House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 367: Yang Yi, Yang Tie

Upon hearing Mo Fei’s question, Yang Qing and Yang Huan exchanged a glance, and finally let Yang Huan explain.

She pulled Mo Fei a little closer, lowered her voice, and said, “Big sister-in-law, it’s like this. You may not know, my dad was originally an outsider. When my big brother was born, he never thought about staying in our Wudaokou village for a lifetime. He was determined to leave, saying that he had important things to do. He asked my mom to wait at home with the child, and when he came back, he would take my mom and big brother away. My mom couldn’t persuade him, so she angrily named big brother Yang Tiexin.” ¹

“Later, I don’t know why my dad changed his mind and decided to stay and live a happy life with my mom. So, my mom felt that it was inappropriate for big brother to still be called this name, so she removed the character ‘Xin’ and changed it to Yang Tie. Speaking of this, my dad lied to big brother for more than ten years, telling him that he was named this because he lacked gold in his five elements. It was only later when my mom let it slip that we knew the truth.”

Yang Huan couldn’t help but want to laugh. She glanced at Yang Chonggui and whispered, “Big sister-in-law, don’t mention this to my dad. He’s someone who cares a lot about face.”

Mo Fei nodded, but still asked in confusion, “But isn’t Yang Yi’s name written with the ‘yi’ character next to the ‘che’ character? How come it’s the ‘tie’ character next to the ‘jin’ character?” ²Character for Yi:

Character for Tie:

Yang Huan chuckled and said, “This involves an erroneous case. In the year when big brother was born, the registration officers at the police station weren’t as literate as they are now. Some of them didn’t know as many characters as my dad. At that time, my mom took the slip with the name my dad wrote for my brother to register the household registration in the town. As a result, someone, I don’t know who, copied my brother’s name wrong, and Yang Tie became Yang Yi…”

Yang Chonggui has always disliked dealing with the government. He asked Dong Yue’e to take Yang Yi, who was already two or three years old, to register for the household by herself. It was very normal to register for the household late at that time, and when the household registration book was obtained, it was thrown at home and never looked at until Yang Yi entered elementary school.

At that time, there was no elementary school in the village, and to enroll in the town’s primary school, they needed to check the household register. It was then that everyone discovered that Yang Yi’s name was wrong!

It was estimated that the previous name “Yang Tiexin” still made Yang Chonggui feel a bit uncomfortable. He took the initiative to propose that changing his household registration would be troublesome, so he might as well leave it as it is and let Yang Tie change his name to Yang Yi!

“…Later, big brother’s name was changed, and the family genealogy was also changed to Yang Yi. It’s just that my dad, and my mom, they called him Teizi for many years and got used to it. They can’t change their habit,” Yang Huan said with a smile.

So that’s how it was, Mo Fei also showed a smile. Just as she was about to speak, Yang Chonggui suddenly called out, “Ouch!”

Mo Fei turned her head to look and saw that it was Xixi who was pulling her grandpa’s beard and hurting Yang Chonggui. The little girl didn’t know until her grandpa called out. She hurriedly let go, looking embarrassed as if she had done something wrong.

“Xixi, you can’t pull Grandpa’s beard, it’s impolite!” Mo Fei scolded anxiously.

“Grandpa, I’m sorry.” Xixi said with a small pout, “I’ll blow on it for you, and it won’t hurt anymore!”

“It’s okay, don’t blame the child, I was teasing her.” Yang Chonggui waved his hand, but he didn’t raise his head. He just kept looking at Xixi’s self-blaming pitiful appearance, and smiled happily.

“I’ve never seen my dad smile like that before.” Yang Huan said with some envy.

“He hasn’t smiled so much all year round…” Yang Qing also muttered in a low voice.

……

Dong Yue’e had already prepared breakfast, although the quantity was not enough, everyone had a simple meal together. Yang Yi had just returned, and there was luggage to unpack, and the room also needed to be tidied up by himself, so he and Mo Fei took Xixi to the fourth floor.

“Qingzi, Huanhuan, you two go and catch that capon. We’ll have chicken tonight.” Dong Yue’e sent the two siblings away, and then eagerly told Yang Chonggui the information she had learned.

“I knew this kid, not serving in the military outside, must have done something no good after leaving!” Yang Chonggui hadn’t heard the end yet, but he was already so angry that he was panting like a red-eyed bull, “When he comes down later, if I don’t break the ruler at home, I’m not his father!”

“What are you in a hurry for? I haven’t finished yet! Tiezi didn’t do it on purpose, he didn’t even know the child was conceived…” Dong Yue’e finished the rest, and then scolded, “You have a bad temper, I usually don’t bother scolding you for it. But today, if I hadn’t stopped you, would you ask him in front of the child if she is his biological daughter?”

Yang Chonggui remained silent. He knew he was wrong, but he had never admitted his mistakes.

“Yang Chonggui, you’re someone who’s been to school, how come you don’t know a bit of reason? When you hear something that’s not to your liking, you start shouting and threatening. Don’t you know that you might scare the child?” Dong Yue’e said incessantly.

“I’m not scaring the child. I’m talking about Teizi. The child is so old now, and he only just brought her home. What will the neighbors say about our old Yang family? Moreover, our old Yang family has always been upright and honest. We don’t have descendants like him who mess around with other people’s daughters and then refuse to take responsibility!” Yang Chonggui said discontentedly.

“Alright, alright. I can’t control how you discipline Tiezi, but on the child’s side, you need to pay attention to your attitude. Be careful with your words, don’t let the child be afraid when she sees you!” Dong Yue’e didn’t see Yang Chonggui playing with Xixi in the lobby before, and she kept reminding him.

“I know.” Yang Chonggui had no intention of explaining, and he waved his hand impatiently.

Dong Yue’e patted her thigh and exclaimed, “Ah, I forgot to ask Tiezi just now. Look at how much stuff he brought back today, there’s old mountain ginseng, deer antler…”

“What’s the big deal? I’m his father, it’s only natural for my son to show filial piety to me!” Yang Chonggui hummed somewhat proudly.

“You don’t manage the household or handle the money, what do you know?” Dong Yue’e said unhappily, “That Zheng Lao Er from Zhengjia Village, he fell down the mountain the year before last. Fortunately, his family had an old ginseng that saved his life, and he was rushed to the county in time for treatment. Do you know how much that ginseng of his family is worth? Someone offered him like a million and he still didn’t want to sell it!”

“Where did Teizi get so much money?” Yang Chonggui finally became suspicious, and he frowned and said.

“Yes, he’s giving money to build a house at home, and he’s driving such a big car, it wouldn’t be Mo Fei who gave it to him, would it?” Dong Yue’e pondered.

“He dares? Using a woman’s money, he doesn’t feel ashamed, but I feel too embarrassed to face our Yang family’s ancestors!” Yang Chonggui slapped the table in anger.

“Dad, what are you getting excited about?” Yang Huan, who had just caught the chicken, heard Yang Chonggui’s loud roar as soon as she came in. She smiled and said, “You all misunderstood, big brother’s money, he earned it all by himself. He’s writing novels now, and he’s making a lot of money!”

“Writing novels?” Both Yang Chonggui and Dong Yue’e looked puzzled.

Yang Chonggui did know what a novel was, and he asked in confusion, “There’s money to be made from writing that stuff?”

“Yes! Dad, times are different now. Writing novels, as long as a lot of people enjoy reading, you can make a lot of money!” Yang Huan turned her head and ran to her luggage, prepared to show Yang Chonggui the two books written by Yang Yi. One “Soldier Assault” and the other “Drawing Sword”.

“These two books big brother wrote are very popular,” Yang Huan said with a smile, “I heard that a director is planning to make his story into a TV series.”

Dong Yue’e knew about TV series and such. In the small shop at the east end of the village, people gather around the TV to watch dramas all day. But it seemed too distant for them, and the two elders had no concept of what was so great about it.

Yang Chonggui was interested in these two books. He opened them and took a look, especially when he saw that “Drawing Sword” was about the plot of the War of Resistance, he became even more eager to continue reading. After flipping through a few pages, he was quickly attracted by Li Yunlong, a character who was righteous and refined despite his rough exterior.

However, Yang Chonggui soon threw the book aside, because Xixi’s voice came from the stairs.

“Grandpa, Grandpa!” She called out happily, her clear voice was even more pleasant than any oriole!

The little one was coming down!