Chapter 1125: Move Out Everything

The goods on the beach today were basically all picked up for free; when they returned in the evening, everyone laid out the newly boiled jellyfish blood to dry.

The jellyfish blood that hadn't been dried because of the rainy days a few days ago had all dried after a full day of blazing sun today; they gathered it all up in the evening, cleared out the space, and packed away a full two burlap sacks.

Because the stuff was light, the two sacks only weighed a little over a hundred jin.

Early the next morning, he wasn't in a hurry to sell. The big group got up early and headed straight for the beach they'd gone to yesterday, though today there was no longer such a spectacular scene.

The tide on the sea was still rolling yellow as usual, but there were no fish or shrimp jumping about, and certainly no jellyfish—only a mess left behind on the beach, with poultry from the surrounding households all running onto the beach to peck at food.

The beach was covered everywhere with the corpses of fish, shrimp, and crabs, as well as large patches of stranded jellyfish scattered about like stars on a chessboard. These jellyfish, after being desalted, hadn't been dealt with right away and had already rotted and spoiled—not even getting the chance to dissolve into water.

A large crowd stood on the shore, shaking their heads in regret at the scene spread out before them.

"That's it? What a pity—so many got stranded overnight…"

"Nothing left, we can only head back…"

"Let's go."

It wasn't just them; a large number of locals were also standing around. Having tasted the sweetness yesterday, they had all rushed over early this morning to see if there was still any bargain to be picked up.

Even on the way back, they ran into plenty of people carrying tools and running toward the beach. Kind souls on the road warned them there was nothing left today, but no one believed it and they kept running forward, all determined to see for themselves.

After walking for a stretch, the fishy stench of seafood still lingered at the tip of everyone's nose.

The waves today still looked quite big; they might not be able to head back even tomorrow. Ye Yaodong had already mentally prepared himself to wait another two days.

Since there was nothing to do today, after he got back he let the others go about their own business, while he filled a basket to the brim with the dried jellyfish blood, then called his father, and the two of them headed off to the Maritime Police Bureau together.

His father had specifically instructed the day before to call him when they went today, because he wanted to go over and personally thank the leaders there.

When Zeng Zhao Weimin learned he was heading back in the next couple of days, he was a bit surprised.

"I thought that with the salvage policy coming out and the strengthened management of the sea, things would be more peaceful, and you'd probably decide to stay and salvage for a while longer."

Ye Yaodong explained, "I saved quite a few people. Everyone's a bit scared after going through this ordeal, and some are desperate to get home. I can't use that many people all at once right now, so I figured I'd take one batch back first."

"And… although the corresponding salvage policy has come out, whether it'll work or how things will develop is hard to say. I'm planning to wait and see for now."

Zeng Zhao Weimin nodded. "What you say makes sense."

"When can I apply for that iron permit that allows salvage?"

"In the next couple of days. The documents have already been issued, but it'll take about a week for them to be disseminated throughout the whole city. The documents will notify that applications must be submitted within half a month, otherwise fishing boats caught salvaging without the iron permit at sea will be fined, or have their boats impounded."

"Can I apply now?"

"Sure. But aren't you heading back in the next couple of days?"

"I can think about whether to come back over. If I apply now, can I save it for next year?"

"No, once a year."

"Aren't we pretty close here in Fujian Province? If the notice is only issued within this city, what about fishing boats from the Zhejiang-Fujian border area if they're caught at sea—they won't have received the notice…"

"Then as long as they cross into this city's nearshore area, they have to follow this city's regulations. If they don't get caught, nothing to say; if they do, then it has to be handled according to the rules."

"Oh."

Zeng Zhao Weimin thought for a moment and said, "The jellyfish association you mentioned a few days ago—I brought it up at the meeting the day before yesterday, and it passed unanimously. Everyone thought it was a pretty good suggestion."

"Whether it's the Haiyang Bureau, the Haishi Bureau, or the Maritime Police Bureau, none of them can focus solely on jellyfish. But we can set up a specialized civilian salvage association—an official organization that gets the public involved—to make it easier to manage or run jellyfish-related livelihoods."

Ye Yaodong's smile deepened. "Right? I think so too. Maritime management is still pretty weak right now, and the laws aren't particularly well-developed. Setting up a civilian association organization, letting the public manage and organize themselves spontaneously, would be more orderly. If anything comes up, the members can discuss it among themselves, then report it up for approval, and then spread the word. That way it can be more targeted."

"Exactly. And you do have quite a few outsiders on your side. I heard there were over 200 people before. Even now, with some arrested, some injured, some dead, there must still be around a hundred left, right? You guys are a force to be reckoned with."

"So when it's set up, your side will need to have a few representatives involved. That'll make it easier for you outsiders and the locals to communicate with each other and reduce unnecessary conflicts and friction."

Ye Yaodong nodded repeatedly as he listened. "You've got a point. If a lot of people on our side come over to salvage year after year, then it really is better to have someone in the association to communicate with each other. Fifty-six ethnic groups are one family; there's no reason for two neighboring provinces right next to each other to become enemies. Everyone's basic goal is to make money; there's no need for both sides to suffer."

"All right, as long as you have no objections, when the time comes to set up the association, I'll put your name in and arrange a relevant position. Later, when recruiting association members, we'll recruit some fishermen from both the locals and your side. It's best if they can read and write—you can read and write, right?"

Ye Yaodong scratched his head. "Uh… I know the basic characters. This association thing, it won't get in the way of salvaging and making money, right?"

He had no idea how it happened—one casual suggestion and he was actually being offered a position on the spot??

What was the benefit of this?

"Definitely not. It'll actually be more beneficial for your salvage. If the authorities issue any directives or policies, they'll go directly to the jellyfish association, and then you can spread them to the fishermen around you. Day to day, you just do what you normally do. If any issues come up, just organize and notify everyone for a meeting in advance."

"That's good then."

Ye's father piped up from the side, "What if we head back in the next couple of days and don't come back for a few days after that?"

"Right, if I don't come, what's the point of me holding a position in this jellyfish association?"

"Right now it's only in the initial stages of being set up, there's nothing in it yet. Just having your name on it doesn't matter. Anyway, there's a fishing season every year—you should be coming over every year too, right?"

"That's not certain either…"

In a few years, the jellyfish here would be like cuttlefish, unable to form large-scale fishing seasons anymore, and then they'd be farmed on a large scale after being eaten to the brink…

"Hard to say how things will go right now. Anyway, having your name on it doesn't matter."

"All right, I'll just grab a seat first. Large-scale farming in the future will also need specialized technology, plus the related industrial chain for production and operations…"

He mumbled the latter part quite softly. Apart from his father beside him, Zeng Zhao Weimin didn't really hear it clearly, but he did find the earlier part amusing and laughed along.

"During this period of both sides taking losses, you leftovers must have made quite a bit, right? I heard that one trench had a lot of goods."

Ye Yaodong chuckled. "Not just us—there were plenty of locals too, far more in number than us. But after that storm, everyone was very restrained and mutually accommodating, so we got along fine the whole time."

"That's good. You've got lots of boats and real skill, so the people on your side probably all listen to you. When the association is set up, we really do need to give you a good title."

He rubbed his nose. "I don't know anything about this stuff. Just do whatever you think is best, as long as it doesn't affect my money-making, doesn't take up too much of my time, and if I don't want to do it anymore, I can just walk away."

"Mm, now that the jellyfish association has been approved, we still need to discuss it further. You can go ahead and fill out that salvage application form now. Once you've filled it out, if you come back over, you can go to the Haiyang Bureau to get the permit plate and nail it to the boat. If you don't come, it doesn't matter."

Ye Yaodong took the piece of paper he pulled out from the folder on the desk. It only required the fishing boat's length, width, and type, along with the names, ages, and hometowns of the people participating in the salvage. There weren't any other requirements.

"All right."

He picked up the fountain pen on the desk and swiftly wrote down the names of the crew on the Dongsheng first; the others were left blank for now, since it didn't need to be that detailed anyway, and whether they'd come or not was still uncertain.

Ye's father craned his neck from the side of the desk to watch him write, muttering in the local dialect, "It's still good to be able to read and write… In the old days, being able to read and write meant you could be an official. Now, being able to read and write can actually get you work arranged directly…"

Ye Yaodong ignored his father's nagging. After filling it out, he handed the form to Zeng Zhao Weimin, then said he was heading to the Gongan Bureau in town. Since it had finally cleared up, he planned to go bring back the supplies he'd left behind earlier and wouldn't stay to disturb his work.

Ye Fu also bowed along with him, stumbling through Mandarin mixed with Hokkien, thanking them for quite a while, before father and son finally went out.

The moment they stepped out the front door, Ye Fu grabbed him and asked, "That association or whatever — if they give you a position, does that make you an official too? You'd have a stable salary and eat the government's rice?"

"Dream on. You know what a social-nature association is? That counts as a civilian organization — who's going to pay you? You might even have to pay membership dues to join."

"Huh? No salary, working for free — what's the point of going then? It'd just hold up our own business."

"The title sounds good, having a designation to your name, and either way you've got the government behind you. No salary, sure, but correspondingly you might get a certain social standing. Though right now there definitely isn't any, later on there probably will be, right? What's the point of overthinking it? If you think it's a hassle, just don't do it."

Later on, even if it doesn't form a large-scale fishing season, there'll still be small ones. Add in large-scale aquaculture by then — these associations usually recruit technical staff later on, vigorously developing the local related aquaculture industry, production, processing, trade, and so on.

This place has a jellyfish spawning season every year, so vigorously developing jellyfish-related industries in the future is obvious — setting up this association does have some use after all.

Getting an early start now and scaling up later is nothing to be underestimated.

"That's too complicated. Forget it, I'm an old man, I don't understand any of it. Are we heading back now?"

"Head back and get four or five people. Hire a tractor for six people to go to the Gongan Bureau in the next town to haul grain. Our surplus at home is already at the bottom — we won't even have lunch soon. Hurry up and go."

"Then let's head back quick."

Before they even got home, they ran into their own gang of boatmen loafing around on the street. The locals around them all looked askance, pointing and whispering — everyone who saw them kept their distance, and even after passing they'd still twist their heads around to keep staring.

These past days, they'd all grown a little bit of hair back, every one of them with a buzz cut, but their demeanor looked especially sleazy — not at all like soldiers. Every one of them was gawking around.

When a pretty woman walked by, whether a young miss or a married lady, every one of them stared wide-eyed, their gaze never leaving.

Ye Yaodong watched and felt disgusted. Even after walking past, he could still hear them saying the girls in the city were really pretty — fair and clean-skinned, dressed in bright colors, much better-looking than the ones back in their village.

"You lot keep it in check. Staring at girls like that and you'll get reported for hooliganism. Also, a few of you come with me."

"Where to?"

"Come with me to the Gongan Bureau to haul supplies. Weren't some of you caught while fleeing a while back, and left some supplies behind? They're still at the Gongan Bureau. It rained the past two days so we couldn't haul them. We're free today, so let's go get them back — otherwise there's no rice at home to cook."

"We can still go get them? Stuff that's already in their pockets…"

"Who is Ah Dong? If he says we can haul them back, then we definitely can. He got our people out for us — what's a little stuff like that?"

"That's true. Then you guys go… I'm scared. After being stuck in there so many days… just hearing the words 'Gongan Bureau' now makes my legs go weak."

"I'm scared too. I don't dare go back in. Going in once in a lifetime is enough to kill you."

Ye Yaodong watched them pushing the task back and forth and cursed them irritably. "Cowards. Where you fell is exactly where you should get back up. Going in to haul stuff isn't the same as going to reclaim your face? Empty the place out — wouldn't that feel good?"

Everyone who'd been inside shook their heads. Seeing the Gongan Bureau now, they had to take a detour, let alone walk back in.

Fortunately, there were still some who hadn't been inside — they all stepped forward, planning to go with him.

"Then you lot head back early, and remember to get lunch ready on time.

Ye Yaodong worried his father also didn't dare step into the police station, so he told him to stay behind too, wander around with everyone for a bit and then head back. He also gave his father another 30 yuan and told him to buy 20 jin of meat back to add to everyone's lunch.

Everyone cheered happily. After eating nothing but vegetables for so many days, they only got fish yesterday, and now meat again today — wonderful.

After giving instructions, he took the five people beside him to ask passersby where they could hire a tractor, then went to find local households that had tractors.

They searched around for quite a while. After agreeing on a price, the whole bunch of them got on the tractor and headed toward town.

The officers inside the Gongan Bureau were fed up seeing this group of people show up again.

Ye Yaodong, very tactfully, handed a pack of Zhonghua to each of the officers who'd arranged the bail for them a few days earlier, then said with a smile, "Hello, comrades. Sorry to trouble you again. It was pouring rain a few days ago, the shops were all closed — I couldn't show proper courtesy, and it was inconvenient doing anything all wet. Then something came up yesterday, so I could only come today. Sorry to bother you again. We're here today to haul some supplies — we already talked about it before. Heh heh."

The two men each took a pack of cigarettes, and their expressions softened a bit. "Someone even came this morning to bail out the remaining few. Why didn't you come together?"

Ye Yaodong was surprised. "Was it Ye Yaoguo and the others?"

"Yeah, that's right. They were even arguing when they came out — couldn't understand a word they were saying."

He immediately understood. Yesterday, because a million jin of seafood had washed up on the beach, Brother Brother Asheng hadn't had time to bail people out either — it was delayed until this morning.

"They also bought three boats for the few of them."

"Another three of the confiscated fishing boats got bought?"

"Mm."

Ye Yaodong was surprised. Local fishing boats were fewer — all of them had been divided up by their group that day. The boats Chen Jianian's side brought were basically all confiscated. Anyone coming to buy today definitely wasn't buying local boats.

Forget it, none of his business. They were all planning to stay here a while longer anyway, probably thinking they'd wait until he and his group went back and things were mostly wrapped up. Having one more boat here meant they could salvage a bit more.

The two officers stood up, planning to lead them to haul the goods. Just then Yang Guoan came in through the back door. Seeing them, he was a bit surprised, then came over smiling to greet him.

"Impressive. I heard you even pulled strings with someone up high, that's how you managed to bail out so many people with money — and you even paid less, getting the same treatment as locals."

"Not at all. Just lucky, and thanks to the help from comrades like you."

Ye Yaodong smiled and handed over another pack of cigarettes, then signaled the boatmen beside him to go with the two officers to haul the goods first.

"I didn't really help with anything. This whole thing blew up a bit — good thing you had connections…"

Yang Guoan, extra polite, invited him over to his desk for tea. The two chatted quietly. Knowing he had connections with higher-ups and could help bail out so many people — an outsider pulling that off was real ability — Yang Guoan was especially courteous to him.

Ye Yaodong watched everyone going in and out hauling goods, then someone stopped and asked him quietly, "Our stuff is all hauled out, but there's still a lot left inside…"

"Haul it all. Leave nothing behind."

It was all stuff left behind by their group anyway. Even if it wasn't from their group, it was confiscated from the remnants of Chen Jianian's side.

He didn't believe that after the gunfight, these officers wouldn't have raided a few hideouts to catch people. The remnants fled in time and definitely wouldn't have taken this stuff — of course it got confiscated and gathered up. So the supplies inside could only be more than what they'd left behind.

Since they were already here, they had to haul it all back. Once hauled back, anything with their villagers' labels on it could be returned to them for claiming. Anything without labels was naturally his — like the grain and food, of course that was all his.

It was only when the big fellows kept hauling nonstop, nearly emptying the place out, that someone came to stop them.

"Hey… why do you lot keep hauling without stopping? Is all this yours?"

Ye Yaodong immediately stood up from his seat and said with a smile, "It's all ours. The baskets and sacks outside all have markings — either everyone's surnames on them. I asked the leadership before I came, and they said we could haul it. It's all leftovers anyway — the people have been bailed out, no need to hold onto the stuff."

"Really…?"

Yang Guoan also helped out, saying, "Let them haul it away, let them haul it. It's just taking up space sitting here anyway. The baskets are all busted, the sacks have holes chewed by rats, it's been raining for days, a lot of stuff has gone damp — hauling it off saves it from getting infested sitting there."

"If the leadership really said so, then haul it, haul it…"

Ye Yaodong smiled and thanked them, then followed along himself, hurrying to haul.

For such a trivial matter, who would specifically make a phone call to ask the leadership?

By the time they had moved most of the general store, he thanked them again, then called everyone to climb onto the tractor.

Everyone was thrilled.

"Don't we look like a swarm of locusts passing through? Who would've thought we could empty out the Gongan Bureau?"

"Haha, exactly. Watching them knit their brows, all reluctant, but only able to stand there and watch us haul it away — feels amazing."

"That's a whole lot of stuff all at once. So many extra bags of rice — now we'll have food to eat."

"And a pile of clothes too. Take them back, everyone can pick through them and wear them…"

"Shit, aren't you afraid they're from dead people? You dare wear them? Burn them straight away. Who brought these? Even this stuff."

"Didn't we say to take everything? Then take it all. If you really don't want these clothes, that's a bit of a pity. These past few days I've only had this one thing on my back — wash it at night, wear it during the day…"

Ye Yaodong said: "Some of these might be left behind by our villagers. Take them back and let them pick through them themselves. Whatever they don't want, we can burn."

"We hauled back this much stuff and now we have to share it with others? We were the ones who went and got it — why should we share?"

"Exactly. Just sitting there waiting for stuff to fall into our laps — on what grounds?"

Ye Yaodong said: "Food we don't share. What we hauled out is ours. We don't even have enough to eat ourselves — why would we care about others? When we get to the house, you guys first carry the grain to the kitchen and the storeroom. Toss the rest of the junk in the yard. When the others come over, let them claim their own stuff. The baskets and bamboo flats with markings — whoever they belong to, they take them back."

"That works."

"As long as we don't have to share the food with others, that's fine."

The tractor puttered along the road. After getting back to the city, Ye Yaodong kept giving directions the whole way, until the tractor dropped them off at his door again.

The grown-ups at home had been waiting long ago. Seeing the commotion at the courtyard gate, they all rushed out, hollering, and joined in carrying things together.

"Finally have rice to cook… hurry up and cook…"

"Haven't cooked yet?" Ye Yaodong asked, puzzled.

Ye's father said: "No rice left. The little bit we had in the morning we cooked all into sweet potatoes. For lunch we could only eat sweet potatoes. Now that the stuff's been hauled back, go cook a bit more so everyone can eat some more."

"That tough, huh…"

"How is there so much stuff… we don't seem to have left anything behind either…"

"Shh… we emptied out the Gongan Bureau. Doesn't matter whose it was, it's all ours now. Anything with markings gets tossed in the yard for others to claim."

"For the sake of everyone's full bellies, don't mention the grain."

"Got it, everyone gets it."

Everyone shared a silent understanding: hide the food first, pick out their own belongings, and toss whatever's left in the yard.

It happened to be mealtime now, and under the blazing sun no one was coming over.

Being able to eat plain rice again — everyone's eyes lit up. They didn't think it a luxury either, and cooked up two huge pots of rice in one go, then cooked more after finishing.

The pot of sweet potatoes left over from lunch was also dumped in on top to mix together. Even those who had already eaten joined in for a bit more.

These past few days with no work, everyone knew grain was scarce, so they'd been tightening their belts — less rice, more coarse grains. Having a fragrant pot of rice for lunch was a rare treat, and after the meal everyone felt especially satisfied.

In the end, they were all common folks at the bottom, just wanting enough to eat and warm clothes. Ye Yaodong didn't lecture anyone about being extravagant at lunch either — none of them had really eaten their fill these past days.

Coarse grain mixed with rice really isn't as fragrant as plain rice.

"Dongzi, should we go to the sheltered harbor this afternoon to bring our boat back?"

"Sure. After eating, rest a while first, then we'll bring one boat, the Dongsheng, back. Stash the rest at the sheltered harbor, and when we head home we'll go together to bring them back."

"The others usually can't wait to hang around here all day. It's already one o'clock — why haven't they come over yet?"

"They don't know we went to the Gongan Bureau to grab this stuff today. Who cares about them."

"Nothing to do today — they probably went out shopping this morning, right? At this hour they're probably free, taking naps. I'd guess they'll all show up by evening. The cash I have on hand right now isn't enough to pay wages. We have to wait until these dried jellyfish bloods are sold. Once we sell them in the evening, I'll pay everyone together."

"Heh, no rush…"

"No worries. It's not like we're heading back tomorrow anyway. We'll save some time later for everyone to look around…"

Ye Yaodong had already settled the accounts the night before. At most it was just a matter of when to head back — a day's wages here or there didn't matter.

After he and his father had rested enough, it was past three. Only then did they go to the guesthouse to find Aguang and Pei's father, to discuss going to the sheltered harbor together to bring back the boats, and to let everyone come to his courtyard to claim their belongings.

Basically every boat had left something or other behind.

To save time, no one wanted to walk, and they didn't mind the small expense, so they hired another tractor to take them near the sheltered harbor.

Inside the sheltered harbor, as usual, only their fishing boats floated there. The initial downpour hadn't alarmed the locals, and the relentless rain afterward hadn't caused any trouble either. No one thought to dock their boats inside — after all, the back-and-forth was a hassle.

This place had basically become a sheltered haven for their fishing boats — a great spot to hide them.

By the time the two boats were driven ashore, the sky hadn't even darkened yet — the setting sun still painted half the sky red.

"Dongzi, weren't you going to borrow money from me to pay wages? Come with me to the guesthouse first…"

"Probably won't need to borrow anymore. I made a sale yesterday. Once I get back and sell the jellyfish blood, then tally up the remaining shares, I probably won't need to."

"If you don't need it, then forget it. You go sell your jellyfish blood first. I'll go collect everyone else's jellyfish blood too. They've been drying all day — they should be about ready now. Then we'll settle the final accounts."

"Alright."