Chapter 811: Driving People Away

At this time, the news broadcast was "centered on propaganda work" as the guiding ideology for television reporting, with reform and opening up and patriotism as the two main propaganda themes.

It mainly expressed love for the country and support for the socialist system, as well as the promotion of reform and opening up and its achievements.

It sounded quite stirring to everyone in the courtyard; after those dark years had passed, the spring that arrived made everyone's heart flutter with excitement just thinking about it.

They didn't run to other people's houses to watch TV every day either, so hearing it occasionally still felt fresh.

Ye Yaodong leaned calmly against the doorframe, watching everyone in the courtyard with smiles on their faces, whispering to each other. After thinking for a moment, he hurried inside to get the camera and secretly took a photo—this counted as a rare memory.

A single black-and-white TV could attract neighbors from all around to fill the courtyard; taking it out in the future would be a memory in itself.

Ever since he got the camera, he had taken individual photos of every family member, and also taken one of their house.

He had originally thought about bringing it out to sea, but Lin Lin Xiuqing was worried it would be corroded by seawater.

The family's bicycle had only been bought less than two years ago. Although when riding it back from outside, Lin Lin Xiuqing would carefully wash it with fresh water, the iron edges still showed signs of rust. He had no choice but to listen to her for now and leave it at home.

Watching for a chance when she'd forget and stop paying attention to that camera, he'd sneak it out to sea again. Last time that group of dolphins were calling out, and he didn't capture it—it had tormented him with regret.

After the news broadcast ended, the weather forecast began promptly at 7:30. Everyone patiently listened from the start, and only when it got to their city did they perk up their ears. Hearing tomorrow would be 30–33 degrees, overcast, they started whispering among themselves again.

He thought to himself: Overcast tomorrow? Overcast is good—if it's overcast, it won't be so sunny, and the parade won't have to be endured under a big sun, which would be a bit more comfortable, since they'd be out parading through the streets the whole day.

Although the weather forecast wasn't accurate, and the broadcast was for the city's weather, which was far from their little village, it could still serve as a reference—as long as it wasn't something like "cloudy turning to rain" or "rain turning overcast."

After watching the weather forecast, he searched around the local channels again and found that local channels could indeed be picked up at night, but at this time the local channels were also talking about news. Ye Yaodong lingered for a while, felt it was boring listening, and switched back to Zhongyangtai amid Ye Mother's nagging.

"Why do you keep switching back and forth? Just stick with one channel, aren't they all just talking about news? You're blocking the TV… there, just watch this one, just watch this one, there's a TV drama……"

Ye Mother had originally been complaining that he was blocking the TV, but upon hearing the sound of a TV drama coming from inside, she immediately got excited and spoke up.

Ye Yaodong saw that Zhongyangtai was broadcasting Huo Yuanjia, and was surprised—he hadn't expected this drama to exist already, and that it was being aired during prime time on Zhongyangtai.

What he didn't know was that this drama did indeed begin airing during prime time on CCTV in 1984. After that, the drama sparked a nationwide ratings frenzy, and its theme song "The Great Wall Never Falls" became an eternal classic passed down through generations, sending hundreds of millions of Chinese into a fever of patriotic fervor.

"Fine, finally there's a TV drama on, let's watch this one. It's better than listening to useless news all the time."

The chatter in the courtyard immediately quieted down once the sound of a TV drama came through.

Ye Yaodong wasn't interested in this TV either; he kept glancing left and right, looking around. What struck him as odd was that the dogs at home weren't running around either—some were squatting in front of the TV, some at the children's feet, all quietly staring at the screen.

This left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Dogs that could both go beachcombing and watch TV—his family's dogs had really seen the world. He wondered if they actually understood any of it.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi was probably still too little; after sitting on Lin Lin Xiuqing's lap for a while she couldn't sit still, squirming around wanting to get down.

He beckoned to her.

The little girl immediately scampered over happily, hugged his thigh, and called out "Daddy" in a soft, sweet voice.

Ye Yaodong was immensely gratified—she'd finally stopped calling him "papa die," after he'd corrected her so many times, she'd finally gotten it right once.

He placed his hands under her armpits and gently lifted her up, which made her so excited she kept shouting, "Up high~ Up high~"

Children's perspective is different from adults'—there's not a single child who doesn't like being held up.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi clung tightly around his neck, looking around left and right. Unfortunately, it was dark outside and everything was pitch black everywhere, except for their own house which was Liangtangtang. But seeing the courtyard full of people made her very curious.

And a few more people came over from outside the courtyard gate; the dogs squatting there immediately became alert and headed toward the gate, barking furiously.

With the neighbors on either side, the dogs were somewhat familiar, so even when they entered the courtyard they wouldn't bark—only people who had just arrived at the gate would get barked at.

Ye Yaodong gave them a sharp "shh," and only then did they reluctantly return to their spots and continue watching TV.

They were really quite loyal—hadn't gone silly from watching TV and forgotten their duty. Better than those few foolish boys, who wouldn't go "blind" at such a young age.

Ye Yaodong held Ye Ye Xiaoxi and watched the drama for a while. Seeing her yawning from time to time and rubbing her eyes, he knew she was sleepy.

He cooed softly to her a few times, then set her on the ground, and went inside to make her some malted milk.

She was currently reducing the number of times she nursed—eating meals during the day, and having malted milk in the morning and evening instead. Occasionally when Lin Lin Xiuqing's milk came in, she'd let her suckle a couple of mouthfuls.

Actually, he wanted to say he could also do the job……

Ye Ye Xiaoxi trotted along behind him into the house, then climbed onto a stool and waited by the table. Watching him scoop out two spoonfuls, she also stretched her little finger into the jar and scooped out a fingerful, then sucked on her finger twice.

After licking it clean, she reached in again. Her finger was coated with saliva, so it picked up even more malted milk, which made her eyes brighten and her finger-sucking even louder.

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but smile at the sight, but quickly closed the jar to keep her from getting addicted to licking it.

"Want… want……"

"I've already made yours, you can drink it in a minute."

She pouted, glanced at him, but seeing a bowl of already-prepared malted milk on the table, she pursed her lips and started blowing on it.

Ye Yaodong stirred it with a spoon for a while, and only when it wasn't hot did he give it to her to drink. But she pulled her old trick again, sticking her finger in, dipping it, and continuing to lick.

Such an adorable little face—how could he not dote on her?

"Don't use your finger, it's dirty. Drink it quickly, and go inside to sleep after you're done."

She held the bowl, and Ye Yaodong reached out to steady the bowl and feed her. Those little eyes kept glancing at him as she drank, until it was all gone, when she let out a "ha," wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, nimbly climbed down from the stool, and ran back outside.

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to quicken his steps and catch up, lifting her up. "Where are you trying to run off to? Time to go inside and sleep."

Just as he was holding the child and pushing open the bedroom door to go in, he saw someone rush in through the gate—a shifty-eyed, sneaky-looking man.

Ye Yaodong's expression instantly turned cold and stern, his brow furrowing—a perfect demonstration of what "changing faces" means.

"Heh heh, suddenly got thirsty, so I came in hoping to pour myself a cup of tea."

He walked up to the man and blocked his path. "There's no tea. We finished it tonight and didn't brew more. If you want tea, go home and drink it."

"Uh, okay, okay……" the man quickly slipped back out.

The most annoying thing about buying a TV was having this person and that person run to their house to watch, then sneak in to fish for benefits—it was really irritating.

He thought for a moment, then carried the child back toward the gate. Looking at the crowd packed shoulder to shoulder in the courtyard, and the bamboo trays leaning against the wall drying fish—somehow they had all fallen over and no one had bothered to set them upright, which instantly made his temper flare again.

"Ah Qing!"

"Huh?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing had been watching the TV mesmerized too. Hearing him call out loudly, she quickly responded and stood up to walk toward him. "What's wrong? Is the child being difficult?"

Everyone in the courtyard, hearing his shout, all turned their attention that way.

"Did you see that the cuttlefish drying over there have fallen all over the place?"

"Oh my, when did it get knocked over? Why didn't anyone pick it up?" Ye's mother reacted faster than Lin Lin Xiuqing, hurriedly getting up to look over there, taking a few quick steps. The other villagers also came to their senses and rushed to help prop the bamboo tray upright.

"It fell over and no one picked it up—when did it fall…"

"Just prop it up, stand it straight and it'll be fine…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing also frowned and looked toward the other corners of the wall—many of them had fallen, and no one had picked them up either.

Ye Yaodong, feeling frustrated, directly started shooing people away. He wasn't afraid of offending anyone, and he now had a perfectly good reason.

"Everyone please step outside. If you want to watch TV, watch from outside the courtyard gate, or go to the doorways of some other houses in the village."

"I just heard the weather forecast—it's overcast tomorrow. It only just clicked for me: we can take all the cuttlefish out of the house to dry. There's no rain anyway."

It had rained the night before, and today had been overcast all day. When they finished eating in the evening, they worried it might rain again at night, which would be too much trouble. So they brought all the cuttlefish that had been hanging to dry in the courtyard back inside, leaving only some spread out on bamboo trays in the corners of the wall. When it was time to sleep, they'd carry those in too, so they wouldn't have to haul them in now and have them take up space.

And with the courtyard cleared out, it was just the right time to bring the TV out and set it up in the courtyard for everyone to watch.

Looking at the situation now, forget it—nobody watch anymore. Just right to take out those still-damp cuttlefish and hang them up to dry.

Ye's mother slapped her thigh hard and let out a shout. "Oh! I didn't even realize—it's not raining tomorrow. We've got a pile of cuttlefish at home that need to be hung out to dry and air out. That's money right there—we can't let watching TV get in the way of making money."

Lin Lin Xiuqing also hurriedly smiled and saw the guests off. "Sorry everyone, so sorry. All our open space at home has to be used for drying fish and cuttlefish. None of this stuff is dried yet—it even rained last night."

"The evening weather forecast said that for the next few days, even though there's no sun, there's no rain either. We need to hurry and get them out to dry—at least they can air-dry a bit. Please understand."

"This is all money. If it goes bad, it'd be a huge loss—don't even know how many TVs that'd be worth."

"After all, we didn't earn much this Fishing season. All the money is tied up in these dried fish and cuttlefish. If they can't dry and just sit in the house getting musty and rotting, our whole family would be done for."

"Please understand, please. You all saw it yourselves—our bamboo bed at home is piled thick with undried cuttlefish and dried fish, and the whole house is hung with them everywhere."

"Once we're done drying the fish and the open space by the door is free, we'll bring the TV back out for everyone to watch. Right now we need to get busy taking those things out to dry."

Lin Lin Xiuqing smiled as she saw people out, saying polite words all the while.

Ye's mother also called out in her loud voice, "Come again next time. Today we suddenly have things to do—we have to turn it off, can't watch anymore…"

"We've been working hard all year long, all for the sake of making money. We can't just leave all that stuff out drying and ignore it just to watch TV. Next time, once we're done drying, we'll put the TV by the door and watch together…"

"Come again next time, come again next time…"

Most of the neighbors were understanding people too. The things in the courtyard that could be sold for money had been knocked about in a terrible mess—who could be happy about that?

Besides, their house really was full of undried fish and cuttlefish. Since the weather forecast had just said no rain and overcast skies tomorrow, they could hang them out to air out—keeping them in the house would indeed make them go bad.

The reason was perfectly sound—no one could say anything against it.

Although everyone was still in the mood to watch, the corners of the courtyard were full of fallen bamboo trays and scattered cuttlefish and dried fish. It was, after all, a little episode everyone had witnessed with their own eyes.

"Sigh, only watched a little while and now it's over…"

"Nothing to watch now, can only go home and sleep…"

"Then we'll come watch next time…"

"It's already past eight. Let's head home and sleep early, get up early tomorrow—Goddess Mazu's procession is still going through the streets…"