Chapter 1449: Agreed Upon

They were all acquaintances and fellow villagers; when they met a few months ago, Chen Jianian still regretted having harmed his own relatives and friends.

He would think to himself that once he got rich and earned money, he would return to make amends.

The people could not be brought back, but at least providing a sum of money would count as some comfort and an explanation.

This showed he had a conscience; if he could pull the people up from underwater, it would be a happy outcome for all, and beneficial to him as well.

Chen Jianian needed to supply the factory steadily from his side; as long as the accounts were not cleared, the factory would have to keep taking goods from him continuously.

Even if the factory cleared the accounts with him, Chen Jianian could not burn the bridge after crossing the river; he would definitely still need his goods, as he was a great benefactor.

However, if he did burn the bridge after crossing, it would be fine; supplying the factory long-term would surely make him familiar with them.

He had extended credit to Chen Jianian for tens of thousands; this was a righteous act, and whoever heard of it would have to say he was loyal, righteous, and had a conscience.

Chen Jianian was extremely grateful at this moment, walking along and saying flattering words, while asking what he was doing now and if things were developing well.

Otherwise, how could he casually extend credit of tens of thousands to someone?

He himself did not believe he possessed such personal charm to make people trust him unconditionally and hand over tens of thousands.

Ye Yaodong only said he was still operating a boat for fishing, without mentioning how many boats he had.

"Is your boat the only one here?"

"No, about half the able-bodied laborers from our village are here. Resources in Wenzhou have somewhat dried up and couldn't withstand our turmoil, so a few years ago we moved to Zhoushan. Everyone trusts me more, so they all followed."

"Working separately is fine, but things are a bit chaotic here; you must be careful not to clash with others. Otherwise, with such a large group of yours, if something happens..."

"If something happens, we aren't afraid. With hundreds of people, anyone who sees us has to weigh the consequences."

Chen Jianian was stunned for a moment, thinking it seemed right; hundreds of people anywhere would be a major force, unlike him, a lone individual who had to smile everywhere.

"That's true. If no accident had happened back then, I could have had hundreds of people too. Pity I have no boats on hand; otherwise, I could have stopped them at sea... never mind, let's not talk about it."

Ye Yaodong changed the subject. "Owing that much debt also shows ability; ordinary people couldn't owe that much. Even a few thousand could cost someone their life."

"You've been here two or three years; you should know that if you really want to make money, it actually comes quickly. It depends on whether you dare to act and know how to do it. When luck arrives and the timing is right, making money is as simple as drinking water."

He nodded; he agreed with this.

Wasn't it just that his luck had arrived, and he happened to be in this era?

Otherwise, how could he have this foundation now and directly approve extending credit for tens of thousands of goods?

The two walked and chatted, with Chen Jianian mostly talking about the events and developments he had encountered over the past two years.

Ye Yaodong just listened quietly and added a couple of agreeing remarks to let him continue speaking.

Chen Baoxing pushed his bicycle alongside, acting as an invisible person.

He didn't know this person, couldn't understand what was being said, and couldn't join the conversation, so he could only listen quietly, serving as background.

The three had bicycles but it was inconvenient to ride them; they walked on foot for over an hour before reaching the seafood processing factory.

The factory's processing scope was quite broad; currently, it focused mainly on hairtail, changing according to the Fishing season of each season.

This was convenient; Ye Yaodong was now mainly focused on catching hairtail.

The person in charge of the factory heard he was Chen Jianian's fellow villager and a long-time friend, wanted to help him and provide a safety net; after thinking for a moment, the person in charge agreed.

Whose goods did it matter to take?

Using goods here to offset debts would at least allow the payment to be recovered slowly, which was far better than forcing someone to death and still getting nothing.

Moreover, it wasn't that Chen Jianian intentionally defaulted; he was truly a victim of misfortune. A natural disaster occurred at sea; no one could prevent it, and no one wanted such things to happen.

Now someone could step out to provide a safety net, allowing him to repay the debt slowly with goods; this was the best outcome for everyone.

Furthermore, their plan was quite sincere: first offset half the payment, then for subsequent deliveries, offset half and pay half each time; this only extended the time for the remaining half of the final payment.

Ye Yaodong listened to the entire process on site, and the three parties reached a consistent agreement.

They also set that deliveries would start tomorrow; however many could be delivered daily was fine, as the factory processed continuously 24 hours a day, and their procurement could coordinate the daily required quantity separately.

This gave Ye Yaodong great flexibility; if there was a lot of leftover goods that day, he could deliver more; if there was little, he could deliver less, without needing to fix a specific quantity.

After all three parties were happy, they walked out.

Chen Jianian even said he wanted to treat him to a meal to express his gratitude.

Seeing his down-and-out appearance, Ye Yaodong had no intention of eating; eating would only add to his burden.

He only said that when Chen Jianian repaid his debts, he would treat him to a good meal then; for now, he had other matters to attend to.

Giving him a way to save face, he also left the address of his main base, then asked Chen Baoxing to ride the bicycle and take him back, as he needed to hurry to the dock to collect goods.

"Uncle Dong, who is he? Why do you want to help him?"

"It's not just helping him; it's also finding another supply factory for myself. Although the payment is owed, it saves me some trouble."

Plus, having done a good deed, he felt a bit pleased inside.

Ye Yaodong briefly explained the background and details of his relationship with Chen Jianian.

"Ah, Uncle Dong, you're immoral! Seeing the intermediary make money, you pulled in Uncle Ah Guang."

"What's immoral or not? Didn't he originally expect to come out with me and make money off me? Besides, I didn't steal his business channel; we found the channel ourselves. Moreover, before I pulled Uncle Ah Guang into the intermediary business, he had already brought his boats out, wanting to earn more intermediary fees."

Chen Baoxing thought it was true; the other party had brought his boats out to compete with them without saying anything beforehand.

"Then it seems he was immoral first? If you hadn't asked Uncle Ah Guang to be the intermediary, after the first year when he brought two boats, the next year he would have brought even more boats out."

"Exactly. If a man does not act for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him. Bringing out a few more boats himself would allow him to earn more intermediary fees."

So the result was obvious; what was bound to happen would happen anyway.

One cannot say who acted immorally; both sides had problems, and both were just trying to make money.

Who doesn't want to make money?

"Then he is quite unlucky, burdened with debts of human lives. Relatives and friends must hate him; he cannot return home or acknowledge his kin. Just when there was finally a glimmer of hope, it all fell apart again."

"So luck is too important; it is more important than ability."

With ability but bad timing, one ultimately cannot take flight.

"His luck has been terrible; fortunately, he met you. Otherwise, I think he would have jumped into the sea."

"Yeah, and lucky for him he ran into me. Otherwise, with a debt that big, he might never have recovered his whole life."

"You've done him a huge favor this way. He probably won't hold any grudge anymore, right?"

"Who knows? At least right now he's definitely crying with gratitude. People's hearts change easily—who knows, once you've made enough money, you might just kick me aside and snatch my customers while you're at it."

Chen Baoxing heard this and his bicycle wobbled all over the place. Panicking, he jammed the brakes and stopped dead.

"Are you trying to murder me? Haven't even earned any money yet and you're already trying to kill your boss?"

"How would I dare, Uncle Dong? It's just that you scared me half to death."

"Scared of what? If you really could earn enough to kick me aside, I'd even have to praise you for being capable."

Chen Baoxing threw both hands above his head in surrender. "Then I'll just earn a little less than you."

Ye Yaodong laughed. "Quite the dreamer, aren't you?"

"Right? You think I'm dreaming too, and you said it on purpose to mess with me."

"Come on, let's head back."

"Uncle Dong, I think you should bring the motorcycle up here."

"What, can't handle it after riding it for a month or so?"

"Me getting tired from riding is no big deal. I just feel a bicycle doesn't match your status—too inefficient. Look at you running back and forth all day long; a bicycle is such a hassle, how much of your time does it waste? Every minute of yours can earn a lot of money."

"Good point!"

Anyway, the motorcycle was just sitting at home. The kids occasionally borrowed it to ride, and he worried they'd be reckless and have an accident or hit someone.

Back then he had also thought riding a motorcycle was cool. He'd been young once too—how could he not know what they were yearning for?

He was the best uncle ever, so of course he had to satisfy them.

If only he'd had an uncle like this when he was young—he couldn't even imagine how happy and admiring and grateful he would have been.

"Hehe, once you bring the motorcycle up, teach me how to ride it. Then I'll keep riding the motorcycle and take you through every street and alley."

"You're just after the motorcycle, aren't you? Making it sound so nice."

"That's also for your convenience. A proper boss like you, sitting on a bicycle—what does that look like? A motorcycle is the way to go."

"Let's wait until next month when I go home, then we'll talk. It's not easy to bring up. I'll have to figure out a way."

The common folk were away from home for a month or so at a time. When the time came, he figured the return trip would be loaded with goods too, with no way to transport it.

He figured he could only think about it.

Luckily the place wasn't big; riding a bicycle, you could still cover every street and alley on the whole island.

"That's true too. A motorcycle is too big, hard to load onto the boat. So how about this—wait until Uncle Dong earns a lot, then buy a car. I'll be your driver. I've seen people driving cars on the street."

"I will! Then you just wait. Once I buy a car, I'll let you be my driver, drive till you're sick of it."

"I can drive for you my whole life! So Uncle Dong, forget the motorcycle, let's aim for a car."

"No problem!"

Ye Yaodong figured he could buy one now, but it wouldn't be of much use. The roads were too bad; around here a bicycle was more convenient on the streets.

In a couple of years, he would definitely buy one.

……

?? Old man went into the hospital today. There's a tumor growing in his nose—he's having surgery tomorrow to remove it. Today is the pre-op exam. I'm dragging my feet, so the update will have to be pushed to nighttime. Last-minute cramming—I'll make up a chapter later tonight.

? (End of chapter)