Chapter 24: Picking Corn

Seeing what he was doing, Lin Xiuqing quickly asked,

“Where are you taking our son?”

“Nowhere. Going to help Grandma pick corn.”

“All of it, or just a little? Should I come help too?”

Ye Yaodong looked at the old lady behind him. She was only carrying a basket.

“Just a little. Didn’t we already say yesterday to keep it for ourselves and not let Grandma sell it? We’ll just pick a few and come right back. You go do your thing.”

Seeing him finally being diligent for once, Mother Ye also spoke in a gentler tone.

“Pick a bit more today. Don’t peel the husks. We can boil them with the husks on this evening so your father and brothers can take them out to sea as snacks.”

“Then let’s bring a sack. We’ll carry back around twenty.”

“And pick a few more cucumbers too. Let Father and the others take them to sea to eat,” Eldest Sister-in-law added.

“Got it.”

Once Grandma fetched the sack, Ye Yaodong carried his son and slowly headed toward the village entrance with her.

This direction was opposite from the beach.

The old lady walked slowly, so he matched her pace, strolling leisurely while looking around.

Along the way, all he saw were women sitting at their doorways weaving fishing nets, and children running wild everywhere.

The seven children from their family also came racing down a dirt slope nearby.

The youngest child in his arms saw everyone and immediately shouted excitedly,

“Brother~ Sister~”

“Ah, Dad, why are you here? Where are you going?”

Ye Chenghu also spotted his father and younger brother and quickly called out.

But he failed to watch his footing and slipped, sliding on his butt all the way to his father’s feet.

Still, he didn’t cry.

He just yelped twice, stood up, and patted his backside.

“Ow, that hurt. Good thing I landed on my butt.”

Ye Yaodong’s mouth twitched.

What a sturdy kid!

Grandma also stepped forward and patted his rear.

“Walk slower and watch where you’re going. Aiyo~ there’s another hole in your pants already. Hurry back later and ask your mother to patch it.”

“Ah, no way! Mom will beat me. I want Great-Grandma to patch it instead. Dad, where are you and Great-Grandma going?”

“To pick corn and cucumbers.”

“Ooh! I wanna go too!”

“Me too!”

“We wanna go too!”

One after another, the children excitedly declared they wanted to come along.

“Your butt’s already hanging out and you still won’t go home to patch your pants first?”

“No! I wanna pick corn and cucumbers first. I’ll patch them when I get back.”

With that, he dashed toward the village entrance, completely unconcerned that there was a hole exposing his backside.

The other children also whooped and sprinted ahead wildly.

“Slow down! Don’t fall…” Grandma called worriedly from behind.

“One kid or a whole group, makes no difference to me.”

Ye Yaodong shrugged.

“Don’t mind them. Just be careful not to fall yourself.”

“Dad, hurry! Hurry! Brother ran away.”

Ye Yaodong smacked his younger son lightly on the butt.

“You can barely talk properly and you already want to run with them? Relax. We’ll catch up soon enough.”

The three-fen plot of land across the road near the village entrance had once been a weed-covered slope.

Back when his grandfather was alive, the old man had slowly reclaimed the land bit by bit.

After his grandfather passed away, his father continued planting it for Grandma.

But Grandma herself was the restless type.

Even when others planted it for her, she still insisted on walking there twice a day herself, terrified someone might steal the crops.

“Don’t pick randomly. Don’t harvest the unripe ones.”

Seeing the children already breaking corn off the stalks, Ye Yaodong quickly stopped them.

“Aiya, we know! You only pick the ones where the silk at the end has turned black, right? We know!”

The one answering was the oldest child, Ye Chenghai, already twelve years old.

The children darted through the cornfield and instantly disappeared among the stalks.

Even little Ye Chengyang struggled to get down from his father’s arms.

So Ye Yaodong put him down to play by himself while taking the sack from Grandma and having Ye Chenghai fill it.

“That’s enough. Just pick twenty first. Three each is enough for you kids. Don’t take too many. We’ll come again tomorrow morning.”

“Ah? We’re not picking more?”

Ye Chenghai looked regretfully at the two corncobs in his hands. He could only pick one more.

“Just pick enough to eat for the day. If you harvest everything, your great-grandma will take them to sell, and then you won’t have any left to eat.”

“Then forget it. Better to pick a few every day.”

With so many people helping, the work went quickly.

In no time at all, they’d finished harvesting the corn.

Grandma had also filled an entire basket with cucumbers of all sizes—some as small as fists, some long and thick like clubs—all perfectly ripe.

Ye Yaodong hoisted the sack of corn onto his shoulder and took the basket from Grandma.

“I’ll carry everything. You just walk slowly.”

Then he looked at the children.

“Everyone out yet? One, two, three, four, five, six… one missing. Who’s gone? Where’s Ye Chenghu?”

“Ye Chenghu!” he shouted loudly toward the cornfield.

“I’m here, Dad!”

Ye Chenghu answered from the higher slope above, holding corn in his arms as he walked downhill.

Ye Yaodong looked at the corncobs stuffed inside the boy’s shirt.

“You picked those up there?”

“You little rascal, why did you pick someone else’s corn?”

Grandma glanced nervously toward the road and lowered her voice.

“Huh? Isn’t all this corn ours?”

“Only this section is ours!”

Ye Chenghu scratched his head.

“I thought all the corn here belonged to us.”

Laughing, Ye Yaodong set down the basket and tossed all the stolen corn into the sack.

“It’s fine as long as nobody saw. When your dad was little, I also thought the whole mountain belonged to our family. I picked whatever I wanted.”

Grandma quietly warned,

“You can’t pick other people’s crops next time. If they catch you, they’ll scold you.”

“Scold? They’d chase you all over the mountain!”

“Dad, people chased you before?”

“Your old man’s done everything there is to do on mountains and in the sea. Alright, let’s head home.”

Ye Yaodong swung the sack back onto his shoulder.

“Wait, wait! There’s still Yangyang!”

Grandma stopped him just as he was about to leave.

“Oh right! Almost forgot this little guy!”

He looked around but couldn’t spot his youngest son, so he sent the children to search while putting the sack down again.

“These tiny little brats sure can run. Where the hell did he hide?”

“Over here, Third Uncle! Yangyang’s sitting on the ground eating a cucumber!”

Ye Yaodong walked toward the voice and found his youngest son sitting on the dirt, looking innocently up at everyone while holding a cucumber bigger than his own face.

The cucumber was still attached to the vine.

The skin had already been bitten open before it was even picked.

Amazing that he’d managed to find one hanging low enough for him to reach.

“How’d you hide over here stealing food?”

“Dad!”

Ye Chengyang lifted the cucumber toward his father.

But he didn’t have enough strength.

The moment he raised it, it slipped from his hands.

The cucumber, still attached to the vine, swung back and smacked him right on the forehead.

He lost balance and fell flat on his back with all four limbs in the air.

“Hahahaha!”

“Hahahahaha! Idiot!”

The children laughed mercilessly, completely delighted by his misery.

Even Ye Yaodong couldn’t help laughing as he watched his youngest son roll over and crawl back up using both hands and feet without crying at all.

“You’re filthy from head to toe. You and your brother are both getting scolded when you get home.”

(End of Chapter)