Chapter 260: Li Quezi's News

Ye Cheng gave a slight smile, "I just knew you're the smartest in the village, nothing can be hidden from you."

Li Quezi looked Ye Cheng up and down, tilted his head, and said emotionally,

"If I were smart, I wouldn't just run a small shop; tell me, see what help this lame guy can provide."

Ye Cheng wasn't in a hurry either, he pulled Li Quezi into the shop to continue talking.

"I heard from my brother that the village committee election might be next month?" Ye Cheng asked.

Hearing Ye Cheng's question, Li Quezi was genuinely startled, "No way, Lao Er, you still have this ambition? How old are you?"

"What's wrong, young people can't have ideas? The state now encourages young people to become village officials; many college graduates become village heads right after graduation, you know?"

Ye Cheng doesn't know when the college student village official system started, but there are indeed many in later times.

Having college students serve as village officials aims to let them better understand the grassroots, and also hopes they bring new ideas to the village; practice has shown that quite a few have done well.

Li Quezi looked down on Ye Cheng, "They're college students; you're just a high school graduate, and you don't even know if you have a diploma."

Ye Cheng was momentarily speechless, "Damn, yeah, I really don't know if the original owner had a diploma."

"Ah, don't change the subject, I just asked how I can get elected." Ye Cheng returned to the topic.

"Being village head is just an election; if someone nominates you as a candidate, then everyone votes, and if you get over half, you win—similar to how the beautiful country elects its president." Li Quezi said it rather lightly, but if it were that simple Ye Cheng wouldn't have come specially to see him.

Ye Cheng glanced at the shelf, pointed at Hua Zi cigarettes, and said, "Give me two packs of Hua Zi, then tell me how much, no beating around the bush."

As soon as Ye Cheng asked for two Hua Zi, Li Quezi's face changed instantly, he brought them over with a fawning smile, "Lao Er, you're generous—grabbing two right away."

Ye Cheng angrily paid the money, then said, "Go on, what should I pay attention to?"

Li Quezi chuckled, "Lao Er, you know our village, the Chen surname is the big clan; usually Chen family members become village head, so it'd be a bit tough for you to get that position."

"Just tell me, I'll handle whether it's difficult or not."

"Fine. The candidate issue isn't big; usually you just need a few households to nominate you together—you can ask Xiao Hu, your older brother, the Duan family, and also Zhang Guafu; she counts as a household, a few nominations are enough."

"That's fine, I have no problem with those households; Chen Jinli wouldn't work, right?" Ye Cheng suddenly recalled he had done odd jobs for the two Chen boys.

Li Quezi said lightly, "Lao Er, you found work for people, but this is the village head position; they're the Chen family now, how could they support you?"

Ye Cheng nodded, that's also true.

"Then, according to you, the Chen family is so united that I might as well not bother running."

"If the Chen family really all pick one person, then I truly wouldn't run."

"It depends on your abilities; to be frank, the Chen family isn't a monolith now—everyone's looking at money." Li Quezi made a gesture for "money".

Ye Cheng's mouth corners twitched slightly, he said nothing, and forgot about buying a ticket.

"So this year the Chen family is still pushing Chen Jinhai forward?"

Ye Cheng cared about this question; he needed to know who his opponent was.

Li Quezi pondered a moment, then continued, "According to what I've heard, Chen Jinhai himself seems to want another term, but the Chen family also has opposition; I'll look into it later."

"Alright, I'll wait for your news."

After chatting with Li Quezi for a while, Ye Cheng left; Li Quezi is well-informed, so the news he got this time is just a rough idea—we'll see what information he can obtain later.

It was late; Ye Cheng didn't go back to his older brother's house, he just went straight to bed.

Early morning, Ye Cheng was still dazed when Xiao Hu woke him up.

"Damn, messing around, what time is it to wake me up?" Ye Cheng said while yawning.

"Brother, didn't we say we'd go out to sea with Uncle Duan today? Uncle Duan came to call, why are you still sleeping?"

Xiao Hu's reminder made Ye Cheng recall that they'd apparently said that last night while drinking.

He sprang up, washed his face with his hands, and set off; having someone show the way is best, saving time and effort.

When they reached the dock, Duan Chunsheng was already there; he also had a 12-meter trawler, secondhand, but considerably newer than Ye Cheng's.

"Lao Er, still not awake?" Duan Chunsheng shouted with vigor.

"This guy isn't young, but his physique is really good, probably due to years of work."

"Uncle, we're still young, unlike you who's old and can't sleep in the morning." Ye Cheng made a joke in reply.

The two chuckled, each boarded their boat; Duan Chunsheng left the dock first, and Ye Cheng followed cautiously behind.

He had previously operated Wang Defa's boat, but never Laochen's; this was his first time, and he was still a bit nervous.

Duan Chunsheng also noticed Ye Cheng lacked experience, so he drove a bit slower than usual, taking turns with a deliberately wide arc.

"Brother, Uncle Duan is looking out for you." Xiao Hu, bored, was feeding Da Huang there.

This occurred to Ye Cheng before leaving; he had to bring Da Huang along, as this guy sometimes outperforms the system.

The system is a bonus; it's a bug.

"Don't make noise! Damn it, can't you see I'm steering the boat?" Ye Cheng strained to keep up with Duan Chunsheng, exerting all his strength.

Probably considering Ye Cheng's inexperience, Duan Chunsheng drove for twenty-odd minutes, then stopped, let Ye Cheng pull alongside, and began explaining to him.

"Lao Er, this stretch from here to there is about ten kilometers; this is a fishing ground, water depth suits our small trawlers, there aren't many seabed rocks, and it's close to the dock—you can practice your handling here first." Duan Chunsheng shouted at the top of his lungs.

Ye Cheng looked over; far off he could see a few small black dots—other people's fishing boats already dragging nets—indeed, just as Duan Chunsheng said, this is the recognized fishing ground.

"Uncle, for my single trawl, how long should I drag it usually?"

"Lao Er, time isn't fixed; our boats can go up to two hours at most, start with forty minutes of dragging.

Then while dragging, you should go with the current; that's easier. If you first go against the current, the net will drift and fuel consumption spikes; once familiar, you can go against or at an angle.

Ye Cheng hadn't previously considered this issue; there's also the matter of with- and against-current.

"Don't overthink it; just give it a couple tries and you'll know." Duan Chunsheng shouted, then moved forward a bit and started deploying the trawl.