Chapter 35: Borrowing a Boat

Ye Yaodong looked at the old lady helplessly. “Grandma, I’m all grown up now, not a child anymore. Please don’t sneakily take eggs next time; if Mom finds out, she’ll definitely scold me!”

“It’s fine, she won’t know if you don’t tell her. Just go out and play for a while, eat it and come back,” she said reassuringly.

Sigh, in the old lady’s eyes, he was still a child!

“Go on, go on, don’t just stand at the door,” she urged him.

Under her insistence, he had no choice but to head outside. He had intended to visit A Guang, but now he felt even more eager to get there.

He was eager to earn money and buy dentures for his grandma. He wanted to make that happen as soon as possible. At her age, even if she didn’t fall, she didn’t have many years left.

He had gotten up a bit early today, and when he reached A Guang’s house, he found him still wrapped up in his blanket.

“What time is it?” A Guang mumbled, still half asleep, as he clutched the blanket around him.

“I left at 6:30, it should be around 6:40 now!”

“Ah?” A Guang tilted his head back in disbelief, one eye barely open. “Are you crazy? What time is it? There’s no work today; why are you here so early?”

“To wake you up to go pee!”

“Dude, you want it warm? Get lost!” He pulled the blanket over his head.

Ye Yaodong tugged at the edge of the blanket, “Get up! The sun is already high in the sky. At this rate, you won’t even be able to wake up tomorrow to work at the fishing dock!”

“Stop bothering me. Tomorrow is tomorrow’s business! Are you on drugs? Getting up so early?”

“Early to bed and early to rise is good for your health. Come on, get up so we can borrow the boat!”

“What’s the rush? It’s only early; the tide won’t recede until noon. Stop bothering me or I won’t go borrow it.” A Guang pulled the blanket over him again, wrapping it tightly as he closed his eyes.

“Why are you clutching the blanket like that? You’re not a woman.”

“What does clutching a blanket have to do with being a woman? Can’t a man clutch a blanket?”

“You just don’t get it, do you? You naive kid. Hurry up, and I’ll tell you once you’re up.”

A Guang was getting a headache from all the noise. He finally sat up, messy hair sticking up like a bird’s nest. “Damn it, I don’t want to know! Are you ever going to let me sleep? Can’t you just cuddle with your wife at home?”

“My wife is up; my whole family is up!”

“And so I have to get up too?”

Ye Yaodong looked at him with a pitiful expression and laughed as he put his arm around A Guang’s shoulder. “We’re good brothers; shouldn’t you be just as eager as I am?”

A Guang shot him a sideways glance and, catching him off guard, blew a puff of breath straight into his face.

Ye Yaodong’s eyes narrowed, instantly scrunching his face into a grimace as he covered his mouth and nose with his hand, jumping aside quickly. “What the hell… You went too far… Damn…”

“That breath can extend your life by ten years. No need to thank me!” A Guang smirked, clearly amused by the reaction.

“Yeah, right!” Ye Yaodong retorted, still recoiling from the foul air. “Just get up already!”

A Guang finally relented, pulling himself up with a dramatic sigh. “Fine, fine. But you owe me for this. One day, I’m going to drag you out of bed early and see how you like it!”

With that, they both got ready, the playful banter continuing as they prepared to borrow the boat and set out for their adventure.

“Damn it, it’s definitely your fault that I’m going to live twenty years shorter!”

A Guang felt a bit smug as he casually avenged the early wake-up call.

“Who told you to come wake me up so early? I have my own issues with getting out of bed!”

“Crap, that’s not just morning irritation; it’s toxic fumes that could kill me! Ugh…” Ye Yaodong grumbled a few expletives and went to wait by the door.

Sitting next to him, who knows what other mysterious gases might come out!

After waiting by the door for quite a while without seeing A Guang come out, he had to go back in. He found A Guang standing at the back door, pulling up his pants and fastening his belt.

“Did you just finish up in there? Took you so long; I came over just in time for food.”

A Guang glared at him. “Please add the word ‘food’ in there! I came over just in time to eat!”

Ye Yaodong chuckled. “Same difference. Hurry up; it’s still warm, just right for eating!”

“F**k you! I’ll eat when I get back!” A Guang cursed, striding out. He knew this guy too well—just because he was taking his time, Ye Yaodong was subtly urging him to hurry up and borrow the boat while throwing out such disgusting remarks.

Ye Yaodong casually crossed his legs at the table, waiting. A Guang’s aunt lived not far from his home; they were from the same village.

Since he was up anyway, he figured he might as well ask early to put his mind at ease. He truly believed that there would be more goods on the deserted island than at the dock, and thinking about his recent good luck made him a bit excited.

Less than half an hour later, A Guang returned.

“My aunt and her husband agreed to lend us the boat, but the old folks at home weren’t keen on it. I suggested renting it from her; we can rent it for half a day for two bucks at noon, and we’ll cover the gas ourselves. Only then did the old folks agree.”

Typically, a day’s wage for workers wouldn’t even amount to two bucks, and renting the boat for half a day while covering the fuel was quite a deal.

“Alright. Family is family; we should settle things fairly. If the old lady wants money, that’s reasonable. This one’s on me; I have exactly two bucks here.” He had checked his pocket yesterday and found he had two bucks on him, which he didn’t spend on cigarettes.

A Guang pushed the money back. “Hey, why give me that? It’s just two bucks! I already said I’d cover it; besides, I won a few bucks playing cards yesterday.”

“Separate things; I asked you to borrow the boat, so it’s only right that I cover this. Just take it, it’s only two bucks.”

“I’ve already offered, so just drop it. Use that money to buy diesel instead.”

“Fine then.”

It wasn’t much money anyway, so there was no need to fuss over it; it would be useful for buying diesel.

A Guang propped one foot up on the stool and picked up his bowl. “Now can I finally eat breakfast in peace?”

“Go ahead and eat; I’m not stopping you. You’re the one in a rush,” Ye Yaodong said, sitting back in his chair, shaking his leg and grinning.

A Guang shot him a glare.

“The tide should go out completely by noon. You should go to the dock around 10:30 to buy diesel, and I’ll come with you to start the boat then.”

“Alright, no problem. I have nothing else to do, so I’ll head back now. If A Zheng and the others come by later, let them know.”

“Such a simple task could be done in a few minutes, but you just had to drag me out of bed so early,” A Guang lamented, still annoyed. He rarely got up this early unless there was a pressing reason.

“I’m just trying to train you! What if you can’t get up for work at the dock? If you’re really bored, you can always lie back down.”

“Get lost!”

“Sure thing!”