Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

The old lady always took special care of what she planted, and if someone didn't listen to her, she would nag about it several times a day. But she cares more about the third child, that's why she said it like that.

She wants to collect all the corn because she wants to sell it for some money. She also wants to earn some personal savings while she's alive, so that when she passes away, she can leave some money for her grandchildren.

After tapping the burnt tobacco from his water pipe, Father Ye looked at his children and grandchildren gathered in the room. He had intended to bring up the matter he discussed with Mother Ye last night, but someone interrupted him.

"Grandma, not long after you left this morning, Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle came to ask for money!"

Filing a complaint is definitely necessary!

Complainant—Ye Huimei!

The family finally managed to earn some money, but Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle shamelessly came knocking on the door to demand a share. It's not something they can easily discuss outside, so they definitely need to tell Grandma about it!

The children in the room chimed in, "That's right, Grandma, Eldest Grandpa and Second Grandpa are so mean."

"They even slammed the table and glared at us!"

"They also scolded my father and didn't allow him to speak!"

The chattering of the children was giving him a headache, so Ye Yaodong waved his hand at them and said, "Go go go, you guys don't have anything to do here. Go play outside and don't get in the way!"

"Lalalala~"

The children stuck out their tongues, made funny faces, and ran outside to have fun. Since they had finished their food, they didn't want to stay inside and listen to the adults talk.

Before leaving, everyone didn't forget to shout to Mother Ye before leaving, "Grandma, let us know when the corn is ready!"

The old lady didn't even lift her eyelids throughout the whole process. Suddenly receiving such a large sum of money, anyone would feel envious.

The palm of the hand is flesh, and the back of the hand is also flesh.She simply said, "Don't worry about them. Each family lives their own life, and no one should be envious of others."

Father Ye nodded in response and didn't say much. He didn't really want to discuss it with the old lady in the first place to avoid troubling her. Besides, since the money was in his hands, no one could take it away.

He scanned the room, looking at his sons and daughters-in-laws, and spoke seriously, "I discussed with your mother last night, since we have money now, we plan to build houses for you brothers and then divide the family. Each household will live their own lives."

The current house they are living in was left by their grandfather. Since Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye got married first, their grandfather built a house for each of them after their weddings, and they moved out to start their own lives.

Because Father Ye was the youngest and got married last, the old man thought that the house would be empty after he died, so he didn't build another one for him. Instead, he built a small room next to the vegetable garden in the backyard, with an earthen stove, intending to let himself and Grandma Ye live there in their old age, and the house they live in now was left to Father Ye.

Although this house is bigger and has four rooms, it has been repaired and patched up over the years and has become quite old. Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye have no objections to it either.

Now the family has grown, and this house is not enough to accommodate everyone.

There are four rooms, and each of the three brothers and their families squeeze into one room. Ye Huimei, along with Ye Father and Ye Mother, sleeps in one room, with an additional small bed.

The three brothers, except for Ye Yaodong's family of four, all have five members in their families. Five people living in one room and sharing anold-fashioned frame bedshows just how crowded it is.

They have to set up a large round table for meals, and even then, the women have to stand while eating. It's not discrimination; it's mainly because there isn't enough seating. Once the children are fed and settled, the women in the family can finally sit down to eat.

Both Father Ye and Mother Ye have noticed this situation and have long wanted to separate the families so that their sons can live their own lives. However, the problem is that they don't have enough money to build separate houses. Even if they separate, they would still have to live together because they share the same kitchen and it's not feasible to divide their food and drinks. In that case, there would be no difference between being separated and staying together.

This time, they caught a lot of large yellow croakers and made a good profit, which gives them the opportunity to separate the families.

Otherwise, with such a large sum of money suddenly coming into the family, everyone's thoughts would start to wander.

Sure enough, when the eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law heard about the division of the family, their eyes lit up.

Ye Yaodong was momentarily stunned and then remembered that in his previous life, his father also used the money from catching large yellow croakers to build a house. However, he was always out early and back late, hanging out with friends, and he didn't care nor lend a hand.

He had been regretting that he crossed over too late and missed the opportunity with the large yellow croakers, and he hadn't thought about building a house and splitting the family. But now, listening to his father's words, it all came back to him.

Eldest Brother Ye was surprised but didn't say anything. It's normal for the tree to spread its branches.

Second Brother Ye, on the other hand, was a bit at a loss and said, "Dad, but... everything is fine as it is. Why do we need to separate... Ah!?"

Before Second Brother Ye could finish his sentence, his wife nudged his elbow. He paused for a moment, glanced at his wife, and didn't say anything further.

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. Among his siblings, his second brother was the most honest, and his second sister-in-law was the most shrewd. They complemented each other perfectly!

It was his second sister-in-law who disliked him the most!

It was only because his parents allowed everyone to keep the money they earned for themselves, and daily necessities such as food and drink were provided by the land and the sea, without spending money, that this family could barely stay harmonious for so long. Otherwise, there would be chaos.

The reason~

Well, of course, it's because he's holding them back.

Father Ye glanced at his second son, opened the small round tin box containing the tobacco, and started to roll the tobacco leisurely. He said, "Now that we have money, why not separate the family? Do you still want the whole family to squeeze together? Isn't it crowded enough?"

Now no one dared to say anything, afraid to spoil the mood.

Yaodong sat on a stool, crossed his legs and shook them. He watched as everyone's hearts yearned for it but didn't dare to say it. Fearlessly, he said, "Sure, Dad, we're all married now, and it's time to split up. Building new houses would provide us with more space and comfort."

"I'm afraid you'll starve to death!" Father Ye glared at him irritably.

"Ah, huh? It won't come to that, I promise. Once we separate, I'll definitely work hard and be diligent!"

"How do you define being diligent and hardworking?"

"Uh... how do Eldest Brother and Second Brother work hard? I'll just follow their lead and learn from them."

“I don’t believe you!”

Ye Yaodong: "..."

He is serious, but no one believes him...

The old lady comfortingly patted Ye Yaodong and said, "It's good to separate and live our own lives. Far smells sweet, close smells foul. In fact, we should have separated long ago."

Mother Ye sat by the stove and took the lead in continuing the conversation. "The money earned from selling large yellow croakers can be used to build the houses. It saves us from being eyed by others. If it's not enough, we can add the money earned from future fishing trips. After all, it's all for building houses for all of you. I actually wanted to talk about this while we were all having breakfast, but it got delayed until now."

After finishing her words, she turned to Father Ye and said, "You should go to the commune later and ask about buying the land, so we can quickly hire someone to build the houses."

"Mhm," Father Ye looked at his sons and daughters-in-laws and said, "We'll use this money to build the houses, and any earnings from future fishing trips will be added to it as well. Once the houses are built, we'll split up. Does anyone have any objections?"

Eldest Brother Ye shook his head and said, "Dad, you and mom can make the decision, we have no objections."

Second Brother Ye followed suit, "Dad, you decide, we have no objections either.”

The wives in the family have been nagging in their ears at night, expressing their agreement to separate and live their own lives, so they naturally have no objections.

Ye Huimei is not married yet, so she will definitely be staying with her parents. Besides, she is their daughter, so whether the family splits or not doesn't really concern her. She will just go along with whatever happens.

The decision to use the money to build a house and split the family was temporarily settled.

Father Ye took a few more puffs of his pipe before heading out.

(end of this chapter)

2.

***

Well, I guess everybody has selfishness, but it's really not nice being selfish to someone that has not done the same to you.