Chapter 1219

Ye Yaodong thought for a while and felt that he had basically sorted out his train of thought.

Now he was just waiting for the first batch of containers to be transported over, and he could arrange for Wang Guangliang and the others to collect the goods directly to the factory in the city.

On this trip back, he had to ask his mother which auntie from their village would be willing to go to the city to work; the salary could be increased a bit, and if there were no goods to collect, they could come back to rest.

Anyway, the family's tractor had to go back and forth to the city to deliver dried fish, so coming back was very convenient.

More and more people in the village were gradually venturing out now, and everyone wasn't that unfamiliar with the outside world anymore, feeling that going on a long journey wasn't that difficult.

On the contrary, as long as someone in the family went on a long journey, they could bring back all sorts of novel things upon their return.

They had originally planned to stay at sea for another week, but after only five or six days, they felt the wind and waves were too strong, so after the several boats discussed it, they decided to head home.

They had been out for about 10 days on this trip; although they had docked in the city to rest for a day halfway through, it was still longer than any previous time they had been out, and the harvest was quite abundant, leaving everyone very satisfied.

However, before going home, they of course docked in the city one more time to sell the goods, and then only returned the next day after selling them all.

Lin Xiuqing had received Ye Yaodong's phone call earlier, so she wasn't too worried about them being away for such a long time on this trip.

She had, of course, conveyed the information to the families of the others, and everyone was very much at ease; as long as there was a phone call back when they were away from home, it wasn't a big problem.

When their four boats docked and returned, the village naturally became more lively again.

Now their family's workshop was tied to the village's economy; as soon as a fishing boat docked, the workshop immediately became bustling with activity, with all the women having work to do and a better place to gather together to gossip.

Not lonely and having money to earn, there was no work that made them happier than killing fish.

Ye Yaodong stood on the tractor and saw a crowd of women at the workshop entrance, all waiting with their own kitchen knives and cutting boards.

Everyone was sharpening their knives, eager to start immediately, even happier than him, as if it were their own family that had a bumper harvest.

"You all had a bumper harvest on this trip, bringing back so much cargo again..."

"Oh my, you've developed into four boats now? This is just great, everyone has work to do again."

"Bless Adong and you all to have more and more boats and more and more cargo, so everyone can have a bit more work and earn a bit more wages."

"Haha, I heard that Adong has been hired as a chairman by our city."

"That's right, a chairman went out, and he's a chairman again back here at home, too amazing."

"If you ask me, it's because Adong's godfather is capable; I heard he's a big leader in the city, and with just a casual mention, he could promote him."

"That's right, during the first lunar month, the leader's whole family came over specially; where would a godfather come to visit his godson himself? Who doesn't bring their children along when visiting?"

"Exactly, just after finding a good godfather, he was immediately promoted to chairman; what will happen in the future? He'll be able to join the Party soon."

"Isn't joining the Party a simple matter for the current Chairman Ye?"

Lin Xiuqing saw the tractor pull up and hurriedly smiled, asking everyone to move aside so the tractor could drive directly into the workshop to unload the cargo.

Everyone was even happier than her; as soon as they saw them jump off the vehicle, they started chattering away.

He was now closely linked to the interests of the villagers, and more than half of them were counting on him for their livelihood.

Being able to get some work from him, earn some wages, and improve their family conditions.

Lin Xiuqing also smiled and went up to meet him, "You came back just in time. The wind has been strong these past two days, and the near-shore fishing boats haven't gone out for many days. Fortunately, Acai was still able to collect some goods at the town pier, but it wasn't enough for these women to kill."

"Bringing back a truckload every night is only enough for them to kill that night; they've been idle during the day lately."

Ye Yaodong nodded, "No wonder as soon as our fishing boats docked, they were already waiting on the side of the road with kitchen knives and cutting boards."

"How many tons of cargo did you bring back on this trip?"

"Only after weighing will we know; it's definitely more than before the New Year, after all, there's an extra boat."

"That should be enough for them to kill for a few days; fortunately, the weather is cold and there's no sun lately, so it'll be fine for three or four days."

The two stood on the side of the road, talking while watching basket after basket of fish being lifted off the tractor and onto the scale.

Just after weighing the two baskets stacked together, the men reported the number, and before they even took them off the scale, the women started moving; two people lifted a basket and left, going to work first.

Their work was paid by the hour, and Pei Dongqing was keeping track of when they arrived and when they left.

Pei Dongqing was also recording the weighing and counting now; after recording, she would calculate the total, and Lin Xiuqing only needed to check the total and verify the accounts when she finished recording.

It saved quite a bit of trouble, so she didn't have to be stuck in the workshop all day, unable to get away.

Only now could she stand beside Ye Yaodong and talk, instead of being so busy that her feet didn't touch the ground as before, unable to even say a word until dark whenever the fishing boats docked.

In the few days after the New Year, Lin Xiuqing had also raised everyone's wages to twenty cents an hour; as long as they worked for 10 hours, they could earn two yuan a day, and those who worked harder for a dozen hours would naturally earn more.

However, there hadn't been that much cargo to work on these past few days, but today was different; today's fish were so many that they wouldn't be able to finish killing them even if they worked for a day and a night.

This year, they also planned to build up more inventory; as the shops they opened in the city stayed open longer, sales had become increasingly stable and were increasing year by year.

Likewise, more women had been hired to work.

When Lin Xiuqing and Ye's mother hired people, they always stated the ugly truth upfront: those who were lazy would be fired directly, so they weren't afraid of them slacking off.

Everyone supervised each other, working together, and how they worked was basically clear to all; no one would waste this opportunity to earn money. Whose family life was so good that they would come out to blow in the cold wind to earn this hard-earned money?

Watching the quantity being transported in, truckload after truckload from the pier, Lin Xiuqing also couldn't sit still; with such a large quantity, the manpower probably wasn't enough again.

The current people in the workshop were those who had been helping before the New Year; they had already hired a few more women before the New Year, and now with the boat of Zhou Da and his brothers coming and going together, the quantity of goods brought back was even greater.

"How much more is there behind? I see the manpower isn't enough again; there's sorting to do, and..."

"No need to sort, just take it all for fermentation. How much miscellaneous fish could I buy with the wages spent on hiring a few more people to sort?"

"Oh, that's true. Then I have to go call a few more women to come and help kill, otherwise, it'll stink before we finish killing."

"Go ahead." Ye Yaodong waved his hand, signaling her to go.

Now that the goods had just returned, only a few truckloads had been pulled from the pier, and there was still at least two boats' worth of cargo outside that hadn't been pulled in, so he had to watch here too.

When he saw his mother come over, he told her to help ask which auntie from their family would be willing to go to the city to ferment fish sauce, calculating wages as a fixed worker, paid monthly regardless of whether there was work or not.

Instead of like now, where there was money only if there was work, and no money if there wasn't.

He also explained to his mother that this place was nearing saturation and was running out of space for fermentation, and it just so happened that he had bought 13 mu of land in the city, which was already finished and cleared; in a few days, the containers would arrive, and they could start working.

Ye's mother also had a good idea of the fish sauce production situation at home and knew that the containers emptied by filtering every day couldn't keep up with the large-scale collection of goods, and soon there would be nothing to hold the collected goods.

They could pre-order containers, which wasn't a big problem; the main thing was that there was no other large area in the village that could be bought for them to stack things, so since that piece of land in the city had been bought, it had to be utilized.

"Got it, I'll ask later to see who's willing to go. How much salary are you planning to offer?"

"I'm thinking, how about hiring two? Calculate 40 yuan a month for each; two people will have company, and the people collecting the goods will also have to stay in the city, so they'll need to be fed. Just let the aunties cook as well; anyway, the work isn't from morning till night."

"Fine, then if you hire the auntie, you'll have to hire the uncle too, to avoid having only men; although they're a bit older, it's easy for gossip to spread."

Ye Yaodong thought about it and felt that two more people didn't matter much; at most, he could transfer two of the people collecting goods back to stay in the workshop and help.

"That works too, then hire them to look after the factory. Once fermentation really starts, someone has to be there to guard it every day, in shifts."

"Then I'll ask later; it's easier to talk if a married couple goes together."

"Good."

After Lin Xiuqing called a few more women to bring knives and cutting boards to work, Ye Yaodong mentioned it to her.

"Got it, you hurry back and eat. The cargo should be almost finished being pulled, right? I see they've all come in from the pier."

"I've already eaten." Ye Yaodong pointed to the soup bowl on the stool beside him, which was already empty, even the soup was gone, eaten clean.

And not far away, Ye's father was also holding a bowl of noodles, slurping as he walked back and forth, his eyes looking everywhere.

"Oh, you've already eaten."

"Grandma just cooked it and brought it out."

Lin Xiuqing knew that he had eaten first, and then the old lady went back to bring another bowl for Ye's father, so Ye's father was still there slurping noodles.

Ye Yaodong felt his pocket, took out the envelope, and handed it to her, "You take this first, take it home and put it away. There's other money, I'm keeping it close to my body, I have to go home and take off my clothes to get it."

Lin Xiuqing recognized the writing on it and was pleasantly surprised, "How much was the reward? Why is there the godfather's signature and personal seal?"

"50 yuan, just for two whales; wanting a big reward isn't possible, it's not bad that each of the three boats could get 50 yuan."

"This godfather's signature and personal seal were requested by everyone; I mentioned it for them, and they all thought it would be good to have a piece of information as proof to keep as a souvenir later, otherwise, this 50 yuan would be spent in no time."

"Oh, that's not bad, it'll be a souvenir to take out later."

"They originally wanted the godfather to sign on the banknotes, but the godfather said no, it's illegal. The masses don't know and write blindly, so they won't be held accountable, but he's a cadre himself and can't do such things."

Lin Xiuqing didn't know much about the law either, "That's the first time I've heard of this; I've seen many people scribbling on banknotes, and I've seen many banknotes I've handled in the past two years with patterns and names."

"Yeah, he's a cadre, so he must lead by example. You keep it first; I'm wet and smelly, don't get the envelope dirty."

"When are you planning to take the appointment letter at home to report to the city?"

"In these two days, rest tomorrow, go the day after tomorrow. Once it's settled, I'll take the time to go and carve a personal seal."

"You want to carve a personal seal too?"

Ye Yaodong was righteous, "I'm Chairman Ye after all, what's wrong with carving a personal seal? Who knows how many documents I'll have to sign in the future; isn't it better to just stamp it if I have a personal seal?"

Actually, it was because he saw the personal seal that Director Chen took out a few days ago, and he had a whim to carve one.

He felt that it was reasonable and appropriate for him to carve a personal seal now.

"Fine, whatever my Chairman Ye says goes. If you want to carve one, just carve one when you go to the city in two days."

"Yeah, are there any traces of me in the newspapers these past two days?"

"Oh, right, it's been too many days, I've been busy and almost forgot. It arrived with the envelope, and it was sent over at the time, but I've been busy in the workshop and only looked at the letter, too happy to notice. When I was free at night, I flipped through the newspaper of that day and found that you were in the newspaper again."

"I told you, it was all things from before the New Year; even if there was a holiday during the New Year, it should have been arranged after the New Year. It's already the twenty-second of the lunar month, how could it not have been published yet?"

"It's because you were away for too many days on this trip, so you didn't see it; I've kept them all for you, you'll see them when you get home."

"Yeah, wait until the cargo here is unloaded; everyone is still waiting here, I'm not in a rush for this moment, anyway, weighing two or three baskets stacked together is fast."

Lin Xiuqing also walked to Pei Dongqing's side to look at the weighing data she recorded.

Several cargo lists, corresponding to those boats.

Each truckload of cargo had their own people following, and only after one boat's cargo was weighed would they continue to the next; their own people also stood around Pei Dongqing, watching the recorded data, so there wouldn't be any mistakes.

If there were any mistakes, their own people would point them out first.

So after Lin Xiuqing finished weighing everything and the results were calculated, she just took a simple look, tore off a copy of the bottom sheet for them, kept the original, and went home with Ye Yaodong first.

"Finally finished weighing, let's go, hurry home. There's too much cargo on this trip, and weighing it takes ages. Look, your nose is running, don't catch a cold."

Ye's mother added from the side, "The old lady seems to have gone home to cook ginger tea just now; you and your father go home and drink a bowl to get rid of the cold. I'll watch here; anyway, everyone is used to working, no need to tell them what to do. Aqing, you go back first too."

"Yeah."

Ye Yaodong smiled and greeted the others, telling them to go back and rest, and he would send them the money later; this was mainly said to Zhou Da and his brothers.

After all, it was their first time following, and the first time they left goods for him.

He also told the boatmen to go back and rest first, and he would notify them in advance for the next trip out to sea.

"Are you tired? This trip was a bit long, and it just so happens that the wind and waves have been strong these past few days, so rest well at home for a few days," Lin Xiuqing said with concern.

"How many days have the boats at home not gone out to sea?"

"Six or seven days, cold wind blowing every day, plus it was the fifteenth high tide a few days ago, and the waves were big."

"Oh, it looks like the fishing boats in the village haven't gone out to sea for many days either."

"Yeah, the wind and waves are big, only your fishing boats are big enough to withstand it. It just so happened that it was the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth, and many people in the village went to town to watch the excitement; there were dragon and lion dances, and a bunch of children carrying lanterns parading the streets. I heard that some places have even started the god parade."

Ye Yaodong nodded; their surrounding customs were quite old, and if it weren't for those years when they didn't dare to do anything, they wouldn't have had to pick them up again.

"If the god parade starts this year, there will definitely be one next year. I'll take you to see it next year on the fifteenth of the first lunar month."

"Great, the children at home have been chanting about it for the past few days, saying others went to see the god parade, why couldn't they go. They've been chanting for many days, it's so annoying."

"Yeah, go back and tell them it will be even hotter next year, tell them to wait for next year, I'll definitely take them to see the excitement next year."

Ye Yaodong liked to hear her surround him, chattering about family matters and the interesting things that happened to the children.

This allowed him to indirectly participate in the children's growth even when he wasn't at home.

"Did the big one start school?"

"Started school, it's rare this year, didn't cram at the last minute, forcing him to write copybooks every day, and also took the opportunity to finish a little homework every day."

"Did the sun rise from the west?" Ye Yaodong even looked up, and the sun was indeed slanting to the west.

It was already past one o'clock when they got home, and after moving things back and forth and weighing the cargo, it was already past 3 o'clock.

"Haha, it shows that forcing him is still a bit useful. During the days of registration, I don't know how cocky he was, going to the neighbor's house to wander around every day, annoying people, and even had a fight with Chenghe."

"Serves him right."

Lin Xiuqing smiled brightly.

"Where are Yangyang and Xiaojiu?"

"Yangyang just came back and went to play, Xiaojiu is playing at Huimei's, Aguang is back too, she'll probably come running back later."

After Ye Yaodong entered the room and drank a bowl of ginger tea, and was out of the wind, he felt a bit warmer.

After taking a hot bath and lying in the quilt, he felt extremely comfortable.

In winter, there was no place more comfortable than the quilt.

He handed all the money he brought back to Lin Xiuqing to count, only mentioning the money from the shop's profits; in the past half month, a portion had been taken to pay the deposit for the large vats and wooden barrels.

Today he specifically didn't bring back all the shop's money, because he had to pay the balance in a few days, so the money brought back today was only what he earned at sea in the past 10 days.

He lay comfortably, only moving his mouth, not wanting to do anything, and after finishing speaking, he became drowsy, listening to her fragmented voice, and closed his eyes directly to sleep, not even getting up for dinner.

He didn't know how long Lin Xiuqing counted the money, but he only sat up when he was woken up by hunger in the middle of the night.

Lin Xiuqing was also woken up by his movement and could only sit up to cook him a midnight snack.

"I didn't have time to tell you during the day, Fatty came to look for you two days ago, I said you were out at sea and hadn't returned. He told me he wanted to rent our shop in the city; our shops are scattered, one here and one there. He said to let you tell him when you return, and he'll go to the city with you."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"You were busy as soon as you returned, only asking about the children. When you got home, you took a bath and lay down to sleep, not even getting up to eat, so I could only explain the family matters first."

"It's highly likely I won't go out today. After dawn, I'll go to his house to leave a message, and take him along when I go to the city the day after tomorrow. Take him to see the shops, let him choose one, and he should also be thinking about taking over the ones next to it and connecting them."

"I don't know, he didn't tell me much, only said he wanted to rent our shop, and wait for you to return to go to the city to take a look together."

"Yeah."

"Can he handle it? I heard the business at the shop in town is very good."

"Just hire someone, doesn't he have several brothers? No need to do everything himself, pull his own brothers in to join, and work together."

"It looks like he hasn't earned less money in the past two years. Speaking of which, your friends, one by one, seem to have become much more decent in the past two years."

"That's for sure, my leading role is good, one pulling another, and I've driven them all. Look, this also belongs to personal prosperity driving collective prosperity. No, after dawn, I have to go to the village committee to talk, let them apply for me to join the Party, and they have to approve a quota for me."

Ye Yaodong sat at the table waiting for food, tapping his fingers on the table.

He was already a famous person, having been in the newspaper several times, and the village hadn't specifically reserved a quota for him to join the Party; it was too much.

"I'll go ask for it tomorrow! Really too much, they didn't give it voluntarily, and I have to go ask for it."

Lin Xiuqing asked curiously: "What's the use of joining the Party?"

"It's glorious."

"Anything else?"

"Can work be evaluated as advanced? Can be prioritized for promotion? Raise in rank and salary?"

"You can still be promoted? You don't need to be evaluated as advanced, and you don't need a raise in rank and salary."

"I don't care, wait until I go ask for a quota tomorrow, and then ask what the benefits are. Anyway, I've always heard Party member, Party member, it's so glorious. Even when announcing illegal crimes, they have to emphasize expelling from Party membership."

Ye Yaodong really didn't know much about these political things.

An old illiterate.

"Tossing around blindly, why do you want everything. You didn't even ask clearly what it's for, others carve personal seals and you want to carve one, you want to join the Party too."

"Sigh, I had a meal at the godfather's place on the Lantern Festival, met several of his neighbors, and only then understood what class crossing is. Some people are really people you can't reach in your whole life; sometimes, ordinary people work hard for a lifetime and can't reach them."

"What kind of people?"

Ye Yaodong mentioned a couple of things and sighed again.

Lin Xiuqing didn't understand what he was sighing about, "That doesn't have much to do with us, right? We don't need to rush to curry favor with others, and we don't have anything to ask of them."

"Some things can't be said too fully, now doesn't represent the future, just like the godmother said, some relationships aren't useful just by cramming at the last minute. And, birth, old age, sickness, and death, it's good to know a doctor."

"Oh."

"This god-relative recognition, we really took a big advantage, wait until I go to the city the day after tomorrow, I have to go to the house to sit for a while."

"That's necessary, since you're going, you have to go to the house to sit for a while. After all, you're out at sea for several days, and you have other things to do when you come home to rest for a few days, not necessarily running to the city every three days."

Anyway, he knew what was best to do.

A few days ago, when Ye Yaodong heard Jin Yuzhi say that the kind old man with a bald head and dimples was the vice president of the Liberation Hospital, he had already associated it with how Lin Xiuqing died in her previous life.

No matter what, he had to coax this vice president well; if there's an illness, treat it, and if there's no illness, it's good to have a way out.

The old lady was also over 80 years old.

That old man looked kind and amiable, so it wouldn't be a loss to get to know him.

"Prepare some local specialties and buy two cans of tea for me to take the day after tomorrow morning, no need to buy anything valuable, it's not a holiday, just be casual."

"Good."

After the noodles were cooked, Ye Yaodong finished eating quickly, and the two lay back in the quilt to continue talking.

Early the next morning, as soon as Ye Yaodong got up, he went straight to the village committee.

It just so happened that several old men from the village committee were sitting at the door sunbathing and eating melon seeds, looking so comfortable, making people jealous.

"Oh my, what wind blew our Chairman Ye here?"

"Sit, sit, sit, sunbathe, haven't seen the sun for several days, people are about to get moldy."

"Just returned from sea yesterday, right? Heard that more than half of the village's women ran over to work for you."

Ye Yaodong sat down and asked casually, "Ah, is that so? It's not that exaggerated, right?"

"Came to ask about the progress of the kelp?"

"That's only part of it, I want to ask you, am I qualified to join the Party?"

The village head asked in surprise: "Ah? You want to join the Party?"

"What are the benefits of joining the Party?"

"There are benefits, some promotions and the like are definitely prioritized for Party members, but for you... it's also possible, it's also useful..."

Secretary Chen added: "It can improve political status, contact more policy information and development directions. Then Party members have advantages in promotion and transfer, especially in government agencies, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises. Maybe some organizational units can also participate in some meetings, that's about it, some things are not easy to say."

"Why did you suddenly think of joining the Party?"

Ye Yaodong told the truth, "I think joining the Party is glorious, and now I've been specially hired as the vice chairman of the Fishery Association, I didn't have this awareness before. Recently I have, I think it would be better to have a Party member identity?"

The village head said: "Yeah, right, it's an officially recognized association anyway, and you've been specially hired as the vice chairman of the Fishery Association, it's indeed better to have a Party member identity, so that others don't really treat you as an ordinary fisherman and look down on you."

"Why didn't you mention asking me to join the Party last year?"

"I didn't think you were busy? And you didn't mention it either? Party members need to participate in a series of learning activities, it's not that you are one just by filling out an application form, you have to become a probationary Party member first, and can only become a full Party member after the expiration of the term."

Ye Yaodong frowned, "So complicated?"

"Do you think anyone can join the Party? You have to constantly participate in theoretical learning, policy learning, etc., and then become an active applicant for Party membership, and you have to accept organizational investigation, and then you can become a probationary Party member."

He listened and frowned even deeper.

It's so hard, he felt he was a bit unworthy.