During dinner, everyone at the table kept looking at Lin Xiuqing, which made her feel a little embarrassed.
Mother Ye thought for a moment and said, "Don't go out and talk about what happened to Ah Qing this afternoon. I don't know if it's true or not, but the situation is very strict now."
More children means more blessings. If Ye's mother is pregnant, of course she would want her to give birth to another child safely.
"We know that."
"Mom, what's wrong with Third Aunt?" Ye Chenghai asked his mother curiously.
"Nothing, kid, don't be so curious and ask questions about everything adults say. Eat your meal quickly."
"Hehe..."
"When picking up food, don't stir around in the food..."
"You guys should eat faster, why are you taking so long? The food is too good, isn't it? When there were no other dishes before, you all rushed to eat it, and you ate it so fast..."
"Is your chin leaking? The food is all over the table, pick it up and eat it..."
The sound of scolding children continued to be heard at the table, and the matter of Lin Xiuqing was tacitly put aside for the time being.
After it got dark and everyone went back to their rooms, Ye Yaodong took out the guava he had hidden, cut it, and handed it to the two children amid their excitement.
"Don't tell anyone about what Grandma gave you. Otherwise, Grandma won't give you any food next time."
"Got it, Dad."
The younger son also nodded and echoed.
Ye Yaodong handed the other one to Lin Xiuqing, but Lin Xiuqing did not eat it. Instead, he took it out, cut it in half, and handed him half.
"eat together."
He took it with a smile and started eating it in big mouthfuls. Then Lin Xiuqing also started eating.
On the second day, the Mid-Autumn Festival, those who could afford it and were willing to spend money started slaughtering chickens and ducks early in the morning. There were also more vendors selling meat dishes in the village.
Normally, no one would spend money on food and drink, but they would be more willing to do so during the Chinese New Year and other festivals.
Even Ye's mother, when she heard someone selling fish balls, ran out quickly and asked them to pick some for her.
The fish balls are fried and round, which fits the meaning of Mid-Autumn Festival reunion very well, and are very popular in their village.
As soon as the peddler put down his load at the door of their house, a group of women who had heard the noise gathered around and wanted to buy.
Ye's mother bought a pound of mackerel balls and a pound of cuttlefish balls, intending to cook them together to cater to everyone's taste.
Under the women's persuasion, the vendor agreed to sell the two types of fish balls at the same price, 25 cents per pound. Otherwise, the cuttlefish balls would be 2 cents more expensive.
Rural women are very cost-conscious.
Ye Yaodong had nothing to do, so he moved a stool and sat at the door with his feet up early in the morning. Everyone in his family was capable of working, so there was nothing for him to do. However, he had been so busy during this period of time that he was not used to having nothing to do suddenly.
He thought about it and shouted to his wife in the room, "I'm going to go out for a walk and be back soon."
"Come back early for lunch."
He responded and walked out, casually strolling around.
Usually the women in the village sit at the front or back door to weave nets, making the village seem quiet and peaceful. But today it seems that every household has started to move, and the whole village is active. The children know that they are going to celebrate the festival and have a big dinner, so they are shouting and jumping excitedly at the door.
Ye Yaodong was strolling leisurely on a small path in the village, but unexpectedly saw Xiao Xiao holding a machete in front of him, so he quickly stopped her.
"Xiaoxiao, where are you going?"
"There's not enough firewood at home, so my father sent me to chop some firewood so we don't have enough to burn at night. Where are you going?"
"I have nothing to do, so I'm just walking around."
"That's great, come chop wood with me..."
Upon hearing this, Ye Yaodong immediately turned around and left, but he was too late to get away, and was jumped up from behind by the man and grabbed his neck, "Since you're here, why are you leaving? Let's go together!"
"Oh~ let go. I shouldn't have called you if I had known." Ye Yaodong slapped his hand away. It was too short and it was squeezing his neck.
"It's late, so I'll have some company if I go with you."
"Why don't you ask your brother to go with you? You have three older brothers, so why is it your turn now?"
"My eldest brother is killing ducks, my second brother is weaving bamboo flats, my third brother has been out to sea with a big ship for a few days, my father is in the field weeding taro, and the women are busy washing vegetables. Am I not the only one who is idle at home? My father can't bear to see me idle, so he sent me to chop wood."
I understand. He is also free at home.
"Forget it. I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well go with you."
"now it's right."
The two walked along the road and chatted, then they crossed the road and found a small path to go up the mountain.
While Xiaoxiao was looking for dead branches and picking them up, Ye Yaodong took a fancy to the few banana trees growing occasionally on the mountain. The trees were full of bunches of bananas.
He turned around this tree, then ran around that tree, but they were all hanging too high and didn't have long hooks, so he couldn't bend down the huge bunch of banana leaves.
"What are you doing? Want to pick wild bananas?"
They call bananas "wild bananas".
"Yeah, aren't they eye-catching with so many of them hanging there? They're clearly tempting me!" Ye Yaodong kept looking up at the banana trees, trying to find out if there were any that were lower enough for him to reach.
"Come back later with a bamboo pole and a hook. How can I pick the branches now? Help me pick up the branches."
"You pick it up first, I'll go look somewhere else."
"Fuck, you're so unreliable! You said you would help me chop wood, but you went to pick bananas instead."
"Of course bananas are more important than you!" His voice came from afar.
"I have one too."
Ye Yaodong looked around and finally found a tree with a bunch of berries that he could reach. There happened to be a slope of earth next to the tree.
He stood on the slope, stood on tiptoe, reached out and grabbed the stems, bent them down, but it was a little difficult to break off a large handful.
"Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao, bring me your machete."
"You don't help me chop wood, but you take my weapon..." Xiaoxiao walked over while cursing, "What do you want the knife for?"
"Ah? Have you found something you can reach? I'll chop it, I'll chop it..."
"Is there anything else I can get? Look again, there seem to be three more trees up there..."
Ye Yaodong looked at him with disdain. "Just now, you were dissatisfied with me for not helping you chop wood, and you even asked me to bring a machete over? Now you want to pick wild bananas again?"
"Hey, didn't Zhuge Liang say that things are changing at different times? Go look for it soon."
Ye Yaodong looked at him in confusion. What did Zhuge Liang say
"What are you looking at? Go find it quickly. Either I leave the machete to you, since you are taller, or I will go to Guang's house to get a hook."
After saying that, he dropped the machete and ran away. Just now he was complaining about him not helping and delaying things, but now he is more proactive than him!
Damn it!
Ye Yaodong didn't bother to think about it. He put a bunch of bananas in the corner, picked up the machete and walked upstairs to start searching.
Unexpectedly, he found another shorter one, but the banana was not as big as the previous one. But it didn’t matter, he didn’t mind, as long as he had a harvest.
This banana tree was relatively short, so he bent the stem and cut off another bunch. Then, standing on the slope, he saw that there were two or three bunches growing on one stem, which was a little difficult to reach.
He glanced around to see if there were any simple tools, until he looked at the surrounding trees. He pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He turned around and cut off a thicker branch, and cut off the extra branches, leaving only a branch at the bottom.
After cutting the branch into a shape that looked like a compass, Ye Yaodong used the branch to hook the series of banana stems directly, then cut it down and pulled it towards him, and the entire banana stem tilted towards him.
After he caught it, he used a machete to cut off a section of the stem and got several bunches of bananas!
"Dongzi, Dongzi, where are you?"
"Up here!"
Xiaoxiao was holding a long bamboo pole with a hook tied to it, and she ran over excitedly, followed by A Guang.
"How much have you cut?"
"That's a lot of skewers. If you want, I'll cut off a few more."
"Use this, use this," Xiao Xiao held up the hook as if offering a treasure, "I just tied one up temporarily, use it for now, I'll hook the banana down and you can chop it."
"You're not going to chop wood anymore? How are you going to report to your boss when you go back later? You're already a grown-up, don't let your father take off your pants and beat you." Ye Yaodong laughed at him sarcastically.
"You're crazy. I can't run away, can I? I'm a father now... Never mind. I'll chop now. When I'm done, you can help me pick up some branches. I'll take some bananas back to shut them up."
Ah Guang walked around and took a quick look. "There aren't many trees here. Why don't you go cut them next to my house? My dad planted a few a few years ago. Now you can pick them. Some people planted them here casually. It's okay to cut one or two bunches. If you pick too many, people will get angry."
Ye Yaodong looked at the wild bananas at his feet and cut down three trees, one or two bunches from each. It should be okay, right? There are still a lot of bananas hanging on them.
"Okay, I'll go to your place. What I have is enough. I'll go to your place and chop some and bring it back to Xiaoxiao."
"If I had known this, I wouldn't have run around. Let's go to the back mountain." Xiaoxiao carried the bamboo pole and walked down again.
Ah Guang helped Ye Yaodong to carry the bananas. "I have a lot. You have so many family members and children. You can cut some and take them back."
"Why do you need to chop so much? I can't finish it all at once. It will go bad if I leave it there. I'll come back to chop more when I'm done."
"It's up to you then."
The three of them walked excitedly towards the back mountain. The locals commonly called it the Back Mountain, but it was actually called Lingang Mountain, which was right next to A Guang's house.
The three of them were pretty naughty, pulling up leaves and weeds along the way as they walked. Ye Yaodong looked at the reeds on the side of the road, plucked two and touched them, then reached out to scratch the little one's neck.
"What the hell, what are you doing?"
"Let's see if it sheds hair. I can pull some out and tie it to a broom."
"You can?"
"I can't do it, but my grandma can. Never mind, she's already old."
"What's the matter? She looks healthy, she can move freely, she's not deaf, she's not blind, find something for her to do! An old lady can't be too idle, if she's idle she'll get restless and want to pick up a hoe."
That’s true!
"I'll come over later. We haven't bought anything for our new home yet."
A Guang reminded him, "If you want to pull them out, do it early. If you wait, they will probably be all gone. These past few days, I've seen several people running to the back hill to pull them out. They picked them up and sold them. Now you can sell anything."
Many of the things that grow randomly on the mountain can be turned into treasures in the hands of the villagers.
"knew."