Chapter 1302: Calculating Wages

Ye Yaodong held the phone, listening with a face full of smiles.

From the other end of the line came Ye Xiaoxi's anxious questioning: "Is it my daddy? Is it my daddy? Can you give it to me? Can you give it to me?"

Lin Xiuqing, being tugged at her clothes by her, had no choice but to bend down and press the phone tightly against her ear.

"You're my daddy, right?"

"Duh, can't you even recognize my voice?"

"I can't. Daddy, when are you coming back? Grandpa said yesterday you'd be back in a few days. How many days is a few days?"

"A few days is a few days. The time isn't set yet. Once it's confirmed, I'll call back and tell you."

"Then don't forget to buy me gifts, buy me yummy things, fun things, and cards, hair clips, hair ties, and hair flowers—I want them all."

"You're asking for quite a lot."

"You promised, you can't go back on your word."

"Your memory is pretty good, huh?"

These were all things he had mentioned in passing to coax her whenever he called home to report that he was safe. He hadn't expected her to remember every single one; she rattled them off in a long string.

She probably couldn't even think of what they had at home right now, but she remembered these things she hadn't even gotten her hands on perfectly, not missing a single one.

"Of course! Grown-ups have to keep their word; you can't lie to children."

"Alright, alright, alright, I know, you're such a nag. You're the only one with so many demands; your two brothers didn't say anything."

"My brothers went to school. They said at home—they told me to tell you they want a volleyball, a ping-pong ball, a badminton racket... and lots and lots of little people cards, and lots and lots of yummy things, they want instant noodles, soda, sponge cake..."

Ye Xiaoxi recited a huge list, then took a big breath and continued reciting...

Ye Yaodong laughed and scolded, "You didn't get my call, so they turned you into their messenger."

"Yeah, my brother gave me two cents to make sure I remembered."

"Hahaha..."

Lin Xiuqing also smiled and patted her head, taking the phone away from her ear.

"Before, the two older brothers were always tricking money out of her hands to buy candy. When her pockets were empty, she'd go find Grandma, and I hadn't even noticed."

"Later, there was one time she came running back crying, saying her brothers bought candy but didn't come back, saying her brothers had disappeared, and that's how I found out."

"The two big ones coaxed the two cents I gave her out of her pocket, bought candy for themselves, and then ran off to play. She was just standing there waiting like a fool."

"Now she knows to keep her money clutched tight, not giving them a single cent, and she can even demand money from them."

Lin Xiuqing said with a laugh, "She said she'd only help pass the message to you if you gave her money."

Ye Yaodong kept laughing, "Smart, my daughter is just smart. Those two boys need a beating; they hide the money in their own piggy banks tight, not willing to spend a cent, yet they still want to trick it out of their little sister."

"You already called me once before. Daddy, what kind of Chamber of Commerce are you setting up out there? I didn't get a chance to call back yesterday."

"I'll tell you when I get back. It's hard to explain clearly in a few words over the phone. Anyway, it's a good thing, and it can make money."

"It's the Winter Solstice today, you didn't go out to sea, right?"

"No, there's a heavy snowstorm here. But maybe because of the heavy snow, there's no wind today. I'll check tonight; if there's no wind, we have to go out to sea. The wind a few days ago was so strong you couldn't even walk outside, and if you did, you couldn't even open your eyes."

"It must be very cold up there, right? It's a good thing I had your friend help bring over the cotton-padded jacket and scarf last time..."

The couple chatted on and on over the phone for quite a while, not caring about the phone bill at all. Ye Xiaoxi waited for a long time, just felt bored, and ran to the doorway to squat.

Hearing Secretary Chen teasing her, asking if she had asked her daddy how long he planned to live?

Ye Xiaoxi suddenly reacted, "Oh no..."

She still had an important thing she hadn't said!

She immediately stood up and ran back inside.

"Mom, give it to me, give it to me, I still have to talk to Daddy."

She tugged at the hem of Lin Xiuqing's cotton-padded jacket.

"What else do you have left to say?"

"There's more, there's more, give it to me..."

Lin Xiuqing had no choice but to press the phone to her ear.

"Daddy..."

Ye Yaodong asked with a smile: "What else do you want? I'll buy it all for you, okay?"

"Buy it for me until I'm 100 years old, okay?"

The corners of his mouth turned up, and he said dotingly, "Okay..."

"Then Daddy, can you live a few years less, and let Mom live a few years more?"

"Huh? Say that again!"

The smile on Ye Yaodong's face vanished, and his voice rose, "Do you still want those snacks and toys?"

How cute was she just a moment ago?

How did she suddenly start leaking air?

"You said you'd buy things for me until I'm 100. I want to live to 100, but Mom won't live to 100, so you give a little bit to her, you just live a little less, you don't need to live that long..."

Lin Xiuqing heard her talking in circles and was laughing to the point of tears. She took the phone from her hand and hurriedly explained to Ye Yaodong, who was about to explode on the other end.

Ye Yaodong cursed a few times on the other end, "Both of us will live to be a hundred. I'm still waiting for her to buy me pig's trotters to eat."

"Then don't be stingy in the future."

"Forget it then, I'll buy my own pig's trotters to eat, and just raise her at home to support me in my old age..."

"Isn't having two sons to support you enough..."

"Sons won't buy me clothes, shoes, or food. Other than spending my money, they're useless..."

The couple complained about their sons and daughter on the phone, and Lin Xiuqing's face was always filled with a smile.

The two talked for half an hour, then Ye Xiaoxi fell down while playing outside and started crying. Lin Xiuqing reluctantly hung up the phone and took the child back to apply oil.

After paying the phone bill, Ye Yaodong wrapped his scarf tight, put on his gloves, and stepped lightly into the snow.

Today is the Winter Solstice, and they have to eat Tang Yuan tonight. He had already bought the glutinous rice flour yesterday. He planned to check if there were any shellfish to buy a little, and later he also planned to go to the pier to buy some fish and shrimp to cook savory Tang Yuan tonight.

Their group of grown men, not one of them knew how to wrap rice dumplings, so they all followed the local custom and ate Tang Yuan.

By the time he came back carrying a net bag of shellfish, snails, and shrimp, with several fish tied to the straw rope in his hand, the noise inside the house was deafening.

"Hey, hey, hey, gambling raid!"

The sound stopped instantly, and everyone looked at the door in unison. After having the experience a few times, now no one would try to crawl under the table.

When Ye Yaodong shouted the first time, everyone would instinctively react by trying to crawl under the table or run away everywhere.

"Oh my god, you scared me to death..."

Ye Yaodong opened the door to ventilate. The room was filled with smoke, and if you didn't know better, you'd think it was on fire.

He put the seafood he bought on the stove, "What time is it? You haven't finished yet? Hurry up and finish so we can cook. Look at the mess you've made of the room; if I didn't know better, I'd think you were cultivating immortality in here. Open the windows to ventilate."

"Oh, it's past 4?"

"Then it's over, it's over..."

Everyone said noisily, and then each of them collected the money on the table and counted it, calculating who won the most.

Ye Yaodong let the workers arrange the cooking and walked into the room with his father to talk.

"I just went to the pier to take a look, there's still a bit of wind, but it's not that big. We should be able to go out to sea tonight. Are you taking the workers out tonight?"

"That's fine, we've rested for so many days anyway."

"It's just right to have a good meal tonight."

Ye's father glared at him and said unhappily, "What kind of talk is that? Go out and arrange the people later, take a look, and see whose turn it is to go out to sea."

"Hmm, I reckon this counts as our last trip out to sea. Once we get back, we have to prepare to go home."

"That's just right, make one last wave of money to pay everyone's wages. I reckon it's just about the end of the month, or the beginning of the month."

"About the same, and it's just right to calculate the dividends for the several boats one last time. Once the accounts are clear, we'll rest and find a good day to go back."

"Let's do it that way. Have you counted how much money we've made in the last half year?"

"It's all recorded in the notebook. Why count it now? Just knowing a rough amount is enough."

"Then roughly how much?" Ye's father really wanted to know; he asked several times every month.

Ye Yaodong always chose to answer selectively.

"It'll be enough to account for when we get back."

"You're still hiding things from me, you're really a ghost. I can figure it out if I calculate it..."

"You'd better prepare the things you need to bring on the boat first."

"You didn't say so earlier, it's almost dark. I'll go refuel and add ice now, prepare in advance."

"I'll go. You organize the things at home that need to be brought on the boat, and go tell the other boats too."

"That's fine too."

The father and son went their separate ways to get busy.

When Ye Yaodong went to refuel and add ice, he saw that many people were also queuing there, and many fishing boats had already left the port, which made him feel much more at ease.

If others could go, then they could go too.

By the time he finished and went back, it was already pitch black, and everyone was waiting for him to start the meal.

More than 20 people were divided into two groups, one group ate on his side, and one group arranged it themselves in another rented house.

He took off his hat, dusted off the snow that had fallen on it, and then entered the house.

"Start eating, start eating, I'm starving."

"Everyone's here, let's start eating..."

"First, everyone have a bowl of Tang Yuan, it's the Winter Solstice today..."

A small bowl of Tang Yuan was also served in front of Ye Yaodong. It was savory, with cabbage, shredded meat, shrimp, clams, oysters, and pork liver—the ingredients were plentiful.

He ate a bowl with a face full of satisfaction. It was only on the Winter Solstice that they might eat Tang Yuan once a year. The others also wolfed it down before eating the other dishes on the table.

The dishes at night were of course better than those during the day. After the Winter Solstice, the table was full of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and everyone was eating until their mouths were oily.

Some people even joked that it was the last meal, no wonder the food was so good today, they had to eat more.

Ye Yaodong said with a smile, "This counts as the last big meal here. When we get home, I'll set up two tables and invite everyone to have another good meal."

"Good!"

"We're going out to sea tonight. After we come back, I'll calculate the wages for these few months for everyone. The last time was paid up to August, and the first month here was settled for everyone."

"There are still 4 months unpaid. I'll calculate it up to before New Year's Day first. It's not certain what day the weather will be good to go back, so we can also make up the remaining few days after we go back."

Everyone cheered. They would soon have wages to collect, and they could go back to have a prosperous New Year.

Ye Yaodong's words also pushed the atmosphere of the dinner table to a climax. Everyone was very excited, eating and drinking well at night, about to get a lot of money, and soon they could go home.

If they weren't going out to sea at night, they would all be drunk.

After their big boat went out to sea at night, the trawlers in their village also followed out to sea in the early morning.

The sky was kind; he didn't expect the sun to come out the next day. After half a month, there was finally a day with sunshine.

Early in the morning, while he was still in his dreams, he heard the noise outside. He opened one eye and closed the other to wake up and look out the window, feeling that it was exceptionally bright outside, and light was shining through the cracks of the back door.

He rubbed his eyes, stuffed his clothes and pants into the quilt to warm them up, and pulled the quilt higher, wrapping it up to his chin.

He even tucked the quilt from both sides underneath his butt, wrapping himself into a silkworm chrysalis.

"Stretch out your hand, it's damn cold."

He also tucked his head in by the way.

After lying there for a while and hearing the scolding of the women outside, he endured the freezing cold to put on his clothes and pants. When he was putting them on, his whole body was shaking like a sieve.

He went out to eat and found that there wasn't even a stool. There was no one in the main room, and the other room was also empty.

He opened the door and went out, only to see that the doorway was full of people, and quilts were hung everywhere—they were all sunbathing, and there was already a pile of melon seed shells on the ground.

He opened the door, took a look, and hurriedly closed it. It was still warmer inside the house.

After filling a bowl of porridge and pickled mustard, he carried it out and squatted at the door to eat with everyone while sunbathing.

"I haven't seen the sun for half a month, people are almost getting moldy. Finally, there's sun today."

"Dong-ge, can we get an advance on our wages? We want to go out and stroll around later, buy some things to take back?"

"Did you lose it all gambling yesterday?"

"Hehe..."

Chen Shi said, "No... it's, he he goes to the alley every day every day..."

"Doesn't this require some hush money?"

Chen Guodong glared at Chen Shi, "Can you not be a stutterer, be a mute?"

"Wait until I go back, I'll tell your... mom."

"Just right, tell me to hand over the wages to her, and let her find me a wife."

Ye Yaodong said, "I'll give it to you later."

"I... I don't need it, I... won money."

"Bet bet bet bet... you bet and won it all, damn it."

"You your mom mom mom..."

"I don't have that many moms!"

"You you go out, call call mom mom mom, so many moms..."

Ye Yaodong listened to them scolding each other on the side and was happy. He almost couldn't eat his meal and had to move to the side.

Listening to Chen Shi talk was really enough to piss someone off. He was a stutterer, and he wanted to strangle him.

After he finished eating, he also gave Chen Guodong 50 yuan as an advance.

He also went back to his room to count 1,000 yuan to keep on him. He planned to take advantage of everyone going out to sea and there being no one around to buy the gold first.

1,000 yuan was definitely not enough to buy for the whole family, but he didn't dare to carry too much, so he planned to buy it in batches over the next few days.

Other miscellaneous snacks, specialties, and toys would be bought after New Year's Day in a few days, so they wouldn't be kept for too long.

When he went out, the boys at the door had long since run away, so he had to go to the other rented house to call two people over.

Who knew they had also run away? He could only sit at the door and sunbathe for a while, waiting for someone to come back and take over his shift of watching the door.

This wait lasted until mealtime. When they came back, they were scolded by him.

Ye Yaodong spent a week and spent more than 6,000 to buy gold for the whole family.

For Grandma, his mother, and Ah Qing, he bought each of them a gold necklace, a gold bracelet, a pair of gold earrings, and two gold rings.

Of course, he also bought for his father. The weight he bought for his father was the largest. The weight for each of the three women was about 30 grams, but he bought 40 grams for his father, just for the necklace, bracelet, and ring, which was enough to give him face.

For the three children at home, he also bought each of them a silver plaque of Taishang Laojun and a silver necklace to bless them to grow up safe and healthy.

And for Ye Xiaoxi, he also bought a pair of silver bracelets separately.

He didn't buy for the other nephews and nieces. Anyway, their own fathers were all here, so they would naturally arrange it, and he didn't need to bring it.

He just needed to buy more snacks and specialties to take back when the time came, so his mother could distribute them to relatives everywhere and give her face.

And during this week, he also went out to collect goods every other day. It wasn't that every day was good weather, and the wind and waves at sea were also big, but they were barely bearable.

Those small trawlers were not necessarily the case; they rested for one day after going out for one day.

They were also happy and free, going out to stroll around every day, buying a pile of things back every day, as if money was no object. They wanted to take back everything they saw that they didn't have at home.

Except for the few boats at sea, everyone basically took advantage of the rest time these few days to buy seven or eight out of ten things they needed to buy back.

Ye Yaodong still had a pile of things he hadn't bought. He planned to wait for his father to come back and then go together.

It was the last trip out to sea, and Ye's father also thought about making more money. The other boats also thought about staying at sea for a few more days, and if they could make money, they would continue to make money. After all, after going back, there would be no such good money-making opportunity, and everyone's opinions were unified.

It's just that God didn't give the opportunity. After he went out to sea to collect a batch of goods on New Year's Day, the wind and waves were too big the next day, and several boats had to come back one after another.

However, there were no regrets this time. Everyone was full of joy because it was all over. Once they went back, they just needed to rest and find a good day to go home.

The boatmen had actually been hoping for wind and heavy snow in their hearts, so they could logically dock early. They were all thinking about the specialties they hadn't bought.

Since knowing on the Winter Solstice that they were going back early, everyone had been eager to return, and they were all restless.

If they hadn't gone out to sea that night, and there had been good weather in the following days, they would have been at home by now, surrounded by their families asking about their well-being.

After Ye's father returned to the rented house, he also felt relaxed all over. He didn't feel tired after coming back from sea, and his whole person was in high spirits.

"Finally over!"

The workers were also cheering, "We can go home soon!"

"Going home, going home!"

Ye Yaodong also said with a smile, "Everyone eat something and sleep first. After you wake up, I'll pay everyone's wages. Everyone will have several hundred! By the way, I'll give everyone a big red envelope, good luck, and go home for the New Year."

"Good~"

"Good luck, go home for the New Year!"

Today is the 2nd. Everyone rest for one night, and tomorrow they can go out to stroll around and buy things.

In the next few days, they will listen to the weather forecast and find a good day with continuous sunny days.

The current weather forecast is too inaccurate. It would be safer if there were two consecutive sunny days.

The workers were so excited that they couldn't sleep. They wished they could go out and buy things now, and then go back immediately.

After Ye Yaodong returned to the room, he first calculated everyone's wages, so that they could be paid out as soon as they woke up.

He left home early on June 20th and arrived in Zhoushan at the beginning of August.

At the end of September, he had already paid everyone's wages once, which was the wages up to the end of August.

Because everyone was making advances, and some had advanced a bit too much, accumulating to maybe a month's wages.

He was afraid that after half a year, the accounts would be a bit messy, and they probably couldn't remember how much they had advanced.

So he simply made it easier and paid them up to the end of August, so that everyone could have money in their hands to support their subsequent expenses.

Now what he wants to pay them is the wages from September to December, a full 4 months. Some people couldn't hold on and advanced a little bit in advance, but most of them still had money in their hands, and they didn't advance in these 4 months, so the accounts were not messy.

Everyone's wage is 4.5 yuan a day. Because it was not certain how many days they would be out, they were all calculated by the day.

4 months, 135 per month, so everyone is 540.

And in these 4 months, October and December have 31 days, so we have to add 9 yuan, so he calculated 550 for everyone together.

They have been working with him for half a year and have helped him make a lot of money, making him earn a lot of money. He thought about writing a 50 yuan red envelope on the notebook again.

Later, count the money, wrap it separately in red paper as a red envelope.

This is equivalent to 600 yuan for everyone.

He pressed the calculator, excluding him, including his father, there are 22 people, which is equivalent to his wages to be paid out.

"Grass!"

He looked at the numbers on the calculator and cursed. He didn't know until he calculated it, but he was startled. Accumulated, the wages actually had to be paid so much.

He shook his head and resignedly poured the money from selling goods today on the table and counted it.

Fortunately, he went out to sea recently and made tens of thousands of yuan again.

However, paying a little more than 10,000 as wages, the rest is pure profit, so he made money.

He glanced at his father who was sleeping soundly. With so much money, he could only resignedly count it slowly by himself.

After counting the money sold today, he began to count the wages again.

Every time he counted 550, he pulled out one and wrapped a wage horizontally, and then put it aside.

There were not enough big bills to count, so he could only open the password box and continue counting.

The advanced ones are counted later, otherwise he will forget which one is how much money. Not everyone advanced, and they didn't advance the same amount.

The money counted on the table was stacked in several stacks.

Ye Yaodong twisted his neck while counting. After counting too much money, he felt that it was already physical work.

Although he was happy in his heart, he couldn't laugh from the bottom of his heart for a long time. He now needs a money counter.

After Ye's father woke up, seeing the money on the table, he was startled and immediately lifted the quilt and stood up to the table, not feeling cold even without a coat.

He felt the warmth from money.

Ye Yaodong was organizing the password box, trying to stuff all the money in, but there were too many small change bills, in various shapes, some rolled, some folded, and they were particularly fluffy in the suitcase.

Although he had fixed fishmongers to collect goods later, everyone settled in big bills, occasionally with some small change.

But he couldn't stand that he sold them scattered before he knew the fishmongers, and the small bills he received were particularly many, and he also accumulated a large batch of small bills in Wenzhou.

After all, when he settled the accounts, everyone settled in big bills. He couldn't give everyone a few cents or dimes when settling the accounts, and he had to count for a long time.

This is not, these small changes are all left over, and he has no time to count these small changes at all. He usually only calculates according to the goods list when calculating accounts.

Counting cash only counts big bills, and other small changes are all swept into the password box.

At this time, the password box is messy.

Ye's father looked at so much money on the table, and the password box was full again, his face full of smiles.

"Dongzi, are the wages all calculated?"

"All calculated."

Ye's father picked up a stack and counted it.

"What are you counting? I've already counted it, 550 per person, a total of 21 stacks?"

"21 stacks?"

"Yes, there is no yours."

Ye's father suddenly felt a bit cold, put down the money, and went to put on clothes first.

"In addition, I will give everyone another 50 yuan for the red envelope. You cut the red paper and wrap it up."

"Why bother with that effort? Just put it together and give it to them."

"What do you know, this is called a sense of ritual. Give a copy with red paper, and say it is a red envelope separately, which makes people happier. Otherwise, if you give it all together in the wages, they won't have much feeling. In their hearts, they will divide it into the wages, and they will lose a little happy mood for no reason."

Ye's father heard him say it so high-sounding, although he didn't care, he still cut the red paper.

"Saying a bunch of things, then count it as you have a reason."

"I will give you 200 yuan separately, go out and stroll tomorrow, buy whatever you want. Your wages, I will hand over to my mother when I go back."

Ye's father was suffocated, "Why can't I take the money I earned myself? You still have to give it to her."

"Then I will give it to you, and you will give it to her after you go back?"

Ye's father waved his hand irritably, "You give, you give, you give it to her, so as not to have to interrogate me whether I have private money."

Ye Yaodong said with a smile, "Are you stupid? I give you the money, and before you give it to her, let her say some good words. Throw it to her one by one, throw it all over the bed, let her pick it up, so she is happy and you are happy."

Ye's father pondered for a while, somewhat doubting the authenticity of his words.

"Will she be angry and throw a face, and I have to pick it up?"

"That can't be! Give her several hundred yuan, she still dares to throw a face, you won't take the money back directly."

Ye's father hesitated, "If I take the money back, there will be no place to sleep at night."

"That's even better, sleep in a room alone."

"That won't work, that won't work, that will toss me for several days, and she won't give a good face for several days."

"Oh, don't worry, there is no woman who doesn't like money. Besides, I haven't been home for half a year. Just go back, it must be very affectionate. You also handed over a lot of wages to her. My mother will definitely treat you like a grandfather, asking about your well-being, serving you tea and water, and preparing foot washing water."

Ye's father thought about it and his mouth grinned, "Yes, I haven't been back for half a year. Just go back, it must be smiling."

"Yes, count your own wages. Damn, so much small change, forget it, just pour it all into the sack and carry it, it's safer, the password box is just right for me to pack clothes."

Ye's father nodded in agreement, "Put it in a sack, so no one can think there is money in it, and it's safe."

"Hmm."