Chapter 2: How Much Did the Yellow Croakers Sell For?

It really wouldn’t have looked good to bring this up publicly. Two years ago, when the old man’s funeral was held, all the neighbors came to help, so everyone knew exactly how the family inheritance had been divided.

It had been two years since the split, and no one had raised any issues all this time. Now, seeing Ye’s father earn a sizable sum, they suddenly popped up demanding a share, which would be looked down upon if word got out.

If Father Ye and Mother Ye were willing to give them some money, no one could intervene. But if they weren’t, there was no way the uncles could make such a demand in front of others.

As Old Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye were about to leave, Ye Yaodong let go, allowing them to walk away. He wasn’t worried whether they’d return or not; even if they did, he wouldn’t be afraid.

If his father didn’t agree, could they just dig up the money from their home?

Even if his father agreed, he and his two brothers wouldn’t be pleased either.

For what reason, after all?

The neighbors, seeing that there was no more drama, began to disperse. Ye Yaodong clapped his hands and called to his father and the family, “Alright, everyone, let’s go back inside!”

As he was about to step back inside, a little kid came wobbling over, clinging to his leg and showing two tiny teeth, calling out sweetly, “Daddy, hug!”

When his father and uncles were arguing earlier, the women had taken the younger children back inside, so they wouldn’t be frightened. As the commotion moved to the doorway, the women had brought the children back out.

Looking at the adorable, fair little child, Ye Yaodong couldn’t connect him at all with the dark-skinned second son from his previous life.

He pinched the boy’s chubby little cheek and lifted him into his arms, carrying him back into the house. He still hadn’t had breakfast.

Getting up late and having breakfast after the sun was high was nothing new to him—no one else in the house had this habit but him!

The whole family was used to it by now. Ye Yaodong had been spoiled by his grandmother, so he neither lifted nor carried, never doing any work. He just loafed around, idling the days away.

In fact, his delicate skin, untouched by labor, was what enabled him to secure a marriage with his looks alone.

Otherwise, given his laziness and loafing ways, no woman would have agreed to marry him.

Just as he crossed the threshold, he saw a pretty woman with short hair walking toward him. “Give me the boy. Go eat; there’s food in the pot,” she said plainly, her attitude neither warm nor cold, which gave him a bit of discomfort.

This was his wife, Lin Xiuqing, the same age as him, from a neighboring town.

Since everyone around here knew he was lazy and didn’t work, his parents, worried he’d never find a wife nearby, had asked for a matchmaker to look further afield.

When they met, Lin Xiuqing had indeed been drawn to his looks and accepted the proposal right away. But soon after they married, she discovered the truth…

He was nothing but a lazy, good-for-nothing loafer.

At first, Lin Xiuqing had been filled with happiness after getting married, but gradually, her disappointment grew. Divorce, though, was a huge shame in those days. Some women were even abused by their husbands and never considered leaving.

In many households, it was common to discipline a disobedient wife by beating her. Fortunately, he didn’t hit her; he was just lazy and unproductive. As long as she worked harder, they could still get by.

As a result, Lin Xiuqing had carried the burden and supported him for 30 years…

When she was 50, she developed colon cancer. With no money for treatment, she passed away far too soon.

When she lay helpless on her hospital bed, he felt panicked. And after she was gone, he was left utterly lost.

The whole family relied on her. After she was gone, he finally realized how empty his world had become, but life had to go on.

So, at 50, he began working to make money. Although he had never done any real work before, he was at least a man from a coastal town, where everyone made a living off the sea. Becoming a deckhand on a large fishing vessel wasn’t a problem.

He never expected that, after just over a decade, he too wouldn’t escape an early fate.

But somehow, perhaps he’d accumulated some good karma in his previous life, as he now had this chance to start over.

So much time had passed that he could barely remember his wife’s face. Hearing her speak to him so plainly now made him feel a little unsettled, and he couldn’t help staring at her for a while.

She frowned. “What are you standing there for? Give me the child.”

“Uh… it’s fine. I’ll hold him. Have you all eaten already?”

Lin Xiuqing looked surprised. Since their eldest son had an “accident” on him once, he had never held a child again. But if he wanted to hold their youngest now, she wouldn’t stop him.

“Yes, we’ve eaten.”

Holding the child, Ye Yaodong followed her into the house, where she brought out a bowl of sweet potato porridge and a small dish of pickled vegetables from the stove.

Just as he was setting the child down and picking up his chopsticks, he heard his father say, “Your uncles are just envious. There’s truth to the saying, ‘wealth attracts trouble.’”

Sitting beside him, his older brother Ye Yaopeng frowned, “There was no way to keep it hidden, Dad. When we docked the boat, everyone saw those glittering yellow croakers, and when the buyer paid in large bills, all the villagers saw it.”

“What’s there to worry about? The money’s in our pockets; there’s no way they can take it from us.” With a crisp bite of pickled vegetable, Ye Yaodong spoke as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Dad’s just worried that if this escalates, it’ll hurt the brotherly bond with our uncles, right?” asked the second brother, Ye Yaohua, who appeared slightly more simple-minded.

Their father didn’t respond right away. Instead, he pinched a bit of tobacco between his fingers, packed it into the small hole of his water pipe, took a match from the box, struck it, and held the flame to the tobacco, taking slow drags. The water pipe bubbled until smoke drifted from his mouth and nose. Only then did he glance around and ask, “Where’s your grandma?”

Their mother replied, “She went out early, probably to check on her corn and squash by the roadside. Last night, she kept talking about how they were nearly ready, saying the little ones could finally have a treat.”

“At 80, she still can’t sit still…”

Ye Yaodong finished his bowl of sweet potato porridge, put down the bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and promptly directed a group of children, who looked around five to eight years old.

“You little ones, go to the fields by the road and see if your great-grandmother is there. Bring her back.”

It had been decades since he last saw her, and he missed his doting grandmother terribly.

“Yes, Third Uncle!”

The children excitedly darted off, not minding the sun at all!

Kids from the countryside were hardy; they climbed hills and swam in the sea all day without needing adult supervision. It was summer vacation, so they were running wild.

With the children gone and his wife gathering the dishes, he smiled at her and then turned to his father.

“Dad, how much did yesterday’s haul of yellow croaker sell for?”

Father glanced at his carefree third son without a word. He’d mentioned it yesterday, so why ask again? What was he up to?

Ye Yaodong: …

He genuinely couldn’t remember!