Chapter 36: More Harm Than Good

After securing the boat, Ye Yaodong felt at ease and strolled leisurely towards home. However, halfway there, he remembered that work on the house would start tomorrow, so he turned and headed towards the house site.

Today, it was his second brother’s turn to go out to sea with their father, while his eldest brother stayed back. After breakfast, his eldest brother had announced his plans to haul yellow soil from the mountains. Ye Yaodong felt a bit ashamed, wondering how many loads his brother had managed to haul by now.

Their family’s improved lifestyle truly came from hard work. Still, since it was the first day of the lunar month, rare tides had come in, and he’d already borrowed the boat; he could only let his eldest brother take on the extra work.

With this thought, he picked up his pace.

When he arrived at the house site, he found piles of yellow soil stacked waist-high, but his brother was nowhere to be seen. Only a large jug of tea rested in the shade under a tree—his brother must have gone for another load. Leaning against the tree, he decided he’d help out once his brother returned.

Ever since his rebirth, he’d adjusted his attitude significantly.

After a few minutes, he saw his eldest brother pushing a two-wheeled cart full of soil over.

“Big Brother!”

Ye Yaopeng looked up and smiled. “What are you doing here?”

“Just came to check things out. The work only starts tomorrow. Why are you hauling soil so early?”

Wiping sweat from his forehead, his brother took a big gulp of tea before answering, “Since I didn’t go to sea today and there’s nothing much to do at home, I thought I’d get a head start on hauling yellow soil. We’ll need it anyway, and starting now doesn’t really count as beginning construction early.”

“Since we’ll be hiring people to do the heavier work, you don’t need to overexert yourself.”

“This is actually light work. Tomorrow, once the work starts, the laborers will be digging pits and fetching stones from the mountains. Hauling yellow soil is easier compared to that.”

Ye Yaodong frowned slightly but nodded. “Alright then, I’ll go up the mountain with you and give you a hand.”

His brother looked at him, surprised. “You’re offering to help?”

“Don’t you want my help?”

A bit frustrated, he thought, can’t anyone accept him pitching in without surprise?

“Ha! Alright, come on, give me a hand, and we can haul a few more loads today.” His brother wouldn’t refuse this rare offer from him.

“Just for a bit, though. I’ll head back by ten; I’ve got things to do this afternoon.”

Ye Yaopeng’s smile faltered. So, he’d been hoping too much. His younger brother was really just stopping by. It was already eight, so clearly, he wasn’t in for serious work.

Still, the fact that he came by and offered a bit of help was already an improvement. At least he was paying attention to the house construction, which was better than disappearing all the time. He’d even heard his brother’s wife mention that he’d been helping with fishing recently—seemed like he was making some progress.

“Alright, then just help out for a bit. Once work starts tomorrow, don’t go wandering off. I’ll be out at sea with Dad, and with only our second brother home, Mom and the others will be too busy cooking for the workers.”

“I get it.”

Ye Yaodong wasn’t aware of his brother’s thoughts. Even if he was, he wouldn’t mind. This was exactly the impression he wanted to give—change couldn’t happen too fast or drastically.

Once Ye Yaopeng had dumped the soil from the cart, he handed it over to Ye Yaodong, who took the handle willingly. “I’ll push it; you lead the way.”

“Alright.”

Though the rocky dirt path wasn’t easy to navigate, the empty cart made it manageable. Just a few years ago, everyone had had to carry yellow soil and rocks down from the mountains on their shoulders for building houses.

Since these materials didn’t cost anything, all they needed was manpower.

At this time, houses weren’t built with cement. They used yellow soil and sand mixed together, spreading it over stacked stones to dry. Bricks were used sparingly, as stones cost nothing and made sturdy homes.

In a multi-story house, bricks are generally only used for the second floor. Stones are too heavy to stack securely at greater heights, so bricks are simply more convenient.

In reality, there’s not much difference in cost between the two options. While bricks do require money to buy, stone also requires paying people to transport it, and stoneworkers’ wages are even higher.

Despite it being morning, the sun was scorching, and just a short walk had already left Ye Yaodong drenched in sweat.

When they reached the site, Ye Yaopeng picked up a hoe. “Good timing—I brought two baskets. I’ll dig; when one’s full, you can dump it into the cart.”

“Alright!”

With two baskets, they alternated: as one filled up, Ye Yaodong would dump it, while Ye Yaopeng kept filling the other. Working together like this made the job much faster than if his brother had been doing it alone.

In no time, they’d filled a cart.

“I’ll push it back. Why don’t you dig a bit more soil to save us some trips? I can handle pushing this alone.”

Ye Yaopeng nodded, “Alright, we’ll take turns. I’ll push the next load.”

“Sure.”

Ye Yaodong didn’t mind taking turns, especially since he’d only be there for an hour or two. He didn’t expect, though, that he’d end up tipping the cart over…

Barely a few steps down the road, he hit a rock at the turn, lost balance, and the cart tipped over.

Seeing this, Ye Yaopeng came over, giving him a look that was hard to read. He patted him on the shoulder, “No big deal. Just load it back in. You’ll get the hang of it after a few more trips.”

Ye Yaodong felt a bit frustrated. He’d never handled one of these carts before, so he could only chalk it up to inexperience.

“Lucky it was you who saw me; if Dad had seen, he’d have been furious again.”

“Help out a bit more, and Dad won’t be so quick to scold. Let’s just get this soil loaded back in.”

He gave a little eye roll. Yeah, right. His older brothers were always working hard, but if they messed up, they still got scolded!

Once they reloaded the soil, Ye Yaopeng took over the cart, not wanting him to risk spilling it again. “I’ll push it. You keep digging.”

“Fine.”

Doing more harm than good—maybe he really was better suited to his fishing tasks.

After helping out for a while longer and seeing it was almost time, he headed back.

All that hoe-swinging had left him starving, so he rushed home to grab something to eat and get his fishing gear ready.

When Lin Xiuqing saw him come back drenched and flushed, she asked curiously, “Weren’t you just borrowing the boat? Why do you look like you’ve been working hard, all drenched like this?”

“I was working. After leaving Ah Guang’s house, I saw I had time, so I went to help my brother.”

Everyone looked at him in surprise—he had actually volunteered to help haul yellow soil?

Really?

Seeing the skeptical expressions, he rolled his eyes. “It’s my house too, isn’t it? If I don’t help, wouldn’t Dad break my legs?”

True enough!

These days, the only reason they didn’t hear Ye Father scolding him constantly was because he was out at sea.