Chapter 35: Borrowing a Boat

Ye Yaodong looked helplessly at the old granny.

“Grandma, I’m already grown up, not a little kid anymore. Don’t secretly take eggs for me next time. If my mother finds out, she’ll skin me alive.”

“It’s alright. If you don’t tell her, she won’t know. Go out and play for a while, eat it before you come back.”

Sigh. In the old lady’s eyes, he was still a child.

“Go on, go on, hurry and go play. Don’t stand at the doorway.”

Under her urging, he could only head out.

Originally, he had already planned to go check on A’Guang, but now his heart carried an extra sense of urgency.

An urgent desire to make money.

To buy the old granny a set of dentures.

Once he said something out loud, he wanted to make it happen as quickly as possible.

At her age, even if she didn’t fall, she probably didn’t have many years left anyway.

Today he had gotten up especially early. By the time he arrived at A’Guang’s house, A’Guang still hadn’t gotten out of bed.

“What time is it?”

A’Guang was still clutching his blanket half asleep, his speech slurred.

“I left home at six-thirty. It should be around six-forty now.”

“Huh?”

A’Guang lifted his head in disbelief and cracked open one eye.

“What’s wrong with you? It’s so damn early. It’s not like we’re working today. Why the hell are you here this early?”

“To wake you up to pee.”

“Fuck off. Want some hot fresh piss to drink?”

He yanked the blanket over his head again.

Ye Yaodong grabbed a corner of the blanket and tugged it.

“Get up already. The sun’s practically high in the sky. If you’re like this, how are you going to wake up for dock work at Yu Jing Harbor tomorrow?”

“Stop annoying me. Tomorrow’s tomorrow’s problem! Did you take aphrodisiacs today or something? Why are you up so early?”

“Early to bed and early to rise makes you healthy. Hurry up and get up so we can go borrow the boat!”

“What’s the rush? It’s still early. The tide won’t even recede until noon. Stop bothering me. If you keep annoying me, I won’t go borrow it anymore.”

A’Guang snatched the blanket back, pinned it beneath himself, clamped it tightly between his legs, and closed his eyes again.

“Why are you hugging the blanket like that? It’s not a woman.”

“What does hugging a blanket have to do with being a woman? Men can’t hug blankets?”

“You don’t understand. Hairless little brat. Get up first, and I’ll explain it to you.”

A’Guang’s head was pounding from the noise. He scratched his messy bird’s nest of hair and sat up directly.

“Damn it, I don’t want to know. Are you annoying or not? Even if I borrow the boat now, we still can’t go immediately. The tide hasn’t gone out yet.”

“At least we can find out earlier whether you can borrow it or not!”

“I swear, something’s wrong with you these past two days. You’re actually this eager to go out to sea!”

“Yeah. I’m so desperate for money I’ve gone crazy. Since you’re awake already, stop sleeping and hurry up to ask.”

Driven crazy by his nagging, A’Guang finally gave up and started putting on clothes while grumbling:

“This is unbelievable. How did I ever end up becoming brothers with you? Coming this early just to stop me from sleeping. Staying home hugging my wife while sleeping wouldn’t be nice enough?”

“My wife got up. My whole family got up.”

“And that means I have to get up too?”

Seeing the resentful look in A’Guang’s eyes, Ye Yaodong grinned and slung an arm around his shoulder.

“We’re good brothers, aren’t we? Shouldn’t you share my worries?”

A’Guang shot him a sideways glance.

Then, catching him off guard, he suddenly opened his mouth and exhaled a giant breath directly at him…

Ye Yaodong’s pupils shrank instantly.

His entire face twisted together as he covered his nose and mouth and jumped backward.

“Holy shit… you’re too damn vicious… fuck…”

“This immortal breath can extend your life by ten years. No need to thank me.”

“You motherfucker, I probably died young in my last life because of you!”

A’Guang looked smug.

He had casually taken revenge for being woken up early.

A masterpiece born from inspiration.

“Who told you to come disturb my sleep this early? I’ve got morning temper too!”

“That’s not morning temper, that’s toxic gas! Poison gas! You nearly smoked me to death! fjjigerzn&;*％～”

After cursing a few times, Ye Yaodong simply went to wait at the doorway.

If he stayed any closer, who knew whether more mysterious gases would get released.

But after sitting at the doorway for ages without seeing A’Guang come out, he finally went back inside.

Only to discover A’Guang at the back door tying up his pants.

“So you just finished taking a dump, huh? Took long enough. Come eat while it’s fresh.”

A’Guang glared at him.

“Please add the word meal! Come eat breakfast!”

Ye Yaodong’s eyes were full of amusement.

“Same thing. Hurry up and eat while it’s hot and fresh.”

“You $&d%gu&*～”

Cursing furiously, A’Guang immediately stormed out.

He knew Ye Yaodong too well.

The bastard was obviously just disgusted by how long he took and was indirectly hurrying him to borrow the boat, yet he still had to phrase it in such a revolting way.

Ye Yaodong sat by the table with one leg crossed over the other while waiting.

A’Guang’s aunt’s house wasn’t far away either. She had married within the same village.

Anyway, there was nothing better to do.

Since they were already awake, it was better to ask early so they could relax earlier.

He truly believed the isolated islands would have far more seafood than the dock.

Combined with the incredible luck he’d been having lately, he was getting a little carried away.

Less than half an hour later, A’Guang returned.

“My aunt and uncle agreed to lend it, but the elders at home refused. So I said we’d rent it instead. Two yuan for half a day at noon, and we’d pay for the fuel ourselves. Only then did the old folks agree to lend the boat.”

At that time, most workers didn’t even make two yuan in a full day.

Paying two yuan for only half a day while also covering fuel costs wasn’t little money.

“Mm, it’s fine. Even brothers should settle accounts clearly. It’s only right for the elders to charge money. I’ll cover it. I happen to have two yuan here.”

Coincidentally, he still had the two yuan in his pocket from yesterday. He had wanted to buy cigarettes with it but couldn’t bear to spend it.

A’Guang directly pushed the money back.

“Come on, what are you giving money for? It’s only two yuan. I said I’d cover it, so I’ll cover it. Doesn’t matter. I won a few yuan gambling yesterday anyway.”

“One thing is one thing. I’m the one who wanted you to borrow the boat and go out to sea, so of course I should pay. Just take it. It’s only two yuan.”

“I already paid them, forget it. Use those two yuan to buy diesel instead.”

“Alright then.”

It really wasn’t much money.

There was no point shoving it back and forth.

Using it for diesel worked perfectly too.

A’Guang propped one leg on the stool and picked up his bowl and chopsticks.

“Can I finally eat breakfast in peace now?”

“You eat. It’s not like I stopped you. You’re the one who was in such a hurry.”

Ye Yaodong lounged back in the reclining chair beside him, shaking his leg with a grin.

A’Guang rewarded him with a giant eye-roll.

“The tide should bottom out around noon. Go buy diesel around ten-thirty, and I’ll head to the dock with you to get the boat.”

“Alright, no problem. There’s nothing else now, so I’ll head back first. If A’Zheng and the others come over later, let them know.”

“This whole thing could’ve been settled in just a few minutes, yet you still insisted on coming this damn early to wake me up.”

A’Guang’s resentment ran deep.

Unless he absolutely had to, he almost never woke up this early.

“Wasn’t I training you? Otherwise, when you start dock work later, what if you can’t get up? If you’re really bored, why not go back to sleep?”

“Fuck off!”

“As you command!”

(End of Chapter)