Chapter 473: Being a Big Brother Is Really Hard

Hearing Old Jiang say that, Xiao Hu also joined in advising,

"Exactly, big brother, why are you helping them? They won't repay your kindness."

"Yeah, Lao Er, if you really intend to compensate, you might as well just give them money; why waste this money?"

Ye Cheng smiled faintly,

"I didn't say let you salvage; I just want you to go down and pull out some polluting stuff—this should be cheap, right?"

"You mean pump oil?" Old Jiang asked.

"Well, I checked that place—too many rocks, the boat can't be dragged out, but they likely still have a lot of oil. See if we can get the oil tanks out to prevent future pollution."

The cigarette in Old Jiang's hand paused, and he looked at Ye Cheng in surprise,

"Lao Er, are you serious? Just because of pollution?"

Ye Cheng nodded solemnly,

"I'm serious—just for the marine environment."

Old Jiang curled his mouth into an unfathomable smile, then spoke with emphasis,

"Alright, since you say you want to protect the environment, I'll do it—send me the location, and I'll bring people to get it out when the time comes."

"We've agreed—this thing isn't cheap either; it'll probably cost tens of thousands."

"Money's not an issue, but be careful when you go—there are lots of reefs there."

"Don't worry, we'll definitely be careful ourselves."

To reassure Old Jiang, Ye Cheng first put down a 5,000 yuan deposit, then took Xiao Hu out.

"Brother, do they have something valuable on their ship?" Xiao Hu said, face full of disbelief.

"What nonsense—just to avoid polluting the environment. We're fishermen; the sea is already polluted, how will we fish in the future?"

Xiao Hu pursed his lips, "Fine, anyway the money's yours."

It's normal for Xiao Hu not to understand; protecting the environment is a thankless, laborious task—they can't grasp it now, but they will later.

"Right." Ye Cheng suddenly said, "Tomorrow the Zhu brothers should be released; come with me to Xia Ling Village."

"Huh? Go knock on their door? Or just scare them a little?" Xiao Hu was a bit surprised hearing this—it doesn't sound like Ye Cheng's style.

"Don't always go fighting and killing; let's go take a look—I want to see if there's any way to resolve this."

Xiao Hu gave a wry smile, "Brother, although we can handle a fight, just marching onto their turf like this—isn't it a bit dangerous?"

"They're not a bandit den; you make it sound like we're going to our deaths."

"It's not exactly suicide—if everyone in Xia Ling Village sides with the Zhu brothers, we'll definitely get beaten up."

Ye Cheng grew impatient, "Just say whether you're going or not."

"Go! Of course we have to go." Xiao Hu shouted, "If I don't go and you get killed by them, there'll be no one to send word home."

"Get lost! If anyone can run, it's me—you think you're the only one who can run?"

"Brother, I can't say about running, but I'm definitely better at taking a beating than you."

"Fine, if we really fight tomorrow, you take the beating, I'll handle the escape."

"Damn, bro, you're sending me to my death."

"One dies, the other lives—such is the way."

The two laughed and returned to Old He's place,

"How's it going, Old He—how much can we sell?"

Old He pointed to the sorted items and said,

"Well, take a look—this is all there is, a total of 1,200."

Today there really wasn't much; Ye Cheng didn't bother looking again, took the 1,200 and went back.

In the evening, Han Xiaotao came over to help him wash his hair, and Ye Cheng had her tidy up the longline fishing gear so it'd be ready for tomorrow's outing.

"Ah, Brother Cheng, you're finally going out to sea again!" Han Xiaotao, upon hearing about the outing, was overjoyed—going out meant she'd have work to do.

Ye Cheng smiled, "What, short on cash?"

"Not exactly tight—just a bit worried about no income coming in."

"Young man, it's no big deal to be tight now—there's a long road ahead, and there'll be plenty of tight days, hahaha."

Ye Cheng laughed at his own words—this is a classic loser's rant from later times.

But Han Xiaotao stared at him, bewildered—obviously she didn't get it.

"Er..."

After finally telling a joke, they still didn't get it, so Ye Cheng helplessly waved his hand,

"It's fine—just a cold joke."

Han Xiaotao thought for a while, then forced out a smile,

"Oh, pretty funny."

Ye Cheng:...

Finally, the bewildered Han Xiaotao took her things back; Ye Cheng told Duan Chunsheng they'd go out to sea tomorrow afternoon, then hurried to rest—he hadn't handled cargo in a while, feeling a bit nervous.

The next morning, Ye Cheng didn't get up early, sleeping until after seven.

Upon rising, he saw the longline fishing gear already coiled and placed in the courtyard—likely Han Xiaotao had been there.

Breakfast was the dumplings Zhang Guafu sent over, with beef filling.

Zhang Guafu wasn't in a hurry to leave today; instead, she sat aside watching Ye Cheng eat.

Ye Cheng glanced at her oddly,

"What's up? Nothing today?"

Zhang Guafu's expression was a bit dim; she looked at Ye Cheng, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

If you have something to say, just say it.

"Well." Zhang Guafu pursed her lips, then gathered her courage and said,

"A Cheng, any work lately? You haven't sold crayfish in ages."

She said that, and Ye Cheng immediately understood—he was going to look for work again.

Damn, no wonder when I used to watch gangster movies, those triad bosses said being the boss was hard.

It's not just hard; it's really hard.

All the underlings come to you looking for work to earn a living.

"The crayfish aren't ready yet; we have to wait a bit longer, but maybe we'll focus on farming later. Let me think, I'll find you a steady job."

Upon hearing Ye Cheng say that, Zhang Guafu instantly became happy; she added a bit of chili oil to Ye Cheng's dipping bowl and then said,

"No rush; we already made quite a bit of money before."

"But we can't just live off our savings."

Ye Cheng stuffed a dumpling into his mouth; the beef dumpling had a peppery kick, quite different from the fresh taste of pork and mushroom dumplings, making one feel a gradual surge of strength.

"Um, bring me some dumplings at noon; we'll eat a few when we go out to sea this afternoon, no soup."

"Sure, I'll go back and make some more for you."

After the meal, Ye Cheng gave Zhang Guafu 5000 yuan as payment for this period's food.

Zhang Guafu held the money, her eyelashes twitched, and she looked at Ye Cheng somewhat movedly.

"Then I'll accept it."

"You should take it; you can't keep eating my food for free."

Zhang Guafu gave him a sideways glance, then put the money away.

Actually, Ye Cheng didn't really care if they took the money; he followed them to make money, not to volunteer.

After breakfast, it was already 8 o'clock; Ye Cheng then rode his motorcycle to pick up Xiao Hu, and then went to Li Quezi's to buy two boxes of milk to bring along.