Chapter 17: Who Doesn’t Have a Few Good-for-Nothing Friends

He woke up again because of the sound of the door opening. The wooden door always creaked loudly whenever it was pushed open.

The only people who ever entered his room were his grandma, his mother, and his wife. Ye Yaodong didn’t even bother opening his eyes and planned to continue dozing for a while longer. Spring brought drowsiness, autumn brought fatigue, winter made people sluggish, and summer was perfect for sleeping.

Light footsteps approached, then someone climbed onto the bed from near his feet. The canopy bed immediately creaked noisily. Opening his eyes, he saw that his younger son had fallen asleep in his wife’s arms.

“He’s asleep?”

“Mm.”

Lin Xiuqing carefully and gently laid the child beside him, slowly pulling her arm out from beneath the boy’s head. After glancing at him hesitantly, she said:

“Since you’re not going out anyway, can you watch him for a bit? Don’t let him fall off the bed.”

“Mm, alright.”

It was rare for him to agree so easily instead of refusing. Lin Xiuqing quietly let out a sigh of relief.

“If he wakes up, just call me and I’ll come carry him.”

“You’re not taking a nap too?”

“No, I’m not sleepy.”

After covering their younger son with a green bedsheet printed with red peonies, she carefully climbed back down from the foot of the bed and quietly left again. Ye Yaodong didn’t stop her.

If she wanted to work and earn money, he couldn’t very well forbid her.

“Where’s Ye Chenghu?”

He hadn’t seen his older son since lunch. With the sun blazing this hard, who knew where he’d run off to play.

Lin Xiuqing lowered the mosquito net and replied:

“No idea. The seven of them probably ran off somewhere together again. They’ll naturally come back later when it’s time to eat.”

Then she quietly closed the door behind her.

The moment she left, the son sleeping beside him kicked the blanket away with both legs.

Ye Yaodong casually pulled it back over him.

Less than ten minutes later, the kid kicked it off again.

He covered him again.

Not long after, another kick.

Then the little brat twisted sideways across the bed.

Forget it. This kid never gave him a good attitude after growing up anyway.

Feeling completely justified, Ye Yaodong closed his eyes again and prepared to drift back to sleep.

But just as he was about to fall asleep, a pig-like little foot suddenly kicked him right in the face, instantly driving all sleepiness away.

Ye Yaodong glared at his son, who remained sound asleep.

This little bastard really wasn’t going to let him sleep, huh?

And while he was glaring, the boy switched positions again, rolling over and sleeping on his stomach with his butt sticking up.

How was he supposed to sleep now?

What if the kid suddenly let out a fart in his sleep? That would be unbearable.

Completely awake now, Ye Yaodong sat up and decided to go outside for a look.

But the moment he opened the bedroom door, he heard his wife speaking to someone outside in an extremely bad tone. His two sisters-in-law were chiming in too.

“He’s sleeping. Go find someone else to play with. Stop coming here to drag him out every day.”

Lin Xiuqing was thoroughly annoyed with these people constantly calling her husband away, making him never stay home. It had been rare enough that he stayed in today, yet this group of useless friends had actually come looking for him at the house. It infuriated her.

“Exactly. All of you already have wives and children. Why don’t you help out at home or do some work instead of wandering around all day?”

“Why don’t you all just live together among yourselves? Why even bother getting married?”

One of the men laughed shamelessly.

“I’d like to, but they can’t cook or have babies, so they’re useless. If I lived together with them, my parents would beat me to death.”

That voice sounded like Azheng?

“So you know you’re all useless?” Second Sister-in-law said mercilessly.

“Haha, sister-in-law, don’t say that. When there’s real trouble, we’re hardworking and loyal!”

Second Sister-in-law rolled her eyes.

Who cared whether they were loyal or not? Being able to earn money was what mattered. Thankfully she had married Second Brother instead.

“You should all go home. Adong isn’t going out today,” Lin Xiuqing said impatiently.

“I’m here! I’m here!”

Ye Yaodong quickly called out. If he didn’t come out now, his wife really was going to chase them away.

How could a person live without a few close friends? Sure, he might have failed a bit as a son, husband, and father, but he had been quite successful as a friend. This group of friends really were loyal and righteous.

The only problem was that none of them had any prospects.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Even though he planned to turn over a new leaf, there was no need to completely cut ties with his friends.

“Dongzi, why didn’t you come out today? Where’d you go this morning? We came by your house but couldn’t find you. We asked your dad and almost got chased out!”

“I went to the seaside to pry oysters and pick snails. Why are there only the two of you?”

“What’s fun about that? We got forced to do that kind of work as kids and got sick of it ages ago. Come on, Guang caught a cobra this morning. We already cleaned it up and were just waiting for you before cooking it.”

The one speaking now was Lin Jianyao. Everyone called him Little Little, a nickname that always made him protest noisily. Shamelessly, he claimed he was actually huge and once even suggested they all compare while peeing, only to add that only his wife was allowed to see.

The earlier speaker had been Azheng, Li Xiaozheng. The two had come together to look for him.

Ye Yaodong immediately became excited as memories from his youth flooded back.

“Where’d you catch it? How heavy is it? We gotta kill a chicken too and make dragon-phoenix soup!”

“Where else? We caught it over by the back hill. We couldn’t find you this morning, so we didn’t go into town. We were planning to check whether the watermelons on the hillside were ripe yet, but instead we spotted a cobra. Tonight we’re eating a real feast!”

“It’s not that big though. After cutting off the head, it only weighed one jin three liang.”

“That’s already plenty big. More than a jin is enough. Add a chicken and one pot of dragon-phoenix soup will be enough for all of us!”

Just talking about it made him crave it. He hadn’t eaten cobra in many years.

“Let’s go, hurry up! If we’re making dragon-phoenix soup, we still need to kill a chicken. I’ll go catch one from home!” Azheng excitedly hooked an arm around both Ye Yaodong and Little Little and started dragging them away.

“Aren’t you afraid your mom will beat you?”

“Those eggs were bought last year with my own secret savings and I paid her to hatch them. We already agreed the chicks would belong to me. I’ve been feeding them myself. What’s wrong with taking one?”

“I dug up a basket of sea melon seeds this morning and there are several basins of sand clams at home too. I’ll bring some over so we can stir-fry two plates.”

“Then hurry up!”

The three of them talked excitedly as though nobody else existed. The moment Ye Yaodong came out, they immediately slung arms over each other’s shoulders and prepared to leave.

Ye Yaodong tugged them slightly, then turned toward Lin Xiuqing, whose face had gone cold.

“Uh… Aqing, I’m heading out with my friends for a bit. Don’t wait for me for dinner. I’ll come back early tonight. Also, the kid’s still sleeping, remember to check on him.”

As he said it, he felt a little guilty.

He had just agreed to help watch the child, yet the moment his friends showed up, he was running off again. It really did feel like he’d broken his word.

But these were his friends of decades.

People like Azheng and Little Little would leave to work in other provinces in just a couple of years and wouldn’t come back for years at a time. There were others too.

Having only just returned to this time, he wanted to properly see this group of friends again.

Lin Xiuqing looked angry and refused to even look at him. She turned and went straight inside to check on the sleeping child.

Earlier that morning, he had finally seemed a little reliable. He had even seriously gone clamming at the beach. But the moment his friends showed up, he immediately returned to his old ways.

She told herself there was no point getting angry anymore. After all these years, he had already worn away most of her temper.

(End of Chapter)