Chapter 1074

Both cadres were pleasantly surprised upon hearing this.

They hadn't expected him to donate two more small wooden boats. Even if they were second-hand or third-hand boats, one would still cost one or two hundred yuan.

This was equivalent to saving the village committee a sum of money.

One really couldn't work at sea without fishing boats; nothing could be done.

The other naval personnel also praised him repeatedly for his high level of awareness and his contribution to the village's development.

"However, I have one condition. The kelp produced by the collective must be sold to me. You can't have someone jump out and demand the goods, showing a lack of firm stance. Of course, I will definitely buy it at the market price and certainly won't intentionally suppress the price to bully our fellow villagers."

The village chief immediately agreed, "Of course. This farming initiative was proposed by you, and you are also contributing fishing boats to support the village's farming development; we certainly won't turn our backs on you."

Chen Shuji also smiled and echoed, "Yes, yes, everyone at this table can bear witness."

Pei Fu also smiled and said, "Without your help, even if we grew it, we wouldn't know what to do with it."

"Hahahaha, yes, yes, yes..."

Ye Yaodong happily raised his glass, "Come, come, let's have a toast. I hope the kelp farming in the village will be a great success in the future."

"Good, good, good, this is worth a toast together."

The atmosphere at the dinner table was exceptionally intense, and everyone continued to talk about the topic of farming.

"The two small wooden boats you're donating, are you planning to buy them somewhere? Why do you have to wait until you finish catching jellyfish? Didn't you say there's a lot of preparation work in the early stages?"

"I've ordered a few small wooden boats. The shipwright hasn't finished them yet. When they're done, I'll take them to Zhejiang Province to catch jellyfish, so I have to wait until the end of September. I'll hand them over to the village committee after I return."

It was already mid-June, so it didn't matter if he said it in advance; it was too late for others to follow the trend, so it didn't matter.

"Why do you need to take wooden boats?"

Except for Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua, the others weren't very clear about the situation of catching jellyfish and were a bit confused.

Both brothers were surprised and looked at each other, neither expecting Adong to be so smart as to order small wooden boats for the catch.

But since he had the brains, there was nothing more to say.

It was just that it would definitely be hard to manage this year; this thought crossed both their minds.

Ye Yaodong laughed, "That's because the more boats, the more you catch."

"That's true... your boat alone catches up to the total of the whole village. How many boats is that now?"

Ye Fu also laughed happily and said proudly, "Five have already been rented out, and in half a month, the sixth one might be in hand."

At this, everyone except his own family opened their mouths wide, including the naval personnel.

"6... 6 boats?"

"6 trawlers with diesel engines?"

"Really? So many?"

Captain Chen also marveled repeatedly, "It's only been two years, this is unbelievable, isn't it? You buy boats as easily as others buy meat."

"Isn't that right? Some families can't even eat meat a few times a year, and he can buy several boats in one year. This is already the sixth one?" The village chief was extremely surprised.

"No, plus the big boat in his own hands, the one called Dongsheng, right? That's 7 boats."

"And... that Fengshou boat seems to have his share too. Two boats parked side by side in the middle of the sea. My goodness, you're really something."

Ye Yaodong waved his hands repeatedly as they looked at him with surprised and intense gazes, "No, no, one of the rented ones is my father's old boat; I'm just helping him receive the goods, so he put it under my name first."

"That still makes seven boats including those two big ones, right? That's right, impressive, impressive. The whole village combined can't compare to you."

Chen Shuji said to the village chief with a proud face, "I told you two days ago, listen to Adong, we definitely won't go wrong developing kelp farming. Look at him these past few years, he's earning more and more, boat after boat. Since he says kelp can make money, it definitely won't be wrong. As long as we grow it, the standard of living for the whole village will improve, and the county will have to commend our village."

"Hahaha, looking at it this way, believing him shouldn't be wrong."

"Now that even the boats for sea operations are settled, there's nothing to hesitate about. Let's put in some labor and study it well."

The village chief nodded repeatedly, feeling that this dinner tonight wasn't eaten in vain, and he was more confident about kelp farming.

Captain Chen also smiled and said, "When I came over a few days ago, I saw your house had a TV, a washing machine, and you even built a two-story building. I originally thought you must have earned a lot of money in the past two years, but now it seems I was too conservative. You didn't just earn money, you made a fortune."

"Captain Chen, you underestimate him. He also has several shops in the city. The two vacant lots with brick walls on the side, you saw them when you came over, right? They are also his, and they are workshops he built in the past two years. Adong has been the signboard of our village these past two years. Others might not know our Bai Sha Village, but once you mention 'Salted Fish Dong', everyone knows."

Chen Shuji spared no effort in helping him brag.

"Then what about that military motorcycle at the entrance?" a naval comrade asked curiously.

Others added, "Haha, we saw it a few days ago, but everyone was too embarrassed to ask."

Chen Shuji looked at Ye Yaodong and deliberated, "That was left behind by a leader."

No one knew the specific situation, only that the county leader had left behind a damaged motorcycle, and then heard that Ye Yaodong had sent it for repairs. It had been kept at his house ever since, and people could see him driving it out occasionally.

Ye Yaodong asked curiously, "You knew even though there were no markings?"

"Of course. Although there are no markings, this type of model isn't something an individual can have, not to mention how expensive motorcycles are."

He smiled and said, "It was a leader I'm familiar with. Because he was passing through here on a mission, he rolled down a hillside at a bend in the mountain road at night. The motorcycle was damaged, and he was injured, so he left first for treatment."

"Then the motorcycle has been temporarily stored with me. I was worried it would break if it wasn't repaired for too long, so I sent it for repairs, and it's been kept at home. The leader said he would come to drive it when he's free."

"Oh, so that's it. I was wondering why you would have this kind of motorcycle parked at your house."

Captain Chen smiled and said, "I didn't expect Comrade Ye Yaodong to be familiar with leaders from above."

Ye Fu spoke up actively, "More than just familiar, the leaders really look after Adong. Before, when someone in the village reported Adong for speculation and profiteering, the leader was so anxious that he called the border defense station directly to have him released."

"Nonsense, the leader just asked about the situation, and the border defense station also discovered it was a misunderstanding, so they released me. I wasn't speculating or profiteering; I was just selling agricultural products. How is that speculation and profiteering? Obtaining high profits through buying and selling is what's called speculation and profiteering."

"Yes, yes."

Chen Shuji smiled and chimed in, "Although that's the case, it's true that the leader values you."

"No wonder Comrade Ye Yaodong has developed so well these past few years, and his home looks completely changed."

"Haha, the leader is just an external force; the most important thing is one's own diligence and hard work. Others can't work for you or go to sea for you. They have their own things to be busy with, so money still has to be earned by oneself."

Ye Fu quickly echoed, "Yes, that's right, everything has to rely on oneself."

"But knowing a leader can generally make things go a bit smoother."

"Indeed, haha, come, come... anyway, it's night, no need to work, drink more, I have several rooms at home..."

"No, no, we have to go back immediately after eating; we can't linger outside."

"It's cleared up, there's a mission tomorrow, and we have to train as usual."

"Can't you stay for one night?"

"No, we can't."

Since they couldn't, Ye Yaodong didn't force them, only letting the two village cadres drink more.

Old men who were getting on in years were all fond of a drink; when they were free, they liked to have a couple of cups. The humidity at the seaside was also high, so they needed to drink a little occasionally to dispel the dampness, and the women in every household basically knew how to make wine.

Local postpartum confinement also required stewing fish, soup, and chicken with rice wine. The rice wine they drank tonight was made by Ye Mu herself, specifically for Ye Huimei's confinement, and she had made extra for the family to drink.

That was why Ye Fu was thinking about taking the opportunity to drink a couple more cups. The four old men in the room went back and forth endlessly.

Ye Mu was also constantly refilling their wine, rarely without pulling a long face to scold Ye Fu, and even accompanied them with a smile, urging them to drink more and not be formal.

Captain Chen and the others were determined to go back once they said they would. They ate a simple meal, drank two small cups, and got up to leave.

By this time, the sky had turned completely dark. Ye Yaodong politely tried to persuade them to stay twice more, but after it was fruitless, he didn't say much else, and everyone stood up to see them to the door.

Ye Yaodong let the others go back to continue eating, while he accompanied them for a stretch of the road, chatting along the way.

When they reached the entrance of the village, he stopped, urged them to walk slowly, and then returned.

Except for the four old men and his elder and younger brothers, everyone else in the family had already left the table, and even the two younger brothers had gone back first.

Ye Mu had also cleared the trash from the tables of those who had left, without disturbing the few who were drinking enthusiastically.

Lin Xiuqing had also returned to the room to bathe the two children and play with them.

As soon as he stepped into the house, he was called by them to sit down and continue drinking and chatting.

Outside, the evening breeze was blowing, and the atmosphere in the house was high and fiery. After drinking the "horse urine," they became more talkative, their bragging became louder, and their voices grew louder.

Ye Yaodong accompanied them for a while, only to see the two village cadres already fantasizing about selling the kelp for a good price after the harvest, the whole village cheering, and then expanding investment, with every household participating, making the village a wealthy one, and them gaining both fame and fortune.

He also laughed out loud.

It was all the fault of poverty; even a tiny bit of hope could be magnified.

Fortunately, he remembered that there was only one super typhoon this year, but it didn't pass through here; it went north. Their coastal area was only slightly affected, and there were no super typhoons in their surrounding coastal area for the next few years.

As long as there were no problems with the steps of seedling collection, seedling division, and farming, there was a high probability of success.

After a group of old men drank too much, they pulled each other to chat endlessly. Later, their tongues became thick from drinking, and they couldn't speak clearly, so Ye Yaodong had his elder and younger brothers each take one back.

He also supported Pei Fu, and as for his father, he left him to his mother.

However, as soon as his mother got her hands on him, she pinched him twice and then cursed up a storm.

"It's late at night, if you want to scold, take him back and scold him. Now, just support them well, one each..."

Ye Yaopeng also said, "The ground outside isn't dry yet, there's mud everywhere, support them steadily..."

"Every day he only knows how to seize the opportunity to drink, drinking until he's like this..."

"Otherwise, let my father sleep here tonight? Anyway, there's a room, and it saves the trouble of supporting him back and forth?"

"No, keeping him here will only add trouble. A person like him, once he drinks that 'horse urine', he'll go anywhere, and he won't even know where the door opens. You have kelp that was just collected piled up in that room, don't let him pee directly into your pile of goods."

Ye Yaodong was speechless for a moment. Was his father's drinking behavior that bad?

"It shouldn't be that bad, right?"

"What do you mean it shouldn't be? He's capable of doing such things. Last time he was drunk, he got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, treated the wardrobe door as the room door, opened it, and peed. I was so angry I almost cut him. In the middle of the night, I almost took advantage of him being drunk to beat him to death." Ye Mu raised her voice, full of anger.

Ye Yaohua helped speak up, "Father was happy tonight, and he was drinking with the village chief and the secretary."

"Look at how he urged others to drink, who doesn't know he wants to drink to death himself? Stop talking, support them back first, it's so late."

"Mm."

They were all high from drinking, making them difficult to support. They staggered as they walked, occasionally pushing the people supporting them to one side, then singing loudly or talking big with thick tongues.

But as soon as they walked out of the courtyard gate and the sea breeze blew, they all fell to the ground. Fortunately, they were all young and strong, so they could barely manage to support a few old men, except for Ye Mu.

Ye Fu was a grown man; she couldn't support him even if she wanted to, so she just watched him fall face-first to the ground, and then he started snoring loudly. She stood with her hands on her hips, scolding endlessly.

"My god, like a dead pig, falling directly to the ground, how am I supposed to support him... It's endless, and he doesn't know how to drink a little less. I'll let you die here tonight..."

"Every day he just finds things for me to do... drinking until he's like this, as if he's never drunk in his life..."

"So dirty, I'll let you sleep on the ground tonight..."

Ye Mu was so angry she hit and slapped him, but she couldn't pull him up. It had just rained, and it hadn't been many hours, so the ground was full of puddles and mud, very dirty.

When Ye Fu hit the ground, the mud on the ground splashed onto everyone.

The three brothers who had just walked out of the door started sweating after only a few steps. Each of them was supporting one person and stopped, standing on the side, also speechless. Yet, none of them could spare a hand to pull their father up from the ground.

Everyone was having a hard time supporting them; the drunk people were exceptionally heavy and loved to move around, and now they were all falling to the ground, and they themselves were about to fall too.

"How about this, Mother, you push the flatbed cart out. I'll put Uncle Pei, whom I'm holding, onto the cart first, and then we'll lift Father onto it together. Let's also push the flatbed carts from Big Brother's and Ye Erge's houses out to put two on each, otherwise, this messy road isn't easy to walk on, and supporting them is exhausting."

Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua quickly echoed, "Good, good, good, it's easier to just push them with the flatbed cart."

Ye Yaodong said again, "Mother, you push both flatbed carts out first. We'll get the people we're holding onto the carts, and then lift Father up together. It's fine to let him lie there for a while first."

"It's fine to let him lie there until dawn." Ye Mu kicked him again, not venting her anger, and then turned to push the flatbed cart.

"It's fine to let him lie there until dawn, but it'll be troublesome for you to wash his clothes. By then, he'll be covered in mud from head to toe, and you'll have to wash his clothes."

"I'm going to be angered to death by him, there are people like this... once he starts drinking, he doesn't know how to stop... and they're all drunks, gathered together..." Ye Mu scolded as she pushed the cart out.

It was much more convenient with the flatbed cart. Placing everyone on the cart and then pushing them home saved time and effort.

It was just that his father was miserable; he didn't know where his mother would let him sleep tonight.

When they were sent home, his mother directly let them throw him in the main hall. It wasn't suitable to put him on the bed when he was that dirty, so the three brothers obediently put him on the ground, not daring to say anything more to touch their mother's bad mood.

Fortunately, they were all eating at his house now, otherwise his mother would definitely not have cooked for his father for three days, and anyway, he hadn't been doing any work lately.

On the way back, Ye Yaopeng also took the opportunity to ask him about building the small wooden boats.

"Are you building two or several of those small wooden boats? I don't know if there's enough time. Should we go buy one or two more to see if it's possible? If it's one or two, it's not a big problem to put them on our boat and tow them over."

"I ordered 10. When I went two days ago, they were almost finished. The master also had two or three apprentices helping, so they should all be able to be brought back by the end of the month or the beginning of next month."

"Ten... ten?" Both brothers exclaimed, then looked at each other, both shocked.

"Are you trying to catch them all in one net, Adong?"

"Yes, if I don't earn it, others will. Chen Jiayuan is definitely bringing more boats this year, and there will definitely be a few more boats following from our vicinity. However, our surrounding capacity is only so big, so a few more doesn't matter, but he will definitely have quite a few more boats."

"That's true. If you don't earn it hard, others will."

"Mm, so I ordered ten in one go. This kind of thing can only be done once. It won't be feasible next year, so you guys can decide for yourselves."

Ye Yaopeng pondered for a moment, "We can't do what you do. That trawler can only carry one or two. We still have to carry living supplies and quite a few people, so we have to leave some space for walking. It's not easy to buy them now, and people can't make them."

Ye Yaohua also said, "Asking others, probably no one will sell their boats, so forget it."

"You can still earn a little this year. After finishing in the sea trench, look around the nearby seaside; it's still better than trawling at home. It's hard to say for next year."

Ye Yaopeng was happy, "Next year we can also have big boats. By then, whether we go to Zhejiang Province or follow behind your two boats to catch, it will be convenient."

"When the time comes, learn if you can. If you can't, just work for a few days and go far with you."

"Mm."

The three chatted as they walked. The village was so quiet that only the sounds of insects and frogs could be heard. They lowered their voices when chatting, lest someone open a window and scold them because the soundproofing wasn't good.

When Ye Yaodong returned home, Lin Xiuqing was already washing the dishes, and the messy table had been tidied up.

"Are the two children asleep?"

"Mm, you should go to sleep early too."

He had also drunk a bit too much wine at night and had a headache, but he was just holding on. After nodding randomly, he went into the room to sleep.

The next day when he got up, the sun was already shining on his buttocks, and the bed was empty, with only him.

When he went out, he learned that Aqing had already gone to the workshop to collect kelp. Early this morning, people from other villages had come to deliver kelp again.

The first day the rain stopped, the sun was shining brightly. The sky today looked exceptionally clear, but the wind and waves on the sea were a bit high, the aftermath hadn't been eliminated, and even the tide was still high.

It was convenient to do things after the rain stopped, and the people in the village also came out to move around normally.

When Aqing was receiving the goods, quite a few people from the village who were watching the gossip gathered around, and Ye Xiaoxi and Pei Yu were drilling in and out of the crowd, playing extremely happily.

Ye Yaodong wanted to laugh when he saw Ye Xiaoxi's shiny bald head, which was almost reflecting light under the sun.

He smiled, called out first, and then waved at her.

Ye Xiaoxi was also very happy to see her father coming, and excitedly ran directly towards him, shouting as she ran, "Father, big bald head, big lazy bug..."

He touched her smooth head, "I'm the big bald head, you're the little bald head."

"Yes, yes~"

"Come, I'll take a photo of you."

Keep it as a souvenir, show it to her when she grows up. It will be difficult to see her bald look in the future.

"Okay, okay..."

She was so happy she jumped and wanted to run out. Ye Yaodong quickly scooped her up, and also scooped up Pei Yu. If he let them walk on the dirt road outside, they would definitely be covered in mud again.

He had leveled the ground of the workshop with mud and sand. Although it wasn't that flat, it was uneven and had particles, but it was still better than the dirt road outside which was full of mud.

Ye Yaodong's camera hadn't been used for a long time. He directly let the children sit in the sidecar and took a group photo with the two dogs that were unwilling to come down.

However, after he finished taking the photo, he discovered that the bellies of the two dogs hiding in the sidecar and unwilling to come down seemed a bit big?

He reached out to touch the dogs' bellies in doubt.

"Holy crap, who got your bellies big? And both of you got hit?"

"Damn it, guarding against the day and guarding against the night, it's hard to guard against the dog thief. I wanted to match you with a police dog or a wolf dog to improve the genes and optimize the next generation."

The two dogs squatted comfortably in the sidecar, letting him touch them, and even showed a comfortable expression, and even licked his arm with their tongues.

The old lady sat on the recliner at the door, shaking a cattail fan and said with a smile, "They should have conceived during the squid season last month. Everyone was very busy, and no one took care of these few dogs, and then we only discovered that these two had cubs in their bellies a while ago."

"Damn, last year I wanted to take them to the border defense station to steal the seed of a police dog, but they were too useless and didn't steal it. Now I don't know which dog bastard's cubs they are carrying."

Last year, Aqing also felt that there were too many dogs at home. When they were in heat, she kicked them away when she saw them, guarding strictly. Fortunately, they didn't get hit last year.

He was also thinking that Lin Ji brought back two wolf dog cubs a few days ago, and he could match another litter of wolf dogs. Now it's good, two litters of dogs are coming directly later, and wolf dogs can only wait until next year to see if there is a chance.

Ye Xiaoxi saw him stretching his hand to touch the dog's belly, and also curiously reached out to touch it, and then touched the milk above, and even pulled it to play.

"Neinei... gogogo... little neinei..."

Ye Yaodong quickly patted her hand away, "Not allowed to be naughty, Xiao Hei is about to give birth to dog babies."

"Dog babies? Really?" Ye Xiaoxi's eyes lit up with happiness, "Want dog babies, don't want chicken babies anymore."

"New love and old hate, the chicks at home are almost played to death by you, grabbed in your hands every day."

The old lady added, "Yesterday she almost stepped one to death, now she doesn't play with them anymore, only dares to play with the bigger ducklings."

"Naughty, don't move them, in more than half a month there will be a group of puppies born to play with you."

Ye Xiaoxi and Pei Yu curiously squatted beside the motorcycle looking at the two pregnant dogs, wanting to touch but not daring to, so they just squatted there obediently and honestly watching.

Ye Yaodong took a photo of their obedient scene again, thinking that he could wash two photos of Pei Yu later, one for Ah Guang and the others.

He had been taking the camera to the sea for the past six months, and he took few photos at home, basically all of fish. He really didn't think about taking more photos of Pei Yu, and then washing them out for them to take away. Sin, sin.

A sense of guilt arose spontaneously. He simply took two or three photos of Pei Yu alone, and then took one of the old lady sitting at the gate holding a cattail fan.

"Ah? Why take a photo of me? I didn't change into new clothes... and didn't comb my hair..."

"It's good-looking, this is real."

"Didn't tell me in advance, taking photos of course requires dressing better, wasted."

"Meaningful photos are not called waste, okay, work finished."

"Wait for the two children to come back at night, take photos of them too."

"Can, take a photo of the four big bald heads in the family."

The old lady laughed.

At this time, Lin Xiuqing's voice at the door also came in. She was directing people to park the flatbed cart at the courtyard gate.

"Two people lift it in and put it in the empty room on the 1st floor..."

"Are all of this morning's collected?"

"Just collected, everyone is still standing there without leaving, still talking there, so I let them move in first."

"How many jin were collected this morning?"

"1658 jin, a total of more than 7000 jin. Let's see if we can collect a little bit more in the afternoon, it's estimated that there's no more. The ten miles and eight villages all know that we want kelp these two days, and those who can send it have basically sent it over."

"That's fine, that's about it. Collect it in the afternoon, see tomorrow morning, if not, I will send a trip to the city directly tomorrow morning. Just take advantage of the time before going to sea to get this done."

"Mm, and the village cadres came to find you this morning, but I said you were sleeping, so they let you go over in the afternoon."

"Oh, that's probably to ask me about kelp farming."

"Probably, you go over after eating later, when it's time for work."