As soon as he stepped out, still stretching lazily, Ye Yaodong spotted Secretary Chen and his family coming to visit.
"Ah? Secretary Chen, what brings you here? Please, come in and have a seat!" After inviting them in, Ye Yaodong couldn't help but shout, "Dad, Secretary Chen is here!"
He wasn’t sure whether his father was in the room or coming in from the backyard, but he shouted nonetheless.
Hearing his son’s call, Ye Father hurriedly came in from the backyard, his pants not yet properly fastened.
"Oh, Secretary Chen has arrived! Sit down quickly. Just right, we can drink a few together; I even have some snacks to accompany the drinks today."
Ye Father invited them to sit and enjoy drinks without a hint of embarrassment.
In contrast, Ye Yaodong felt somewhat awkward, unsure if his father had even washed his hands before coming in.
Secretary Chen smiled and said, “There’s no need for that. We’ve cooked at home, and I specifically came here to express my thanks to Dongzi. If it weren’t for his timely help, my grandson might have been in grave danger."
As he spoke, he took the basket from his wife's hands and uncovered it to reveal two packs of smokes, two bottles of Maotai liquor, two cans, and two packets wrapped in red paper, which contained the local famous fried rice cake.
This was already the most generous gift they could offer at the moment.
One bottle of Maotai alone costs over ten dollars, and the members of the Ye family in the hall were stunned at the sight.
Ye Father’s eyes widened in shock. “What… what is going on? This was merely a small favor! Quickly take it back! This costs quite a bit; why spend so extravagantly? You should take it back and return it.”
Ye Yaodong was also surprised.
He hadn't expected Secretary Chen to be so generous.
He had only wanted to see if he could save a life.
“You’re too polite, Lao Ye. Don’t push it away. My son and daughter-in-law returned today, and I learned just how dangerous it was for my grandson. He nearly lost his life.”
“There’s no need for such a weighty gift! We all live in the same village; helping each other is what we should do. Dongzi didn’t do anything special. It was just the fate of your child that he survived.”
“That’s not true. The doctor said it was fortunate Dongzi performed emergency measures. Otherwise, that child wouldn’t have made it to the hospital. He was already unresponsive. You must accept these gifts; it’s just a small token of our gratitude.”
“No, no! Such a huge gift, how can we accept it? Just take it back! We've all grown up together, and helping each other out is the norm. There’s no need for such heavy expenses.”
Ye Father insisted on not accepting the gifts.
It wasn’t that he wouldn’t appreciate them; he just felt that helping was the right thing to do.
How could they accept so many precious things?
“Oh, these items cannot compare to a child’s life! You have to accept them.”
“Exactly! Accept them! No more pushing back…”
“This is just our small gesture…”
“We can’t really accept this…”
“Just take it back…”
The two families went back and forth, and if one didn’t know better, they might think a fight was about to break out, given their bright smiles.
Ye Yaodong watched this with a sense of helplessness.
This was simply how things worked; people in his country loved to push gifts back and forth, pretending to be modest.
It was as if accepting a gesture outright would bring shame.
Leaning against the wall in the corner, he observed the playful exchange, not really caring.
After all, it was just a small act of kindness.
Whether his parents accepted it or not was up to them.
In the end, Ye Father and Ye Mother couldn’t refuse any longer and accepted the gifts with smiling faces.
“Is the child alright now?” he asked during a pause.
“He’s okay now. He’s already home and just needs to rest for a few days,” Secretary Chen responded.
Ye Mother chimed in, “The child must have been so scared; we should buy him some pearl powder to help calm him down.”
“Of course, I gave him some as soon as we got home. I’ll give him a bit more before bed tonight,” answered Secretary Chen's wife.
Ye Mother wiped her hands on her apron and said bashfully, “Well, let’s all sit down and eat together. The food is ready, though it’s not anything special. I didn’t know you were coming, so I didn’t prepare anything more.”
“There’s no need! We came to express our thanks, not to eat. Everyone’s family provisions are tight; how could I bring my whole family over for a meal? You all eat, please…”
Upon entering, Secretary Chen noticed an enormous pot of sweet potato rice bubbling away.
They were too busy building their house to even eat white rice! He couldn’t very well sit down and eat with them.
“It’s alright! We have enough rice at home. I can just cook another pot later…”
“No need! We’re going home to eat. We had planned to come early, but we saw that you were busy with construction or out at sea, so we waited until mealtime to come over.”
Otherwise, who would visit at mealtime? That would be shamelessly taking advantage of someone else’s food! Everyone treasures their grain these days.
He wanted to eat his own fill at home, after all.
At this point, it was rare for guests to stay for a meal unless they brought their own rations.
Secretary Chen thought for a moment and deemed it necessary to remind them, “By the way, I need to mention something. This afternoon, Lin Jishang from the village went to the commune saying his relative wanted to buy your land. I turned him down, so just be alert about it.”
“Ah? With so much empty land in the village, why would they want ours?” Ye Father was taken aback.
Ye Mother suddenly understood, “No wonder I saw Lin Jishang with a few people wandering around our property this morning!”
“They say your new house has good Feng Shui, which is why you’ve been getting good fortune after another…” Secretary Chen continued.
“Ah?”
All were astonished that it was due to some rumored Feng Shui.
Ye Yaodong felt exasperated.
This had only been a passing comment, after all…
If that land had such good Feng Shui, why had he been poor in his past life? It all depended on fate, after all!
“That can’t be true, can it? So easily can someone desire our land just from a few rumors?”
The Ye family members looked doubtful.
Ye Mother quickly added, “I saw an old man among them whispering about Feng Shui this morning; was he the one doing the calculations?”
“Your family has indeed been lucky lately.”
“Who is Lin Jishang’s relative? Where are they from?” Ye Yaodong inquired.
Lin Jishang had been wealthy in his previous life, rumored to own properties all throughout the city.
He never expressed interest in buying their land, yet rumors had spread like wildfire.
“I’m not sure. He didn’t say. He even wanted to know whether I had registered the land title. If I hadn’t, he would have wanted to take the land. I told him I had already registered it, and the village committee collected the fees for it and reported it, so he should look for another piece of land.”
“That’s good! We’ve already laid the foundation stones and started building. There’s no way we could sell it to him!” Ye Father frowned.
They had already begun construction; where did this fellow suddenly come from?
“I don’t know if he has given up or who his relative is. It’s surprising that word spread so quickly after just a few days. Just keep an eye on it; since you’ve paid, registered, and laid the foundation, that land is yours now. No one can take it away.”
“Thank you for letting us know!”
Secretary Chen concluded, “Then you all go ahead and eat. We won’t disturb you any longer.”
“Stay for a couple of drinks! We still have some rice wine at home…”
“No, no! We need to go home to eat…”
(End of Chapter)