Chapter 14: From Grandfather Generation to Grandson Generation

In just an instant, Father Ye had already imagined what life would be like living with the third son—working himself to death for the rest of his life. He might as well live alone instead.

“Dad, I’m being sincere!”

“If I believe you, I’ll end up working until I’m eighty!”

“Even if you don’t believe me, you’ll still work until eighty! Grandma is already eighty and she’s still growing vegetables!”

Father Ye snorted unhappily.

“If I live with you, my lifespan will shorten. I’ll get pissed off to death and probably won’t even make it to eighty.”

“Oh, alright then.” Ye Yaodong shrugged. “Then there’s nothing I can do. I’ll move out so you can live a long life! Pick either Eldest Brother or Second Brother to live with you and support you in old age here!”

Even though he knew full well his father planned to build three houses, he deliberately said it maliciously on purpose.

Eldest Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law immediately looked terrible, but neither dared directly say they were unwilling.

How could Father Ye not see through their thoughts? He simply hadn’t exposed them.

Mother Ye was busy feeding her youngest grandson and hadn’t spoken, but her heart had already gone cold.

She felt she hadn’t treated her three daughters-in-law poorly. She had carefully taken care of them during confinement after childbirth and had helped raise all the grandchildren. Yet in the end, only the third son’s wife was willing to live with them!

Actually, before sleeping last night, she and Father Ye had already discussed directly building three houses. The old house they currently lived in was already very rundown. They themselves were only in their early fifties. If they lived another twenty-some years, the house probably wouldn’t even be livable anymore.

After they died of old age, the homestead could simply be sold by the three brothers and the money divided. There would be no need to think about which son to live with. They were still capable of working and didn’t need their sons to support them. If the sons wanted to show filial respect in daily life, they could simply accept it then.

Who would have thought Father Ye’s temporary test would reveal the true thoughts of the two daughters-in-law? Fortunately, both sons were good, and the third son’s wife was good too.

The children at the table didn’t dare interrupt while the adults were talking. They only lowered their heads and ate. Once they finished, they immediately hopped off the table and went out to play, unconcerned about the worries of the adults.

Only then did the three daughters-in-law sit down, but none of them had any appetite. They were all waiting for Father Ye to speak.

Father Ye himself was also very unhappy, but he couldn’t direct his anger at his daughters-in-law. He only glared at his three sons and clearly stated:

“It’s already been agreed with the commune. We’re building three houses, one for each family. Your mother and I don’t need you to support us. We can still work.”

He had really brought trouble upon himself. If he had known, he should have simply said from the start that everyone would get one house each!

The moment those words were spoken, Eldest Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law visibly relaxed, smiles instantly appearing on their faces.

At this point, how could Eldest Brother and Second Brother still fail to understand their wives’ little selfish thoughts? Both looked displeased and glared at them.

“Alright, hurry up and eat. After we’re done, Eldest and Second come with me to hire workers. We still need to buy sand.”

Mother Ye also added, “I’ll go find someone to check for a good date later. We’ll pick an auspicious day before starting construction.”

“Mm.”

At the entire table, only Ye Yaodong and the old lady remained unaffected in mood. He was even smiling as he picked fish into the old lady’s bowl.

The old lady had no teeth, so fish was about all she could eat!

“Grandma, once I earn money, I’ll buy you dentures. Then you’ll be able to eat anything!”

“Ai, alright, alright~”

The old lady smiled so hard her face wrinkled into a flower.

At that moment, the same four words flashed through everyone’s minds:

In what monkey year and horse month?

Yet because of his actions, the atmosphere at the table instantly became relaxed again.

After finishing his meal, Ye Yaodong pushed his bowl aside before finally reaching his chopsticks toward the sea melon seeds.

This kind of thing was suitable as drinking food, not for eating with rice. You also had to peel the shells one-handed, which was troublesome. He had always liked saving them to eat while drinking afterward.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any alcohol in the house now, and even if there were, nobody would let him drink it!

So he was very self-aware and didn’t ask for any, lest he get scolded again.

But even so, he still got yelled at…

After eating only a few, the moment he stretched his chopsticks out again, his mother smacked them away.

“You’ve already finished eating, so get down from the table. Why are you still reaching your chopsticks over? Can’t you leave some for dinner? You only think about eating everything in one meal. Once it’s all gone, what will you eat with dinner tonight?”

Going from grandfather generation straight down to grandson generation all at once—damn, the sense of disparity was huge!

Ye Yaodong bit the tip of his chopsticks and said gloomily, “The basket we dug this morning is enough to last until tomorrow. And can’t we go gather seafood again tomorrow? Is there any shortage of this stuff?”

“You’re going to gather seafood?”

“I’ll go if I say I’ll go. Didn’t I go this morning too?”

Just as Mother Ye was about to say something, the old lady spoke up painfully:

“It’s so hot outside. Remember to wear a hat tomorrow. Don’t get sunburned. I’ll even fill a thermos with tea for you tomorrow so you can drink it and quench your thirst.”

Father Ye said dissatisfiedly, “He’s just going to gather seafood. How hot can it be? We stay out on the boat under the sun from morning till night and never say anything. You just fuss too much.”

Ye Yaodong: Wronged to death… I didn’t say anything at all, okay?

“You’re already used to working,” the old lady retorted. “Dongzi still has delicate skin and tender flesh. How can he compare to you? He already said he’ll go gather seafood tomorrow. What’s wrong with letting him eat a few extra bites now? It doesn’t even cost money.”

Facing the old lady, Father Ye also felt utterly powerless.

“Just keep spoiling him then!”

“Being able to eat is a blessing. As long as the children in our family are healthy and safe, that’s enough. Dongzi, eat more if you like it. Once it’s finished, we’ll just go dig more tomorrow.”

“Ai.”

The way his parents looked at him now—everything about him seemed displeasing to them. How had he managed in the past to shamelessly pretend not to notice and continue doing whatever he wanted?

At least now, he couldn’t do it.

After eating only a couple more bites, he directly got down from the table.

After gargling noisily, he tossed the ladle aside and noticed two large basins of sand clams on the stove. Their shells were open, tentacles stretching outward. There was also half a bucket on the ground, all extending their little tentacles too.

Many hands made light work. Their harvest truly wasn’t small. They had dug so much in only three hours. But with such a large family, it still wouldn’t last long. It would probably only be enough for two or three days.

“Mom, did you deliberately bring back seawater to keep them alive?”

“What else?”

He obediently shut his mouth!

If he mentioned that mixing salt into tap water would work too, he would definitely get scolded again!

The salt they ate now was coarse salt carried around and sold by traveling vendors, and it wasn’t cheap either. How could his mother possibly bear to use salt to mix water for keeping sand clams alive? She would rather walk over ten minutes to the seaside to fetch a bucket of seawater.

“Move aside. I’m looking for a rag.”

After being tugged aside by his wife, Ye Yaodong stopped lingering in the kitchen. He directly carried a reclining chair to the shade outside the door and sat down.

But just after sitting down and before he had even shaken his legs twice, he saw his eldest and second uncles coming over again?

They still weren’t giving up?

“Aiyo, what wind blew Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle here again? Damn this southeast wind! Have you eaten yet?”

Second Uncle’s mouth twitched.

“We’ve already had our fill of northwest wind. No need to eat southeast wind too!”

Ye Yaohua was rinsing his mouth at the doorway with a ladle, and hearing that line made him choke and cough violently.

Really… really… there was actually someone who could answer like that…

Even Ye Yaodong looked at his second uncle in surprise. The old man’s mind was pretty quick—he reacted so fast.

(End of Chapter)