Once they had decided to head home, Ye Yaodong was happy too.
Lying on the boat at night, gazing at the stars scattered across the sky, he felt completely relaxed. After being away for so long, he really did miss home.
After drifting around away from home for a while, he missed its warmth even more. He also missed having all the children crowd around him, calling him Dad or Third Uncle and asking him to do this or that. He used to find them annoying, but now he missed them terribly.
He missed his wife too. On their occasional phone calls, all he heard were her reminders and concern. When he told her he had sent money home, her happiness lasted only a moment. What came through the phone more often was her worry, urging him to come home soon.
The Old Lady was the same. Partway through a call, he would hear what sounded like her wiping away tears, and even her voice would change.
With this second chance at life, having these loved ones was enough. He did not want much.
Thinking that way made him want to head home immediately. He could hardly wait.
The others beside him were tossing and turning too. Now that they really were going home, none of them could quite get to sleep.
Ye Yaodong also calculated how much he had earned during this time. He had sent back over 2,000 the first time. The second and third times, he had transferred the money home as soon as he scraped together another 2,000. Now he still had over 1,100 on hand.
Over this past month or so, it had rained on and off for ten-odd days. On top of that, they had kept changing their stopping places, and finding villages had