Chapter 472: Inspecting the Sunken Ship

I'll go down to check the situation; you rest on the boat for a while.

Ah, can you go down with that wound? You'd better wait until I rest, I'll go down.

You just rest; this deep-sea diving, I won't feel at ease if you go down.

I do have skills; going into deep water without skill is called extreme sports.

Ye Cheng stretched his arms and legs; it had been a long time since he'd been in the water, he was a bit unaccustomed, and he slowly slipped into the water from behind the deck, feeling a little cold.

The sunken ship's position was a bit far; Ye Cheng swam slowly over, feeling the wound on his belly.

It was okay, not too painful; then he began to dive into the seawater.

Sunlight scattered in the seawater, making it especially beautiful, but the moment he saw the sunken ship, it wasn't so beautiful anymore.

Originally able to sail freely on the sea surface, now it could only lie still on the seabed, with water grass already creeping up—only a few days have passed.

This time coming down, Ye Cheng mainly wanted to see if there was any chance of salvage.

After all, salvaging the ship wasn't his original intention, but now it looks a bit difficult.

There are too many reefs in this area; their boat ended up capsizing after falling into the reef cluster.

Even if a tugboat were arranged on the sea surface, judging by the underwater conditions, it would be hard to pull it out smoothly; there are several spots with large boulders, and if it gets stuck anywhere, it would be hard to move.

This sunken ship can't be hauled up, but when I go back I still need to find someone to handle it; otherwise it could easily pollute the environment.

After checking, Ye Cheng first swam up.

As soon as he surfaced, he quickly rinsed the wound with clean water; the area that had already scabbed became softened by the soak, exposing the tender flesh, so it seems he still can't go in the water.

Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu swim over first to retrieve the longline, while he himself took some iodine to disinfect the wound; there are many bacteria in seawater, and not disinfecting is dangerous.

The longline consists of only six sets; three sets are just tangled empty lines, which the Zhu brothers tossed aside after hauling in their catch last time.

Of those three sets, Xiao Hu managed to pull up two, but one set was snagged on the bottom; Xiao Hu couldn't go down to fix it, so Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu cut the rope—leaving as little rope as possible on the seabed is better.

Just like last time with Little White, who got a rope around his neck and almost choked to death; the leftover rope will be dealt with when I can go down again.

The other three sets were lines the Zhu brothers hadn't hauled in before; after being pulled up by the line-hauler, there was basically nothing on them except dead fish—these fish must have bitten the hook deep, couldn't get free, and then died on the hook.

Afterwards, there were even several fish bones left; I don't know what ate them, leaving only this bony framework.

All in all, this offshore trip just yielded a little catch from the fish trap.

After gathering the catch, Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu began their return; they arrived at the dock already at noon.

The two directly carried the goods to Lao He's purchasing station, let him tally and calculate the money himself, while they went to eat first.

After eating, Xiao Hu originally thought Ye Cheng was going to Lao He's place, but unexpectedly he turned in another direction.

"Brother, where are you going? Do you need to buy something?"

"Not buying; I'm going to the repair shop to ask if they can do salvage."

"Ah?" Xiao Hu startled, "No, brother, you said it couldn't be salvaged."

"Besides, it's not our boat; why should we bother with it?"

"Stop nagging, hurry up and follow; I'll go ask first—I never said we definitely had to salvage it."

The ship repair yard at the dock is fairly large, after all the boats themselves aren't small.

However, there aren't many workers—just a dozen or so; the boss is Jiang Zhonghui, over fifty, who's spent a lifetime repairing ships and can be considered an old hand.

Upon entering the repair yard, one hears machine noises everywhere—booming and hissing—so loud that people can't make out speech, and most importantly, you can't see anyone.

"Lao Jiang! Where are you?" Ye Cheng shouted loudly.

"Here."

A man covered in oil poked his head out from a ship to take a look.

"Lao Er, wait a moment; I'll have this engine fixed right away."

"Okay, go ahead and work on it."

The two stepped outside to smoke; it was too noisy inside.

After smoking two cigarettes, Lao Jiang finally came out from inside, drenched in sweat.

"Come, have a cigarette first." Ye Cheng handed him one and then lit it for Lao Jiang.

Hiss—

"Ah, satisfying—a smoke after work feels like being a god." Lao Jiang exhaled a smoke ring.

Ye Cheng chuckled, "Others' after-work is that kind of thing; yours is just repairs—hey, are you getting too old for this?"

Lao Jiang's dark face broke into two rows of white teeth as he pointed at Ye Cheng and smiled,

"You, young as you are, already start spouting lewd talk—you're an old fried dough stick."

"What does that have to do with being an old fried dough stick? Men are just born that way."

"Hahaha." Lao Jiang chuckled, "Go on, what do you want? Isn't it that the boat had another accident?"

"Pah!" Xiao Hu quickly spat, "Lao Jiang, you're not being fair—are you cursing us?"

"I haven't; the thing is, lately you've come to me just for boat repairs, and your vessel is almost ready—the parts are on their way."

Hearing that the parts were coming soon, that was good news, but Ye Cheng's visit today wasn't about that.

"Lao Jiang, I'm here for another matter—what can your salvage boat do?"

Lao Jiang stared for a moment, then nodded,

"Yes, we salvaged Lao Duan's boat before."

"However," Lao Jiang paused, "this is labor-intensive and not worth it."

"Last time, Lao Duan's boat sank right on the mandatory route out of the dock, so they had to clear it; Lao Duan spent tens of thousands, and after hauling it up he only sold it for a few thousand."

"Moreover, I really didn't know about that; I only knew about Duan Chunsheng's shipwreck."

"Also, you guys previously sank Liu Village's boat by collision; that spot originally didn't need salvage, but the city leaders said it involved evidence so salvage was required—I even helped out, all funded by the city, and they also wanted to salvage whatever sank to the seabed, altogether said to have cost tens of thousands."

"Are those tens of thousands all from the city's funds?" Xiao Hu asked curiously.

What, Da Liu's family got into trouble; otherwise Da Liu would have to face extra punishment.

Damn! Da Liu's family can manage it, they can pull out tens of thousands.

At this point, talking about having money or not is pointless; you have to pay up even by selling your house and land—who would want their kid to stay locked up for several more years?

Ye Cheng shook his head; this Da Liu brought it on himself.

Alright, no more talk about others, the Zhu family brothers' Boat—has it sunk, you know?

You know, you wouldn't want to help them salvage, would you? Old Jiang looked at Ye Cheng in surprise,

Then let me tell you in advance, this thing costs several tens of thousands right off the bat—more expensive than buying a used Boat, almost as much as a new Boat; it's really not worth it.