Upon hearing his father's question, Ye Yaodong shot him a sideways glance, shaking his leg lazily.
"You not knowing something doesn’t mean I don’t either. I’m not just wandering around aimlessly all day!"
Originally, Ye's father wanted to ask him a few serious questions.
But upon hearing this, he became furious.
"Wandering around all day long and still acting proud? You're already married and yet you spend all your time out, being lazy and doing nothing! Who do you expect to support you? I should smack some sense into you, you waste of space!"
As his anger grew, Ye's father kicked off his shoes and stormed forward, ready to give Ye Yaodong a beating.
He had already sold a big yellow fish at a loss and was looking for an opportunity to vent his frustration!
"Hey, hey, hey... Why the sudden change? We were just chatting nicely! What did I say? Dad... Dad... Let’s talk this out..."
On a hot summer day, the smell coming from his father's sandals hit Ye Yaodong like a wall, making his face turn pale.
Just because he had stinky feet didn’t mean he could handle his father's foot odor!
He quickly stood up to dodge, "Dad, what are you doing? At least grab a stick instead of a shoe!"
"Why don’t you stand still? All you do is annoy me. Even your grandchildren are better behaved than you! Instead of living a good life, you waste your days hanging out with a bunch of hoodlums. How did I end up with such a hopeless child!"
With both of them chasing and dodging around, the living room was too small for the commotion.
Ye Yaodong quickly darted behind his mother for cover.
"Mom, look! Dad's had too much to drink early in the morning! I told you to stop him from drinking today!"
Little did he know, his mother was just as angry and turned to smack him a few times.
"Your dad is right! You hardly come home, and you don't even know what's happening at home! You waste your days loafing around, leaving me to worry about how you’ll support your wife and kids in the future!"
Caught between both parents, Ye Yaodong found it hard to defend himself.
He quickly lifted a wooden stool to shield himself.
"Stop it! Stop it! Who beats their son in the morning? Can’t we talk this out? There are so many people around..."
Can’t they leave him a bit of face? He had dignity too!
Fortunately, the younger ones had already been chased out.
Otherwise, how embarrassing would it have been? After all these years, he was used to getting scolded and hit, but after coming back from forty years in the future, facing his parents' anger felt a bit strange!
He held the stool up to protect himself when he realized his mother had picked up a broom made of bamboo strips.
He hurriedly put down the stool and ran outside.
Now was not the time to stay put; he needed to avoid the storm and wait until his parents cooled down before returning.
Who knew he would bump into a few nephews and nieces? The children were caught off guard and tumbled backward, with even his grandma getting caught up and losing her balance.
Now, he panicked a bit and rushed to help her up.
"Grandma, are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"
Although he was a bit of a troublemaker, he still had a conscience.
His grandma cared the most for him, and seeing her fall made him forget about hiding from trouble.
With his father and mother chasing behind, they both saw the incident, and their anger didn’t lessen.
They started hitting his legs and thighs with the soles of their shoes and the broom while scolding him.
"You clumsy fool! Can’t even walk without watching where you’re going? I’ll break your legs to teach you a lesson!" After a few smacks with the shoe soles, Ye's father still felt unsatisfied and snatched the broom from his wife’s hands, landing a few hard hits.
Ye's father was far stronger than his mother, who was still careful not to hit too hard out of concern.
But Ye's father was genuinely angry.
A single strike to his leg made him grunt in pain.
The old granny couldn’t stand to see her precious grandson being hit.
She quickly shielded him.
"What are you doing? Are you really going to hit me? How can you hit me, your own mother? What is this world coming to? Oh dear, my son wants to hit me this early in the morning!"
Ye's father looked at her, exasperated.
"Mother, how would I dare to hit you? I’m aiming for this useless child who can’t do anything right and actually knocked you down!"
"Dongzi just made a mistake! I didn’t blame him, so why do you get to hit him? Hurry up and put that broom away, go back inside! You’re embarrassing yourself!"
Though the granny looked like she was in her eighties, she was still quite spry, her hearing and sight sharp.
When she lectured, her voice was full of energy!
Ye's father, being filial, acknowledged that with the granny back, he wouldn’t be able to continue scolding, and he shot Ye Yaodong a fierce glare before tossing the broom into a corner and heading back inside.
"Don’t be afraid, Grandma is here. Did I hurt you? Let me see," she said, reaching to pull up his trousers.
He quickly stopped her and held onto her arm, grinning, "I’m fine! Were you hurt when you fell? Is anything bothering you?"
"I’m good! Really, I’m fine..."
"Mom, Dongzi is already 25! He’s not a child anymore. He’s a father of two! You can’t keep coddling him like this. He’s learning nothing and does no work. He’s so useless..."
"What do you mean he’s not learning well? Isn’t he filial? What more do you want from him? We’re just a simple family; as long as the child is safe and healthy, that’s enough. Besides, Dongzi never did anything mischievous. How does that bring shame to our family?"
Ye Yaodong felt quite embarrassed.
To his grandma, even his laziness was a point of pride! Her standards were just so low!
After all these years, despite saying it dozens of times, his mother was tired of arguing.
In Grandma’s eyes, her third son was perfect!
Truly spoiled by her! The eldest and second children were so diligent, while she remained frustrated at her youngest.
Shooting one last glare at her son, Ye's mother decided to stop arguing.
After all these years, no matter what they said, it was useless.
The group of children picked up the scattered corn and the green gourd and placed them in a bamboo basket.
When his mother saw that Grandma hadn’t really fallen, and was still protecting him, she took the basket, pulled out the corn to shuck it, and placed the green gourds back in.
"Take these inside and ask your mother to wash them and cut them for you."
"Leave one for your third uncle; don’t eat them all!" Grandma shouted, worried that her great-grandchildren would gobble up all the sweet melons and leave none for her beloved grandson.
Ye Yaodong felt his heart swell with emotion from his grandma's love.
He hadn’t felt this way in decades; it was such a wonderful feeling.
Everyone else thought he was good for nothing, even his parents found him displeasing, yet his grandma always cared for him and saved food just for him.
It stirred a mix of emotions deep within him.
"I'll help you inside; at your age, why are you still farming? What if you fall? What then?"
The old granny laughed, her face wrinkling into a smile.
"I won’t fall easily! I’m in good shape! Even if I can’t do it myself, I can make your father do it for me!"
Ye Yaodong smiled brightly.
(End of Chapter)