Chapter 889: Wash Wash

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Open a shop?"

"What kind of shop?"

"You're opening a shop?"

Fatty pointed at Dongzi, "He told me to open a shop and go solo!"

Ye Yaodong slapped his hand away, "I was just saying it off the cuff. Take it or leave it. If you want to keep earning that measly wage, then keep going to work. It's not like I'm the one being ordered around."

"Exactly, the money you earn at work is too pathetic. Every day you have to listen to the old masters barking orders at you. So when you said opening your own shop means free time, you can rest whenever you want, and no one will be bossing you around, that really hit the spot for me."

A Guang nodded in agreement, "True, going solo means you don't have to take orders from anyone."

A Zheng also strongly agreed, "Right, work when you want, rest when you want."

Xiao Xiao also said, "But what kind of little shop are you opening? Do you know what you want to do?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you guys, to brainstorm together."

"I've got no ideas!"

"I don't know either!"

"I'm clueless too!"

After the three each said one line, they simultaneously said in unison: "Figure it out yourself!"

"Damn it, asking you guys is the same as asking no one."

Ye Yaodong jiggled his leg, "Originally, we're not cooks anyway. Think about it yourself, discuss it with your wife tonight. But let me tell you, my brother-in-law rented my elder brother's shop at the seafood market in the city to sell buns and steamed buns a while back, and he's doing pretty well."

He didn't say exactly how much money he made, otherwise within a day the whole village would have spread it around.

"How well?"

"Better than you can imagine. I think if you open a little shop in a busy area, earning a month's wages in a day wouldn't be a problem."

"For real?"

Everyone asked at the same time.

"Of course it's real."

Fatty slammed the table, "Alright, then it's decided! That pathetic wage isn't worth earning anyway! Laozi isn't going tomorrow, I'll sleep until I wake up naturally first."

"The pot's about to burn."

"Oh, coming. You guys go tell my wife to come in and eat first, otherwise it'll get cold…"

"Oh, you tell us not to eat, but tell your wife to come in and eat first?"

"You're deliberately making us watch her eat, huh?"

"Why all the complaints? The loaches are almost done too."

"Huh? I just noticed, you didn't clean the loaches? Just dumped them in like that?"

Only then did Ye Yaodong realize something seemed off. Loaches are so slippery, how could they be cleaned that fast? He hadn't even asked them to help clean them, and they were almost done already? Just like his mother.

"Clean what? Just stew them straight, when you eat them just don't eat the guts, why be so fussy, gutting them one by one, we wouldn't even eat tonight." Fatty said dismissively.

"Not picky, not picky, whatever you say goes, as long as I get to eat."

The group was lively and bustling, eating and chatting, a rare moment of ease and comfort. Ever since everyone got busy with their own proper affairs, it had been hard to all gather together for drinks and chat.

He really had saved a bunch of troubled men.

But after today, the gears of their fate should keep turning, though no one knew what the future held.

It wasn't until the few of them had eaten and drunk their fill that they stumbled out of Fatty's house arm in arm, drunk, each heading home.

The courtyard gate was already locked, so Ye Yaodong had to run to the window and shout for Lin Lin Xiuqing to open the door.

But once inside, Lin Lin Xiuqing noticed goose dung stuck to his toes, and the edges of his slippers were covered in it too. Good thing she had sharp eyes, otherwise once he climbed into bed it would have been a disaster.

"You go out for a bit and come back this drunk, don't you know how to drink less? You stepped in shit and didn't even notice. Don't go inside, sit down."

Looking at his completely oblivious expression, she quickly grabbed him and made him sit in the armchair.

"What for? I want to sleep."

"Wash your feet first."

"Wash my ass, I took a bath before going out tonight."

After saying that he tried to stand up again, Lin Lin Xiuqing quickly pushed him back down and glared at him.

"Don't move, I'll get you water."

"Fine."

Ye Yaodong watched her back in a daze, shifted his butt a bit, pulled his pants all the way down, kicked them aside, then tilted his head and leaned there, waiting for Lin Lin Xiuqing to wash his D.

Lin Lin Xiuqing turned her head and looked at him speechlessly.

Just then, she also heard the old lady's door open. She set the washbasin on the stove first, hurriedly grabbed his pants to cover his… his D……

Good thing she reacted quickly. The old lady was old and moved slowly, so when she poked her head out, she didn't see anything.

"Is Dongzi back? I thought I heard some noise, was about to come take a look."

"Yes, he's drunk, planning to wash his face and feet, then help him to bed."

"Alright, you go ahead, remember to check if the courtyard gate is locked."

"It's locked."

"That's good."

The old lady closed her door with relief and went back to sleep.

Lin Lin Xiuqing also patted Ye Yaodong's thigh, "Drinking that much… good thing you still knew to come home…"

After muttering a couple more lines, she continued to get him water. After washing his face, she wiped his hands, then poured the water from the washbasin into the foot basin to wash his feet.

In his daze, Ye Yaodong was also a bit more awake, thinking about what his wife had just said about washing his D, and right now someone was still squatting in front of him.

He pulled open the pants covering his thigh and pressed down on her head...

"What are you doing..."

Lin Lin Xiuqing's face flushed red as she slapped his hand away.

"You shameless old rogue..."

"Why'd you hit me..." Ye Yaodong was also a bit bewildered after being struck by her.

"Stop making noise! Wash your feet and get into bed to sleep right away." Lin Lin Xiuqing haphazardly wiped his feet.

"Oh."

He swayed to his feet, barefoot on the ground. After only a few steps, he covered his crotch and said, "Feels a bit cold down there. Where are my pants? Why'd you take them off, so eager..."

She decided not to bicker with a drunk man.

Lin Lin Xiuqing speechlessly flipped through the two layers of pants he was wearing folded together, and discovered that when he'd taken them off earlier, the goose droppings on his toes had smeared all over the pants — unwearable.

The slippers had gotten smeared with shit too, and there were no other slippers for him to wear, so she could only let him go barefoot. All that washing for nothing.

"You go lie down inside first, I'll bring them to you in a bit."

"Oh."

When she went inside, she found him lying sideways at the foot of the bed. The sides were already enclosed by wooden railings, leaving only an opening at the foot of the bed. Now that he was sprawled across it, she had no way to get onto the bed either.

"Wake up, lie down properly."

Ye Yaodong, half-asleep, grabbed her and they shuffled together onto the bed. Lin Lin Xiuqing gave up — it was late at night and she didn't want to fuss. Whatever way he wanted to sleep, so be it.

The next morning, when he woke up early and discovered he wasn't wearing pants, he grumbled at Lin Lin Xiuqing — after having his way, she didn't even bother to bring him a pair of pants to wear. What if someone suddenly burst in? How awkward would that be.

Lin Lin Xiuqing glanced outside; once she confirmed no one had heard, she turned her head and glared fiercely at him. "You took them off yourself, don't pin it on me."

"Why would I take off my pants for no reason? You took advantage of me being drunk and you still won't admit it!"

Ye Yaodong picked up the porridge from the table and said between bites, "Stop making excuses. We're an old married couple now — whatever you want to do is fine."

She couldn't out-argue him, and with this kind of suggestive talk, how was she supposed to act righteous? Lin Lin Xiuqing angrily kicked him, intending to just let the matter drop.

"Hurry up and eat. Wang Wang Guangliang and the others came over early this morning to pick out shrimp meat — they're already sorting through them in the yard."

"Oh, they came this early? Then just let them get on with it."

"Don't cook lunch for them, right?"

"Cook what lunch? Tell them to go home and eat, then come back after. So many people — half-grown boys eat a man into poverty. How much grain would it take to feed them? Our grain is bought with money too."

"Last time we pulled an all-nighter, so early in the morning we really should give them a bowl of hot porridge. But not this time — just let them finish early and go home to eat."

In these times, even when visiting someone's home as a guest, people brought their own rations. Keeping them for a meal hardly seemed appropriate.

"Mm, I was just asking, in case you wanted to keep them for a meal."

"No, no — let them go home and eat."

"Two of the dogs at home seem to be in heat. That spotted dog and the little yellow dog were chasing after the wild dogs on the edge this morning, and kept nuzzling against my leg."

Ye Yaodong's eyes lit up. "In heat? That's great. When I get a chance, I'll take them up to the border defense station to get bred on the sly, and bring some shrimp meat along to schmooze a bit."

He'd gone a few times before with no results — turns out they just hadn't been in heat.

"Huh? You're really planning to take them to get bred on the sly?"

Because he'd mentioned it before, she'd casually brought it up — she hadn't expected him to actually have his eye on the police dog.

"Of course I'm going. That's a police dog, a wolfhound. Sneaking a breeding to improve these dogs' genes — they should get smarter, right?"

"Bored out of your mind!"

"True enough. I'm free these days anyway, and I have no idea when the typhoon will pass."

If he weren't free, he couldn't be doing this kind of matchmaking work either.

"The waves still look pretty big today, bigger than the past few days, crashing up with a rumble, yet the sun's still out. Though it's not as hot as before."

"Take a break, rest for a few more days. You were worn out earlier, and these past two days you've been busy too — I haven't even started resting yet."

"You haven't rested yet?"

"The moment I step out that door, it doesn't count as rest."

Lin Lin Xiuqing: "..."

After eating, Ye Yaodong went out to chat with Wang Wang Guangliang and the others. Seeing their bodies brimming with enthusiasm, it looked like they didn't need his pep talk.

Still, he could throw them a little bone.

"Put your backs into it. Finish sorting all of this today, and I'll deliver it to the city tomorrow. If A-Liang's free, you can come with me tomorrow."

Hope instantly sparked in Wang Wang Guangliang's eyes. He jumped right up. "Got it, Brother Dong! I'm free — I'm free every single day. We'll definitely get it all sorted today."

Everyone else was green with envy.

The city! They'd barely been to the county town twice, and now they could go brag about having gone to the city — and Brother Dong was the one taking them.

After saying that, Ye Yaodong had A-Qing use newspaper to wrap up several more portions of shrimp meat, then loaded two baskets. He hopped on his bicycle and took off with a few dogs.

It was all stuff from home anyway, so no need to feel heartache.