The next day, Ye Yaodong got up and went to burn incense as usual. When he came back, he happened to see Ye's father, who was carrying a hoe, holding a watering can, a bag of something like seeds, and a sack, but no one knew what was inside.
"Dad, where are you going?"
"Go dig some potatoes and cook pickled vegetable soup for lunch. The kids all like potatoes, so we don't have to complain about all the vegetables when we eat. Soak some radish and radish seeds in it."
"I'll go with you. If you have any extra seeds after planting, give me some. The land we dug yesterday hasn't been planted yet."
"If there are any extra, let's go."
He hurried after him.
Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang got up early in the morning. When they heard their father say that he was going to the fields, they quickly hugged one of his legs to show that they wanted to go with him.
"What are you going to do? If you come back covered in dirt, your mother will scold you again."
"Yes, yes!"
Other children were standing by with their school bags on their backs, envious. They also wanted to play in the fields and didn’t want to go to school…
"You're still dawdling there. Hurry up and go to school. Every day you either can't get up or wait for others to urge you to leave. Every day you have to wait until it's dark and you've had enough fun before you finish your homework. I spend money so that you can go to school, not so that you..."
When the children heard the muttering, they quickly covered their ears and ran away...
It felt like there were two weights hanging on Ye Yaodong's feet and he couldn't even lift them up. Two pairs of eyes were staring at him, pulling at his pants.
He could only pull up his belt and tighten it. "Stop pulling. My pants are going to fall down. Go, go, go, go, go, come back and let your mother beat you up. I won't care."
"Oh oh~ let's go~"
The two of them happily ran away to chase Ye's father, not caring whether their mother would beat them or not.
Ye Yaodong went back to the house and told his wife that he would take the two children to the field so that she would not be unable to find them. Taking the two children away would also allow her to relax.
In the past two days, the couple did not talk about whether to have a baby or not, because she herself was not very sure. She could not remember her menstrual period very clearly. She had symptoms of pregnancy, but she did not dare to go for a check-up for fear that the test would reveal the result. She was not even given the opportunity to consider it.
Ye Yaodong didn't dare to ask. Seeing that her tone at that time was more inclined to give birth to the baby, the two of them could only temporarily pretend that nothing had happened, or could it be said that they accepted it? Let nature take its course? Anyway, let's just do it this way for now.
When Lin Xiuqing heard this, she came out. The two children had already run a long way away. She quickly shouted at the top of her voice: "Don't run around and make trouble. Don't get your body dirty. Be good..."
Neither of them responded and just ran away, jumping up and down.
Their family's vegetable garden was also opened up by Ye's father in his spare time on the mountain. Like a terraced field, this small piece of land is planted with rows of potatoes and is only about 30 square meters.
There are several plots of land above, which were originally planted with other vegetables, but they were all picked and eaten when the house was built. Only a few green seedlings have grown from the seeds sown, and it is impossible to tell what they are for the time being.
Ye Chenghu looked around but didn't see anything to pick. "Where is it?"
"It's right next to you. Move aside for a moment. Wait for me to dig it up, then you can pick it up."
Ye Yaodong took the hoe from his father's hand and dug a little under the soil. Suddenly, round potatoes popped out and hung on the roots. The big ones were about the size of a woman's fist, and the small ones were only the size of a coin. The two younger ones immediately squatted down and picked them up happily.
In order to give them something to do and prevent them from making trouble, he hoed an entire row of potatoes, and Ye's father also helped them pick potatoes.
Ye Yaodong then turned the soil over and dug a few small holes with a hoe. He sprinkled a handful of wood ash in each hole and sprayed the water with the spray bottle that Ye's father had just filled with water. Then he put the radish seeds in the holes and covered them with a thin layer of soil.
As for growing vegetables, he glanced around the vegetable patch and it seemed that there was no extra space for planting.
"Dad, there's no place to plant these vegetable seeds?"
"You can plant this on the small plot of land that your grandma has. Go over there and turn the soil over first, then spread all the seeds on top. When they sprout, you can separate them and plant them in your new home."
"oh."
Father Ye called him again, "Leave the hoe to me. Go and dismantle the racks first. The racks for the beans below haven't been dismantled yet."
"oh."
He left the two children here and continued picking potatoes, first going to the old lady's small plot of land, which was a short distance apart from each other.
After the old lady finished planting corn, she immediately planted beans. They were all harvested a few days ago, but the racks have not been removed yet.
Thinking that there was a lot of work to do in the fields and it was not easy to live a good life, he slowly started to dismantle the house by himself.
When all the planting was done, the sun was already high in the sky. The two children were sitting on the ground having fun, throwing dirt to each other. Ye Chengyang was covered with dirt by his brother, even on his head.
Ye Yaodong was overwhelmed when he saw this. He strode forward and picked up the two men. "Are you itching for trouble?"
After saying that, he looked at Ye's father again and said, "I'll take these two home first."
"Dad, do you want to go home and have potato soup?"
"Eat the whip!"
"I don't want to be whipped..."
"That's not up to you!"
Ye Chenghu was held in his hand, and he suddenly became listless, but Ye Chengyang was still smiling happily, "Fei Fei~ Dad, Fei Fei~"
Ye Yaodong glanced at him helplessly and quickly took the two back. Sons were really too naughty. If the baby in her belly was born as a daughter, it would be good too.
When he grows up, he won't be as angry as his two sons, right? He should be filial...right
If he doesn't let his wife go up the mountain to pick tea next March, he should be able to escape the disaster and give birth to the baby safely and secretly...right
Thinking about things in his mind and thinking about the beautiful vision of having a daughter, he walked all the way back.
When Lin Xiuqing saw the two children, her face suddenly turned dark. "How many times do you change clothes a day? Are you itching for a beating?"
"Don't..." Seeing that the situation was not good, Ye Chenghu was about to hide behind his wife, but Lin Xiuqing grabbed him by the collar and said, "My brother's head is covered with dirt. Did you do it?"
"not me…"
"Hey, here's the whip for you..." Ye Yaodong handed over a handful of thin bamboo sticks tied with a red rope very timely.
"Ah~ Dad~ You have such a cruel heart~ Oh Tai save me~ Save me~"
"The fight hasn't started yet, why are you howling?"
"I'm going to hit you soon... Ouch~ It hurts~" He grabbed at the air with both hands and leaned forward desperately, wanting to escape. However, his collar was held tightly and he could not escape. He could only turn around and jump on the spot, yelling nonsense.
The old lady watched with a smile on her face, and only rescued him after she had beaten him enough. Boys have to be beaten!
Ye Chenghu felt a burning pain in his calf and looked at the old lady with tears in his eyes, "Grandma, why did you save me so late?"
"Boys with thick skins must be beaten. Come on, I'll take you to wash your hands and eat some persimmons. They're sweet and won't hurt. Dongzi, come quickly. The persimmons you brought back the day before yesterday are mostly ripe and can be eaten."
Ye Chenghu pursed his lips and followed.
Ye Yaodong responded but looked at Lin Xiuqing, "Are you tired?"
She glared at him, "I haven't told you yet? You two are playing like this when you're together. You don't want to be more careful."
"Then do you want to beat me up too?"
Hearing this, Lin Xiuqing actually raised the whip and hit him on the thigh.
"Fuck, I was just talking, and you really hit me?"
"Since you've said that, why should I be polite to you?"
"Go and give the child a bath and wash his hair."
After Ye Yaodong finished speaking, he quickly caught up with the old lady.
The persimmons that were brought back the day before yesterday were still green. Ye's mother rubbed a circle of white vinegar on their stems and then wrapped them in old newspapers. After only two days, they were mostly ripe this morning. This is their traditional method, and it makes things ripe quickly.
The children at home keep asking if the fruit is ripe all day long. If you don’t ripen it quickly, adults can’t resist it either.
I used all the half bag of persimmons I brought back to dry. I didn’t peel the skin and dry them into cakes because that would be too much trouble.
He picked one up at random, plucked it gently, and the stem fell off. He broke it in two and handed one half to the old lady.
The old lady took it with a smile.
There was something to eat, and Ye Chenghu immediately stopped crying and ate several in a row before stopping.
"Have you finished eating? If you have, go find your mother and ask her to wipe your body and change your clothes."
Ye Chenghu tilted his head, turned his head away, and snorted. He still held a grudge. It was his father who handed the whip to his mother just now!
"You little brat!"
Ye Yaodong didn't care about him anymore. He looked through the bananas he had picked yesterday. They were all still green and not ripe yet. He picked two prettier persimmons and went into the house to give them to his wife.