Chapter 1474: Share the Fortune

Ye Yaodong ignored him, found the basin, Mao Jin, toothbrush, and tooth cup he had just brought down, and went straight to wash up.

Ye Ye Chengjiang followed right behind him, refusing to stop until he got an answer.

"Third Uncle, you didn't brush your teeth either."

"But I didn't eat shit."

"I didn't either..."

"Stop making noise, you're so annoying, go away."

"Third Uncle..."

"Shut up, try saying one more word? See if I take you with me next time?"

Ye Ye Chengjiang immediately shut up and behaved.

Ye Yaodong was finally at peace.

After he finished eating, Ye's father dragged Ye Ye Chengjiang off to earn money, with Ye Chenghe trailing behind, constantly rubbing his buttocks.

"You guys go slow, wait for me, my butt hurts..."

Ye Yaodong also called out to Chen Baoxing and started his first day of work.

"Let's go, I'll show you around."

Chen Baoxing wore an expression of bitter helplessness, lifting his legs high as if running while following behind.

"Uncle Dong, when do you plan to buy a motorcycle? A bicycle is too much of a hindrance to you."

"A hindrance to what?"

"A hindrance to your business! Can the impression given by riding a bicycle be the same as riding a motorcycle? You are a proper big boss, handling ten or twenty thousand yuan daily; is it appropriate for you to ride a bicycle on the street every day?"

"That makes sense."

"Hehe, right? Buying a motorcycle would cost just what you earn in a day, no big deal."

"That's not true; if I earned ten thousand a day, I'd retire immediately. However, if I buy a motorcycle, won't you be useless then?"

Chen Baoxing paused, stunned; did he not need him to drive anymore?

"That's not right; I still have to help you record goods, act as your assistant, run errands for you, speak to the bosses on your behalf, pour tea and offer cigarettes for you, and take notes for you. Which boss doesn't have a few underlings following him?"

"With your dog-crawling handwriting, it's terribly ugly..."

"I'll go practice immediately; I'll go buy practice sheets right after."

Chen Baoxing set a goal and then asked cautiously, "So shall we go look at motorcycles now?"

"Do you know where to look?"

"I don't know; I'm waiting for you to take me."

"There are no motorcycles for sale in this place; wait."

"Then where are we going?"

"In a while, we'll go to Magic City; at that time, we can take a look and buy one to bring back."

Chen Baoxing's eyes lit up. "Great, great! So Uncle Dong, are you going to take me?"

"If you go, who will do the work? You must stay behind and be my father's assistant."

His shoulders instantly slumped.

"Hurry up and get on the bike; stop looking so glum. If you don't want to work, I'll replace you."

"I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll do it."

Chen Baoxing couldn't stay quiet for long; after getting on the bicycle, he asked again, "So Uncle Dong, when are you going? Make sure to take plenty of photos to show everyone when you return, so we can see what Magic City looks like."

"I don't know; you've actually reminded me; I can bring the camera along."

"Third Granduncle said that since you came up this time, you were supposed to bring the black-and-white television set up..."

Ye Yaodong said with righteous indignation, "I didn't bring it; I forgot. My father probably forgot too; nobody asked."

"Maybe he was too busy reading the newspaper this morning and didn't have time to ask you."

"Never mind, we'll talk about it next time."

Moving it back and forth was too troublesome; it wasn't that he didn't remember at all, but when the moment came, he instinctively chose to forget.

After all, he didn't like watching it anyway, and it was black-and-white, which looked even worse; bringing it up wasn't for him to watch.

For receiving information from the outside world, having a radio and newspapers was almost enough; if it were a color television, he would definitely be more proactive and wouldn't choose to forget.

Ye's father had indeed been distracted by the newspaper early in the morning; he originally intended to ask, but seeing that Ye Yaodong hadn't woken up fully, and then getting busy reading the newspaper to everyone, he had long since put the matter of the television out of his mind.

By lunchtime, when Ye Yaodong returned, he remembered to ask, but Ye Yaodong, as usual, said with righteous indignation that he had forgotten and only mentioned doing it next time.

Taking advantage of the mealtime, before his father actively ran out to earn his status as a ten-thousand-yuan household, he also asked his father about the harvest situation during this period.

He had already learned about it from Chen Baoxing in the morning, but since their perspectives differed, the accounts naturally had discrepancies and might have omissions; moreover, having just returned, he hadn't yet chatted with his father.

"Now that you're back, I can finally catch my breath..."

"Was the massage too tiring?"

Ye's father almost spat out his mouthful of rice.

He looked left and right; fortunately, the two of them were sitting on the steps at a corner ventilation opening; just to discuss the goods, which wasn't suitable for others to overhear, so they had moved a bit further away from the others.

Besides, everyone else was holding their lunch boxes, chatting enthusiastically while eating, and the noise covered their voices.

"It's your delivery work that's too troublesome; you have to record, sort, weigh, and deliver, not to mention dealing with those people and forcing a smile; I can't handle it, so I'll do it for you."

"Oh, I thought going for massages every few days was too tiring."

Ye's father didn't respond to his words and raised his voice, "I'll just drive the tractor."

"Indeed, there's still the goal of becoming a ten-thousand-yuan household waiting for you; it's already July, the lunar calendar is almost June, and it's less than half a year until returning home for the New Year."

"Listen to that silly kid talking nonsense; he's blowing his own horn and putting it on me; what ten-thousand-yuan household earnings? Tell him to make up for it when we celebrate the New Year."

"No!" Ye Chenghe heard it; his grandfather had raised his voice just now, sounding very excited.

Ye's father turned his head and shot a glare at Ye Chenghe, "Don't go to that Demon Capital either. You have a pile of work here you're not doing, yet you run around everywhere. What's so good about running around? The places are all much the same—land and houses. What's there to see?"

"That's different. I heard the Demon Capital is developing incredibly well. I'm going to see if there are opportunities to get rich."

"Get rich your head! Aren't you rich enough already? Can you even keep up? You don't even bother with proper fishing, what else do you want to do?"

"Do you think I'm going to catch fish for a lifetime, go to sea for a lifetime, and be a fisherman for a lifetime? Once I've made money, I'll definitely switch to something else, do some easier work. Otherwise, what's the point of making money? Even you know you can't bear for Brother Brother Ahai, your beloved grandson, to suffer the hardships of going to sea."

"That's different. He's a grandson..."

"I'm a grandson too, the old lady's darling. Who has a lower status than whom?"

"Then besides fishing, what money can you earn? What else do you know how to earn? Do you think money is that easy to make? With your eyes blind to everything, money just falls into your pockets? Don't be so arrogant. Besides fishing, where is it that easy for you to make money?"

"You're underestimating me, right? I can't do other things, but can't I buy houses? Can't I buy land?"

Ye Yaodong was full of pride. He might be blind to everything else, but buying land would never go wrong. It was the safest deal, a profit of ten thousand for one, and he didn't even need to buy much.

Doing other things might lead to losses, but buying land and houses would never let him down.

Although his current money was enough to spend, buying some land and houses to keep there was also a guarantee for future generations.

Having been reborn into this era, even if he did nothing else, surely he knew how to buy land?

A few years ago, policies hadn't been implemented yet, various policy boundaries were very vague, and everywhere was chaotic, so he dared not run around. Now the crackdown had passed, and it was still ongoing, so security in various places had improved somewhat.

It was already 1988, the perfect time to go to the Demon Capital to see the Demon Capital during its period of rapid development.

Ye's father was stunned for a moment. "You're still thinking of going to the Demon Capital to buy land?"

"I have that idea."

Originally, he wanted to go see the shipyard, but since he was going there anyway, it would be unreasonable not to see the famous Pudong.

"Can you see it all? Don't buy it only to have locals occupy it later."

"Laws are much more standardized now. By the time, if the procedures are fully completed, the contracts are written clearly, and everything that needs filing is filed, it should be much better."

Wanting to take advantage, wanting to make money, trouble is inevitable; this is something that cannot be avoided no matter what.

If you list things clearly in advance, if a dispute really arises, he will be the party with reason and evidence. At most, he might be judged to pay some compensation later, but he would definitely have made a profit.

"What's the use of you buying land everywhere? It would be enough to buy some over at our own place."

"What's the use of land? Are you stupid? Population is the foundation of development, and land is the lifeline. You can never have too much land in hand. What does it matter if it's far away? After all, it's a big city. A piece of land in a big city is worth much more than land in our small place."

Ye's father couldn't argue with him; no matter how he said it, Ye Yaodong had the logic, so he didn't say much more.

"Just messing around blindly. You look after it yourself. Anyway, it's the money you earned yourself; mess around however you want."

"So in about half a month or so, you'll have to cover my shift to deliver goods."

The time wasn't set yet, so he mentioned an approximate time first. Anyway, Lin Ji had mentioned an approximate time before, so it probably wouldn't differ by more than a few days.

"Understood," Ye's father muttered, "Just right, I don't have to drive anymore. Damn, they call me a 'Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household,' do what the hell..."

"What's a Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household? When the grandchildren generation gets to age and marries one by one, you'll have your chance to bleed big."

Ye's father was puzzled. "What do you mean? For the grandchildren to marry and get wives, isn't that the job of you parents?"

"Mother said that for the grandchildren's weddings, regardless of gender, she will pay half the bride price and half the dowry."

Ye's father had just heard this, but thinking about it, he felt it was indeed appropriate.

The two old people couldn't take their money to the grave anyway. They had already saved quite a bit of money; adding a little for the grandchildren's weddings was only right.

"Your mother is right. We'll do as she says when the time comes."

"So you earn a bit more now, work a few more years. Who knows, in 20 years, the bride price might skyrocket to astronomical prices, hehe..."

Draining their coffin savings, who knows if they could even gather half the bride price and dowry for the grandchildren.

"How is that possible? At most a few hundred or a thousand yuan. That's already more than ten times what we paid when we got married."

"Hehe... So it's not rising?"

"Don't be a jinx. Your mother and I will work a few more years; we can definitely afford to add some bride price and dowry for the few grandchildren."

"Then you work a few more years."

"You're just hoping I work until I die."

"That's not necessary. After all, I'm your biological son, not someone you picked up."

Ye's father quickly shoveled the rice into his mouth, suddenly feeling a renewed sense of urgency to make money.

"Ajiang, Chenghe, have you finished eating? Let's go..."

"Hurry up. Stop dawdling. You've been eating for half a day, yet you're still chattering there. Are you eating or chatting?"

Ye Ye Chengjiang looked up in astonishment. "Didn't you say the sun is very strong at noon, so we shouldn't work so hard, and should take a nap after eating?"

"If you don't work hard and earn more while you're young, and aren't proactive, you'll have your time to cry when you're old. Hurry up..."

Ye Chenghe said quietly, "But you're old now, and I don't see you being very leisurely. You still have to work, don't you?"

The two brothers exchanged a glance, then looked up at the scorching sun again. They could only put away their lunch boxes and follow along.

Although they really wanted to make money, they didn't want to go out to earn it when it was so hot at noon. Besides, they were already making plenty of money; earning a little less at noon every day was fine.

Ye Yaodong suddenly felt his father was full of energy.

Just a moment ago, he was saying "do what the hell."

People, besides benefits, also need some pressure. Only with pressure is there motivation.

See, for the sake of face, for the ability to provide bride price and dowry money for the grandchildren, the old man has to forge ahead bravely.

Ye Yaodong didn't just want to go to the Demon Capital himself; he also wanted to coax his eldest and second brothers. However, they were both at sea and hadn't returned yet, so he didn't know when they would be back.

According to what his father said, it probably wouldn't exceed five days; they should return to rest soon. He would try to coax them then.

Anyway, his friends were inherently lazy by nature. As soon as he mentioned going to the Demon Capital, they immediately agreed to go and take a look, to broaden their horizons. He didn't need to waste any breath persuading them at all.

Sometimes it wasn't that he didn't want to pull his eldest and second brothers along, but they were too conservative, always seeking stability. Sometimes it was too much effort; they had to turn their own minds around first.

But his friends were different; they were kindred spirits. As soon as he said it, they immediately agreed. Naturally, his friends followed him closely.

However, hearing his father say today that his eldest and second brothers also intended to buy another boat and work separately.

Over the past half year, they had earned quite a bit of money—the returns were clearly visible—and being out and about had broadened their horizons, giving them some ideas and ambitions.

These cautious types only dare to go all out after tasting the sweetness; that's quite normal—most people are like that.

Blindly following along is rare, very rare—no one would gamble everything away just because of a few words from someone else.

His eldest brother and second brother were now considered to be at the forefront—not the best, but well above average—and in the village they could be counted among the well-off, which was pretty good.

Otherwise, his sister-in-law wouldn't have been so generous as to set such a high bride price for Ye Chenghe's wife—it was because they had money to spare, and on top of that, he was the first of the grandchildren's generation.

Their family was now a household of some standing, and giving a more generous bride price also saved face.

When the time came, he'd go with him to Magic Capital to buy two plots of land, and then they'd be set for life.

Lin Ji had probably been very busy since coming up to Zhou City; Ye Yaodong hadn't run into him at all for five days straight. He'd originally wanted to ask him how the cargo ship to Magic Capital was going.

Now he could only leave a message with the cafeteria staff, asking them to pass it along when they saw him, and to have Lin Ji come find him when he got back in the evening.

Only the cafeteria staff could occasionally catch sight of him.

He'd heard that sometimes Lin Ji would leave before dawn and only return in the dead of night, occasionally showing up at the cafeteria for breakfast, but sometimes he wouldn't be seen for days—like a dragon showing its head but never its tail.

He himself wasn't in any great rush; if not this month, then next month would be fine. But Fatty and the others were more anxious than he was, pestering him every day about when they'd go to Magic Capital, wishing they could fly there right away.

Truly, the Emperor may not be anxious, but the eunuch is worried to death.

After arranging for the cafeteria staff to pass the message, he finally managed to catch sight of the man just as it was getting dark.

Lin Ji came back stubbled and travel-worn, and went straight to find him, getting right to the point and asking what was up.

This actually made Ye Yaodong a bit embarrassed; he suddenly couldn't bring himself to speak—the man was so busy, and here he was asking about some trivial matter.

He laughed awkwardly. "I wanted to ask you—how's the new cargo shipping route going? It's been about a week since I last saw you."

"It's all arranged. The routes for the two new ships are both to Magic Capital—there's plenty of cargo there, easy to pick up jobs."

"That's good. Calling you back today didn't get in the way of your work, did it?"

"Just finished up. I was planning to come back early today to rest—I've been working day and night these past few days, I'm exhausted. How about I treat you to a massage? Let's go relax together?"

Suddenly, several people popped out from behind Ye Yaodong, all of them overjoyed.

"Great, great! Let's all go!"

"The more the merrier!"

"Perfect, we just finished dinner!"

Lin Ji looked at them in surprise.

Ye Yaodong elbowed each of them. "Where did you lot pop out from?"

"We just finished dinner and were coming out of the cafeteria, thinking of calling you for a card game, but then we saw you two talking here, so we thought we'd eavesdrop a bit."

"You're certainly honest about it!"

A'Zheng grinned sheepishly. "You were standing by the road chatting, and it didn't look like you were talking about anything secret, so there shouldn't be anything we can't hear."

"Don't listen to his nonsense. We were thinking that weren't you looking for A'Shang these past couple of days to ask about the passenger ship? Figured you must be talking about that, so we crept closer to listen." A'Guang explained.

Fatty glared at A'Zheng too. "Would we just eavesdrop on people? We only came closer because we knew what you were talking about."

Lin Ji said with a smile, "You lot are quite close, aren't you."

"Yes, yes! We grew up sharing the same pair of pants—everything we do, we do together."

"So of course we have to go for a massage together too."

"Haha, let's go—massage together!"

"Share the good fortune—Dongzi's treating!"

A'Zheng draped an arm over Lin Ji's shoulder while stretching up on tiptoes to reach Ye Yaodong's.

"You f*cking—look at you, making all the arrangements, and you want me to treat?!"

"You treat, you treat—don't be shy, you treat!"

"Get lost—if you're not tall enough, stop embarrassing yourself, stop standing on tiptoes!"

"F*ck, you're f*cking attacking me personally!"

"Dongzi, should we call our dad along?" A'Guang asked with a grin.

"Damn, you're more filial than me."

Lin Ji looked at them in bewilderment. "You're all so filial… you want to bring Laozi along too?"

"Of course. My father-in-law has worked hard his whole life—when it's time to enjoy, of course we have to let him enjoy properly."

Ye Yaodong retorted, "Why don't you bring your dad along?"

A'Zheng laughed. "You don't know, do you? Last time he brought his dad, and now his dad enjoys it so much he doesn't even need anyone to take him—he just wobbles there on his own with his hands behind his back."

"Good son."

"Your dad worked hard his whole life, and so did mine. My dad had it even harder than yours—my mother passed away early."

"That's true, your dad certainly deserves to enjoy himself properly."

Lin Ji looked at them with a face full of dark lines—no wonder they all hung out together.

……

(End of chapter)