early. It's not even noon yet. I thought you wouldn't be back until tonight."

"Cough, I came back once I sold everything."

Although Lin Xiuqing knew he had sold everything when she saw him return empty-handed, she was still pleasantly surprised when she heard him say that. "You sold it all? So fast? How much money did you make?"

"Cough cough, a total of 150 yuan, 8 jiao, and 8 fen. The big ones were 3 jiao 6, the small ones 2 jiao 8."

"That's a lot!" Lin Xiuqing was pleasantly surprised. "This morning, I heard the eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law say that the price outside the wharf dropped again last night, saying the quantity was too large and they couldn't take it all. By the time they sold theirs, the big ones were only 2 jiao 6, and the small ones only 2 jiao. For the last thirty or forty households, it seemed the price dropped again; regardless of size, it was only 2 jiao, saying they mixed in too many empty shells and mixed the sizes together."

"Ah?"

"It's a good thing you sent them to the city. I didn't expect the price difference to be so big. The eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law were both saying this morning that if they had known, they would have gone to the city with you."

Ye Yaodong felt fortunate. "Money can't buy 'if I had known.' It's also because the fellow villagers were messing around and disrupting the market. If they had honestly picked them clean and carefully, the price wouldn't have dropped so hard even if it did drop. This is almost cutting it in half."

"Who knows."

At this time, Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua also walked over.

Ye Yaopeng asked curiously, "Why are you back so early?"

"I came back once I sold everything."

"How is the wholesale market in the city? Did you sell them for a good price?"

"The big ones were 3 jiao 6, the small ones 3 jiao 2."

"Ah?"

Both brothers frowned. They thought there wouldn't be much difference. This involved travel expenses, the hassle, the distance, and being in an unfamiliar place without any certainty. The queue at the wharf was already half-full, so they had been relatively conservative.

Now they felt they had lost out big time. A difference of 1 jiao meant a difference of 10 yuan for 100 jin. They had over 300 jin in total, big and small, which was the difference of more than half a month's wages, and it had only taken half a day. It wasn't even noon yet, and he was back.

Both of them wanted to beat their chests and stamp their feet.

Ye Yaodong comforted them, "It doesn't matter. You'll learn your lesson next time. If we encounter a lot of goods again in the future, we'll send them ourselves."

"Sigh, who knew the market price was so good?"

"Then, are the other goods at our wharf priced higher at the wholesale market?"

"Hmm, it will be a bit higher. That's for sure; they have to make money too."

He didn't say how much higher, to avoid attracting hatred.

Seeing them still standing at the door, Lin Xiuqing hurriedly reminded them, "Let Ye Yaodong go in and rest first, okay? He hasn't slept all night and has been on a long car ride. Let him rest for a while first."

"Right, right, right. You go in and sleep for a while first. We'll chat later."

Actually, he wasn't tired either...

However, the feeling of his wife turning around him, asking about his well-being, was quite good.

"Are you tired? How many hours did you sit in the car? You must be exhausted..."

"Are you hungry? It's not mealtime yet, and I haven't cooked the rice, so let me boil you a bowl of noodles first!"

"Why didn't you eat the canned food and flour tea cakes I packed for you? You brought them back? They're heavy!"

Ye Yaodong sat by the dining table in the main room, watching her busy back and forth, her mouth asking questions non-stop.

"There were so many people; it would have been embarrassing for them to watch me eat. If I shared with them, they wouldn't eat it, and our own children haven't had enough yet. Besides, I wasn't hungry. I ate an egg to pad my stomach, and it was dawn not long after. There were also steamed buns for sale at the market entrance."

"That's good. When you're away from home, don't go hungry."

"Hmm... Lin Xiuqing... let me tell you something..."

"Dongzi?"

The old lady didn't know where she had returned from at this moment. Just as she slowly entered the room, she saw Ye Yaodong sitting there. She hurriedly and excitedly took a few steps forward and touched his arm.

"When did Dongzi get back? Quite fast. I thought you wouldn't be back until evening or afternoon. If I had known, I wouldn't have gone out and would have waited at home. This is your first long trip."

"Are you exhausted from the car ride? Did you eat well outside? Did you go hungry?"

"You haven't slept all night; look, your eye circles are black. Is your wife cooking noodles? Then you go sleep as soon as you finish eating..."

The old lady didn't stop asking as soon as she saw him, and didn't give him a chance to speak.

"I'm not tired, and it wasn't very far, also..."

"How can you not be tired? Anyone who hasn't slept all night can't handle it, and you traveled back and forth in a car for a long distance. Don't rely on being young and not take it seriously. After you're full, go get a good sleep. Your health is important."

"It's a pity the chickens and ducks at home are too small, otherwise I'd kill one to nourish you. Those few ducks have had a good life these past few days, eating fish and shrimp by the beach every day. I'll catch a few more next year..."

She really had to catch a few more, otherwise, it wouldn't be enough for the old lady to kill.

Other people's old ladies only thought about killing them during the New Year and holidays, but his family's old lady wanted to kill chickens and ducks as soon as she felt he was tired, and she didn't feel the heartache.

"Where did you go? Sit down and talk! The ground hasn't dried yet, and it's wet everywhere. Where did you go? Aren't you afraid of slipping?"

"Sigh, it's not that the typhoon just passed, and I was worried about your Brother Hong's family. Yesterday it was too wet, so I thought I'd go over today to take a look. I don't know how much the house leaked, or if anyone repaired it."

Ye Yaodong was noncommittal. The eldest grandson was also a grandson, so it was only right to feel heartache.

"With the eldest uncle watching there, don't worry."

"Hmm, Lin Xiuqing, remember to fry two poached eggs and put them on top."

"I know." Lin Xiuqing had just fried two poached eggs and taken them out of the pan.

"I'll go light a fire for you."

"You go listen to the radio or chant scriptures; you don't need to."

"I can't sit still; you have to let me do some work."

The old lady sat down in front of the stove again, asking him what the city was like while lighting the fire... was it lively... ===== CHAPTER 463 =====