Lin Xiuqing looked at his actions and asked quickly, "Where are you taking your son?"
"I didn't go anywhere. I went to help grandma pick corn."
"Do you want to pick all of them, or just a little? Can I help you?"
Ye Yaodong looked at the old lady behind him, who was holding only a basket in her hand. "Pick some. Didn't I tell you yesterday that we should keep them for our own consumption? Tell grandma not to sell them. We'll be back soon after picking a few. Go do your own thing."
Seeing that he was diligent for once, Ye's mother also said in a friendly manner, "Pick more today, and don't peel the skin. You can cook it with the skin in the evening and let your father and others take it to the sea as a snack."
"Then take a sack and bring back about 20 of them."
"By the way, why not pick a few more cucumbers and bring them to Dad and the others to eat on the sea?" Mrs. Ye also said.
"knew."
After the old lady took the sack, Ye Yaodong carried his son and walked with her towards the village entrance, which was a different direction from heading towards the beach.
The old lady walked slowly, and he also accommodated her pace, walking slowly and looking around. All he saw along the way were women sitting at the door weaving nets, and children running and jumping everywhere.
Their seven children were also running down the slope nearby. The youngest son in their arms saw everyone here and shouted happily, "Brother~ Sister~"
"Ah, Dad, why are you here? Where are you going?"
Ye Chenghu also saw his father and brother, and hurriedly called for help, but he did not look at his feet and accidentally slipped, sitting on his butt and sliding to his father's feet.
But he didn't cry. He just yelled a few times, then stood up and patted his butt. "Oh, it hurts so much. Fortunately, it's just my butt."
The corner of Ye Yaodong's mouth twitched. What a tough guy!
The old lady also stepped forward and patted his butt, "Walk slower and pay attention to the road. Ah You~ there is a hole, go back and ask your mother to fix it for you."
"Ah, don't do that? My mother will beat me up. I'm going to ask grandma to make up for me. Dad, where are you and grandma going?"
"Go pick corn and cucumbers!"
"Ahhh~ I want to go too!"
"I also need to go!"
"We want to go too!" Everyone excitedly expressed their desire to go.
"Your butt is showing, why don't you go home and mend your pants first?"
"No, I have to pick corn and cucumbers first, and then I'll fix it when I get home." After saying that, he ran towards the village entrance. He didn't care about the hole on his butt, and he didn't even think about covering it.
The others also ran forward happily, shouting and yelling.
"Slow down, be careful not to fall..." the old lady called out worriedly from behind.
One is for leading, a group is for leading too, Ye Yaodong doesn't care, "Don't worry about them, just be careful not to fall."
"Dad, hurry up, hurry up, my brother is running away."
Ye Yaodong patted his youngest son's butt. He couldn't speak clearly and still wanted to play with them. "Why are you in such a hurry? You'll catch up in a while."
The three-acre piece of land across the road from the village entrance was originally a slope covered with weeds. It was reclaimed bit by bit when his grandfather was alive.
His grandfather passed away, so his father helped the old lady with farming. The old lady was also unable to sit still. In addition to helping her with farming, she herself had to make two trips back and forth a day for fear that her things would be stolen.
"Don't pick them randomly, and don't pick the unripe ones." Seeing that several children had already started to pick corn, Ye Yaodong hurriedly stopped them.
"Oh, we know how to pick it. We can only pick it when the tassels at the back of the corn tail are all black, right? We know!" The one who responded was the oldest, Ye Chenghai, who was already twelve years old.
Several children were drowned while running in the corn bush. The youngest, Ye Chengyang, was struggling to get down. Ye Yaodong put him down and let him play by himself. He took the sack from the old lady and asked Ye Chenghai to put the things in it.
"That's enough. Pick 20 first. Each of you should pick 3. Don't pick more. Come back tomorrow morning."
"Ah, why don't you break a few more?" Ye Chenghai looked at the two ears of corn in his hand with some regret. He could only break one more.
"Just pick a few a day to eat. If you pick them all and your grandmother sells them, you won't have anything to eat."
"Forget it, let's just break a few a day."
With more people, efficiency is high. In just a short while, they had picked all the corn. The old lady also picked a full basket of melons, some big and some small, some as big as a fist and some as big as a mallet. They were all ripe.
Ye Yaodong carried a small bag of corn on his shoulder and took the basket from the old lady. "I'll take the things. Please walk slowly."
Then he looked at the group of children, "Are all of them out? One, two, three, four, five, six... Where's the other one? Who? Where's Ye Chenghu?"
"Ye Chenghu!" He raised his voice and shouted into the cornfield.
"I'm here, Dad!" Ye Chenghu answered while holding corn on the slope above, then walked down holding the corn in his arms.
Ye Yaodong looked at the corn cobs he had put in his shirt, "Did you pick them from up there?"
"Kid, why did you go to someone else's house to pick fruits?" The old lady looked at the road and said in a low voice.
"Ah, isn't all the corn ours?"
“This is the only place that belongs to us!”
Ye Chenghu scratched his head and said, "I thought all the corn here belonged to us!"
Ye Yaodong put down the basket and happily threw all the corn in his arms into the sack. "It's okay, as long as no one sees it. When you were a kid, your dad thought the whole mountain belonged to us, so you can pick whatever you want!"
The old lady whispered, "Don't pick other people's next time. If someone sees you, you will be scolded."
"Not only that, but I'll be chased all over the mountain!"
"Dad, have you ever been chased by someone?"
"You've tried everything there is to do in the mountains and in the sea. Now we're leaving and going home." Ye Yaodong carried the corn on his shoulders again!
"Wait, Yangyang is here!" The old lady grabbed Ye Yaodong who was about to leave.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about this guy!"
He looked around but didn't see his youngest son, so he asked the children to go look for him while he put his things down.
"They are so small, yet they can run so fast. Where are they hiding?"
"Here it is, Uncle San. Yangyang is sitting on the ground eating a melon!"
Ye Yaodong walked towards the direction of the voice and saw his youngest son sitting on the ground, holding a melon bigger than his face with his head tilted back, looking at everyone innocently.
The cucumber was still growing on the vine, and he had already gnawed through the skin before he could pick it. It was a relief that he found one that was growing low.
"Why are you hiding here and eating secretly?"
"father!"
Ye Chengyang raised the melon in his hand to pass it to his father, but he didn't have enough strength, and it fell down as soon as he lifted it. As a result, the melon hanging on the vine swung and hit him on the forehead. He lost his balance and fell on his back...
“Hahaha~”
"Hahahaha~ idiot~"
Several children gloated over others' misfortune without mercy!
Ye Yaodong also felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry as he looked at his little son who was lying on the ground without crying or making a fuss, but instead turned over and climbed up using his hands and feet.
"You are covered in dirt. You are so dirty. You and your brother will be scolded together when you go back."