Chapter 1149: The Goods Have Arrived

After leaving the Gongan Bureau, Ye Yaodong immediately went to the Haiyang Bureau, picked up the blue-background-white-letter iron plate that permitted harvesting, and headed home.

Going back and forth had taken nearly noon; when he reached his door, the place was quiet, and the smell of cooking drifted from nearby.

The pile of filth from this morning had already been cleaned up, the gate was spotless, the smell in the air had dissipated, and even the ground had dried completely with no water stains left behind—nothing at all showed the disgusting scene from this morning. Those few workers did a decent job.

Moreover, after those people came out of the Gongan Bureau, they hadn't come over to make trouble either; they were probably still frowning with worry.

From the brief commotion at the Gongan Bureau entrance until now was only a little over an hour; if they had come to the house to cause trouble, they certainly wouldn't have dispersed by now.

It was a prefecture-level city after all—although it hadn't been developed yet, it was still quite large, and getting around took considerable effort.

Maybe after sneaking to his house at night to throw feces, they hadn't come back; or maybe they had come, just stood far away watching the show, and once it was light and time to go to work, they went straight to the Gongan Bureau.

Then after being scared off by the Gongan Bureau, they could only slink back home to discuss countermeasures first.

Ye Yaodong pushed the door open and went in, only to see the dining table in the main room had been moved to the middle for a card game—even his father had sat down and was loudly calling out, "Pair of 3s, want it? Want it?"

"Can't beat it!"

"You guys are pretty comfortable? Still able to play cards." He walked in while taking off his clothes, baring his shoulders.

The morning sun was fierce, and walking back and forth had left him drenched in sweat; the sweat on his forehead dripped like water, nearly steaming him from the heat. The autumn tiger in September was just as ferocious.

Ye Fu, without looking up, bent the knuckles of two fingers and rapped twice on the next player's side of the table, urging him on.

"Nothing going on, lunch isn't ready, and you hadn't come back, so we figured we'd play a few hands to kill time… Pair of 3s and you won't take it? What are you playing for—a 4, hahahaha… pay up…"

"Damn… f**k, not a single pair…"

"Did anything else happen this morning?"

"No, nobody came by this morning. Probably seeing we're a big group of men scared them off. Their family is all old and young, and they're not in the right—what's there to make a fuss about? Once they got taken in, they could only go to the Gongan Bureau to find people; what's the use of coming after us again?"

"If they wanted to trouble us, they'd only dare sneak around at night—how would they dare do it openly? Aren't they afraid we'd beat them up and throw them out?"

"Everyone around here knows they took your house. If they dared come to the door to make trouble, a beating would be letting them off easy."

Everyone chimed in at once, not afraid in the slightest.

Ye Yaodong nodded. "Good that nobody came. I saw them at the Gongan Bureau this morning, which is why I asked as soon as I got back."

He described what he'd seen at the door.

"Should've been taken away in handcuffs straight away—the old ones aren't any good either."

Ye Fu finished collecting the money, then asked happily: "Since the leaders said they'd send Gongan officers to warn them, they shouldn't come bother us anymore, right?"

"Should be. Two of them are already in, and the Gongan officers won't mess around with them—they're definitely panicking, probably don't have the nerve."

Ye Yaodong slapped the iron plate in his hand twice on the table to draw everyone's attention, then said: "This is the iron plate permitting harvesting. When the sun goes down in the evening, we'll nail this iron plate to the boat, and we'll start work tomorrow."

"Looks like this… seems like the others didn't get a plate and just went back."

"If we come back next year, file the application in advance. Otherwise, if we're caught harvesting at sea without applying for the iron plate, we'll be fined—fined according to harvest volume. The more you catch, the more you pay."

Ye Fu was astonished. "Then with our volume, wouldn't we be fined to death?"

"Are you stupid? Wouldn't I follow procedure and come in advance? Besides, the local authorities are planning to set up a Jellyfish Association to make it easier to manage the Jellyfish fishing season, plus handle jellyfish product sales, farming, and some technical matters. Seeing that there are quite a few of us outsiders, they're planning to give me a vice-chairman title to hold."

"What?"

"Huh?"

Everyone stared at him in stunned disbelief.

"Vice-chairman?"

"What vice-chairman? You're becoming an official? Oh my…"

"They just handed you a big official position? That works? How much salary do they pay?"

"Ah Dong runs into benefactors everywhere he goes—even leaders are rushing to give you an official post?"

Each of them was more excited than he was.

Ye Yaodong cleared his throat twice. "No salary, just a title. It's a social designation, not an official government post—just a fancy-sounding name to make it easier to manage us outsiders. Simply put, it's giving me a sweet treat to keep you all in line and not cause trouble in the future."

"Huh? So you're basically a commander without troops?"

"You could say that, but I'll still be the first to know any news or policies. Anyway, as long as it lets me brag, that's fine."

"It really does let you brag—even we were stunned for a moment, thought it was some big official appointment…"

"You're impressive too. How long have you been here? Now you can say you've made it—bought a house, and they even gave you an official post. All that's left is to take a wife here and have a few kids."

He said irritably: "If you want to take a wife, I don't mind you taking one here? I can set aside a separate room for you to consummate the marriage."

"Hehe, I was just saying…"

"After lunch later, you wash the dishes."

The man slapped his own mouth for running it.

Rumors are terrifying.

Some things are clearly baseless, but once they spread, they become true. If he talks nonsense, when he goes back, everyone will think he found another wife here, which is why he bought a house to settle her.

"I told you to squat at the Gongan Bureau entrance, watch them leave, and follow the trail to find their house. Did you find it?" Ye Yaodong pointed at one man and asked.

"Found it, found it. The place is so remote it's almost out of the city—just a shabby old house. I heard they squeeze in fifteen or twenty people, and that's only because the daughters are all married off, leaving two sons, two families. Brother Dong, I'll take you to wherever you arranged last night."

"Good, as long as it's clear. Everything's ready except the final push. When Xiao Wu comes back in the evening, we'll see how much we can collect, and tonight we'll give them a taste of their own medicine. Even though the leaders are helping and they won't dare cause trouble, we still have to settle the score from this morning. I call this an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Ye Fu said happily: "It's high noon now, the sun's at its strongest, everyone's hiding at home. When evening comes, they'll all be sitting at their doors cooling off. Everyone help blow Dong's trumpet—he's about to become an official. Then all the neighbors will know he's an official in the city, so even if our house sits empty, no one will dare occupy it."

"Makes sense. Then you all blow my trumpet for me. If you can't explain what it is, just make stuff up, exaggerate it. Don't tell people I'm just a figurehead!"

Out on the road, your status is what you make it.

Ye Yaodong was also quite proud. Although it was just a social designation, the title sounded impressive when spoken aloud.

In this life, he'd originally thought that as long as he could earn some money, live comfortably, and be content with modest wealth, that would be enough. He never expected to get a title attached to his name—too surprising—but it was a personal honor.

Being able to put gold on your own face was certainly a good thing.

After leaving the Gongan Bureau, he'd been over the moon inside, but the emotion had been baked dry by the sun on the way back. Now, telling everyone and seeing their excited reactions, his mood lifted again, and he felt a bit smug once more.

"Don't worry, leave it to us. When the sun goes down and people gather at the door, we'll brag for you. We'll also tell everyone you're famous for miles around, know plenty of big leaders, and even leaders have to give you face…"

Ye Yaodong burst out laughing.

"Eat, eat. After the meal, take a nap. We'll have to wake you up in the middle of the night to help with work, and then tomorrow morning we'll head out to sea again. Once everyone's done with lunch, go sleep and get some rest."

"Okay."

After lunch, Ye Yaodong went back to his room to nap as well. He shared a room with his father.

By the time he woke from his nap, the sun had already slanted westward, though it was still far from sunset. The whole group was back in the main hall playing cards.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wu, whom he had sent to the countryside to collect snakes, rats, and toads, came back at dusk, drenched in sweat, carrying three burlap sacks on a shoulder pole.

By then, everyone had finished dinner and a bath, and were sitting at the front door helping Ye Yaodong brag.

That fellow was sharp. Seeing that quite a few people were sitting at the front door chatting, he went around to the back door instead. The sacks he was carrying kept making all kinds of noises—these were all live animals, and the sounds were rather creepy.

Fortunately, by the time he returned, the sun had already set, and there were few pedestrians on the road. Especially out in the rural countryside, people worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. On his way back, he had hit the dinner hour, so even fewer people were around. By the time he reached the market district, it was nearly dark, and the road was even more deserted. Only at the doorways of each household were there many people sitting out enjoying the cool air.

He carried the shoulder pole to the back door and knocked, shouting his throat raw before the people at the front door finally heard and came to open up.

"Damn it, we were waiting at the front door so long—why'd you go around to the back?"

"With all that noise, how could I go through the front?"

"That's true…"

Ye Yaodong looked at the three sacks, where things were thrashing about left and right, accompanied by the squeaking of rats, the croaking of frogs, and the hissing of snakes, and he couldn't help but shiver.

"You've got some nerve, aren't you afraid carrying these three bags on your back?"

"I was scared, that's why I bought a shoulder pole from a villager. Carrying them on a pole is a bit better—don't have to sling them onto my body."

"Ugh…" Ye Yaodong curled his lip in disgust.

"Good work. Go eat and wash up first. Is it safe to leave these things in the yard? Will they try to escape?"

"No, I specifically bought fertilizer bags—they're double-layered. The inner layer is a nylon bag, and the opening is tied up tight. Guaranteed they can't get out. The only thing is no air can get through, so they might die easily, but it doesn't really matter…"

Ye Yaodong also said: "It doesn't matter. We toss them in in the middle of the night. Some dead, some alive is no big deal, as long as we have the numbers."

"Right, right, right. Oh man, I'm already getting excited…" Xiao Wu rubbed his hands together in anticipation, wishing he could go pull off the job right now.

"Go eat first. After dinner, go rest. If you can get up tonight, come with us; if not, just rest, and tomorrow you can listen to everyone tell the story."

"Okay, okay, okay…"

Ye Yaodong looked at the three big sacks of animals calling out nonstop in waves, and his heart grew eager as well.

Good thing it was at the back door—there were no houses around the back door, so people nearby couldn't hear the noise.