Chapter 1131

Ye Yaodong put her down, took off his own sweet potato vine earrings—which were connected section by section with the skin—took off his necklace as well, and then handed them all to Lin Xiuqing.

"Here, for you."

"I don't want them."

Ye Xiaoxi stood on tiptoe to pull at Ye Yaodong, "I want them, give them to me, give them to me, I'll wear them."

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to hang the earrings on her ears and put the necklace around her neck.

She was so pleased that she kept shaking her head, running around the house like a butterfly, and even stood on tiptoe trying to reach the mirror hanging on the wall.

He had no choice but to smile and take the mirror down for her, letting her get a good look at herself.

"Do you think you're very pretty?"

Ye Xiaoxi grinned happily and nodded, "Mm!"

"You little narcissist, hurry up and wash your hands to eat." Lin Xiuqing smiled as she brought out all the dishes from the pot and told Ye Yaodong to call the other two boys back.

He had no choice but to grumble as he walked outside, "Where the hell did they go? They don't even know to come back at mealtime. When they get back, I'll break their legs. Running off all day without a trace, busier than me, I haven't even seen their shadows..."

Before he could even go out and shout like his life depended on it, the two children ran past him like a gust of wind, one on each side.

He looked to his left and then to his right; both of them had already run into the house.

"Consider yourselves lucky you're fast."

Just as he was preparing to go into the house himself, Ye Chengjiang called out from the courtyard gate, "Third Uncle... my dad told me to bring you a bowl of chicken soup..."

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to go out and take it, then carry it into the house and place it at Ye Xiaoxi's spot.

"Dad, why is it all for Little Sister!"

"She got this from the neighbors by her own ability."

The old lady smiled and said, "It's already stewing in the pot. Let it stew for a few more hours, and you can have some tonight before bed."

Only then did the two brothers have no objections.

After finishing his meal, Ye Yaodong went to the neighbor's house to find Ye Yaohua, and then they went to Aguang's house together to settle the accounts.

Just as they arrived at his doorstep, they saw a group of puppies milling about, and Pei Yu was squatting there, holding one in her arms.

"I was just wondering why my dogs had decreased so much. I clearly had two litters, over a dozen puppies, and now only six or seven are left."

"When we were sitting at the door back then, didn't the two little ones each have one, dividing them up nicely? A while ago, when the puppies were a month old, our mother brought a basket over. Anyway, you have so many, we're just helping you share the burden."

"Don't think I have too many dogs; they're very popular."

"Let's settle the accounts first. The accounts for the Harvest are done, and we still need to settle the accounts for our own other boats."

"Same here."

The Harvest's harvest in Zhejiang Province was also very good. Although it took a month from start to finish, the actual fishing days were only half a month, but even in those half a month, they earned over 16,000 yuan.

After deducting wages, fuel costs, round-trip shipping fees, daily expenses, and the money for bailing people out, there was still a profit.

Ye Yaodong held a 30% share and received 3,546. Uncle Zheng hadn't returned, so his share was kept with Pei's father, to be given to him whenever he returned.

After settling the accounts, he went to take a look at Ye Huimei and the twins before immediately heading home.

Because she had given birth to twins, Ye Mu was worried it would be too hard on her body and wanted her to stay in confinement for an extra half a month, so Ye Huimei was still lying in bed.

By the time he returned home, several people were already sitting at his doorstep chatting with his parents and eldest brother, all waiting for him to return to settle accounts.

As soon as they saw him and his second brother return, they immediately stood up.

"Dongzi is back..."

"We can settle the accounts now..."

Ye Yaodong smiled and greeted them, but in his heart, he thought that with only a few boats now, there were already people waiting at his door to settle accounts. If he had even more boats, wouldn't there be a whole crowd of people queuing up at his door every month?

When he returned, he had brought back the cargo lists for his boats from Aguang, but the others had also brought their own cargo lists.

After everyone followed him into the house, they took out their respective cargo lists, and some even placed the money they had brought onto the table together.

"You're in such a rush. It's fine to take the money out after we settle the accounts, haha~" Ye Yaodong joked.

"Whether we take it out early or late, we have to take it out eventually. Anyway, this trip was thanks to you; otherwise, we wouldn't have earned so much money."

"That's right. Others are going to rot in jail or get shot. It's a good thing everyone listened to you at the time, so we could earn money and return safely."

"I've brought the money too. I calculated it at home once. Let's calculate it again here. It's just the beginning of the month, so we'll rest for a few days, and in two days we'll have to go out to sea for trawling again. The next time we settle accounts will be at the end of the month."

"Hehe, we only just rented the boats last month, and this month we can already split the earnings of a boat. Although it was a bit risky, we made a fortune. I didn't expect a trip to Zhejiang to be so profitable. It's all thanks to you; from now on, the family can eat meat every day."

Ye Yaodong said politely, "We're all relatives, so we can help each other out, but in the end, you still have to rely on yourselves. If you're diligent, you can all get rich."

After saying this, he found their cargo lists, cross-checked the two lists, and once there were no issues, he let Aqing calculate them one by one.

He also took the money they had prepared and placed on the table to count it first.

It was to increase efficiency; they had already calculated this money once beforehand, and now the couple was just double-checking.

Once there were no issues, it was immediately pocketed.

Don't look at the number of lists here; in reality, there were only three boats. One boat was his father's; he had rented out five boats, but only two had returned, plus his father's old boat.

For the two rented boats, he didn't worry about expenses, wages, or the cost of bailing people out. After deducting the agency fee from the sales on the cargo list, they split it 50/50, so the income was very substantial.

These boats partnered with other fishing boats to take turns returning to sell goods. Some days they split over 300, and other days they could split over 500.

Over half a month, each boat's earnings were six or seven thousand, and he took half directly, so he could take three or four thousand per boat.

As for the remaining three or four thousand, the boat captains had to pay for fuel and the workers' wages, and this trip also required deducting the bail money.

However, fortunately, those boats didn't need to hire many people; their own family members, sons, and nephews could fill the spots. The bail, wages, and food didn't cost much, and they could still keep two or three thousand in their hands, which was worth more than any other work they could do.

In the past, if you asked them to do odd jobs, they couldn't earn two or three thousand in two years. Now, they had earned it in just one month of renting the boats, so everyone was exceptionally satisfied. When they came to settle accounts, they were exceptionally cheerful, and their words were pleasant.

"This money was counted beforehand. The bail money is all on us. Take a look and see if it's correct..."

Ye Yaodong leaned over to look at the accounts on Aqing's side and nodded, "It's correct. Anyway, I don't care about any expenses. I take half of the sales money; that was the rule we agreed on from the start."

Ye Fu also grinned, standing to the side and watching Ye Mu counting the money in her hands with a rustling sound.

"Everyone had a good harvest this trip. Actually, being able to return safely is the biggest harvest. Being able to earn money along the way is already excellent. You should be able to earn a few thousand yuan this trip. If you save it up, it'll be quite a lot by the second half of the year. It's definitely better than the days before we had boats."

"That's for sure. So, to live off the sea, you have to have the tools to eat. Look at how fast we earn money now that we have boats. No wonder Dongzi earns more and more, and your family's life is getting more and more prosperous."

"Work slowly, you can do it too."

Ye Yaodong counted the money once, and after Lin Xiuqing finished the accounts, she counted it again. Once there were no issues, everyone exchanged a few more polite words before he sent them all out, leaving only his own family.

Ye Fu's mouth couldn't stop smiling, "I didn't expect that old wreck of a boat to still earn so much money. It's a good thing it didn't break down at a critical moment."

Ye Mu was also extremely happy, "We can rely on this boat for our retirement."

Ye Yaodong also took out the money split from the accounts at Aguang's house and placed it on the table for Aqing, "The 30% share from the Harvest is 3,546. Count it and put it away together."

Ye Mu looked surprised, "30% can split this much? That boat is so profitable!"

"This is the 30% share of the net income after deducting fuel, labor, and all other miscellaneous expenses."

"What a pity. Your eldest brother was stupid at the time and didn't know to ask for a share."

"To each their own. At the beginning, who knew how much money could be earned? We only knew how much money had to be spent."

"You've all got your capital back now, and you can still earn quite a bit. There will be money to split in the future. I reckon your eldest brother's guts are turning green with regret."

"There's nothing to say. Anyway, he has his own boat now. Without the Harvest, we partnered on one, and we'll get it next year anyway."

"That's different. The relatives' boat is right there, earning money before our eyes..."

Ye Fu said, "There's nothing to say. So much time has passed, why talk about it? There's no regret medicine, and who would give him a share now?"

"I was just feeling a bit sorry for him."

"There's nothing to feel sorry about. Eldest didn't earn it, but Dongzi did. He didn't want it at the time, so Dongzi took it all. Good things shouldn't flow into outsiders' fields."

Ye Mu glared at him and didn't say anything else.

Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing didn't pay attention to the two old folks talking, but started a new round of counting money.

The dividends from the first two boats had already been calculated. Lin Xiuqing was counting the batch just taken out, while Ye Yaodong was there pressing the calculator to calculate the total.

"A total of 10,000.36 yuan. The three boats just happened to bring in 10,000 yuan. It's a pity there are still three boats that haven't returned. When those three boats return, they can probably bring in another 10,000."

"My goodness!" Ye Mu exclaimed.

"Is money really this easy to earn? You can get 20,000 yuan just from the dividends of these few boats?"

"Otherwise, why would I buy so many boats? Isn't it just to collect dividends?"

If it weren't for the fact that the risk this year was too high compared to last year, it could have doubled; it wouldn't just be 20,000.

Lin Xiuqing finished counting the money and began to organize it joyfully, picking out the large denominations, sorting the money, and then taking it into the room to put it away.

Ye Mu sighed, "Now you really don't have to worry about the rest of your life. With so many boats, following today's trend..."

"Stop dreaming. Don't think that such good things will always happen. Earning money requires the right time, the right place, and the right people."

"What do you mean?"

"You can earn it this year, but you might not be able to next year. Don't even count on earning like this every year. Who can predict natural and man-made disasters? Earn as much as you can while you can."

Ye Fu nodded in agreement, "Right, safety is the most important thing. How much you earn depends entirely on fate."

Ye Mu glared at him, "Did you have a near-death experience and suddenly become enlightened? Full of big principles."

Ye Fu was instantly so angry he wanted to strangle her.

"Going home." Ye Mu gathered the money and went out first.

Ye Fu had originally wanted to chat with Ye Yaodong, but now he followed closely behind her, intending to go home and settle accounts with her properly, and argue it out.

Lin Xiuqing watched them both leave before saying, "Your mother has a really bad mouth."

"She's even worse to others, don't mind them. After tonight's income, we have over 180,000 now, right?"

"Right."

Ye Yaodong rubbed his hands together, "What should we do? With so much money in hand."

Lin Xiuqing's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said, "Don't mess around, don't buy any more boats. Our family has enough boats. You just bought 6, and there are still so many in the factory that haven't been delivered."

"I won't buy any more. It's enough, it's enough for now. With over a dozen boats, just collecting dividends is a huge sum every year."

"Right."

"Tomorrow, I'll go to the city first to look at the land I bought, and I'll hire someone to level it first. If possible, let's buy a few more shops. Anyway, you can never have too much land or too many shops. This is the experience passed down by our ancestors over the past five thousand years."

"It's not that easy to buy and sell..."

"Right, I almost forgot. We also have to move our household registration and settle in that village. We have to make up for it. Let's move yours and the children's over. When the children are a bit older, we can send them to the city to study; the educational resources are better there."

Ye Yaodong thought about it and felt it made a lot of sense, "Let's do that. Maybe I won't go to the city tomorrow; I'll go to the village committee first to get a certificate and application form. I won't move mine. By the way, I'll mention the donation of the two boats to the village committee..."

"Why are you so impulsive? Moving my and the children's household registration to the city, wouldn't that make us city residents..."

"No, it doesn't count as city residency; it's still rural residency. That side is rural, but we are outsiders, and buying in that village isn't very good. We have to settle down to be considered locals of the village. Your eldest brother also has to settle in that village. I don't know if he has yet. I'll go ask the day after tomorrow."

Lin Xiuqing frowned and struggled with this matter, but Ye Yaodong didn't pay attention to her anymore, instead thinking about how to spend nearly 200,000 yuan.

But thinking about it, it felt like there was nothing worth spending it on.

Land isn't that easy to buy, it's not the right time to buy a house, and buying a whole street is even more impossible. The low houses along the streets in the city are all self-occupied by city people.

Thinking about it, he could only invest in buying boats. He didn't understand anything else, but he had enough boats now, so he'd put it aside for now. In a few years, when fishing boats are upgraded to steel ones, he'll replace them all at once. It'll be just right to phase out a batch of old boats; once he's earned enough, he'll sell them off cheaply.

The couple sat there, each thinking about their own affairs, and it was quiet for a while.

"Since the land is already bought, can we not move?" Lin Xiuqing was still struggling with this.

"Didn't I say? I'm afraid it won't be good if we aren't locals, in case there are any disputes in the future. Anyway, it doesn't affect anything, and I'm not asking you to go there. Don't struggle with it. Let's go out to enjoy the cool air; it's hot as hell in the house."

The back door was closed, the front door was open, and with a window on the side, not much wind could get in.

Ye Yaodong moved a stool outside to enjoy the cool air, and he didn't want to think about how to spend the family's savings anymore. Anyway, it was only '85, what's the rush? He could continue to save more money.

On the summer night, the cool breeze was blowing. A large group of people were all sitting at the door enjoying the cool air, chatting in twos and threes. Someone saw him move a stool and came over, pulling him to ask all sorts of questions.

He also took the opportunity to ask these people if anyone had called back from Zhejiang. Everyone shook their heads, saying they were probably busy, and by the time they were done, it would probably be dark.

Thinking about it, that was very likely, as they were like that before.

Having no news now could also be considered good news.

While enjoying the cool air, three more people came over wanting to buy small wooden boats. He readily sold them at a 20% discount and told them to come back tomorrow morning to pay and take the boats to the seaside.

The next morning, after successfully selling three boats, he went to the village committee again, preparing to deal with the small boats he had promised. It just so happened that the village committee had also said yesterday that he should come over today.

The cadres of the village committee looked quite idle, all sitting in the shade on stools talking. After seeing him come, they immediately beckoned to him.

"Adong is here? Sit, sit, sit. You're here quite early; I thought you'd be busy for a few more days."

"Why would I need to be busy for a few more days? The workers I hired aren't just eating for free. Yesterday afternoon, I called them to the boat and they got everything done. It just so happened I had time today, so I came to the village committee first."

"You're a busy man now; people have to queue up to find you."

"What are you talking about? You told me to come today yesterday, and didn't I come immediately? How is the kelp coming along?"

"It's only been a month, and we're still busy with the ropes. However, we've already decided on the seedlings, and we'll go to their village to get them when it's time to harvest. Let's just do it like this this year. We don't have the conditions since we're just starting. If it works next year, we'll set up a nursery ourselves."

Ye Yaodong nodded; as long as they had a plan, it was fine.

"My boats also returned the day before yesterday. I promised to donate two to contribute to our kelp farming industry. If you have time, let's go to the pier now. While the sun isn't too strong in the morning, you can bring a brush to make a mark, and we'll finalize this matter, so as not to delay your kelp farming. Otherwise, it'll be hot as hell later."

"Fine, fine, fine. We've been waiting for these words from you."

The village cadres saw that he was so straightforward and brought this up as soon as he arrived, all of them full of smiles.

"I heard you also bought several boats and are having them refurbished at the shipyard?"

"Yes, I don't know when they'll be able to return. I'll have to rely on them for my retirement in the second half of my life."

"Impressive. Now everyone can't call you 'Salted Fish Dong' anymore; from now on, we have to call you 'Boat King Dong'."

"Aha... Hahaha, how did you know about 'Boat King Dong'?" Ye Yaodong felt awkward hearing this, as 'Boat King Dong' was a title he had self-proclaimed at home.

"Forgot who I heard it from?"

"It's only a dozen boats; how could I have the nerve to let people call me that? It would be laughable if it got out."

"What do you mean 'only a dozen'? Several villages combined don't have as many boats as you alone. Our village is exceptionally famous now precisely because of you."

"Just so-so. Reputation has to be earned by oneself."

Ye Yaodong walked and chatted with these old men as they headed toward the seaside. The large pile of fishing boats currently docked at the shore were all from Zhejiang. Other fishermen were going out to sea as usual, and only they were resting there.

His small wooden boats were still tied behind the trawlers. Except for the 5 small boats that had been sold one after another and had their ropes untied and taken away by others, the rest were still bobbing there.

After letting those people pick two at random, he also untied the corresponding ropes and rowed the boats to the shore to make it convenient for them to use the brush to make marks.

Once marked, they were no longer his.

Chen Shuji asked curiously, "Didn't you say you had 10 of these small boats? Why are there only 5 left?"

"Sold them. I sold 5 in the two days since I got back. Now that I'm donating two, there are only three left. I reckon they'll be cleared out in a couple of days."

"Then you're not taking these small boats to Zhejiang next year? I heard people say you made a fortune from these small boats, fishing all day long, you made a killing."

"We'll talk about next year's matters next year. Can I just tie all these boats at the seaside? I can't even manage the many fishing boats I have at home; who has time to manage these few small boats? It's better to just sell them off."

"That's true. You have so many boats now, you're not short of these few small boats."

"Let's go back after finishing this matter, and we can also chat about your kelp farming."

Ye Yaodong shook his collar. He had only walked to the pier and back twice, and he was already drenched in sweat. In the middle of summer, moving even a little bit made him sweat. It wasn't suitable for going out at all. If it weren't for the fact that he had just returned and had a pile of things to do, he would really want to lie comfortably at home.

After following them back to the village committee and sitting under the big tree, he finally felt a bit cooler.

This chat lasted until noon. Just as they were getting up to leave, they heard the telephone ringing in the room.

Ye Yaodong's heart stirred, thinking it might be a call from the people left over there, so he followed them to answer the phone.

"It's Asheng... go call Asheng's wife to answer the phone, and also Ashu's wife, Ajun's wife..."

As soon as he heard it was Asheng, he immediately took the phone, "Brother Asheng? This is Dongzi..."

Before Ye Yaosheng's wife arrived, he didn't hang up the phone, keeping on chattering with Ye Yaosheng on the other end, asking about the situation there.

It wasn't until she arrived that he handed the phone to his wife.

It turned out that it had rained heavily there today, so they had returned temporarily, which was why Ye Yaosheng had time to call and report that they were safe. While he was on the phone, there were many voices beside him, all people from the same village, queuing up and thinking about calling back.

According to what Ye Yaosheng just said, the sea hadn't been peaceful in the two days since they returned. He said there had been several conflicts, but they had all been restrained, and no one dared to start a fight. At most, they cursed a few times before separating.

Moreover, the number of jellyfish had decreased, and there were many more boats. After some locals were bailed out, their boats were also returned, and it seemed that the fishing boats from their side that had been detained were also bought by locals and put into fishing.

So now, by one or two in the afternoon every day, they were fished out, and they had to search on their own at sea.

Searching on one's own at sea was considered the most peaceful, because the fishing boats were widely distributed and not so concentrated, but correspondingly, their earnings had also decreased by nearly half in the past two days.

The fishing licenses they applied for hadn't been issued yet, although the application forms had been filled out. There were also Maritime Bureau boats at sea, but it was impossible for these boats to stay in the trench all day long; at most, they came out for a tour every day and then went back, so the conflicts that should have happened still happened.

But fortunately, the authorities were shouting through loudspeakers at the pier every day, strictly forbidding fighting and shooting, saying that serious cases would be shot, and advocating peaceful fishing, peaceful coexistence, and peaceful living...

A series of policies had achieved some results; at least they would hesitate when conflicts arose.

He stood at the door listening to Asheng's wife's various questions, scolding him a few times for not coming back with them, and then telling him to return safely, telling him it would be best to come back early, and so on...

She also asked about the IOU matter. When she got excited, she slammed the table a few times. The women beside her were impatient, urging her to make a long story short, as they were still waiting to answer the phone.

The village cadres were also curious about the situation there. After he finished the call and came out, they also asked him what Asheng had said.

"Nothing much, just that they also issued a series of remedial policies there. Although there are conflicts now, fortunately, they won't make too much of a scene. Everyone has concerns, and at most, they'll hit each other a few times, but they won't fight to the death."

"That's too scary, fighting, and now there are few people left there..."

"Fighting is fine. Which fishing season here hasn't had people fighting? Which time haven't two villages had one or two fights? As long as no one is killed, no big scene is made, and no one is taken in, that's considered fine."

Speaking of this, Ye Yaodong asked them again, "Those people who ran to our village yesterday followed the public security officers afterward, and then what? Did they all go directly to the border defense station?"

"Isn't that so? Those hundreds of people surrounded the two officers all the way and sent them directly to the border defense station. I heard those two officers were in a sorry state; their hats were gone, their shoes were gone, and then hundreds of people surrounded the gate of the border defense station, crying and begging to have their people brought back."

"The border defense station is also having a headache now. I heard they are miserable. From yesterday to today, the number of people at the gate hasn't decreased. A large crowd of people are taking turns blocking the gate, kneeling, crying, and making a scene. But there are hundreds of them, so the defense station can only appease them and say they'll try their best," Chen Shuji said.

Ye Yaodong smiled, and his heart returned to his stomach, "I'm not afraid of rascals, I'm afraid of this. Besides, the law doesn't punish the masses; it's impossible to arrest hundreds of people. Rascals and unreasonable troublemakers can be arrested to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, but now the border defense station doesn't dare to be tough and can only try their best to handle it."

"Anyway, it's good that they didn't come to our village, otherwise it would be really hard to handle," the village head also said, feeling lucky.

"It depends on how they solve it. Anyway, it's none of our business anymore."

Chen Shuji: "Mm, let's listen for news later and see. It's impossible to keep blocking the gate forever. I reckon they'll still have to arrest two people as a warning."

Village Head: "That won't work. Arresting two people as a warning at this time will only arouse public anger. There are hundreds of them. They can only appease them. Let's watch and wait for news."

"It's a good thing they called two officers over, so we don't have to worry."