Chapter 1282: Dissatisfied

Everyone was truly exhausted, having spent twelve days at sea, then soaking in water again upon return, collectively hauling the artificial encircling net—hundreds of meters long and weighted down, pulling it up by hand was no light task.

After docking, they carried the cargo—a whole shipload of over a hundred thousand jin—back and forth themselves, long since drained of strength.

On the way, they could still joke and chatter with energy, but now that they were home, their minds fully relaxed, they all wanted nothing more than to collapse straight onto the ground.

After washing up, some didn't even bother eating, falling asleep immediately; others managed to swallow a few mouthfuls before sleeping.

Ye Yaodong felt fine—besides mental fatigue, the physical exhaustion wasn't unbearable.

Mainly because he was the boss, doing less work than the others, and it was easier for him.

When he finished washing up and ate, then stepped outside, his father and over a dozen fishermen were still busy filleting fish and crushing insects.

Some used kitchen knives, others scissors, still others the custom-made cleavers ordered from the blacksmith's shop—anything that worked was fine.

Ye's father looked up at him and asked, "These bugs look swollen inside—cut them open and the belly just collapses into a skin—how do you eat these?"

"Wash them clean, boil them, dry them in the sun, then store them away—they'll last longer. Tomorrow, go cut some scallions from the landlady's place and stir-fry them."

"So they're kind of like sandworms."

"Yeah, pretty much—just fatter and bigger than sandworms, probably need to cut them up first."

"Probably?"

"Yeah, probably—I've never eaten them before. What else would you call it if not 'probably'?"

"I thought you had."

"Where would I have eaten them?"

"Lucky break—nobody else wanted them, but you took them. How much did you sell these for?"

Ye Yaodong grinned broadly. "Guess."

"Six jiao per jin? At least a few hundred kuai?"

"We caught over two thousand three hundred jin and sold them for 1,416 kuai."

"What?! That much?" Ye's father looked up in surprise—wasn't this pure luck? So many others saw them, none picked them up, all disgusted.

Ye Yaodong wasn't worried the fishermen would find out—everyone standing nearby had heard when the goods were sold.

"Lucky break. At the time, they were all busy hauling the mullet out of the net—tens of thousands of jin of fish, the net was heavy, they were swamped. No one had spare hands. Plus, this whole pile washing ashore was genuinely disgusting—they couldn't spare the effort, and their reluctance was normal."

"How much did those fish sell for? Divided among four boats?"

"Total weight, seven fen per jin wholesale—sold for over four thousand kuai. Each man gets about a thousand. They'll probably get back around midnight; we'll settle accounts tomorrow."

"That's still a lot—you got lucky and made two profits."

Ye Yaodong chuckled. "I made money, sure—but I hope this month I can save enough to pay back Ah Guang."

"Go sleep first. This little bit'll be done soon."

He looked at the basket of sea cucumbers—it wasn't much. Each one weighed two or three jin, easy to process; this basket was only about sixty jin total.

Meanwhile, the workers were filleting fish quickly too—many hands made light work, and most of the several baskets brought back were already half done.

He then went back inside, sorted the money earned that night, and tallied the accounts.

When he finished, his father also finished his work and came inside.

The father and son chatted about the past half-month's earnings, and Ye's father handed him the money earned from selling goods to store safely.

Ye Yaodong estimated that after the final accounting at month's end, he'd be able to clear Ah Guang's debt and still have ten or twenty thousand kuai left over.

As of today, he already had over twenty thousand kuai on hand—not counting the eight thousand kuai deposit he'd paid at the shipyard. The remaining money this month should be enough for the modifications.

Thinking of that boat, he couldn't help imagining what his father had said—get a few more, fully equipped.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford it—it was just too costly and time-consuming, and domestic technology still wasn't solid enough. He'd have to wait.

And he'd better solve the after-sales distribution problem for the fresh-hauling boats—can't just rely on street stalls. Need cooperating companies and factories to take delivery. Only then is it a full chain.

He shook his head, closed his eyes, and went to sleep. This wasn't something he could think about now. Right now, he just needed to save more money.

After all, it was only 1986—he'd been reborn for just four years, still four years away from the 1990s.

The next morning, hearing the noisy commotion from neighbors, he pulled the blanket over his head and kept sleeping.

This old residential building had terrible soundproofing and housed too many people—every morning brought a chorus of voices and clatter.

If a neighbor's basin dropped on the floor, it could wake half the block—even people several rooms away could hear.

Ye Yaodong hadn't expected Jin Laixi to show up the very next day—he was still buried under his blanket when his father woke him: someone was looking for him.

His first thought was a commoner—but then he remembered, the man had left town; he wouldn't be back for at least a month.

"Who's looking for me?"

"They say they're from Wenshi, bought fish yesterday."

"Boss Xi?"

He sat up quickly, dressed himself, puzzled—how efficient was this? He'd only given the address yesterday, and today they'd already found him?

"I don't know them. Go see for yourself—they brought a net bag of tangerines."

"Alright, got it."

After dressing, Ye Yaodong raked his fingers through his now-lengthy hair before stepping out to greet them.

Two men had come—the same two who'd bought fish yesterday.

He worried his breath smelled from not brushing his teeth, so he kept his distance.

"Boss Xi, Boss Fang—good morning?"

"Not that early anymore—it's nearly noon. Found this place hard enough—we only got here because we asked a worker at the intersection."

"Sit and rest. I'll wash up first—who's cooking today? Make extra."

"No need, no need—I just came to chat a bit."

Ye Yaodong squeezed toothpaste as he talked. "Chatting doesn't stop you from eating."

"Haha, yesterday, a few friends of ours discussed it and thought your idea was great. As long as it's people from Wenshi, we stick together—it's better than dealing with strangers. Locals are naturally more trustworthy. And with shared resources, we can negotiate better—same hometown, after all, there's always a bit of hometown feeling."

He couldn't speak conveniently, so he nodded.

"So, we plan to follow your suggestion and organize an association called the Wenzhou Association. We'll set up our base at our current lodging. Later, we'll hang a banner or make a plaque to make it look more formal."

That would indeed be more formal. Ye Yaodong nodded as he listened.

"I came to seek your consent. Since we briefly learned yesterday that you are the Vice President of the Wenzhou Fishery Association, we want to invite you to join. After all, you are half a Wenzhou native."

Ye Yaodong nodded again. That was correct.

"Then we want to use your title as Vice President of the Fishery Association for promotion, letting more Wenzhou people know about our chamber of commerce and encouraging them to join us."

He turned his head in surprise to look at Jin Laixi, his mouth still full of foam, making his speech indistinct.

Jin Laixi smiled and said, "Your title is officially authorized, so it carries more credibility. Our chamber of commerce is just a private organization making things up; we need some live mascots to attract members."

"This was also what we discussed. Since the suggestion itself came from you, you should be happy to see our chamber of commerce become vibrant."

"Once there are more people in the chamber, everyone can exchange ideas occasionally and help each other. Whether it's collecting or selling goods, we can prioritize our own people. Don't you have dozens of boats?"

Ye Yaodong quickly gargled a few times, cleared his mouth, and asked, "How do you plan to promote it?"

He only wanted to play a small role, get to know a few boat captains or merchants so he could collect and sell goods, not get dragged into being a figurehead.

"We don't need much promotion. When someone asks about the chamber, just mention your name. Say that the Vice President of the local Wenzhou Fishery Association is backing us, and that you are also part of the chamber. That will make people trust us more."

"Of course, this must be through introductions from acquaintances. We can't just accept anyone. If someone isn't decent, the first ones to suffer could be all of us."

That actually sounded quite reliable.

Seeing Ye Yaodong hesitate, Jin Laixi added, "Those we invite into the chamber will definitely have some strength. They won't misuse your title for anything."

Ye Yaodong thought that whether he agreed or not didn't matter much. As long as he was a member of the chamber, people would say the Vice President of the Fishery Association was also in the chamber.

Unless he wasn't part of the chamber, in which case they certainly couldn't use his name for anything.

"Alright then. You do your thing. I don't understand these matters; you handle it as you see fit."

"Good, it's settled then. Are you free this afternoon? In the afternoon, we can all get to know each other? There are several other friends; some speak the Wenzhou dialect, others speak Minnan. Let's all introduce ourselves."

"At the address you gave yesterday? Going there this afternoon?"

"If you have no issues, we'll go tell the others. We'll treat it as an initial small meeting."

"Okay."

Ye Yaodong temporarily agreed. After all, it was just a makeshift group; he might as well get to know a few friends, a few bosses.

More friends mean more paths; no one knows what might happen.

More friends might also mean suffering fewer losses.

"Should I bring the Vice President certificate of the Fishery Association for you to see?"

To prove he wasn't a fraud, the real deal.

"Hehe, you still carry it with you?"

"Definitely. When traveling, one must carry items that prove identity. If something happens, it's easier to find help. I'll go get it for you to take a look."

Seeing is believing; otherwise, doubts would linger in the heart.

"Alright, then show it to me. That way I can confidently tell others and prove your identity."

Ye Yaodong showed him a small certificate booklet, pointing out the attached photo, the official seal, the name, and the native place.

"No problems now? I'll put it away. Stay for a meal later?"

"No need. The workers at home have already cooked. I won't trouble you. Since the goal is achieved, I'll leave first. See you at 2 PM."

"It's no trouble, just an extra pair of chopsticks. We eat with dozens of people every day anyway. Have a bite. I also have a few bottles of good wine."

"I have other things to do later and can't drink. I still need to notify others, so I won't stay."

Since he said so, he wouldn't force it.

After seeing the person off, Ye Father spoke up, "What kind of chamber of commerce is this? What organization is this? Joining such an organization so casually, could there be trouble?"

Dongzi had mentioned it briefly last night, but at the time, he thought Dongzi was just bluffing and didn't take it to heart. He didn't expect someone to come to the door today to discuss it.

"I just casually gave them a suggestion yesterday. I didn't expect them to be so action-oriented; they organized it immediately."

"What nonsense did you talk to them again?"

"That's a long story..."

Ye Yaodong explained how he directed Li Shouquan's group of shrimp-skin fishing boats yesterday, and then described meeting them after docking.

Then, when Jin Laixi was collecting their goods, he overheard the conversation, felt grateful and interested, and started chatting with them.

He had his own little scheme: he wanted them to set up a Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce so he could ride on their resources and get to know a few fishmongers or boat captains.

All of this could bring some benefits.

"I just didn't expect them to come knocking today. Am I going to become an elder again?"

Ye Father said, "You're just messing around, talking nonsense to people. We should just fish properly ourselves. What's the use? You aren't even a local."

"Who said that? I bought a house there and have shares in the factory. I am half a Wenzhou native. Is there a problem? Besides, I'm the Vice President of the Fishery Association; they still need my title to attract people."

"Tch, I'm just afraid they'll drag you into some trouble."

"Then I can just say I'm incompetent. This is Zhoushan City after all, not Wenzhou."

"You just met them. Do you think they'll accept all your goods or sell all their goods to your fresh-fish collection boat just because of a few words from you?"

"That's hard to say. I have what they need, they have what I need, and we have a common chamber of commerce organization. Isn't the probability of hitting it off even higher? Besides, they formed a chamber to help each other anyway."

Ye Father didn't believe it at all. Just met people, saw them once, and they started a chamber of commerce just by casually listening to Dongzi speak a few words. It sounded unreliable.

How could anyone trust people so easily, just listening to others casually?

"Messing around blindly. We don't know who they are. We don't understand them. We already have a pile of our own matters, and now we have to follow them to meetings and such."

"Who sits around meeting every day for no reason? They are merchants; they need to make money too. I'll go take a look first, get to know them. It won't hurt."

Every organization starts as a makeshift group, starting when there are few people. With fewer people, it can be even more pure.

If a chat can get them to split all the goods he brought back from docking, that would be even better. It saves them from standing on the dock in the cold winter wind, slowly selling their goods.

A worker asked curiously, "Boss, if you become an elder, does that make you the chairman again? The chairman of the Wen City Chamber of Commerce?"

"Sounds pretty impressive too?"

Ye Yaodong stroked his chin. It did seem like another title to bluff people with?

He'd just added another vest for himself?

Vice Chairman of the Wen City Chamber of Commerce sounded pretty badass too, another resounding title.

"Wait, didn't he just say he wanted to invite me to be chairman?"

"Talk to him this afternoon. He's going to use your name to recruit businessmen and ship bosses, so how could he not give you a title? He has to give you one."

"Ask this afternoon, see if I can snag another vice chairman position?"

Chairman was definitely impossible—he wasn't that free to manage this. They'd have to distribute it among themselves. He'd see if he could grab a vice chairman spot?

Ye Father poured cold water on it. "What's the use? Who knows if this chamber of commerce chairman of yours is round or flat, what it does? People have probably never even heard of it."

"Can you not talk?"

"Who gave birth to you? I'm reminding you not to get carried away. You just met the man, who knows what kind of person he is."

"I was born by my mother. Let's eat, I'm hungry. I know what I'm doing. I'll go take a look this afternoon before deciding."

"Won't do proper work, just messing around organizing things with people, just a few of them…"

"The Fisheries Association is also an organization."

"That's officially organized by the Haiyang Bureau, can it be the same?"

"Shut up!"

Ye Father took off his shoe and wanted to hit him. Everyone wore a stunned expression.

"We're eating. Don't just take off your shoes at the drop of a hat, how are we supposed to eat later? Hurry up and change this habit."

The others also laughed and changed the subject.

"Yesterday's bugs were stir-fried, give them a try."

"This morning I traded two fish with the landlord for a big bunch of chives. Don't say it, they're actually pretty fragrant…"

"Aphrodisiac and kidney-tonifying, of course it's fragrant?"

"Haha, can these bugs also act as aphrodisiacs? Then I should've caught more yesterday if I'd known."

"Right, if you say these bugs can act as aphrodisiacs, who'd still find them disgusting? Everyone would've rolled up their sleeves and caught them, no matter how gross."

Ye Yaodong's mouth twitched. Sure enough, as long as it could be tied to aphrodisiac and kidney-tonifying, no man could refuse—no matter how disgusting, they'd still go for it.

He was clearly talking about chives being an aphrodisiac, yet everyone could imagine bugs being an aphrodisiac.

"If I'd said yesterday they could tonify yang and kidneys, would I have been the only one picking them up? Nobody would've gone after the cuttlefish, they'd all come fight me for these."

Ye Father poured cold water. "Tonify what? There's nowhere to use it even if you tonify. Eat less."

"Then you eat less."

After the meal, the people from the four boats also came over to settle yesterday's accounts.

In the time it took for a meal, they had all heard that Ye Yaodong sold yesterday's bugs for 0.6 yuan per jin.

It almost broke their hearts. If they'd known, they wouldn't have just fished—they should've caught some bugs too.

Not a single one of them got any; Ye Yaodong took all the earnings.

Pei Father looked at some of them still drying outside and said, "A-Dong said yesterday that bug is called sea cucumber. Why didn't you remind us the bugs were so expensive? Otherwise everyone could've caught some yesterday, wouldn't have come back empty-handed."

Ye Yaodong's brows knit together. He wasn't worried his older brothers had any thoughts about it—when he was selling, they were right there and knew it was someone else who told him the price.

He was worried Zhou Da and his four brothers might take Pei Father's words to heart and hold a grudge. When out and about, unity was most important.

If there were internal conflicts, how could they stay united? Everything would breed resentment, and eventually they'd split.

"I know that bug, but that doesn't mean I know how much it sells for? What do you mean by that? Are you blaming me for not telling you, so you could earn a share too? Deliberately keeping all the profits to myself?"

A-Guang heard the displeasure in his words and hurriedly explained.

"Dongzi, my dad didn't mean you did it on purpose. He just felt there were quite a lot of those bugs yesterday, and we couldn't catch them all. It was a shame we just left like that."

"No, Dongzi didn't know…" Ye Ye Yaopeng tried to help explain but was cut off.

"Knowing it doesn't mean knowing everything. I'm not a price list—how would I know how much something sells for just by looking? It was my first time catching this bug. I'd only heard of it before, and we don't have them back home."

A-Guang hurriedly soothed him. "Right, we don't have them there, not knowing the price is normal. The same thing can fluctuate wildly in price in different places."

Zhou Da said, "Right, A-Dong probably didn't know the price either. Otherwise he wouldn't have left without picking them all up. There were still quite a lot on the beach at the time…"

Pei Father also frowned. "Wasn't it because it was getting dark yesterday, we all got on the boats, and we urged them, so they only left then?"

"Believe it or not, the whole beach was full of them. If you didn't catch them, whose fault is that? Do I have to share everything with you? If I pick up money, do I have to split it with you?"

"I was just asking. There were so many yesterday, it was a shame we didn't catch them. If you'd said they were valuable, everyone could've had a share, wouldn't have wasted them…"

"So you're blaming me for keeping all the profits? Rather waste them than tell you?"

Ye Father tugged at him. "Talk nicely. Just explain it, don't be so aggressive."

"No, Dad, Uncle Pei came over and didn't say anything else, hadn't even sat down, before saying I didn't warn them, didn't let them earn a share too."

"Isn't that just saying I did it on purpose? Am I that kind of person? Do I even care about this thousand-something yuan? Would I deliberately make everyone unhappy like this?"

Ye Yaodong was also annoyed. He couldn't be bothered to explain—better to fire back first.

Ye Ye Yaopeng quickly explained, "You guys misunderstood Dongzi. He sold out the hairtail and returned to the dock, where he ran into Captain Xu. Captain Xu gave him his stall. Dongzi casually asked, and the guy told him the price—only then did he know."

Before a few words could be spoken, they were already arguing. They wanted to help explain but couldn't get a word in.

Ye Ye Yaohua also quickly chimed in. The two brothers had tried several times to help explain but couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Right, we were all there at the time, a bunch of workers were there too, everyone heard. It was Captain Xu who reminded A-Dong of the price, otherwise he almost got ripped off."

The boatmen originally sitting outside heard the argument inside and crowded at the doorway, hurriedly testifying.

They thought they were just settling accounts inside, so they hadn't gone in. They didn't expect an argument to break out.

"If Captain Xu hadn't reminded us, and someone came over saying they'd buy for 0.1 yuan, how would our boss have known?"

"Exactly, if we'd known, we wouldn't have left without picking up every last one of those bugs."

A Guang glared at his father, then turned to Ye Yaodong and said, "Dongzi, my dad misunderstood you. Don't take it to heart. He just heard everyone talking about 1 jin for 6 mao, and was slapping his thigh in regret for missing out. He got a little anxious."

Ye Fu chimed in to smooth things over. "It's nothing, it's fine. Once it's explained, it's all good. Everyone saw what happened. Dongzi doesn't know everything either—he just got lucky."

"Our boss really has great fortune with money…"

"Right, if no one had reminded Dongzi, he almost would've suffered a big loss."

"It's nothing. Once it's explained, it's fine. Dongzi isn't that kind of person."

"Heh, it's no big deal. Next time we'll go try our luck again. Let's settle the accounts first, shall we?"

"Right, let's settle accounts first. Those cuttlefish yesterday should've sold for a good price…"

"Still, Adong has skill—got to know a boss, sweet-talked him into calling a few more friends over with just a few words, split up the goods, and got back early."

"Yeah, we were still selling until dawn this morning…"

Everyone chimed in one after another, chatting and laughing about other topics, letting the matter drop.

Ye Yaodong didn't so much as glance at Father Pei, going inside first to pull out yesterday's cargo list.

The accounts definitely had to be settled. Everyone had come, and they also needed to tally up the prices of the goods the fresh-fish buying boat had sold over these past 12 days.

Father Pei stood off to the side without a word. A Guang also told his father to just listen, and that he'd handle the accounting himself.

Father Pei was also feeling very sullen. He didn't think there was anything wrong with asking a question. If there was a doubt, and money was involved, couldn't he ask to get a clear answer?

If there was something going on, wouldn't it be fine to just explain? How could Ye Yaodong still lose his temper?

It left him, at his age, awkwardly unable to get off the stage.

He still owed their family money, and they were still in-laws—talking like that was just too disrespectful…

Once Ye Yaodong started tallying the accounts, his temper was reined back in.

He also seriously presented yesterday's cargo list to them, letting them verify the math, while he went to hand out the settled payments one by one.

Once there were no issues, they could count the money directly and clear this cargo list.

Then they'd settle the accounts for the fresh-fish buying boat's sales over those 12 days at sea.

A Guang handled the accounting throughout.

Once everything was tallied and no one had any issues, Ye Yaodong had everyone take a share of the basket of shellfish he'd dug up yesterday to add to their meals. Everyone went home happy.

A Guang also took the settled money and had his father take it back first, while he stayed behind.

"Dongzi, don't take it to heart. My dad just says whatever's on his mind."

"How about you swap with your dad? You go out to sea, and your dad stays on shore?"

"Alright, I'll bring it up with him later and switch things around. He's getting on in years; working at sea for so long nonstop is too much for him."

"Mm, should I pay you back part of the money first?"

He figured Father Pei might have a knot in his stomach about lending out over 30,000 yuan.

That wasn't a few hundred yuan—30,000 yuan was an astronomical figure for an ordinary person.

It would be normal to feel unhappy about it.

"What's the rush? I'm not in any urgent need for money. Just hold onto it for now. No one's asking you to pay it back, and I actually feel safer with you holding it. Do you need anything else? If you do, I can lend you a bit more."

"I'm worried your dad has a knot in his stomach—tens of thousands of yuan taken by me. That's tens of thousands, not a few hundred."

"He won't. Go ahead and use it. Do you think I'd worry you can't pay me back?"