Chapter 1: Shameless Relatives at the Door

Ye Yaodong stood in the corner of the room with a pounding headache. With no cigarettes to smoke, he could only bite on a stalk of straw while watching his eldest and second uncles argue with his father and two older brothers until their faces were red and veins bulged from their necks. They were slamming the table so hard it rattled loudly.

He simply couldn’t understand it.

Wasn’t he supposed to have died after being hired as a deckhand on a large fishing vessel? He had gone up to the deck on a whim to take a piss, only for a wave to crash over him and sweep him into the sea.

So how had he woken up this morning and gone straight back to 1982?

Fucking… unbelievable.

Even now, he still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock. Not even the fact that his father had hauled in a net full of large yellow croakers could excite him. Compared to being reborn at twenty-five years old, that catch meant nothing.

He was already sixty-five years old, yet he had crossed forty years and become young again at twenty-five.

This was… this was… this was damn wonderful~

He actually got a second chance!

The only pity was that after his death, the ship owner would definitely have had to pay over a million in compensation. That would end up benefiting those two brat sons of his.

He wondered whether they cried or laughed after receiving the news…

“Third Brother, don’t forget that boat was left behind by Father. It was only because Mother chose to live with you in her old age that the boat was left for your use. All us brothers originally had a share in it. Since you sold those large yellow croakers for money, we brothers should get a cut too.”

“Exactly, Third Brother. Now that you hauled in a net of large yellow croakers, you think you can throw your weight around? The boat was Father’s. Everyone has a share. You can’t ignore brotherly ties and keep all the money for yourself.”

Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye shouted one after another at the top of their lungs, making Father Ye glare at them in fury.

“Bullshit! The boat was Father’s, sure, but it was practically scrap back then. The engine was broken too. You guys were the ones who didn’t want it and insisted on taking cash instead. That’s why the wreck got dumped on me! You even said that even a rotten ship still had three thousand nails in it and could be sold for some money. Since Mother was staying with me, you let me ‘take advantage’ of it.”

“I was the youngest, so I couldn’t win against you all and had to swallow the loss silently. But now that I’ve spent the last two years repairing the boat bit by bit, you’re getting jealous? Dream on! I poured my entire family savings into this boat, and now that we finally had a lucky haul, you all come running over demanding a share of the money. Where’s your shame?”

Second Uncle frowned and said, “Third Brother, when we divided Father’s inheritance, you really did get the better deal. No matter what, that boat was still Father’s keepsake. We only left it to you because Mother was staying with you, so at least she’d have something to remember Father by. Otherwise, wouldn’t it have been better to sell the boat and split the cash?”

“Nice words about keeping a memento. You all thought it was worthless junk anyway! How much did you think those wooden planks were worth? Scrap iron only sold for a few cents per pound back then. You dumped it on me so there’d be one less person sharing the inheritance!”

“Uncle, Second Uncle, everyone was there when Grandpa passed away. It was already agreed upon back then. You took the cash, and my dad took the broken boat. That was what you all decided together. My dad saw Grandma crying the whole time and couldn’t bear to sell the boat, so he didn’t insist on selling it and splitting the cash. He just accepted the loss quietly.”

The one speaking was Ye Yaodong’s eldest brother, Ye Yaopeng, but the moment he opened his mouth, Eldest Uncle snapped at him.

“The adults are talking. What right does a junior like you have to interrupt?”

“How is it not my business? It’s my family’s money! We already split into separate households long ago. You two uncles actually came to our house demanding a share of our fish money, and now you won’t even let me speak?”

“This is a matter for the elders. It’s not your place to talk!”

Listening from the corner gave Ye Yaodong a headache. Frowning, he spat out the straw in his mouth and walked over, casually draping an arm over his eldest uncle’s shoulder. His uncle was short and stubby, making the height perfect.

In a lazy, hoodlum-like tone, he said, “Eldest Uncle, that’s going too far. This is our house. How does my brother not have the right to speak?”

“My dad caught those large yellow croakers himself. Did you or Second Uncle go out to sea with him? Where do you get the nerve to come here demanding money? Because your faces are thicker than everyone else’s?”

“Come on, come on, let’s go outside and talk about this. Let’s call the whole village over and get the village chief too. Let’s see whether people think we should give you money!”

“If everyone says our family shouldn’t keep it all for ourselves, my dad’s an honorable man. He definitely won’t object!”

Ye Yaodong hooked his arm around his uncle’s neck and dragged him toward the door.

Only his father cared too much about appearances and brotherly ties. That was why he could keep arguing for so long without completely falling out with them.

If it were him, he would’ve kicked them out long ago. What kind of people were they? Completely shameless!

Still, they were his uncles after all. No matter how reckless he used to be, he couldn’t just beat them up. He could only use his mouth and drag them outside to settle things publicly.

Eldest Uncle Ye was short, barely over 160 centimeters, while Ye Yaodong was 180. With his neck trapped under Ye Yaodong’s arm, the old man couldn’t break free no matter how hard he struggled and could only stagger along helplessly.

“Let go of me! Who grabs their uncle by the neck like this? I’m your eldest uncle!”

“What uncle? Anyone trying to extort money from my family is my enemy. Let’s talk outside!”

He remembered very clearly that when he was young, he had been one of the village hooligans, loafing around every day, hanging out with his friends instead of doing proper work. Fighting and brawling were practically routine. He had only calmed down after getting married.

So dragging around an elder and talking rudely didn’t seem too outrageous to anyone. In fact, people found it perfectly normal coming from him.

Still, after living several more decades, he wasn’t as much of a bastard anymore. Even he felt this looked bad.

Ye Yaodong loosened his grip and switched to pulling his uncle by the arm as he dragged him toward the front door.

Ye Yaopeng let out a sigh of relief. The third brother had finally stepped in.

He had no idea what was wrong with him today. Since morning, Ye Yaodong had seemed dazed and absent-minded, staying silent the entire time. Normally, he would’ve exploded long ago. There was no way he would’ve let Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle ramble on for this long.

“Villagers! Villagers, come over—mmph!”

Second Uncle hurriedly covered Ye Yaodong’s mouth and awkwardly laughed.

“Yaodong, your eldest uncle and I only came over to discuss things with your father. Life’s hard for everyone nowadays. It’s normal for brothers to help each other out…”

“Exactly, exactly. We were just talking things over with your father. Family matters shouldn’t be aired outside. Hurry and let go of me. Let’s go back inside and talk.”

Even Eldest Uncle knew he was in the wrong. If this became public in front of the whole village, they’d lose all face. After all, the families had already been separated for two years.

Ye Yaodong pulled Second Uncle’s hand away from his mouth.

“Go back inside and talk about what? All morning I’ve only heard you slamming tables and shouting. My skull’s splitting from the noise. Better to talk outside and let everyone hear whether you’re being reasonable. Villagers—mmph!”

“Third Brother, aren’t you going to control your son?” Second Uncle glared at Father Ye.

“Hmph. Now you know family shame shouldn’t be exposed? Fine, let’s talk outside and let the villagers judge. Otherwise, people who don’t know the truth might think I took some huge advantage.”

By now, the nearby neighbors had already heard the commotion and gathered around curiously to watch the Ye brothers.

“What’s going on? Didn’t you sell over two hundred jin of large yellow croakers yesterday? Weren’t you all celebrating?”

“What happened? Did Yaodong get into another fight?”

“What did Yaodong do this time?”

“He’s already married with kids. Why’s he still so immature…”

Ye Yaodong was speechless. It seemed his reputation as a hooligan was deeply rooted in everyone’s minds. Whenever something happened, all fingers pointed at him first.

Raising an eyebrow, he said in his usual unruly tone, “This time I didn’t cause trouble, alright? Don’t pin it on me. Someone else is the shameless one…”

“Ah… nothing, nothing. Catching large yellow croakers is a good thing. We were just curious how they caught them, so we came over to ask about it and chat a little. Yaodong just said it was too hot inside and wanted us to talk outside where it’s cooler…”

Eldest Uncle hurriedly cut him off and forced a cheerful smile at the neighbors.

Second Uncle also laughed awkwardly.

“Hehe, we’ve already said what we needed to say. Mother’s out working in the fields anyway. Big Brother, let’s head back first.”

“Mm, let’s go back, let’s go back.”

As a new author with a new book, please be gentle if there are flaws. Go easy on me!

Please bookmark the book and keep reading up to the latest chapter. Thank you very much!

(End of Chapter)