Chapter 751: Ye Mother's Calculations

This little girl, so tiny, seems quite the schemer — barely out of diapers and already cursing people. Won't she become the village's ringleader someday?

But since he was so clumsy, he had to resign himself to coaxing her a bit.

Still, the child had plenty of backbone — she clung to Lin Lin Xiuqing and refused to let go. It was only after the old lady coaxed her by saying she'd take her to see the chicks, ducklings, and goslings that she was willing to climb down.

"Quite the schemer, she is!"

"Why don't you say you hurt her when you dropped her?" Lin Lin Xiuqing said, annoyed, then shooed him off to work. "Go dig up a chunk of ginger from the field for me, we're out."

"Oh."

After Ye Father brought back seafood from the dock, he started helping gut fish again and had no time to fiddle with his camera.

Of course, he still hadn't seen his mother come back.

Until his friends started eating, he still couldn't catch a glimpse of his mother.

She was probably floating on cloud nine listening to the villagers' flattery — no need to eat, just hearing nice words would fill her up, right?

After Ye Father had drunk three rounds and still couldn't wait for Ye Mother to come eat, he sent Ye Chenghu out to look for her. The two children had already finished their meal long ago and left the table to play.

After quite a while longer, Ye Chenghu ran back and said, "Grandma's at the shop. She told me to come back first, she's coming right away."

"Then let's not bother with her."

Who knew this "right away" would mean over half an hour before they saw her walk in beaming from ear to ear.

"You've already eaten? I'll just stand and grab a bite."

"I thought you weren't coming back, Mother."

"They kept pulling me aside, talking and talking, pumping me about how much your boat cost. Did you make a lot of money? I said how would I know — that's all thanks to you knowing so many people, and the leaders speaking up to make it happen. I said I hadn't even gotten back yet, how would I know how much it cost? Whether it cost anything at all?"

"Just as I was coming back, I ran into your Ye Dabo's wife. She opened her mouth and said you've made money now, told you to lend her some. That's what held me up. Just tell her you spent all your money on the boats, no cash left."

"She said to me, wasn't it because the leaders spoke up? Where's the need for money? She'd probably been standing in a corner listening the whole time. So I said, just because the leaders spoke up doesn't mean it's free? Who's got that big a face? The leaders aren't your father."

"Don't let it slip when you go out. Just say all your money went into buying two boats, nothing on hand. Money lent to these people goes down the drain anyway."

"It's barely been any time and she's already opening her mouth to borrow money. It's not like we can't get by — she's got hands and feet, where's the hardship? Just because you have money, are you supposed to lend it out? Money you earned yourself, you haven't even spent it yourself, and you'd give it to others to spend — are you stupid?"

"The moment we met, hadn't said two words before she started eyeing your money. Normally it's hard to get a single nice word out of them, and now they open their mouths wanting to borrow money. Dream on."

"Remember, let's not say the boat was a gift from someone inside pulling strings. Say we bought it. Everyone already knows we have someone inside anyway, and we really did spend money on it."

"I just figured it out — if we're straight with people, we can save them from eyeing us. Otherwise everyone thinks you got a boat for free, took some huge advantage, and wants you to spread some wealth around. On what grounds? We bought our boats on our own merit, with our own strength. Let's just say the money all went into buying two boats — that way it's easier to turn them down."

The moment Ye Mother sat down, she started rattling off a stream of words without even pausing for breath.

Lin Lin Xiuqing considerately poured her a bowl of tea before serving her rice.

"You're still the smart one, Mother — you figured it out right away. Being late has its perks too. I thought you just couldn't tear yourself away from the flattery."

His mother really did have a good head on her shoulders.

Ye Mother glared at him. "I listen to nice things every day — would I really be unable to come back just because people said a few nice things? I was held up by your Ye Dabo's wife."

"So were you happy or not?"

"Happy, how could I not be happy? Such great news, why wouldn't I be happy?" Ye Mother's face bloomed into a smile again. "You don't know — on my way back, people kept pulling me aside to talk, every single one of them praising you."

"There should've been some praising you for raising a good son too, right?"

"Haha, there really were… Honestly, it really wasn't that I didn't want to come back — they all kept pulling me aside to talk, I couldn't get away."

"Mm, you were forced to listen to people flattering you, not because you wanted to. Sigh… so annoying, everyone has to grab me to praise my son…"

Ye Yaodong said it in a teasing tone, which earned him a laughing glare from Ye Mother.

"What are you saying? Don't make people laugh. With so many people here, eat, eat, don't stand on ceremony — eat more, drink more~"

"Dongzi's boat really was bought with money? I thought it really was a gift from the leaders." A Zheng finally found a chance to cut in and ask.

The mother and son played off each other so well — if you said they weren't blood-related, no one would believe it.

"Dream on. I'm broke, powerless, low-status — a country bumpkin. Why would the leaders give me a boat? If they really wanted to give one, they'd give it to their own sons and sons-in-law. He just put in a word and had the border defense post hold one for me. The money still had to come out of pocket — I don't have that big a face."

He also felt his mother made sense. If something was free and came too easily, some people would think about taking advantage too — after all, he hadn't spent any money.

"How much did it cost?"

"1500."

"Ah, that's so cheap!"

Everyone kept exclaiming at how cheap it was.

"Worth it, way too cheap. Put that on anyone and they wouldn't hesitate, they'd buy it on the spot."

"Right, you've got the dogshit luck again. What luck is this good? Look at you, every day so lucky, everything you do, the luck is good."

Ye Yaodong touched his face and said cheekily, "Maybe it's because I'm too handsome? The Old Man Upstairs probably likes looking at pretty faces too — the God of Wealth judges by face."

"Cut it out, the God of Wealth is a man!"

"Then maybe the Old Man Upstairs is a woman!"

"Talking out of your ass…"

A Guang also smiled and flattered his mother-in-law, "This time Dongzi's given you face again, Mother. You can speak louder in the village now!"

"When have I ever spoken quietly? I'm not some shy young bride afraid to speak up."

"I mean you can speak even louder now, more people listen to you, more people like to socialize with you and chat, and you've got more backbone." Ye Father added.

How could anyone talk to their son-in-law like that?

"That's true, hahahaha~" Ye Mother thought about it and was genuinely happy from the heart — her son really had given her face again.

Ye Yaodong said with a smile, "Wait till I bring that big boat back, you'll be even more impressive!"

"Oh, that's next year's business~"

Though she said that, just thinking about it made her feel even better inside.

Throughout the whole meal, Ye Mother's eyes and brows carried joy, the corners of her mouth turned up and never came down — her whole person radiated a buoyant, festive spirit.

The atmosphere at the table was excellent too — lively and bustling, full of joy and happiness. Even Ye Ye Yaopeng and Ye Ye Yaohua were called over to drink together.

The whole house was filled with a warm, lively atmosphere, and anyone passing by could hear the laughter and chatter from inside.

By the time they had eaten and drunk their fill, it was already two or three in the afternoon; every one of them had tongues so swollen from drinking that they swayed and staggered as they walked.

Afterward, it was still Lin Lin Xiuqing who went to call their families to come help them home one by one. Otherwise, once Ye's mother had supported Ye's father and left first, she alone would have had no way to handle all these people.

After a morning of spreading and fermenting, the whole village learned that Ye Yaodong already had three boats, all of them trawlers, differing only in size, and that the trawling work wouldn't be affected at all.

The whole village was in an uproar. Everyone who heard the news ran down to the dock to take a look, because no one could quite believe it—how could two boats have come into his hands within just a few days, one after another?

Whose family ever bought boats as fast as he did, or so many at once?

It was just too hard to believe; everyone wanted to confirm whether it was true, in case it was just bragging.

All afternoon, people kept coming and going at the dock—everyone had heard the news and wanted to run down to take a look.

Once they saw the fishing boat moored at the shore with the black Luzhou Island markings, everyone was finally convinced.

How could a pirate's boat possibly fall into the hands of a small fisherman like them? It could only be that the authorities had caught them and the boat had been disposed of, so the rumors in the village were true.

Ye Yaodong really does have connections and backing in the government—amazing!

"Tsk tsk tsk, he really has people in the government, and he's rich too—he's made it, he's really made it…"

"Three boats in his hands all at once, and he even has people at the border defense station—who would dare to provoke him?"

"Oh, good thing I've never offended him…"

"If we had offended him, would he have people throw us all in jail?"

"It wouldn't come to that, right? We're all from the same village—why would anyone go that far?"

"With three boats in his hands, making money from now on will be as easy as drinking water, right? He could just lie at home without working and still be set for life—how great would that be…"

"How could he just lie around and retire? A-Dong clearly looks like someone with a bright future…"

……

The direction of the village gossip shifted again and again, but Ye Yaodong didn't know a thing about it—he was fast asleep, snoring away, drooling in his dreams.

Lin Lin Xiuqing hadn't even finished clearing the mess from the table when she saw the dog at the courtyard gate barking nonstop, and someone kept calling her name.

She curiously poked her head out to look, and immediately regretted it—had she known, she wouldn't have shown her face; that way she could have pretended not to be home.

"A-Qing, tell your dog to stop barking, it's scary—I'm not an outsider…"

"Oh, coming."

It was Ye Yaodong's eldest aunt who had come.

His mother had only mentioned it at noon, and she hadn't expected Ye Ye Dabo's wife to show up at their door so quickly. In the past, she had looked down on coming to their house, thinking they were poor. After Ye Ye Datang's incident, she hadn't had the face to come around.

She hadn't expected that their family's run of good fortune would draw this person over.

Lin Lin Xiuqing had a headache.

It really was true: when you're rich in Shenshan, you have distant relatives; when you're poor in a bustling city, no one knows you.

Lin Lin Xiuqing still had a pile of tables and dishes to clean up, so she didn't really pay much attention to the guest. After letting her in, she just went back to clearing the tables and dishes on her own, responding with only "mm" and "ah" or making excuses, which made Ye Ye Dabo's wife fume, but she could only hold it in.

"Look, eldest aunt, I'm really busy here—a pile of dishes still unwashed. Why don't you go find my mother to chat? I really don't have time right now."

The old lady watched coldly from the side for a while, then said: "I'll have Dongzi wait for your Li Li Laoer to come back and invite him to work on the boat. Don't think about anything else—go do what you're supposed to do."