Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

The family members witnessed the entire spectacle from beginning to end, and it would be false to say that Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua weren't envious. Even their younger sister, Ye Huimei, couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy.

Although the old lady treated the younger generation kindly, it couldn't compare to how she treated Ye Yaodong. In the old lady's heart and eyes, he held a special place.

There are four siblings among them. They have over a dozen cousins. It is said that only he was personally delivered by his grandmother, almost being born on the beach.

As soon as he was born, he smiled at her while being held in her arms, instantly capturing her attention. She doted on him from childhood to adulthood.

Upon entering the room, Father Ye's anger had not subsided, and he glared at him while puffing on his water pipe!

To be honest, even up to this point, he still didn't understand which sentence he said wrong that caused his parents to explode in anger!

Is it his attitude?

Or is it the accumulated frustration of not seeing progress over time?

He thought for a moment and realized there were only these two possibilities. Otherwise, why would his parents be angry?

"Where is the squash? I told you to save one for Yaodong. Did you save any?"

As soon as the old lady sat down, she saw a group of children each holding a piece of squash, gnawing on them. She quickly asked, fearing that Ye Yaodong wouldn’t get to eat any.

Ye Yaodong's younger sister, Ye Huimei, said while eating, "We saved some. It's on the stove. Third brother can get it himself."

Everyone divided the watermelon and shared, except for him. He had a whole piece to himself!

Moreover, everyone didn't find it strange at all, not even the children. Third Uncle is special!

Ye Yaodong looked at the green zucchini on the stove, oval-shaped and only slightly longer than an adult's palm. He had seen a few that were long and big, like a club, probably divided and shared, leaving him with the smallest one.

This was his favorite type of melon. During that time, it was widely grown and very affordable. However, in later generations, this variety became rare, and people mostly cultivated sweet melons with white skin. He hadn't eaten it for many years now.

He walked towards the earthen stove, and the squash had already been washed clean, with water droplets still clinging to its surface.

Looking at the cutting board and knife on the stove, still stained with juice and seeds, he placed the squash on it and cut it into large pieces. He casually grabbed a plate and filled it with the squash chunks, then walked towards his grandmother.

"Grandma, have one too!"

The old lady smiled and waved her hand, "I don't have teeth anymore, I can't bite. You eat, you eat. Why did you even bother cutting it..."

Although he really wanted to eat it, he didn't want to be the only one enjoying it. There weren't many pieces in total, and there were many people in the family.

Seeing that the old lady couldn't bite the squash, he handed a piece to each of his two children. He also got a piece for his wife.

This action caught Lin Xiuqing's attention once again.

According to past experiences, shouldn't he just pick it up and eat it directly? Why did he cut it up and share it with everyone?

After Lin Xiuqing took her piece, he then took one for himself. He placed the rest on the table for everyone to help themselves.

"Third Brother, have you had a change of heart?"

"Even eating can't silence your mouth?"

Ye Huimei pouted her lips and dared not speak again.

Ye Yaodong looked at the old lady again and said with a smile, "Nowadays, there are removable dentures that you can wear while eating. You can bite on meat and everything. After eating, you can take them out and wash them, and use them again next time. When I have a chance to go to the city, I'll go to the hospital and inquire about it. I'll get a set for you, Grandma. That way, you can enjoy eating meat and everything!"

"Oh, don't waste money on that. I'm already halfway to the grave, just some rice porridge and fermented tofu will do. Besides, I have to fast for half a month every month…”

"On the days when you're not fasting, you can eat meat! That's final!"

"I'm already at this age, why would I eat meat? Isn't fish just as delicious? We coastal people are content with eating fish," the old lady said with a smile on her face, feeling truly happy and satisfied in her heart.

"Fish has its own merits, and meat has its own merits. We should eat both,"

People inside the house watched their interaction and thought to themselves that the third child still had some conscience towards the old lady. It was not in vain that the old lady loved him so much.

At this time, Mother Ye had finished peeling the corn and came in, and Eldest Sister-in-Law greeted her, "Mom, let me cook."

“It's okay, I'll do it. You go and take care of the children."

The old lady looked at Father Ye and said, "I see that the corn silk has turned black. It's almost ripe. In a couple of days, you should come with me to remove the corn kernels from the cob. Otherwise, if they stay in the field for too long, they will become too old and not taste good."

Father Ye stared with his water pipe and said, "I don't have time for that. The boat has just been repaired, and while the new crew is still strong, I need to take the eldest and second sons out to sea a few more times to see if we can catch more valuable goods! The third child is idle all day long, so let him take a few of the younger ones with him. They can help with the corn and bring it back after it's been removed."

"He's hardly capable of doing any heavy-lifting. He's nowhere to be found all day long. I'll take the kids with me to help you out." Mother Ye grabbed a handful of straw, lit it with a match, and threw it into the stove before taking over the conversation.

As soon as they mentioned the third child's inability to carry heavy loads, Father Ye immediately remembered a few years ago when the brigade arranged for him to carry the grain, but he ended up dumping it into the ditch. It infuriated him!

"What's the use? He's grown up so much, yet he can't even carry grain or corn. How could he dump it into the ditch? It's just a laughingstock…”

Ye Yaodong: "..."

Even though it was an insignificant matter from the past, his father still remembers it so clearly. Although...although he was indeed a bit useless when he was young…

But since his return, he has already made up his mind to turn over a new leaf and be a better person...

Lin Xiuqing felt that, at the very least, he was her own man, and it wasn't good for him to be criticized by his own father in front of so many people. She quickly changed the topic to save Ye Yaodong.

"Mother, in a couple of days, it will be the first day of the lunar month. The tides have been receding lately. Don't we need to go to the sea?"

"It's alright, no need to delay. With so many children around, let the third child take them to husk the corn cobs. Once they're done, they can inform me, and I'll come to pick them up."

Ye Yaodong didn't say a word, but the matter was already arranged for him. In fact, he wanted to say that he could handle it...

But he held back his words. He couldn't be too eager to show off, as it might seem out of character. He would just handle the task when the time came.

Because they were poor and couldn't afford to build separate houses, their family had been living together and sharing meals.

However, each household earned money through odd jobs and fishing, and they kept their own earnings. Due to their coastal location, they relied on the sea for their livelihood. With abundant resources from the sea and their agricultural land, they didn't need to spend much money. As a result, their family didn't have major conflicts.

But his father used all the money he earned to repair the boat, which was also inherited from his grandfather. Repairing a boat was more cost-effective than building or buying a new one.

For coastal people, who wouldn't long for their own boat to sail out to sea and fish, improving their family's livelihood?

Even Father Ye desires it, which is why he has been earning money to repair the boat these past two years.

Now that the boat is repaired and ready for the sea, he certainly wants to be more diligent in taking his two sons out to sea for fishing. After all, there's not much hope for the youngest son. But when the family's conditions improve, he can also lend him a hand.

The old lady saw the whole family busy, even the third child was assigned tasks, so she quickly said, "There's no rush to husk the corn. We can take our time. It's actually better to get a basket every day and satisfy everyone's cravings. If we husk them all at once, they won't be as fresh."

Mother Ye didn't even turn her head and just stared at the fire in the stove. "It's good not to hurry. It's not worth much anyway. Don't bother selling them. We can husk a little bit each day to eat. If they're too old, we can save them as seeds. When we have time, we'll go and till the land for you."

(end of this chapter)

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1.

(Basically a green zucchini, could be called sweet melon, squash)