After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Father Yang and Yang Mother found an excuse to drag away the reluctant, bashful Yang Xiuying, leaving only Yang Ge and Yang Tiansheng picking their teeth and shooting the breeze...
"It'd be great to put a vegetable patch here!"
Gazing out over the rippling blue waters of Lotus Lake, Yang Ge sighed with heartfelt longing.
Yang Tiansheng looked utterly bewildered. "Why would you turn a perfectly good Lotus Pond into a vegetable patch?"
Yang Ge pointed at Lotus Pond, his voice brimming with anticipation. "Think how rich the mud at the bottom must be. Dig it up and compost it in the soil, and anything you plant-scallions, ginger, garlic, bok choy-would grow in great swaths. Whenever you wanted noodles or a stir-fry, you could get fresh vegetables without even leaving home. And if you couldn't eat it all, no problem. Raise some fish in the lake and throw the leftovers in to feed them. Their shit would make the mud even richer. If you didn't mind the trouble, you could raise ducks too. A lake this size could support a hundred or so, easy..."
He spoke with mounting enthusiasm, spittle flying everywhere.
All Yang Tiansheng could picture was a stagnant pond covered in duck shit, reeking to high heaven. He immediately shook his head in disgust. "Can't you aim a little higher? It's not like you're short of a few pennies. Why bother with scallions and ginger and chickens and ducks and fish? You're Yang Erlang, the Central Divine Lord!"
Yang Ge gave a soft snort. "So what if I'm the Central Divine Lord? Does that mean I don't need to eat or get on with everyday life?"
Yang Tiansheng said, "That's not what I mean. I'm asking why you need to