"Bandits!" Ye Chengyang called out in his babyish voice too, sounding rather cute.
Ye Yaodong reached out and pinched his cheek. "They're not bandits. They're locusts. When locusts sweep through, nothing's left. Got it?"
"Little Maternal Uncle, I know, I know! They're grasshoppers. We used to roast grasshoppers to eat. They were really tasty, like shrimp."
"Come on, come on, let's go catch grasshoppers..."
Ye Eldest Sister-in-Law slapped Ye Chenghai mercilessly across the back of his head. "Catch my ass! There's a pile of work waiting for you, and you still dare run off? I'll break your legs. Every single day, you run around everywhere without ever helping with anything. You take your brothers and sisters off all day, nowhere to be seen, and you're as black as coal. I ought to chop your legs off."
"You're only getting away with it because you're my mother..."
Rubbing the back of his head, Ye Chenghai submitted to his mother's tyranny and only dared mutter that one line in a small, feeble voice.
Ye Eldest Sister-in-Law had sharp ears!
She shot him a lethal glare, and Ye Chenghai immediately lost his nerve, racing into the house faster than a rabbit. "I'll get a stool and come help right now."
With Ye Chenghai's example before them, none of the others dared make any rash moves. They could only stand obediently in place, afraid to go anywhere.
Wanting the bustle of a crowd and the convenience of chatting, they piled all their haul outside Ye Yaopeng's and Ye Yaohua's doors, keeping each household's in a different corner so nothing got mixed up. They had already divided the household, so it was fairer for each family to sort its own.
Father Ye's and Mother Ye's haul was mixed in with Ye Yaodong's, so naturally they