Fortunately, his surname was simple. The two characters in Ye San took only a few strokes, much easier to write than the three characters in Ye Yaodong.
"All done, Dad? I'm finished here."
"I'm pretty much done too. Just let it air out until it's dry."
Ye Yaodong put the brushes back into their respective buckets and checked his watch. Just that little bit of work had taken them past midnight, even with him and his father working at the same time.
"What time is it?"
"Past twelve. Leaving it to dry for a couple of hours should be enough. It won't matter if the color fades a little."
"Mm. Pack everything up and take it home on the handcart first. When the tide comes in later, I'll come out with you and go along when you take the boat to town. We can keep each other company."
With something this big, Father Ye simply couldn't feel at ease leaving him to handle it alone. He had to keep an eye on things from start to finish.
Two heads were better than one.
Ye Yaodong had no objection.
Seeing his father already packing up the tools, he started circling the fishing boat again. He couldn't seem to get enough of looking at it. He absolutely loved it.
Only after circling it over and over did he say, "Dad, it looks like there's still quite a bit of white paint left. Let's paint the cabin too. It's up top anyway, so we don't have to worry about it getting soaked before it dries. If we're giving it a new look, we might as well go all the way. Another coat here will make it even harder to recognize."
"That works. Let's paint the cabin too while the tide's still out."
Ye