Chapter 812: Childish

After Ye Yaodong and the others had sent everyone off, they didn't turn off the TV—after all, their own kids wanted to watch too. Several children who couldn't bear to leave were standing at the courtyard gate, so they didn't shut the gate either; people would be coming and going anyway.

They really were going to bring out those dried cuttlefish to sun-dry, not just talking about it, and it wasn't entirely an excuse—after all, the neighbors on both sides were watching. If the excuse was too poorly made, that would be too damaging to their reputation.

Everyone in the house got busy. Ye Big Brother and Ye Ye Erge, the four of them with their wives, all pitched in to help. Even the children were called over and told they weren't allowed to sit and watch TV—if everyone was busy, what would it look like for them to sit there watching?

Children of poor families grow up early; they all have to help with the work.

Their family's children were already much happier than other families' children—they were all in school, not forced to drop out early because the family was poor and go work for the household.

They didn't really need to do much housework either, just had to gather some pig grass on the way back from school every day, and occasionally slack off and bring back leftover small fish and shrimp to feed the pigs.

Now they too were running in and out carrying dried cuttlefish, helping the adults as assistants. But the TV sitting in the yard kept distracting them—every time they stepped into the yard they'd twist their heads, their eyes sneaking glances at the TV, and they'd dawdle.

Lin Lin Xiuqing turned her head and casually turned off the TV first.

"I'm afraid you'll twist your necks. We'll turn it back on for you when the work's done. For now, get to work."

"Oh..."

They answered listlessly, one after another.

"Be more enthusiastic, put some effort in. Otherwise I'll just carry it back to the room later and no one gets to watch—I'll watch it by myself."

Ye Ye Chenghai hurriedly stood at attention, snapped off a military salute, and shouted loudly: "Yes, Third Uncle! We will definitely work enthusiastically and guarantee the mission is completed!"

"We'll work hard too!"

"Mm, go inside and bring some more out, put it on the cart, I'll push it over to that little workshop to dry."

"Okay."

In an instant, each one of them became eager, bustling about like little bees, no longer dawdling like before.

The children lingering at the gate saw the TV had been turned off and couldn't watch, so they regretfully went off to play on their own.

With the whole family pitching in, it took less than an hour to hang up all the cuttlefish and dried fish, finishing the drying. Late at night, everyone had worked up a sweat again.

Father Ye lifted the hem of his undershirt to wipe the sweat from his face. "No need to call anyone else to watch tonight. I'll keep an eye on it over there—just over there, me watching is enough. Anyway, there's no work tomorrow."

"That's fine. Later have Ah Qing bring you two coils of mosquito coils to light up over there."

"Mm, I'll go back and wipe myself down with a towel first, covered in sweat."

The children, the moment they finished their work, had already impatiently gathered in front of the TV, waiting for the adults to turn it on. They actually knew how to turn it on themselves, but they didn't dare touch it, afraid that if they broke it they'd get a beating.

"Third Uncle, Third Uncle~"

"Dad, are you done yet? Hurry up and turn on the TV, it's been ages..."

"Third Uncle, hurry up, if you don't come soon the show will be over..."

"What's the rush? I have to finish up first." Ye Yaodong listened to them shouting, and didn't bother washing his hands or wiping himself down—he went straight into the yard to turn on the TV for them.

"Aren't you going to wash your hands first, wipe yourselves down? Your hair's soaked with sweat."

The wind blowing over did feel quite cool—going from hot to cold like that, don't catch a cold. The season's about to change.

"We're not washing. We'll wash after we finish watching TV and go to sleep."

"Up to you, but I have to remind you—it's already past nine, not long until ten, and at ten there's no more programming. And you have to get up tomorrow. If you can't get up, your butts are getting beaten to a pulp."

"Ah~ it's already past nine? We haven't even started watching yet."

"It started at seven earlier. You haven't started watching? Then what were you watching before? Bad eyesight at such a young age is one thing, but bad memory too?"

After saying that, he headed toward the back door and tossed over his shoulder: "Wait till I'm done wiping down and I'll come turn off the TV. You can only watch for a bit before you have to go home to sleep."

"We'll definitely be able to get up tomorrow..."

"We'll definitely be able to drag ourselves up—let us watch a bit longer..."

"You clearly said if we helped with the work, you'd turn on the TV for us to watch. We got tricked again!"

Ye Yaodong turned a deaf ear, pretending he hadn't heard. Anyway, once the two sisters-in-law finished wiping down and came over, they'd take these kids back to sleep.

By the time he'd quickly wiped himself down, the children in the yard were still wailing and refusing to leave. Threatening them with sticks just made them dart all over the yard—they still wouldn't go.

It wasn't until he came out and turned off the TV that they had no choice but to go home.

As they walked out the courtyard gate, Ye Ye Chenghai was still gripping the door crack with both hands, turning his head to ask: "Third Uncle, does that mean we have to wait until tomorrow night to watch?"

"Mm, tomorrow night."

"Fine."

Now they were completely resigned.

Shoulders drooping, listless, each one trudged home to find their own mother.

The bolder ones could still go home and make a fuss, asking when their own family could buy a TV. Without a doubt, they couldn't escape a beating.

Anyway, each one of them was thick-skinned and tough, couldn't be hurt, and no one was supervising. Ye Yaodong went ahead and unplugged the TV's power cord, told Ah Qing to carry the table in first, and then he'd carry the TV inside.

Ye Chenghu and Ye Ye Chengyang, along with Ye Ye Xiaoxi, had been waiting nearby the whole time, reluctant to go to sleep. Even though Ye Ye Xiaoxi was already so sleepy her eyelids were fighting each other, she was still standing there, head bobbing, refusing to let herself fall asleep.

"Dad, they've all left. Can we secretly watch inside the room?"

"Watch your big bald head! Don't you see what time it is? Get back to the room and sleep right now. And besides, why use the word 'secretly' in our own home? Why do we need to hide from people? We're upright and open—if we want to watch, we watch."

"Then I want to watch now!"

Ye Yaodong was choked up for a moment, glared at him. "All of you, get inside. If you can't get up tomorrow..."

"Your butts are getting beaten to a pulp... I know..." Ye Chenghu took over his words with a glum face, then pulled Ye Ye Chengyang toward the room. As they walked, he said to Ye Ye Chengyang, "You hear that? If we can't get up tomorrow, our butts are getting beaten to a pulp."

Ye Ye Chengyang just kept giggling foolishly beside him, turning his head to sneak peeks at his mom and dad.

Ye Yaodong raised an eyebrow. "This stinky kid—give him a few more years and he'll be impossible, won't he just annoy me to death?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed too. "Isn't it all learned from you? A crooked beam makes a crooked rafter."

"What does it have to do with me!"

"You take Little Nine inside to sleep. Look at her—she's about to fall asleep standing up. I still need to tidy up."

"Don't bother moving it out tomorrow. If our own family wants to watch, our own family can just watch inside the room. The whole yard is covered in cuttlefish and dried fish anyway."

Lin Lin Xiuqing nodded quickly. "Mm, it's been a noisy mess with people everywhere, all chaotic. The whole yard is full of sunflower seed shells—more than chicken and duck droppings. I couldn't even ask them to sweep the floor before they left. I'll go sweep first."

"While you're at it, sweep up the goose droppings by the back door too. They really can shit like crazy. I just stepped in some when I went out earlier, and it took me forever to scrape it off. I only noticed when I shone the flashlight — there's barely any clean ground left to step on."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Weren't you the one who insisted on raising them? Geese can shit even more than pigs — their guts are just straight through."

"It was your eldest son who said he wanted to raise them, not me. Later, hurry up and sprinkle some plant ash and sweep it while you're at it."

"It's your eldest son again? Not your son?" Lin Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes and said irritably.

"You gave birth to him — he's your son!"

"He takes your surname, so he should be your son!"

"My daughter, your son! If you don't want to sweep, then call your eldest son out to sweep — he's the one who wanted to raise them."

Childish!

Your son, my son — weren't they all born by that couple anyway?

Lin Lin Xiuqing grumbled to herself but didn't argue with him. This man always claimed the good things for himself and pushed all the bad ones onto her.

When they're old, won't they both have to rely on their two sons for support?

Seeing that she wasn't talking, Ye Yaodong happily hugged the child and went back inside.