Borrowing a boat

Ye Yaodong looked helplessly at the old lady. "Grandma, I'm all grown up now, not a little kid anymore. Don't sneak eggs for me next time. If Mom finds out, she'll skin me alive!"

"It's fine. If you don't tell her, she won't know. Go out and play for a while, then come back after you've eaten them."

Ah, in the old lady's eyes, he was still a child!

"Go on, go on. Go play. Don't stand in the doorway."

Under her urging, he had no choice but to head out. He had already planned to check in at A-Guang's place, but now he felt a little more urgency.

He was desperate to earn money and buy the old lady a set of removable dentures. Now that he had promised, he wanted to make it happen as soon as possible. Given her age, even without a fall, she didn't have many years left.

He had gotten up a little early today. When he reached A-Guang's house, A-Guang was still in bed.

"What time is it?" A-Guang was still hugging his quilt, half asleep, his words muffled.

"It was six thirty when I left home. Must be around six forty now!"

"Huh?" A-Guang raised his head in disbelief and opened one eye. "Are you nuts? Do you know how early it is? We don't even have work. What are you doing here at this hour?"

"Getting you up to take a piss!"

"Fuck, you want a nice hot drink? Get lost!" He pulled the sheet over his head.

Ye Yaodong grabbed a corner of the sheet and tugged. "Get up. The sun's already high in the sky. At this rate, will you even manage to get up for work at Yujing Wharf tomorrow?"

"Quit bothering me. Tomorrow's tomorrow! Did you take an aphrodisiac today or something? Why are you up so early?"

"Early to bed, early to rise keeps you healthy. Hurry up and borrow that boat!"

"What's the rush? Look at the time. The tide won't go out until noon anyway. Quit bugging me, or I won't borrow it at all." A-Guang snatched the sheet out of his hand, pinned it beneath himself, clamped it between his legs, and closed his eyes again.

"What are you squeezing that sheet for? It's not a woman."

"What does squeezing a sheet have to do with women? Can't a man squeeze a sheet?"

"You wouldn't understand, you little greenhorn. Get up, and I'll tell you."

Ye Yaodong's pestering was giving A-Guang a headache. He scratched his bird's nest of hair and sat straight up. "For fuck's sake, will you give it a rest? Even if we borrow it now, we can't leave right away. The tide hasn't gone out."

"At least we'll know sooner whether we can borrow it!"

"I swear, what's gotten into you these past couple of days? You're actually this eager to go out to sea!"

"Yep, I'm going crazy thinking about money. You're awake anyway, so don't go back to sleep. Get up and ask."

Pestered beyond endurance, A-Guang had no choice but to climb out of bed and get dressed, grumbling all the while. "Unbelievable. How did I ever end up being buddies with you? You won't even let me sleep this early in the morning. Wouldn't you rather stay home cuddling your wife?"

"My wife's already up. My whole family's up!"

"So I have to get up too?"

Looking at his resentful expression, Ye Yaodong grinned and slung an arm around his shoulders. "We're good buddies, aren't we? Shouldn't you share my sense of urgency?"

A-Guang gave him a sidelong glance, then caught him off guard by opening his mouth and breathing right in his face...

Ye Yaodong's pupils contracted, and his features instantly scrunched together. Clapping a hand over his nose and mouth, he sprang to the side. "Holy shit... that's fucking vile... fuck..."

"That breath of immortality will extend your life by ten years. No need to thank me!"

"You bastard! If I die twenty years early, it'll definitely be because of you!"

A-Guang looked rather pleased with himself. With one casual breath, he had avenged his early wake-up call. A fine stroke of accidental genius~

"That's what you get for coming over and disturbing my sleep first thing in the morning. I get cranky when I wake up too!"

"Fuck, that's not morning crankiness. That's miasma, poison gas! You nearly stank me to death, fjjigerzn¥*％~" After cursing him a few more times, Ye Yaodong went to wait by the door.

If he stayed beside him, who knew what other unidentified gases might come out!

But after sitting by the door for ages without seeing A-Guang emerge, he had to go back inside, only to find him standing by the back door, pulling up his trousers and fastening his belt.

"You just finished taking a dump, huh? Took you long enough. Perfect timing-come and eat."

A-Guang glared at him. "Could you please add 'breakfast'? Come and eat breakfast!"

His eyes gleamed with amusement. "Same thing. Hurry over and eat. It's still nice and hot, just right for your mouth!"

"You $&d\£%gu¥¥&*~ I'll eat when I get back!" Cursing, A-Guang headed straight outside. As if he didn't know what this guy was up to! He thought A-Guang was dawdling and was prodding him into borrowing the boat, even resorting to something that disgusting.

Ye Yaodong sat at the table with one leg crossed over the other and waited. A-Guang's aunt didn't live far from his house; she, too, had married someone from the same village.

He figured that since they had nothing to do anyway and were already up, they might as well ask early and put their minds at ease. He genuinely believed there would be far more to gather on an isolated island than at the wharf. Thinking of his recent good luck, he was getting a little carried away.

He waited patiently for less than half an hour before A-Guang returned.

"My aunt and uncle agreed to lend it to us, but the old lady in their family wouldn't. I said we'd rent it from her-two yuan for half a day starting at noon, with us paying for the fuel. Only then did she agree."

An ordinary laborer didn't even earn two yuan for a full day's work. Paying that much for half a day's rental, with fuel on top, was hardly a small sum.

"Yeah, that's fine. Even brothers should keep their accounts straight. It's only fair for her to charge us. This one's on me. I've got two yuan right here." He had happened to find two yuan in his pocket yesterday. He had thought about buying cigarettes, but couldn't bear to spend it.

A-Guang pushed it straight back. "Hey, what's that for? It's only two yuan. I paid, so let me pay. It doesn't matter. I won a few yuan at cards yesterday anyway."

"One thing's one thing, another's another. I'm the one who asked you to borrow a boat and go out to sea, so of course it's on me. Take it. It's only two yuan."

"I've already paid, so forget it. Use those two yuan to buy diesel instead."

"All right, then."

It really wasn't much money, so there was no need to keep pushing it back and forth. Buying diesel with it worked just as well.

A-Guang propped one foot on the stool and picked up his bowl and chopsticks. "Can I finally eat my breakfast in peace now?"

"Go ahead. I wasn't stopping you. You were the one in a hurry." Ye Yaodong lounged in a chair beside him, bouncing his foot and grinning.

A-Guang rewarded him with an enormous eye roll.

"The tide should be fully out by twelve. Head to the wharf a little earlier, around ten thirty, to buy diesel. I'll go with you then to take the boat out."

"Sure, no problem. Since there's nothing else to do now, I'll head home. If A-Zheng and the others come over later, let them know."

"This could've been sorted out in a few minutes, but you just had to fucking come wake me up this early." A-Guang's resentment ran deep. He rarely got up so early when he had nothing to do.

"I'm training you, aren't I? What if you can't get up once you start working at the wharf? If you're really bored, why not go lie down again?"

"Get lost!"

"You got it!"