sbdcsierra Chapter 1685 New Year’s Eve
Chapter 1685 New Year’s Eve
Chapter 1685 New Year’s Eve
This was the first time Ye Yaodong had stepped into the house after it was renovated.
There's nothing fancy in the yard at the entrance, not many flowers or plants. The ground is all paved with cement and is currently empty, looking very clean.
There was a large doghouse in the corner, but neither the people nor the dogs had a place to live there.
The ground was still damp, but the front door was spotless. I wondered if his mother came to wipe it every day, or if she came to wipe it again early this morning because it was New Year's Eve.
There's still a smell of paint when you bring the house in. When I came here a few months ago, it was still a bare shell. Only the interior layout was done; the painting and carpentry hadn't been done yet.
Now everything has been completely renovated, with bright tiled floors, snow-white walls, a set of brown leather sofas in the large living room, a table placed against the wall, and an 18-inch "big color TV," and a large round dining table in the kitchen.
Although it is still somewhat empty, lacks decorations, and is rather monotonous, it is already the best and most impressive house available.
Every household still lives in adobe houses. Not to mention furniture, there's not even any paint. Some haven't even had cement floors; they just have yellow mud mixed with sand and gravel dumped on the ground. The rough surfaces might even have traces of chicken and duck droppings in the corners.
This house will still be presentable even 20 or 30 years from now.
He stepped on the ground barefoot and felt that it was a little wet, so he immediately found a pair of clean cotton slippers by the door.
I don't know how early his mother came to mop the floor.
A room was built on the first floor so that the old lady can move in and have someone to take care of her.
The small vegetable garden that used to be near the back gate is now enclosed by a wall, and a laundry sink has been built next to it.
The two rooms on the second floor also have a small living room, but the small living room is empty without a sofa. I guess his parents couldn't bear to buy too many, as a sofa is very expensive.
The third floor has three rooms and a balcony. The fourth floor has a half-floor, with two rooms and a large terrace. This was also his mother's strong request, so that the quilts can be aired on the roof later. There is still space for that now.
He walked around and counted that there were actually eight rooms, which was quite a lot.
It's because they have a large family, and his father wanted to build a bigger, more impressive house with more rooms so that guests would have somewhere to stay.
Mother Ye had already made up her mind. The landlord had put in a lot of effort to build the house, but her other two sons had also contributed. After moving into the new house after the New Year, she would let her granddaughters and unmarried grandsons move in first. It would be more spacious, and her place was also big enough for them to run around, jump, and make noise.
They've been away for the past two years, and their own house hasn't been renovated yet, so they haven't had time to make arrangements. Their children are also growing up, so it's perfect for the unmarried ones to move in with her.
As for Ah Hai and Cheng He, who are both married, it wouldn't be appropriate for them to be moved to her place and raised by her.
Sister-in-law Ye had also considered dividing the family property and applying to the village for two plots of land to build houses for the two of them.
However, having just gotten married at the beginning of the year and having just bought the large boat at the end of last year, the couple was short of money and had to put the idea aside for the time being.
Now that both daughters-in-law are pregnant at the same time, it's not a good time to start construction on the new house. She doesn't have the energy to look after the house and take care of her daughters-in-law, and the men in the family are out earning money. So we have to put it on hold for now and wait until the babies are born.
However, according to Aqing, his sister-in-law has already applied to the village committee for two plots of land, and is just waiting for the approval after the New Year to demarcate the land and pay the fees.
They worked hard all year and, although they didn't recoup all their initial investment, they made a considerable sum, so they are now quite well-off.
At the same time, I told Ah Hai and Cheng He's wife that we would separate the family after the baby was born. They could build the house however they wanted, or they could not build it at all and just occupy the land first.
The village has a large population and not enough land. After the men get married and separate from their families, it will be difficult to apply for land to build houses in the future.
Even though these young people are making a lot of money outside, their hometown is their foundation, and they still need to have land and a house.
This way, no matter whether you make a profit or a loss while working outside, you'll always have a way out back home.
Ye Yaodong toured the new house and was very satisfied with everything about it. With the current resources, it was already quite good to have such a nice house; it was hard to find even in the city.
He locked the door and strolled back into the village.
Early in the morning, the atmosphere was already very festive, with every household slaughtering chickens and ducks at their doorsteps, their faces beaming with the joy of a bountiful harvest.
Children ran around the village, dropping candies and peanuts from their pockets all over the ground, only to immediately squat down and pick them up. Parents shouted at the door not to run around, or called for their children to help. Everywhere was filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year.
While everyone was busy, they didn't forget to gossip. In the short time it took him to stroll around the new house, probably most of the village knew that Chen Wei and Haozi had returned.
Having been away for two or three years, everyone was curious whether their return this year would cause any trouble in the village, since there was always a big show at home every year when these two came back.
"Hey? Dong's back? So early? When did you get back? My husband said you'd be a few days late."
I got home last night.
"Freshly cooked fish balls, come on, come and have a taste, they're hot and delicious..."
Just as Ye Yaodong was about to refuse, the other party had already filled a large bowl and stuffed it into his hands.
"Just give the bowl back to me later."
"I just fried some peanuts too, they smell delicious, you should take a bowl home too..."
"My meatballs are almost ready. Wait a minute, don't leave yet, take a bowl home too..."
Ye Yaodong was almost overwhelmed by these women, and he was already holding two large bowls in his arms.
"No need, no need, you can keep it for yourselves. I have enough at home, and I'm already getting it ready. I can't carry it all with both hands."
After he finished speaking, he planned to leave quickly, but unexpectedly, the women sent their children away and each of them packed a bowl of freshly cooked food and followed behind him to take it home.
People along the way saw him and asked about it, and some even started bringing vegetables to his family.
When Ye Yaodong returned home, he was surrounded by a group of children carrying bowls, which made him feel somewhat embarrassed and ashamed.
Ye Jingjing, a girl from Ye's sister-in-law's family, was helping to clean fish at the door when she saw this and asked curiously, "Third Uncle, where did you come from? Why are so many children following you with bowls?"
A child shouted, "My mother asked me to bring this to Uncle Dong."
"My mother also asked me to send it to Uncle Dong..."
"Huh?" She was quite surprised. What was going on?
"Take two bowls inside, and then take the rest of the bowls home."
Ye Yaodong gestured to the two children beside him to take two bowls to his eldest brother's house and two bowls to his second brother's house, so that they could have an extra breakfast.
He estimated there were still six or seven bowls left, which made for a very lavish breakfast. He went out for a stroll and unexpectedly brought back ten bowls of food, which he never expected.
Mr. and Mrs. Ye were surprised to see this when they were plucking chicken and duck feathers at the door.
"How can we accept this? We can't just let them return the empty bowl. Tell those kids to wait."
Lin Xiuqing was cleaning fish, so she put down her work and first cleared out the children's bowls to wash. Then she filled their bowls with some jelly candies, peanut brittle, sesame brittle, and other pastries.
The children had made a trip and gained something, so they happily carried their bowls back home.
Lin Xiuqing looked at him with a smile, "I didn't expect you to have this ability, going out for a stroll and coming back with a table full of food."
Ye Yaodong found it somewhat amusing, "I don't know, I just greeted them and stopped to say a few words. Some of them had already started frying in their pots and brought them to me. When the others around saw this, they followed suit. I said I couldn't carry them all, so they brought them to me."
"Then eat it while it's hot. Go and wake up the three kids. I don't know how late they played with their brothers last night."
"Has Ye Xiaojiu woken up yet?"
"He woke up up ahead and went to look for you, didn't you see him?"
"No, which road did you take?"
"I do not know then."
"I'll be back in a bit anyway."
"When I woke up this morning and didn't see you, I thought you had run away. I started calling for Dad in my room. I told her you went to the new house, and she got dressed and went to look for you without even washing her face or combing her hair."
"Then they might have taken different paths."
"Hmm." After tidying up the vegetables he brought back, Lin Xiuqing continued to kill the fish.
After Ye Yaodong returned, he didn't go out again. He planned to wake his two sons up to put up the couplets, but they both looked like they hadn't woken up yet.
"Other children are running all over the village, and you two are still not up? Do you know what time it is?"
“Those are just little kids. Brother Hai, Brother Jiang, and Brother Chenghe are probably still sleeping. It’s not like we’re the only ones still sleeping.”
"What did you do last night? Did you steal anything?"
"No, we didn't play with them. They played cards all night. We came back early to sleep."
"Come quickly and help."
The two of them obediently went to lend him a hand.
Ye Xiaoxi ran back with red eyes and nose. When she saw Ye Yaodong putting up Spring Festival couplets at the door, she pouted and ran over to complain to him.
"Dad, you ran away early this morning. I looked for you but couldn't find you."
"I was the one who sneaked away. You were sleeping too soundly. I told you, if you could keep up, you could. You didn't even notice I left, so how can you blame me?"
She pouted, on the verge of tears, "But I couldn't find you when I went to look for you."
"Let's go our separate ways. I'm already home, aren't I? Stop crying and bring me that bowl of porridge right now."
She had wanted to say a few more complaints, but when she heard there was a task, she immediately stopped crying, wiped her tears with the back of her hand, and hurried to get the food so that her brother wouldn't get it first.
Ye Chenghu watched him apply paste while holding the couplets, eager to try it himself. "Dad, why don't you put them up for me?"
"Are you tall enough?"
His shoulders slumped.
Ye Yaodong suddenly noticed that Ye Chenghu was also a bit short. "Where did you eat? How come you're not even as tall as Chenghe?"
"Huh? He's several years older than me, of course I'm not as tall as him."
"Bullshit, you're still growing, but he's stopped growing."
He said he can still grow taller.
Ye Yaodong turned to Lin Xiuqing and asked, "Where's the fish maw from before? Take it out and stew it for the three of us tonight so they can grow taller. It's been stored for several years now, and all three of them are still growing."
Don't let it be like the last time, not even 1.7 meters tall. We've saved up for a few years, so it's good to feed them sooner rather than later.
Lin Xiuqing replied, "It's still in the rice warehouse. You said it would be better to store it there to preserve it for a long time, so I've kept it there. I almost forgot about it if you hadn't mentioned it."
"After I finish putting up the couplets, I'll go and look through them, and then I'll stew some for them to eat so they can grow taller. Besides my daughter, why are these two so thin and small?"
"Boys grow back too early, isn't it?"
"It's still early; the river isn't even that long yet."