A shameless visit

[Liang Yusheng novels

Ye Yaodong stood in a corner of the room, his head throbbing. With no cigarettes to smoke, he could only chew on a stalk of straw as he watched his Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle argue with his father and two older brothers, their faces flushed and necks bulging. They kept slapping the table with loud cracks!

He couldn't make sense of it. Hadn't someone hired him as a deckhand on a big ship? He'd gone out onto the deck for a piss on a whim, only for a wave to sweep him overboard and drown him.

How had he woken up this morning and found himself back in 1982?

Fucking... incredible!

He still hadn't recovered from the shock. Even his father's haul of large yellow croakers couldn't get him excited. Being reborn at twenty-five was simply too big a surprise!

I was already sixty-five, and now I've jumped back forty years and become twenty-five again.

This... this... this is bloody brilliant!

I actually get another shot!

The only pity was that, after his death, the boat owner would surely have to pay a million or so in compensation. Those two boys of his would get a nice windfall.

He wondered whether they'd cry or laugh when they got the news...

"Third Son, don't forget that boat was left by Dad. You only got to use it because Mum chose to live with you in her old age. All of us brothers had a share in it to begin with. You have to split the money from those large yellow croakers with us, too."

"Exactly, Third Son. Now you've landed a netful of large yellow croakers, you think you can throw your weight around? Dad left that boat, and we all have a share. You can't disregard your own brothers and pocket everything yourself."

Eldest Uncle Ye and Second Uncle Ye shouted at the tops of their lungs, taking turns, while Father Ye glared at them in fury.

"Bullshit! Yes, Dad left the boat, but it was practically scrap back then, and the engine was broken. You were the ones who didn't want it! You wanted the cash instead, so you dumped that wreck on me! You said even a wreck had three thousand nails and could still fetch a decent price, and since Mum was living with me, you'd let me have that little advantage."

"I was the youngest and couldn't win the argument, so I swallowed the loss. What, now you've seen me repair the boat bit by bit over these past two years, you're jealous? Not a chance! I sank every penny I had into that boat. The moment I finally get a lucky haul, you all come knocking for a cut. Have you no shame?"

Second Uncle Ye frowned. "Third Son, you really did get the better deal when we divided Dad's estate. That boat was something Dad left behind, after all. Since Mum was living with you, we thought we'd leave it to you so she'd have something to remember him by. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been better for us to sell it and split the money?"

"Something to remember him by-how nice you make it sound! How much do you think it would've fetched as scrap? The planks weren't worth anything, and iron only sold for a few cents a jin. By dumping it on me, you had one less person to share the rest of the estate with!"

"Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle, everyone was there when Grandpa died. It was settled long ago: you got the money, and Dad got the wreck. That was what you agreed on. Dad saw Grandma crying because she couldn't bear to sell the boat, so he didn't insist on selling it and splitting the cash. He just accepted the loss."

The speaker was Ye Yaodong's eldest brother, Ye Yaopeng, but the moment he spoke, his eldest uncle snapped at him.

"The grown-ups are talking! What right does a youngster like you have to butt in?"

"It's my family's money. Why can't I say something? We split into separate households long ago. You two can come to our house demanding a share of the money we made selling fish, but I'm not even allowed to speak?"

"This is a matter for your elders. You have no say in it!"

Listening from the corner was giving Ye Yaodong a headache. Frowning, he spat out the straw and walked over to drape an arm across his eldest uncle's shoulders. His uncle was a short little fellow, just the right height.

With a roguish air, he said, "That's going too far, Eldest Uncle. This is our home. How can my big brother have no say?"

"My dad caught those large yellow croakers. Did either of you go out to sea with him? What gives you the nerve to come here demanding a cut? Your sheer shamelessness?"

"Come on, let's take this outside. We'll call everyone in the village over, and the village chief too, and ask them to judge whether we owe you a share!"

"If everyone says our family ought to split it and can't keep it all, my dad's a fair man. He certainly won't argue!"

Ye Yaodong hooked his arm around his eldest uncle's neck and headed outside. Only his father, who cared about appearances and brotherly affection, could have put up with arguing this long rather than fall out with them.

If it had been up to him, he'd have thrown them out ages ago. What a pair of shameless bastards!

Still, they were his Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle. No matter how much of a troublemaker he was, he couldn't beat them up. All he could do was drag them outside and argue it out.

Eldest Uncle Ye was barely over a hundred and sixty centimeters tall, while Ye Yaodong was a hundred and eighty. With his neck trapped under Ye Yaodong's arm, Eldest Uncle Ye couldn't break free and could only stumble along toward the door.

"Let go! What kind of hooligan grabs someone around the neck like this? I'm your eldest uncle!"

"What eldest uncle? Anyone trying to extort money from my family is my enemy. Let's talk outside!"

He remembered perfectly well what he'd been like in his youth: the village layabout, idling away his days and messing around with his friends instead of doing anything useful. Getting into fights had been routine. He'd only toned it down after marrying.

Nobody thought it was out of character for him to drag an elder around and speak disrespectfully. If anything, they found it perfectly normal.

But this was still his eldest uncle. With several extra decades of experience behind him, he wasn't quite such a bastard anymore. Grabbing him like this really didn't look good.

Ye Yaodong released his arm and took hold of him instead, pulling his eldest uncle to the front door.

Ye Yaopeng breathed a sigh of relief. Their Third Son had finally stepped in. He had no idea what was wrong with him this morning; he'd looked dazed and hadn't said a word until now. Normally, he would have lost his temper long before his Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle could carry on this much.

"Everyone! Come over here, everyone... mmph, mmph..."

Second Uncle Ye hurriedly clapped a hand over Ye Yaodong's mouth and said with an awkward smile, "Yaodong, your eldest uncle and I only came to discuss things with your dad. Life is hard for everyone, after all. It's only natural for brothers to help each other out..."

"Exactly. We were just discussing it with your dad. How can we air our family affairs outside? Let go of me. Let's talk inside."

Eldest Uncle Ye knew he was in the wrong, too. He couldn't face saying all this in front of the villagers. After all, they'd divided the family property two years ago.

Ye Yaodong pulled his second uncle's hand away from his mouth. "What's there to discuss inside? You've been banging the table and arguing all morning. My skull's aching. Better to talk outside and let everyone hear whether you've got a leg to stand on. Everyone... mmph, mmph..."

"Third Son, aren't you going to control your son?" Second Uncle Ye glared at Father Ye.

"Hmph... now you know not to air the family's dirty laundry? We might as well come outside and let the villagers judge. Otherwise, people who don't know the facts might think I really got some huge advantage."

By now, the neighbors had heard the commotion and gathered around, looking curiously at the Ye brothers.

"What's wrong? Didn't you sell over two hundred jin of large yellow croakers yesterday? Shouldn't you be celebrating?"

"What's going on? Has Yaodong been fighting again?"

"What did Yaodong do this time?"

"He's married with children, and he still doesn't know how to behave..."

Ye Yaodong was speechless. Apparently, his reputation as a hooligan was firmly ingrained in everyone's minds. Whenever anything happened, they all pointed the finger at him!

He raised an eyebrow and said with a swagger, "I didn't cause trouble this time. Don't pin it on me. Someone else is being shameless..."

"Ah... it's nothing, nothing. Catching large yellow croakers is a good thing. We were just curious how he caught them, so we came over to ask and have a chat. Yaodong insisted it was too hot inside and said we'd be cooler talking out here..." Eldest Uncle Ye cut him off, smiling as he fielded the neighbors' questions.

Second Uncle Ye gave an awkward laugh as well. "Heh, we've finished talking anyway, and Mum's out in the fields, not at home. Big Brother, let's head back."

"Yes, let's head back. Let's head back."