Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1216 Quarrel
After they had knelt down and burned incense together, they took turns kneeling and talking.

First, they told the ancestors in the underworld to eat and drink well, and to be careful to receive the paper money, television, sewing machine, and refrigerator that they would burn for them later.

If you didn't enjoy happiness when you were alive, you should enjoy happiness after you die...

After talking for a while, they started making wishes again.

As soon as we got to the mountain, everyone knew what Ye Erbo was thinking.

He lived up to everyone's expectations and made a wish for Old Master Ye to bless his family with smooth sailing, for his children and grandchildren to be successful, for them to go abroad safely, make a lot of money, and return home in glory...

Ye's father hoped that the whole family would be safe.

Everyone spoke to their ancestors, and some children just knelt and worshiped without making any wishes.

Father Ye was a little puzzled seeing that Ye Yaodong was very quiet today, because he had always been the talkative one and he had many tricks when visiting graves.

"Dongzi, why didn't I hear you make a wish to your ancestors today?"

Do you think your ancestor is a turtle in the wishing well? How can it be so effective?
Ye Yaodong complained in his heart, but said it nicely.

"I made a big wish two years ago, so I won't make it again. Our ancestors have already remembered it, so I'll leave the opportunity to you."

Ye Erbo said quickly, "Yes, yes, your wishes were too great two years ago, and the ancestors blessed you. It's better not to make any wishes this year. Don't scare the ancestors and make them not come up. By the way, it will also let the ancestors hear our voices."

Ye Yaodong's mouth twitched, he said nothing, and turned to look at the large group of noisy children in the open space in front of him.

It is estimated that the number of people has grown to two or three hundred, and these people have followed them up the mountain to ask for tomb cakes.

The children were whispering to each other and making a lot of noise. The oldest were in their teens and the youngest were only three or four years old. They were running and jumping around in the open space nearby, and their own children were also making noise together.

As soon as they walked out of the house with brooms and sickles, the children in the village began to follow them, and the team kept growing.

All the children who were originally following other tomb-sweeping groups were attracted and followed.

Everyone in the village knows him, and I'm not bragging. From 80-year-old old men and women to three or five-year-old children who can run and jump, everyone knows that Ye Yaodong is rich.

Since his family went to visit the graves, they would definitely follow him. What if he got one cent? What if he got too much?

Many people have heard that he distributed the money two years ago.

At this time, while they were weeding, burning incense and paper money, more and more people came to the hilltop, and from a distance they saw a large group of people running towards them.

Ye Yaopeng came over with a worried look on his face, "Why are there so many people here... We don't have enough mooncakes..."

Ye Yaohua was also in a dilemma. "I only ordered one load, 100 pieces. Now there are two or three hundred people asking for tomb cakes, and some are even running here..."

The other cousins ​​became worried as they saw people constantly coming towards their cemetery. They also came towards them to discuss what to do.

Tomb sweeping on Qingming Festival is a custom, and asking for tomb cakes is also a custom here. People cannot be driven away at will.

"Why don't we just distribute them in advance and then set off the firecrackers. Then people who come later will say there are no more."

"There's not enough to share now, right? Why are they all coming here? It looked like there weren't that many people in front, but now there are more and more."

"If there aren't enough grave cakes, should we just give them money? Everyone, look at how much money you have and pool together. If there aren't enough grave cakes after we distribute them, give them 5 cents each and let them go."

"If there are not enough points, we can only give out money."

"Then let's just pool our money together. This load is definitely not enough to share. How much money did you bring?"

"I didn't bring much money with me, only one or two dollars, and I didn't do anything special, so I didn't bring more..."

"Then each of us can chip in a few bucks, that's about enough. We'll settle the bill when we get back..."

Ye Yaodong watched them all taking out their pockets and counting the money, and they discussed how to pool their money together to deal with the large group of children first.

He also felt the pockets inside and outside his coat and took out stacks of ten-cent bills. The others stared in amazement as he kept begging for money.

"Dongzi..."

"Dongzi, you brought so much money..."

"Why do you carry so much?"

Ye Yaodong stacked five stacks of banknotes tied with rubber bands on his palm and said, "The rain stopped this morning and it's Sunday, so the children don't have to go to school. I thought there would be a lot of people asking for tomb cakes today, so I took a few stacks of ten-cent banknotes before I went out, just in case."

"It looks like a lot, but it's only 50 yuan. Let me collect your money first. These five stacks of 5 cents are enough to share."

Everyone quickly took their money back and chatted with each other with smiles on their faces.

"You're really thoughtful. You brought small change so it's easy to distribute."

"I didn't expect so many children to follow us up the mountain. Those who had been following others also came over."

"It must be all because of Dongzi. He is a famous person in several villages near us. When those children heard that our family was visiting the graves, wouldn't they all follow us?"

"Yes, they must be here for Dongzi, a rich man."

Ye Yaosheng looked at everyone's secretly happy expressions and said with a smile: "Since Dongzi's place is only 50 cent, that's convenient. Let's use this to distribute first. Anyway, it's exactly yuan. After distributing it, we can divide it among the brothers according to the number of people."

Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua nodded one after another, "I have no objection."

"I don't have any objection either."

The others looked at each other and could only agree, "Let's divide it first. Go tell Dad and the others that we should go divide the money first, otherwise there will be more people to get after they finish burning the paper money."

"Distribute the tomb cakes first and put the money away. Don't let the children see it. Otherwise, they will be very smart and hide behind to distribute the money, not the cakes."

"Yes, Dongzi, put the money away first, and we will carry the two baskets of cakes to divide them first."

"Row."

Ye Yaodong put the money back into his pocket.

The brothers and cousins ​​each assigned their work, and he didn't have to worry about it or say anything.

The three brothers of Ye's father had been kneeling there, talking to their father and burning paper money, and they did not notice that more and more people were coming onto the mountain.

When they were told this, they were also shocked and immediately asked them to distribute the tomb cakes first.

After you have distributed all the firecrackers, just set off the firecrackers and ignore any subsequent visitors.

Ye Chenghai, Ye Chengjiang and other family members also helped to stand at the intersection, on a high place, to supervise and see if anyone had received it before, and then ran over to pretend that they had not received it and received it a second time.

Although there were many people asking for tomb cakes, there were also many family members in their family who helped distribute and supervise, so everything was in order.

But the people in front only received tomb cakes. After the tomb cakes in the back were distributed, Ye Yaodong took out a bundle of one-cent banknotes, which made the children's eyes light up.

"Just leave after you've received it. If you come back a second time, you'll be beaten up."

"Is the rest for handing out money?" The lucky guy standing in the front was very excited.

"Well, the rest of the money will be distributed. You can take it and leave. If you come back a second time, it will all be confiscated and you will be beaten."

"Don't push, don't push, everyone has a share, and those in front are not allowed to look back."

The children who had received the mooncakes had not yet left when they saw the money being distributed behind them. They looked down at the bunch of mooncakes around their necks and were about to cry with frustration.

"Can we not want the cake..."

"There's not enough money to give out, so we're just giving out money temporarily. Stop making trouble and get down the mountain."

The group of children were very excited. When they saw the money being distributed, no one was willing to leave and they made a lot of noise for a while.

But he was unable to resist the army that came to collect money, and could only watch helplessly from the sidelines. He did not dare to waste time, so he could only follow others and continue to run to other people's homes to ask for grave cakes.

However, everyone secretly swore in their hearts that next year when they came to sweep the graves with their family, they would wait until the end to receive the gifts and would not squeeze to the front because of the rush.

They would regret it so much if they missed a dime.

That's only ten cents. Their daily pocket money is at most two cents, and some of their parents don't give them any pocket money at all.

After sending all the children away, they started giving them to their own children.

They had all been waiting there with gleaming eyes.

"Uncle San, you are so wise. It's great to give you money."

"Isn't it good to give out money? You can buy whatever you want." Ye Yaodong said with a smile.

"Those who got the big cakes at the beginning were so angry. Next year when they come to our house to ask for grave cakes, they will definitely not squeeze in the front."

Ye Yaodong paid them double the amount, 20 cents each, and listened to them excitedly complimenting him one after another with all kinds of nice words, and he was happy too.

In fact, it didn't cost much, including for my family, all in all it cost only about 30 yuan, but it made everyone excited.

He said to his other brothers, "Next year, you don't have to go out of your way to order mooncakes. Just give them out directly. It saves trouble."

“I didn’t expect there would be so many people…”

"Who made Dongzi rich? They all came for him. Alright, let's set off the firecrackers quickly, or else someone else will come later. Dad and the others have already set off the firecrackers."

After the firecrackers were over, everyone took their own hoes, sickles and brooms and walked down the mountain.

After receiving the money, the children in the family immediately rushed to the nearby cemetery where someone was staying.

Their own tomb sweeping had delayed their requests for tomb cakes, and now that it was done, they had to hurry up and go to the tomb sweeping venue.

As they walked down the mountain, they also asked Ye Yaodong to count the money that had just been given out so that they could distribute it according to the number of brothers.

Originally, Uncle Ye Er wanted the three older brothers to divide the property into three parts, but Uncle Ye Da disagreed.

"I only have one son now, and each of you has three or five. Wouldn't I be at a disadvantage again? Anyway, they are all married and have separated. They should share the burden equally. We all have one foot in the ground, so how can we share it based on the number of people?"

Ye Erbo said: "The cost of building the tomb is shared equally by the three of us, so shouldn't the cost of visiting the tomb also be shared by the three of us?"

"You have many grandchildren, so you just received a lot of money. You have to pay less, but you get more. Of course you say that."

"Originally, the three of us should have divided it equally. This is our biological father's grave. So I have more sons, so I am at a disadvantage? I have to pay more? That doesn't make sense."

Father Ye felt a headache watching them arguing back and forth. "It's not much money, just over thirty yuan. We are old too. In a few years we won't be able to walk and go up the mountain. In the future, they will definitely be the ones to take care of the graves."

"If nine brothers share it, each of them will get only 9 yuan, so let's just settle it like that. We only visit the grave once a year, so what's there to argue about? Whoever is in financial difficulty should give way."

"In the future, they will have to go to the graves together. There's nothing wrong with sharing the burden equally among them. That's all."

Ye Yaodong immediately agreed with his father. He didn't care about it. It was just a small amount of money. He supported whatever his father said.

"I have no opinion."

Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua also quickly agreed, "Then just listen to Dad, we have no objection."

Uncle Ye had already reached into his pocket and handed 4 yuan to Ye Yaodong, intending to confirm it.

Brothers Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua also hurriedly said, "Dongzi, we will give you the money when we get back. We don't have that much money on us."

"Give it to Dad. He prepared all our sacrifices. Once you've calculated the amount, give him the money and he'll keep it for me first."

Seeing that both families had no objections, Uncle Ye Er also accepted it, thinking that he still needed Ye Yaodong's help to give the number.

"Well, then you brothers should do the math."

Father Ye didn't expect there would be such a good thing. Dongzi spent money and he took the money.

With a smile on his face, he quickly put down the load of sacrificial offerings, asked Ye Yaopeng to carry it, and waited to collect the money.

However, several people from Ye Erbo's family also said that they did not have that much money on them and said they would get it together when they returned.

After entering the village, Uncle Ye and the others all followed Ye Yaodong and did not go to their own homes, saying that they wanted to get the number first.

Ye Yaodong let them do what they wanted. He gave him the number and let them do whatever they wanted.

But he also gave a reminder.

"Today is Qingming Festival. Lao Hai must have gone back to his hometown to visit his ancestors' graves in the past two days. I probably won't be able to find him if I call him now."

"Oh, yes. Let's wait two days before calling again."

"Ah."

Uncle Ye hesitated for a moment, said nothing, and left with the number.

Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua also took out 4 pieces each and handed them to Ye's father.

Ye's father had already reached out to take it, but it was snatched away by Ye's mother.

"What kind of money is this? Why did each of you give 4 dollars to your father?"

The two brothers looked at each other, and Ye Yaopeng hesitated whether to say that Dongzi paid and his father would collect the money.

I don’t know if his father will be scolded.

Ye Yaohua said honestly: "This is the money Dongzi paid for the tomb cakes when we were sweeping the tomb. We brothers split it together, 4 yuan each."

"So many? Why give it to your father then?"

Father Ye snatched the money from her hand and said, "Dongzi asked me to keep it for him first. I will take his boat to refuel and add ice later. We have to go out to sea tomorrow night."

Ye Yaodong burst out laughing after hearing this. His father's excuse was very clever. It was amazing that he could think of it so quickly.

When Ye's mother heard that this was for a purpose, she stopped talking.

Father Ye quickly put the money into his pocket, sat down to eat naturally, poured himself a full glass of wine, and then said to the eldest and second sons who were a little confused.

"Tomorrow should be a good day. You should get ready and go out to sea at night."

"okay."

"Go back and eat. Why are you standing here like an idiot? I'll stew the chicken and duck tonight and give you a bowl of soup. It'll be just the right amount for you to get back to work before going out to sea."

"Oh."

Ye's mother was curious about why Ye Erbo just came over to ask for Lao Hai's number. She put the matter of Ye's father collecting money behind her and turned to ask Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong told her what happened.

Ye's mother slammed the table. "Okay, then tell me why I've heard him asking people recently if he has taken anyone to work abroad."

"You are really ambitious. You even have this idea. Why don't you just stay at home? Who knows if it will work? Who knows if the person you find is reliable? What if the money you spend is wasted?"

Ye Yaodong said matter-of-factly, "That's why they set their sights on Lao Hai. They have also met so many overseas Chinese in their hometown and feel that our people are capable, so the chances of getting help from our people are greater."

"All he does is think about random things all day long, and he tries to take advantage of the new relatives he has made."

He shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.

"It must cost a lot of money to send someone abroad, right? Can they afford it?"

"Who knows? It's none of our business anyway."

"Yes, it's none of our business. Once you give them the number, they can contact you as they please. Even if they ask you to borrow money, you shouldn't lend it to them."

"I went out to sea at night and was not at home."

Ye's mother quickly turned around and told A Qing, "Don't lend them money. If they come to borrow money, just say that A Dong is not here and you can't make the decision. Or, just say that you have booked a boat and have no money on hand."

Lin Xiuqing smiled and said, "Why are you so afraid of them borrowing money? It feels like they are facing a great enemy."

"Your second uncle is a very cunning person. As the saying goes, the eldest is bad, the second is cunning, and the third is stupid..."

Father Ye was not happy to hear this, "How do you talk like that?"

Mother Ye glanced at him and continued, "If you borrow money, you might never get it back. Then you can use the excuse that you are working outside and it is inconvenient to remit the money, and then delay it for a few years."

"The one who owes the money is the boss. Why should you spend your hard-earned money on others? You are reluctant to spend it yourself, why do you need to borrow it? Just keep it for yourself and don't lend it to anyone else."

Father Ye said: "If they really come to us and ask for help, you can't refuse them. Even if it's not too much, you have to give them something. Everyone knows that our family is rich, and they also want their children to go abroad..."

"If he leaves his mother's country, he can sneak away. If he is caught, he will be sent back to his country and will not pay back the money. I don't even want to lend money to outsiders..."

“You are biased.”

“I’m just prejudiced against them.”

"What does it have to do with you? I didn't borrow money from you..."

"I can't borrow from my sons. I've already cheated two of them out of 2,000 yuan. I don't know if they can pay it back in their lifetime."

Father Ye threw down his chopsticks unhappily, "Their family is already miserable enough. They are my brothers too. You can't force them to die."

"It is also true that they owe money."

"You are such a heartless person. After all, he is my brother. If he were your own brother or sister, would you still be so tough? I think you would have borrowed money from your own pocket a long time ago."

"Then my brothers and sisters are not so deceitful and calculating."

"Your brothers and sisters are so good. You have a narrow mind like a needle tip. You remember everything."

"I am narrow-minded, but you are generous and open-minded. You can lend me the money. After all, you are my brother. If you have money, you can borrow it yourself. I want to see how much money you have to borrow..."

Father Ye was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, "They haven't even asked for money yet, and you're so scared."

"I'm not afraid, I'm just taking precautions. Do you think they can afford the money to smuggle people abroad? I heard it costs several thousand dollars to send someone abroad."

"I haven't even asked for the loan yet, and you're still talking about it."

"I'm telling you this in advance so that you won't be so generous. Think about it, how long does it take for an average family to save up a few thousand dollars? How many years does it take? Why should I borrow money? My money came from the wind."

"I've already said it. I didn't ask you to borrow it. You're so funny. You keep talking. I haven't done anything, but you're just talking a lot."

"Would you like to make a bet? If they don't come to borrow money, I'll chop off my head and give it to you as a stool."

Father Ye had nothing to say. He also believed that there was a high probability that Uncle Ye would come to borrow money.

But he felt that working abroad was not a bad thing. Not to mention earning a lot, as relatives, each family should help to borrow some money. Isn't that what they should do?

Is it necessary to react so strongly? They are not here to defraud money like Ye Yaohong did at the beginning. They are sending their grandson to work abroad.

Besides, my family is not extremely poor. As we are family, it wouldn't be a big deal if I could lend you a little to help out.

"You have nothing to say, right?" Mother Ye looked at him with contempt. "You must think so too, but you are still stubborn. If I say you are stupid, then you are stupid."

"You are smart. You treat anyone who makes you suffer as your enemy."

"Oh, that's true!"

Father Ye glared at her angrily, drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and stopped talking to her.

Ye's mother continued to ramble on and on, but Ye's father pretended not to hear her and just ate and drank by himself.

Ye Yaodong only felt that his ears were suffering.

I haven't even gone to his house to borrow money, and he hasn't done anything yet, but his mother is already grumbling in displeasure. She's already had a fight with his father about the fact that he hasn't shown up yet.

The old lady also hung her head and said nothing, just taking care of Ye Xiaoxi while she ate.

Lin Xiuqing could not interrupt the two old men's quarrel, so she had to go out to look for her two sons.

It was only when Ye Chenghu, like Ye Cheng clay man, came back excitedly with two large bunches of mooncakes, that the intermittent quarrels between Ye's father and mother ended.

The two old men turned their attention to the two children, both of whom were feeling unhappy.

"What time is it? Why don't you come back for dinner?"

"You still remember to come back and wash the dishes, right?"

"You can still study with this character? What's the point of buying a lot of copybooks, paper and pens every day?"

Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang looked at the two people who seemed to have eaten dynamite, and quickly looked at Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing.

His parents haven’t said anything yet?
Ye Chenghu was rarely observant this time. He put the mooncakes strung together with a rope on a stool, then quickly ran to the back door to wash his hands, took off his dirty clothes, changed his rain boots, and then went upstairs with a bang.

Anyway, he wasn't hungry. He had already eaten mooncakes when he was in the mountain, so he didn't have to eat anymore.

Ye Chengyang also did the same as him, changed his dirty clothes and ran upstairs, but he also brought the mooncakes he had begged for.

If you feel hungry later, you can eat it anytime.

Ye Yaodong looked at the people who were eating in silence and shouted, "Enough, keep quarreling, aren't you annoying? If you want to borrow, lend it. If you don't want to borrow, don't lend it. Why are you making so much trouble?"

"Then remember not to borrow it. Can a living person be suffocated to death by urine? You can only eat as much as you can afford."

Father Ye added: "I just want to have more hope."

"I hope not to target my son. I don't care about him."

"Stop, stop! Do you still want to eat? You two are so funny. It's not your fault, yet you are so excited." Ye Yaodong was also speechless.

Father Ye said: "Your mother cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in her eyes."

"Can you tolerate sand in your eyes?"

Ye Yaodong sighed heavily, quickly added a few more chopsticks of food to his bowl, and then took it to the door to eat, regardless of their quarrels.

However, just as he sat on the doorstep with his meal, a bunch of dogs and cats gathered around him, wondering what was going on.

"Go away, even you are so annoying."

He stretched out his hand and made a swipe, and all the dogs' heads around him fell to one side in an orderly manner, and then stuck out their tongues again and surrounded his bowl, making him so angry that he had to stand up to eat.

But those dogs liked to stand and hug his legs, which prevented him from concentrating on eating.

He is too difficult.

"I can't even eat in peace. I feel sick wherever I go. And I can only eat while standing."

"father!"

Ye Yaodong turned his head to look at the source of the sound. In the upstairs window, two little kids were sticking their heads out, nibbling on mooncakes, and watching the dog jumping and trying to climb onto his legs.

"Dad, were you kicked out too?"

"I think you don't need to have dinner." Ye Yaodong casually shoveled the food in, took the dishes and chopsticks into the house, then went back to the room to get the money and walked out.

He went straight to the dock to sail the boat, and the boat was still quiet.

We are going out to sea at night, so now is a good time to go get some gas and ice so that we don't have to listen to their nagging at home.

Originally when they were in the mountain, he heard Brother Asheng say that they wanted to borrow money from him, and he thought that they had to get Lao Hai to agree before they could start preparing the money.

Since Lao Hai agreed to it, there will be a way to find a job after going abroad. Moreover, there is help from fellow overseas Chinese. As long as the smuggling is successful, it should be fine.

If the loan amount is not much, then just lend some, just for his father's sake and as a way to help your nephew.

To avoid being accused of being unkind and unresponsive after becoming rich, and having no regard for family members. Normally, his cousins ​​had never done anything wrong to him, and they were also trying to find a way out for the next generation.

The main thing is that he is not short of money now, so a few thousand or eight hundred yuan is not difficult to negotiate.

Now listening to his mother's long-winded talk, he felt that although his mother could not tolerate any grain of sand in her eyes, some of her words did make sense.

He has so many brothers and sisters on his second uncle's side, so it shouldn't be a big deal if they just get together. How can he rely on others for everything? If a family wants to send a child abroad, they naturally have to pay for it themselves.

What his father said was actually not wrong. After all, he was his own brother and they were connected by blood. If he could help by lending a little money, then he would lend him some. His family was not in great difficulty.

However, since he didn't say it out loud, he could just wait and see what happens. Maybe they don't dare to borrow money from him now?
Look at his second uncle now, he is so polite and smiling, as if he is afraid of offending him.

He had to go out to sea again at night anyway.