Chapter 711: The Opera Troupe Has Arrived (Bonus Chapter for Vera's Alliance Leader)

The grandmother and grandson made quite a racket, their voices waking Lin Lin Xiuqing, who had been sleeping inside the house.

She had only been sleeping lightly to begin with. Ye Yaodong hadn't come back, so she had stayed up waiting for him all night without sleeping. Later, unable to hold out any longer, she finally drifted into a deep sleep.

The moment she heard some movement outside, she woke with a start. Seeing the space beside her empty, she immediately sat up, hurried out of bed, threw on a jacket, and went outside.

"Grandma, is Ah Dong back?"

The old lady turned her head from the doorway and said, "Yes, don't know what he was up to last night. He just came back and knocked on the door — that's how I found out he hadn't come home to sleep."

"Then where is he now? Why didn't he come back inside?"

"He took the recliner and stool and went out again. Said he was going to the Goddess Mazu Temple to grab us a good spot first, and he'd sleep when he got back. This child is too honest — won't listen no matter what you say. I told him to just have his mother carry the chairs over a bit later, but he wouldn't hear of it."

The old lady spoke with a look of heartache, then went on, "There's still porridge cooking in the pot, and I can't catch up to him anyway. Forget it, forget it — he'll be back in a bit, it's only a few steps away."

Lin Lin Xiuqing felt relieved hearing he had already returned, even if he was just carrying stools over to the Goddess Mazu Temple.

He'd been busy all night — who knows what he was doing — only getting back at this hour.

"It's still early, not even five o'clock, the sky's just barely light. Go back and sleep a bit more. When Dongzi comes back, I'll tell him to come inside and sleep, won't let him keep running around. This child is too simple-hearted — tired all night and still worrying about us watching the opera…"

The old lady muttered as she walked over to the stove. The porridge in the pot needed an occasional stir to keep it from sticking to the bottom.

Lin Lin Xiuqing obediently went back inside and lay down.

When Ye Yaodong arrived at the Tianhou Palace, quite a few stools and recliners had already been set up under the stage. He didn't know who else had been sharp enough — just as clever as him — to come early and grab a spot.

"Whose are those? How did they get here so fast?"

The old man who looked after the temple said, "The village head's and the secretary's families. They brought them over last night on the spur of the moment. Since you came early, just set yours up together with theirs."

"Sure, that'll work."

They were middle-row seats anyway.

The old man pulled a red string from his pocket and tied his two stools and recliner together for him. "Save yourself the trouble later when it gets light and all the villagers come to grab spots — it'll be chaos, and they'll shift yours around and you won't find them."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll have to trouble you to keep an eye on them."

"I'm the temple keeper anyway. It's not often we get a big temple built, and such a lively event — of course I have to watch over things."

Ye Yaodong watched him tie the chairs together, then handed things over to him with peace of mind and headed back himself.

He was really too tired. Going more than a day and a night without sleep would have been fine, but yesterday his nerves had been strung tight the whole time. Only once he got home and let go did he feel like he couldn't hold on anymore.

If there were a bed here right now, he could lie down and pass out instantly.

Back at home, the old lady was still stirring the porridge in the pot from time to time, muttering a few words under her breath.

"Why won't it cook through after so long? It never takes this long normally… Dongzi will be back with nothing to eat…"

"How can you sleep without eating? You'll get hungry… should've gotten up earlier to start cooking…"

Ye Yaodong just wanted to get some proper sleep first — eating was secondary.

Coming back and seeing the old lady still cooking, he greeted her and planned to head straight to the room.

"Want to eat first before sleeping? Let it simmer a bit longer, it should be ready soon enough…"

"No need, eating after I wake up works just as well." Ye Yaodong said, then pushed the door open and went straight inside.

Luckily, he had bathed yesterday, so he didn't need to wash up now. He peeled off his outer clothes, pulled on a vest and shorts, and climbed into bed.

Lin Lin Xiuqing was lying in bed but hadn't slept, waiting for him to come back.

"Why did you only get back at daybreak? What were you and Dad busy with last night? I asked Dad last night and he wouldn't say, just told me you were back and to ask you."

"Mm, there was something urgent last night. Let me sleep first, I'll tell you when I wake up."

"Alright then, sleep first. We'll talk after you wake up."

Seeing how utterly exhausted he looked, with a touch of red in the whites of his eyes, Lin Lin Xiuqing didn't press further — better to let him get a good sleep.

Out all night without sleep, busy with things outside — he had to be worn out. It wouldn't hurt to wait a little longer. With his father around, it definitely wasn't anything shady — must have been something proper.

Ye Yaodong's head had barely touched the pillow for a minute before he was snoring away.

Now she couldn't sleep either. After lying there a while, unable to stand the snoring in her ear, she simply got up.

He didn't usually snore — only when he was very tired, or had drunk too much.

She tucked the blanket around him, checked on the child sleeping sideways on the inside, tugged the blanket straight a couple of times, then got out of bed. If she got sleepy around noon, she could always take a nap then.

Meanwhile, Old Ye was the same — the moment he got home he banged on the door with a loud clatter. Ye's mother had been sleeping soundly, dragged awake at the crack of dawn, and threw the door open fuming, her morning temper in full force.

Old Ye's face was haggard, and he didn't bother arguing with her. He went straight inside, flopped down, and was out like a light — ignoring the tirade rattling on beside his ear, his snoring even louder than her scolding.

"You old fool, out all night and never came back, don't know what you were up to. The moment you're home you drop dead asleep — went off to rob a grave, the two of you are cut from the same cloth…"

After cursing him for a bit, she lay down too, and kicked Old Ye a few times. "Scoot over, don't you want me to sleep either?"

Old Ye let out a garbled grunt, words indistinguishable, grabbed the blanket and rolled over toward the wall.

Ye's mother, furious, yanked the blanket back toward herself. "Don't you want me to have any covers either? You old thing — tomorrow you sleep outside on your own…"

The opera was starting today. At the crack of dawn, the villagers all got up together, and the first thing on their minds was to haul their stools over to the Tianhou Palace to grab spots ahead of time. A spectacle like this might not come around once in decades — of course they were eager.

Early in the morning, not long after Ye Yaodong had gotten home, some early-rising villagers were already hauling stools over to grab the spots. Some even pulled a whole cartload of stools on a flatbed — hard to say how many people they had at home.

Those families would probably be eating standing up for the next few days.

The village had been buzzing with excitement since morning, though the lively atmosphere only stretched along the road from the village to the Goddess Mazu Temple — it couldn't reach them down by the beach.

Ye Yaodong slept deeply and soundly; no one came to disturb him.

The children at home, with their schoolbags on their backs early in the morning, didn't head to school — they ran straight to the Goddess Mazu Temple to see the excitement, because the opera troupe's big truck had arrived.

The village kids, braving the risk of a beating, ran after the big truck, waving their arms in excitement, running and shouting all the way to the Goddess Mazu Temple.

School? Who cared about school when there was a show to watch?

"The opera troupe's here! The opera troupe's here~ What a big truck~"

"We're putting on a big show~ We're putting on a big show~"

"So lively, our village is putting on a big show~"

"If only we didn't have to go to school — I don't want to go to school, I want to watch the show!"

"I want to watch the big show too, I don't want to go to school!"

"Let's not go to school, okay? Let's just stay here and watch the fun…"

"No way, there are so many my lord here. If my mom finds out when I get home, my butt is going to get beaten black and blue."

"Ugh, why do we have to go to school? It's Goddess Mazu's birthday already, shouldn't we be worshipping Goddess Mazu? Why do we still have to go to school? The grown-ups aren't working, so why do the kids still have to go to school?"

"Exactly, exactly! The grown-ups aren't working, so why do the kids still have to go to school? It's not fair!"

The my lord standing nearby listened to the children chattering noisily, found it amusing too, and teased them with a single remark.

"Then go tell your teacher at school, and ask the teacher to give you a holiday!"

"I don't dare…"

"Why not get the teacher to come worship Goddess Mazu too, and just listen to the big show?" a young fellow snickered, putting forward a mischievous idea.

"That makes sense, let's go, let's go, let's go invite the teacher to come to our village and watch the big show."

"Great, great~"

At this suggestion, every child instantly lost all reluctance. The big show wouldn't start until the afternoon, so there was still time now.

The whole gang of children marched out with high spirits, all ready to head to the school to invite the teacher to come to their village and watch the big show.

If the teacher also comes to their village to watch the show, then there's no need for class~

Perfect~

As soon as the opera troupe arrived at the Tianhou Temple in the morning, they were warmly welcomed by the villagers. A group of men eagerly stepped forward to help carry and lift things. After finishing the moving, they stayed on to lend a hand and set up the venue.

The entire Tianhou Temple was bustling with people coming and going, everyone working at full steam.

These few days were the liveliest big occasion for the whole village. The villagers tacitly agreed not to go out to sea. Such a rare bit of excitement couldn't be missed — even the market day couldn't compare.

Five straight days of the big show meant villagers from miles around would come to their village to watch the fun. Villagers from their own village felt proud walking out, sharing in the honor.

The village committee cadres also all came to the Tianhou Temple, watching the villagers help the opera troupe settle in.

The newly completed Tianhou Temple was fairly large, divided into two sections. The inner section was built against the hill, situated higher up, requiring one to climb more than ten steps to reach it.

Directly opposite the main hall where Goddess Mazu's statue sits, at the bottom, a stage had been built. Today's big show was both to celebrate the completion of the Tianhou Temple and to perform for Lady Goddess Mazu.

The opera troupe's people simply propped up a mosquito net along the corridor beside the main hall of the Goddess Mazu temple and made a floor bed. For the next few days, they would sleep right there in the Tianhou Temple.

Last month was too busy, I owe rich lady Vera two chapters, and also owe Shiyi Alliance leader two chapters. I'll work hard to make them up this month.

It's the start of the month, begging for monthly tickets, begging for monthly tickets, begging for monthly tickets~