sbdcsierra Chapter 1777 Small talk
Chapter 1777 Small talk
Chapter 1777 Small talk
While the old lady was tending the fire, she would frequently touch her glasses and chain, her smile never fading.
Ye Chengyang saw this and went to get her a mirror. "Grandma, I'll start the fire. You go to the doorway to look at yourself; the light is better there."
"It's too hot, don't sit there for too long, the fire is already lit."
"Hey."
The old lady took the mirror and obediently went to the door to look at herself, feeling quite pleased with herself.
Having just received the bribe, Ye Xiaoxi happily went to flatter the man.
Looking at his second son's obedient appearance, Ye Yaodong also touched his pocket, secretly took out 100 yuan, and quietly handed it to Ye Chengyang.
Ye Chengyang stared wide-eyed at the banknotes in disbelief, but he didn't hesitate at all. Only a fool would refuse free money.
He quickly pulled it out and stuffed it into his pocket, then, just like Ye Xiaoxi, he glanced at her furtively, feeling guilty.
Seeing that she hadn't noticed, she smiled ingratiatingly at Ye Yaodong.
He felt he was being favored, and his heart was filled with joy and excitement.
"Dad, I promise I won't spend it recklessly."
"Okay, keep it safe, don't let your sister see it."
"know."
He felt a surge of secret delight.
Seeing that the water in the pot had boiled, Ye Yaodong cracked the ten eggs from the stove into the pot one by one.
"Hey, hey, hey, let me do it, Dongzi, you sit down and rest for a bit, I'll do it..."
The old lady quickly put down the mirror and stepped forward to take over the work, saying, "I'll do it. They want to eat what I cook. I'll do it. I even have to add sugar."
Ye Yaodong didn't force her; if she wanted to do it, she could. It wouldn't be tiring anyway. He stood aside and watched, chatting with her as well.
"It doesn't seem that hot at home. What have you been doing at home lately?"
"It's not hot at home, it's quite cool. Every day I help your mother feed the chickens and dogs, grow some vegetables, watch TV, and keep an eye on things. You know what, that TV series about the White Snake is really good, have you seen it? The one about a snake repaying a debt of gratitude..."
The old lady's face lit up with excitement whenever she talked about television. In the past, there wasn't much good television to watch; there were only a limited number of channels broadcasting the news.
"I've seen it, Grandma, I've seen it. I watched it at home. It's called 'Bai Suzhen, Xiaoqing, and Xu Xian'..."
Ye Xiaoxi jumped up excitedly, shouting "Wow!" This TV series really resonated with her.
When they were in school, they would talk about various TV dramas during breaks.
"Yes, yes, yes... it just finished airing, we can watch a new episode tonight..."
"I haven't seen anything for two days while I'm on the ship!"
Ye Chengyang also said, "I already watched it once a few months ago, and now I'm watching it a second time..."
"But I don't watch every episode. I have to go to school and do homework every day. My mom doesn't let us watch too late. We have to finish our homework before we can watch. I've missed a lot of them."
"...That old monk was too wicked."
"Yes, that wicked monk is called Fahai. He's so evil! Bai Suzhen didn't do anything wrong, yet he insisted on taking her away. It's outrageous..."
"I saw the ending: Bai Suzhen's son became the top scholar in the imperial examination and rescued her..."
"Really?"
The three generations of the family actively discussed the TV series, getting more and more excited as they talked, showing no generation gap whatsoever.
Even after they had all eaten the onsen tamago (soft-boiled eggs), they were still actively discussing it.
The old lady remarked, "You know what, there are so many more TV dramas now, and so many more channels to receive. Another channel will start showing operas later. There weren't nearly as many things to watch before."
While eating, Ye Yaodong said, "There will be even more and better shows to come. You're just lazing around at home anyway, so you can watch TV and not get bored."
Ye Xiaoxi chimed in, "I also want to be like Grandma, watching TV at home every day, without having to go to school or do homework."
"Hehehe, that won't do. Grandma is old and her legs aren't strong enough. She can't go anywhere and can only stay at home and watch TV. You are still young. Study hard, and you'll be able to go anywhere in the future."
"Grandma, when I grow up, I'll take you to see Tiananmen Square in Beijing. That's our capital!" Ye Chengyang had heard this so many times that he had learned to make empty promises.
The old lady waved her hand with a smile, "I can't go, it's too far. You can go and take a look for me, and bring back some photos for me to see."
"Then you should stay home and watch more TV. The TV dramas and news stories on TV are all from our country."
"Okay, okay..."
Ye Xiaoxi curiously changed the subject, "Grandma, when did our village build cement roads? It's so nice, we don't have to get all muddy on rainy days, and there aren't potholes everywhere anymore."
“The repairs started around the Lunar New Year. Your dad spent a lot of money repairing all the roads in our village. I heard that only our village has cement roads in this area; other villages don't, and the only other places with cement roads are in the town.”
"Dad, you're amazing!"
"You didn't know that? It was mentioned during the New Year that Dad took the lead in donating a large sum of money, and then every household in the village donated as well." Ye Chengyang did recall a little.
Ye Yaodong said, "It's good that the road has been repaired. The main road is much wider now, and it will be easier for vehicles to come and go. It will also be easier for the old lady to get in and out."
“It’s much easier to walk now. It used to take forever to get to the beach, but now the road is flat and it’s not tiring to walk. It’s just that you weren’t there when the road was built. Your dad got all the credit. He even lifted the red cloth covering the stone tablet that was carved for the road construction. It should have been you who lifted it and took the picture.”
The old lady spoke with some regret, saying that her grandson's glory had all been taken by his father.
“It’s okay, I asked him to lift it for me. My dad called me then to ask if I wanted to go back, but I didn’t have time, I was busy with the Canton Fair.”
Ye Chengyang answered quickly, "I think I saw a stone tablet at the entrance of the village, but I didn't look closely. I was just curious about the whole cement road, so I couldn't wait to run back."
Ye Xiaoxi looked puzzled. "Why don't I remember this?"
"You just kept yelling and telling me to run home quickly and see if the road in front of my house is also made of cement."
"It's so hot! We're also excited that our village has a cement road now."
Ignoring the two children's interruptions, Ye Yaodong said to the old lady, "I had many glorious moments, I have a whole stack of photos. I really didn't have time to come back then, so let's give my dad a moment of glory."
"That was quite a spectacle. The stone tablet stood right at the village entrance. When the red cloth was lifted, many people from the surrounding villages came to watch, completely blocking the road. It really made him look good."
"That makes him look good, and everyone says he's Ye Yaodong's father!"
The old lady nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, everyone says it's because he's your father that he's so famous."
"That's settled then. I didn't come back, but my legend is everywhere. It makes no difference."
The old lady nodded and agreed with a smile, "Yes, yes, everyone is praising you."
"Is your mother still busy at the workshop?"
"Yes, it's hot and sunny now, and there's no rain, so everyone is making the most of the time to get some extra work. The first half of the year wasn't very productive, so we're counting on these two months and the second half of the year to get more done."
"Ah."
"Don't go over there, it's too sunny. She'll come back naturally when it's time for dinner. Just stay home, watch TV, rest for a while, and take a nap. You must be tired after such a long boat ride."
"I didn't say I was going. It's too hot. I'll go after the sun goes down and also visit my home."
"I've tidied up your room and aired out the blankets until they smell nice. After you eat, take a shower and get some sleep. Look, you have dark circles under your eyes."
He nodded in agreement, admitting he was indeed a bit sleepy. He hadn't been able to rest well on the boat, let alone with two people with him.
When he rested in the cockpit, there were two beds, but he would just roll up a mat and sleep on the floor, and he was always worried that they might fall off while sleeping.
It wasn't that they slept too badly, but rather that the rocking and swaying of the fishing boat made it easy for them to fall off. After all, children tend to sleep very soundly without any warning, but it's quite difficult to fall into a deep sleep on a boat.
He's barely slept these past two days, only managing to doze off for a short while at most.
Now that I've eaten my fill and relaxed at home, my eyelids are starting to droop.
He drank every last drop of soup, then took his backpack upstairs to shower before taking a nap.
The two kids were the same; they said they weren't sleepy and wanted to watch TV, but as soon as they lay down on the sofa, they fell asleep in less than five minutes.
The old lady couldn't carry them, so she had to slowly move upstairs and call Ye Yaodong down to carry them to the room to sleep.
Fortunately, he had just finished showering and drying his hair, and hadn't gone to bed yet.
Ye Xiaoxi slept very soundly, and didn't wake up even after being carried back to the room and placed on the bed.
Ye Chengyang woke up when he was put down. He opened his eyes, looked around, called out "Dad," turned over, hugged the thin blanket, and went back to sleep.
The father and his two sons slept until dark.
When Ye Yaodong woke up, neither of them were awake. He was woken up by the chattering of the women downstairs. Their gossipy voices, with their ups and downs, even reached his ears in his sleep.
The main reason was that his mother's voice was too familiar; he recognized it even in his sleep, which woke him up.
He woke up but didn't really want to get up, listening with his eyes closed to the sounds of insects chirping, birds singing, and laughter.
It was hot, and the natural breeze in the countryside was cool, so the windows were left open, allowing all sorts of sounds to be heard clearly.
However, there were also many mosquitoes. When he woke up, he found that his body was itchy all over. He smeared some saliva on his skin and then reluctantly got up.
When I went outside onto the balcony, wow, they were all sitting at his doorstep. No wonder the voices sounded so close to my ears.
Ye Yaodong put on his clothes and went downstairs to find something to eat, but it was already past 7 o'clock.
The rich aroma of chicken soup filled the entire house. He could smell it as soon as he came downstairs. Even though the pot lid was tightly closed, the fragrance continued to waft out.
He didn't disturb his mother and the old lady who were sitting at the door enjoying the cool air. Instead, he filled himself a bowl with chicken soup and a bowl with rice, both of which were still warm.
The old lady wanted to go inside to check if her TV series had started on time, but she found that Ye Yaodong had woken up.
"Oh my, Dongzi's already awake and eating? Is there any rice in the pot?"
Ye Yaodong responded and turned the bowl in his hand over to show her the food.
"You didn't even say when you woke up. Oh dear, you have two big bumps on your face. Did you get bitten by mosquitoes? You have two on your hands too. Let me get you some cooling balm to put on."
The old lady turned and walked towards the cabinet next to her.
The menthol balm was in a red metal box, about the size of a coin. She kept twisting and turning it as she walked, but couldn't get it out no matter how hard she tried.
"Take it, open it, and apply it yourself."
Ye Yaodong had been annoyed by this thing since his past life, so he thought it would be easier to just wipe it with saliva and avoid having to twist the cap for ages.
"Just leave it there, I'll twist it after I finish eating."
"The two little ones haven't woken up yet. Should we wake them up so they can eat and then go back to sleep?"
"No need, just let them sleep. They didn't sleep much on the ship either, so they'll probably sleep until dawn tomorrow. That's good, so we don't have to wake them up now. They won't want to sleep tonight and won't have any energy tomorrow."
"But I'm hungry..."
"They're not hungry. We worry about them going hungry all the time. Didn't they just eat eggs before bed? They ate and then went to sleep. They didn't exercise or digest, so the food is still in their stomachs. What are they hungry for?"
The old lady had nothing to say.
"Go watch your TV, it's 7:45, they're about to air The Legend of the White Snake."
The old lady excitedly stood up quickly, "Okay, I'll call your mother for you, she's watching TV too."
The old lady hurriedly went to call Ye's mother back to watch TV, since Ye's mother hadn't seen Ye Yaodong yet.
Seeing him sitting there eating made her very happy.
"You slept all afternoon. When I came back, you were already asleep, and I couldn't even talk to you."
"It's alright, I've been hearing your voice in my dreams for hours."
"Did you hear what I said?"
"After you scolded me for being so busy all day long, I finally remembered to come back and visit."
Ye's mother couldn't help but laugh, "I just made up a random question when people asked why you're back. Why are you back now? Didn't you come back when you had free time during the fishing moratorium?"
"When have I ever had a break during the fishing moratorium? I just send the boats from the nearshore areas back to fish. I'm still busy as usual. Now that all the fishing boats are out at sea and everything is arranged, I just thought of coming back to take a look and stay for a few days."
"Your dad said that the two little ones were clamoring to come back, so you brought them back. Why do you care about the two kids? Just coax and lie to them, you're so busy yourself."
"They're all so old, they're not so easy to fool. Anyway, I have some things to take care of, so I'll just come back to take care of them."
"Huimei called a couple of days ago and said she took the child to visit Lao Pei. Was she gone when you left? Has she returned to Shanghai yet?"
"They left on the same day as me."
"That's good. Just bring the kids back to visit, don't keep hanging around them. Going to Shanghai is perfect. Oh, and tell her not to take over that brother-in-law. He's still thinking about studying with the twins. He's so calculating."
Ye Yaodong was surprised. "I haven't heard of that."
"I guess so, that's what everyone says."
He was speechless. Was his mother spreading rumors about her own daughter?
"Huimei isn't stupid, don't talk nonsense. She said the child is studying in Zhou City."
"That's good. Distance makes things better, and close proximity makes things worse. The distance is just right. How many days do you plan to stay?"
"About a week, maybe the 18th or 19th, or maybe the 20th. I'll see how things go then, and decide when things are finished."
"If you're not in a hurry, stay a few more days. It's rare for the two little ones to come back, so let them play more and save them the trouble of traveling all that way and not having enough fun."
"Well, we'll see how things go then, but it'll be before the 20th anyway."
"They're still not awake?" Mother Ye craned her neck to look up at the stairs. "They're sleeping so soundly. They must be exhausted from the boat trip. They should stay home and play for a few more days to make up for it."
The mother and son chatted for a few minutes, and then Ye's mother quickly sat down on the sofa when she heard the sound of a TV series playing.
But I didn't forget to invite him to sit down after he finished eating, so we could watch TV and talk.
P.S.: I had a stomachache for two days, so I wrote less. I'll make up for it with a chapter tomorrow during the day.
Something unexpected happened. I'll update later.