Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1816 Dowry
Ye Chenghu seemed to have taken it to heart, and his expression didn't seem so sad anymore. He slapped the table.

"I'll give them all to the teacher tomorrow! I'll say you brought them back from Guangzhou specially."

"Ok, Ok……"

"That's not right either. If I give it to the teacher, the teacher will make a copy and give one to everyone, so I should write it too!"

Ye Chenghu glared at him with eyes that seemed to be spitting fire.

Ye Yaodong touched his nose. "It's no use glaring at me. It's not like I bought it for you. Your mother said she would buy it for you."

"You two are exactly the same; you can't be two different kinds of people sleeping in the same bed!"

"How can you talk like that? You have no manners."

"I'm about to collapse from doing so many practice tests every day, and you still buy me more? You're doing this on purpose."

Ye Yaodong moved his legs, which were numb from squatting, and tried to reason with him, "Think about it, you're doing test papers every day anyway, or doing homework and memorizing things. The test papers we bought for you are the same as the homework assigned by the teacher, aren't they?"

"Teachers don't assign a huge amount of homework all at once; they assign a reasonable amount each day. This doesn't mean your workload hasn't increased!"

"At most, the test papers your parents bring home replace the ones your teachers give you and other assignments. Isn't that about the same? In fact, you can refer to a wider range of materials for learning?"

"Besides, it's not like you're the only one who gets to keep it. You can give it to the teacher, and the teacher can give one to every student in the senior year of high school. Everyone can write together, isn't that a good thing?"

Ye Chenghu is not so easily fooled now. "Do you think I'm stupid? The teacher must have a batch of test papers. If you give him another batch, he'll definitely have even more. Of course, he'll make us do even more, and he'll even squeeze in a little more every week."

"Well, I've already bought it for you. You can decide whether you want to make it by yourself or have all the senior students in the school make it together."

"This is outrageous!" Ye Chenghu slammed his fist on the table twice. "How can you be such parents? I'm already living in misery every day, and you're adding more homework for me!"

"Isn't this because I want you to be okay? I hope your efforts haven't been in vain, it's the last two months of the final sprint."

Lin Xiuqing also squatted down and coaxed, "Just hang in there a little longer. I spent the whole morning walking around and my legs are numb to buy these."

"I don't care, I don't want these things."

Ye Yaodong said, "We also bought you other gifts, would you like to take a look?"

Ye Chenghu glanced at him listlessly, "Could it be one of the Four Great Classical Novels? A homework assignment? An essay collection by Zhu Ziqing, Lu Xun, or Lao She?"

He had already given up hope on them. If they could be so cruel as to bring back so many college entrance exam questions, what else wouldn't they do?
"I was planning to give it to you after your college entrance exam, but I'll let you play with it for now, and then I'll put it away."

Lin Xiuqing hesitated, fearing that playing with toys would distract him from his studies, so she didn't give it to him immediately, thinking that she would give it to him as a reward when she did well on the exam.

Everyone brought gifts for everyone else, so how could I not bring a gift for my eldest son? Just buying him test papers would make everyone furious, so of course I wouldn't forget my eldest son.

Upon hearing this, Ye Chenghu perked up, "Playing? What kind of thing?"

"Four-wheel drive cars, you can find them everywhere in Guangzhou Toy City. I heard they're really popular. They can be modified for racing and upgraded with components like motors, chassis, and gears."

"I know this! My classmate has one at home, and there are four-wheel drive cars in Shanghai too! Where is it? Why didn't you bring it out sooner!"

So there's something fun to do!

Only when Ye Yaodong rummaged through the corner and handed it to him did he feel that his wounded heart had finally been comforted.

"If you had just handed it over earlier, none of this would have happened!"

Ye Chenghu beamed as he held his several four-wheel drive vehicles, instantly satisfied and no longer upset.

If they had given the car first and then the exam paper, the reaction and mood would definitely not have been like this.

Ye Chengyang also widened his eyes and leaned closer, "Big brother, your four-wheel drive car is so cool! Can I have one?"

"roll!"

He quickly covered it in his arms and kept a distance from Ye Chengyang.

Ye Chengyang pestered him, "Big brother, I'll give you my Ultraman toy..."

"No, I don't like Ultraman. You're the only one who likes it. You can play by yourself, but don't even think about messing with my car."

"But you didn't say that when you played with my Ultraman before..."

"I'll give you half of my test paper in exchange for Ultraman. Do you want it?"

Ye Chengyang quickly shook his head vigorously.

"Humph!"

Lin Xiuqing tidied up the papers on the table, then tied them together with a rubber band and put them in a canvas bag.

"Don't just play around. I've kept these test papers for you. Remember to do them, don't waste them. They cost a lot of money to buy them."

Holding the four-wheel drive car in his hand, Ye Chenghu felt comforted and was in a good mood, no longer caring about the test papers.

"Put it with my schoolbag, I'll take it to school tomorrow. It's impossible for me to do it by myself anyway, I'll just give it to the teacher. Maybe the teacher will think that things are different in different provinces and I don't need to do it, that would be great!"

"Didn't you say before that the teacher takes turns doing all kinds of exam papers from Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and even Huanggang? They'll definitely come in handy."

"If I can use it, then that's it. I won't be able to go home after school."

"Why? For extra lessons?"

"It's a gang beating! I can't go home after school, I'm going to get ganged up on by my classmates!"

"Is it really that exaggerated?"

"Of course it's an exaggeration. Not everyone is cut out for Fudan University. Lots of people who can't study have to take the same exams as the top students. Can you believe how angry they are?"

Ye Yaodong said, "Just secretly give it to the teacher and ask the teacher not to say that you gave it to him."

"I definitely can't tell them. If I do, it'll be all over. Everyone's already in a terrible situation, and now there's an extra bunch of exam papers. If they find out, they'll kill me!"

When Ye Chenghu heard that his mother had brought back a bunch of college entrance exam papers, he wailed and had already come up with a wicked plan, just like his father had said.

We should share the burden; he can't be the only one suffering. He must deliver it to the homeroom teacher so that resources can be shared and everyone in the school can have a copy.

No need to thank him!
However, he would definitely make a copy of the answer before sending it over!
He wasn't trying to cheat—how could a college entrance exam candidate cheat? He was just trying to improve efficiency and verify his answers!
Lin Xiuqing said, "Then hide it well. I brought some local specialties and pastries from Guangzhou. I've already sorted them out. You can take them to class tomorrow and share them with your classmates."

"That's more like it. They're all reincarnated starving ghosts, especially the boarding students. They're counting on us day students to bring them some food."

Ye Yaodong: "Well, try to get along well with your classmates. These locals may become valuable connections for you in the future."

“My connections are about the same as theirs. Apart from a few families with better financial conditions, most of them are not as wealthy as ours.”

"They may not be as rich as our family now, but who knows what will happen in the future. There are many top students in your class or school who will likely become talents in various units after graduation, probably spreading throughout the political, legal, and business sectors. You can't judge a person by their present, but also by their future."

"Alright, I feed them all the time anyway, so we get along pretty well with most of them."

The main reason is that his family is indeed wealthy, he has a lot of pocket money, he is quite free to spend it, and he is generous when interacting with his classmates, so naturally he is popular.

Now that Ye Chenghu has food and play, he no longer objects to the large bag of test papers and happily fiddles with his four-wheel drive car.

He's already started thinking about inviting some classmates to the school playground for a four-wheel drive car race on Sundays when there's no school.

You can't just bury your head in test papers all day long; you need to relax a little and de-stress occasionally.

After Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing comforted their boss, they sat back down on the sofa and discussed picking up the car tomorrow.

Originally, they were supposed to be able to pick up the car before the Canton Fair, but the couple were both quite busy during that time. Ye Yaodong didn't have time to come over in advance, and Lin Xiuqing was too embarrassed to pick up the car alone, so they decided to postpone the pickup by another week.

Anyway, a few more days won't make a difference. Lin Dongxue's wedding day hasn't arrived yet, but she has already returned from her hometown. I heard that she has already held an engagement banquet at home.

However, Lin Xiangyang and his wife did not come along. They heard that the wedding was in a month, and if the time was too tight, Wei Songyuan's parents would not be able to make the arrangements and would also need time to prepare.

They couldn't bear to give up their family business, and if they came too early, they would just be waiting around.

So I plan to wait until closer to the date and then take the train over, since trains to Shanghai are very convenient anyway.

They haven't found out the specifics yet; they just arrived in Shanghai today.

The two discussed that they would drive the car back the next morning, park it in their yard first, and then let them drive it when the wedding date was set.

"Then after the car comes back tomorrow, I'll go back to Zhoushan with you."

“Sure, Huimei can still look after things at home.”

"I reckon by the time we get back to Zhoushan, Dongxue will probably have to quit her job and move to Shanghai first so she can buy things for the wedding."

"Let her stay here then, it'll be convenient. She can also take advantage of the holiday during the wedding to get her driver's license. After the wedding and once she's settled on a job, it'll be easy for her to drive to work."

"Let's ask her opinion when we get back."

Ye Yaodong was also thinking about what kind of job to arrange for her, whether she wanted to continue working for them or go out and find another job.

While they were talking, Ye Xiaoxi leaned over and hugged Ye Yaodong's arm, saying, "Dad, can I go to my older cousin's wedding?"

"Let's see when. If it's the weekend, that's definitely fine. If it's not the weekend, it depends on whether we're having lunch or dinner. I don't know the local customs, but it shouldn't be a big problem. I'll pick you up after school."

"Great."

Ye Chengyang followed up, asking, "Can I do it too?"

"You can't, you're too big."

"If it were me, I wouldn't have asked that question so foolishly. You have no self-awareness at all!" Ye Chenghu said sarcastically as he fiddled with his car.

The twins secretly asked Ye Huimei if they couldn't go to the wedding either.
"That's your cousin's older cousin, not yours. Why are you drinking her wedding wine?"

Pei Zuo glanced at Ye Xiaoxi furtively, "Then when our cousin gets married, can we go to the wedding banquet?"

"It depends. If you're all too old, you can't bring them all. If each family only contributes one gift, and there are five of you going, you'll take up half the table. That'll look terrible!"

Pei You also secretly glanced at Ye Xiaoxi, "Then shall we pay for it ourselves?"

Ye Xiaoxi had very sharp ears. "Do you want to pay now? If you pay now, I'll give you a discount when I get married."

The twins asked in unison, "What kind of discount?"

"20% off!"

"How much money do we need to pay now?"

Ye Xiaoxi looked at her parents uncertainly, "Mom, how much red envelope are you going to give?"

"Stop trying to fool your cousins. It will be at least ten years before you get married. And by then, your siblings who aren't married will just need some small gifts."

Ye Huimei patted her two silly sons on the head, "Let's go, both of you go upstairs to sleep. It's very late. Xiaoyu, go to sleep too."

Because Ye Chenghu had to attend evening self-study sessions, the rest of them got used to waiting for Ye Chenghu to come back from his self-study session before going to sleep.

This way they'll have more time to play and watch more TV.

Using the excuse of waiting for my cousin, it was perfectly legitimate.

Lin Xiuqing also urged the rest of them to go to sleep.

The next day, after sending the child to school, Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing went to pick up their car.

Lin Xiuqing was still somewhat emotional, thinking that you get what you pay for.

This domestically produced car doesn't look as nice as her Mercedes-Benz, nor is it as easy to drive. She couldn't say anything else about it.

“You have to think about it, this car only costs a little over 7 yuan. Our car was discounted because it was part of the Linji promotion. If you got it through the proper channels on the market, it would cost a million yuan.”

"Yes, that's why I say you get what you pay for."

"Now it's already a big deal for any family to have a car. A car costing tens of thousands of yuan is not something an ordinary family can afford. Ten years ago, only high-ranking officials were provided with cars by the government."

Ye Yaodong also felt quite proud, as he was a good boss who provided cars for his employees.

"Things are getting better for us now, and we even provide cars for our employees."

“She’s not an outsider either; she made significant contributions during the initial stages of my business.”

"Let's drive it home and park it in the yard first. We'll transfer the ownership when she comes to Shanghai."

"Ah."

With another car parked in the yard, it looks much more crowded.

However, the children are used to it. When they come back and see it, they might wander around curiously for a bit, but then they'll go back to doing what they were doing.

When Ye Chenghu returned at night, he was clearly in a good mood and even hummed a song.

"Big brother, did you find some money?" Ye Chengyang asked curiously.

Do I look like I'm destined for wealth?

"You're usually half-dead when I come home every night, it's rare that you can still sing today."

"I was in a good mood. I handed in all my test papers to my homeroom teacher today, and she praised me highly without revealing my identity."

Ye Chenghu smugly tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa, slumped down on it, propped his feet up on the coffee table, and said happily.

"After the homeroom teacher said that in class, the classroom erupted in wails and screams of despair, with students cursing the school for not treating them like human beings! Hehe~"

"Didn't the teacher say that all the test papers were from Guangzhou?"

"No, I told the teacher not to say that I gave it to them, so the teacher only said that they collected college entrance examination papers from various provinces in previous years. They may have some papers from other provinces as well, and they just mixed them together."

Ye Xiaoxi leaned closer and said, "Big brother, you're safe!"

Ye Chengyang: "When everyone is taking the test, will they wonder why it's all from Guangzhou?"

"I'm not admitting it! If you ask, I'll say it was collected by the school, it's none of my business."

Seeing the despair spreading throughout the class, he felt a secret sense of satisfaction. What's wrong with him writing a few papers? Everyone can do it together!

He'll bring it up again after the college entrance exam, and I guarantee that everyone who gets in will call him grandpa and thank him!

"Dad? Why are you still at home?" Ye Chenghu belatedly realized.

"You don't welcome me?"

"How could that be? I wouldn't kick you out even if I kicked myself out of the house."

"You're going back to Zhoushan with your mother for a few days tomorrow morning. Be good at home and go to bed early tonight."

Ye Chenghu fawned over him, "Dad, is that Xiali by the gate only 7 yuan? So cheap? Mom's Mercedes costs a million yuan on the market, right?"

"Yes, domestic cars can't compare to those of major foreign car manufacturers."

"What will you buy me if I pass the exam in two months?"

"That depends on how well you do on the test. If you do exceptionally well, you'll get a Mercedes-Benz; if you barely make it to the bottom, you'll get a Chery."

"No way, they only said that if you pass the exam, you'll get it."

"We didn't specify a license plate beforehand. Besides, as a new driver, you don't really need to buy a very nice car; it's too easy to bump into things."

"How could that be? Do you think I'm my mother? The walls in the yard are all bruised and battered."

Lin Xiuqing's face fell, and she kicked him. "The yard is only so big. It's normal for a new driver to have trouble parking properly at first, isn't it?"

"It's normal for you to bump into things, and it's normal for me to bump into things too. Besides, I'm definitely a stronger man than you, a woman."

Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes. "He's not even an adult yet, but he's already a grown man."

"I'm half a head taller than you."

"Then why do you, a grown man, ask me for 5 cents or a dollar every day?"

Ye Chenghu blushed, feeling ashamed in front of his younger siblings. "I...when did I ask you for 50 cents? I only said that if you don't have a dollar in your pocket, 50 cents is fine too. Even a mosquito's leg is still meat. Of course I have to give you your daily allowance. I can't just sit around and eat my savings."

"What a big man who asks his mother for 5 cents!"

"I'm going to take a shower and go to bed."

Unable to win the argument, he simply left.

Everyone else was also told to go to sleep.

After the couple returned to Zhoushan, Lin Dongxue immediately submitted her resignation.

"Uncle, I plan to hand over my work in the next couple of days and then focus on preparing for the wedding. After the wedding, I'll rest for a few days and then go work for my aunt in Shanghai. What do you think?"

Ye Yaodong looked at her resignation letter, and it was exactly what the couple had expected.

"Okay, you can hand over your work here and stay for a few more days. After the wedding, you can go work at your aunt's place. Your salary and benefits will remain the same as here."

Working in Shanghai isn't necessarily easier than here. Ah Qing's office only has a few people, so bookkeeping is simple, but she has to keep track of the accounts for the freight department.

Lin Dongxue smiled and nodded repeatedly.

Ye Yaodong didn't sign his resignation letter and returned it to her.

"I don't need to sign this report. Since you didn't run away, I can just transfer you to a new job in Shanghai."

"As for the month-long leave for your wedding, I'll just approve a paid leave for you, from May 15th to June 15th. That should be enough time for your wedding, right?"

“5月10号至5月30号就可以了，我这月底20号结婚，20天够了，结婚后还能休息个10天。”

"That's fine. I'll approve it for you this month. You can handle it as you see fit. Once you've handed over your work, you can go to Shanghai. You'll start working at your aunt's place on June 1st."

"Okay, the basic work has been handed over by the end of the month. Actually, the handover started slowly after I came back from the Chinese New Year. I'll stay for a few more days. There shouldn't be any problems before I leave."

"Okay, your dowry car has been picked up. It's in the Pudong villa, and the bright red silk cloth is still hanging on it. Go see it yourself when you get to Shanghai, and then we'll transfer the ownership to you. Remember to get a driver's license."

Lin Dongxue's eyes lit up with excitement, "That's wonderful! Uncle, you're so busy with work, but I didn't expect you to remember this and even bring it all back!"

"Of course, I can't go back on my word. I even paid an extra 1000 yuan to get your car back early. Otherwise, I would have had to wait at least three months, or even half a year, to pick it up."

"Thank you for spending so much, I'll definitely work hard, hahaha~ A while ago, when we were discussing the betrothal gifts and dowry back in my hometown, my parents said they wanted me to take all the money I'd earned over the past few years with me, which already surprised Wei Songyuan's parents enough. I told them they'd also give me a car as a dowry, and they were stunned!"

Ye Yaodong became interested. "And then?"

"Then they opened and closed their mouths, but I didn't know what they were saying. His father said dryly, 'Then let's increase the bride price a little more,' adding another 2000 yuan. It was originally 3800, now it's 5800. But his mother told me not to say anything, lest there be too many daughters-in-law and it's not fair to divide it. The bride prices for the previous weddings weren't even as much as mine. She said she would secretly give me the extra 2000 yuan as a red envelope later."

"It seems his parents are quite sensible."

"It's alright. The couple has been working for decades and has quite a bit of savings. In the past, those who weren't married had to hand over half of their salary. It wasn't until they got married that they stopped handing it over."

"It's not bad considering how his parents are treating him. Of course, even ten fingers can be different lengths, so it's fine as long as it's about right. As long as you two live a good life together, that's more important than anything else."

"Yes, that's what my parents said too."

When are your parents coming?

"Their train is number 14."

Ye Yaodong suddenly thought of a crucial question, "Where will you get married?"

They don't own a house in Shanghai, and they can't even rent a place to get married. Generally, people wouldn't let an outsider get married in their own home.

On her wedding day, a woman's feet cannot touch the ground, for fear of taking away her family's fortune.

Not to mention getting married in someone else's house.

Lin Dongxue said with a smile, "We've already discussed it. We'll rent a room in a fancy hotel for a few days. It'll make a grand entrance when we get married from there."

"That's fine too."

“We’ll hold our wedding banquet at a restaurant near our home, which is like going from one restaurant to another, and it’ll save us trouble. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be right for her to get married from your family.”

“I have many houses, so I can just pick any one.”

"My parents said no."