Picking corn

Lin Xiuqing saw what he was doing and quickly asked, "Where are you taking our son?"

"Nowhere much. Just going to help Grandma pick corn."

"Are you picking it all, or just a little? Should I come help?"

Ye Yaodong looked back at the old lady, who was carrying only a basket. "Just a little. Didn't we say yesterday we'd keep it for ourselves and ask Grandma not to sell it? We'll pick a few ears and come right back. You get on with your work."

Seeing him being industrious for once, Mother Ye spoke pleasantly too. "Pick a few more today, and leave the husks on. We can boil them with the husks on this evening so your father and the others can take them out to sea for a snack."

"Then we'll take a sack and bring back twenty or so."

"Pick a few extra snake gourds while you're there, so Dad and the others can take those out to sea too," Ye Eldest Sister-in-Law added.

"Got it."

Once the old lady had fetched a sack, Ye Yaodong carried his son and headed toward the village entrance with her, in the opposite direction from the shore.

The old lady walked slowly, so he matched her leisurely pace, looking around as they went. Along the way, he saw women sitting outside their doors weaving nets, and children running and jumping about everywhere.

The seven children from their family were running down a dirt slope nearby. His younger son, nestled in his arms, spotted them all and cried happily, "Big brothers! Big sisters!"

"Oh, Dad, what are you doing here? Where are you going?"

Ye Chenghu spotted his father and little brother too and hurried to call out to them. But he wasn't watching his feet, and he slipped, landing on his bottom and sliding all the way to his father's feet.

He didn't cry, though. He just let out a couple of yelps, then stood up and patted his bottom. "Ow, that hurt! Good thing I landed on my butt."

The corner of Ye Yaodong's mouth twitched. What a tough little rascal!

The old lady stepped forward and patted his bottom too. "Walk slower and watch where you're going. Oh dear, you've torn a hole! Hurry home and have your mother patch it."

"Aw, do I have to? Mum will beat me. I'll ask Grandma to patch it. Dad, where are you and Great-Grandma going?"

"To pick corn and snake gourds!"

"Yay! I want to come too!"

"Me too!"

"We want to come too!" One after another, they excitedly clamored to join them.

"Your bottom's showing. Aren't you going home to get your trousers patched first?"

"No, I want to pick corn and snake gourds first. I'll get them patched when we get home." With that, he ran toward the village entrance, not caring about the hole over his bottom or even thinking to cover it.

The others raced ahead too, whooping with delight.

"Slow down! Be careful you don't fall..." the old lady called anxiously from behind.

Taking a whole bunch along was no different from taking one, as far as Ye Yaodong was concerned. "Don't worry about them. Just mind your own footing."

"Dad, hurry, hurry! Brothers running!"

Ye Yaodong gave his younger son's bottom a pat. The boy couldn't even speak properly yet, but he already wanted to play with the others. "What's the rush? We'll catch up in a minute."

The little fifth-of-an-acre plot across the road at the village entrance had once been a weed-covered slope. His grandfather had cleared it bit by bit while he was still alive.

After his grandfather died, his father helped the old lady plant it. But she couldn't sit idle. Even with someone doing the planting for her, she still made two trips there every day, afraid someone would steal the crops.

"Don't just pick anything. Don't pick the ones that aren't ripe." Seeing the children already snapping ears off the stalks, Ye Yaodong hurried to stop them.

"Oh, we know how to pick them. You have to wait until the silk at the end turns black, right? We know!" The oldest, twelve-year-old Ye Chenghai, was the one who answered.

The children disappeared among the corn stalks. The youngest, Ye Chengyang, squirmed to be put down too, so Ye Yaodong set him down to play on his own, then took the sack from the old lady and handed it to Ye Chenghai to fill.

"That's enough. We'll pick twenty for now. Just pick three each. Don't pick too many. We can come back tomorrow morning."

"Huh? We can't pick a few more?" Ye Chenghai looked regretfully at the two ears in his hands. He could only pick one more.

"Just pick a few to eat each day. If you pick them all, your great-grandma will sell them, and there'll be none left for you."

"Then never mind. Let's just pick a few each day."

With so many hands, the work was soon done. In no time, they had picked the corn, and the old lady had filled her basket with snake gourds, some big and some small. The little ones were fist-sized, while the big ones were like wooden clubs. They were all ripe.

Ye Yaodong hoisted the small sack of corn onto his shoulder and took the basket from the old lady. "I'll carry everything. Take your time."

Then he looked at the children. "Is everyone out? One, two, three, four, five, six... We're missing one. Who is it? Where's Ye Chenghu?"

"Ye Chenghu!" He raised his voice and called into the corn.

"I'm here, Dad!" Ye Chenghu answered from farther up the slope, holding up an ear of corn, then walked down with an armful.

Ye Yaodong looked at the ears cradled in the boy's stretched-out shirt. "You picked those up there?"

"Child, why did you go picking someone else's corn?" The old lady glanced toward the road and spoke in a hushed voice.

"Huh? Isn't all the corn ours?"

"Only this patch is ours!"

Ye Chenghu scratched his head. "I thought all the corn here belonged to us!"

Ye Yaodong set down the basket and cheerfully tossed all the corn from the boy's arms into the sack. "It's fine as long as nobody saw. When I was little, I thought the whole hill belonged to us too. I picked whatever I liked!"

The old lady warned him quietly, "Don't pick other people's crops next time. If they see you, they'll scold you."

"Scold you? They'll chase you all over the hill!"

"Dad, did someone chase you?"

"On the hills or in the sea, your old man tried every bit of fun there was to be had. Come on, let's go home." Ye Yaodong hoisted the corn onto his shoulder again.

"Wait, there's still Yangyang!" The old lady caught hold of Ye Yaodong just as he was about to leave.

"Oh, right! I nearly forgot the little fellow!"

He looked around but couldn't see his younger son. He sent the children to look for him and put down what he was carrying.

"They're all tiny little things, but they sure can run. Where's he hiding?"

"Over here, Third Uncle! Yangyang's sitting on the ground gnawing on a snake gourd!"

Ye Yaodong walked toward the voice and found his younger son sitting on the ground, his head tilted up as he held a snake gourd bigger than his face, looking innocently at everyone.

The snake gourd was still attached to its vine. He hadn't picked it, but he'd already gnawed through the skin. Somehow, he'd managed to find one hanging low enough to reach.

"Why did you hide here to sneak a bite?"

"Dad!"

Ye Chengyang lifted the snake gourd to offer it to his father, but he wasn't strong enough. It dropped as soon as he raised it, swinging on the vine and hitting him on the forehead. He lost his balance and toppled backward, all four limbs in the air...

"Hahaha!"

"Hahahaha! Silly!"

The children laughed at his misfortune without a shred of mercy.

Ye Yaodong didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he watched his younger son, who neither cried nor fussed, roll over and get back up on his hands and feet.

"You're covered in dirt, you filthy little thing. You and your brother are both going to get scolded when we get home."