Good for nothing but making a mess

Once he had secured the boat, Ye Yaodong relaxed and strolled leisurely home. Halfway there, though, he remembered that work on the house would start tomorrow, so he turned around and headed straight for the building plot.

It was his second brother's turn to go out to sea with their father today, while his eldest brother stayed home. Right after breakfast, his eldest brother had said he was going up the hill to carry back some yellow earth. Who knew how many loads he had brought down already? Thinking about it, Ye Yaodong felt rather ashamed...

There really was a reason other people's lives kept improving: hard work brought prosperity. But today was the first day of the lunar month, a rare chance to catch a good tide, and he had already borrowed a boat. He could only leave his eldest brother to work a little harder.

At that thought, he could no longer stroll along so leisurely and quickened his pace.

When he reached the plot, yellow earth had already been piled waist-high around it, but his eldest brother was nowhere to be seen. Only a large jug of tea sat in the shade beneath a tree nearby. His brother had probably gone to fetch more earth. Ye Yaodong leaned against the tree, thinking he might as well go along and lend a hand when he returned.

Since coming back to life, he had already straightened out his attitude.

He had only waited a few minutes when he saw his eldest brother coming over, pushing a two-wheeled barrow.

"Big brother!"

Ye Yaopeng looked up and smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to have a look. Work doesn't start until tomorrow, so why are you getting the yellow earth ready so early?"

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a long gulp of tea before saying, "I'm not going out to sea today, and there isn't much to do at home, so I figured I'd bring back some extra yellow earth first. We'll need it eventually anyway. We'll start working on the actual plot tomorrow, so this doesn't count as starting construction early."

"We're hiring people to do the work anyway. We should just do a few of the easier jobs ourselves."

"This is an easy job. Once construction starts tomorrow, the laborers will have to dig holes, quarry stone up on the hill, and carry it down for the mason to dress. Hauling yellow earth is already one of the lighter jobs."

Ye Yaodong frowned and nodded. "All right. I'll go up the hill with you and lend a hand."

Ye Yaopeng looked at him in surprise. "You want to help?"

"You don't want my help?"

How frustrating. All he wanted was to help out a little, yet everyone acted so surprised.

"Heh, sure. Come up the hill with me in a bit and help with the hoe. We can bring back a few more barrowloads today." It was rare for Third Son to volunteer to work. How could he turn him away?

"I'll only work for a bit. I'm heading back at ten. I've got something to do this afternoon."

Ye Yaopeng's smile stiffened. He had read too much into it after all. Third Son had only come over to look around. It was already eight; he hardly intended to put in a serious day's work. That explained it—he had wondered why his brother had suddenly changed his ways.

Still, it was good that he had come to look around and was willing to help a little. It meant he cared about building the house. That was better than before, when he disappeared all day long. Last night, his wife had told him that Third Son had even helped gather seafood along the shore these past few days. That counted as some progress.

"All right, then come lend me a hand. Once construction starts tomorrow, don't go running off everywhere. It'll be my turn to go out to sea with Dad, leaving our second brother as the only grown man at home. Mom and the others will have to cook for the workers too. They definitely won't be able to manage everything."

"I know."

Ye Yaodong had no idea what his eldest brother was thinking. Even if he had known, he would not have minded, because this was exactly the effect he wanted. A person's transformation could not be too drastic or too sudden.

Once Ye Yaopeng had emptied all the yellow earth from the barrow, Ye Yaodong took hold of its handles. "I'll push. You lead the way."

"All right."

Although the stony dirt road made pushing awkward, the barrow was empty and still fairly easy to move. Just a few years ago, everyone building a house had carried yellow earth and stones down from the hill one shoulder-pole load at a time.

Those materials cost nothing. They only needed people to carry them down from the hill.

Houses were built without cement back then. Instead, yellow earth from the hill was mixed with sand, spread onto the stones, and left to dry once they were stacked. Not many people used bricks. After all, they thought stone cost nothing and made sturdy houses.

For a two-story house, bricks were only used on the upper floor. Stones were too heavy and difficult to stack that high, making bricks the easier option.

In fact, there was little difference in cost between the two. Bricks had to be bought, but stones required hired labor to move them, and the masons who dressed them charged even higher wages.

Although it was still morning, the sun was already scorching. Ye Yaodong was drenched in sweat after walking only a short distance.

As soon as Ye Yaopeng reached their destination, he picked up a hoe. "Good thing I brought two baskets. I'll dig, and you can empty them into the barrow when they're full."

"All right!"

With two baskets, Ye Yaodong could lift and empty one while Ye Yaopeng continued filling the other. Working together was indeed faster than working alone.

Before long, the barrow was full.

"I'll push this back. Why don't you dig out some more earth and have it ready? That'll save us wasting time going back and forth. One person can push this just fine."

Ye Yaopeng nodded. "Sure, we'll take turns. I'll push the next load."

"Mm."

He actually would not have minded pushing every load. He was only going to work for an hour or two before heading home anyway, so there would not be many trips. What he had not expected was that he would tip the barrow over...

He had barely pushed it any distance when a wheel struck a stone at a bend. He failed to keep it balanced, and it tipped onto its side...

Seeing what had happened, Ye Yaopeng walked over. He gave his frowning brother a look that was hard to put into words, then patted his shoulder. "It's fine. Just load it back up. This road's rough anyway. Once you've pushed it a few more times, you won't tip it over."

Ye Yaodong really was rather frustrated. He had never pushed this kind of barrow before, so that was the only consolation he could offer himself.

"Good thing it was you who saw that. If Dad had seen it, he'd probably have given me another scolding for being hopeless."

"If you help out and work harder, Dad won't scold you. Let's load the earth back up first."

He curled his lip. Oh, please. How hardworking were his two older brothers? They still got scolded whenever they didn't do a job right!

Once they had loaded it back up, Ye Yaopeng would not let him push again, lest he spill it a second time. "I'll push. You go dig out some more yellow earth."

"All right, then."

Good for nothing but making a mess. Gathering seafood along the shore was more his specialty!

After helping up on the hill for quite a while, he figured it was about time and headed home ahead of his brother.

After swinging the hoe for so long, he was starving. He hurried home to get something to fill his stomach and prepare his tools for gathering seafood.

Seeing him return drenched in sweat with his face bright red, Lin Xiuqing asked curiously, "Weren't you borrowing a boat? Why do you look like you've been working? You look as if someone just fished you out of the water."

"I was working. It was still early when I left A-Guang's place, so I went to help my eldest brother."

Everyone looked at him in astonishment. He had actually volunteered to help haul yellow earth?

Was that really true?

Seeing their doubtful expressions, Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. "Don't I have a share in the house too? If I didn't help with some of the work, wouldn't Dad break my legs?"

That was true enough!

It was only because Father Ye had been going out to sea these past few days. Otherwise, the house would have echoed with him scolding Ye Yaodong every day.