His grandfather had a hard life at that time. He came to the seaside by begging for food, and then settled down in their village. Later, he worked hard, built a house with the help of his fellow villagers, and got married.
When it comes down to it, he isn't actually a local.
His grandfather did not have the conditions to build a cemetery in advance at the time, so after his death, his father and others temporarily built a coffin-shaped tomb with stones, as long as it could fit the coffin.
Speaking of this, Father Ye sighed.
"Before the Lunar New Year, I had some money, so I told your eldest and second uncles that I wanted to build a tomb for your grandfather. We are all laborers in the family, so we can just hire a master. The materials don't cost much, and if we all contribute, it won't cost much even if three of us split the cost."
"In the end, they kept making excuses, saying they didn't have the money and would talk about it later. They said it wasn't left outside in the sun and wind, so it was better than some people's tombs, and many other people's tombs were like this. After a few years, when they were about to be buried, we would all contribute money to build a bigger one with more space."
Ye Yaodong frowned, "You should think that you will be lying down soon, so you should repair it for yourself? Do you think it's a pity to repair the tomb in advance?"
“I just can’t bear to spend the money.”
"It has to be paid for, Grandpa. Everyone has to pay for it. It has to be repaired sooner or later. The land will be cheaper if it is repaired earlier."
After his uncles die, some of them may have to wait for 20 or 30 years, and they are not allowed to build cemeteries after that.
There's no telling how many years the old lady can live, so we can't just build a temporary one. It's better to build one in advance and put it there to be prepared for the future.
Many elderly people in their countryside have coffins prepared on the beams of their houses, just in case something unexpected happens. It is said that ancient emperors started building their tombs as soon as they came to power.
"Well, we have to build it all. Your grandma is over 80 years old. Who knows how many more years she can live? But your two uncles are not in a hurry and are not willing to repair it now. I can't just pay for it myself. The three brothers have to pay together and build it together."
"It's so annoying. I talked to them about it a few days ago, and they just said they had no money. Forget it, let's wait two years. Your two cousins are in jail, and your uncle doesn't look very energetic. It's not good to argue with him."
"Then we'll pay for the repairs ourselves, and after that the room will be ours."
"How can that be possible? They are all born of the same father. How can we leave them behind when repairing the tomb? Let's wait a year or two."
That's really depressing. Their family can't build a special cemetery to bury his grandparents in their cemetery, leaving out his uncle, who is also their father and mother, so they also have a share.
Even Ye Yaodong was unhappy now.
"If they don't build it, do we really have to wait 20 or 30 years before building it?"
"You definitely can't wait that long. Let's wait a couple of years and see if any of your cousins have made it. If they have, as long as one of them is willing to spend the money to build it, the others will be helpless."
That's all we can do.
It must be Qingming Festival, otherwise he would not have thought of repairing the tomb. In that case, he would be an unfilial descendant.
Come to think of it, the old lady seemed to be in a bad mood all day yesterday. I guess repairing the tomb is now the top priority for her.
This year during the Qingming Festival I can only make do with sweeping the grave. Next year I will see if I can find a Feng Shui treasure land for his grandfather that will bring prosperity to the whole family.
They have no shortage of roof tiles at home. There is a small pile of them in the corner. They are all left over from building the house, kept as backup. After all, there are typhoons every year, and the roof has to be repaired every year.
Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua worked together to repair it, so the speed was faster and it was almost done in just over an hour.
He and his father held the stairs and let the two of them climb down slowly, then they finished their work and went home.
Mrs. Ye and Mrs. Ye also seemed to be fine. They walked and discussed that they would each catch a few piglets and raise them together later.
Ye Yaohua also smiled to ease the unhappiness just now, "Two people raising one together, sharing the work, it will be easier."
Mrs. Ye: "That's easy to say. It's tiring to raise too many pigs. Just cutting grass and cooking pig food all day long is exhausting enough."
"What kind of work is not tiring? What kind of money is easy to earn?" Ye Yaopeng also said.
At this point, Sister Ye suddenly said slyly, "I heard that some fishermen in the south are no longer fishing. The larger fishing boats are used to transport foreign goods. They make a lot of money. They can earn hundreds or even thousands of yuan per trip. It's really profitable..."
Ye Yaopeng said quickly: "This can't be brought up..."
Ye Yaohua also quickly refused. "We can't do this illegal thing. Many people are arrested every other day. I heard that many were shot last year. We can't do it. We can't do it. We are ordinary people. We can't make a living."
"I heard that the guy in our village who bought our previous foundation is a specialist in this business. I heard that there are a lot of things piled up in the house. I don't know if it's true or not. I saw a lot of workers before, but I haven't seen any in the past few months."
"Why bother with others? Just take care of yourself."
Ye Yaodong listened silently at the side. There is no impenetrable wall in this world. After a long time, someone will always know. Speculation will only increase other people's curiosity. More and more people will know what it is.
However, it is estimated that they have many bases, not just the one in the village. They move to another place after each shot. If they do not appear for a period of time, they can be stabilized.
After all, they are just acquaintances, and he also hopes that he can make a lot of money safely and have more friends and more paths.
As they were about to reach the center of the village, he changed the subject and said, "Dad said that tomorrow morning between seven and nine o'clock is a good time, so we can get up early and go to the grave. We won't have time to order mooncakes, so I'll bring some coins with me. If there aren't enough mooncakes, I'll give out money."
"Give money? Just give money directly?"
"Ah? Can I just give money? Aren't they all for grave cakes?"
They quickly asked questions, and their attention was diverted.
"The kids at home will probably bring back a bunch of biscuits today..."
"I don't know if it's enough, but if it's not, just give the money. It'll save trouble and be more popular. There's nowhere else to order it right now anyway."
Ye Yaohua thought about it and felt that this might be a good idea. "Then you can bring some money with you as a backup. When the time comes, we can share the cost, so you don't have to ask Dad to pay for it."
His father and his two brothers take turns to pay for the tomb-sweeping expenses every year. This year it is his father's turn to preside over the ceremony, and the other two uncles just need to go with them to sweep the tomb and weed.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Mrs. Ye said hesitantly, "I don't think anyone gives money when they visit the graves..."
Mrs. Ye said happily, "What's the big deal? Don't you have to spend money to buy guang bing? It's better to get a discount. If it were me, I would definitely rather take the money. This is a good idea. It also saves us from ordering too many guang bing and not being able to send them out, and then wasting them at home."
If others think about it, the same logic applies. Between money and cake, they will definitely choose money.
Ye Yaopeng also gave in at this time and said, "We don't have many coins at home, but Dongzi has more. You can pay for it first, and then we can share it together."
"Well, as long as you have no objection."
It was almost four o'clock. As they walked along the main road in the village, they could see people returning in groups of three or four carrying hoes and brooms.
We went to visit the graves after lunch, and it was about the same time at this time. Those whose graves were clean would come back earlier.
Some children playing on the road also held a mooncake in their hands. Some even followed the people carrying hoes and brooms. They were only driven away by the adults, who told them that they had just returned from sweeping the graves, and then they dispersed.
Some of the children were covered in mud, so dirty that you could hardly see their shoes or the color of their pants. They also had a bunch of mooncakes hanging around their necks, and you could tell at a glance that they had just returned from the mountain.
When Ye Yaodong and his friends returned home, they saw their children jumping and skipping at the door with a bunch of mooncakes hanging around their necks, making a lot of noise.
"I counted, I have 16!"
"Then I must have 16..."
"You ate several on the way, and we ran fast, so we got several more."
"It's all Yangyang's fault. He's so annoying. He walks so slowly and we have to wait for him..."
Lin Xiuqing also came out from the courtyard gate and shouted at them, "Go home quickly to take a shower and change clothes. You are covered in mud. It's scary. If you don't know, you might think you rolled in a mud puddle."
"It's raining, the road is too slippery, it's all mud, and the road on the mountain is not easy to walk on..." Ye Chenghu pouted and argued cunningly.
Ye Chengyang grabbed Lin Xiuqing's pants in a flattering manner, raised his head and said pitifully: "The cake is not dirty, mother."
Ye Yaodong walked closer and saw that he was almost turned into a mud man. There was mud from the chest down and there were a few streaks of mud on his face. It was amazing that he had protected the mooncake so well and didn't get it dirty.
Lin Xiuqing looked at his dark claws. There were also several claw marks on her trouser legs. She said helplessly, "Look at your hands!"
Ye Chengyang looked down and was so scared that he quickly let go of his hand. Then, he immediately reached out to take a picture of the claw marks on his mother's pants, but the claw marks appeared more and more...
Lin Xiuqing took a step aside speechlessly, "Okay, okay, I didn't scold you. I'm going home to take a shower."
"You all made a lot of money today, didn't you? You made a lot of money, enough to eat for a week, and you don't have to light a fire at home."
"Ah? No, no, I'm almost choking to death... I can't eat anymore..." Ye Chenghu was the first to protest.
There are so many delicious things to eat in his house, and his father is willing to save all the delicious food for him. How can he bear to eat only plain bread for seven days
Ye Chenghai also said with a worried look on his face: "My neck is stretched from eating so much. I took several sips of tea after I came back before I could swallow it down."
"Who told you not to come back for lunch? How dare you say that? You're so dirty and still talking here. Don't you know to take a shower first and wash your clothes for the evening?" Mrs. Ye glared at them.
Mrs. Ye also called out to her three family members, "You are dirtier than the pigs in the pigsty. Why don't you go inside and take a shower? You are still standing at the door. What are you waiting for? Are you waiting to be whipped?"
After being scolded, the group of children put away their excitement and hurried back to their homes.