Chapter 471

Han Xiaotao hurriedly waved her hand and pushed it back,

"No need, Cheng-ge, I can't take money if I haven't worked."

"This is a monthly wage, just take it."

"That won't do, I only take money for work, I won't take money if I don't work."

Ye Cheng didn't expect Han Xiaotao to be so stubborn; he scratched his head, feeling a bit itchy.

Well, that's fine, there's something to do.

"Then how about this: you help me wash my head; my head is really itchy, so this counts as work for me, and you can take the money, right?"

Han Xiaotao shoved the money back with one hand and then said petulantly,

"What money for washing a head? In a moment you just cover your eye socket yourself, and I'll wash it for you."

Han Xiaotao heated some water, then had Ye Cheng bend over, covered the wound around his eye socket with gauze, and then slowly poured water over it to wash him.

I have to say, this woman washes hair more meticulously than a man; she made Ye Cheng's waist sore before she finished.

Moreover, during the hair-washing, Han Xiaotao's hands kept scratching his head, that itchy feeling—no wonder so many people nowadays like to go out to get their hair washed.

Of course, what they wash might not be just hair.

After washing Ye Cheng's head, his head no longer felt itchy; it was comfortable.

Now it's the wound on his belly; if it doesn't scab over, he wouldn't dare go into the sea, and if it got infected, that would be trouble.

After all the persuasion, Han Xiaotao didn't take any money, just reminded Ye Cheng to rest early.

In the evening after that, Duan Chunsheng and Qian Shen came again, bringing lots of fruit, making Ye Cheng's place feel like a hospital.

These days, Ye Cheng has been living like a wealthy old gentleman: Zhang Guafu cooks rice in various styles, Jiang Yunxiang stews several big meat dishes, and at night Han Xiaotao comes to wash his head—it's practically a life of having food brought to his mouth and clothes handed to him.

According to Xiao Hu, Ye Cheng is now a local tycoon of the old society, but Ye Cheng retorted, saying he's just envious and jealous.

Over the past two days the wound has been healing well; the eye socket has already started to scab, but as for the belly, because there's more movement, some parts haven't scabbed yet, so Ye Cheng can only reduce activity and lie down after eating.

Such a life is bearable for a day or two, but on the fourth day Ye Cheng couldn't stand it anymore; seeing that the wound had scabbed, he directly dragged Xiao Hu out to sea.

No need for Duan Chunsheng today; the main task is to retrieve the longline and the fish trap.

Arriving at the dock, many people came over to greet Ye Cheng; seeing him, He Lao Ban was even more startled.

"Lao He, you're really planning to go out to sea? It's only been a few days—last time wasn't your belly all ripped open?"

"Lao He, spreading rumors is illegal," Ye Cheng said jokingly,

"My belly isn't ripped; it's just a superficial skin wound, and it's scabbed over."

Ye Cheng rolled up his sleeve to show Lao He.

Lao He shook his head, pursed his lips, and said,

"Your wound is still a bit tender; going into the sea now might not be possible."

Ye Cheng stretched lazily,

"I have to do it even if I can't; I've been cooped up at home for days, my bones are about to rust."

Lao He laughed and pointed at him, saying,

"You, you're just destined to toil."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ye Cheng casually asked,

"By the way, the Zhu brothers aren't here—has anyone's fish been stolen?"

"No," Lao He said happily, "the dock is much more harmonious now; you could even say you've done a public service."

As he said that, Lao He's expression suddenly darkened again,

"However, I heard the Zhu brothers were only detained and will be released soon; who knows, they might come back to the dock to cause trouble."

Xiao Hu interjected,

"Their boats are gone—what trouble could they possibly cause?"

"Hehe," Lao He snorted contemptuously, "Xiao Hu, you're still too young; people like them, when driven to a dead end, are quite troublesome."

"They used to have boats and could still rustle up something; just steal a little and it's done. Now they have no boats—what then? They'll have to rely on robbery."

What Lao He said was so convincing that Xiao Hu started scratching his head.

Ye Cheng furrowed his brows; it seemed to make some sense.

"Then let's keep reporting to the police," Xiao Hu finally thought of a solution and said loudly.

Lao He grew even more dismissive: "Reporting to the police—how many times can you do that? I ask you: they say they'll buy your fish, then press the price down; if you don't sell to them, they act unreasonably and won't let anyone else buy—do you think you can sell your fish?"

Ye Cheng nodded and said affirmatively to Lao He,

"Lao He, I feel you have the potential to be a gang boss—you even thought of that."

Lao He's face darkened: "I'm not trying to be a gang boss; this is called preparing for a rainy day."

"Alright, you keep preparing; we'll go out to sea first to retrieve our things, and we'll talk later."

It's been a long time since they've been out to sea; the two pushed off the boat, the hull swayed, and Ye Cheng felt a bit unsteady—damn, if he fell, people would laugh themselves to death.

Leaving the dock, a cool sea breeze brushed his face; the air was damp and slightly salty—just right.

"Brother, do you think what Lao He said is true? Will we have to fight them later?" Xiao Hu suddenly asked.

Ye Cheng gave a faint smile, "What's up? Are you scared?"

Xiao Hu snorted, "I'm not scared of anything; last time I took on those two by myself and was fine—I'm just worried they'll play dirty."

Ye Cheng didn't speak; the matter with the Zhu brothers really is troublesome.

Such idle social elements have plenty of time.

Moreover, the four brothers are many and strong; an ordinary boat captain really can't afford to offend them.

Just as Lao He said, if they really engage in forced buying and selling, maybe later those boat captains won't come to this dock, and in the long run nobody will be well off.

For now he couldn't think of a solution, so Ye Cheng could only set it aside for the moment.

It took over an hour to drive the boat over; when we arrived, from afar we could see a large expanse of floats, and they were still there.

However, that area had too many reefs, and with the Zhu family brothers' boat sunk there, Ye Cheng didn't dare to drive over like that.

The two of them brought the boat close and stopped, then began to collect the outer fish traps.

These fish traps had been soaking for several days, and inside there were still quite a lot of sea products; they might have really made the traps their home.

The outer fish traps yielded over ten crabs and over thirty catties of white shrimp; although not much, it's better than nothing.

What remained was the dangerous area; the two of them could only go down into the water themselves to scoop.

However, it was still a bit dangerous for Ye Cheng to go into the water, so they let Xiao Hu go over, hook the floats, and pull them up, which took over two hours.

"Brother, I think that's where their ship sank ahead." Xiao Hu climbed out of the water and pointed to that spot ahead.

The water here isn't very deep, and with today's good light, we can faintly see a shadow of the boat.