Chapter 1387: Looking Quite Proper

After the fishing boat pulled away from shore, several dogs on the bank were still barking wildly.

Some even climbed down from the rocks, a front paw touching the water before pulling back.

And the four dogs on the boat also gazed back at the shore, barking wildly.

"Stop yelling, you'll yell your throats raw and it won't do any good. Who told you to follow along? Now you're on a pirate ship." Ah Zheng teased the dogs.

Ye Ye Yaopeng asked, "Dongzi, why did you bring the dogs along?"

"To guard the house up there. The houses should be pretty much built by now, and the grounds are too empty. Keeping a few dogs can help watch the place. Plus these two are about to have pups again—that'll be two more litters, way too many."

"That really is a lot of dogs. There's never been this many dogs in the village before."

Xiao Xiao said, "That's only because everyone knows these are your dogs. Otherwise, they'd have been roped and served on the table long ago."

"I think the one who wants to rope them is you." Ye Yaodong said, annoyed.

"Whose fault is it that the dogs you raise have such glossy, sleek coats—they look delicious."

The dogs that had just been barking at the shore all turned their heads and barked wildly at him.

"Oh ho, still pretty fierce."

Ye Yaodong took out a warm egg, peeled and ate it, ignoring them. He dug out the yolk he didn't like and fed it to the nearest dog.

"Damn! Your dogs eat better than people—yolk too!"

"You want some? Here, I'll peel a yolk and feed you."

"Get lost. I wouldn't eat the same thing as them."

Ye Ye Yaohua also laughed and said, "Dogs have different fates too. It's just luck that no one's roped these ones away."

"It's just like people being reborn."

Ordinary people don't even live as well as rich folks' dogs.

Ye Yaodong tried to share the eggs he had on hand, but everyone shook their heads—who leaves home without bringing along ten or twenty boiled eggs?

When the ferry dropped them off near the big boats, everyone boarded their own vessel.

Ye Yaodong gave some instructions, telling everyone to take their positions. After he finished burning incense for Goddess Mazu and completing the sea-going ritual, he headed toward the wheelhouse.

The four dogs immediately followed at his heels, stepping in his tracks, some even darting ahead of him.

He looked down, gave them a couple of kicks. "Go stay in the cabin, don't follow me."

But the dogs stayed put without moving, and once he climbed up, they followed him up to the wheelhouse too.

"Holy crap, careful you'll fall to your deaths."

"Woof woof woof…"

Seeing all four dogs had followed, Ye Yaodong had no choice but to open the cockpit and let them in too.

When his boat started moving, he noticed one dog squatting on each side of the control panel, and one on each side of his seat, pressed right up against him.

He looked left and right, up and down, feeling like he had four imposing bodyguard Dharma protectors.

"You guys really… already assigned yourselves your own positions?"

"Woof…"

He shook his head and started the boat, then instructed, "Don't move around, don't touch anything. If you break anything, I'll throw you all straight into the pot."

"Woof woof woof woof woof woof…"

Ye Yaodong turned on the audio channel, told the other boats to get ready to depart, then started moving first himself.

The dogs gazed ahead, but it was pitch black everywhere. After sitting on the control panel for a while, they came back down and curled up at his feet to sleep.

He felt the two dogs at his feet were quite warm, and the two pressed against his left and right hands were fluffy. It was a bit warm, but petting them felt pretty smooth.

"Be good, and when we get there, I'll give you something tasty to eat."

The dogs were all drowsy leaning against him and didn't respond.

Summer days break early. They set out after 3, and by the time they reached the sheltered harbor in town and he transferred people to the big boats, the sky was already turning the pale white of dawn.

The other boats had already set off ahead. He had to switch ships and ended up falling behind, but his two boats were fast, so there was no need to make the others wait.

After Ye Yaodong finished switching boats and started catching up, the workers could finally rest.

He kicked the dog that was fidgeting at his feet. It had been sleeping soundly, but since he had switched boats, he had to wake all four of them to come along. Now they were wide awake again.

"Told you to stay in the cabin, but no—you had to climb all over. Now you can go back to sleep."

The dogs whimpered a little, found their spots, and obediently curled up to sleep.

One curled up right by his hand—petting it was especially smooth and comfortable, and its fur felt warm.

The voyage had been pretty boring, but with four dogs for company this trip, he didn't feel lonely at all.

When the dogs woke up, they darted around his feet. The small space wasn't enough for them to move around, so he opened the cabin door and let them go out to roam on their own.

He only glanced over occasionally, and caught sight of the little black dog with one paw slipping off the wheelhouse, dangling in the air. It scrambled back in fright, tumbling to his feet in a most comical fashion.

The other dogs immediately didn't dare run around anymore.

He laughed, nudged the dog with the top of his foot. "Let's see if you dare run around now…"

For the rest of the day, the dogs stayed cooped up in the cockpit, at most poking half their bodies out to catch the breeze.

When Ye Yaodong went down to eat, he led them with him. He'd originally planned to leave them on the deck or in the cabin below, but when he went back up, they followed at his heels as usual.

Only at mealtime did they tear around the deck wildly.

So he just let them be.

This trip didn't reach the destination port until the sun set in the afternoon.

When they arrived, the jellyfish boats were also coming back one after another. The dock was incredibly lively—jellyfish as far as the eye could see.

A pile here, a pile there, all queued up to be weighed and purchased.

It looked like things weren't winding down yet. Although the catch in the trenches was mostly fished out, there were still quite a few drifting on the surface.

For big boats, the cost-effectiveness wasn't great, but for small boats, picking up here and there, the harvest was still pretty decent—still worth it.

"Looks like quite a lot. They really did make money coming over here this year."

"Looks like it's not over yet."

"There hasn't been any typhoon at all this year so far…"

"Don't you jinx it. If we can go, let's hurry up and head out, or you might really be right, and if we're stuck here that'll be trouble."

After they found a spot and moored the boat, Ye Yaodong left five or six men on the boat to watch the luggage, while the others were brought ashore first.

A Guang happened to be busy.

Everyone was delighted to see them arrive.

"You really made it? I told them you'd arrive by evening. Pretty fast."

"Now that you're here we can rest easy. You didn't leave us behind, hahaha…"

"You want to make money from anything and everything…"

Everyone chattered excitedly, all talking at once.

They were all lining up to weigh the goods there, and since they had nothing to do, they gathered in twos and threes to chat.

The three Ye brothers and a few friends all helped A Guang weigh the goods together.

They were busy at the moment and had no time for idle chat. By the time everything was weighed, it was already dark.

The workers staying on the boat also rested on the boat, and only the close ones followed Ye Yaodong to his home to stay, chatting along the way.

The situation here, he usually chatted about with A Guang on the phone, so he actually knew it all clearly. But the others didn't know the details as well, so everyone still had plenty to talk about.

They were all asking A Guang how much he'd earned during this period, whether he'd earned quite a bit.

When they went back at night, A Guang also had someone prepare a table. Everyone chatted enthusiastically until midnight, all very fired up, holding great expectations for the next destination, extremely optimistic, all thinking about making a big haul this year and having a prosperous New Year.

Ye Yaodong felt the same hope in his heart.

The next morning, when everyone was still packing and moving luggage, he told the others to get on the boat once they were done, while he went to check out the lighter factory first, take a look, and chat with Fang Jingfu for a bit.

Since he was already here, he couldn't not go take a look and show his face.

Then he went to visit Zeng Zhao Weimin, bringing some local specialties from home, before heading to the dock.

Everyone had already boarded and everything was ready, just waiting for him.

If he weren't Ye Yaodong, out of several hundred people, who would specifically wait for him?

If they didn't know where he'd gone, he would've been roasted long ago.

He didn't arrive until a little past nine, yet no one had much complaint.

"Sorry I'm late, kept you all waiting."

"All done with your business? If you're done, let's hurry and go. We've been delayed quite a while, we'll have to speed up later." Ye Fu urged.

"Okay, right away. You all can go ahead, I'll leave as soon as I get on the boat."

Ye Fu immediately grabbed the loudspeaker and shouted at everyone, "We're setting off."

The big group's boats started moving one after another, pulling out, then heading out toward the open sea in succession.

They were all experienced, so everyone referred to last year: the smaller trawlers sailed in the middle, while the few larger boats were at the front, the back, and on both sides.

People on shore were all buzzing with discussion, pointing and gesturing.

"Look, look, all those out-of-town boats are moving together. Are they leaving?"

"Really? That many out-of-town boats all leaving together?"

"Are they going out together to catch jellyfish?"

"They must be leaving, no doubt. I watched them all moving luggage this morning. If they were going for jellyfish, how could they only be heading out now? Others have already delivered a load and come back."

"Good that they're leaving, hurry up and go. Every year dozens of out-of-town boats come over…"

Ye Yaodong's Ocean-Going No. 1 was the last to set off. The other boats had already started accelerating in the open sea before his boat began chasing from behind.

But in no time, his boat sped past, overtaking those forty or fifty boats, and took the lead at the very front.

A Zheng on the channel yelled, "Holy crap, you've already surged up to the front."

"Isn't that normal?"

"Still, your boat is the coolest, the most impressive."

"In a few years, once you've earned enough, you can buy one too."

"Once I've earned enough, I'll retire. Who keeps working forever?"

"How much counts as enough?"

"At least a hundred-plus thousand, right? Earning one or two ten-thousandaire's worth a year, if I work another dozen-plus years, I should have saved up enough before turning 50."

"No ambition."

"How is that no ambition? That's already a lot. Who dares say they can earn a hundred-plus thousand in their lifetime? You don't count…"

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"…Who is like you, making money that easily…"

A Guang said, "You only got this boat over New Year. Wait till you get back from Zhou City this year, then come say that."

"But my boat has your share too, I still have to split half the profits."

Ye Yaodong said, "Then wait till the boat you're financing comes in, and see how much you can earn next year?"

"Can earn a lot?"

"You'll know once you get back after this New Year."

He really could earn a lot, but last year he earned the most because he had the fresh-fish collector boat.

A Guang's family was next, just collecting rent brought in quite a bit.

Dong Sheng, Feng Shou, Man Cang, and Shun Feng all made good money too.

But Zhou Da and his crew had four brothers splitting one boat, and Shun Feng also had three brothers and their father splitting, which made it look like each of them didn't earn that much individually.

He became the big winner, and A-Guang became the second winner.

A-Zheng was still muttering there, saying they were being so secretive, not telling how much money they made.

Ye Yaodong only said, "There's nothing to reference here. I have too many boats; all the earnings have been combined into one."

After saying that, he ignored their discussion.

As they chatted and chatted, they had moved from how much money they made last year to how much they could make this year, and each person started setting a goal.

Money they hadn't earned yet was also being calculated, and after the calculations, even what big items to add when going back for the New Year had already been arranged, making the channel quite lively.

However, after waiting an hour or so, naturally no one was speaking anymore. They had chatted enough and were thirsty, and everyone also had to leave the small channel and go to the public channel to listen to more broadcast information.

Ye Yaodong's boat was the lead; the specific route was preset, but he still had to concentrate fully on watching all directions.

Until Seeing Ye Mu fell, the fishing boats still had not arrived. The workers frequently went in and out of the cabin, but as usual it was a vast ocean.

He waited until going down to get meals before telling everyone that it would be another three or four hours, and only then did everyone feel at ease.

By the time they finally arrived, it was already past 10 PM.

The distant dock was brightly lit and bustling with noise. Seeing the familiar scene, everyone ran out of the cabin and cheered excitedly.

"We're here, finally here…"

"Oh, the heart that's been hanging in suspense has finally been put back…"

"Actually, it counts as fast. This trip didn't take any detours, and we barely stopped along the way. Unlike last year when we came, we kept starting and stopping Ye Ye Tingting on the way, explaining and asking directions to nearby fishing boats, which delayed us longer."

"Good that we're here. We can just go ashore and rest tonight."

Ye Yaodong looked at the distant destination and also breathed a sigh of relief. This time he was leading the way alone, and they had finally arrived.

Everyone slowed down when approaching the port, then stopped on the sea surface, lined up following the channel rules, waited for the pilot boat to come, and then under its guidance, slowly sailed into the berthing area, and then paid a berthing fee.

"All good? Can we start unloading?"

"First move all the cargo out of the cabin. I'll go find a vehicle."

After Ye Yaodong finished speaking, he went up to the dock first. The dogs couldn't get off the boat and could only watch him leave, barking wildly there.

"Stop barking, I'll be back soon."

"The few dogs Brother Dong raised are quite loyal…"

"These are all outsiders here, don't let people eat dog meat…"

"Then we're done for, specially brought up to add a meal for someone else…"

"Wang Wang Wang Wang…"

The few dogs immediately turned their heads and barked wildly at the workers.

"Look, they've started cursing people."

Everyone was laughing and joking.

After Ye Yaodong called over a vehicle and started moving cargo here, the others also came over and asked.

"Dongzi, we've finished moving cargo on our side. Should we drive the vehicle to the roadside and wait for you first?"

"Mm, once you're done, go wait at that less crowded roadside. Once my cargo is moved, I'll have the vehicle drive over too."

"Okay, then I'll go tell the others."

While they were queuing to enter the port earlier, they had already discussed it.

They didn't know how the construction site on his side was going, whether the houses were livable, but at least the walls were up, which gave some sense of security. Anyway, they'd go over tonight and make do sleeping on the floor for one night.

If it wasn't suitable for living, that was a matter for tomorrow; everyone could make further plans then.

Anyway, they had to have a place to stay tonight; it wasn't suitable to keep things dragging on at this late hour.

In the middle of summer, sleeping outdoors was no big deal. With a straw mat rolled out on the ground, there was nothing they couldn't sleep on.

Everyone had separately called a tractor to move the cargo from the boat. There were quite a lot of luggage, food, and bedding, and a few small boats shared one vehicle.

After his side had finished loading cargo and the workers had all gotten on the vehicle, he also sat in the passenger seat and directed the driver.

His vehicle led the way in front, with over a dozen tractors following behind. Anyone who didn't know might think they were hauling some cargo; it looked quite spectacular.

The construction site was near the shore, but the coastline was too long, and at night there were many people and vehicles, so it would take over ten minutes to drive there.

In the dark night nothing could be seen clearly; only the shapes of the walls and houses could be made out. Ye Yaodong happily shouted that they had arrived and immediately got out of the vehicle.

"We're here, we're here, this is it. You all wait a moment, I'll go knock on the door."

He shouted to the vehicles behind, then took the lead running to the iron gate in front to call for the door to be opened.

"Is anyone there? Open the door…"

He called out twice, and someone came out of a room shining a flashlight.

"Coming, coming…"

"You finally came, Brother Dong. You said on the phone the day before yesterday that you'd come up these two days. I thought you'd arrive during the day. Since you didn't arrive during the day, I thought it would be tomorrow…"

The night-shift worker Chen Zhihua inside immediately opened the iron gate and invited him in.

"Open both iron gates, let the vehicles drive in to unload, save us from carrying so far."

"Okay."

Ye Yaodong took the flashlight and shone it around. "Just a little bit left on the second floor?"

"Just the roof beams and tiles left. It'll be soon. If you guys don't come these few days, by the end of the month when you come, it'll basically all be finished."

"Not bad, the progress is quite fast. The iron gates are already installed; it looks proper."

"Isn't it all because the money was paid on time. When you pay the foreman on time, he immediately arranges the work, haha. And there haven't been any typhoons this year; if there were, they just passed by, the tail of the typhoon swept over, rained for a day or two then cleared up again, didn't really delay the schedule."

"Not bad, you guys supervising the work up here did a good job. I'll reward you guys a bit later."

"Really? Then I'll thank the boss on behalf of the brothers, haha."

"Let's unload first. The 15 rooms on the first floor should all be livable, right?"

"So-so, it's okay, just the hygiene hasn't been cleaned up, dust everywhere. If you guys don't mind, just lie down casually tonight and make do. Tomorrow we'll wash the floor, and it'll be a bit cleaner then."

"Mm."

Ye Yaodong shone the flashlight, looking through the rooms one by one; eyeballing them, each was some twenty or thirty square meters, not small at all.

Right now there's nothing inside, completely empty, a layer of dust on the ground, but then again there's no need for a bed—being this empty makes it easy to lay out bedding on the floor, to sleep in a communal bunk.

One room with floor bedding can sleep a dozen or so people; a dozen rooms can just barely squeeze them in, and if there aren't enough spots, they can sleep in the corridor.

"Go fetch some water. It's all dusty, not easy to lay out the mats. Bring some water, sweep it onto the floor, brush the dust aside a little, then spread the straw mats before anyone can sleep."

"All right. The room I slept in last night has been tidied up, it's clean, and there's a layer of straw spread inside. I'll let Brother Dong sleep there tonight."

Ye Yaodong nodded. "Then let the others arrange themselves."

Only after he'd finished looking over the sleeping quarters did he go watch everyone unload the cargo.

Everyone had unloaded the cargo onto the open ground first, each person's goods piled separately.

"Brother Dong, where should all this cargo be unloaded? Should we carry it into the rooms?"

"Just leave it on the open ground for now. The rooms will be slept in tonight."

He lifted his head and glanced at the starry sky above—a sky full of stars meant tomorrow would be good weather.

"Tomorrow the weather's good, no rain, so just leaving them piled like this is fine. As for the rooms inside, you all divvy them up tonight, sprinkle some clean water and sweep them out, lay down a mat and stay the one night first."

"All right."

Everyone noisily argued over the room assignments—one said there wasn't enough room, another also said there wasn't enough room.

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to say: arrange fifteen people per room first, let them divvy up among themselves; if there aren't enough rooms, squeeze in a bit more then, and if they still can't squeeze, whoever's willing to sleep in the corridor can sleep there first.

Only then did everyone stop arguing, and the fishing boats divvied up the rooms by headcount.

By the time everything was properly settled, it was already past midnight.

The luggage was still piled on the open ground out front as before; the people had already gone into their assigned rooms, but everyone was still talking—they hadn't done any work on the boat, had just been lying around, and were full of energy.

Ye Yaodong didn't sleep either, and kept asking Chen Zhihua about what had happened over the past two-plus months.

Hearing that Jin Laixi would drop by to check on things from time to time, he was pleased for a moment, thinking he'd buy some cigarettes and liquor tomorrow and go thank him in person.

"Brother Dong, why did you come up so early? Wasn't it supposed to be September?"

"I was worried there'd be typhoon weather later on, which would delay the departure. I figured since the weather's been good lately I'd come on up. I can also check on the progress of the construction site here, and bring the workers up to help out."

"Oh, coming up early is good too. We're almost out of materials again. The foreman said yesterday that we can buy the tiles now. Since you're here, I don't have to worry anymore."

"I'll take a look tomorrow."

"All right."

"Have you spent all the wages?"

"Heh, we're all counting on our fingers the last dozen-odd yuan, thinking we have to stretch them to the end of the month."

"Tomorrow I'll pay you for these two months."

"Okay."

"Get some sleep. The rest can wait until I sort it out tomorrow."

Being able to make this much progress was pretty good; looking at it now, it actually looks like the real thing.