Chapter 715: Putting All My Education to Use

"Huh? What are you waiting at the door for?"

"We're going to watch the opera, hurry up, so many people have already gone, if we're late there won't be anything to see…"

Ye Ye Chengyang spoke as he pulled Lin Lin Xiuqing's hand, trying to drag her out of the house, his whole body lunging forward, almost at a sixty-degree angle to the ground.

"Hurry up!"

"What's the rush? We've already saved seats ahead of time, no need to worry about losing them."

"But so many people have gone, it must be starting soon, hurry up, hurry up~"

Ye Ye Chengyang was nearly frantic with worry—everyone had already left, yet his parents were still shut inside the room, dawdling, not the least bit hurried, dragging their feet, absolutely infuriating.

He had been sitting at the door for ages, dying to push the door open, but Great-Grandma said he couldn't go in, that his parents were talking inside.

Why can't you go in just because they're talking? The adult world is so complicated.

Lin Lin Xiuqing smiled as she watched her youngest son scratching his ears and cheeks in his impatience. "It's still early, there's still an hour before it starts, what's your rush? Everyone's just finished eating with nothing to do, so they went over early to join the fun."

"So are you two done with your business? Let's go too, we're going to be late…"

"We're going right now, what's the rush?"

Ye Yaodong pried his youngest son's hand off Lin Lin Xiuqing's. "Go lock the room door first, I'll take him out ahead of me."

Locking the room door, the house door, the courtyard door—several barriers were needed, so that even if a thief broke in, it would buy them a little time.

"Alright, there's a jar on the stove with the pumpkin seeds I roasted this morning. Bring it along, take it to the Tianhou Temple later, you can crack them open while you wait, won't be bored."

"Then won't we need to bring a pot of tea too, or we'll die of thirst."

"Who's going to keep cracking seeds the whole time? If you drink too much tea, what'll you do when you need the toilet?"

"Fine."

Ye Yaodong took the jar and had a look—there wasn't a lot inside, so he casually grabbed two and popped them into his mouth.

These past two days she'd been cooking pumpkin porridge non-stop, or stewing pumpkin, and Lin Lin Xiuqing had specially scooped out the pumpkin seeds to dry in the sun; once sun-dried, a quick roast in the wok and they became fragrant pumpkin seeds, saving them from having to buy seeds outside.

Not much flavor, but when your mouth is bored out of its mind, they taste pretty good—suitable for kids.

"Dad, I want some too!"

"If you eat them, you won't be able to poop!"

"You ate them!"

"I didn't eat poop."

Ye Ye Chengyang: "???"

He stared at his dad in bewilderment?

Lin Lin Xiuqing burst into laughter, locked the door, came over and swatted him twice. "What are you saying? Don't teach the boy bad habits, running your mouth with nonsense all day long."

"Weren't you laughing pretty hard?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing gave him a reproachful sidelong glance. "Who told you to play by no rules at all?"

"You don't like it?"

Ye Ye Chengyang looked at one, then the other, hands on his hips in anger. "Are you two done? Hurry up, let's go watch the opera~"

"Alright, alright, let's go…"

Ye Yaodong hurriedly picked him up, but he squirmed, trying to slide down. "I'm grown up, don't carry me, just walk faster."

With that, he ran off on his own first.

Lin Lin Xiuqing helped Great-Grandma bring the radio inside, locked the house door, and picked up Ye Ye Xiaoxi.

The whole family, with Great-Grandma in tow, set off in a grand procession toward the Goddess Mazu Temple.

The two brothers next door had finished eating and gone ahead earlier; at the time they'd even come over to ask Great-Grandma if she wanted them to take her over first, but Great-Grandma refused, planning to wait for Ye Yaodong's family to go together.

Because she was old, her legs and feet weren't good, and the road was rough, they walked rather slowly. Great-Grandma hobbled along with her cane, and the whole family accompanied her at her slow pace—which nearly drove Ye Ye Chengyang to distraction.

He dashed far ahead, then dashed back again—don't be fooled by his small size, he ran back and forth with great agility.

"Can you go any faster? You're so slow~"

"What's the rush? Can't you see your mother's carrying your little sister, and Great-Grandma's leaning on her cane? If you're in such a hurry, run ahead by yourself and wait at the gate."

He hesitated for a moment, then chose to run up and take Great-Grandma's hand. "I'll help you walk faster."

Great-Grandma said with a smile: "I have my cane, I don't need you to help me, you go on ahead by yourself."

Seeing him so well-behaved, Ye Yaodong fished two fen out of his pocket and gave them to him. "Go on ahead to the gate and have a look around, buy whatever you want to eat."

"Okay, okay!"

Ye Ye Chengyang was overjoyed—getting to watch the opera, getting snacks, no school, life at home was just too good.

I'll tell Brother tonight!

He took the money and ran off excitedly, skipping and bounding into the distance.

The couple had no worries. Although the area outside the dock was a bit lively right now, with people coming and going everywhere, they were basically all from the nearby villages, faces they'd recognize. They weren't afraid of losing the child—what they should be guarding against was the village being completely empty.

A few days ago the village committee had already assembled the militia; every household had to send one able-bodied man, then they took turns on shifts, and starting from noon and evening each day when the opera began, they would patrol in rotation half an hour in advance.

The villagers didn't object—after all, everyone was going to watch the opera, and with the houses completely empty, it really would be easy for thieves to take advantage.

Setting up a militia team, with everyone participating, was also beneficial for the villagers, and they didn't have to worry about no one being home.

The notice had been posted two days earlier, on the village committee's bulletin board; Ye Yaodong also knew which day he was assigned.

Five days in total, he and a few friends were assigned to the last two days—one noon shift, one evening shift.

He didn't know if it was because he'd signed up early back then and thrown in a few friends' names along with his own, so the village committee had grouped them into one team.

It also worked out well since they each lived in different directions, so when patrolling there wouldn't be any bias, always heading down some particular path.

At the same time, five teams patrolled, ten people per team; over the five days, each person was assigned at most two shifts. Those over fifty didn't need to take part—the whole village had three or four hundred households, more than enough.

Today Ye Yaodong didn't need to patrol, so he could free up time to slowly work on writing the anonymous letter, then deliver it to the border defense station.

He was pretty indifferent about watching the opera—whatever opera hadn't he seen before?

If he were to speak truly, he preferred the lively atmosphere of the grand opera; decades later, though it would still be lively, there would never again be such a mood where the whole village turned out in joyous celebration. Except for the elders, no one liked watching the opera anymore.

Ye Yaodong escorted them to the Tianhou Temple, watched them take their seats, then bought them fried beans and fruit candy. Amidst Lin Lin Xiuqing's complaints and Ye Ye Chengyang's glee, he finally held Ye Ye Xiaoxi and went back.

He feared the little one couldn't sit still, so he would take her back to watch for a while first. After he finished writing the letter, he would bring the child over to Ah Qing, and then he would go to the town.

Anyway, it wouldn't delay matters; this way was even better.

He had to admit, he was becoming more and more thoughtful!

Ye Yaodong felt the same.

"Good girl, look how good your father is, how good he is to your mother? When you grow up, you must find... no, better not find anyone; I'll raise you myself! Men are no good! The young ones are immature and don't understand. Those who understand and are mature are too old. How many ordinary people have opportunities like your father? Do you understand?"

Ye Ye Xiaoxi didn't know what he was saying; she just grinned, showing her millet teeth, then stretched her neck to look around, curious about everything.

"Pity I have no time. Today is for serious business; I can't take you along. Otherwise, I could take you to the town for a spin."

"Hmm? Seems there's nothing wrong with that? I'll tie on the carrier strap in a bit and take you along on the bicycle. After all, it's just a quick trip; who would expect it?"

"Forget it, forget it; you'd eat dust all the way. You'd better stay home and watch the grand opera..."

Ye Yaodong held the child, finding her delightful in every way, muttering endlessly. A father's love for his daughter shone through his words.

Once home, he dragged the standing cage into the room, placed the child inside, then began studying how to write an anonymous letter.

He had dug out a pile of newspapers for reference!

Although he knew quite a few characters and could recognize most used in daily life, when asked to write, he found he couldn't quite do it; he usually only read newspapers and never wrote.

Now, picking up the brush, after finding the corresponding characters in the newspaper, his writing was not only crooked and twisted, but he carelessly left every character missing an arm or a leg.

He could only write stroke by stroke, referencing the newspaper to get it right. He wasted several sheets of paper before finally finding his rhythm.

"Never mind, just like this. As long as we know what the character is, what does it matter if a horizontal or vertical stroke is missing? Traditional characters evolved into simplified ones; I'll just remove a few more strokes, no big deal..."

Ye Yaodong comforted himself with a few words, regained his confidence, and now his writing flowed smoothly. Brush, brush, brush, a few strokes went down.

"Greetings, leaders. I wish to report: about half an hour by boat from the northeast direction of Hairun Small Wharf, roughly five nautical miles, there is an island. That island is a den for smugglers; several fishing boats come and go to dock there. Please investigate strictly! No need to thank me!"

Ye Yaodong pondered and pondered again. The newspapers on the table were scattered in disarray. It took nearly an hour before he wrote this one paragraph he felt satisfied with.

He felt all his culture was poured into it!

He felt very good about himself, proudly read it through once. Such literary talent!

Just a few days in the literacy class and he could write such a long passage; he was definitely held back in his childhood!

"The characters seem a bit ugly..."

"No matter. This is authentic, has no flaws! No one can find who wrote it."

"My literary level is there. If I practice writing for a few more years, I feel Tsinghua and Peking University are within reach! Right, good daughter?"

"Aaaah, baba~"

"You're right!"

"Dei~"

"Great!"

He didn't know if he was praising the child or himself!

Ye Yaodong tore this page from the notebook, held it up, and carefully blew on the ink. After waiting a short while, he folded the paper and put it in his pocket.

There were no envelopes at home; he would have to buy one temporarily in town later. Anyway, it was on the way.

"Let's go; I'll take you to find your mother."

Hearing this, Ye Ye Xiaoxi immediately stood up from the standing cage and cried "Aaaah!"

She didn't know how to find her mother yet; the moment it was mentioned, she tried. She even used her hands and feet, pressing her whole body against the cage and straining, attempting to climb out.

Fortunately, although this standing cage had been used for several years, it was quite stable and wouldn't tip over.

Ye Yaodong laughed and lifted her out. "Want to escape prison again? Let's go~ Your father is going to do something big~"