Chapter 1289: Another Grand Undertaking

Li Shouquan walked out from inside with Ye Yaodong, all smiles.

"This looks pretty formal, huh? They even issue membership certificates? It looks pretty legit? Not bad at all. I was nervous coming here, wondering what it'd be like? Didn't expect it to be decent."

"It's alright for now. Once individuals get things going, and once it starts looking proper, the government will have to dip a toe in, and that's when it'll have real authority."

When that time comes, it won't be some small organization — it might just turn into a great merchant guild.

"The government would actually get involved in a little outfit like ours?"

"Don't underestimate it. Later on, if they want to manage the docks properly, they might just have to rely on these little civilian groups."

"That's true. I heard the docks are full of all sorts of small groups, or small gangs."

"Alright, nothing else. You can head out to sea. Remember to come back in a week, after dinner, for a little meeting. Get to know more people while you're at it — all folks from the same hometown. Build some connections. Once everyone's familiar, you can all help each other out with anything that comes up."

"Got it, thanks. We'll be off then. Also, we've got eight boats. We're heading out now. You'll need to come by tomorrow evening to pick up one load, and then again every day and a half to two days — one pickup each time — otherwise the cargo'll pile up on deck."

"No problem."

"Then here's to a pleasant partnership."

Ye Yaodong laughed and exchanged a few pleasantries with him, then the two went their separate ways.

After he got back, he went to find the old landlord lady again, pulled the elderly woman into casual chat, and asked around about the house again. The old landlord lady cheerfully said she'd ask around some more for him.

He was idle anyway, and it was almost mealtime — not a good time to go out — so he just kept the old woman company chatting.

Listening to the old woman tell tales of the old days, of how the port city used to look and all its strange stories.

Sometimes the old woman's stories were quite interesting — a chance to hear about the era before he was born.

The old woman was happy telling them, and he listened with great interest, which pleased her even more.

By the afternoon, he headed off to the shipyard again — not just to check on the progress of his own cargo boat, but also to learn more about the other steel fishing boats.

The connections he'd built now were enough to support his fresh-fish pickup boat going out to collect goods every day.

Out at sea, aside from what Father Pei had stirred up, there was nothing else to worry about.

That wasn't even a real issue. Father Pei still had to lie in bed for two days to recover, which actually let him ride out the awkward period and save a little face.

The interest-free loan couldn't be rushed either. He had to first hear back about the house, and as for land, he'd already set his eye on a small plot.

Not far from the docks, and not far from here either — about two or three mu.

That patch looked like it had originally been wasteland. Being close to the docks, nothing could be grown there, and now it was piled high with household garbage from residents and rubbish from the docks.

Sure, you could call it a garbage heap, but who cares — it's close to the docks!

So it never got planned for development. Once it does get developed, what'll become of the little garbage heap?

Leave it alone, do nothing, and the land here will naturally grow more valuable over time.

Besides, he figured he could just build a row of rental houses right here — even better money.

Or set up a little market. The foot traffic and vendors at the docks were too concentrated — that was all business opportunity.

But he didn't have the capital right now, and he wasn't staying here long-term. Even if he bought it, he could only leave it sitting there for now.

He'd heard from the laymen earlier that the government was planning to tidy things up and build a trading market — he didn't know how that was going.

He'd already mentioned wanting to buy that plot a couple days ago. Now he was waiting for them to assess it and then name a price.

He didn't know what they'd say, or how much they'd ask. He planned to wait a couple more days before asking again — if he was too eager, what if they tried to fleece him?

He'd spotted that it was a garbage heap, the plot wasn't big, and the price definitely couldn't be high right now — the whole area was nothing but ruins.

When he went to talk to them, he also showed his certificate as Vice President of the Wenshi Fisheries Association. Everyone's attitude was pretty good, and he figured it shouldn't be a problem.

After all, it was just sitting there, and it was a garbage heap. He'd also told them he wanted to use that land to do something, to help build up the port city better.

Whatever sounded nicest, that's what he said — first get them feeling pleased, get him to sell the land to him.

That way he could use it to get a loan. Either way, he'd have the land. Worst case, he'd hire a few people to clear away that pile of garbage.

There's always a way — people figure them out.

His family was well-off now, but that didn't mean he had cash on hand. An interest-free loan was still worth grabbing if he could. He'd definitely pay it back. If he could get a boat for free, he absolutely couldn't pass it up.

Then, using the excuse that both the house and the land were mortgaged to the authorities, no one would dare encroach. That garbage heap wouldn't have anyone trying to take it either. It was a win-win — everything was his.

Over the past few days, Ye Yaodong had been running around everywhere, not letting himself sit idle. What needed arranging, he'd arranged; what needed looking into, he'd looked into. Now all he had to do was wait for news.

The night before going out to sea to collect dried shrimp, he went to find those few Wenzhou merchants again and asked if they wanted goods the next day. They all thought it over and put in small orders.

Along with that, several thousand jin of fresh dried shrimp were also pre-ordered. Not a lot, but not bad either.

This dried kind kept longer and was more popular.

Since on this trip he had to collect not just dried shrimp but also haul in the cargo from several of Dongsheng's boats, they set off at night instead of waiting for daytime like usual.

Ye Yaodong also briefed the boatmen in advance — this time they'd have to make two pickup runs before they could rest.

No one objected. Their crew had it pretty easy — about twenty people took turns boarding Dongsheng, and the rest, aside from gutting fish at home, took turns going out to sea on the fresh-fish pickup boat.

Compared to other fishing boats, it was downright comfortable. What complaint could there possibly be?

After Ye Yaodong had sailed a stretch, he tried calling his father. The dried shrimp side could be done in the afternoon — his father's cargo should be weighed first.

Once he got on a channel, Ye Fu hurriedly asked, "Dongzi, what's going on with the in-laws? Ah, we've been worried sick. If you hadn't come out today, we'd probably have gone back during the day too."

His older brother and Zhou Li Laoer were also hurriedly asking similar questions.

Ye Yaodong said calmly, "What's the rush? He's a grown man with a mind of his own. It's not like some disaster struck and cut him off."

"You all saw he steered the boat back on his own. What could possibly be wrong? If the boat had a problem, could he have made it back?"

"If the boat was fine and something was up, wouldn't he have pulled over to find you? It's plain as day — he just left on his own, deliberately ignoring you."

The others on the channel were puzzled and surprised, and quickly chimed in to ask.

"What's he doing?"

"Did something happen? Why suddenly like this?"

"He was fine — why? Did he go back that day? Is he home now?"

Ye Yaodong told them the whole story from start to finish.

"He's probably lying at home right now, feeling just as awkward, too embarrassed to show his face. He shouldn't be heading out to sea for a few days. If he has any pride left, he'll let Ah Guang take over from now on."

After hearing the reason, everyone fell silent for three seconds.

Then Ye's father said, "Sigh, why are there so many hidden agendas? You've already taken care of everyone enough. The fresh-fish collection boats at the dock are currently dumping their catch because of the peak season; the fish, especially hairtail, are being sold at a 40% discount, and most other goods are around a 50% discount."

Ye Ye Yaopeng also said, "You've been so generous, yet he still wants to raise the price. He's too greedy and completely out of line."

Ye's father added, "I noticed the day before yesterday that he silently took his boat and left directly. I still don't know what happened."

"When we noticed, we immediately tried to contact him urgently, but there was no response at all; we couldn't reach him."

"We wanted to chase after him with our boat, but our fishing nets were still in the sea. By the time we hauled the nets up, he had already sailed away without a trace."

Zhou Li Laoer chimed in as well, "Yes, everyone was frantic at the time. We chased but he vanished, and when we contacted him, he didn't reply. Everyone guessed he must have had some sudden emergency and rushed back."

Ye Ye Yaopeng said, "He had just finished collecting the goods the day before. Logically, he shouldn't have gone back that day. It turns out he held off until the second day when the hold was full before returning."

Ye's father added, "No one thought much of it. No one knew he had his own little schemes. Then you didn't manage him, you collected his goods, and he could only go back himself. What kind of situation is this..."

Everyone talked back and forth, saying quite a bit.

"So what do we do now? Are we just going to ignore that boat? The Fengshou Hao also has Dongzi's thirty percent share..."

Hearing Ye Ye Yaopeng's words, Ye's father's mind sparked. "Does this in-law think you earn too much and is unhappy that the Fengshou Hao still holds your thirty percent share? Is it that collecting goods at sea and taking away thirty percent is one thing, but now the fishing boat itself must also split another thirty percent from what remains for you?"

Ye Yaodong said, "That might be part of the reason too. He thinks I have so many boats, yet the Fengshou Hao still occupies thirty percent. Taking away so much from the catch at sea is one thing, but having to split the remainder with me again makes him feel like he's working himself to death just for me, right?"

"Sigh... this partnership existed from the very beginning. How can you just do this because you see me making money..."

"Exactly. Seeing that the Fengshou Hao has already recovered its costs, I'm still continuously taking away money, while they only get two or three tenths. They probably haven't been happy in their hearts for a long time, right?"

Ye Ye Yaopeng said, "But at that time, it was them who came to find you..."

"That was then. Now that the money has increased, things have changed. Forget it, don't worry about him. Anyway, the awkward one isn't me. In a few days, the boat will likely be handed over to Ah Guang."

Maybe once Ah Guang uses the interest-free loan to get another boat, they will simply give up this one for rent. They won't work hard themselves anymore; they'll just wait for the dividends.

The newly acquired interest-free loan fishing boat will belong completely to their Pei family.

The Fengshou Hao has had his share from the very beginning. Why should he withdraw and give it away cheaply just because someone is disgusted with him?

Why should he give away the money he earns?

Even if he really had to cash out all his shares, it wouldn't be now. Why would he make a loss-making deal? He hasn't done anything wrong.

If they are jealous of how much he earns, they can only endure it. Who else has his channels?

When the Fengshou Hao is rented out and not placed in anyone's hands, they will probably feel happy, getting money without doing any work.

By that time, there would be even less point in selling. Keeping it to earn dividends, why would he sell his shares? Who ever complains about having too much money?

Anyway, in one sentence, he is not wrong.

He has also done his utmost.

No matter who speaks, he can find no fault; they can only give him a thumbs up and praise him.

Ye's father was still sighing deeply there, "This was such a good situation turned into this. How awkward will it be in the future?"

"Why are you embarrassed? As long as he isn't embarrassed, it's fine."

"I think after this wave, once you've collected the goods, we'll stay at sea for another two days. Once the hold is full, we'll dock and return. Since we are in-laws, if he falls ill, I must go visit him. I'll say a few words then, and everything will be fine."

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes in the cockpit. If his father faced off against Pei's father, he really wouldn't measure up.

"They are all brothers..."

"They are all friends..."

"They are all relatives..."

"They are all from the same village..."

"They are all outsiders..."

"They all need human warmth."

But his father's approach does indeed make more people feel at ease and trust him more.

"Do as you please. Just consider it a return trip to rest. We've been out for a few days already."

"That's what I was thinking too."

All the way, while steering, Ye Yaodong chatted with them, talked about the recent situation at the dock, and told them that everything at home was fine, so they could feel more at ease while at sea.

Receiving messages at sea is inconvenient, so only he can bring news from the shore to everyone, allowing them to fish more peacefully on the sea without any worries behind them.

This is something other fishing boats cannot compare to.

A sense of security is also something other fresh-fish collection boats cannot provide.

When Ye Yaodong found their boat to collect the goods, Ye's father suddenly remembered to ask.

"That's not right. Why did you come out to collect goods in the middle of the night? Isn't it usually during the day? Then after collecting the goods, you'd dock at dusk to sell them."

"A few people I know, their fishing boats catch shrimp paste, and they also have me collect their goods..."

"What kind of people are they? Asking you to collect goods just after meeting? Isn't that unsafe? You should inquire more, ask around. Don't think they are just handing over money..."

"I have my own judgment. I know more on the shore than you do. Rest assured."

"There's no such thing as a free pie falling from the sky..."

Ye Yaodong explained to his father, and his father felt a bit more relieved, but he still repeatedly urged him to be extra careful.

"Or, next time you come out, come find me first. I'll go collect the goods for you?"

"Don't worry about it; nothing will happen. They don't know you. What goods would you go collect? Don't scare them half to death, and end up losing yourself. They only recognize me."

"Oh, alright then. When we meet more on the shore in the future, getting to know each other should be fine."

Ye Yaodong casually agreed. After moving all the goods on the boat away, he immediately went to collect from the next boat.

There are only three boats in total, so the speed will be faster.

However, seeing that there was still space left on the boat after collecting the goods, returning like this wouldn't be a waste, but if he came back next time and couldn't finish collecting Li Shouquan and the others' goods, he would have to make another trip, which would be a waste of fuel money.

So after collecting the goods, he tried calling Li Shouquan on the VHF channel again. Once contact was made, he went over first to collect the goods from their two boats.

Good lord, before he even got close, he saw the whole deck covered in a pale white with a hint of light pink — that was the color of dried shrimp.

Around them, a bunch of workers squatted there sorting through other catches, while others kept scooping up dried shrimp with dustpans and dumping them into baskets.

"Dong-ge, we can eat stir-fried celery with dried shrimp tonight."

"Sure, and then soak a bowl of dried shrimp in soy sauce as soup."

"No ambition. We should eat dried shrimp and winter melon soup, and add some clams — even fresher!"

"Stop talking, you're making me hungry."

"When the dried shrimp gets sent to the factory, can we grab a handful of dried shrimp to take back? We'll pair it with dried shrimp tonight."

"I also want to eat dried shrimp dipped in rice wine with rice."

Ye Yaodong smiled as he watched them one by one. "Fine, with so much dried shrimp, I'll let you eat your fill."

His fishing boat had already docked not far away; he had notified Li Shouquan in advance, just waiting for them to haul in their nets, then he'd pull over.

At that moment, the fishing boat over there was also sorting the catch while steering toward him, and the workers on that boat were curiously watching them.

Ye Yaodong watched for a good while, saw that none of them had weapons in their hands, then felt reassured enough to let the two boats pull up side by side.

After exchanging greetings, he had them carry the goods over to be weighed. Li Shouquan also climbed over to watch the bookkeeping.

He trusted Ye Yaodong, but Ye Yaodong didn't trust him that much, so when coming over, he had already said to let the other party come onto his boat to check the scale.

Normally, for fishing boats from his own village, he'd send everyone over to help, carrying the goods together from the fish hold, organizing them, then bringing them over to be weighed.

Anyway, his whole boat's workers were idle during the trip out, not doing anything else.

This was the first time working with Li Shouquan, so being cautious couldn't be wrong.

Ye Yaodong lit him a cigarette, and the two of them huddled together chatting while watching the others carry goods and weigh them, recording the weights.

"Brother, your haul is great. I'm even thinking of modifying my fishing boat — no more hairtail, just catch dried shrimp."

"Hairtail is worth money. My whole boat's dried shrimp is probably only around 30,000 jin at most, plus a few thousand jin of fish and shrimp on top. The dried shrimp is surface-layer, so it's hard to catch much fish. It's just that everyone back home says dried shrimp makes money, so everyone came for dried shrimp and didn't change plans on the fly."

"Then dried shrimp is still better, easier to sell."

"You're the one who tells it like it is, doesn't lie through your teeth to make a sale, saying it's hard to sell. The last guy didn't run into me — if he had, I'd have smashed his mouth in."

"Heh, give the other fishing boats a heads-up for me, tell them not to rush. My boat already took on our own family's goods, no more room, so I can only head back first and come back next trip to collect, probably in the afternoon."

"No problem, just contact them on the channel when the time comes."

"Good."

After Ye Yaodong waited for all the goods to be weighed smoothly, he asked them and learned they didn't need ice or diesel for now, so he paid cash on the spot and headed straight back.

For boats that weren't their own, they definitely had to settle in cash on the spot — when they used to do trawling back home, it was the same way.

With their own villagers who couldn't run off, they'd just keep a tally and settle accounts at home. Normal fresh-catch boats had to be paid upfront, so this wasn't guaranteed profit either — natural disasters and human misfortune meant the risk of loss was also big.

After the two boats separated, the deckhands kept telling him this trip was reliable.

"Sure enough, outsiders' money is easier to earn — whatever you say is what it is. With our own people, you still have to save face, and there's all this back-and-forth."

"Exactly."

Ye Yaodong also said, "Earning outsiders' money comes with a clear conscience — it's mutual consent. As long as you settle things upfront, there won't be any big problems."

"Heh, we've got plenty of goods to collect now, we don't even need to take his. Let him stew."

"Are you stupid? Fengshou Hao still has Ah-Dong's thirty percent stake — Fengshou Hao's losses are his losses too."

"That's true too. Then going back and talking about it could piss him off to death…"

"No need to say it in front of him either. Just chatting among ourselves will get back to his ears — say that after losing one boat, the boss ran into eight dried-shrimp boats, and they were all willing to sell to us at half price."

"Hahaha… he'd probably cough up blood and have to lie down for two more days."

Ye Yaodong listened to them all gleefully chatting with clear sides taken, so he didn't bother with them.

Anyway, it was just talk for laughs, joking around for fun. But after going back, what others needed to know would definitely reach them — with so many people, what secrets could there be? Plenty of busybodies.

As for whether he'd also be pissed off enough to lie down for two more days, he couldn't guarantee that.

His boat's cargo, plus the two boats' cargo just collected from Li Shouquan, was about enough to split among a few fish dealers in Wenzhou. The dried shrimp and hairtail could all be sent straight to the processing plant — very convenient.

After finishing with this boat's cargo, he took everyone to a local stir-fry joint for a big meal, celebrating that the fresh-catch boat could now earn money every day from here on, and his income would immediately double.

After everyone ate until their mouths were greasy, they set out to sea again, and it was already afternoon.

Ye Yaodong also saw with his own eyes, after night fell, the scene of these small dried shrimp floating on the water surface to feed — truly a marvel unique to each stretch of sea.

It was all the same fishing ground; this whole surrounding area had plenty of dried-shrimp boats, all gathering spots for the dried-shrimp Fishing season.

Looking out, within naked-eye sight there were lights from a dozen or twenty boats flickering, scattered in every direction across the sea.

Some fishing boats used trawl nets, some used seine nets, some used gill nets, some used floating trawl nets — all sorts of methods.

But likewise, every method brought in huge hauls.

After two round trips, he saw it clearly — when these dried shrimp nets were hauled up, they really were stuffed full, a few thousand jin per net bag.

The mesh of the nets everyone used was especially small, because dried shrimp were small too, but you couldn't really call them extermination nets.

These nets only fished the surface layer — they were targeted, unlike extermination nets that trawl the bottom and scoop up everything.

They went through the few partner fishing boats one by one, then stopped on the sea surface, waiting for the next boat to haul in its net.

Standing on the wheelhouse, he could still see the deckhands below excitedly holding dip nets, leaning over the gunwale, half their bodies hanging out of the boat scooping up dried shrimp.

Each of them was excitedly scooping nonstop, and the bamboo baskets were already filled with two or three of them, some even eating while they scooped.

These were the spoils they'd scooped up during idle time while waiting for the few boats to haul in their catch — quite a haul too.

"Fresh-caught and fresh-eaten — eating them while they're still jumping around makes them taste even sweeter."

"So easy to scoop up, you could earn money with your eyes closed."

"Looks like we need to work hard and earn more money, buy a boat next year, follow the boss over here — even just sipping a bit of soup would be enough to get rich."

"Who says it isn't? No wonder so many fishing boats gathered here — the goods here really are plentiful."

"Next year, even if we have to sell everything we've got, we have to buy a boat."

Ye Yaodong stood on the wheelhouse, listening to the lively chatter below, thinking that since everyone had such plans, his cargo ship probably wouldn't need to go out fishing next year and could be used directly as a fresh catch collector.

Collecting the catch from all the boatmen...

Anyway, after the retrofit, all the necessary trawling equipment would be there, along with fish holds and cold storage; the ship was already large with more space, so using it as a fresh catch collector to gather all the dried shrimp wouldn't require any changes, and it would suffice for the time being.

These were people who had accumulated wealth by working for him; if they truly came with him next year, their catch would definitely be collected by him, and regardless of whether others learned to collect catch from him, they would absolutely be given priority.

Just thinking about it was simply perfect...

Or, using the money obtained through interest-free loans to commission a fresh catch collector directly would be even more profitable.

Even more straightforward, both ships could be used to collect everyone's catch, after all, he had quite a few boatmen.

Even more ruthlessly, if the boatmen wanting to get fishing boats didn't have enough funds on hand, he could invest and support half of it.

This system seemed to have already been cultivated for him...

In this way, the twenty or so people he brought out this year could manage twenty boats...

Each boat would have half his share, and since he would also take half of the remaining profit after the fresh catch collector's cut, it meant these people could only earn 25%.

Moreover, all the catch would have to pass through his hands, so no one could fake anything.

Boat King Dong was really going to become Capital Dong!

Ye Yaodong suddenly felt a surge of excitement just thinking about it; why hadn't his mind moved so fast before!

Looking at the boatmen below, his eyes sparkled as if seeing money; these people now looked like his wealth.

And by putting up half the money to support them in buying boats and letting them work with him, he was also helping them and leading the collective to prosperity!

It was also a huge benefit for them; it's good to seek shade under a big tree, and he now knew quite a few people.

The cold wind made his mind even clearer, and he thought again of that piece of trash land he wanted to buy; perhaps he could directly build a dormitory block there to settle the whole village, or even neighboring villages!

Holy crap!

His mind suddenly became even more active, and just thinking about it made him excited.

These people were his wealth.

Ye Yaodong touched the drool suddenly dripping from the corner of his mouth; he didn't know when his mouth had been split open there, grinning foolishly.

He slapped the railing, "Do it! We must do it!"

"First get that piece of land, then secure the interest-free loan, and we'll start as soon as we return tomorrow."

Li Shouquan's boat only had about 30,000 jin of catch, so actually there was no need to come every day and a half; every two or three days would do.

It was just because they had so many fishing boats, and the fresh catch collector had limited capacity for receiving and storing goods, with limited Load-bearing capacity; going through all their fishing boats once would be enough for a single return trip.

So, that was why Li Shouquan had said he had to come out every day to collect their catch.

His catch would be bought by the factory anyway, and this dried shrimp didn't need to be displayed at the dock like other fresh catch collectors; it could be sent directly to the factory, saving a lot of time.

He could completely make two or three round trips on the same day, collecting the catch from several boats.

Ye Yaodong calculated the time in his mind, planning to take advantage of the fact that he was not far from Li Shouquan now to discuss with him coming back and forth for the next two or three days to collect all their catch.

In this way, he would have two days tomorrow and the day after to handle the land matters.