The children were all running towards us, shouting and waving their arms excitedly.
"Dad~"
"Dad~"
"Dad~ Third Uncle~"
Among the voices calling "Dad", there were also a few calling "Third Uncle". This made Ye Yaodong feel very comforted. It turned out that his love for them was not in vain. Although he didn't hear anyone calling "Grandpa", he still heard someone calling "Third Uncle".
The food we feed them is not wasted, so they still have some conscience!
Ye Yaodong turned off the flashlight with a smile, then opened his arms to welcome his eldest and youngest sons who were running towards him.
"Why aren't you all asleep yet? How did you know I was back?"
He thought he had reached the door of the house, but they knew it only after he knocked on the door.
"That's what Grandma said!"
"Grandma just ran into the house and told us that you were back, so mom quickly ran out to see what was happening. Then she called out to aunt and grandma next door, and everyone came out." Ye Chenghu spoke loudly and clearly.
Ye Yaodong looked behind the children in surprise and saw the old lady walking towards him quickly.
"Your grandmother, why are you still up at the door so late?"
"She said she was going to sleep in late!"
Ye Chenghai rushed to say: "Yes, Grandma sits at the door every day. She won't come into the house until it's dark."
Ye Chengjiang also added, "Atai said that you will definitely come back to celebrate before the Mid-Autumn Festival. She has been sitting up late every day these days before going to bed."
Ye Chenghu rushed to say: "Mom said she sat there until midnight..."
"How can you sit until midnight? That's nonsense." The old lady came late and said with a smile.
"Why did you come back so late? Fortunately, I didn't sleep. Come in quickly. Are you hungry? Ask your wife to make you a bowl of noodles. Eat a little to fill your stomach. You must be starving after coming all the way here. There must be nothing to eat on the boat..."
Lin Xiuqing had been standing by and laughing happily. She waited until they finished talking before speaking, "Why didn't you call us in advance before you came back? We were not mentally prepared."
"That's right, he didn't even call to tell me before coming back." Ye's mother also said with a smile.
Ye Ersao followed Ye Yaohua to Zhejiang Province. There was no one to take care of the children at home, so she moved in and also cooked and washed clothes for the children.
Mrs. Ye also complained with a smile, "We wanted to call you but couldn't. You kept changing places and didn't stay in one place. We couldn't find you even if we called. We all wanted to ask if you would come back for the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"But the old lady kept saying that you would definitely come back to celebrate the festival. She would sit at the door before dawn every day and would not go into the house until dark. In the past two days, she sat at the door later and later, not afraid of mosquito bites."
The old lady happily pulled Ye Yaodong to look around, not feeling embarrassed at all, "I just thought that you would definitely come back to celebrate the holidays. Who would celebrate the holidays outside?"
"It must have been very hard for you over the past month. You've become darker and thinner, and your hands are even peeling and covered with calluses..."
"What are you talking about outside? Go inside quickly. You're still standing outside. Haven't you fed the mosquitoes enough?" Ye's mother couldn't bear to see the old lady pulling Ye Yaodong and asking him questions, so she interrupted her quickly.
Father Ye also spoke up, "Yes, yes, let's go in first and push the things in. We still have to return the cart to the owner. If you have anything to say, we can talk after we get in."
"Hey, everyone, go inside first. We'll talk about it later when we get back. Unload the things first, return the car first..."
Seeing the lively family reunion, several cousins also felt like returning home, so they took the opportunity to tell them that they would go back first, since they had already sent them to their doorstep.
Father Ye said quickly: "Okay, okay, you have worked hard on the journey, take your things with you, and go back and rest early."
Ye Yaodong also said: "Don't forget to come to my house for a drink tomorrow night. I will prepare some delicious dishes tomorrow."
"Okay, sure."
After the cousins left, a large group of people surrounded them and went back to their home.
The children jumped and danced happily around their fathers, chattering non-stop.
"Dad, is Zhejiang Province fun? Is it lively? Mom said you guys went to Zhejiang Province to make a lot of money..."
"Dad, did you really make a lot of money? Was it hard work?"
"Dad, are you going to buy us gifts? Are you going to buy us anything delicious?"
"Dad, what are all those things in these cars? Why are there so many boxes and bags? Are they bought for us?"
“So many things…”
The children were chattering and talking at the same time. It was hard to listen to anyone. They didn't care when there was no response. They just ran around and asked questions, extremely excited.
"What are all these? How come you brought back more things than you took there? What's in these sacks? They're so soft..." Mother Ye asked curiously as she watched each of them unload several sacks.
"Let's talk about this later. Let's take these off first."
A few children who were in the way were looking around excitedly. When they saw them talking about the sack, they ran over and poked it. After it fell down, they all pressed on it.
"Hey, this is so soft... ah... which bastard is pressing down on me, oh~ it's on the ground, it's on the ground..."
"Hahaha... crush you..."
The surrounding open spaces were filled with laughter and joy, and the adults were also laughing happily. Relatives from afar returned safely, and the family was reunited. There was nothing happier than this.
"Go away, I want to see what Dad has."
"Dad must have brought us something."
Seeing some troublesome children running over to follow him again, Ye Yaodong picked up a piece of the specialty lard residue he bought and handed it to his two sons.
"Take it and share it. This is a specialty over there. It's made from lard residue and is very fragrant."
"Ahhhh~ There are local specialties to eat~"
Ye Chenghu jumped three feet high with excitement, then hurried over to get it. However, he didn't break it into two halves properly, one piece was big and the other was small. He unceremoniously kept the big portion for himself and gave the small portion to Ye Chengyang.
"Yangyang, I'm the older brother, so I eat the big pieces and you eat the small pieces."
Ye Chengyang was still young and easy to fool. He nodded and took it without any objection, muttering, "Brother eats the big one, Yangyang eats the small one."
When the other children saw that the two brothers had food to eat, they quickly ran to their father and asked, "Dad, did you buy any local specialties? Uncle San has already bought some."
"Yes, yes, yes, we can't do without your..."
After each child had something to eat, they stood contentedly in the corner and no longer got in the way of the adults.
Ye Yaodong unloaded his goods at the doorsteps of his elder and second brothers' homes first. He planned to wait and see what goods each of them had before moving them back. Anyway, they were next door to each other, so it would be easy to move.
Mother Ye looked at the three brothers' piles of goods. She passed by the baskets and bamboo baskets, and curiously touched this sack and poked that sack.
"What's in all those sacks? Did you buy a bunch of stuff? And what's in this box? Where did all this come from?"
"I didn't buy them. I picked them up for free."
Without waiting for the men to speak, Mrs. Ye excitedly told them how she had picked up these things. She described it vividly, gesticulating with joy, and was extremely excited.
Ye's mother, sister-in-law and Lin Xiuqing were all surprised and happy.
"Really? You picked all this up for free?"
"Pie in the sky?"
"There are also fabrics, clothes, and leather shoes? So many good things? Why do I feel like I'm dreaming?"
"Well, this time things weren't going well when we were almost home. I had pretty good luck before." Ye Yaopeng was also very happy and said with a smile.
Ye Yaodong took the lead in handing the reddish-brown cane in the corner to the old lady, "This is for you. Try it and see if the height is suitable?"
The old lady looked at the cane handed to her with surprise, and she was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth. "You also bought me a cane? How did you think of buying me a cane? And you brought it all the way back from Zhejiang Province."
"Hey, you don't think it's troublesome, why do you come all the way to buy this? I'll just wait for a vendor to come over with a load and buy one. You have so many things, and you still bring a cane. Aren't you afraid that it will be difficult to carry..."
The old lady's words revealed that she also wanted a cane. The gift touched her heart, and Ye Yaodong was very happy. Fortunately, he had thought of it some time ago and felt that the old lady needed a cane.
"It's not hard to carry. I came back by boat, and I didn't hold it in my hand all the time. I brought back a lot of goods, so why would I need a crutch? Put it on the ground and try to see if it's too high and uncomfortable. If it's too high, I'll saw off a little bit for you tomorrow."
"No, no, this is good enough." The old lady happily touched the crutch here and there, reluctant to put it on the ground for fear of getting it dirty.
"Why don't you put it on the ground and try it? How can you tell if it fits without even putting it on the ground?"
She placed the crutch on the instep of her foot as a cushion, but did not put it on the ground. "It fits, fits. I'll use it tomorrow. Put it away now in the middle of the night."
Ye Yaodong shook his head and ignored her. It was up to her to use the crutches to lean on at night or to show off tomorrow.
He looked at Lin Xiuqing and said, "Ah Qing, go push our cart over here. Let's take those baskets, straw mats, quilts, and other miscellaneous items home first."
"Okay, I'll go push the cart right away."
Ye Yaodong looked at his mother who was helping him sort things out, "I have fabrics, women's clothes, and a box of digital watches. Why don't you come back tomorrow morning to pick some? It's getting dark now, and the lights aren't bright enough to see as clearly as during the day."
"Okay, okay, don't worry, take your things back to the house first. We'll distribute these things tomorrow. It's late now, and it's not the time to divide things. Whatever belongs to whom will be included." Mother Ye said as she looked at Sister Ye who was looking around.
Father Ye also looked at the two brothers and said, "You've been tired all day. Move all your things back to the house first and have a good sleep tonight. Anyway, we're already home, so we can talk about anything tomorrow. When the time comes, we can decide how to divide it among you brothers. Dongzi also wanted to exchange with you."
"Okay, let's talk about it tomorrow. Move the things into the house first. It's getting late today."