Chapter 1159: Received the Appointment Letter (Extra Chapter for the Very Cute and Delicious Alliance Leader)

By this time, if he walked back slowly, it would be around dusk, not far from nightfall.

After all, it is a whole city; although it is dilapidated everywhere, it is still quite large, and walking home casually takes over an hour.

The meeting ended, and they chatted while walking out; after talking for a while and delaying a bit more before heading home, he arrived at 7 o'clock. His father and the others had already returned, sitting there shirtless, eating.

The courtyard gate stood wide open; as soon as he stepped in, someone with sharp eyes spotted him and started a ruckus, "President Ye is here!"

"Ah, ha ha, our President Ye is here!"

"President Ye!"

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but chuckle, "Eating? Today is a good day; how can we do without wine? Just returned, I stopped by the small shop on the way and bought two bottles of shaojiu. Come, come, let's celebrate tonight."

"Did it work?" Ye's father asked, face full of surprise.

He straightened his shirt hem, coughed twice, and said seriously, "From now on, please call me President Ye!"

Although it was the vice position, there was no need to add "vice" when calling him!

"Hahaha~ Good boy~"

"President Ye, ha ha, the others didn't call him wrong."

Ye Yaodong smiled and placed the two bottles of white liquor on the table, telling them to get bowls to pour the wine.

Drinking alcohol easily causes trouble; moreover, they were all working for him now. When there was nothing special, he generally didn't provide alcohol, only normal meals.

Otherwise, these old alcoholics would drink three meals a day; what family fortune could afford to provide alcohol every single day? They weren't here to enjoy life, but to work and earn money.

If they wanted to drink, he didn't object, but they had to spend their own money to buy the wine. He hadn't paid wages yet, their pockets were limited, so they only dared to buy one or two bottles every now and then to satisfy their craving.

Seeing him carry two bottles of white liquor and place them on the table, their eyes sparkled with light.

"Great, great, Adong is generous; a good day deserves a celebration."

"Why call him Adong? Call him President!"

"Ha ha, President!"

Ye Yaodong laughed too, "Just jokingly calling him that a couple of times is fine. Come, come, let's celebrate, everyone take a drink together."

"Good, good, good..."

"Bringing glory to the ancestors!" Ye's father took a sip, face flushed, put down his bowl, and said, "It's dark now; wait until tomorrow afternoon to come back early and make a phone call home."

"No need to rush; what's the hurry? Just make the call when there's no work to do. Where is the lack of time? Besides, we haven't gone back anyway."

"That works too."

"It's glorious; the title of President sounds like a high-ranking official."

"Actually, not really; it's just a social organization."

Everyone didn't quite understand what he said, but they all knew he was now the Vice President. Everyone felt honored, continuously toasting him. After a full round of toasts, he hadn't eaten much food, but his face was flushed red from the alcohol.

He was indeed happy, so he accepted every toast.

The meal continued until the lights were turned on, and they were still eating. Neighbors sat at their doorways enjoying the cool breeze, hearing the commotion from their courtyard, and peered over a few times.

The two bottles of wine brought back were only two jin; divided among eleven people, it was less than two liang each. After finishing, they went out to buy two more bottles, and on the way, they spoke to the neighbors sitting at the door enjoying the cool breeze, telling them their boss had become President.

"What kind of official is a President? Sounds like a big official."

"He is the President of the Fishery Association, responsible for our sea area and seafood products; he is very powerful."

"Ah! So powerful? You've made it; becoming President at such a young age..."

"Yes, don't look at how young our boss is; he is very capable. In our hometown, he is also very powerful, a famous person in the surrounding villages."

After buying the wine, the person casually smiled, said two proud words, and then walked back into the house with unsteady steps to continue the lively drinking.

The atmosphere inside the room was enthusiastic, and the discussion at the door didn't stop; gossip always spreads exceptionally fast.

By the time they returned from sea the next day, even the people at the dock knew Ye Yaodong was the Vice President of the Fishery Association. Many smiled and congratulated him, asking if he had any connections.

Over the past half month of selling goods, he had already become familiar with everyone at the dock.

An outsider coming here and actually becoming their local Vice President; although they didn't understand exactly what he did, the title sounded very impressive and powerful.

Ye Yaodong humbly said a few words, only reminding them to weigh the goods quickly, and didn't say much else, leaving some room for their imagination.

Then, within a week, he saw an advertisement in the local newspaper announcing the establishment of the Fishery Association and recruiting new members.

Being new here and knowing he wouldn't stay long, he hadn't subscribed to the newspaper. It was only when he returned to the dock that he saw people discussing there, so he borrowed someone's newspaper to take a look, only then learning it had been printed; the efficiency was quite high.

He had thought the newspaper office's typesetting wouldn't be that fast, but he didn't expect it to be printed in less than a week.

And when he got home, the family had received a letter. Opening it, inside was a certificate of honor. The certificate also had the association's address and phone number.

Holding the certificate in his hand, he shook it twice with a smile on his face and said to everyone, "I didn't expect it to be so formal; even an office location and a phone number are included. Are they determined to do this properly? Is the makeshift gang starting to become standardized?"

Everyone stretched their necks to look, "What does it say?"

"It says I am appointed Vice President of the Fishery Association, telling me to handle the procedures recently, and I must take a personal ID photo to submit for records, and also pay the membership fee."

"Ah? You still have to pay money? They aren't paying you a salary, and you still have to give them money? What kind of logic is that?" Ye's father was the first to exclaim in surprise.

"It's just like that; this isn't an official government position, so they can't pay you a salary. I've said it many times, this is a social organization. If you want to join this association, you definitely have to pay a membership fee. It's not much money, it doesn't matter; having the title of President Ye is so glorious; who lacks this little bit of money?"

"Then okay; anyway, you don't lack these few yuan. Go pay it tomorrow morning, and make a phone call home on the way. It's been many days, and you haven't called home; they still don't know about this."

"Mm."

He also needed to go deposit some money.

It had been almost a month; except for a week of intermittent rain in the middle, it had been sunny all along, and things had gone quite smoothly.

At sea, it was also smooth. Generally, fishing boats near the coast weren't as big as his fishing boat; at most, they would curiously gather to take a look. Seeing their boat and then seeing so many men on board, they usually avoided them if possible.

Money that can't be earned is useless even if you beat people to death; it does harm without benefit; moreover, there were clearly more people on their boat.

And the red tide from the previous period hadn't spread to the near-shore waters; it had just been there. Large boats from the town hadn't been seen much recently; a few boats were still fishing normally in the open sea.

They just heard people at the dock say the catch wasn't good; many fish were affected by the red tide and had to be discarded. The harvest was average, but if they didn't go out to sea, they still had to feed a boat full of idle people at home.

This didn't affect him; anyway, he wasn't going out to drag nets.

Over this month, they had been harvesting sea urchins, earning just over 10,000 yuan. Adding the nearly 4,000 yuan earned on the day they encountered the red tide earlier, they had earned quite a bit more.

After deducting the cost of fuel and the daily meat and vegetable expenses, there's still about this much left in hand.

Tomorrow, I'll take the opportunity to remit 10,000 yuan back home, keeping 3,000 yuan on hand; when we return, we'll still need to pay the boatmen their wages.

Ye's father thought for a moment and added, "Today seems to be the fourteenth of the lunar month; tomorrow is the fifteenth of August. I wonder if the bank will be open. We've been working continuously lately and haven't gone back; we should still celebrate the holidays that are due."

"Tomorrow is already the fifteenth of August?"

Ye Yaodong was stunned for a moment; he only remembered that today was the 28th on the Gregorian calendar and hadn't even thought that tomorrow would be the fifteenth of August. There was no wall calendar at home; they simply counted the days themselves, or glanced at one when they happened to go to the small shop to buy cigarettes.

Day after day out at sea, he really hadn't bothered to keep track of the current lunar date.

"It's the fifteenth of August now; I remembered it a few days ago, but I forgot again these past two days. I only recalled it just now when I heard the peddler with the carrying pole shouting about selling mooncakes."

"Alright then, everyone will rest tomorrow. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a major holiday; if we can't go back to celebrate, that's fine, but we can't expect everyone to keep working while we're out here. Tomorrow morning, let's buy some good dishes and a large local mooncake, and celebrate the festival together."

Everyone immediately cheered happily, their faces beaming with joy.

It wasn't that no one remembered the Mid-Autumn Festival; they just hadn't felt comfortable bringing it up. It was better for Ye's father to say it.

Ye Yaodong added, "Receiving this appointment letter right on the Mid-Autumn Festival is truly a double blessing; the luck is quite good. Tomorrow, let's all go make a phone call together. Even though we can't go back, we must call home. I was truly so busy I forgot; fortunately, my father remembered, otherwise I would have caused everyone to miss the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Hehe, forgetting is normal; celebrating every year isn't anything particularly rare."

"Still, the holidays that ought to be celebrated must be celebrated. There aren't holidays in every month all year round; there are only a few important ones: Qingming, May 1st, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day, and the New Year—just these six major holidays."

After speaking, he turned to his father and said, "These offices probably won't be open tomorrow either. The day after tomorrow, you all go out to sea as usual; I'll rest one more day to handle the matters that need to be done."

"Have you thought about when we'll return?"

"Originally, I was thinking of returning around National Day; returning for the Mid-Autumn Festival would be best. However, looking at the current fishing situation, it's quite good. The weather hasn't turned cold yet, and the recent weather has been favorable, quite suitable for going into the water. It would be a pity to return now; we can still earn something each day."

"Moreover, this Fisheries Association has just been established; I can't just pack up and leave like that. Let's stay a bit longer to see how things go. We'll return once the weather turns cold and it's no longer suitable for going into the water. I estimate we won't be here for even a month before it gets cold."

Ye's father thought for a moment. "It should get cold around mid-to-late October. Recently, the jellyfish on the sea surface have decreased, indicating that the weather is already turning cooler."

"Hmm, that means we'll stay about half a month longer."

He looked at everyone. "Do you have any objections? Staying another half month—does anyone urgently need to go back?"

The older ones quickly waved their hands. "No, no. Staying another half month is fine too. For us workers earning money, what does it matter whether it's a holiday or not? As long as we can earn money, that's all that matters; staying longer is even better."

"Yes, with such high wages, it would be hard to find a job like this back home. Adong, stay as long as you need; everyone has no objections. Having work to do is even better."

The others nodded repeatedly.

One day brings 4.5 to 6.5 yuan; half a month is 67.5 to 97.5 yuan. Staying here with good food and drink, without having to do overly heavy work, who would be willing to leave?

"Alright, if there are no objections, then we'll stay another half month. Whenever the weather turns cool and it's no longer suitable for going into the water, we'll return. Tomorrow, let's all make a phone call together to send word home; I suppose the families think we'll be returning around the Mid-Autumn Festival and are probably all waiting."

"Good."

After the meal, Ye Yaodong still huddled with his father to whisper.

"I forgot about the Mid-Autumn Festival. Since tomorrow is a rest day, I'll go buy some cigarettes and liquor to give to Director Zeng. One must make some gesture for the holiday."

Here, he had come to know a high official; he must maintain that relationship.

"That's appropriate. It's a pity we didn't go out to sea to catch fish; otherwise, we could have prepared some seafood..."

"Let's not bother with that. Sending a little as a specialty product is fine for daily occasions, but for a holiday, we should prepare something presentable."

"Oh, then you handle it yourself; you know more about these things."

"Hmm, I just don't know where he lives. I'll ask around tomorrow; there must be someone on duty at the bureau. I'll go ask first thing tomorrow."

Ye's father hesitated and asked again, "Should we give the boatmen a holiday red envelope?"

Ye Yaodong looked at his father in confusion. "Why do I feel you're becoming more and more generous? Do you want a red envelope yourself?"