Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Hitting a Streak of Bad Luck

Eldest Uncle Ye gave Ye Yaodong a fierce glare before stepping over the threshold. He still remembered how Ye Yaodong had choked him earlier this morning!

After the two entered the house, Ye Yaodong and Ye Yaohua followed closely behind.

The women in the house were tidying up the table and washing dishes, while Father Ye was holding his water pipe, planning to take a few puffs after the meal, when he suddenly saw his two brothers arriving again.

Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye immediately walked towards Grandma as soon as they arrived, and they called out together, "Mother!"

"Well, have you eaten yet?"

"We have eaten. Have you eaten as well, Mother?"

"Um."

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes to the side. He knew they were asking the obvious question. It's interesting how their fellow countrymen always start conversations with "Have you eaten?" No matter which era it is, it remains the same.

Second Uncle Ye glanced at his brother, Eldest Uncle Ye cleared his throat and said, "Mother, we came in the morning, but you weren't here, so we thought of coming again."

"Did you come specifically to see me?" the old lady asked knowingly.

"Ah, no, ah, well..."

Before even speaking, he already lost his composure. Since the gun didn't work, Second Uncle Ye decided to speak up himself.

"It's like this, Mother. Didn't Old Third just catch large yellow croakers and sell it for over a thousand? That boat was left by Dad, and we gave it to Old Third at that time. He also repaired it himself. Although he got an advantage out of it, we didn't have the heart to ask him to share it with us."

"But all the children in the family have grown up, and there's not enough room in the house. We want to borrow three hundred yuan from Lao San and build two houses for the children to live in. What do you think..."

The old lady furrowed her brows, turned her body sideways, and leaned her ear closer. "Ah? What did you say? I'm deaf, speak louder!"

"Hahaha~"

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but burst into laughter. The old lady was truly amusing. She was usually sharp-eared and keen-eyed, but now she claimed to be deaf?

The old lady glared at him discreetly, expressing her displeasure.

Second Uncle Ye also felt embarrassed by his laughter. How could they not know that the old lady had a hearing problem?

Father Ye put down his water pipe and helplessly said, "You came in the morning asking for money, and now you're discussing borrowing it. Why don't you give up? Even in my own family, my three sons and their families are all cramped in one house, with four or five people sharing a bed. I don't have the money to lend you, I need to build houses and divide it for myself!"

"Then lend us less, and we'll add some ourselves. Old Third, in our family, we have more grandchildren than you do..."

"Could it be that my grandchildren won't grow up?"

"Don't you already have a boat? Fishing for yourself is more profitable than working as a boatman like us."

"Relying solely on fishing for a living is not stable. Both of your sons have already moved out and established their own households. It's their responsibility to take care of where their children live. You should only be concerned about your own living arrangements."

Father Ye's words effectively shut down the conversation, leaving Second Uncle Ye with nothing else to say.

Eldest Uncle Ye, however, was persistent. He turned to the pretending-to-be-deaf old lady and said, "Mother, how about we rent this boat from Old Third? There’s thirty days in a month, my second brother and I can each rent it for ten days. What do you think?"

"I'm deaf. Go discuss it with your third brother!"

Eldest Uncle Ye was left speechless!

Ye Yaodong smiled and put his arm around the old lady's shoulder. "Grandma is already old, don't bother her. Renting the boat is not possible. Who would be responsible if it gets damaged? Although it's an old boat, it's still precious to our family. So, please don't have any ideas about it. We just recently started going out to sea with it."

Upon hearing his words, Second Uncle Ye's enthusiasm suddenly waned, and he became hesitant, having second thoughts.

Indeed, this boat is already quite old, and even if they repair it, who knows if it will hold up. If it breaks near the harbor, they can still make it back or even swim back if necessary. But if it breaks down while out at sea...

Just the thought of it made his hair stand on end.

He tugged at Eldest Uncle Ye, who was about to speak, and said, "Forget about renting the boat. If we're facing difficulties at home, let's think of other ways to solve them."

"We're not strangers either, so we will definitely take good care of it.”

"No, this boat is already old. Who knows if there will be any other issues even after repairs. It's fine near the shore, but what if..."

Seeing that Eldest Uncle Ye was not receptive to advice, Second Uncle Ye subtly mentioned his concerns. Unexpectedly, he jumped in and started shouting without thinking.

"What if it breaks down while we're out at sea? Then we won't be able to..."

"I- pooh, pooh, pooh! You're such a jinx! Cursing me like that! We're brothers, at least show some respect and stop bringing bad luck upon me!" Father Ye became furious upon hearing their conversation and was tempted to throw his water pipe at them.

Mother Ye also expressed her anger, "Bah! At least you’re brothers, is it necessary to curse our family so maliciously just because borrowing money didn't work out?"

Ye Yaopeng was also furious, his anger reaching its peak. He no longer called them Uncle, but directly pointed at them and questioned, "What have we done to wrong you? Why do you not want us to succeed and even curse us like this?"

"No, I didn't mean... I didn't mean it that way..." Eldest Uncle Ye realized his slip of the tongue and quickly smacked himself on the mouth, wanting to explain himself.

Second Uncle Ye also hurriedly explained, "We didn't mean it that way. We're all family, how could we curse you..."

Ye Yaodong's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He had just fallen into the sea, and now these two were cursing his family again. “Pooh, pooh, pooh! Bad luck won't work, but good luck will surely come to us! You two better leave right away. We don't welcome you here. If you don't go, I'll use a broom to sweep you out. Don't blame me if it doesn't look good then!"

"No, we really didn't mean that..."

The daughters-in-law in the family were also very angry and began expressing their indignation one by one.

"Is it that you can't stand to see our family doing well? Just because we won't lend you money or rent you a boat, you want to curse us?"

"We're all family, how can you be so malicious and have such a wicked heart?"

"What have we done to wrong you? If you curse our family like this, you're losing your conscience as human beings..."

Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye felt like they had stirred up a hornet's nest as they were surrounded by a group of people questioning them. Unable to defend themselves, they could only apologize repeatedly, realizing their fault.

"Enough! You're both at such an age, yet your words are so foolish. Are we people from the seaside capable of uttering such inauspicious words? And you're brothers!" The old lady slammed the table and stared sternly at the two brothers.

Following that, she muttered a couple of sentences, "May the Bodhisattva bless us... May Mazu bless us... Don't be angry, don't be angry..."

The elderly are the most superstitious, how can they allow their family members to say such inauspicious words, especially about their own brothers.

Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye were also in a panic. "Mother, we didn't mean it that way. How could we curse our younger brother? We are blood brothers, and even if we have big conflicts, we would never curse him like that. It's just that the words came out in a rush, but we truly didn't mean it."

"I know you may be a bit calculative, but being too greedy and cunning is not the way to live. Only by having a kind heart can you receive blessings. Go back now and stop coveting things that don't belong to you."

"Ai!"

Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye hurried away as if they had been pardoned, not daring to stay any longer.

(end of this chapter)

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