At noon, the meal was still sweet potato shreds cooked with thin porridge! With so many people in the family, they couldn’t afford to eat too much every day, even a bowl of porridge had to be filled with a large handful of sweet potato shreds.
The reason they didn’t have sweet potato rice was that sweet potatoes, when shredded, remained good for a long time.
Dried shreds could last for months, and when cooked with rice, they needed less rice, plus the taste was quite sweet.
Of course, that sweetness was just the feeling of Ye Yaodong; the family had eaten sweet potato rice or sweet potato shreds till they were tired of it.
They didn’t care about sweetness anymore; it was enough to fill their stomachs.
Since they hadn’t split the family yet and there were many mouths to feed, the portions were quite generous.
The vegetables were grown in their backyard, and the seafood came from netting yesterday afternoon.
A bunch of small fish wasn’t worth much; they had already killed and dried most of them, leaving just a few slightly larger fish for braising.
The three-eyed crabs weren’t in demand at the dock either.
Eating too many could cause allergies, making people itch all over, so no one wanted to buy them.
However, throwing them back into the sea wasn’t an option either.
There were too many for the family to consume, and if left too long, they would smell.
They shared some of it with relatives, friends, and neighbors yesterday.
The adults could have two or three, but it wasn’t suitable for elderly and young children to eat.
Additionally, they had reserved more than a dozen mud crabs, which kids could eat.
There was also a bowl of small shrimp and a bowl of clams they dug up that morning.
They mixed these together, boiled them in hot water, and added a bit of seasoning with chili—it was delicious and saved on oil.
Furthermore, there was the family’s favorite oyster omelet!
Ye Yaodong liked it too; it took him a long time to crack open the small clams on the rocky wall, an old tactic known as “hitting the oysters.” When he sat down, he hadn’t even taken a bite of rice before reaching for the oyster omelet.
If he didn’t grab it quickly, it would be gone! After all, he worked hard to dig them up, and these were good for replenishing strength.
“Wow! Uncle, take a smaller piece and leave me some!”
“Aren’t you full yet? I see you reaching for that bowl of oyster omelet all the time.” Ye Yaodong replied as he helped himself to a portion and also filled a bowl for his wife.
She hadn’t even sat down to eat yet, and by the time she did, there would barely be any decent food left.
Lin Xiuqing watched his rare action, and her gaze softened.
Yet, she didn’t keep the piece for herself and instead gave it to her elder son to feed him.
Oysters were hard to harvest; it took considerable effort to crack open even one bowl.
They didn’t come by every day, with one meal for lunch and another for dinner, and even tomorrow was uncertain.
“Uncle, you’ve had plenty to eat!” Ye Chenghai, his nephew, rolled his eyes at Ye Yaodong.
“I harvested the oysters; shouldn’t I be able to eat them?”
“Stop chatting and let’s eat,” Ye Mother said, tapping the plate lightly, and finally, everyone quieted down.
Today, the meal was unusually plentiful; nobody wanted to talk, everyone was focused on eating with great enthusiasm.
In the past, there’d only be a bowl or two of shellfish or some fish with a few vegetable dishes.
Today, however, there were crabs, shrimp, fish, and clams, everything was present!
After all, they had a boat now, and they earned a good sum of money yesterday, so a more lavish meal was only expected.
Only when he saw everyone gathered did Ye Father speak up, “I just applied at the commune for land to build houses. They’ve already discussed it and approved a plot at the entrance of the road to the beach. There’s a nice piece of empty land there, not suitable for crops but just right for building houses.”
Their village was by the sea, and there wasn’t much arable land.
The land allocated was at the junction with the neighboring Dongqiao village.
The two villages were quite close, but Dongqiao village was smaller, with only over a hundred households, and their village was not directly by the sea but along the main road.
So at low tide, they would go to Baisha village to gather seafood.
The villagers of Baisha village were very familiar with those from Dongqiao village.
The two villages intermarried a lot.
Ye Yaodong's grandmother was from Dongqiao village.
Once Ye Father finished speaking, Ye Yaodong remained silent, continuing to eat his food.
After all, he had bought this piece of land in his past life, and the three brothers had their houses built close together.
He lived there until he passed away.
His lack of reaction didn’t mean others were likewise unmoved.
They were all about to have their own little homes, and everyone felt quite excited.
Ye Ersao exclaimed, “That land is great! It’s close to the beach; you can walk straight to it!”
“Are we building three houses, Father?” Ye Dasao furrowed her brows and seemed concerned.
Logically, two houses should be enough for one son to live with his parents, taking care of them.
However, who wouldn’t want to live in a new house and have their own little life? Ye Dasao had her own selfish thoughts.
If only two houses were built, it would definitely be the eldest who remained in the original home.
Ye Yaopeng looked at his wife in confusion, “Why three houses? Two is enough.”
Men usually think more simply, especially since Ye Yaopeng felt it was only natural for his parents to live with him, rather than the third brother who was somewhat unreliable.
Ye Yaodong noticed the reactions of his two sisters-in-law and couldn’t help but smirk.
Both his brothers were decent enough, but each sister-in-law had her own selfish agenda.
Neither was as generous as his wife.
In his previous life, after finishing his meal, he would leave and not return until dinner, unaware of how things progressed.
He only learned in the evening that the family wanted to build three houses, one for each brother.
Now he could see how it unfolded!
Ye Dasao, upon hearing Ye Yaopeng, didn’t dare raise the issue of how to divide two houses, or who would be left to take care of their parents.
If she did, he would surely get angry!
Ye Ersao was rather silly.
Smiling, she asked, “Dad, Mom, who do you plan to live with? Whichever son you choose, we will take care of you…”
“Hey, why are you pinching me?”
Ye Ersao glared at him, “If you don’t want to speak, no one will think you’re mute! The house isn’t even built yet, and you’re already eager to split it up?”
Her words sounded nice, but everyone in the room understood perfectly.
Who couldn’t see that she wasn’t keen on living in the old house with her in-laws?
Ye Father observed the sisters-in-law's little thoughts and decided to get straight to the point, asking, “So, who plans to stay and take care of the elderly?”
“Dad, it depends on who you want to live with. I’m the eldest, so you and Mom should live with us.”
Ye Laoer nodded, “Yes, Dad, it’s alright if you and Mom want to live with us.”
Ye Ersao forced a smile, though her expression wasn’t good, “Mom and Dad are only in their fifties; they don’t need to be taken care of yet!”
Ye Dasao hurriedly added, “Right, Dad and Mom are still strong, they can work for ten or twenty more years; no need to think about retirement yet…”
“So you all don’t want to?” Ye Father’s expression darkened.
“Of course not; how could that be…”
Before the two sisters-in-law could contradict, Ye Yaodong casually propped one foot on his chair and said, “Dad, the two sisters-in-law don’t want to, but my wife and I do! How about we stay and live with you, Mom, and Grandma together?”
Lin Xiuqing supported her man wholeheartedly at that moment, sincerely saying, “Dad, Mom, come and live with us!”
The old lady happily accepted, “Good, Dongzi will live with us.”
“Forget it; if we live with him, is he going to take care of me or am I taking care of him?”
(End of this chapter)