Chapter 1109: Remittance

The father and son hadn't even gone out yet and were still chatting inside when someone outside started calling out, saying Chen Jianian had come looking for them; the two exchanged a glance and immediately went out.

He really came quickly—probably heard the moment they got back, so he rushed right over.

But Chen Jianian didn't really chat about anything when he came over; he just smiled and said they should coexist peacefully and all that, that they all came from the same place and should look out for each other.

How could Ye Yaodong refuse? He also smiled and nodded, and politely tried to get the man to stay for a meal, but the fellow was tactful—knowing he had just gotten back and hadn't even eaten yet—so after a few words he took his leave first.

When they arrived today, the man had surely found out a step ahead of time exactly how many boats they'd brought on this trip; comparing the two sides, Ye Yaodong's side happened to have fewer big boats and more small boats, while their side was all big boats, with roughly the same number of people.

All told, the two groups really were a force to be reckoned with, directly stationed in the small town.

For the sake of peaceful coexistence, they had to at least say hello when they came; the essence of it all was wanting to earn more money, and they might also need to band together to resist the locals' hostility.

As for the large haul of hairtail he had towed back today, the man didn't keep asking about it—probably assuming the rumors outside were exaggerated, not taking it to heart, especially since their target was jellyfish.

Ye Yaodong didn't deliberately tell Chen Jianian that this year's situation might not be that good; they'd all just have to wait and see.

After the meal, the boatmen all began sorting out the longlines, to make it easier to keep setting hooks tomorrow, and they kept working on the bit of extra material they'd replenished today.

Ye Yaodong thought it was pretty good to find them something to do at night—saved them from running around all over the place, or gathering to gamble; all in all, there was just too little entertainment.

When everyone gathered together, extra chatting was inevitable; the other villagers also crowded over one after another to ask how much money they'd made selling hairtail today—each and every one had heard the rumors outside and knew they'd caught several thousand jin of hairtail today.

"How did you catch them? How could you catch so many hairtail?"

"Yesterday I saw you making longlines, and today you still don't have enough? Yesterday you said you'd found a school of hairtail—how come those hairtail didn't swim off? Today you can still haul up that many of them, isn't that amazing?"

"How are those hairtail still in the same spot, and you can still catch so many—several thousand jin! Don't you have to pull them back in and sort them after one use?"

"You're making longlines again now—does that mean the school of hairtail is still in the same spot?"

"That's too weird, isn't it? Don't fish schools keep moving?"

"Is it because there's a school of hairtail in that trench where you were diving for sea urchins?"

"It must be, it must be right inside the trench—otherwise how could you have caught so many…"

"Old Pei seems to have said he caught a few thousand jin today too; the two of you went out and came back together, and you two pocketed all the money."

"Can everyone earn this money along with you… we don't even know when the jellyfish fishing season will hit its peak, and dragging nets earns way less compared to what you guys are making…"

"There's a hook on every line above—this is the secret to catching so many in a day, right? I saw it yesterday and was wondering…"

"Sea urchins, and now hairtail—you guys just got here and you're already striking it rich, don't even have to wait for jellyfish… tell us about it… let's all make money together…"

……

A whole bunch of people had known yesterday that they were making longlines, getting ready to set longlines to catch hairtail.

Nobody said much out loud, but in their hearts they were all secretly grumbling, saying they were wasting their time—by the time they finished making them and went to fish, the school would have long swum away.

They hadn't even earned any money yet, but were already about to spend a big chunk of money going out.

But once they heard about their haul at dusk, nobody could sit still anymore—dozens of people crowded over to ask around the moment they got back.

Old Pei had gotten back ahead of everyone else; the others came back later and didn't bump into him, and besides, his haul wasn't as big as Ye Yaodong's, so it didn't cause much of a stir—rather, it was the quantity Ye Yaodong brought back that got everyone buzzing, so much so that they all crowded over to his side to ask around.

He had dozens of boatmen on his side; the ones who went out came back and chatted with those who stayed behind, and then the villagers crowded over chattering to ask about it, so basically everyone knew.

Who would have thought, the fish school lives in the trench—nobody had ever gone down into that trench below, nobody knew how many meters deep or how many meters wide it was; with their limited imagination, they simply couldn't picture it.

After chatting about it briefly, they couldn't help but slap their thighs.

"Never expected there's everything inside that trench… it's all in there…"

"Oh my… we don't have the ability to get down into the water either…"

"Damn, Adong really has wide connections, he can get his hands on anything. The people who came to our village to fish the past couple of years seemed to have diving gear—that takes connections to get!"

"Adong knows a lot of people to begin with, isn't he on good terms with the leaders who came to our village before? I heard he got it from them—that's seriously impressive."

"So they went down into the water yesterday and discovered it, then rushed back to make longlines as fast as they could, that's why they caught so much today."

"I knew it—it's because it's in the trench, so they just dropped their lines right in there to fish, that's why they caught so many…"

"Really struck it rich, when luck comes you can't stop it, you could earn money with your eyes closed—lucky Old Pei… he gets to share in this too…"

"Right, right… how could you find the spot so precisely without going down into the water, and accurately drop the longlines into the trench…"

"Looks like we can't earn this money… sigh…"

"Was thinking of coming over to ask, see if we could do it too? Now it looks like we can't, we can only wait for the jellyfish fishing season…"

"When the jellyfish fishing season comes, they won't be able to longline either, right? Jellyfish everywhere, and they can't get into the water either, right?"

"Maybe—are you guys still going out to drag nets tonight?"

"Are there a lot of jellyfish this year?"

Everyone was chattering away discussing it, and finally reached the conclusion that Chen Jianian and his people had come today too, so they'd definitely go check out the trench first thing tomorrow morning; the scattered jellyfish floating around now definitely weren't enough to split among everyone.

If they didn't go drag nets at night and instead followed along to join the fun over there first thing in the morning, they'd surely come back with barely any haul—better to go out and drag nets for one more day, then check again the day after; at least the haul from dragging nets was solid and real, no need to split it with others.

As for the hairtail they'd been discussing from the start, no matter how envious they were, they could only give it up unwillingly—even what Ye Yaodong had replenished today was only enough to make two more lines; if everyone dragged nets for one more day and went to buy materials to make more tomorrow, the day after tomorrow they'd probably all have to start fishing for jellyfish.

Besides, even if they could make them, they didn't have the ability to get down into the water, and they had just asked around—no materials available either, nothing they could do; even if people wanted a share of the pie, they couldn't earn this money.

As they talked and talked, they could only regretfully look forward to the jellyfish fishing season arriving quickly.

The next morning, when Ye Yaodong and his crew set out, sure enough Chen Jianian and his people were also gathering and waiting at the dock, with plenty of locals around pointing at their group and chattering away.

He just went over to say hello, then headed off first.

But not long after, the twenty-odd boats behind them all set out together too—looking especially orderly and impressive; it was rare for such a small place to see so many fishing boats going out and coming back together in such formation.

After he and A Guang arrived at the spot, they split up the scattered jellyfish floating on the surface; also, since it was early morning, the jellyfish floating up weren't that many, and they still couldn't gauge today's situation.

While the boatmen were splitting up the jellyfish, the two of them also put on their gear ahead of time, then warmed up, so that the moment the boats stopped, they could get into the water right away.

By the time Chen Jianian arrived, they had already lowered all their longlines.

Ye Yaodong stood dripping wet on the deck, looking at the large group of fishing boats ahead, listening to their murmuring, and Chen Jianian couldn't help but come over to ask him why there didn't seem to be much catch here.

"Because it hasn't reached the time yet—the past two days the number floating up has been small. Our boats went out to drag nets at night, so this morning you only see our two boats and two small boats here. If there were a lot of catch here, you would've seen more than our four boats."

"If there's no catch, what are you doing here?"

"Diving for sea urchins!"

Chen Jianian also understood, knowing that last year they had discovered sea urchins down there; after they finished harvesting all the jellyfish, everyone went out onto the sea surface to search, and they too had been dredging here for several days.

After nodding, he explained the situation to the fishing boats he had brought along; although everyone was disappointed, seeing that others hadn't gained an unfair advantage either, they could still accept it.

So within a short while, more than half of this fleet of fishing boats disappeared; Ye Yaodong estimated they must have gone to drag their nets, but a few, unwilling to give up, still lingered on the nearby sea surface, searching and keeping an eye on whether their sea urchin dredging was genuine.

What made them find it even more ridiculous was that after seeing them haul up several nets full of sea urchins, some people actually jumped into the water, wanting to see how they dredged the sea urchins and hoping to try their luck too.

However, those who went down surfaced again within a short while; Ye Yaodong watched coldly from the sidelines until, by noon, those fishing boats finally left one after another, unable to bear staying any longer due to their meager catch.

A boatman on board said, "Finally, they're gone; they've been staying here all morning."

"Isn't it because they're afraid we're tricking them? They also wanted to see how many jellyfish surfaced during the whole morning."

"Since they're already here, they definitely wanted to stay a bit longer to check the situation; after all, they only arrived yesterday."

"It's good they left; it's noon now. Should we start retrieving our longlines too? A-Dong?"

"It's about time; let's retrieve them."

Yesterday, they retrieved them around this same time at noon; today, with two extra lines added, it would probably take a bit more time.

Seeing him start retrieving, A-Guang over there followed suit and started retrieving as well.

Today, A-Guang and his group, as usual, only brought out one new trawler; the Fengshou Hao remained anchored there, unmoving.

When Ye Yaodong set out this morning, he hadn't understood at first; clearly, they had said yesterday that this boat had no fish hold, that the cargo was being dried on the deck, along with jellyfish and baskets upon baskets of longlines, leaving almost no room to step, yet today they still hadn't brought the boat out.

But now, watching them happily celebrate their harvest, he finally understood.

If they had brought the Fengshou Hao out to collect the catch, then naturally the fish caught would have to be counted towards the Fengshou Hao's profits, with half shared out; whereas anything dredged by their own small boats naturally belonged to them, requiring no sharing.

He didn't possess a Seven-Orifice Luminous Heart, nor did he have so many twists and turns in his mind; only now did he realize this.

But thinking about it, it was only human nature; who wouldn't want to earn a bit more money for themselves?

Even he himself had brought two extra small boats out today to have people dredge the jellyfish surfacing on the sea; this move was essentially competing with them for the catch.

Moreover, A-Guang had also helped him dive to dredge; although he had enough hands and didn't really need the help, it was a gesture of goodwill, and he himself also wanted to dive down to check the conditions below.

After understanding this, he withdrew his gaze and focused only on his own harvest.

By afternoon, several boats from the group Chen Jianian had brought came over one after another, but what they saw was still an empty sea surface with only four small boats of varying sizes.

However, they also saw two boats retrieving hairtail; the fishing lines were completely full, and A-Guang's boat was also piled high with hairtail; the expressions of shock mixed with envy on their faces were impossible to suppress, so they all crowded over to watch them unload the catch and began asking questions.

Since they had already seen it, Ye Yaodong sighed inwardly and honestly told them that there was a school of hairtail below.

Only then did these people realize that the hairtail sold for several thousand yuan, which had been the hot topic at the dock yesterday evening, had all been caught right here.

While they were watching, scattered boats from both sides returned; everyone immediately circled around first to check the situation.

Ye's father also returned.

"Have these few boats been here all day?"

"No; they set out a bit later than us this morning, and a few boats stayed here until noon before leaving; now they are probably just coming over to check the situation before heading back."

"Then tomorrow, let's not go trawling; let's just stay here and guard this spot, so that if you catch too much here, it doesn't attract jealousy."

"Mm, I think we won't be able to fish for hairtail for more than two days anyway; there are quite a lot of jellyfish surfacing today..."

Because he had brought out two small wooden boats specifically to dredge jellyfish, and after A-Guang and his group started retrieving the hairtail, they stopped paying attention to the cargo on the sea surface, leaving it all to him as a bargain.

It might also be because the hairtail catch kept increasing, piling up higher and higher on the deck; today they also had ten longlines, having replenished half of them last night, so they had two fewer than him.

All the fishing boats that returned one after another, upon seeing them retrieving hairtail there, did not leave immediately; everyone was very curious and shocked; seeing with their own eyes that a single fishing line could yield so much, they finally understood that selling for several thousand yuan was no exaggeration.

Even more so, some people jumped into the water again; after diving down, they were even more shocked, and upon surfacing, they told everyone that the entire line underwater was covered with hooks, a full-hook rate they had never seen before.

No one could see Ye Yaodong's total harvest because as soon as his baskets were full, he moved them into the fish hold; they could only see A-Guang's side, where the deck was piled high.

After Ye's father returned, Ye Yaodong also asked him to help retrieve the other longlines simultaneously; with two boats retrieving at the same time, the speed would be faster.

By the time all the longlines were retrieved, everyone still felt unsatisfied.

"Finished retrieving? Is there nothing left?"

"So much; one boat is already full. Can we sell it for several thousand again?"

"We originally came out to earn money dredging jellyfish, but we didn't earn a cent from the jellyfish; we just watched you earn money from the hairtail..."

"Exactly, exactly. Can we also put down a few lines tomorrow to try our luck..."

"I'm afraid we won't have that kind of luck; the sea surface is quite vast; who knows how wide and long the underwater trench is? Once we go down into the water, we can't see anything, and we can't dive too deep, so we can only come back up..."

Ye Yaodong finished retrieving a step ahead of A-Guang; at that moment, more than a dozen fishing boats were watching around them, and he had been keeping an eye on them all along.

Ignoring the discussions of the other fishing boats around, he steered his boat closer to A-Guang's side.

"I'm finished on my side; are you almost done on yours?"

"Almost; wait for me and let's go back together. It's already 3 o'clock; aren't you going to dredge a bit more sea urchins? The sun is still far from setting."

"No; let's go back early and sell the hairtail first, so we can transfer the money before the bank closes."

Seeing so many fishing boats gathered on the sea surface to watch, and knowing that as the sun tilted westward, more would gradually arrive, Ye Yaodong didn't want to linger any longer to dredge sea urchins; he decided to take the hairtail back and sell it first.

Taking advantage of this time, when fewer local fishing boats were docking and the dock wasn't too crowded, it was better to go back and sell early.

Ye's father thought the same way; the quantity was too large, with so many people watching, so it was better to go back early, sell, and transfer the money.

"With so many people watching, I don't know if it will be easy to handle tomorrow."

Ye Yaodong comforted him: "We have many people, so there's no need to fear; besides, everyone is waiting for the jellyfish peak season to make a huge profit; right now, they can at most feel envy and jealousy."

"That's true; with the big money from the jellyfish hanging there, they will only watch and envy right now, not daring to entertain any crooked thoughts."

"To avoid complications, let's go back early; we've caught enough anyway. Father, go drag those small boats over and tie them behind my boat; later, my boat will pull them faster."

"Okay."

A-Guang also urged the people on his boat to retrieve a bit faster.

"I only have the last line left; the quantity is too large, so retrieving is a bit slow; it will be ready in a moment."

They were all busy wrapping things up there.

Once everything was settled, and as they all started moving, the other fishing boats, seeing there was nothing left to watch, followed behind and went back together.

By the time they reached shore, it was only 4 o'clock; the scorching sun still hung high, and many small boats along the coast, seeking shade from the heat, drifted idly on the sea.

However, once they began unloading their catch onto the shore, it caused another stir. Fortunately, the heat was so intense that few locals were on the beach; the commotion was mostly among their own group of outsiders.

The quantity was simply too vast. The small purchasing station had to scramble and pool funds from various sources just to barely afford his massive haul. Fortunately, he hadn't sold his goods yesterday to the same shop as Father Pei; otherwise, a single store truly could not have absorbed such a volume.

Today, two more longlines were added, so his catch was even larger. After weighing, it totaled 7,310 jin. The portion with a poor surface appearance weighed 540 jin. Although there were fewer sea urchins, they still amounted to 3,912 jin.

He set aside 100 jin of the poor-quality surface fish and sold the rest.

The sea urchins sold for 782.4, and the hairtail fish sold for a total of 3,765.

After counting the money carefully, totaling 4,547.4, he packed it into a cloth bag he had prepared in advance, clutching it tightly in his hands and holding it close to his chest.

Outside, a crowd stretched their necks to peer inside, all eager to know how much money he had made, chattering noisily as they formed a large ring around the place.

He ignored them, instead telling them to move aside, as they still needed to weigh the trawl net catch and the jellyfish.

This portion of the catch was smaller, so the weighing went quickly. The trawl net catch sold for 35.68 yuan, and since they had caught more jellyfish in the afternoon, it surprisingly sold for 75.77 yuan.

After securing this portion of the money, he made his way toward Ah Guang under the watch of dozens of boatmen. They had already finished selling their catch and were walking toward him.

Once the dozens of people regrouped, they marched in a grand procession toward the rental house.

The onlookers dared not approach, only whispering among themselves, discussing how they had fished, how they could catch so much hairtail, and how they had done it for two consecutive days.

Ye Fu, whose heart had been tight with worry, finally relaxed. Walking briskly, he said, "Fortunately, we have so many of us..."

Father Pei nodded in agreement, "Yes, if there were only two or three people, who knows what chaos might have ensued."

"The place is too small, and the cargo is too large. If this were in a city or provincial port where large ships dock frequently, it wouldn't be such a big deal."

"Just hold on for another day or two."

"Dongzi, is there still a lot down below?"

"Today, I saw some hollow black crevices; I don't know how tomorrow will be."

"Making money right under everyone's nose isn't easy..."

Ye Yaodong, seeing the rental house just ahead, addressed everyone again: "In a moment, I am going to the Post and Telecommunications Bureau to send a money transfer. You all come with me. You can also call home to report that you are safe. I will cover the phone bills. I'll just go back to grab some money and be right out."

"That's great. We've been here for three or four days and haven't called home yet."

"Then we'll wait at the entrance."

Ah Guang also said, "Dongzi, wait for me."

"Alright."

While waiting, Ye Yaodong split half of the 100 jin of hairtail he had kept aside and gave it to the villagers of this village. He also took 40 jin and had someone deliver it to the Chen family, as one must still maintain social appearances.

Keeping 10 jin for his own family was enough, especially since there were other fish left over.

They had just returned and were going out again; the constant coming and going of such a large, grand group drew extra attention on the road.

Once inside the Post and Telecommunications Bureau, the bank staff grew nervous, all standing up and watching them warily. Only when Ye Yaodong placed a bundle of money on the counter and stated he wanted to make a telegraphic transfer did they all finally breathe a sigh of relief.

With no seats available for the large group, everyone simply sat directly on the floor, lining up to wait for their turn to make a phone call.

Such a huge crowd rushing in nearly scared the staff to death, and the bank employees' attitude became incredibly good.

Ye Yaodong saw the worker across from him trembling slightly; he smiled. Everyone was still wearing hats; if they had collectively taken them off, wouldn't the staff have been so terrified they would have wet themselves on the spot?

Fortunately, everyone knew their shaved heads could frighten people, so they had kept their straw hats on properly whenever entering or exiting.

Once the money transfer was complete, he ran to the side to make a call and notify Ah Qing.

Today, they earned over 4,600; yesterday and the day before, they earned over 5,300. In three days, the total came to over 9,900. He added a dozen or so yuan of his own to round it up to exactly 10,000.

Before they set out, Ah Qing had given him 1,000 yuan for expenses before they started earning. Aside from rent, he didn't need to spend money on food or drink, as he had brought his own supplies.

Since arriving, they had been earning money continuously. Now, keeping a few hundred yuan on hand was sufficient, as they would continue to earn money in the days ahead.

Adhering to his principle of paying for everything, he figured there was no point in not using the free calls. Everyone waited there, making calls one by one, until the bank was about to close, leaving only those who hadn't had their turn to leave with regret.

However, Ye Yaodong also promised that when they sent the next money transfer in a few days, those who hadn't made a call today would get priority. Since he would reimburse everyone anyway, all of them finally left the Post and Telecommunications Bureau with beaming smiles.

With no money left on his person, his heart felt at ease, and everyone walked home lightly and happily to eat.

However, upon returning to the rental house, they heard others talking. A few villagers had also bought materials and were setting up longlines, though the quantity was not large.

Ye Yaodong paid it no mind. If one step is late, every step is late; starting now would only result in wasted labor.

He himself couldn't be certain if there would be any left tomorrow. After all, the number of jellyfish floating to the surface today was considerable, doubling compared to the previous day. Especially in the afternoon, the frequency of them floating up increased, which is why he could see that the school of hairtail below was no longer so dense, with sea trenches exposed.

"No need to worry. Whoever wants to follow the trend can do so; it doesn't matter."

"Dongzi, tomorrow, just leave two people here to guard. For the rest, we will take everyone out to sea early tomorrow morning."

"Mm, I know. Let's all take a shower and eat first; we still have work to do after eating."

While they were eating, Chen Jiannian came over again to catch up. In reality, he had come to inquire where they bought their equipment, adding that they had searched the entire town before dark but found nothing.

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"Don't even think about it. Our Adong's equipment was obtained through connections; it's not available for sale outside."

"Yes, didn't you notice that only Adong has it here? The official he knows is very powerful."

"That's right, he is very familiar with the leaders..."

The boatmen boasted all sorts of things to him, leaving Chen Jiannian and his companion stunned and bewildered.

Hearing everyone's praise, Ye Yaodong wore an awkward expression. He could only remain silent and quickly go take a shower, letting them boast as they pleased.

After all, when traveling away from home, one's identity is self-made. Now that people were helping him boast, it was better if they exaggerated a bit...

By the time he finished his shower and came out, Chen Jiannian was already gone. The villagers from their own village had all gathered by his side to chat, just like the previous two nights. The locals watching from a distance thought they were holding a mass meeting at the entrance.

Ye Yaodong ignored the gossip of others, content to enjoy the cool breeze.

After the longlines were all organized and stored inside the house, he too went back to his room to sleep.

However, what he did not expect was that by the next day, the entire small town was spreading rumors that they had official backing...