Chapter 1473: Not Smart

The people around suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

The Fatty remained completely unaware.

While tying his belt, he asked happily, "Good brother, you didn't forget your brother when there's a money-making business. I'll remember your kindness for a lifetime."

Ye Yaodong grinned, "Good to know! I've never forgotten to look out for you when there's good news!"

"What business is it? Can it earn tens of thousands? How much does each person put in?"

Ye Yaodong held up three fingers to him.

"Three thousand yuan?"

"That's not much, that works. Three thousand yuan in capital, can each person earn tens of thousands, or do we all earn tens of thousands together?"

"This deal is good, it's a bargain. What is it? Should we go back to the room to talk slowly?"

The Fatty kept talking happily, then warily looked left and right, feeling that discussing a business worth tens of thousands in front of so many people felt a bit unsafe.

Dongzi is too careless; his bottom line has been exposed to everyone.

Won't everyone know how much money they earn from now on?

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but chuckle, "No need to go inside to talk; let's talk right here. Everyone already knows."

"Everyone already knows?"

The Fatty looked left and right, confused, but found that the people around were all laughing and looking at him.

He belatedly realized something seemed a bit off and put away his excited expression.

"What are you talking about?"

"Cough, it's not my suggestion; it's everyone's suggestion. Everyone thinks it's inconvenient that we don't have a single phone here, so we thought of having you install a phone in the canteen. That way, it would be convenient for everyone to make calls, or if there's an emergency at home, they can call to leave a message."

The Fatty's eyes widened wider and wider as he listened, looking at him in disbelief.

"Is this the tens of thousands business you were talking about?"

"Yes. Once you install this phone, everyone will call home every now and then. Your earnings will be very consistent. Small amounts add up; accumulated over decades, it will definitely be tens of thousands of yuan."

"Tens of thousands accumulated over decades? You can actually say that. You're just messing with me."

The Fatty instantly felt a liver-pain from anger. He had been so expectant just now, calling him 'good brother' again and again.

"I didn't say anything wrong. As long as you put out the three thousand yuan capital, afterwards you just sit and collect money. Day by day, month by month, and it's convenient for yourself too."

"Convenient my ass. Paying out a huge sum to install a phone just to earn a few cents or a few dimes every day?"

"Not just a few cents or dimes. Long-distance calls to other provinces cost at least one yuan. You can easily earn tens of yuan a day."

"Bullshit. Who the hell calls every day?"

Seeing he couldn't do the math, Ye Yaodong hooked his shoulder and calculated it with him.

"Think about it. There are about 400-plus people here. If each person makes two calls a month, that's around 900 to 1,000 times. There are 30 days in a month, averaging 30 times a day, right?"

The Fatty looked up blankly at the sky. After a moment, he nodded, "Right."

"Isn't that 30 yuan a day? If you earn half, that's 15 yuan? What about incoming calls? Incoming calls charge the same price. Count it as 20 yuan a day. Isn't that 600 yuan a month?"

The Fatty realized, "So the capital is recovered in five or six months?"

"Yes! So everything afterwards is profit. Isn't this investment a bargain?"

The Fatty thought about it.

Ye Yaodong added, "At 600 yuan a month, you start making a profit in half a year. This year alone, you can earn over 3,000 yuan. Isn't that better than me renting a room?"

The Fatty thought for a moment and felt that was right too.

"What you say makes some sense, but they have to be willing to call. I think even one call a month per person is the limit."

"That's still a lot. Thirty calls a month is 30 yuan. In a year, that's over 3,000 yuan, enough to recover the capital. You open a small shop too, selling snacks, cigarettes, and alcohol. Isn't that easy money?"

"Makes sense."

"You didn't listen to what I said before. Now you'd better listen to what I'm saying. What a great money-making opportunity."

Seeing they had understood, the people around chimed in to agree.

"Yes, what a great money-making job. If we weren't incapable of installing a phone, we would definitely put out the money to install one. Then we wouldn't have to work; we could just sit by the phone and collect money."

"Yes, installing a phone line would be great. Everyone would be convenient, and you could make money too."

"Mainly, the 400-plus people here all have a need to make calls. As long as you install one phone line, you won't worry about lacking business."

"Whatever the outside charges and calculations are, we'll give you the same. At least we won't have to run outside to make calls, and we can receive messages from home."

"Fatty, consider it? Otherwise, I'll install one myself and arrange for Old You to sit and collect the money for me. Anyway, besides doing accounts, he's idle when he's idle. Perfect to let him calculate one more account."

Old You turned his head and looked at him in disbelief. How is he idle when he's idle?

There are cargo and accounts for so many boats. Every other day, there's a huge stack of cargo payment slips. He loses hair every day.

One boat, one category, one ledger. He already has a pile of ledgers; the covers are almost worn out from flipping. In the two months since he started, he's already replaced a bottle of fountain pen ink.

The Fatty waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet. "Let me think about it. This also requires submitting an application report to the Post and Telecommunications Bureau. It will take at least half a month or even a month to wait."

"Then if you're willing to install it, everyone can wait this amount of time. It's not that urgent."

The Fatty glared at him, rubbed his unwashed hands across his face, and then felt happy.

"What are you doing, you damn Fatty..."

The Fatty happily stepped back and pulled up his pants that were slipping down.

"I haven't washed my hands yet, haha..."

"Yue... Are you disgusting? You damn..."

Ye Yaodong rushed over to beat him, but he had prepared beforehand and ran away nimbly.

Everyone watched, chuckling.

Ye's father looked at them with disgust. "At your age, you still act like Ajiang and Chenghe all day, chasing and fighting each other."

Ye Ye Chengjiang had just woken up, his face unwashed. He walked over toward the crowd, picking at the sleep in his eyes as he went.

"Why are so many people gathered here? What are you doing? So noisy this early in the morning."

He walked behind everyone and stretched.

Ye Chenghe limped over, draped an arm over his shoulder, "Get up, time to make money."

Ye Ye Chengjiang was surprised, "Huh, when did you get back?"

"Yesterday evening, back before you."

"I heard you're getting married? Damn, didn't you just come home once? How did it turn into getting married?"

"No, getting married in a couple of years. Just a verbal agreement for now; we'll hold the banquet when everyone returns at the end of the year."

"That still means you're getting married. Holy crap, you're too exaggerated. I don't even dare talk to girls."

"That's because you're useless." Ye Chenghe looked both disdainful and smug.

"Tch, who cares? I don't want to get married. Once married, you get controlled."

"You don't understand..."

As Ye Chenghe spoke, he seemed to recall something, wearing a look of savoring the memory, a foolish smile on his face.

Seeing his sudden expression, Ye Ye Chengjiang looked as if he'd seen a ghost and took a step back from him.

"Ouch, why are you walking away? Come support me."

"What did you do? Get beaten? Did you harass a decent woman and get hit?"

He couldn't help but suspect it.

How could he not, when Ye Chenghe had just been smiling with such intoxication, looking like a lovesick fool, utterly unbearable to behold.

"Not at all, he beat me." Ye Chenghe didn't even call him Grandpa anymore; he extended his index finger and secretly pointed toward Ye's father.

"I was still sleeping, still having a beautiful dream, when he dragged me up and beat me. It's so frustrating; I couldn't even hide."

"Truly regrettable. Lost the wife and the army. Damn it, no money left, and I still have to get beaten upon returning."

"Let me tell you, you need to be smarter. When you get home, absolutely do not tell your mother how much money you earned..."

Deeply moved, Ye Chenghe draped his arm over Ye Ye Chengjiang's shoulder again, speaking eloquently, urging him to keep his money bag tightly closed.

"Do you think I'm as stupid as you? I won't tell my mother how much I earned... Damn it, if you go back and tell your mother how much you earned, then my mother will know how much I earned too!"

Ye Ye Chengjiang only realized halfway through his sentence that his own bottom line had been exposed.

He immediately hooked his arm around Ye Chenghe's neck and punched him twice, thud thud.

"You Wang Ba..."

Clutching his stomach, Ye Chenghe glared at him resentfully, "You damn... I was kindly reminding you."

Why was he always the one getting hurt!

"If you talk nonsense again, I'll beat you again." Ye Ye Chengjiang waved his fists.

Ye Chenghe also clenched his fists, "Just you wait, see if I don't beat you back later."

Ye Ye Chengjiang gave him a contemptuous look, stepped closer, then opened his mouth and exhaled a breath of toxic air.

"Ugh... did you eat shit?" Ye Chenghe made a face of pure disgust, collapsed onto the ground, and after clutching his stomach, pinched his nose.

Ye Ye Chengjiang, originally planning to go brush his teeth and wash his face, turned back upon hearing this, stuck his butt out, and intended to add more seasoning.

This time, Ye Chenghe reacted instantly, kicking straight at him.

It was purely instinctive; whenever someone stuck their butt out, he knew what was coming.

But he was currently injured and dared not fight Ye Ye Chengjiang, since he couldn't win; after kicking, he immediately scrambled up and tried to run.

Having been kicked, Ye Ye Chengjiang naturally wouldn't give up and ran after him again.

Watching the two chasing and fighting behind him, Ye's father's brows furrowed so tightly they could crush a fly.

If the top beam is crooked, the bottom beam will be crooked too.

Whatever the uncle is like, the nephew will be like that.

They were all corrupted by Dongzi.

Halfway through running, Ye Ye Chengjiang also saw Ye Yaodong panting heavily, so he immediately stopped playing with Ye Chenghe.

"Third Uncle, Third Uncle, when are you going to Magic City? Remember to take me."

Ye Yaodong spread his five fingers and pressed them directly onto his face, "Did you eat shit? Go brush your teeth first."

Ye Ye Chengjiang looked a bit puzzled, exhaled into his palm, and sniffed it.

"It doesn't stink?"

He exhaled into his palm a few more times...

Ye Yaodong felt so disgusted; why was everyone so unintelligent...

He turned his head away, finding it unbearable to watch.

But suddenly he remembered he had just gotten up too and hadn't brushed his teeth.

He secretly exhaled into his own palm, sniffed it, and immediately felt relieved; he didn't stink.

Ye Ye Chengjiang was still behind him, walking while exhaling into his palm, sniffing and muttering, "It doesn't stink..."

"Third Uncle, wait for me, when are you going to Magic City?"

(End of this chapter)