Chapter 5: Green-Striped Melons

Everyone in the family had seen the little farce just now from beginning to end. It would be a lie to say Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua weren’t envious. Even their youngest sister, Ye Huimei, was terribly envious.

Although the old lady treated all the younger generations well, none of them could compare to Ye Yaodong. In the old lady’s heart and eyes, there was only him.

Among the four siblings and more than a dozen cousins, they had heard that he was the only one personally delivered by Grandma. Back then, they had almost not made it in time, and he had nearly been born on the beach.

Then, the moment he was born and held in her arms, he had smiled at her, instantly pleasing her eyes. From then on, she had doted on him all the way from childhood to adulthood.

As soon as they entered the house, Father Ye was still furious, smoking his water pipe while glaring at him.

To be honest, even now, Ye Yaodong still didn’t understand which sentence he had said wrong to make both his parents explode.

His attitude?

Or was it the accumulated disappointment of hating iron for not becoming steel?

He thought about it and figured it was probably those two reasons. Otherwise, what were his parents angry about?

“Where are the melons? I told you to save one for Dongzi. Did you save one?”

As soon as the old lady sat down, she saw the group of children each holding a piece of melon and chewing on it. She hurriedly asked, afraid that Ye Yaodong hadn’t gotten any.

Ye Yaodong’s youngest sister, Ye Huimei, said while eating, “We saved one. It’s on the stove. Third Brother can get it himself.”

Everyone else had to share cut pieces, but only he got a whole one to himself!

And everyone was already used to it. Even the children had no objections at all. Third Uncle was special!

Ye Yaodong looked at the green-striped melon on the stove. It was oval-shaped, only a little longer than an adult’s palm. Earlier, he had seen a few that were very long and big, like wooden clubs. They had probably been cut up and shared, leaving him the smallest one.

This was his favorite melon. At this time, many people planted this kind, and it was very cheap. In later generations, very few people still grew this variety. Most were round white-skinned sweet melons instead. He hadn’t eaten this kind in many years.

He walked toward the clay stove. The melon had already been washed clean, and water droplets still clung to its surface.

Seeing that there was still juice and seeds left on the chopping board and kitchen knife on the stove, he placed the melon there too, cut it into large pieces, casually took a dish to hold them, and walked toward his grandmother.

“Grandma, you eat a piece too!”

The old lady smiled and waved her hand.

“I don’t have teeth anymore. I can’t bite it. You eat, you eat. Why did you cut it…”

Although he really did want to eat it, he wasn’t so selfish as to enjoy it alone. There were only a few melons in total, and the family had so many people.

Seeing that the old lady truly had no teeth to bite with, he handed one piece each to his two children, then gave another piece to his wife.

This action made Lin Xiuqing glance at him again.

Judging by his usual behavior, shouldn’t he have just picked it up and gnawed on it himself? Why had he cut it up and shared it with everyone?

Only after Lin Xiuqing took it did he take a piece for himself. Then he placed the remaining pieces on the table for everyone to take as they pleased.

“Third Brother, have you changed your nature?”

“Doesn’t eating shut your mouth?”

Ye Huimei pursed her lips and didn’t dare say anything else.

Ye Yaodong looked at the old lady again and said with a smile, “There’s something called removable dentures now. You put them on when eating, and then you can bite meat and everything else. After eating, you take them off and wash them, then use them again next time. When I go to the city sometime, I’ll ask at the hospital and get a pair made for you, Grandma. Then you’ll be able to eat meat and anything else you want!”

“Aiya, don’t waste that money. I already have half a foot in the grave. Porridge with fermented bean curd is enough for me. Besides, I spend half the month eating vegetarian food…”

“You can eat meat on the days you aren’t fasting. It’s settled!”

“I’m already this old. What meat do I need to eat? Isn’t fish tastier than meat? We seaside people can just eat fish.” The old lady’s wrinkled face blossomed into a smile. In truth, she was very happy and pleased.

“Fish has its good points, and meat has its good points. We should eat both.”

Everyone in the room watched their interaction and thought that the third son still had some conscience toward the old lady. Her doting on him wasn’t completely wasted.

At this moment, Mother Ye came in after peeling the corn husks. Eldest Sister-in-law Ye went up to her.

“Mother, I’ll cook them.”

“It’s fine, I’ll do it. Go watch the children.”

The old lady looked at Father Ye and said, “I saw that the corn silk has turned black. It should be almost ripe. In a couple of days, come with me to break off the corn cobs. If they stay in the field too long, they’ll get old and won’t taste good.”

Father Ye held his water pipe and glared.

“How would I have time? The boat was just repaired. While our hands are still fresh and lucky, I need to take the eldest and second sons out to sea a few more times and see if we can catch something big again! The third son idles around all day. Have him take the little ones there. After breaking the corn, they can carry it back too.”

“It’d be strange if he could carry it. He’s nowhere to be seen all day long. I’ll take the children and accompany Mother to break the corn.” Mother Ye grabbed a handful of straw, lit it with a match, tossed it into the stove chamber, and joined the conversation.

The moment it was mentioned that the third son couldn’t carry anything, Father Ye thought of several years ago when the production team had arranged for him to carry grain, only for him to carry it straight into a ditch. It had nearly angered him to death.

“What use is he? A grown man who can’t even carry grain or corn and can carry it into a ditch instead. He’d make people die laughing…”

Ye Yaodong was speechless.

That was ancient history, yet his father still remembered it so clearly.

Although… although when he was young, he had indeed been a little useless…

But now that he had been reborn, he had already decided to turn over a new leaf and become a proper person…

Lin Xiuqing felt that, no matter what, he was still her man. Being disliked by his own father in front of so many people wasn’t very nice, so she quickly changed the subject and rescued Ye Yaodong.

“Mother, in a couple of days it’ll be the first day of the lunar month. The tide has been receding quite far recently. Aren’t we supposed to go gather seafood?”

“It’s fine. It won’t delay anything. There are so many children here. Let the third son take them to break the corn cobs. Once they’re done, he can tell me, and I’ll go carry them back.”

Ye Yaodong hadn’t said a single word, yet the task had already been properly arranged for him.

Actually, he wanted to say that he could do it…

But he swallowed the words back down. He couldn’t be too eager to show off, or it would seem too abnormal. He could just carry them back when the time came.

Because their family was poor and couldn’t afford to build another house, they had never split the household and still lived and ate together as one big family.

However, the money each branch earned from casual labor or making fishing nets was kept by that branch. And because they relied on the sea for their livelihood, the coast was rich in resources. Food and drink came from the fields and from gathering seafood, so they didn’t need to spend much money. Because of that, their family didn’t have any major conflicts.

As for the money his father earned, it had all gone into repairing the boat. After all, it had been left behind by his grandfather. Repairing a boat was still much more cost-effective than building or buying one.

For seaside people, who didn’t long for their own boat so they could raise the sail, go out to sea, fish, and improve the family’s life?

Father Ye longed for it too. That was why, for the past two years, he had been earning money and putting it all into restoring the boat.

Now that the boat was repaired and could go out to sea, of course he had to work harder and take the two older boys fishing. In any case, the third son was hopeless. Once the family’s conditions improved, they could help him a little then.

Seeing that the whole family was busy and even the third son had been assigned work, the old lady quickly said, “There’s no hurry to break the corn. A few days later won’t matter. We can just bring back one basket every day for everyone to enjoy. If we break them all at once, they won’t be fresh.”

Mother Ye didn’t even turn her head and only stared at the fire in the stove chamber.

“As long as you’re not in a hurry. They aren’t worth much money anyway, so don’t bother setting up a stall to sell them. Just break off a little each day to eat. If they get too old, keep them as seeds. When we’re free, we’ll help you turn over the field.”

(End of Chapter)