sbdcsierra Chapter 1880 Last-Minute Cramming
Chapter 1880 Last-Minute Cramming
Chapter 1880 Last-Minute Cramming
Every year, the Spring Festival is only lively for less than a month at home, but at least we celebrate the Lantern Festival. Only after the Lantern Festival is the Spring Festival truly over.
Meanwhile, things quieted down in the village. The gambling tables were gradually put away, and the villagers started going to work at sea and in the fields.
It was time for Ye Yaodong and his group to leave home.
Before the morning mist had completely dissipated, the dull chugging of tractors could already be heard throughout the village.
Ye Yaodong, wearing a half-new military green cotton-padded coat, stood at the gate of the courtyard, his breath quickly dissolving into the damp air.
The New Year is over, but the red lanterns under the eaves haven't been taken down yet. They sway slightly in the cold wind, which still carries the smell of the sea, making the busy scene at the door seem even more urgent, as if there's no time to leave.
The sacks of luggage piled up like a small mountain in the yard all had names written on them in red paint or thick charcoal pencil.
Everyone's bags were so simple and uniform, either red and blue woven bags or burlap sacks, and his mother was still putting local specialties into bamboo baskets.
“Your factory has everything, so I didn’t bring you anything else. I just brought you a few bottles of shrimp paste. You can’t buy this outside. It’s not as fragrant as the one we make ourselves. You can divide it among yourselves after you take it up.”
"I've also made several baskets of fish balls and packaged them in portions. You can each take them onto the boat and eat them for two days..."
Ye's mother was tidying up the things at the door, telling them in a rambling manner what they needed to bring and reminding them to take it and distribute it.
"...It's not even spring yet, the chickens haven't brooded, and the chicks haven't hatched. When Dongzi comes back in a few months, we'll bring you a few chicks to raise..."
Ye Yaodong was speechless. "Why bring any chickens? You can buy them anywhere upstairs. Don't bother. Just bring these. Stop searching."
"If you don't want it, someone else will..."
"We don't want the rest of us either, so don't bother."
After Ye Chengjiang finished speaking, Ye Chenghe echoed his words.
“We have nowhere to keep them; you can’t expect us to keep them at home.”
Seeing that none of them wanted it, Ye's mother straightened up and said unhappily, "If you don't want it, then don't. I'm too lazy to bother with it."
"Yes, stop fussing. Dad's tractor's here. Let's hurry up and load the stuff onto the truck."
Everyone first carried their own luggage and put it in a corner. After that, people climbed up one by one and sat down wherever they could find a place to sit.
"We're leaving."
"Call me when you arrive..."
"understood."
The old woman's cloudy eyes looked at the group of people in the car, her eyes red-rimmed. "Take good care of yourself out there. Money can't be earned all the time, don't overwork yourself..."
"I'll leave once I'm seated."
Before he could finish speaking, Ye's father yelled, waved his hand, and drove off in his tractor.
The truck bed jolted and bumped, and the fishing village, the familiar banyan tree, the houses with brand-new Spring Festival couplets pasted on them, and the red lanterns swaying under the eaves in the distance all seemed to recede and shrink little by little.
Ye Xiaoxi sat on her luggage, resting her chin on her hands, and sighed, "The New Year holidays always seem so short."
"Yeah, the happy days are too short. I'll have to do my homework again when I get back," Ye Chenghu remarked with a mix of emotion and joking.
"Damn it, you don't have to do your homework, you did it on purpose."
"I spoke for you."
"We're in the car, you two stop fooling around. You're both grown up, you're almost old enough to get married, why are you still arguing with your sister?" Lin Xiuqing stopped the two of them.
Once the car was on the main road and picked up speed, the wind suddenly picked up and blew fiercely, carrying the chill of early spring that seemed to seep straight into people's collars.
Ye Xiaoxi wrapped her headscarf tightly to avoid getting covered in dirt and catching a cold wind, and then stopped talking.
It didn't take the tractor long to reach the town's dock, where most of the workers were already waiting.
Ye Yaodong announced the departure time, and told the others to make their own arrangements. As long as they gathered on time, they had all arrived by now.
He asked several boat captains to take inventory first, while he arranged for his wife and children to board the boat and carry their luggage.
After everyone had finished counting, they boarded the ship one after another, each performing their duties and untying the mooring lines under the captain's command.
The sound of the cable being untied was dull yet crisp.
The wet hemp rope was unwound from the mooring bollard, and the crew members squatted at the bow, pulling it back with alternating hands, finally throwing the end of the rope onto the deck.
Ye Yaodong sat in the cockpit with his two sons beside him. He planned to let his two sons drive the return trip, but he would have to wait until after leaving the port.
The engine hummed softly beneath my feet, and the water churned up by the propeller was a murky green, swirling and slowly pushing aside a piece of vegetable floating by the dock.
He turned the rudder at a very gentle angle, the stern first swung outwards, and then slowly sailed away from the shore until the boat finally turned completely around, and the dock slowly shrank into a gray line.
"Here, I'll leave it to you two."
"Big brother first."
"I'll go first, it's a 4-hour shift."
"Ok."
Ye Chenghu glanced at his watch and started the timer.
Ye Yaodong lit a cigarette and watched Ye Chenghu operate the device.
"Dad, could you please stop smoking? It smells awful," Ye Chengyang said, frowning.
"Neither of you can do it?"
The two said in unison, "No."
"Fine, if you don't know how, don't learn it in the future."
He got up and walked out on his own.
Ye Yaodong leaned against the railing, enjoying the sea breeze, watching the ship slowly sail out to sea, followed by twenty or thirty ships of various sizes.
The village has far more fishing boats than these; only a portion of them have returned.
He pondered his work arrangements after returning home. He would handle the urgent matters at the factory, and then inspect the various factories and industries, including Shanghai.
After two monotonous days at sea, upon arriving at port, he asked Ah Zheng to help him arrange for the Dongyu, Xianfeng, and several other seafood collection boats—a total of over twenty large vessels—to be sent for maintenance, and to add a video recorder to the ship's restaurant.
Anyway, Ah Zheng was very enthusiastic about it, so he was given the task of purchasing the videotapes. He could help me choose which movies I wanted to watch.
After the ship arrived at the port, he had too much work piling up at his factory and didn't have time to deal with this small matter, so it was perfect to hand it over to this idle person.
"It's me again? You're treating me like a little brother!"
"You don't want to go shopping? Then I'll have someone else go."
"Alright, I'll go ahead with it. I'm free anyway, so I'll go shopping. Don't think I'm buying too much, okay?"
"You decide what to buy, just don't buy duplicates. You can rotate the ships later."
"No problem, leave it to me. I'll just ask your finance department for reimbursement when the invoice arrives."
"can."
"Once it's installed, I'll have to go out to sea with you again." Ah Zheng felt tired just thinking about it; he had to be a beast of burden again right after the New Year.
"What else can you do? You're just sitting around doing nothing anyway. All your workers are being sent out to sea. Why don't you go? Get used to it sooner."
"I'm thinking of going to Shanghai first to check on the progress of my ship."
"I'll take a look for you, or you can take a look when you have some free time. You can help me with the purchase, and the installation will be done by a professional."
"Alright, when are you going to Shanghai?"
"Let my wife and kids go first. I'll go after I finish dealing with things at the factory. It should take three or four days."
He nodded and said nothing more.
After Lin Xiuqing arrived in Hong Kong, she immediately took her three children to board a passenger ship to Shanghai. Ye Yaodong didn't need to see them off, as the three children were all grown up and the two sons could take the ship independently.
Ye Huimei also accompanied her, and Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang were able to help look after the twins.
Apart from Ye Chenghu, everyone else has started school, so Lin Xiuqing needs to take them to Shanghai as soon as possible and can't linger in Zhoushan any longer.
For the past two years, they have had to take two days off every day, starting school two days later than others.
One advantage of starting school two days later is that it gives them time to cram and catch up on their homework.
As soon as Ye Chengyang and Ye Xiaoxi arrived in Shanghai, they put down their luggage and went to their room with their backpacks on.
They have to go to school tomorrow. Don't think they can escape just because school starts. They still have to hand in their winter break homework.
They only have one night to catch up on their homework, and only they know how much homework they haven't done yet.
"Haha, now you're in a hurry. Look at how anxious you two are, you'll have to stay up all night."
"Don't laugh at them. You were just like them a couple of years ago," Lin Xiuqing said, putting down her luggage and panting.
"So now I'm free, aren't I? It's so great not having homework in college."
After he finished speaking, watching the two figures climbing the stairs, he shouted loudly, "What a happy New Year!"
The two carrying their schoolbags ran up the stairs without looking back. Pei Yu and the twins behind them followed suit and quickly carried their schoolbags back to their rooms to finish their homework.
Ye Huimei watched their retreating figures and said irritably, "You had a good time during the New Year, but now you're worried. Will you do this again next time?"
"Isn't this how homework is rushed every year when school starts? It was only in elementary school that I had to keep an eye on them every day and threaten them with their New Year's money to get them to finish early. These past few years, after coming to Shanghai, they've all become richer than the last, and none of them are short of money. They can't stand being threatened anymore."
"That's right. If you deduct their New Year's money, they'll immediately complain and you can get it back from their dad and grandpa."
"I'm exhausted. I need to rest for a bit before I start organizing this."
Most of the luggage was carried by Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang, two strong men, but after two days on the ship and then immediately transferring to Shanghai, the middle-aged woman's stamina was not up to par, and she couldn't compare to the young people's stamina.
Ye Chenghu even went to the kitchen with ease to find something to eat, "Mom, do you want some instant noodles? I'm starving."
"Eat, cook more."
"You can cook noodles now?" Ye Huimei asked with a smile.
"Don't underestimate me. I can fry two eggs and add some vegetables. It's just that I haven't been home for so many days and there's not much seafood in the fridge. Otherwise, I could let my aunt and mother see my cooking skills."
"Get me a table of food sometime, so I can really see something amazing."
"Then you wait!"
After entering university, Ye Chenghu's cooking skills improved. He also learned to cook in the dormitory, where everyone often ate hot pot and late-night snacks together.
After cooking a pot of instant noodles, he didn't forget to bring a bowl to each of his younger siblings.
"Big brother...please, please help me finish this math workbook for winter break..."
As soon as Ye Chenghu brought the noodles in and put them down for Ye Xiaoxi, she clasped her hands together, almost kneeling down.
"Big brother, please~ please~ my dear big brother~"
"Who was arguing with me just a couple of days ago? Saying they had managed their time well."
"It's my fault for being ungrateful. My dear brother, my good brother, please help me with the math problems. There's only half left. The handwriting in the math problems is illegible, it's okay."
"Why should I? I finally made it to university and I don't have any homework anymore, and now I have to do your homework? Dream on!"
"Please, I'm begging you, please help me! I have so many diaries to write, I can't possibly write them all, please help me!"
Ye Chenghu rarely saw her begging so humbly, and he watched with amusement, saying, "What's in it for me to help you with your homework? I won't do it if there's no benefit!"
"I'll help you... I'll help you..."
Ye Xiaoxi racked her brains but couldn't think of anything she could do to help him, and suddenly felt a bit useless.
"Would you like me to praise you and Xiaoya to Dad?"
"What kind of benefit is this? Your father is also my father."
"Then what should I do? Name your terms, and how will you help me?"
Ye Chenghu thought about it seriously for a moment, "Please tell Dad and Mom to give me more living expenses!"
"Damn! You've got a real plan! You want me to be the first one to get yelled at and take the blame for you."
"I might not get scolded. Look, prices are rising. Even our ferry tickets to Shanghai have gone up in price. So, it's only right that my living expenses go up a bit, isn't it?"
Why don't you say it yourself?
"I'm giving you a chance, aren't I? Do you still want me to do your homework for you? If you don't want me to do your homework for you, then I'm leaving now. I'll tell Mom myself, and I'll have all the reasons ready."
"Then you bring it up. I'll just give you a heads-up. If you're asking for more living expenses, why would I offer to help you? It's none of my business."
Ye Chenghu patted her shoulder and smiled slyly, "You can ask your mother for more living expenses, and then I can say that I want more too. Then you can act cute and we can work together to increase both of our living expenses."
"Big brother, why have you suddenly become so cunning! You're not being honest anymore! And you're making me the one to stick my neck out!"
"I'm giving you a chance. Do you still want a raise? If I hadn't said anything, would you have thought about getting a raise? I'm just trying to help you."
"Pshaw, I only make twenty or thirty a month, a pittance, how can that compare to yours of several hundred? You can easily add twenty yuan and it'll be more than what I make in a month."
"Then you also benefited, so we can increase our living expenses together."
"I'll take the lead, I'll get scolded, but you'll reap the huge benefits after it's all done."
"So, are you going to bring it up or not? Are you going to do it or not? Stop talking nonsense."
Ye Xiaoxi pouted, "Do I even have a choice?"
She stuffed the entire math winter break workbook and pen into Ye Chenghu's arms, saying, "Here you go. Whenever you help me finish my homework, I'll go to Mom's house and help you carry it."
"It's not about going to Mom to help me carry it, it's about you carrying it yourself, and then I'll say I want to add it too."
"Okay, I know, stop nagging."
"I'll come back and make it for you later. I'm going downstairs to eat noodles. You have no idea how much I care for you. I'll bring the noodles over for you to eat first. I still need to help you with your homework later."
"Come on, homework is an equal exchange between us."
"You benefited, and I also put in the effort."
Ye Xiaoxi rolled her eyes and continued working on her diary.
After Ye Chenghu finished eating his noodles, he came to her room to help her with her homework.
Ye Xiaoxi stared wide-eyed as he quickly wrote down the answers.
"No, bro, you don't even need to read the question, you just start writing like this?"
"Yeah, as long as it's written down, who cares about a, b, c, d, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?"
"That won't do..."
"Why not? Don't tell me your teacher went through each and every one of the fifty or sixty students' winter break homework, flipping through every single page and carefully correcting it? Is your teacher just bored? Doesn't he have anything better to do?"
Ye Xiaoxi frowned as she looked at the homework in his hand, feeling like she had been working like an idiot and had only written half of it.
"Big brother, is this how you always did your homework?"
"This is how I did my winter and summer vacation homework. I also do my regular homework very carefully."
Ye Chenghu said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, your teachers are very busy too. They don't have time to look through every single page of each student's winter break homework."
"At most, he would just flip through a few pages of his workbook, as long as he saw that something had been done and not left blank."
"He probably wouldn't even bother to rummage through it; he'd just collect it and pile it up in a corner, then sell it as scrap later."
"This isn't grading a test, so why would you care if you got it right or wrong? Teachers are too lazy to grade test papers; they have to ask students to help them."
Speaking of this, Ye Xiaoxi nodded in agreement. It made perfect sense. Sometimes their math teacher would ask the class monitor and a few other students to help grade the test papers.
This is also an honor for the students; being trusted by the teacher to grade exam papers is incredibly prestigious.
"Then what about all the things I did seriously before?"
"You're stupid!"
"Get lost. Why should I negotiate with you? I can just fill in something random myself."
"It's too late. You're already on the wrong track and can't get off. I'll finish it for you right away. Hurry up and write your diary so you can ask your mother for your living expenses. School starts tomorrow, and we need to make a decision tonight."
"You're so cunning."
"Hurry up and write, there's not enough time and you're still talking so much nonsense."
"It's not too late now."
Ye Xiaoxi responded verbally while frantically writing with her hands.
Ye Chenghu was even faster. As for math, he could fill in multiple-choice questions like A, B, C, and D very quickly. Only word problems required him to use his brain a little.
But he only has a little bit of brainpower, not much. Most of the time, he just scribbles randomly, as long as it looks like there are words.
After finishing one of her pieces, Ye Xiaoxi turned to check on Ye Chenghu's progress.
"Big brother, did you do your homework like this since you were a child?"
"Don't talk nonsense. I only do this during winter and summer vacations."
"So this is how you do your winter and summer vacation homework since elementary school."
“I didn’t say that, don’t slander me.”
Ye Xiaoxi watched speechlessly as he remained stubborn and tried to argue even when he was right in front of her.
"You just admitted that this is how you do your homework during winter and summer vacations."
"Just once, okay? Where do you go from elementary school to high school? You're talking nonsense! Don't learn bad things instead of good ones. I'll just do it for you casually today, but don't do it again."
Ye Xiaoxi rolled her eyes so hard they almost reached the sky. "You talk like you're some kind of person who would be grateful if you just did something for me."
"Isn't that right? You can be a good boy and do your homework properly. If you don't do it properly, blame me. I'm the bad boy. It's me who wrote it wrong, not you. You have to write it properly from now on."
"Get lost, you're just making fun of me."
"No, I'm praising you. A good child is one who completes their homework diligently. I'm almost finished, so hurry up and finish yours. Don't nag. You talk too much, and you keep looking back at me while doing your homework."
"You flip through the pages so fast, it's hard for me not to look at you."
Ye Chenghu took the homework to the bedside, saying, "Is it alright if it's out of your sight? Don't turn your head."
"Hmph, anyway, I know you never did your homework properly during winter and summer vacations, and it's amazing that no one found out."
"Found nothing, the teacher is too busy."
Ye Chenghu moved his lips, turning the pages with one hand and flipping through them rapidly with the other.
He finished all the word problems in less than 20 minutes.
"It's done."
"So fast!"
She was such a sucker; she only managed to finish a dozen or so pages over the winter break, while her older brother finished the remaining 20-plus pages in just 20 minutes!
"Do you want me to finish your diary for you too?"
"Never mind, your handwriting is different from mine. Even a teacher can tell the difference after flipping through it a couple of times."
"That's hard to say. Your teacher might not even open it. It's not like it's the day of registration. When you bring your homework, she might pretend to flip through it a couple of times."
"Stop arguing, I'm almost finished writing."
Ye Chenghu waited in her room with his legs crossed, taking the opportunity to look through some of her little things.
Ye Xiaoxi couldn't concentrate on the noise. "Can you please not stay in my room? It's so annoying, I can't focus at all."
"Go to your second brother's room and see if he's finished. While you're at it, ask him to give you some extra money for living expenses. If the three of us ask together, there'll be more of us, and Mother might agree."
“Otherwise, we can contribute our efforts while Second Brother doesn’t have to, and we’ll both benefit. Mother can’t just increase our living expenses and not Second Brother’s.”
Ye Chenghu nodded. “That makes sense! We can’t let him reap the benefits without lifting a finger. I’ll go find him now. He’s a cunning fellow. If we don’t tell him in advance, he’ll just sit there silently, waiting for us to do the work so he can enjoy the fruits of our labor.”
"That's right, that's exactly the kind of person my second brother is."
He immediately went to Ye Chengyang's room, where he saw Ye Chengyang doing his homework very quickly, flipping through the pages one by one.
"Fine, you're just messing around there too."
"also?"
"Ye Xiaojiu was just like you, doing it incredibly fast."
"Stop making noise and go away."
"Your mother thought you were a model student, but you're the most dishonest one."
Ye Chengyang pointed to his certificates of merit on the wall and said, "Look at them carefully before you speak."
"Tch, you've fooled even the teacher."
"If you have the ability, you should show it when the time is right, and when you don't need to show it, you should naturally keep it to yourself."
"So now you have a reason to write nonsense."
What are you doing here?
Ye Chenghu didn't dwell on his messy homework, but simply mentioned the purpose of his actions.
"Okay, sure. When I came back, I saw that the ship tickets had gone up in price, and I was thinking that maybe our living expenses should also be increased."
“If I hadn’t come to tell you, you would have just been sitting there waiting for us to do our work.”
"You can leave now that you've finished talking. Don't bother me while I'm doing my homework."
"You can be your big-headed devil."
(End of this chapter)