Chapter 1014: Distribution

What he said was also the truth, by no means a brush-off.

He had originally been thinking that if he finished hauling up this crate in time, and it wasn't dark yet, he'd go back into the water for another look, sweep the area and see if anything had been missed.

But by now the boat, drifting along with the crate, had been chasing it tailwind and current all along, and had long since left the area where he'd gone into the water.

The submerged reef down there wasn't all that big; out on this vast open sea, running aground at that one spot wasn't easy either. Those two boats that day really had appallingly rotten luck.

Plenty of crates were still drifting on the surface, some near, some far. Although everyone on both boats was helping to haul them up, getting even one crate aboard was no easy matter — they all had to exert tremendous effort just to barely land one.

The crates drifted far faster than they could be hauled in. The fishing boats kept chasing, and everyone's mind was on the crates. Who would still be thinking about where exactly the spot they'd gone into the water was?

If they wanted to wait until hauling was done, then turn back to look for it, that would take tremendous effort again. Winter swimming isn't that friendly.

What's more, with all these crates on the surface, the two boats probably wouldn't finish hauling them all even by nightfall. Once it's dark you can't see them, and there's no way to keep hauling.

They certainly couldn't just stay put and wait until the next day to go look for the reef.

The original plan had been to wait for Seeing Ye Mu to fall, then reach the city before the small hours. There was still a pile of cargo on board waiting for them to haul ashore and sell.

Ye Yaodong weighed the pros and cons, then gave up on the idea of a second search and going back into the water to sweep the fishing boat.

The only place that could hold cargo without it sinking straight to the bottom was the hold; the other spots probably didn't have much, and the engine couldn't be carried off anyway.

The big boat's engine wasn't an outboard motor — it was an assembly connected to the gearbox and propeller. Underwater, he alone couldn't possibly dismantle it; down there, even a person can barely move, let alone nimbly.

So from the very start he hadn't been going for the engine; he hadn't given it a thought at all. What he'd had on his mind from beginning to end was the cargo inside the hold.

In any case, the goal of this trip had already been achieved. If there was anything else of value still on board, then let it stay with the sea.

The two boats, one ahead of the other, kept following the current to haul crates. As the seawater flowed, the distance between the scattered crates grew wider and wider.

Before they'd hauled up many at all, the crates were already widely scattered. The people on one boat could only pool their strength to haul them one at a time — finish one, then chase the next. They couldn't all work at once the way they had at the beginning.

Efficiency dropped sharply.

But they definitely had to keep chasing — the returns were far faster than trawling.

A whole day's lost-work subsidy could be covered by just one crate.

"It's almost dark, and there are still so many on the surface."

Ye Yaodong gave an acknowledging sound. "It's fine — haul as many as we can. Once it's dark, turn on the flashlights too, follow the current, and see if we can haul a few more."

"They're drifting farther and farther apart. Once it's dark and the light's bad, we probably won't be able to chase them much longer before they're hard to find."

"Right now we can only chase them one at a time. It takes a good while before we can get one up."

With so many people on board, he didn't need to help for the moment. He just stood there watching, and took the chance to count the crates. They'd already hauled up 22. As time went on, each crate took longer to haul. If they kept going, they should only manage another thirty or forty before it became hard to find them.

He looked again at the Harvest, which was running ahead of him and working especially hard. He wondered how many crates they'd hauled up on their boat.

The others asked the same question out loud at the same time.

"I wonder how many they've hauled — they'll give them back, right?"

"They should give them back, right? These were all Adong going into the water to bring up, and they're in-laws too."

"That's hard to say, though. Things lost at sea… they did put in the work to haul them too…"

"Hard to say. If someone's thick-skinned, they might not give them back."

"Let's not worry about that — they'll sort it out themselves. They're in-laws through their kids…"

"Even in-laws have to talk money and cargo clearly, spell it out. Otherwise, isn't it common enough that they cut each other off forever?"

"Well, they've definitely got to talk it through, work out something proper…"

Ye Yaodong listened to everyone's discussion and walked toward the wheelhouse.

This really was a big problem. When he'd first seen the Harvest also joining in the hauling, he'd already thought about it — stopping them from hauling wasn't possible.

He couldn't gather all the crates into his own arms himself. Having both boats work at the same time meant they could haul up a bit more, instead of letting it all go back to the sea.

They had put in the work too.

"Dad…"

"It's almost dark — how many have we hauled up? Every crate I see is pretty far away now. We can only chase them one at a time."

"We can still see them now, so being able to chase them one by one is already good. Once it's dark, each crate will take longer and be harder to haul. And probably after dark we won't get many more — they've all drifted far away, and there's no direction to chase them in."

"Mm, then let's wait and see in a bit — how many are there?"

"Twenty-three, I think. We just hauled up another one. The Harvest should have hauled quite a few too."

Ye Fu also read the situation and thought of the question of distribution. He glanced at him. "How are you planning to handle it?"

"After we're done hauling, I'll find Uncle Pei and have a talk. These were all things I went down into the water and let out of the hold — otherwise how could he possibly have hauled them up?"

"But you still need to think out a plan in advance. If you want all the cargo back and not give him any at all, that's not possible either — he put in the work too. Think out a plan in advance, then you can discuss it."

"That's why I came up to ask what you think. He's your in-law."

"He's our family's in-law, not just mine alone. Give him a third? What do you think?"

"A quarter? The key thing is, it depends on me. Leaving him a quarter as payment isn't small. And what I'm thinking is, we don't need to count it as part of the public share. This isn't normal trawl income — it's a windfall. There's no need to put it into the public share, right?"

Ye Fu had been frowning, thinking a quarter might be too little. But when he heard him say it wouldn't be counted as part of the public share, he got a bit conflicted again.

"If it's not split among a lot of people, just giving him personally a quarter is fine. But when we get back and people start talking, there's your Ye Ye Erge and Old Zheng's side…"

"What's the issue? Just say I dove down to try to salvage cargo from the sunken ship, so I asked Uncle Pei to help haul some up on the surface too. Those crates should actually all be mine — he was just helping out. Then I give Uncle Pei a little payment personally. Isn't that perfectly normal? What does that have to do with the public share?"

Ye Fu thought it over and could reluctantly accept this way of putting it. "If you put it that way, giving a quarter is reasonable — he just helped out. At the start, when you went into the water, I also said you were looking for the sunken ship, trying to make a windfall. Those crates that floated up were clearly something you fished out of the sea — they already had your label on them."

"Right. Then later, when we give the crew on our boat a red envelope, we'll also give the crew on the Harvest a red envelope of the same amount. That way it confirms they were helping us haul, and it's also a way of thanking them."

"Right, right, that's needed. The neighbors aren't our workers. Since they all pitched in to help, they definitely deserve some payment too."

"So, later when it's dark and it's hard to find them, let's have the two boats pull alongside each other, and chat it over with Uncle Pei. Better to say it face to face. Let's go with the plan we have now and see what he says?"

"I think that works too. The main thing is it's counted as a personal payment to him — he just helped haul a bit. Being able to give him a quarter as payment is fine."

Ye Yaodong nodded. Since his father also agreed, that made things easier.

For important matters like this, it was still better to talk face to face. Whatever reaction there was, you could pick up on the subtle changes right away. No point in leaving people to waver back and forth.

Say it face to face, settle it face to face, avoid leaving a grudge.

"Then you go down below and open the box first, see what's inside, so you'll have an idea sooner."

"Alright."

He hurried back to the deck to find tools to open the box.

The boatmen one by one leaned against the ship's rail watching the sea surface, watching a person holding a bamboo pole with a hook, snagging the boxes floating at the side, so they chatted there.

"Hooked it, hooked it…"

"Slowly pull it over bit by bit…"

"Is Adong opening the box?"

Watching his actions, the idle people immediately ran over to look, leaving only two people there to help.

"No idea what's inside either?"

"Fish canned goods, right? The same fish canned goods we've been eating these past two days. After eating it for a while, it actually goes pretty well with rice. Deep-fried stuff just smells good, even the fish bones you can chew chew and swallow down."

"Should be, the boxes all look the same. Didn't Adong say the fish canned goods are quite valuable? Then turning around and selling them could earn a lot of money."

"Let's see what it is first, maybe it really is fish canned goods?"

"Want to make a bet? Bet a dollar?"

"I don't want to."

"Tch, that means in your heart you've also decided it's fish canned goods, so you don't dare to bet."

……

Amid the boatmen's chatter and laughter, Ye Yaodong pried the box open bit by bit, and the tip of the iceberg revealed directly proved that inside really was fish canned goods.

The cargo piled in the cabin was the same as on the deck, only the cabin couldn't hold it all, they probably wanted to haul more cargo in one trip, so they piled it all on the deck. Anyway, this kind of tin can packaging isn't afraid of getting damp from seawater at all.

Everyone wore an expression of understanding.

"Told you it was fish canned goods."

"Good thing I didn't bet with you."

"That box has several dozen, so all these here aren't several hundred? We're rich."

"Adong not only has good luck at sea, his fortune is good too, really getting rich again…"

The sea really is his treasure land. Ye Yaodong was also happy. His demands weren't high — it didn't have to be some other high-end goods, fish canned goods alone were already enough for him to make a bundle.

Damn it, in his past life he actually didn't go out to sea sooner, wasting his absolutely excellent seafaring talent.

Didn't he say it? The boss he followed later running ships got richer year by year.

Other people's thirty or forty-meter deep-sea boats going out to trawl, some with slightly worse luck would lose a million or so in a year, lose a whole boat in a few years, and still owe another million in debt outside. Yet his boss made money every year.

Dammit, sewing a wedding dress for someone else.

Luckily he got a second chance, he turned over a new leaf.

"Since we've confirmed it's still fish canned goods, then there's no need to open any more. If you're bored stiff and just standing there watching, then stack these boxes neatly against the cabin, so they don't scatter and get lost here, affecting the net-casting and loading later."

"It was still a bit bright when I looked just now, now it's pretty much completely dark, still continuing to look?"

"Let my dad look around a bit more. You guys who should be cooking, hurry up and go cook. It's already dark, don't just busy yourselves watching."

"Okay, okay…"

In an instant, the two idle ones went to carry boxes and went to cook.

Two more leaned against the ship's rail working together to hook boxes.

When the sky was completely dark, after another half hour, Ye Fu circled around the sea surface and didn't see any more, then gave up.

Seeing Ye Mu fell, vision was obstructed. The distance he could see on the sea surface from inside the pilothouse was limited, the cabin lights were weak too, searching ahead was aimless, just leaving it to luck.

After finding one or two, it wasn't easy to find more later. Just then Father Pei contacted him, saying he hadn't been able to fish any up for a long time and planned to give up.

The two boats were quite far apart, everyone was acting separately, on the sea surface they could only see each other's faint lights shining.

After both sides gave up on further searching and salvaging, they headed toward each other, and when connecting they agreed to get close first and chat.

Father Pei must have had a clear idea in his heart, privately pocketing it was impossible, he was just casually ordering the boatmen to work, the one taking risks wasn't him.

After the two boats rendezvoused, they used the hooks on their bamboo poles to snag and pull the two boats together, both preparing to have a proper talk about the distribution.

Ye Yaodong also told Father Pei the talking points he had just discussed with his dad, then watched his reaction.

The boatmen on both boats all pricked up their ears listening, all a bit gossipy, wanting to hear how they would divide it up.

The boatmen on the Fengshou were actually indifferent to who got more or less, purely gossiping, wanting to see if the in-laws would quarrel.

Anyway, they just earned a fixed wage, but hearing Ye Yaodong was going to give them red envelopes, they were still very happy, didn't expect there'd be a share for them too.

Everyone's hearts leaned even more toward the explanation that they were working for the Dongsheng.

Father Pei frowned, "Count as my personal compensation? Not counted toward the public share?"

"Right, so how many boxes did you fish up?"

When asked just now, Father Pei had only ambiguously said thirty or forty, and hadn't given a specific number.

Ye Yaodong wasn't afraid he'd pay lip service while plotting otherwise. Most of the boatmen on the boat were from their own village, and there was even one, Chen Chen Qishui, that he had placed on board. He wouldn't dare play tricks and hide anything.

There's no wall in the world that doesn't let the wind through. If word got out and everyone knew he was being sneaky, his reputation would be ruined.

But not stating openly how many were fished up, selfish motives and thoughts definitely existed.

"33. Let me think, we've never seen this fish canned goods here, can we take it out and sell it for money? Looking at the packaging it definitely isn't cheap, do you know how much it can sell for?"

"I've never bought it so I don't know, but it should probably be a few bucks each. So in this box of cargo, there are 50 fish canned goods. By value, one box of cargo is worth a few hundred bucks. Uncle fished up 33 boxes, divided at 1/4, that's about 8-plus boxes, could sell for a few thousand bucks!"

Father Pei's eyes went wide as he calculated it for him.

"A f-f-few thousand bucks?"

"Ah, it might not necessarily be a few thousand. Anyway, based on the price of our orange canned goods, it should be around one or two thousand?"

He had just said it casually, and thinking about it, it was a bit exaggerated. Reselling it definitely wouldn't match the original price. He quickly patched it up, to avoid it not being worth that much and then being blamed on him instead.

So you see, he's just too conscientious!

Ye Fu's eyes went wide too, suddenly feeling that giving away 1/4 was too much!

Should have been even less.

He secretly slapped his own mouth—he shouldn't have said 1/3 from the start. If he'd said less, Dongzi might have pushed the split even lower.

The deckhands on the Harvest were also stunned. They had no idea of the value of these canned fish—they'd never even seen them here—and yet they were so expensive? One can could sell for several yuan?

Everyone exchanged glances, but instantly grew even happier. With goods this valuable, the red envelope should be a bit bigger too, right?

Father Pei had originally been thinking: he helped salvage 33 crates of cargo, so getting only 1/4 seemed a bit too little. After all, without his help salvaging, Dongzi couldn't have gotten so much extra cargo. If not half, then at least 1/3, right?

Although it was he who dove down and stirred things up, making the crates float up—the credit was his—without them, he couldn't have earned so much extra either.

Now doing the math for him, since he could get one or two thousand yuan per person, that was already an enormous windfall!

Just lending a hand, and it was practically blood money.

The crease between Father Pei's brows instantly smoothed out, and a smile appeared on his face. "Really worth that much money? We've never seen this kind of canned fish around here—it's quite rare. Who would've thought fish could be made into cans."

"Fresh fish isn't easy to transport. In summer it spoils in a day or two at most. Making it into canned fish makes it much easier to transport, and lets people in inland places with no sea or river eat fish too. It also avoids wasting resources and extends the fish's shelf life."

"That's true. Alright then, since it can sell for that much, I've gotten a bargain too, taken a big advantage."

Seeing he agreed and had no objections, Ye Yaodong also breathed a sigh of relief. When he'd said 1/4 just now, he'd seen Father Pei's brows knit tight, which was why he'd immediately followed up by mentioning the cargo's value.

The two boats going in and out together benefits everyone; falling out would be bad for either side.

Besides, without the Harvest's help, he really couldn't have salvaged so much—it might all have gone to waste on the sea.

His taking 3/4 was already plenty. If it had all scattered on the sea, he certainly wouldn't have gotten as much as 3/4.

After taking the lion's share himself, he had to leave others a little sweetness too.

His own boat had salvaged 42 crates, plus the extra 24 crates, so what he got in hand came to about 66 crates in total—just giving 8 crates to Uncle Pei.

Doing the math, it was an incredible bargain.

And everyone was happy.

Ye Fu's heart ached, and his smile was a bit forced. "Since you have no objections, good. Dongzi went into the water again and again looking for the reef, and almost froze. Going down in this freezing weather isn't easy—he went under repeatedly."

"Underwater is dangerous too. Finding a sunken ship isn't easy—who knows how deep it sank. He took a huge risk. We just scooped things off the surface, which was easy and effortless."

"Without him taking that risk underwater, these dozens of crates wouldn't have floated up. What a shame though—quite a lot still drifted away…"

Father Pei felt a bit awkward hearing Ye Fu out, and felt he himself had been too greedy. The other took the risk while he picked up the bargain—getting 8 crates was already plenty, enough to sell for one or two thousand yuan.

Actually, both sides' satisfaction mainly depends on each person's desires.

Ye Yaodong's desires weren't strong. He felt that since he was getting the meat, he had to let others have some soup too. Leave a line in everything, and meeting again will be easier. You good, me good, everyone good—after all, no one here is an outsider.

Father Pei said with a smile: "Dongzi really worked hard—it's all thanks to him. If I had a son like him, I'd wake up laughing from the dream. Too bad there's only one son at home—your fate is better. Luckily we're all relatives, no need to calculate so clearly. I salvaged 33 crates, so let's round it off—just leave me 8 crates."

Ye Fu was slightly more satisfied. "Alright then, keep your 8 crates. Move the rest over here. You all move them over there, we'll take them here."

"Alright, everyone get moving. Carry 25 crates of cargo over for them to receive."

"Got it."

The deckhands on both sides got busy at the same time.

Suddenly Father Pei thought of another problem.

"Ah, Dongzi, the shop our family bought hasn't opened for business at all—it's not operating. These goods are hard to deal with, and I don't know how to sell them. What are you planning to do? Put them in your own shop to sell?"

"I need to go back and think it over."

Although the outer packaging of these goods all had labels and such, he wasn't worried. He'd salvaged them from the sea—openly and legitimately obtained—not smuggled.

Cargo from a sunken ship at sea, of course, belongs to whoever salvages it. It's not like antiques that have to be turned in.

The thing was, he didn't know the progress on Director Chen's end—whether these goods had been marked as stolen property. For ordinary smuggled goods, he could just pretend not to know and sell them.

The laws aren't well-developed now, transportation is underdeveloped, information is blocked—it's not that easy to spread. Besides, these goods were produced in Guangdong Province, a hundred thousand miles from here.

However, if the city is investigating, then he can't sell them at his city shop.

Better to pack them all up together and hand them to Lin Ji—more hassle-free, more secure.

On his end, it was legitimately salvaged. He wasn't involved in smuggling—he just knew someone wanted to buy, so he sold.

Both parties willing.

Who would trace your buyers' eighteen generations when they purchase from you?

That reasoning was quite self-righteous.

And judging from Lin Ji's life trajectory in his previous life, this man also rose up safely and smoothly. Handing it all over to him in one package—whether he sold it all over the country or exported overseas—looked safer and faster to move than Ye Yaodong selling it himself bit by bit.

But on the return trip from the city, passing through the county town, he'd definitely have to stop there for a while to find Director Chen and chat, asking about the progress.

Then decide on the specific plan after bringing the goods back.

Father Pei's face was full of confusion. "Think over what?"

"Whether to put them in the shop for retail, or find a boss and sell the whole lot to him in one go. One shipment out, saves me from selling it myself and taking too long."

"That's true too. Moving it all at once, the money comes faster—of course that's better. A bit cheaper doesn't matter; it's salvaged from the sea anyway, earning a little less is fine."

"Yes, I think so too. So I'll think it over after getting back before deciding."

"Then once you've thought it through, let me know? My bit of cargo is just 8 crates, and I have no connections to sell it. You've got a shop, know lots of people, and have wide connections. If you've lined up a buyer, could you help me move mine too?" Father Pei said with an eager smile.

"We'll see when the time comes. Whether I can find someone isn't certain either. Let me think it over first…"

"Alright, alright, you think it over first. Let me know when there's news. We're not outsiders here—we all help each other. But I can't let you work for nothing. If we sell together, we'll follow the middleman's rules and give you 5 points…"

Ye Fu was only satisfied hearing this. Although they were in-laws, the accounts had to be settled clearly. He'd already let the other take a big bargain.

"You're too kind, in-law. We'll talk about that later. Let me ask around first."

Father Pei nodded with a smile.

Ye Fu also felt in his heart that the Harvest following them had taken a huge advantage. Dongzi had good luck at sea and often ran into good things. The Harvest following them had already benefited several times.

Looking at the Harvest's monthly settlement statements from the past few months, the cargo sold from each trawling hadn't earned as much as now.

This was entirely thanks to Dongzi!

Being able to follow Bai De and grab a windfall now — what a bargain for him.

Luckily Old Pei's family only has one son; no matter how much money he earns, it'll all belong to A-Guang and Ye Ye Huimei in the future. The fertile water doesn't flow to outsiders' fields, so it's not so hard to take after all.

Let them share in the glory now, and later his daughter's and son-in-law's lives, and his grandchildren's lives, will be easier too.

The boatmen were shuttling cargo back and forth there; the three of them finished their discussion and began to chat idly.

"So many boxes just drifted away — what a pity. One box is worth about a hundred yuan; all that really drifted away was money."

Ye Fu came back to his senses, his face aching with regret. "Exactly. We found it too late. If we'd found the spot earlier, we could've had a few more hours of salvage and pulled a few more boxes up. Now we can't see a thing — the sea is pitch black, we can only see a few meters ahead."

"Th-then did Dongzi look carefully underneath? Are there any other storage spaces?"

"This is a cargo ship. The one I opened was the largest cargo hold. Where they sleep probably doesn't have anything valuable either. Besides, even if we wanted to turn back and look again, it wouldn't be that easy — too much effort, too much time. Winter swimming isn't that pleasant, Uncle. We've already gained plenty right now."

Father Pei smiled. "That's true. One windfall is plenty; we can't be too greedy. It's just that those people lost too much. The cargo's gone, the people were even arrested — I wonder how they're doing now, whether they've been released?"

"Oh right, Dongzi — why didn't those Haishi Bureau people go out to sea to investigate? How'd they let us dive in and grab a bargain?" Ye Fu suddenly thought of this point too.

"No idea. You ask me, who do I ask? I don't know anything either — wasn't I with you the whole time? How about this — when we head back, I'll pass through the county and go ask?"