Chapter 702: Self-Sufficiency

Ye Yaodong felt a warm glow inside; so he really had become a celebrity in the village.

Looking at the "Table 6" written on top, he felt he had really made something of himself, that he could sit at the honored tables with the leaders and cadres; his parents would walk out the door with pride on their faces again.

At this moment he truly felt, in a vivid way, that he had brought honor to his family; the feeling was rather nice, even more delightful than catching a big fish, and all the effort of this second life had not been in vain.

His grandfather down below must be feeling very gratified, and would surely work even harder to bless him.

"What's there to be tired about? It was our job to begin with. Anything that brings honor to our village, plenty of people would be fighting to do it."

"Haha, yes, yes, yes. Well, I also want to sneak into the temporary militia team, so I can do my part and look impressive for once. Then please help me put my name down, Director Ade. If it's convenient, could you add a few more names for me?"

"Easy to say. Who do you want to sign up?"

"Just Aguang, Hearing Xiao Xiao, A'zheng, Fatty — those four. As for my brothers, you can ask them later."

Of course he had to drag his rowdy buddies along; otherwise patrolling would be way too boring.

The key point was, he couldn't be out there diligently patrolling while they were lounging around watching the show!

Friends should share good fortune; a glorious mission naturally couldn't leave them out. In this whole life they'd never even worn a red armband — he had to give them a chance.

No need to thank him!

Director Ade looked at him with a smile. "The Hearing Xiao Xiao and A'zheng you mentioned, I know them. Which one is Fatty? The one whose father is a cook?"

"Right, right, right. Apart from their family, is there another Fatty in the village?"

"Hahaha, fair enough. Then I'll note it down. When the invitations are delivered to their homes later, I'll mention to them that you signed them up."

"Good. Tell them they don't need to thank me."

"Alright, alright, I'm off first. Still have a pile of invitations to deliver."

"Hey, wait, wait. I'm sitting at this table, so where do my elderly family members, wife, and children sit? I paid for my whole family of five a few days ago."

There was no way he could drag his whole family along and take up half a table, was there? If everyone did the same, how would six honored tables be enough? Whose family wasn't a big one?

"Your family's old and young, along with your parents and brothers, are arranged together — one table has ten seats, and children don't count as seats. But the money you paid a few days ago already counted the children in, so your two children can take up two extra seats, which fills one table exactly. When the time comes, just have them sit with your parents."

"Good, good, that works."

Children not counting as seats also prevented shameless people from paying for two portions and bringing a whole family of five, six, seven, or eight to eat.

This way, one family could bring at most one extra person, and only a small child at that — if they were too big, it would look bad even standing, and people would gossip; a small child could still sit on a lap.

In the end, it was because supplies were still scarce and living standards weren't high; every household lacked food and oil, otherwise who would be so shameless?

Still, ordinary people did care about face and wouldn't do such a thing; at most they'd bring one small child, holding them on their lap to eat together.

"No problem then, I'm off."

"Take care, no need to see me out. Drop by for a visit when you have time."

"Sure, sure…"

Ye Yaodong stood at the doorway, waited until the man had walked far away, then tapped the red invitation against his palm as he walked into the yard, humming a tune.

Lin Lin Xiuqing watched from inside, finding it odd. "Why are you in such a good mood? Who just came? I saw you standing at the door for ages."

"Ta-da-ta-da~ Do you know what this is?" Ye Yaodong said cheerfully, waving the invitation in front of her eyes several times.

"An invitation to Goddess Mazu's birthday celebration?"

"You bet!"

"Then is it worth being that happy? Wasn't this going to be handed out anyway? Our whole village should get one."

"That's where you're wrong, isn't it? I heard they'll set up six tables in the middle of the stage, specifically to entertain our county and town leaders, plus people from the newspaper office. Guess where they assigned me to sit?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing's eyes lit up — he'd spelled it out so clearly, how could she not guess?

She quickly tossed the rag aside, stopped wiping the cabinet, wiped her hands twice on her apron, and hurriedly took the invitation from his hand.

"Did they arrange a seat at the honored table for you too?"

"Haha, yes!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing opened the invitation and saw it was true. She'd heard the banquet would have a hundred tables, with six set up in the middle of the stage, reserved for entertaining the leaders from outside.

She hadn't expected her husband to get one too, but thinking about it, it seemed quite normal — after all, it was Ah Dong's credit that the Goddess Mazu temple could be built.

The bronze great cauldron had been hauled up by him and offered to Goddess Mazu, and his name was carved first on the merit stele — there was no reason not to give him a seat.

Although it was only a seat at the honored table, mentioning it out there still brought honor to one's face — this was the honored table for entertaining the leaders; ordinary people shouldn't even dream of it.

Lin Lin Xiuqing beamed with joy. "Looks like being famous has its perks too. Even when I walk through the village now, people love chatting me up."

"Just wait, I'll definitely earn you even more face."

"What's the use? You're still just wandering around this village. You'd be better off earning more money for me — that would make me happier. Nothing's as real as money."

"Fine, everything I earn is yours, and what you earn is still yours."

"Always sweet-talking. The old and the young are all wrapped around your finger."

Lin Lin Xiuqing was so delighted by his coaxing that, after tossing off that line, she happily took the invitation back inside to put it away.

The old lady watched from the side, also pleased. "Later I'll go burn some incense for your grandfather too, and tell him to bless you more from now on."

"Sure. In a few days there's an opera performance too — they're saying it'll run for five days. I'll move a stool over early and save you a good seat in the front center."

"Good, good, good. The opera will be nice to watch."

The old lady grinned so wide her teeth disappeared. Apart from the projection team occasionally coming to the countryside to show films, opera troupes were a rare sight in their rural area; she'd only gone to town to watch twice when she was young.

Ye Yaodong saw Lin Lin Xiuqing go back inside and come out again, so he told her once more: "When you go eat at the banquet, just sit with my parents. I paid for our family of five; Xiao Jiu doesn't count as a person. For our two little ones, I paid for them too, so each of them can take a seat. Don't feel like it's bad to bring them along or be afraid to sit — boldly take one seat each, let them eat more, and stay safe."

The whole family was going; there was no need to leave the two kids at home, and they weren't short of that bit of money. Bringing the two kids to the banquet too, letting them all have a big meal, the whole family happy together — what could be better?

"When did you pay two extra portions? What a waste… They're so small, how much can they eat?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing looked at Ye Ye Chengyang, who hadn't even reached her waist — so tiny, he'd take a few bites and couldn't sit still before running off; that money was really wasted.

"Let them eat however much they can. If they can't finish it, the whole table is still our family — no loss. It's fine, paying two extra portions lets us bring both kids along; even a little bite keeps them safe. Otherwise, if we brought both kids, they'd have to stand and eat — that would look terrible."

"Alright then."

The money was already paid, what could she say? He just couldn't be allowed to have money in his pocket!

Always acting first and reporting after — repeat offenders at this point.

"Where are the long beans? I told you earlier to pick the long beans — where did the long beans go?"

Ye Yaodong slapped his forehead hard. "Ah! I forgot, I left them in the vegetable patch over there. I'll go get them."

When he turned and headed for the door, his family's big black dog was already at the entrance, a basket dangling from its mouth, shaking as it ran — delivered right to the door.

He was pleasantly surprised. "Pretty clever, aren't you? You even knew to bring the basket back for me?"

This big black dog had always been tied up there — he was afraid its wild nature would be hard to tame. It was only after that one break-in last time that he thought about untying it at home.

It had been tied up for almost a year, and it had never bitten anyone. It seemed trustworthy, so he could give it a chance.

"Woof woof!"

Da Da Heizi also barked excitedly twice and wagged its tail.

"But I haven't picked enough yet — it's not even enough for one bowl. What are you being clever about?"

The smile on Ye Yaodong's face immediately vanished again, and he patted the dog's head twice.

Da Da Heizi instantly whimpered twice, deflated, squatted down on the ground, and lowered its head.

"From now on, work harder and read the room a bit better. Now move aside for me, don't block the path — you're in my way."

"Whine…"

After Ye Yaodong waited for it to shift its body to the side a bit, he took the basket and went out again.

Lin Lin Xiuqing watched his antics and laughed behind him, shaking her head — even the dog gets bullied.

The little vegetable garden in the courtyard was kept very well by the old lady and A Qing, laid out in a pleasing arrangement, with one small plot permanently planted with chives, scallions, garlic, and cilantro.

A little further in, a few small bamboo trellises had been set up, planted with long beans. A bit further on were the green-skinned melons he liked to eat, with a few chili pepper and tomato plants interspersed among them.

Then there was a single ridge of potatoes running all the way to the end, and two ridges of corn stalks.

Everything was only planted in small amounts — the standout feature was the variety. As long as it was enough for the family to eat, that was fine.

Once a season's harvest was eaten, they'd turn the soil again and plant new vegetables — a steady, self-sufficient supply.

Ye Yaodong honestly hadn't done much around it himself, at most lending a hand — helping with the trellises, carrying the manure…

Most of the hoeing and fertilizing was done by A Qing. After all, he was often not at home; when he was home, it was either because of wind or rain.

Still, A Qing did it willingly — after all, he wasn't playing around, he was out at sea fishing and working for real. Which woman's household doesn't handle both the land and the sea?

Ye Yaodong picked the long beans one by one and put them into the basket, feeling quite content. Whatever you want to eat, you can just grow it yourself — from the sea or from the land — no worries about food or drink.

Feeling he'd picked about enough, he reached into the basket, gathered them all in his palm to test the weight, and muttered, "Should be enough for one bowl."

Looking at the dog circling his feet the whole time, he gave it two light kicks. "Shoo, shoo. Wait till I stir-fry them in the wok — there'll still be some broth left for you guys. Today I even specially bought some fatty pork to stir-fry with the long beans, smells amazing… Huh? No, Yangyang wants it mixed with rice, seems like…"

"Whine… woof…"

"Go on, go on, go guard the door. Whatever there is to eat later, that's what you eat — don't be picky."