Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

Chapter 24 Picking Corn

Lin Xiuqing looked at his actions and quickly asked, "Where are you taking your son?"

"Nowhere special, just going to help Grandma pick corn.”

"Are you picking all of it or just a portion? Should I come and help too?”

Ye Yaodong looked back at the old lady who was only holding a basket. "Let's pick just a portion. Like we discussed yesterday, we should keep it for ourselves and not sell it all. I'll pick a few and come back. You can go about your tasks."

Upon seeing him unusually diligent, Mother Ye spoke in a gentle tone, "Pick a little more today, and don't peel the husks. We can cook them with the husks in the evening, and your father and the others can take them as snacks when they go out to sea."

"Then let's take a sack to pack them. Bring back around 20 of them.”

"By the way, let's pick a few more green zucchinis. We can bring them for Dad and the others to eat at sea," said the eldest sister-in-law.

“Got it.”

After the old lady took the sack, Ye Yaodong carried his son and walked with her towards the village entrance, which was in a different direction from the path to the seaside.

The old lady walked slowly, and he accommodated her pace, leisurely looking around as they walked. Along the way, he saw women sitting at their doorsteps weaving nets, and children running and playing all around.

Their seven children were also running down from the nearby slope. The youngest son in his arms saw everyone gathered there and happily shouted, "Brothers~ Sisters~!"

"Oh, Dad, why are you here? Where are you all going?"

Ye Chenghu also noticed his father and younger brother and quickly called out to them, but he wasn't looking at his feet and accidentally slipped, landing on the ground and sliding towards his father's feet.

But he didn't cry, he just exclaimed a few "ahs" and then stood up, patting his bottom. "Ouch, that hurt! Luckily, it's just my bottom."

Ye Yaodong's mouth twitched. He's truly resilient!

The old lady also walked up and patted his bottom, "Walk slower, pay attention to the road. Oh my, you've torn a hole. Hurry back and let your mother patch it up for you."

"Oh, I don't want that. My mother will scold me. I'll ask my grandma to patch it up for me. Dad, where are you and Grandma going?"

"We're going to pick corn and green zucchinis!"

"Aww~ I'm going too!"

"I want to go too!"

"We want to go too!" They excitedly expressed their desire to join.

"Your butt is all exposed, shouldn't you go home first to mend your pants?"

"No, I want to go and pick corn and green zucchini first. Mend the pants when we get back later." With that, he ran towards the village entrance.He didn't mind the hole in his pants and didn't even think of covering it up.

The others also joyfully shouted and sprinted forward.

"Take it slow, be careful not to fall..." The old lady called out anxiously from behind.

One leads, a group follows. Ye Yaodong didn't care much. "Don't worry about them. Just make sure you don't fall.”

"Dad, hurry, hurry, brother, run away."

Ye Yaodong patted his youngest son's bottom, his words not coming out smoothly yet he still wanted to play with them. "Why the rush? We'll catch up to them in a moment."

The patch of land across the road from the village entrance was originally a slope overgrown with weeds. It was gradually cleared and cultivated by his grandfather during his time.

After his grandfather passed away, his father took over the responsibility of tending to the land for his grandmother. She was always restless and couldn't sit still, so she would also lend a hand in cultivating the land. She would make two trips a day herself, afraid that someone might steal the harvest.

"Don't pick recklessly, don't pick the ones that aren't ripe yet," Ye Yaodong quickly stopped the children who had already started picking corn.

"Oh, we know how to pick. We can only pick the corn when the threads behind the corn husks are all black and dried up. We know that!" replied Ye Chenghai, the oldest among them, who was already twelve years old.

Several children disappeared among the cornstalks as they moved through them, and even the youngest, Ye Chengyang, was determined to join in. Ye Yaodong gently placed him on the ground to let him play, and then took the sack from the old lady's hand and handed it to Ye Chenghai to fill with corn.

"That's enough. Let's pick 20 ears for now. Each of you can pick 3 ears, but don't pick too many. We can come back tomorrow morning.”

"Ah, can't we pick a few more?" Ye Chenghai looked somewhat disappointed as he looked at the two ears of corn in his hand. He could only break off one more.

"Just pick a few to eat for the day. If you pick them all and your grandma sells them, you won't have any left to eat."

"Then forget it, let's just pick a few each day."

With many hands, they were able to pick the corn in a short while. The old lady also gathered a basket full of green zucchinis, ranging in size from small ones the size of a fist to larger ones as big as a club. They were all ripe.

Ye Yaodong carried a sack of corn on his shoulder and took the basket from the old lady's hands. "I'll carry the stuff, you take it easy and walk slowly.”

He looked at the group of children again and asked, "Is everyone here? One, two, three, four, five, six... Who's missing? Where's Ye Chenghu?"

"Ye Chenghu!" He raised his voice and called out into the cornfield.

"I'm here, Dad!" Ye Chenghu responded from the elevated slope, holding up corn in his arms, and then started walking down.

Ye Yaodong looked at the corn cobs that Ye Chenghu had tucked into his shirt, "Did you pick those from up there?"

"You naughty child, why did you go to someone else's house to pick them?" the old lady glanced at the road and said in a low voice.

"Ah, don't all the corn belong to our family?"

"Only this patch is ours!"

Ye Chenghu scratched his head, "I thought all the corn here belonged to our family!"

Ye Yaodong put down the basket and happily tossed the corn from his arms into the sack. "It's fine, as long as no one sees it. When your father was young, he also thought the entire mountain belonged to us and would pick corn freely!"

The old lady whispered a reminder, "Next time, you can't pick from others' fields. If you're caught, people will scold you."

"Not only that, you might even be chased all over the mountain!"

"Have you ever been chased by someone, Dad?"

"I've experienced everything there is to play on the mountains and by the sea. Let's go, it's time to go home." Ye Yaodong hoisted the bag of corn onto his shoulder again!

"Wait, there's still Yangyang!" the old lady grabbed Ye Yaodong's leg as he was about to leave.

"Oh, right! Almost forgot about that little guy!"

He looked around but didn't see his youngest son. He asked the other children to go and find him while he himself put down his things.

"These little ones are as big as fart, but can run so fast. Where could he be hiding?"

"He's here, Third Uncle! Yangyang is sitting on the ground, nibbling on a zucchini!"

Yaodong walked towards the direction of the voice and saw his youngest son sitting on the ground, tilting his head back while holding a zucchini even bigger than his face. He looked innocent as he gazed at everyone.

That zucchini was still attached to the vine, and he had already bitten through the skin before it was even picked. It was impressive how he managed to find one that had grown so long.

"Why did you hide here to eat it?"

"Dad!"

Ye Chengyang tried to lift the cucumber he was holding and hand it to his father, but he didn't have enough strength. Just as he lifted it, it slipped from his hands and swung from the vine, hitting his forehead. Startled by the impact, he lost his balance and ended up falling flat on his back…

"Hahaha~"

"Hahahaha ~ stupid ~"

The other children showed no mercy and gloated at his misfortune!

Ye Yaodong could only smile wryly as he watched his youngest son on the ground, neither crying nor making a fuss. The little boy managed to turn over and used his hands and feet to crawl back up.

"You're covered in dirt, so dirty! When you and your brother get back, you'll both be scolded together.”