Chapter 24: Picking Corn

Lin Xiuqing looked at his actions and asked hurriedly: “Where are you taking your son?”

“Nowhere, to help grandma pick corn.”

“Pick all of it, or just a little? Let me help?”

Ye Yaodong looked at the old lady behind him, who was holding only a basket in her hand, “Pick some, didn’t I say yesterday that we should keep it for our own consumption, and ask grandma not to sell it. Pick a few and come back, you can do your own things.”

Seeing that he was diligent for once, Ye’s mother also said in a friendly manner, “Pick more today and don’t peel the skin. You can cook it with the skin in the evening so that your father and others can take it to the sea as a snack.”

“Then take a sack to pack it, and bring back about 20.”

“By the way, pick a few more melons and bring them to the sea for your father and others to eat?” Ye’s wife also said.

“Got it.”

After the old lady got the sack, Ye Yaodong held his son and walked with her to the village entrance, which was in two directions from the beach.

The old lady walked slowly, so he also followed her pace, slowly, and looked around. All he saw along the way were women sitting at the door weaving nets, and children running around.

Their seven children were also running down the slope next to them. The little son in his arms saw everyone here and shouted happily: “Brother~Sister~”

“Ah, Dad, why are you here? Where are you going?”

Ye Chenghu also saw his father and brother, and hurriedly called for help, but he didn’t look at his feet, and accidentally slipped, sitting on the ground and sliding to his father’s feet.

But he didn’t cry, just screamed twice, then stood up and patted his butt, “Oh, it hurts so much, fortunately it’s just my butt.”

Ye Yaodong’s mouth twitched, so tough!

The old lady also stepped forward and patted his buttocks, “Walk slower, watch the road, oh~ there’s a hole, hurry back and ask your mother to mend it for you.”

“Ah, don’t do that? My mother will beat me, I’ll ask grandma to mend it for me, where are you and grandma going?”

“To pick corn and cucumbers!”

“Ah~ I want to go too!”

“I want to go too!”

“We want to go too!” One by one, they all excitedly expressed their desire to follow.

“Your buttocks are exposed, why don’t you go home and mend your pants first?”

“No, I’m going to pick corn and cucumbers first, and then I’ll mend it when I get home.” After saying that, he ran to the village entrance, and it didn’t matter that there was a hole in his buttocks, and he didn’t even think about covering it.

Others also ran forward happily and howling.

“Slow down, be careful not to fall…” The old lady shouted worriedly from behind.

One person is leading, a group is leading, Ye Yaodong doesn’t care, “Don’t worry about them, just be careful not to fall.”

“Dad, hurry up, hurry up, brother, run away.”

Ye Yaodong patted his youngest son’s butt, he couldn’t speak clearly, and wanted to play with them, “Why are you in a hurry, I will catch up in a while.”

The three-acre land across the road at the entrance of the village was originally a slope covered with weeds. It was cultivated little by little when his grandfather was there.

His grandfather passed away, and his father helped the old lady to plant. The old lady couldn’t sit still. To help her plant, she had to go back and forth twice a day, fearing that the things would be stolen.

“Don’t pick randomly, don’t pick the unripe ones.” Ye Yaodong saw that several children had already picked the corn, and hurriedly stopped them.

“Oh, we know how to pick it. The silk behind the tail of the corn is black before we can pick it, right? We know!” The one who answered was the oldest Ye Chenghai, who was already twelve years old.

Several children were drowned in the corn bushes. The youngest, Ye Chengyang, struggled to get down. Ye Yaodong put him down and let him play by himself. He took the sack from the old lady and asked Ye Chenghai to put it in.

“That’s enough. Pick 20 first. Each of you should pick 3. Don’t pick more. Come back tomorrow morning.”

“Ah, don’t pick more?” Ye Chenghai looked at the two corns in his hand with some regret. He could only pick one more.

“Just pick a few to eat a day. If you pick all of them and your grandma sells them, you won’t have anything to eat.”

“Forget it. Just pick a few a day.”

More people means higher efficiency. In just a short while, they picked all the corns. The old lady also picked a basket full of melons. Some were big and some were small. The small ones were as big as a fist, and the big ones were as big as a mallet. They were all ripe.

Ye Yaodong carried a small bag of corn on his shoulder and took the basket from the old lady, “I’ll take the things, please walk slowly.”

He looked at the group of children again, “Have they all come out? One, two, three, four, five, six…where’s the other one? Who? Where’s Ye Chenghu?”

“Ye Chenghu!” He raised his voice and shouted into the corn bush.

“I’m here, Dad!” Ye Chenghu answered from the upper slope, holding the corn, and then walked down with the corn in his arms.

Ye Yaodong looked at the corn cobs he had opened with his shirt, “Did you pick them from above?”

“Why did you go to someone else’s house to pick them, kid?” The old lady looked down at the road and whispered.

“Ah, aren’t all the corns ours?”

“Only this one is ours!”

Ye Chenghu scratched his head, “I thought all the corns here were ours!”

Ye Yaodong put down the basket and happily threw all the corns in his arms into the sack, “It’s okay, as long as no one sees it. When he was a kid, your dad also thought the whole mountain was ours, so he could pick whatever he wanted!”

The old lady whispered, “Next time, you can’t pick other people’s corns. If you’re seen, you’ll be scolded.”

“Not only that, you’ll be chased all over the mountain!”

“Dad, have you ever been chased?”

“You’ve played everything you can on the mountain, in the sea, and on the sea. Let’s go home.” Ye Yaodong carried the corn on his shoulders again!

“Wait, there’s Yangyang!” The old lady grabbed Ye Yaodong who was about to leave.

“Oh yeah! I almost forgot about this guy!”

He looked around and didn’t see his youngest son, so he asked the children to look for him and put his things down.

“They are so small, yet they can run so fast. Where did they hide?”

“Here, Uncle San, Yangyang is sitting on the ground eating a melon!”

Ye Yaodong walked towards the direction of the sound, and saw his youngest son sitting on the ground, holding a melon bigger than his face with his head tilted up, looking at everyone innocently.

The melon was still growing on the vine, and he had already gnawed it before picking it off. It was hard for him to find one that was growing low.

“Why did you hide here and eat it secretly?”

“Dad!”

Ye Chengyang raised the melon in his hand to hand it to his dad, but he didn’t have enough strength, and it fell down as soon as he raised it. As a result, the melon hanging on the vine swung and hit his forehead. He didn’t sit firmly and fell on his back…

“Hahaha~”

“Hahaha~ Stupid~”

Several children were gloating mercilessly!

Ye Yaodong also looked at his youngest son who didn’t cry or make a fuss on the ground, and even turned over and climbed up with his hands and feet.

“You are covered in dirt. You are so dirty. You and your brother will be scolded together when you go back.”

(End)