Chapter 30: Stay-at-Home Dad

Liao Miaomiao was very sure—she wanted to learn from Dabao. “You don’t want to teach me, huh?”

Dabao shook his head. “But I’m just an elementary school student.” The implication was clear—Liao Miaomiao was a middle schooler, and how could an elementary school student teach a middle schooler?

Hearing the commotion, Ye Fan came out of the house. “Dabao, there’s always something to learn from others. The things you know, Miaomiao might not, and the things Miaomiao knows, you might not. That’s completely normal.”

Dabao immediately agreed. “Alright then.”

Since he was still young, Dabao’s mind was quick to adapt. Ye Fan, however, worried that he might get impatient if he couldn’t teach properly. “Dabao, your sister hasn’t learned this before, so teach her slowly. You’re not allowed to rush.”

It was Dabao’s first time being a teacher to a middle schooler, and he was excited. “I won’t rush. Erbao, watch carefully. If you still don’t get it, I’ll hit you!”

Erbao mumbled something. Dabao didn’t understand. “What did you say?”

“If I still don’t get it, I’ll hit you!” Erbao repeated loudly.

Dabao finally understood—his little sister had spoken in Russian again. “I suspect you just insulted your big brother. Just wait till Dad gets home—I’ll learn what you said and ask him what it means!”

Erbao wasn’t afraid at all. Seeing that his brother might not figure it out, he simply said, “Go ahead and ask.”

Liao Miaomiao also recognized that Erbao was speaking Russian. Her dad had tried to teach her once, but before she could even grasp the basics, he had already given up, calling her stupid. As if she weren’t his biological daughter. She never complained about being born this slow, yet he had the nerve to turn it around on her.

The younger brother and little sister came out to play. Seeing how their big sister was making gestures, they also joined in, asking Dabao to teach them.

By noon, Dabao had taken on three students. He was exhausted, his little face flushed red, yet he remained incredibly patient.

Ye Fan finished cooking and called him to eat, but Dabao was still caught up in teaching.

“You really like being a teacher, huh?” Ye Fan asked while wiping his sweat.

Dabao shook his head. “It’s just fun.”

Ye Fan said, “You can’t go showing off outside. If you’re the only one who knows something, people might resent you. You’re still small—you wouldn’t be able to fight them off. Wait until you’re as tall as Miaomiao, then you can show off all you want.” In his heart, he added, By then, he’ll probably be used to keeping a low profile and won’t even want to show off anymore.

Dabao knew that listening to his mom was usually the right choice. “Mom, I won’t show off.”

Ye Fan continued, “But if your classmates say you’re bragging, just say, ‘So what if I am? You’re not my mom or dad, and you’re not even my good friend. Why should I perform for you? What do I look like, a trained monkey?’”

Dabao had never seen a monkey performance before. “What does ‘performing like a monkey’ mean?”

Ye Fan thought for a moment. “It’s like teasing a dog with a bone.”

Dabao didn’t want to be a dog and was very firm about it. “Don’t even think about it!”

Ye Fan pulled him inside the house and saw Erbao grabbing food with her hands. “Geng Erbao, where are your chopsticks?”

Chopsticks were too hard to use, and Erbao knew she’d get scolded. So, she quickly grabbed a steamed bun and stuffed it into her mother’s hand. “Mom, eat.”

Ye Fan pinched her ear with her other hand. Erbao was stunned—how did she still end up getting caught?

Dabao burst into laughter.

Erbao didn’t dare hit her mom, but hitting her brother was fair game. She smacked his arm, knocking his chopsticks to the floor.

Ye Fan put down the bun and immediately put on a stern face. Erbao got so scared she jumped up from her seat. But Ye Fan didn’t want to scold them too much during mealtime. “Apologize to your brother.”

As soon as Erbao said sorry, Dabao forgave her and let her sit back down. Then, he went to the kitchen to grab a new pair of chopsticks. When he came back and saw both his mom and sister staying quiet, he tried to smooth things over, telling his mom not to be mad and reminding her that his sister was just playing with him.

Ye Fan sighed. “Geng Erbao, no hitting. Geng Dabao, no laughing at your sister.”

Dabao thought to himself, Mom, you were cooking earlier when my sister was insulting me in Russian. But he didn’t want to see his sister get scolded to the point of crying, so he quickly said, “Mom, let’s eat. Sister, eat your vegetables.”

Erbao was very observant and followed her brother’s lead, picking up some food to place in their mom’s bowl.

Ye Fan couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.

Erbao didn’t care why her mom was laughing—what mattered was that as long as she was laughing, she wasn’t angry anymore. So, she pushed the plate of shrimp toward her mom.

Since Erbao was only three and didn’t quite understand dislike or aversion, Ye Fan peeled the shrimp while asking, “Dabao, Mom cooks shrimp a lot. Do you ever feel like, ‘Ugh, shrimp again? I’ve had enough’?”

Dabao asked, “Mom, can you make braised pork?”

Ye Fan responded, “Is it that I don’t want to make it?”

Dabao understood—he needed to ask for a meat ration.

Ye Fan asked, “Do you eat oysters?”

Dabao hurriedly shook his head. “No way! They’re so fishy, so smelly, so gross.”

Ye Fan chuckled. “But your dad likes them.”

Dabao rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Is there anything Dad doesn’t like when you cook it?”

Ye Fan laughed again. “So, shrimp it is?” She handed him a peeled shrimp.

Dabao took it, eating as he spoke. “Can we not have it tomorrow? I don’t want to eat it every day.”

“Of course. Tomorrow, I’ll buy clams and mud snails, and also a fish,” Ye Fan said as she peeled another shrimp for her son. “Do you want boiled eggs or steamed eggs in the morning?”

Dabao liked the taste of egg yolk but found it too dry. “Steamed egg custard. Mom, do you know how to make stir-fried rice cakes with eggs and vegetables? Our little brother’s family made rice cakes yesterday, and they were really good.”

Ye Fan nodded. “How about stir-fried rice cakes for dinner?”

Dabao was instantly satisfied.

Ye Fan then asked, “Erbao, what about you?”

Erbao, just like her brother, wanted braised pork. But since that wasn’t an option, anything else was fine. She tilted her head back and grinned. “Mom is the best!”

Dabao tapped her forehead. “Flatterer!”

Ye Fan took a sip of porridge, found it wasn’t too hot, and told the two kids to start eating. Dabao and Erbao each took a salted duck egg, peeled them clean, and mashed them into their porridge with a spoon.

Speaking of salted duck eggs, it all started last year.

Ye Fan had casually mentioned raising ducks while chatting with Su Yuanhang. At first, Su Yuanhang hadn’t told anyone except his father. But after his food factory successfully closed its first deal, he decided Ye Fan was reliable and shared her suggestion with the village teams.

Then, in villages suitable for raising ducks, every household kept a dozen or even dozens of ducks. As the ducks grew, some families found their pens too small and needed to get rid of the older ones. Su Yuanhang took the opportunity to sell them directly to the supply and marketing cooperative under the name of the food factory. Naturally, they couldn’t sell live ducks, so they would slaughter and clean them early in the morning before delivering them to the cooperative by midday. As for the duck eggs, they were turned into salted duck eggs, with the factory claiming them as their own product.

Ye Fan also took the opportunity to learn from the locals and pickled two jars of duck eggs herself. While Tao Chunlan and Yu Wentao were staying at the Ye household, every time they made porridge, they would also boil a few salted duck eggs.

This time, when Ye Fan was heading back, she wanted to give them a jar, but both refused—they had eaten enough.

Ye Fan was concerned that eating too many salted duck eggs might not be good for Dabao and Erbao’s health, so she never deliberately reminded them about the eggs. Dabao would eat them whenever he wanted and never got tired of them. While drinking his porridge mixed with salted egg yolk, he asked, “Mom, why don’t Grandma and Nana like salted duck eggs? The egg yolk is delicious.”

Ye Fan replied, “Because, like you, they want to eat meat.”

Dabao shook his head. “No. You’re lying to me.”

Ye Fan spoke the truth: “Back then, we didn’t have money to buy meat, and we didn’t have meat ration tickets either. So your grandma pickled salted duck eggs. One egg had to be split between me, your uncle, grandma, and grandpa. Even though each person only got this much—” she gestured to the two children, “after eating just a little bit every year, it was enough.”

Dabao didn’t understand. “Grandma and Nana got tired of eating them, so why do you still cook them?”

Ye Fan explained, “They’re also tired of eating pickled vegetables. But if we don’t make salted duck eggs with porridge, we have to cook stir-fried dishes. But oil, just like meat, requires ration tickets. Once the meat tickets are gone, the oil runs out too. Should we really eat steamed fish and boiled vegetables every day this month?”

Dabao shook his head. “Let’s just eat salted duck eggs, then.”

Ye Fan smiled and patted his head, thinking, My son is so easy to persuade. Then, she suddenly remembered that Dabao was in second grade now—he should start understanding that life wasn’t always easy. After pondering for a moment, she said, “Dabao, in the future, if you see someone eating the same thing every day—like only having coarse grain flatbreads for every meal—you shouldn’t ask them why they don’t eat meat or vegetables.”

Dabao asked, “Why don’t they eat them?”

“Because they can’t afford them. Look at Miao Miao’s family—her mom doesn’t have a job, so they don’t have as much money as we do, right? And there are many families where neither parent has a salary, so their kids can only eat the cheapest coarse grains. Do you know why their parents don’t have salaries?”

Dabao didn’t know and asked his mom to explain.

Ye Fan said, “Because they couldn’t read. Their grandparents were very poor and didn’t have money to send their parents to school. Their grandparents wanted to make money too, and they worked very hard, but all their money was taken away by bullies like Huang Shiren, even worse people than him, and foreigners.”

Dabao asked, “Did they take Grandpa and Grandma’s money too?”

Ye Fan nodded. “Your grandma fought them with a knife and was lucky to survive. Many fishermen’s ancestors and siblings on this island weren’t as fortunate as your grandma. They were beaten to death, and their money was never recovered.”

Dabao lowered his head and stared at his bowl of porridge, as if deep in thought. Seeing this, Ye Fan decided not to continue the topic.

After taking a couple of sips of porridge, Dabao suddenly looked up. “Mom, from now on, I won’t brag to my classmates about the delicious food you make.”

Ye Fan was pleased. “You can brag—to the classmates who badmouth you or bully you.”

Dabao nodded. “And I won’t comment on the patches on their clothes.”

“No one wants to wear patched clothes, just like no one dislikes eating meat.”

Dabao said very seriously, “Mom, I’ll remember that.”

“Alright, let’s eat. You’re still young. It’s okay if you don’t understand everything yet. Even I only truly understood when I was in high school.”

Dabao was amazed. “But I’m only five and a half!”

“Dabao is amazing.”

Dabao shook his head. “My mom is amazing.”

Erbao couldn’t help but say, “Bootlicker!”

Dabao replied, “Do you even know what we’re talking about?”

Erbao did. “We shouldn’t bully good classmates.”

Ye Fan was surprised. “Erbao actually understands?”

Erbao said proudly, “Dabao is dumb, Erbao is smart.”

Dabao raised his hand, and Ye Fan quickly grabbed his arm. “Eat your breakfast. If you keep messing around, you’ll be late.”

The siblings panicked and glanced at their mom’s watch. Seeing that it was almost eight o’clock, they hurriedly finished their food like a whirlwind and rushed out.

Ye Fan quickly wiped their mouths with a towel, then shut the door and ran after them.

In the courtyard, Zhuang Qiuyue was tending to the vegetable garden. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

Ye Fan held back a laugh. “They’re almost late.”

Zhuang Qiuyue was startled. “They like school that much?”

Ye Fan wanted to explain that the two weren’t particularly obsessed with studying—they just liked having people to play with at school. But before she could say anything, she looked up and saw the kids turning the corner. She quickly ran after them, scooped up Erbao, and grabbed Dabao’s schoolbag.

At the school gate, Dabao saw many classmates playing and roughhousing inside the campus. He let out a long sigh of relief. “Mom, from now on, you’re not allowed to talk to me while we’re eating.”

Ye Fan handed him his backpack. “Got it. I’ll remember. I’m taking your sister to kindergarten.”

Dabao slung his backpack over his shoulder, waved goodbye, and instantly transformed into a mature elementary school student.

Elementary school ended early, so by the time Dabao got home in the afternoon, the sun was still up. After finishing his homework, he and Erbao went outside to play.

At that time, Ye Fan was at the food processing plant, overseeing the workers’ packaging process while also receiving deliveries. So Geng Zhiyé grabbed a stool and sat by the door to watch the kids.

Zhuang Qiuyue was still in the yard tending to her vegetable garden. When she saw Geng Zhiyé, she remarked, “With Dabao and Erbao playing at the door, no one would dare to bully them.”

Geng Zhiyé couldn’t help but think: Do people really believe that Ye Fan and I watch the kids just to make sure they aren’t bullied? I can’t let them misunderstand like this.

He closed the door behind him, walked over, and said, “I’m more worried about Dabao and Erbao getting curious and running up the mountain, down to the sea, or—heaven forbid—jumping into a well.”

Zhuang Qiuyue froze for a moment.

Geng Zhiyé had guessed right. Seeing her reaction, he felt both exasperated and amused.

Zhuang Qiuyue snapped back to reality. “Dabao and Erbao wouldn’t dare, would they?”

“They’re just kids—they don’t know any better. What wouldn’t they dare to do? Even when they see fire, they can’t resist touching it.”

Geng Zhiyé recalled his own childhood, back before the country was founded. The place where he and his parents lived would occasionally echo with gunfire. Not only was he unafraid, but he’d actually want to follow the sounds to see what was happening. Thinking back on it now, he couldn’t help but sigh—he had only survived thanks to the blessings of his ancestors.

Zhuang Qiuyue, remembering how mischievous her three children had been when they were younger, nodded in agreement. Then she asked if his family grew radishes.

Geng Zhiyé was more curious about how her family of five could possibly eat all the vegetables growing in their yard.

“I’m not sure. I’ll ask Fanfan when she gets back.”

Just then, he saw Dabao and Erbao running eastward, so he strolled after them at a leisurely pace.

Dabao noticed his father wasn’t calling him and his sister back, so he happily joined a group of kids heading toward the mountains to explore.

There were people gathering firewood near the mountains. When they saw Geng Zhiyé, they greeted him and asked if he was there to bring the kids home.

Geng Zhiyé smiled, half-joking, “I just don’t want them crawling into a wild boar’s den.”

The villager gathering firewood chuckled. “These kids are really wild. At this age, they’re afraid of nothing. A few years younger, they wouldn’t dare run around like this. A few years older, once they understand things, they’re much easier to handle.”

Geng Zhiyé nodded. “I’m also worried about venomous snakes.”

The villager nodded as he bundled up the firewood. “True, the snakes haven’t gone into hibernation yet. By the way, Commander Geng, you must be running out of firewood by now, right?”

Geng Zhiyé replied, “Before the two elders left, they collected a lot. There was so much that the kitchen couldn’t hold it all—some of it had to be stored under the eaves.”

The Shanxi Brigade was located behind the family quarters, so people would often see Yu Wentao and Tao Chunlan when coming out for meals or fetching water. Naturally, when the two of them went out to gather firewood, they couldn’t avoid running into members of the brigade. Hearing Geng Zhiyé’s words, the villager suddenly remembered and had been meaning to ask, “You and Accountant Ye are both city folks—do city people burn firewood too?”

Geng Zhiyé shook his head. “My mother-in-law lived in a rural cave dwelling for a few years. She made her own clothes, grew her own grain, and chopped her own firewood. My mother is from the countryside outside the city.”

The villager thought to himself, No wonder the two of them dress like city folk but can also grow vegetables and gather firewood like rural people. He asked, “Will they come back again?”

Geng Zhiyé replied, “Probably. They really like it here.”

The villager hadn’t expected city folks to like their remote island and was pleasantly surprised to hear it.

Probably because Geng Zhiyé was watching from the roadside, the group of fearless, clueless children didn’t dare to run into the woods. After playing at the foot of the mountain for a while and finding it boring, they ran back to the road, picking up small sticks, flowers, or grass while muttering to each other as they headed toward the village.

The village had stray cats, large geese, and old oxen. Geng Zhiyé was worried the kids might accidentally harm the animals—or that their itchy hands would prod at the cats and tease the dogs—so he continued to follow them.

One fisherman’s child asked, “Geng Yanyan, why is your dad following us? Is he afraid we’ll beat you up? We don’t fight.”

Dabao shook his head. “Dad doesn’t want me and Erbao running up the mountain or playing in the water. I already told him I wouldn’t, but he still doesn’t believe me.” He sighed helplessly. “No matter how old I get, in my dad’s eyes, I’m still just a little kid.”

The group of children immediately related to his frustration and couldn’t help but complain about their own parents, too. Before they even left the house, their parents would warn them not to run off or get into fights. And the moment they got home, they’d be scolded—All you ever do is play!

As they talked about their parents, their complaints poured out endlessly. But soon, they realized that all their parents were the same. That made them feel like comrades in the same trench, and suddenly, their bond grew much closer.

In the past, when the fishermen’s children passed by Dabao’s house, they were curious about what Ye Fan’s home was like but didn’t dare to go inside. Now that they knew Accountant Ye was just an ordinary person, the day after, as soon as school was out, they threw their school bags at home and ran out to play. Seeing that Dabao’s main hall door was wide open, one of them called out, “Geng Dabao!”

Dabao looked up at his dad, silently asking for permission to go out.

Geng Zhiyé asked, “Will you finish your homework after dinner?”

Dabao nodded obediently.

Geng Zhiyé got up. “Alright, let’s go.”

Dabao gasped. “You’re coming too?”

“I won’t get too close!” Geng Zhiyé said while helping Erbao put on shoes. “Erbao, do you want to go?”

Erbao nodded obediently and climbed down from the long bench by himself.

The kids waiting outside the door saw the figure behind Geng Dabao and couldn’t help but roll their eyes, looking exasperated as if saying, We give up on trying to shake off Captain Geng.

True to his word, Geng Zhiyé stayed by the door, keeping an eye on the kids as they played.

At first, the children found it awkward, but after hearing that Dabao’s dad was on vacation and had no plans of leaving, they had no choice but to get used to it.

It just so happened that this period coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the capital kept sending telegrams every few days, placing orders for goods.

At first, Ye Fan and Su Yuanhang only prepared three truckloads—one and a half for the Haidian Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and two for Xicheng and Dongcheng. Since there were no middlemen profiting from the transactions, the goods were cheaper. With the festival approaching, even those who didn’t need the products for themselves would buy some as gifts for relatives. As a result, not only did they sell out two full train cars’ worth of goods in one go, but they ended up making three shipments.

Initially, Su Yuncheng and Su Duofu were worried that the Haidian Supply and Marketing Cooperative wouldn’t be able to sell everything and would ask them to take back the unsold goods. However, they soon noticed that it wasn’t just elderly people buying—young people were coming in too. Pretending to be curious, Su Duofu asked them why they were shopping at the cooperative instead of the department store.

The young workers responded that the prices here were lower. Then, they added that they hadn’t known about this last year, looking as if they had missed out on tens of thousands of yuan.

On the fourteenth of August, after distributing the earnings and paying the temporary workers, Su Duofu suggested that they could stock up more goods next year.

Ye Fan nodded. “And what if we get stuck with them?”

Su Duofu suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe.

Ye Fan continued, “I know I’ve said this before, but it looks like I need to say it again. We’re making money not because our goods are amazing, but because no one else dares to do what we’re doing. Do you know what the market will be like next year? And besides, this isn’t a private business. Right now, the cooperative members treat us like family, but the moment we fail to sell everything, you’ll be the one getting blamed behind your back.”

Su Yuncheng couldn’t help but say, “It won’t come to that. Everyone is mentally prepared.”

Ye Fan stood up. “Wanna test it? Just announce that the capital won’t be ordering any goods for the next two months. If they don’t get mad at you, I’ll take your surname!” She grabbed her bag. “Tomorrow’s the festival—everyone should go home. I need to buy groceries and cook, too.”

Watching Ye Fan’s retreating figure, Su Yuncheng turned to Su Duofu. “What do you think?”

Su Duofu sighed. “A few good days, and you’ve already forgotten how vicious they were when they forced me to hand over my fishing boat.”

Su Yuncheng couldn’t help but recall the early days of the food factory’s establishment. When Ye Fan insisted on hiring Su Duofu, the brigade leader was the first to oppose it, and many cooperative members voiced their objections as well. But because no one dared to risk Ye Fan walking away, they didn’t openly protest.

This year, people were treating Su Duofu politely only because there was money coming in.

Su Yuncheng muttered, “They’re really that pragmatic, huh?”

Su Yuanhang said, “They’re just ordinary people. And for ordinary people, everything revolves around money. No money, no good treatment—it’s normal. Let’s go, it’s getting dark. We should head back too.”

Ye Fan carried home a bag of crabs and a yellow croaker that the market had set aside for her. In the courtyard, Geng Zhiyé was washing vegetables. She squatted beside him. “Didn’t we agree to wait until I got back before cooking?”

Geng Zhiyé glanced up at her before lowering his head and continuing to pick the vegetables.

Ye Fan found it odd. “Are there bugs in the greens?”

Geng Zhiyé’s breath hitched. Was she really looking at the vegetables right now?

“No.”

His tone was unusually stiff. Ye Fan was intrigued. “Who made you angry?”

“Accountant Ye, do you even know what time it is?”

Ye Fan did. “Tomorrow’s Mid-Autumn Festival, isn’t it?”

The original plan was to distribute wages on the morning of the festival. However, since Su Duofu and Su Yuncheng hadn’t stayed overnight in the capital and had instead returned the same evening, they ended up spending two nights on a slow train. They arrived in Yongcheng at noon today and reached the island around two or three in the afternoon. As soon as they did, Ye Fan went straight to the food factory to settle the accounts and distribute wages.

Ye Fan tilted her head, scrutinizing him. “Are you sure no one upset you? Your tone sounds off.”

“Who would dare? I’m just a humble househusband, still counting on Accountant Ye to earn money and support me.”

Ye Fan was speechless. “Are you really mad?”

Geng Zhiyé tossed the vegetables into the basin. “Ye Fan, since my leave started, how many days have you actually been home? Today’s my last day, and you were out until sunset. And now you’re saying my tone is off? If it were you, wouldn’t you be upset?”

Ye Fan wasn’t.

When she was pregnant with Erbao, her due date came a few days early, but Geng Zhiyé was delayed due to work. By the time he returned, she no longer even looked pregnant. Yu Wentao and Geng Zhiqin were worried she’d be upset and kept speaking up for him. Ye Fan had told them repeatedly that she wasn’t angry, but they refused to believe her.

Tao Chunlan urged her to tell the truth, and Ye Fan simply said she understood. Li Mingyue commented that Ye Fan was too calm.

Ye Fan never quite understood—birth timing wasn’t something she or Geng Zhiyé could control. He was a soldier, not a clerk at a department store who could come and go as he pleased. If he couldn’t make it back in time, wasn’t that perfectly normal?

Why would she be angry?

Ye Fan said, “If I say—”

“Wash the vegetables!” Geng Zhiyé stood up.

Ye Fan instinctively asked, “Where are you going?”

Geng Zhiyé: “To find a noodle and hang myself.”

Ye Fan almost wanted to laugh but followed helplessly. “I won’t need to go to the food factory for the next half month.”

Geng Zhiyé turned around and sighed. “Tomorrow is the fifteenth of August. I’m returning to the army! I’m on duty for the next week!”

Ye Fan grabbed his hand, but Geng Zhiyé shook her off and headed inside. She quickly followed—this grown man, acting so dramatic every day.

Little did they know, this scene was witnessed by a few people carrying water buckets as they passed through the alley to the north.

When Ye Fan saw Geng Zhiyé head for the kitchen, she immediately stopped and waited for him to come out.

Geng Zhiyé turned back, didn’t see Ye Fan, took a deep breath, and walked out—only to find her still in the living room. He was surprised. He thought she had actually gone to wash the vegetables. “What are you doing here?”

Ye Fan replied, “Waiting for you to grab the scissors and brush to clean the crabs and kill the fish.”

Geng Zhiyé clenched the brush and scissors. “And if I hadn’t come out?”

Ye Fan stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his arm. “Then I would’ve gone in to find you.” She lifted onto her toes and kissed his cheek. “Commander Geng, you’ve worked hard managing the household these days.”

Geng Zhiyé instantly felt better. “That’s it?”

Ye Fan wondered what else he wanted. Seeing the anticipation on his face, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Tonight, I’ll listen to you.”