Chapter 943: The Plans of the Two Older Brothers

Lin Xiuqing, however, was not as optimistic as they were. If they truly loved their children and were willing to send them to school, would they really be short on that little bit of tuition?

"If we really want to sponsor these children, Mother, you still have to go to the Women's Federation first, have them step in to communicate with the school, and then go to those children's homes together to persuade their parents."

"Some families just feel that it's useless for girls to study. It's not that they are short on that bit of tuition; they just want an extra laborer to help with chores or look after the younger siblings below, to lighten the family's burden."

"If they can study for free now, they might consider it, but some might still be stubborn and unyielding."

Ye Mu echoed, "That makes sense. Aside from families with many children who are truly in difficulty, most of these cases are simply because they don't want the children to study."

"Who says going to school means you can't help with chores? After coming home from school, can't they still cut pig feed or work in the fields? They only spend a few hours at school each day; they can still work when they get home."

Ye Yaodong said, "What you say is also right, but only a fool would pass up a bargain. Even if parents want their children to stay home and work and don't want them to study, most aren't that heartless. If the children really want to study, they will still consider it."

"If they are truly that heartless, most won't be able to withstand the pressure of public opinion and the persuasion of relatives and friends."

"Or, I could set up a scholarship. For each grade level, the first place in the semester exams gets a reward of fifty yuan, second place thirty, and third place twenty. If they study hard, they can earn money. If the children in the family have good grades, the parents will surely loosen their stance."

"I just feel it's a pity for children with good grades who want to study but are held back by their families. As for those with poor grades, it doesn't matter if they study or not; anyway, poor grades won't change their fate. They might as well go to work early; who knows, they might get rich sooner."

Ye Mu frowned, "Isn't that too much? Just spending a few dozen yuan on the children would be fine. Why set up some scholarship? Wouldn't that cost several hundred yuan? Some families only earn a few hundred yuan a year working..."

"Elementary school is fine; there's no difficulty, just sponsoring the tuition is enough. We'll set up the scholarship for middle school. There are only three grade levels in total. One hundred yuan per grade level, three hundred yuan for all three. It's only six hundred yuan a year."

"I earned tens of thousands on this trip, and everyone has seen it. They can roughly calculate it. Spending a few hundred yuan to benefit the hometown is only right. Otherwise, with so much money, everyone will be green with envy."

"Doing some good deeds and spreading some wealth can also act as a buffer and buy a good reputation. The surrounding ten miles and eight villages will all praise us, and we can at least buy some goodwill from passersby."

"Besides, the students who benefit will all be grateful to us. People nowadays are simple and honest; those with good grades will still be grateful after getting into university."

"If we encounter someone ungrateful, there's nothing we can do. People eat all kinds of grains; no one can guarantee character. We can only consider ourselves unlucky, but I believe there are still more people with conscience."

"Investing money in the school and spending so much shows more sincerity. If we just sponsor that little bit of tuition for the students, who knows, some might even look down on us and say we are just putting on a show."

Ye Mu felt a bit pained. Whose money comes from a strong wind? Who doesn't work hard to earn money?

"Then if you spend so much money, people will still say you are putting on a show."

"Then there will also be people to refute them. After all, we have truly spent the money. Some people talk without feeling the pain; naturally, there will be people to speak up for us."

"That's still too much. Three hundred yuan for half a year, six hundred yuan for a year."

"I earn a lot too."

This is only how much? The wages he pays out every month are already five hundred yuan.

Since he has good luck and earned so much money, he should give back to society. Doing some good deeds might even increase his fortune in the dark.

From beginning to end, aside from being a little more diligent, he wasn't much better than others. He wasn't even as diligent as some, and most of the money he earned came from luck.

Now that he has earned such a large sum, doing some good deeds will make him feel more at ease.

The things underground, to him, don't count at all. Only what is converted into cash is money; what isn't is just a pile of dead objects. They can only be piled there for now. After two thousand years, he will find an opportunity to melt them down bit by bit, sell them off, and put them in his pocket for peace of mind. That is what truly belongs to him.

"You only earned tens of thousands on this trip..."

"Yes, tens of thousands is incredible. It's enough for me to retire directly. My second half of life is worry-free. Spending a few hundred yuan a year to help students is fine. Didn't you feel sorry for those children who wanted to study but couldn't just a moment ago?"

"I was just feeling sorry casually. Who knew that after feeling sorry, I'd have to spend money."

"It's not spending your money either."

"Your money isn't money? Can you earn this much every time?"

Everyone watched the mother and son arguing back and forth over this matter, their heads aching. The others couldn't get a word in, and their brains weren't turning that fast.

Only Lin Xiuqing seized the opportunity and hurriedly interrupted them, "Then let's just do it this way this year. Anyway, we really did earn this much money this year. Doing some good deeds and earning some reputation is good, and it saves so many people from being jealous."

"Whether we want to continue the scholarship to reward children next year? We'll talk about that next year, depending on whether our family can earn that much again."

"If we earn less next year, then we'll focus on sponsorship. We won't set up that so-called scholarship, and everyone will understand. If we earn more, we'll help more children with good grades. If we earn less, we won't reduce the help for those children in difficulty."

Ye Fu hurriedly echoed, "Aqing is right. We don't need to be fixed; it doesn't have to be like this every year. If we earn more this year, then let's do it this way this year. If we can earn more next year, we'll continue. If we earn less, we'll act according to our ability."

"Yes, yes, this way we don't have to puff up our faces to look fat." The old lady also echoed, "Doing good deeds is right, but we must have earned the money first."

Ye Yaodong felt Aqing's suggestion was very good. They could set it up for one year first; anyway, they earned big money this year, and next year is to be determined.

"Then let's listen to Aqing and do it this way."

"Mother, you go tell the Village Committee tomorrow and have them step in to contact the school to discuss the scholarship. Also, you control the sponsorship of student tuition; don't let people find loopholes. Anyway, when the time comes, your Women's Federation will definitely have to go with the school teachers to visit the students' homes and persuade the parents."

"I'll only be responsible for providing the money; I won't care about anything else. I'm giving you something to do, and it's just the right time for you to show off your prestige!"

"What prestige am I showing off? What's there to show off?" Ye Mu hadn't thought about the glory this could bring her.

"Isn't it prestigious? The six-hundred-yuan scholarship a year is established by me. I'm paying this money, and you are my mother. When you walk out, won't you have plenty of face?"

"In the Women's Federation, you will also have glory on your face; you can lift your chin and hold your head high. And which student to sponsor, you have to go to their home to see before you can nod. Tell me, is that prestigious?"

Ye Mu felt it made sense after hearing him say this. In an instant, she also felt she had plenty of face; her son had brought her glory.

However, she still pretended to be reserved and said, "Which day have I not held my head high? I haven't done anything against my conscience."

"Then this matter is left to you, and I won't care. In the second half of this year, I only need to pay three hundred yuan as a scholarship, and by the way, add a few dozen yuan to sponsor student tuition. The scholarship is not urgent. For the few dozen yuan of tuition, when the time comes, you confirm it with the school and ask Aqing for the money."

"Understood."

Lin Xiuqing also nodded with a smile, "Then I have to take a new notebook to record this educational assistance expenditure."

"Yes, definitely. This is an important expenditure. As long as one of the students we help becomes successful and knows how to be grateful, won't we have earned big? Not to mention what it can bring, at least we will be happy in our hearts. This is called spiritual fulfillment."

Ye Mu teased him, "You've read newspapers for two years, and you know quite a lot."

"Of course. It's just that I didn't work hard when I was young; otherwise, I would be a talent who got into the top university now!"

"Oh, give it a rest."

Ye Fu saw that the mother and son were about to clash again and hurriedly changed the subject, "Since we've finished talking, we'll head back first. It's almost 9 o'clock after all this chatter. We've been tired all day, so let's sleep early. We'll talk about anything else tomorrow."

"Good, good, anyway, everything has been said."

After sending Ye Fu and Ye Mu away, Lin Xiuqing also started calling the children to go home to sleep.

Those children were still playing wildly outside. The adults hadn't called them back to sleep, so they didn't know to come back...

Today was also a happy day. More than half of the people in the village were joyous. The whole family was busy talking, and no one had time to manage the children. They let the children run around everywhere, and no one looked for them.

Lin Xiuqing called out several times as if her life depended on it, but she only heard the sound of responses and didn't see anyone running back. She had no choice but to go out herself and drag them back.

"Mother, I answered you. I know to come back. I just made an appointment with everyone to come and play again tomorrow. Don't pull my clothes; what if you pull them broken? These are overalls. Just pull the one inside; don't pull the straps..."

Lin Xiuqing glared at him.

Ye Chenghu looked at Ye Chengyang, who was walking easily beside him, and Ye Xiaoxi, who was taking short steps behind, and felt unbalanced in his heart again.

"Mother, you don't need to worry about me. You worry about them. I'm already a big child; they are both small. You worry about them..."

"Why is it always catching me every time? Why don't you catch them?" Why is he always the one getting hurt?

"Who told you to be the older brother? You didn't set a good example. If there's a beating, it'll be you first, let alone catching you."

Ye Chenghu hummed twice in his heart.

"Give me all the toy cars. You are not allowed to play when you go back to the room. Wash your hands and feet and go to sleep."

"No!"

"You have to go to school tomorrow."

"I promise not to play, and I promise to get up on time tomorrow."

"I'd be a fool to believe you."

It's just that Lin Xiuqing wanted to go into their room to take away the toys while they were washing their feet, but she found she couldn't find them no matter what.

Not under the bed, not in the drawer, not in the school bag, and not in the wooden box where clothes were kept.

The only place she hadn't looked was the pile of sacks of dried fish stacked in the corner. How could she find them there?

She had no choice but to give up. After going out, she warned them, "If you can't get up tomorrow morning, I'll peel your skin."

The two brothers soaked their feet in one basin, stepping on each other's feet, playing happily. The basin, which was originally full of water, had less than half left, and there were water stains all over the floor.

"Hehe, I will definitely be able to get up."

Ye Chengyang stepped on his instep happily and said, "I don't have to go to school, and I don't have to get up early."

"Hmph!"

Ye Chenghu stepped back on him jealously.

Then, after a few steps, it turned into kicking each other, until one kicked the other's chair to the ground. Only then did the war end, and under Lin Xiuqing's scolding, the two hurriedly tucked their tails and went back to the room.

Lin Xiuqing's head ached with anger. While tidying up, she muttered that they were becoming more and more naughty.

As for Ye Yaodong, he had gone back to the room to lie down after his parents left. After Ye Xiaoxi was sent in after washing her hands and feet, he had been playing with the child. In fact, he was acting as a horse for Ye Xiaoxi to ride.

"Is that enough, little ancestor? My old waist is about to break."

"No! Giddy up!"

"You are going to be the death of me..."

"Giddy up, giddy up... doll... giddy up..."

Ye Yaodong lay on the bed, swaying back and forth to accompany her in play. Only after he was tired did he lie flat.

"Ouch, just finished dealing with the big ones, and now I have to deal with the small one. You mother and daughter are truly going to be the death of me."

"Daddy, giddy up..."

"No giddy up, I'm so tired. You hammer my back for me, climb up and step on it."

Ye Xiaoxi was also used to being lazy. She directly grabbed the doll and let the doll step on his back.

"Alright, alright, so perfunctory, I don't want you to step on it anymore. You go to sleep quickly."

"No, I want to play."

"Can you take your doll away first? It looks creepy in the middle of the night."

"No."

"Wait until tomorrow to play..."

"No."

"Then can you lend it to me to play for a while?"

"No."

"Then you go to the corner and play by yourself."

"No."

Ye Yaodong saw her holding the doll and pouting, glaring at him angrily. Her two eyes were round, and her cheeks were bulging. He couldn't help but feel his hands itching, so he pinched her face. As a result, it turned red instantly.

Yet he felt it was soft, bouncy, and quite fun to pinch. He couldn't help but pinch it a few more times, using both hands at the same time. Unexpectedly, Ye Xiaoxi followed suit.

She also threw away the doll in her hand and pounced over to pinch his face.

Ouch, she's so small, but she pinches quite painfully.

"I was wrong, I was wrong, I won't pinch anymore, I won't pinch anymore, little aunt, it hurts, it hurts..."

"Do you dare again?"

"Damn, where did you learn that? You learn really fast. Is this tone of voice lecturing your old father?"

"Do you dare again?"

"I don't dare anymore, I don't dare anymore! You are really something. You're just a little bit big, but you learn everything you see, you learn really fast."

Ye Yaodong said while laughing, and also patted her little butt.

Unexpectedly, she wanted to learn this too. She directly lay on his butt, and her little palm slapped down one by one.

Ye Yaodong's face blossomed with joy, and he cooperated by lying down for her to pat, "I'll fart for you to eat, do you believe it?"

Little brat, she really doesn't suffer any losses. As soon as his voice fell, she moved over directly, sat down on his head with her butt, and twisted around.

"Ah ah ah, stinky girl, go away, take your stinky butt away..."

Ye Xiaoxi also giggled non-stop. The silver bell-like child's voice spread out through the door, and she laughed more and more happily, attracting Lin Xiuqing to come in to investigate.

After glancing at it, she also laughed.

"Stop messing around, it's very late, you hurry up and coax the child to sleep."

Ye Yaodong pushed her little butt away and said, "She doesn't look like she wants to sleep, how to coax her? You coax her yourself, I can't coax her."

"I'll go close the courtyard gate, doors, and windows and come back."

Ye Xiaoxi was relentless. After her butt was pushed away, she continued to lean over, and kept calling out, "Pu pu pu pu pu pu..."

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to tickle her, and only then did she fall directly onto the bed, laughing and rolling.

"Do you dare again? Do you dare again?"

"Mother~ hehehe~ hahahaha mother~ don't... don't..."

"Stop playing, making her laugh like this in the middle of the night, do you still want to sleep later?"

"Anyway, you coax her!"

So righteous!

Lin Xiuqing glanced at him, closed the bedroom door, took off her clothes and pants, and went to turn off the lights.

"Ah, the power is... off... wa wa wa... the power is... off..." Ye Xiaoxi jumped up and down, extremely excited, without any fear of the darkness.

"Nonsense, it's turning off the lights to sleep. Lie down for me, stop making noise."

"Still want to play..."

"Not allowed to play anymore, hurry up and sleep with the doll."

This time she was obedient. As soon as she heard about sleeping with the doll, she immediately became energetic, and her attention was also diverted.

Ye Yaodong watched her lie down immediately holding the doll by the moonlight, and put her hand on the doll's chest, patting it one by one.

Unexpectedly, she coaxed herself to sleep, and the couple didn't have to spend any effort.

"This is quite easy to sleep, isn't it?"

"She usually sleeps after eight o'clock, now it's nine-thirty, isn't she sleepy? It's just that she was too excited playing with you, so she couldn't bear to sleep."

Ye Yaodong hugged Lin Xiuqing, "In the two months I wasn't home, did anything special happen?"

"During this period, there have been thieves intermittently. Most of the strong laborers in the village have left. I guess many villages know about it. Some idle rascals with unclean hands and feet have set their sights on our village."

"Five or six households have been stolen from. They all took advantage of the middle of the night. I don't know how they opened the locks and got in."

"Wang Guangliang and the others also said that many people were wandering around the workshop at night, and they were all scolded away. Our family is the same. Fortunately, we have raised many dogs in our courtyard, and I also put two at the back door. Our family's dogs don't eat things from outside."

"Every time the old lady gets up early, she has found steamed buns or bones coated with rat poison several times."

"Damn! Those people deserve to die..."

Ye Yaodong had just scolded when he was reminded by Lin Xiuqing to be quiet, the child had just fallen asleep.

"It's like this when the man is not at home. To outsiders, it looks like we are easy to bully. Fortunately, our family didn't suffer any losses. As long as we are drying fish in the workshop, someone is watching all day."

"Hmm, fortunately, this trip out for two months was worth it."

"Sleep early, you've been floating on the sea for a day and you're tired."

"Hmm."

After finishing what needed to be done, he was already sleepy. It was just that he was forcing himself to accompany the child to play for a while.

At this moment, holding his wife, he had no evil thoughts, closed his eyes, and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, Ye Xiaoxi also put on the fluffy cake skirt that Ye Yaodong bought back for her.

This was the day before he came back. He looked everywhere, and later couldn't find a good-looking one, so he found a tailor in a small alley and made it according to his requirements, white, fluffy, and made with many layers of fabric.

It was also because it was white that Lin Xiuqing didn't let her put it on the night before. Otherwise, it wouldn't be long before it turned black after squatting on the ground, and it wouldn't need to be worn today.

Moreover, it was pitch black, and no one could see it. It was meaningless to wear it.

At least wearing it early today, she could walk out and show it to the people in the village, and keep it beautiful for a while.

Ye Xiaoxi was also very vain. After putting on the little skirt, she felt she was beautiful, and kept twisting and turning in circles.

After hearing the couple's praise, her face turned red with happiness. She jumped and jumped, shouting "De de", grabbed the doll's hair again, and dragged it outside to find her brothers to play.

Ye Yaodong also followed behind her, full of doting, "I am truly a genius. I just described it casually to the tailor, and she made such a beautiful skirt."

"It's as if you made it yourself. Since you asked someone to make it, you didn't know how to make it red. White is so easy to get dirty."

"I didn't think much at the time. Tomorrow I'll let you buy a few pieces of red cloth and make one for her according to this style."

"What a waste of fabric. This skirt has layers upon layers of hem. I just looked and it seems there are four or five layers."

"What does it matter? Where is it short of this bit of fabric? If she can't wear it, can't it be worn by my niece? Make the best use of everything. It's worth it for one piece of clothing to be worn by several children."

"Look later. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it won't be long before the weather turns cool."

"That's simple, just make long sleeves."

"Don't just talk with your mouth. The clothes left by her brothers and sisters at home are enough to wear. She crawls and rolls on the ground all day, why wear such good clothes? Get up, hurry up and brush your teeth and wash your face. Only you and Xiao Jiu haven't eaten yet. I still have to go and catch her back."

Ye Yaodong went to the washbasin stand in a leisurely manner, took his washbasin and toothbrush cup, and kept saying, "There is only one daughter, shouldn't she be dressed beautifully? She can't be like a tomboy every day, wearing gray and crawling everywhere."

"But you put a skirt on her, and she still crawls everywhere. It's not beautiful for more than five minutes."

"At least it was beautiful once. You hurry up and call him back. I'll go get the camera and take a picture of her. It's just right while she just put on the skirt and is still clean..."

Lin Xiuqing mocked him, "I'll go bring her back now, she must already be dirty!"

"Uh... then bring her back first..."

After bringing her back, Ye Yaodong had to say that the mother still understands the child.

On the white skirt, there were already many handprints, piece by piece. I don't know how many children had touched it, and the hem was also black with dust.

"Why are you so dirty? How many minutes have passed since you ran out?"

"I wasn't wrong, was I."

"It's okay, anyway, the photos are black and white, so you can't see if the clothes are dirty or not."

Lin Xiuqing shook her head and didn't care about him, letting him toss.

Not to mention the person, the doll was also so dirty that it was almost unpresentable. It was a waste of heaven's gifts.

Just when Ye Yaodong was taking pictures of the child with great interest, Ye Fu came over.

"Are you done taking pictures? I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

Ye Yaodong took one last picture of Ye Xiaoxi sitting in front of the TV watching TV, then straightened his body and handed the camera to Lin Xiuqing to put away.

"Your older brother and second brother were discussing this morning that they wanted to buy a boat. They just called me over specially and asked me to follow them to the shipyard to take a look later."

"That's a good thing. Then they should order the boat as soon as possible. In our surrounding towns, even the neighboring counties don't have shipyards. Only our county has one, and the number of boats that can be built in a year is fixed."

"Ordering early means getting it early, so as not to have too many people ordering boats later, and they can't be built, so they can only be pushed back, or they have to go to the city to order, and the city will be more expensive."

Ye Fu echoed, "That's what I told them..."

"Then the old boat you gave them before, how do they plan to divide it? Is my boat going to be returned to me when their new boat arrives, and we won't be partners anymore?"

"Your boat wasn't mentioned, but at least we have to wait until the new boat arrives before returning it to you. That old boat is too old, and the machine is always breaking. Both of them earned a big sum this time, and they don't want it anymore, sigh."

"Ah?"

He thought that one of his older brother and second brother would want the old boat, and one would go buy a new boat. Unexpectedly, both disliked it and didn't want it.

"That boat was left by my grandfather, it can't be sold."

"That's what I said too. I asked them to sell the boat to me, and I would pay to buy it back. Both of them are also filial. Hearing me say this, they said to just return the boat to me. They said it was also given to them by me directly at the time, and it hasn't been a few months."

"That's also fine. This is the best. Anyway, it's all one family, and it's all given back and forth. If the boat is given to you, when the time comes, renting it out will also get half the money to support your old age."

"Hmm, we just finished discussing it. I originally wanted to call you, but I heard from several children that you hadn't gotten up yet."

"It's okay, no need to call me. You handle your boat yourselves. Whenever you want to return the boat to me and stop being partners, just let me know."

Ye Yaodong didn't care about this matter. Anyway, it didn't harm his interests. They could handle it however they wanted, and they could return the boat to him and end the cooperation whenever they wanted.

"Then are you going to the shipyard now?"

"Let's go. Wait until I finish breakfast and go together. By the way, take a look at how my boat is doing. I haven't seen it for more than two months."

"Then wait until you finish eating and go together."

Lin Xiuqing put away the camera and came out to fill a bowl of porridge for him, and by the way, fed Ye Xiaoxi. She smiled and said, "Now our family has two more boats. When outsiders talk about our family, it's all boats. Father and Mother both have glory on their faces."

Ye Fu also smiled and showed his eight teeth, "It doesn't matter if I have glory on my face, as long as you are all successful."

"Definitely successful. After our boats arrive, whose family can have as many boats as our brothers? Our family already occupies half of the village's territory."

"Hahahaha~" Ye Fu blossomed with joy, "You hurry up and eat."

"Did Mother go to the Village Committee early this morning?"

"She went. It's just right to find something for her to do, otherwise she would be talking about this and that all day long. When she went back to lie down last night, I saw her tossing and turning all night. Who knows how excited she is." ===== CHAPTER 944 =====