After they knelt down together and offered incense, they took turns kneeling down and talking.
First, he told his ancestors to eat and drink well down there, and to pay attention to accepting the paper money they would burn for him later, as well as the TV sets, sewing machines, and refrigerators they would burn.
If you didn’t enjoy happiness when you were alive, you should enjoy happiness when you die...
After chatting for a while, they started to make wishes again.
Everyone knew Uncle Ye's thoughts as soon as he went up the mountain.
He lived up to expectations. He made a wish for Mr. Ye to bless their family with good fortune, a prosperous future for their descendants, a safe trip abroad, a lot of money, and a glorious return...
Ye's father is happy that Xu's family is safe.
Everyone spoke to their ancestors, and some children only knelt down and worshiped without making any wishes.
Father Ye saw that Ye Yaodong was very calm today and was a little confused. He was the best talker before and had many tricks on him.
"Dongzi, why didn't you listen to the wish you made to your ancestors today?"
Do you think your ancestors are the bastards of the wishing pool? How can they be so clever?
Ye Yaodong cursed in his heart, but he said it nicely.
"My big wish was made the year before last, but I won't allow it. My ancestors have already kept it in mind and left the opportunity to you."
Uncle Ye quickly said: "Yes, your wishes the year before last were too great. Your ancestors have blessed you. It's okay if you don't make them this year. Don't frighten your ancestors and not come up. By the way, we can also let your ancestors listen to us."
sound."
Ye Yaodong's mouth twitched, but he had nothing to say, and turned to look at the large group of noisy children in the open space in front of him.
It is estimated that the number has grown to two to three hundred, and these are all those who followed them up the mountain to ask for tomb cakes.
The children were whispering to each other and making noisy noises. The older ones were in their teens and the younger ones were only three or four years old. They were running and jumping around in the open space, and their children were also noisy together.
As soon as they walked out of the house with brooms and sickles, the children in the village began to follow them, and the team continued to grow.
All the children who were originally following other tomb-sweeping teams were attracted and followed.
Everyone in the village knows him, and this is really not a boast. From the 80-year-old old man and woman to the three- to five-year-old kid who can run and jump, everyone knows that Ye Yaodong is rich.
Since his family went to sweep the grave, they would definitely follow him. What if there was a cent? What if there was an extra cent?
Many people have heard that he split the money the year before last.
At this moment, while they were weeding, adding incense and burning paper money, there were more and more people on the hilltop, and from a distance, they could see a large group of people running towards here.
Ye Yaopeng came over with a sad look on his face, "Why are there so many people here...the prepared cakes are not enough..."
Ye Yaohua was also in a dilemma, "I only ordered one load, 100 pieces. Now there are two to three hundred people asking for tomb cakes, and there are still people running here..."
The other cousins ​​felt worried when they saw people constantly walking towards their cemetery. They also walked towards their brothers and wanted to discuss what to do.
It is a custom to sweep tombs during the Qingming Festival, and it is also their custom here to ask for tomb cakes. People cannot be driven away casually.
"Otherwise, we should distribute them in advance and set off firecrackers immediately after distribution. Then people who come back will say there are no more."
"Then it's not enough now? Why are they all coming here? It didn't look like there were that many people at the beginning, but now there are more and more people."
"If we don't have enough tomb cakes, why don't we just give them money? Let's see how much money we have and chip in together. When the tomb cakes are not enough, give them 5 cents each and let them go."
"If you don't get enough points, you can only give out money."
"Then let's put it together first. This load is definitely not enough. How much did you bring?"
"I didn't bring much money, only one or two yuan. I didn't do anything, so I didn't bring more..."
"It's enough for each person to chip in a few dollars. When we get back, we'll settle the accounts..."
Ye Yaodong saw them all digging into their pockets and counting money, so he decided to work together and deal with the large group of children first.
He also touched the pockets inside and outside of his coat and took out stacks of one-cent banknotes. Others stared at him as he kept asking for them.
"Dongzi..."
"Dongzi, you brought so much money..."
"Why do you bring so many?"
Ye Yaodong folded 5 banknotes tied with rubber bands on his palm and said: "The rain stopped this morning, it's Sunday again, and the children don't have to go to school. I thought there would be many people begging for tomb cakes today, so I went out
I grabbed a few wads of dime notes beforehand, just in case."
"It looks like a lot of money, but it's only 50 yuan. Let's collect all your money first. These 5 wads of 10 cents are enough."
Everyone quickly took their money back and spoke to each other with smiles on their faces.
"You were so thoughtful and brought some change for easy distribution."
"I didn't expect that so many children would all follow us up the mountain. Those who were originally following others also came running over."
"It must be all because of Dongzi. He is a famous person in several villages near us. Those children heard that they are sweeping our graves, so why don't they all come with us?"
"Yes, they must all be here for a rich man like Dongzi."
Ye Yaosheng looked at everyone's expressions of secret amusement and said with a smile: "Since Dongzi's here are all 10 cents, it's convenient. Let's take this first and give it away. Anyway, it's just 50 yuan. We can press the button when the payment is finished."
We will divide the heads among our brothers."
Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua nodded one after another, "I have no objection."
"I don't have any objection either."
The others looked at each other and could only agree, "Let's divide it first. Go tell Dad and the others. Let's divide the money first, so as not to wait until they finish burning the paper money and there will be more people."
"First divide the tomb cakes, keep the money, and don't let those children see it, otherwise they will all be very smart and have to hide behind to share the money, and don't want the cake."
"Yes, Dongzi collect the money first, and we will carry the two baskets of bread and divide them first."
"OK."
Ye Yaodong put the money back into his pocket.
Their brothers and cousins ​​assigned their jobs to each other, so he didn't need to worry about it or say anything.
The three brothers, Father Ye, had been kneeling there talking to their father nonchalantly and burning paper money. They did not notice that there were more and more people on the mountain.
When I told them, they were shocked and immediately told them to go and distribute the tomb cakes first.
When the firecrackers are finished, set off the firecrackers, and don't worry about anyone coming again.
Ye Chenghai, Ye Chengjiang and other members of their family also followed to help and stood at the intersection, stood on a high place, went to supervise to see if anyone had received it, and then ran over and pretended not to receive it, and received it a second time.
Although there were many people begging for tomb cakes, there were also a lot of people in their family, so they all helped distribute them and supervised them, so it was very orderly.
It's just that the people in the front received the tomb cakes. After the load of tomb cakes in the back was distributed, Ye Yaodong took out a bundle of one-cent banknotes, which made the children's eyes brighten.
"Leave after you've received it. If you come back a second time, you'll be beaten."
"Is the rest going to be paid?" The lucky man standing in front was very excited.
"Well, pay the rest, take it and leave. If you come back the second time, it will be confiscated and you will be beaten."
"Don't crowd, don't crowd, everyone has a share, and those in front are not allowed to look back."
The children who had received the cakes had not yet left when they saw money being handed out at the back. They all looked down at the bunch of cakes around their necks, and tears of frustration almost fell.
"If we don't want the cake, can we..."
"If there is not enough money, we will give out money temporarily. Stop making trouble and go down the mountain."
A group of children were very excited. When they saw the money being distributed, no one was willing to give in and did not want to leave. They were noisy for a while.
But they couldn't resist the army of people collecting money, so they could only watch helplessly from the side, and then they didn't dare to waste time, so they could only follow the others and continue to go to other people's houses to beg for tomb cakes.
However, everyone secretly vowed in their hearts that next year when they come to visit the grave with their family, they must save it until the end to pick it up, and they must not squeeze to the front again because of the rush.
They regretted missing a dime and their intestines turned green.
That's only ten cents, and their daily pocket money can only be two cents at most, and some parents don't give them any pocket money at all.
After sending all the children away, they began to give them to their own children.
Everyone was already waiting there with glaring eyes.
"Third uncle, you are so wise. It's great to give out money."
"Isn't it good to give out money? Buy whatever you want." Ye Yaodong said with a smile.
"Those who have just received the pie are so angry. Next year when they come to our house to ask for tomb pie, they will definitely not be in the front."
Ye Yaodong paid them double, two cents per person, and listened to them excitedly complimenting him with all kinds of compliments. They kept saying good things and he was very happy.
In fact, it didn't cost much, including my family, it only cost about thirty yuan, but it made everyone excited.
He said to the other brothers: "Next year, there is no need to specially order light cakes. We can just pay them directly. It will save trouble."
"I never thought there would be so many people..."
"Whoever made Dongzi rich...it's all because of him. Okay, let's set off the firecrackers quickly, otherwise people will come later, and dad and the others will have them set up over there."
After the crackling firecrackers were set off, everyone took their own hoes, sickles, and brooms and walked down the mountain.
The children at home immediately rushed to the nearby cemetery after receiving the money.
The family's tomb sweeping had already delayed their request for tomb cakes. Now that it was over, they had to hurry up and get to the scene.
As they walked down the mountain, they also asked Ye Yaodong to calculate the money they had just given out so that they could distribute it among their brothers.
Originally, Uncle Ye wanted the three brothers from the older generation to share in three parts, but Uncle Ye disagreed.
"I only have one son now, and you all have three or five, so wouldn't I be at a disadvantage again? Anyway, they are all married and have separated their families. It's up to their brothers to share it equally, and we are all half
How can we divide it among the three of us if we have our feet in the ground?"
Erbo Ye said: "The repair of the tomb will be shared equally by our three families, so won't the expenses for visiting the tomb also be shared by our three families?"
"You have more grandchildren, and the money you just received is also more. If you share less, you will get more. Of course you say so."
"Originally, we three brothers should be divided equally, but we are going to the grave of our biological father. So if my son has more children, I still suffer a loss? I have to pay more? How can this make sense."
Father Ye had a headache watching them arguing back and forth, "It's not much money, just thirty yuan. We are getting old. In a few years we won't be able to walk or climb the mountain. In the future, we will definitely have to go to the grave with our brothers."
.”
"If we divide it among nine brothers, it only costs 4 yuan per person. That's it. It's just a grave visit once a year. There's nothing to argue about. Whoever's in trouble has more trouble, let's give in."
"From now on, the two brothers will have to visit the grave. There's nothing wrong with dividing their heads equally, that's all."
Ye Yaodong immediately echoed his father's words. He didn't care about this. It was just a small amount of money. He would support whatever his father said.
"I have no objection."
Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua also quickly agreed, "Then just listen to dad, we don't have any objections."
Uncle Ye had already dug into his pocket and handed 4 yuan to Ye Yaodong, intending to settle down.
Brothers Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua also said quickly: "Dongzi, we will give you the money when we get back. We don't have that kind of money with us."
"Give it to dad. He has prepared all our sacrifices. After you calculate it, give it to him and he will keep it for me first."
Uncle Ye saw that both of them had no objections. Thinking that Ye Yaodong had to help give the number, he accepted it.
"Okay then, let's count you brothers."
Father Ye didn't expect such a good thing. Dongzi spent money and he received money.
With a smile, he quickly put down the burden of the sacrifices and asked Ye Yaopeng to pick them up while he waited to collect the money.
However, several members of Uncle Ye's family also complained that they didn't have that much money with them and said they would get it together when they got back.
After entering the village, Uncle Ye and the others all followed Ye Yaodong instead of going to their own homes, saying they would get the number first.
Ye Yaodong followed them, gave him the number, and let them do whatever they wanted.
But he also reminded me.
"Today is the Qingming Festival. Lao Hai must have gone back to his hometown to visit his graves in the past two days. You should not be able to find anyone if you call now."
"Ah, yes, let's wait two days before making a call."
"Um."
Uncle Ye hesitated for a moment, said nothing, took the number and left.
Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua each took 4 yuan at this time and handed it to Father Ye.
Father Ye had already reached out to take it, but Mother Ye took it away.
"What kind of money is this? Why did each of you give 4 yuan to your father?"
The two brothers looked at each other, and Ye Yaopeng hesitated whether to say that Dongzi paid and his father received the money.
I wonder if his father will be scolded.
Ye Yaohua said honestly: "This is the money Dongzi gave us when we were sweeping the tomb and dividing the tomb cakes. We brothers shared it together, 4 yuan per person."
"So much? Why give it to your father?"
Father Ye snatched the money from her hand and said, "Dongzi asked me to keep it for him first, and then we can send the boat to him later to refuel and add ice. We will go to sea tomorrow night."
Ye Yaodong burst out laughing after hearing this. His father's excuse was so clever that it was difficult for him to think so quickly at the moment.
When Ye Mu heard that this was done for a reason, she didn't say anything.
Father Ye quickly stuffed the money into his pocket, sat down to eat naturally, poured himself a glass of wine, and then said to the somewhat confused boss and laoer.
"It should be good weather tomorrow. You should prepare yourself and go to sea at night."
"Oh, okay."
"You all go back to eat, what are you doing here stupidly? I'll stew the chicken and duck tonight, and I'll fill a bowl for you, just in time to make up for the trip to the sea."
"oh."
Ye's mother was curious about how Uncle Ye had just come over to ask for Lao Hai's number. She left the matter of Ye's father collecting money behind and turned to ask Ye Yaodong.
Ye Yaodong told her the story.
Mother Ye slammed the table, "Okay, let's talk about how I have been hearing recently that he is asking people to find out if they have taken people to work abroad."
"The ambition is very big. I even have this idea, why not just stay at home? Who knows whether it will work, whether the person I find is reliable, and what if the money is wasted?"
Ye Yaodong said matter-of-factly: "That's why they set their sights on Lao Hai. They have also met so many overseas Chinese in their hometown, and they feel that our family is capable and there is a higher chance of asking our family for help."
"I know how to figure it out all day long, and the relatives I just met want to take advantage of it."
He shook his shoulders and said nothing.
"Sending someone abroad costs a lot of money, right? Can they afford it?"
"Who knows, it's none of our business anyway."
"Yes, it's none of our business. If you give them the number, they can contact them themselves. If they ask you to borrow money, you don't want to borrow it."
"I went to sea at night and was not at home."
Ye Mu quickly turned to Ah Qing and told Ah Qing, "Don't borrow it. If they come to borrow money, you can say that Ah Dong is not here and you can't make the decision, or you can say that you have booked another boat and you don't have any money."
Lin Xiuqing said with a smile: "Why are you so afraid of them borrowing money? I feel like I am facing a formidable enemy."
"Your second uncle is a very good man. As the saying goes, the boss is evil, the second is a treacherous person, and the third is stupid..."
Father Ye was not happy to hear this, "How did you say that?"
Mother Ye glanced at him and continued: "If you borrow it, you may never get it back. Then the excuse will be that I am working outside and it is inconvenient to remit money. It will take a few years."
"It's the uncle who owes the money. Why should I spend my hard-earned money on others? I can't bear to spend it myself, so why should I borrow it? Just keep it and spend it myself. No one should borrow it."
Father Ye said: "Then if I really ask for help, you can't push it away. Don't say it's too much, just give me a little. Everyone knows that our family is rich, and they also go abroad for their children..."
"He left his mother's country and smuggled across the country. If he was caught, he wouldn't be able to pay back the money if he was sent back to his country. I don't want to lend money to outsiders..."
"You are biased."
"I'm just biased against them."
"It's none of your business, I didn't borrow money from you..."
"You can't borrow it from my son. I've already defrauded my two sons. It's two thousand yuan, and I don't know if they will be able to pay it back in their lifetime."
Father Ye threw down his chopsticks unhappily, "Then their family is already very miserable, and they are also my brothers. You can't force them to die."
"Then it's true that they owe money."
"You have no humanity at all. You are my brother after all. If you were your own brother or sister, would you still be so harsh? I think you would have borrowed money from your own money."
"Then my brothers and sisters are not so deceitful and scheming."
"As for you brothers and sisters, your mind is as small as the tip of a needle and you remember everything."
"I'm just being petty. If you're big-minded and generous, you borrow. Anyway, he's your brother. If you have money, you can borrow it yourself. I'll see how much money you have to borrow..."
Father Ye was so angry that he blew his beard and stared, "I haven't even asked for a loan yet, so you are afraid of this."
"I'm not afraid, I'm just just in case. Do you dare to think that they can get the money to smuggle someone out of the country? I heard that it costs thousands of dollars to send someone abroad."
"You haven't even asked me to borrow it yet. You're still talking here."
"I'm saying this in advance to save you all from being so loose-minded. Think about it, how long does it take an average family to save a few thousand yuan? How many years does it take for an average family to save? Why should I borrow it? My money is blown away by the wind?"
"I've already said it, and I didn't ask you to borrow it. You are very funny, and you keep talking. I haven't done anything, and you are just talking here and there."
"Would you like a bet? If they don't come to borrow money, I'll chop off my head and use it as a stool for you to sit on."
Father Ye had nothing to say. He also believed that there was a high probability that Uncle Ye would come to borrow money.
But he felt that it was not a bad thing to work abroad. Not to mention borrowing a lot, as relatives, each family would help borrow a little. Isn't this also the right thing to do?
As for such a big reaction? It's not like Ye Yaohong did at the beginning, they were here to defraud money, they were sending their grandson to work abroad.
Moreover, my family is not poor. Considering that we are all a family, it is okay to borrow a little to help.
"You have nothing to say?" Mother Ye looked at him with disdain, "You must think so too, but you still insist on saying that you are stupid. You are stupid."
"You are smart, treat anyone who makes you suffer as an enemy."
"Hey, that's true!"
Father Ye glared at her angrily, drank the wine in his glass, and stopped talking to her.
Ye's mother continued to ramble on, but Ye's father pretended not to hear, and just ate and drank by himself.
Ye Yaodong only felt that his ears were hurt.
Even before he went to his house to borrow money, and before he could do anything, his mother was already chattering unhappily, and she had already had a quarrel with his father over something that hadn't happened yet.
The old lady also had her head drooped and said nothing. She only took care of Ye Xiaoxi's meal.
Lin Xiuqing couldn't get in the middle of the argument between the two elders, so she had to go out to find her two sons.
It was Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang who came back excitedly carrying two large skewers of cakes, just like clay figures, and ended the intermittent quarrel between Ye's father and Ye's mother.
The two old men turned around and focused all their firepower on the two children, which happened to make them feel unhappy.
“What time is it and you still don’t know when you’ll be back for dinner?”
"You know you're coming back to wash the dishes, right?"
"You can still study with this kind of virtue? What's the use of buying a bunch of copybooks and paper and pens every day?"
Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang looked at the two people who seemed to have eaten explosives, and quickly looked at Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing.
His parents haven't said anything yet?
Ye Chenghu also had a rare wink this time. He put the bare pancake tied with a rope on the stool, ran to the back door to wash his hands, took off his dirty clothes, changed out of his rain boots, and then went upstairs with a bang.
Anyway, he wasn't hungry. He had already eaten the cake when he was on the mountain. If he didn't want to eat it, he wouldn't eat it.
Ye Chengyang was also as quick as him. He changed out of his dirty clothes and ran upstairs, but he also brought the light cake he had begged for.
If you feel hungry later, you can eat at any time.
Ye Yaodong looked at the people who were still eating and shouted, "Okay, are you annoyed by the endless quarrel? Borrow if you want, don't borrow if you don't want to, why are there so many things?"
"Then remember not to borrow it. How can a living person suffocate to death? How capable is he of eating such a big bowl of rice?"
Father Ye added: "I also want to have more hope."
"I hope you don't take any chances on my son. I don't care about him."
"Stop, stop! Do you want to eat? You two are also very funny, and I don't blame you for being so excited." Ye Yaodong was also speechless.
Father Ye said: "Your mother cannot tolerate a grain of sand in her eyes."
"Can you hold sand in your eyes?"
Ye Yaodong sighed heavily, quickly added a few more chopsticks to his bowl, and then took it to the door to eat, letting them argue as much as they wanted.
However, as soon as he sat down on the threshold with his meal, a bunch of dog heads and cats meowed around him. What was going on?
"Go, go, even you are so annoying."
He stretched out his hand and pulled, and all the dog heads around him fell neatly to one side, and then neatly stretched out their tongues again, surrounding his bowl. He was so angry that he could only stand up and eat.
But those dogs also liked to stand and hug his legs, which made him unable to concentrate on eating.
He is too difficult.
"I can't even eat without feeling at ease. I feel unappetized wherever I go. I can only eat standing up."
"father!"
Ye Yaodong turned his head and looked towards the source of the sound. At the window upstairs, two little boys stretched out their heads, gnawing on the cakes, and watched the dogs jumping to climb up his legs.
"Dad, have you been kicked out too?"
"I don't think you need to eat dinner." Ye Yaodong casually pulled the food in, took the bowls and chopsticks into the room, then went back to the room to get the money and walked out.
He went directly to the dock to sail the boat, but it was still quiet on the boat.
We're going out to sea at night, so it's time to go refuel and add ice so that we don't have to listen to them at home.
When they were on the mountain, they heard Brother Aseng say that they wanted to borrow money from him. He was thinking that only if Lao Hai agreed would they start preparing the money.
Since Lao Hai can agree to it, there are already many channels for working abroad, and there are overseas Chinese in the family to help him. As long as he can successfully smuggle in, it should be fine.
If you don't borrow much, then borrow a little, just for the sake of his father and to help your nephew.
Don't forget to say that after he got rich, he was unkind, uncivilized, and had no kinship at all. Normally, their cousins ​​would not feel sorry for him in any way, and they also wanted to find a way out for the next generation.
The main thing is that he is not short of money now, and it is easy to talk about 800 yuan.
Now listening to his mother's long-winded talk, he felt that although his mother couldn't tolerate the grain of truth in her eyes, there was still some truth in what she said.
There are so many brothers and sisters on his second uncle's side, so there shouldn't be much difference if you put them all together. You can't rely on others for them all. If any family wants to send their children abroad, they will naturally have to pay for them themselves.
What his father said is actually correct. After all, he is his own brother. His bones are broken and his tendons are still connected. Borrowing a little money can help, so just borrow a little. It is not that it is very difficult for his family.
However, he didn't say it out anyway, so he just waited and waited. Maybe they wouldn't dare to borrow money from him now?
Seeing how polite and smiling his second uncle is now, it seems as if he is afraid of offending him.
Chapter completed!