Working together

Lin Xiuqing headed home first, clutching the hefty sum of money to her chest. He had made some money, so she thought it was only right for him to celebrate with his friends. She wasn't petty.

By the time she got home, everyone in the Ye family had finished work and returned from the house plot too.

"Qing, I heard Yaodong had a pretty good haul on that island today. How much did he sell it for?" Ye Eldest Sister-in-Law asked curiously.

Ye Second Sister-in-Law also watched her with keen interest.

Lin Xiuqing smiled. "Not much. Most of it was shellfish, and it's all piled up in the backyard. I'll need you both to help shuck the oysters later, so we can have something extra with our meals tomorrow."

With that, she turned and went inside. Wealth was best kept out of sight. Why would she blurt out the amount and make people jealous? Just yesterday, Ye Second Sister-in-Law had been complaining that things weren't fair.

Ye Second Sister-in-Law curled her lip. Fine, keep it to yourself!

Lin Xiuqing put the small-denomination notes on the bed and counted them again. Once she confirmed the amount was right, she took out the money from the shellfish she'd just sold and counted that too. Only the small abalones were worth much. The sea snails and pen shells were cheap, but there had been plenty of them, and all those shells made them quite heavy. Altogether, they had sold for over eight yuan.

Including the money Mother Ye had given her earlier from A-Dong's sales, more than four hundred yuan had come in that day. That was a considerable sum for their family—more than she earned weaving fishing nets for an entire year.

The seafood gathered over the previous two days had also sold for six or seven yuan altogether. Clutching the money, Lin Xiuqing felt that life held a little promise again, and she couldn't help placing a little more hope in Ye Yaodong.

He really did seem to have changed for the better these past few days.

After putting all the money away, she went out to help shuck oysters. The other shellfish needed sorting too, so they would be ready to cook the next day.

The next morning, Ye Yaodong woke up late after drinking too much the night before. By the time he got up, everyone had left except Old Lady, who was watering the vegetable patch in the backyard.

"Grandma, did they all go help out at the house?"

Old Lady smiled, her old face creasing all over. "Yes. There's rice porridge and dried fish keeping warm in the wok. Go eat. You must've worn yourself out yesterday, huh? You've gotten tanned all over."

"I'm fine. A little tan is healthy. Grandma, I've made some money these past couple of days. Today's Saturday, so on Monday I'll take you to the County Hospital and get you fitted for removable dentures."

"What? No, no." Old Lady quickly waved her hands. "At my age, why waste that money? I can just eat fish. I don't like meat! I'm not going!"

"Didn't we already agree on this a couple of days ago? Just listen to me."

"No, no, I'm not going. It's not often you earn a bit of money. Keep it for yourself. Don't buy them for me."

"I heard they're pretty cheap. They don't cost much..."

"I'm still not going! Hurry up and eat!" Old Lady pushed him along as she spoke.

Ye Yaodong smiled. He would just take Old Lady there on Monday, then.

After a simple breakfast, he headed straight for the house plot.

Before he even arrived, he saw workers coming and going along the road, carrying large stones, hauling shoulder loads of gravel, and pushing carts of yellow earth. His mother had said they'd hired more than a dozen workers.

When he reached the plot, he saw his second brother working with the laborers, carrying stones into a large pit and laying them flat.

An experienced mason was chiseling stones nearby.

The pit had probably been dug yesterday. Back then, houses in the countryside weren't built on driven piles. They simply dug thirty or forty centimeters into the ground and filled the hole with stones, and that counted as the foundation.

Mother Ye happened to arrive with a shoulder load of gravel. Spotting him, she immediately said, "Since you're not gathering seafood today, you're not allowed to run off either. Stay here and help, or I'll tell your father when he gets back."

Ye Yaodong gave his mother a helpless look. He had come to help in the first place.

"I know."

"The gloves are over by the stones."

"Oh. Where are Qing and the kids?"

"She's up on the hill helping shovel yellow earth. That's a little easier. The kids are by the stream, playing and helping pick up pebbles."

He nodded and, under his mother's watchful gaze, went to help his second brother move stones.

Mother Ye watched for a while before picking up her carrying pole and bamboo baskets, satisfied, and going off to fetch more gravel.

As for his disreputable friends, they began arriving one after another after he'd been moving stones for a while, joining in to help carry them.

The workers were all older villagers. Seeing this bunch actually show some diligence for once and come over to help, they offered plenty of praise, saying the young men were finally shaping up...

It left them all a little embarrassed!

They were used to being criticized. Suddenly getting praised one day made them feel rather awkward...

A-Zheng whispered, "We've always been the sort nobody could stand. Hearing them praise us suddenly makes me feel like I've actually amounted to something..."

Xiao Xiao nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Yesterday I brought home a whole sack of shellfish, and my wife was positively beaming. When I gave her my share of the money, you wouldn't believe how affectionate she got."

"My mother too. She praised me to the skies and even said I could catch another chicken next time I wanted some!"

"Well, look at the treatment you're getting... Poor me, all on my own, with nobody to praise me. I can only keep the money for myself..."

Of all the things to say... Everyone turned a fierce stare on A-Guang. "How about a few rounds tonight?"

Once they'd handed over their money, their pockets were empty again. Fatty and Chen Wei hadn't even received a share yet. After that remark from A-Guang, they would feel they'd let themselves down if they didn't win a few rounds off him!

A-Guang's eyes widened, and he instinctively covered his pocket. "I'm not playing. I've quit gambling!"

"You've got some nerve saying that. You're usually the one shouting loudest for a game!"

"Starting today!"

Everyone rolled their eyes together!

What had been dull, tedious work became a little more enjoyable with their friends joining in, even as they hauled and lifted.

When they finished work toward evening, Mother Ye quietly asked Ye Yaodong, "Should we pay your friends half a day's wages?"

"No need. Just feed them. They won't be helping for many days, and they won't come every day either."

"All right, then. I won't put them down."

After two days of work, Ye Yaodong didn't go on Monday, and none of his friends went either.

The night before, he'd discussed it with Lin Xiuqing: he would take Old Lady to the County Hospital on Monday to get fitted for dentures, so he wouldn't be going to work the next day. He asked her to let his mother know.

Lin Xiuqing gritted her teeth, unlocked the drawer, and counted out fifty yuan for him. "Here. Will that be enough?"

He had earned it over the past few days, after all. The pang of parting with it would only last a little while, and Old Lady really did dote on him.

Ye Yaodong hugged her and kissed her cheek. He'd known his wife was sensible. She wouldn't begrudge the money and stop him from doing something for Old Lady.

"It won't cost this much. I'll bring you whatever's left."

"Okay."

On Monday morning, Old Lady adamantly refused to go, insisting that she didn't have much longer to live and there was no need to waste money.

Ye Yaodong stood his ground too. "If you won't come with me, I'll go get a set myself. If they don't fit, we'll have to spend even more money getting them adjusted!"

Old Lady was so angry it made her ache. She smacked him several times before reluctantly following him out.

She was afraid of spending extra money too.