As soon as Ye Yaodong returned home, he quickly took a shower.
Once he was done, he headed into the room to educate his two children.
"Eldest son, you don’t know how to swim, do you? Do you want to learn?"
"Yes, Dad! Brother Ahai can swim, I want to learn too!"
The younger one, Ye Chengyang, was bouncing on the bed, shouting, "I want to too! I want to!"
"Do you want to eat dirt? If you keep jumping on the bed and break it, just wait until I punish you," Ye Yaodong glared at the little rascal.
He then spoke to his eldest son, "That kid I just saved from drowning, doesn't it scare you?"
Ye Chenghu shrank back his neck, remembering the scene at the beach, and hesitated before saying, "Dad, if I learn how to swim, then I won’t drown, right?"
"Unless you fall into the deep sea where nobody can find you, if you're exhausted and there's no floating material to support you. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, you won’t drown."
"I'm scared..."
"What are you afraid of, you’re a boy! I’ll teach you, I won’t let anything happen to you."
He was worried that the kids might be naughty and wander off to the beach to learn on their own.
Although in his last life, his two kids somehow learned to swim, who could tell if the circumstances would change? After all, he had just rescued that child today.
With him teaching, he could also feel a bit at ease.
"That's right, let your dad teach you how to swim. You’re not allowed to run off to the beach to practice with your siblings."
Lin Xiuqing, standing nearby, nodded vigorously.
She had also been worried at the beach, fearing that her own child might drown.
Those who lived by the sea certainly needed to know how to swim.
"Before you learn to swim, you’re not allowed in the water unless there’s an adult with you. If I find out, I’ll break your legs."
Ye Chenghu shrank his feet back and weakly replied, "Got it, Dad."
"We'll see tomorrow if we can go out to sea. If not, I’ll take you to learn. Now go play."
Free at last, Ye Chenghu excitedly jumped off the bed.
Ye Chengyang followed suit, nearly giving Lin Xiuqing a heart attack as she rushed to catch him.
"You idiot! What’s wrong with your brother? And why are you acting like him? Can you even jump like that? Ye Chenghu, come here! Your brother should set a good example..."
Knowing full well that his mother was scolding, only a fool would stay back.
Ye Chenghu dashed away, leaving behind Ye Chengyang who was crying out, "Wait for me!"
Lin Xiuqing fumed, giving her younger son two hard pats before letting him escape.
The boy was tough; he didn’t cry or make a fuss, just took off running.
She then turned to Ye Yaodong, "Teach me that technique you just used at the beach!"
"You want to learn?"
"Just in case. Living near the sea, it’s bound to come in handy someday."
"Alright, lie down, I’ll demonstrate for you."
"Okay!"
At first, Ye Yaodong seriously explained to her how to perform first aid, how to position the hands and apply pressure.
She listened attentively but soon things took a turn.
"Where are your hands going?"
"Aren't I teaching you?"
"Get off, is this really teaching? Is this the right position? You’re obviously just rubbing..."
Lin Xiuqing lowered her voice, careful not to be overheard.
"Don’t move! First aid needs to continue for half an hour. Only give up if there's no breath..."
"Forget it, I'm not saving you. Get off me, I need to help mom with dinner..."
She nearly had him pinned down with her weight, and he was still making ridiculous comments.
"I've got your sisters-in-law here to help!"
"They went to the docks to sell things..."
"I helped you earn 40 bucks today; don’t you think you should show your appreciation?"
Lin Xiuqing pushed against his shoulders as she glared at him, "Wasn’t that my discovery?"
"But I helped! I caught the crabs and the bass too!"
So infuriating!
Ye Yaodong smiled, watching her wide-eyed expression and then turned his head to nudge his profile closer to hers, urging, "Hurry up and show your appreciation, and I’ll let you go cook. If the two boys come in and see, they’ll just cause a ruckus!"
His own wife, and he couldn’t even tease her a little? Seeing her lively expressions, he was enjoying himself.
But Lin Xiuqing wasn’t going to let him have his way.
With a quick motion, she pressed her palm against his face, pushing him towards the pillow, then she turned and straddled him.
He grunted in surprise, grabbing her petite waist to keep her from escaping, whispering, "So you like this kind of thing..."
Lin Xiuqing’s cheeks turned bright red.
She spat at him, quickly rolled off, casually raked her fingers through her hair a few times, and rushed out.
Ye Yaodong lounged back, propping his feet up and folding his hands behind his head, humming a tune.
If not for him intentionally letting her go, he wouldn’t have let her escape at all.
His father had gone to the harbor to prepare the boat, uncertain if they would head out to sea tonight.
He planned to rest his eyes for a moment.
Just as he was drifting off, his wife woke him, "Your friends are here to see you."
With bleary eyes, he muttered, “Why would you wake me? Didn’t you just say you were glad I wasn’t home?”
Lin Xiuqing replied with irritation, “Shall I just tell them you’re not home then?”
If it weren’t for the fact that during this time, his friends had been helping out around the house, she would have simply told them he wasn’t home!
Ye Yaodong pulled her back, “No way! I’m up, let me see if they have any plans for making money!”
“Forget it, you guys only play cards and eat together; what kind of money-making schemes could you possibly have?”
“Who says there aren’t? Remember, I shared that nearly 400 bucks with you a few days ago? Who knows, maybe there’s more good fortune waiting!”
"That was luck. We just happened to sail out at the right time."
"But that was still a good haul, wasn't it?"
Lin Xiuqing wasn't going to argue with him; dinner was approaching anyway and he had no money in his pockets. “Get back in time for dinner.”
"Okay."
He hurriedly fastened his belt and rushed out.
Behind him, his mother was still nagging, “It’s already 4 o’clock. We’re having dinner soon; can’t you stay still for a moment?”
At the door, A Guang and Xiao Xiao stood around awkwardly, waiting.
"What do you want? I was just sleeping."
A Guang stroked his chin, circling around him, leaving Ye Yaodong baffled.
"What’s going on?"
"We heard you saved the grandson of Secretary Chen this afternoon, so we came to pay our respects."
"That'll cost you, two cents for a glance!"
"Bah! Do you think you're a celebrity?"
Xiao Xiao laughed from the side, "Come on, it’s already 4 o’clock. Don’t waste time!"
Ye Yaodong was bemused as they dragged him away, "You guys haven’t even told me where we’re going!"
"Are you coming to fish for eels or not?"
"Are you out of your mind? It just rained heavily during the typhoon two days ago; the water levels in the fields and ditches are high, and you want to fish? The holes are all underwater!"
Isn’t this just wasting time? Might as well sleep at home, these fools!
(End of Chapter)