Chapter 6: Building a House

The old lady had always been particularly attentive to the little crops she grew. If she didn’t get her way, she could go on about it several times a day. But she cared for her third son, which was why she would say such things.

She wanted to harvest all the corn, thinking about selling some for money. She hoped to save a little pocket money while she was still alive so that when she passed, she could leave some for her grandchildren.

After Ye Father knocked out the burnt tobacco from the water pipe, he looked at the crowded living room filled with children and grandchildren. He initially wanted to bring up what he had discussed with Ye Mother last night, but someone else interrupted him.

“Grandma, you hadn’t been gone long this morning when Uncle and Second Uncle came by asking for money!”

It was certain that they would complain!

The complaint expert—Ye Huimei!

The family had finally made a bit of money, and yet Uncle and Second Uncle had the audacity to come over demanding their share. They wouldn’t dare say it outside, but Grandma would definitely hear it!

The kids in the room chimed in, “Yeah, Grandma, Big Grandpa and Second Grandpa were really fierce.”

“They were slamming the table and glaring!”

“They scolded my dad, telling him not to interrupt!”

The cacophony made it headache-inducing. Ye Yaodong waved his hand at the kids, “Go, go, go! What’s it to you? Get outside and play; don’t linger here and get in the way!”

“Lalalala~”

A few kids stuck out their tongues and made faces before running out to play. They had just finished their cucumbers and didn’t want to stay at home listening to the adults talk.

Before leaving, they didn’t forget to shout back to Ye Mother, “Grandma, call us when the corn is ready!”

The old lady didn’t even lift her eyelids. Suddenly receiving such a large sum of money would make anyone envious.

Her palms were flesh, and so were her knuckles; she calmly said, “Don’t mind them. Each family lives their own life; no one should be envious of anyone else.”

Ye Father agreed with a grunt and didn’t say much. He didn’t want to mention it to the old lady either, to avoid bothering her. Anyway, the money was in his hands, and no one could take it away.

He scanned the sons and daughters-in-law in the room, and with a serious expression, he said, “I discussed with your mother last night that since we have some money now, we plan to build houses for you brothers and then separate the families so that each can live their own lives.”

The house they lived in now had been left by their grandfather. Since Ye Da and Ye Er married first, their grandfather had built each of them a house after their weddings, allowing them to move out and start their own families.

Because Ye Father was the youngest and married last, their grandfather thought that after he passed, the house would be empty. So he didn’t build another house; instead, he constructed a small room of less than ten square meters next to the vegetable garden in the backyard, along with a simple stove, intending for himself and the old lady to live in retirement. The house they were in was left for Ye Father.

Although this house was larger and had four rooms, it had been repaired many times over the years and was quite old. Therefore, neither Ye Da nor Ye Er had objections.

Now, with so many children in the family, the house was no longer sufficient.

With four rooms, each of the three brothers’ families squeezed into one. Ye Huimei shared a room with Ye Father and Ye Mother, plus a small bed.

Apart from Ye Yaodong’s family of four, the eldest and second brothers each had families of five, with five people sharing a room and sleeping on an old-fashioned bunk bed, showing just how cramped it was.

They had to set up a large round table for meals, and the women had to stand to eat. It wasn’t discrimination; it was mainly because there wasn’t enough room. The children would finish eating first, and only then would the women sit down to eat.

Ye Father and Ye Mother had been watching all this, and they had long wanted to separate the families so that their sons could live their own lives. However, they were unable to build houses due to lack of funds. Even if they separated, they would still have to live together, sharing one stove and meals, making the division meaningless.

This time, having caught a lot of big yellow croakers and earning some money, it became an opportunity for separation.

Otherwise, if the family suddenly got such a large sum of money, everyone’s thoughts would waver.

Sure enough, when Ye Da’s wife and Ye Er’s wife heard about the separation, their eyes lit up.

Ye Yaodong was momentarily stunned, then remembered that in his previous life, his father also built a house after catching big yellow croakers. Back then, he was always out socializing with friends and didn’t care about such matters, nor did he offer any help.

He had been regretting that he had traveled back in time too late, missing out on the big yellow croaker opportunity, and had not thought about building a house and splitting the family. Now that he heard his father mention it, he recalled the idea.

Ye Eldest was surprised but didn’t say anything; it was normal for trees to split branches.

Ye Second was somewhat at a loss. “Dad, this… everything is fine; why split the family… ah!?”

Before Ye Second could finish his sentence, his wife elbowed him. He paused, glanced at his wife, and decided not to say more.

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. His second brother was the most honest in the family, while his second sister-in-law was the most cunning. They complemented each other well!

His second sister-in-law was the one he disliked the most!

It was just that his parents let everyone keep the money they earned themselves, relying on the land and the sea for daily sustenance, not spending money. This was why the family had managed to get along for so long; otherwise, there would have been chaos.

The reason?

Of course, it was because he was the one dragging behind!

Ye Father glanced at Ye Second, opened the small round tin box containing the tobacco, and leisurely began to pinch the tobacco while saying, “With money now, you still don’t want to split? You think it’s nice for the whole family to squeeze together?”

At this point, no one dared to speak, fearing the situation would turn sour!

Ye Yaodong sat on a stool, swinging his leg, watching everyone who clearly yearned for this but said nothing. Feeling bold, he said, “Sure, Dad, we’ve all started our families, so it’s time to split. Building new houses would give us more space.”

“I’m worried you’ll starve to death!” Ye Father shot him a glare.

“Ah, haha? That won’t happen; I promise I’ll work hard after the split!”

“How hard are you going to work?”

“Uh… I’ll just learn from Eldest Brother and Second Brother how to work hard.”

“I believe you like I believe a ghost!”

Ye Yaodong: “…”

He was serious, but unfortunately, no one believed him…

The old lady comfortingly patted Ye Yaodong and said, “Splitting the family and living our own lives is good. It’s time to separate; distant scents are better than close stinks; we should have done this long ago.”

Ye Mother, sitting by the stove, continued, “The money from selling the big yellow croakers is just enough for building houses. This way, we won’t have to worry about anyone else’s eyes on it. If it’s not enough, we’ll use the money earned from fishing later. After all, the houses are for you. I planned to tell you all this right after breakfast, but it got delayed until now.”

She then turned to Ye Father and said, “You should go to the commune soon and settle the land purchase for the foundation. Let’s get started on building the houses as soon as possible.”

“Hmm.” Ye Father glanced at his sons and daughters-in-law. “This money will be used to build houses, and any money earned from the sea afterward will be added in. Once the houses are built, we’ll split the family. You all have no objections, right?”

Ye Eldest shook his head. “Dad, you and Mom decide; we have no objections.”

Ye Second echoed, “You do what you think is best, Dad; we’re fine with it.”

The wives in the family had surely talked a lot at night about wanting to split and live their own small lives, so of course, they had no objections.

Ye Huimei hadn’t married yet, so she would continue living with her parents. Being a daughter, the family split or not didn’t really concern her; she just wanted to watch.

The decision to use the money for building houses and splitting the family was temporarily settled.

Ye Father took a few more puffs from the water pipe before heading out.