The village is poor, without even a single telephone, so when Ye Qiu came back, not a soul at the Ye Family knew about it.
It was dinner time, and Granny Ye, along with her second son Ye Xiu and his family, and daughter Ye Fang, were seated around the square table in the main room. A bowl of stewed meat, a bowl of pickled vegetables, and a stir-fried green vegetable sat on the table. Five people were eating with shiny lips from the oil, and nobody called Chen Wen, who was feeding the pigs, or the granddaughter Ye Manman, who was playing alone in the room.
When Ye Qiu returned, his face remained impassive, but he sneered in his heart.
"Oh, big brother is back!" Liu Ping, who was the first to notice Ye Qiu's figure while getting up to serve the rice, exclaimed in surprise with her loud voice. Her squinted eyes opened as wide as they could, not blinking as she intently stared at the bag in Ye Qiu's hand.
"Big brother!"
"Uncle!"
It was no exception for the third son Ye Fang and the nephew Ye Yu, who looked at him greedily, or more accurately, at the luggage bag in his hand.
Last time, big brother/uncle went out, he brought back quite a few nice things for them. This time there must be even more, both thought so simultaneously.
"Big brother has come back, how much did you earn this time?" Granny Ye hurriedly swallowed a piece of meat, her compact and sturdy body squeezing to the front instantly.
Hearing the commotion, Chen Wen, who was behind the house feeding pigs, also hurried out. She didn't smell pleasant as she hadn't had time to clean up, so she didn't come any closer and just asked from a distance.
"Are you tired? Have you eaten?"
In the whole family, only this wife, whom he had always neglected, genuinely cared about him. Ye Qiu from his previous life didn't know why he was so foolish, only to come to a realization when he was about to die.
"It's okay, not very tired." Ye Qiu walked over and, not minding, held Chen Wen's somewhat rough hand due to years of hard work, and smiled softly.
However, his actions were like seeing a ghost in the eyes of the other Ye Family members. Chen Wen was also stunned for a while, and when she came back to her senses, her cheeks slightly reddened, but she didn't withdraw her hand.
Actually, when they had just married, the two were sweet for a few years. It was only after the birth of their daughter and under the influence of Granny Ye that their relationship slowly grew tense.
"Daddy, you're back." A little tot, about three heads tall, staggered out from the main room and instantly hugged Ye Qiu's leg, looking up with bright, cheerful eyes, and with her red little mouth, uttered sweet coaxing words: "Manman missed you."
Ye Qiu and Chen Wen were both good-looking, and Ye Manman, who inherited the advantages of both, was even more distinguished. At this moment, being hugged and act spoiled to by this little girl, even Ye Qiu, who had experienced many lives, couldn't resist her adorable charm. How could the Ye Qiu of his previous life bear to be so heartless?
"Daddy missed Manman too." Ye Qiu squatted down, lifted up his daughter, and gave her a big kiss on her face, causing the little girl to laugh giddily.
Chen Wen watched from the side, her eyes warming. Their daughter was almost three years old, and this was the rare affection from her husband. She only hoped that this affection would not vanish too quickly.
Regrettably, the warm scene of the family of three was quickly disrupted.
Granny Ye, Liu Ping, Ye Fang, and Ye Yu, who had already opened the parcel, started complaining discontentedly.
"Big brother, why didn't you bring anything for me?" Ye Fang was annoyed. She had already boasted to her friends about getting new clothes; now that big brother hadn't brought anything, how could she save face?
"Uncle, where's my toy? I want my toy!" Ye Family's little tyrant Ye Yu wasn't satisfied with just half a bag of candy, and started crying and demanding his toy.
"That's right, big brother, why didn't you bring the toy Xiao Yu wanted?" Liu Ping also started complaining. Actually, she was more concerned about the money big brother had earned. Her eyes kept darting towards him, appearing to look for where the money might be hidden.
Although the second son Ye Xiu said nothing, his grim face said it all.
"Big brother, where's the money you earned?" As the head of the family, Granny Ye was more straightforward. Upon hearing this, everyone except Ye Yu stopped making a fuss, ready to hear what Ye Qiu had to say.
"Money? It's gone."
"What do you mean 'it's gone'?" Granny Ye was anxious.
Ye Qiu opportunistically showed a look of distress: "You all know, nowadays the government is cracking down on illicit trading. While on the train, I was inspected by the police, and everything was confiscated."
"What?" Granny Ye cursed incessantly: "Why can't these people do something good? How can they just confiscate people's things? Isn't this working for nothing and even losing out?"
"Mom, don't say anymore. You know that the business I do isn't even allowed by the country. I was lucky this time, they took the stuff but let me go because it was a small amount. There were two big traffickers on the train who weren't so lucky; they were taken away." Ye Qiu pulled Granny Ye aside and reminded her in a low voice, "Don't say too much. What if someone hears it and we get taken away?"
Hearing this, Granny Ye immediately fell silent, saying nothing more.
Meanwhile, Liu Ping glanced around slyly, murmuring, "Big brother, then what will you do now?"
Ye Qiu gave a wry smile: "I'd like to continue, of course. It's fast money after all, but now I have no capital!" His tone changed, "Sister-in-law, how about you lend me some money? We can keep doing this, splitting fifty-fifty, how about that?"
"But what if we get searched again?" Liu Ping was tempted, but she was afraid of losing everything.
Ye Qiu sighed, "If we get searched again, there's nothing we can do. But sister-in-law, rest assured, I'll be careful. We're family, wouldn't I give my all? Once we're rich, half for you, half for me. Would I covet this little money?"
Had he not said that last sentence, it might've been okay, but after hearing it, Liu Ping's rising desires immediately turned to suspicion.
Wait, that money is hers. How would she know whether big brother has earned or lost money? And all the money was to be hers, so why should she give big brother half? She was even taking all the risk.
Pondering this, Liu Ping's little tempting thought vanished instantly, and she forced a smile: "Big brother, where do we get the capital for this? Besides, the country doesn't allow it, I think we should just forget it."
"Sigh, there's nothing that can be done about it, I guess that's that. At least I still have my land." Ye Qiu's face drooped, inadvertently taking another jab at Liu Ping's heart.