Chapter 1480: Confiscated

This time collecting payments, he didn't go through Old You's hands — he counted the money himself and recorded the names and amounts himself.

It wasn't complicated to begin with.

He just hadn't expected that before his dad had even returned from driving the tractor, he'd already collected all the money — basically everyone with a boat was on the list.

Ye Yaodong couldn't help feeling a bit smug — it had to be him.

One sentence, and everyone handed their money over to him without a single person distrusting him.

Of course, he was also worth trusting. When everyone handed him the money, he even made a point to ask whose hands it should go to — mother, wife, or father.

He also promised that he'd go make phone calls first thing tomorrow morning, and if things went fast, the money would reach everyone's home by the afternoon. They could also call back tomorrow to verify.

The money he'd received wasn't a small amount either — over 130,000. Many people had also been sending money home on and off during this period.

He figured if he put in another 20,000 of his own, rounding it up to 150,000 would be enough for the deposit. The factory was still holding 200,000 of his deposit money, but that was for the 45-meter boat he ordered last year — even with the price increase, he still wanted it.

This time he was ordering two 24-meter boats, one 36-meter, and one 43-meter.

The delivery dates were probably all around the New Year.

As for the 45-meter boat he'd reserved last year, he'd ask for specifics when signing the contract — see roughly when next year it could be ready.

Originally it was supposed to be the end of next year, but now there were definitely a lot of cancellations, so he'd have to push it forward for him.

If someone canceled and reordered, they'd definitely have to be queued behind him.

Early the next morning, Ye Yaodong went out to make phone calls.

Lin Lin Xiuqing's current routine was mornings at the workshop, afternoons at the factory. When he called, the person who picked up happened to be Lin Lin Xiuqing, not the old lady.

He'd been about to exchange a few pleasantries, but once Lin Lin Xiuqing confirmed it was him, she started firing away nonstop.

"Dad called back yesterday afternoon and said you told him you wanted to sell off those dozen-plus small boats? Are you making too much money and feeling uncomfortable about it? Wanting to play savior for the people?"

"Huh? Damn, he's that quick — I only mentioned it casually, and he actually called you to tattle."

"He just asked me to tell you — don't get too big for your britches just because you're making money. The money we should make, we definitely have to keep making. How can we let others take the bargain?"

"I know, I know."

Wasn't he just thinking those were all cousins?

The money those boats made was only pocket change compared to the big boats.

Lin Lin Xiuqing continued on the other end of the line: "Don't go off doing whatever you want. If there's something, tell me first so I can remind you. Otherwise, with you making so much money all of a sudden, your head gets heated up…"

"I know, I know…"

"In a few years, once we have more big boats and you can't handle it all, we can sell them off cheaper then. Right now, we definitely have to keep earning. You've hired people to do the accounts anyway, so you don't have to do it yourself…"

"I know…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing wouldn't let him off, still chattering on and on around this topic, giving him a thorough brainwashing, reminding him — the money the family should earn had to be earned first, couldn't be given away cheap to others. Who ever complains about having too much money?

After getting the call from Ye's father yesterday, she hadn't gone anywhere today, just stayed by the phone, waiting for him to call back so she could have a proper talk with him.

Ye Yaodong's head was swelling from listening to her. He wasn't home, and even through the phone he could still hear the nagging. But he couldn't just hang up — he still had a list of names to report to her.

"Alright, alright, enough already, my ears are growing calluses. Wasn't I just thinking about our whole big family prospering together?"

"One person being strong isn't called strong. When everyone around you is strong at the same time — that's called strong. Where's the inflation in that?"

"Besides, even though I don't do the accounts, doesn't mean I don't look at them? How can I just let them calculate whatever and that's that? I still have to check the books once in a while. A dozen-plus small boats don't earn half of what one big boat does — doesn't that waste energy? I was just thinking about putting more energy into the big boats."

"Help them out a bit, and when the time comes everyone can afford a big boat. Then I get a few fresh-collection boats — won't I be able to earn even more from it?"

"We need to broaden our horizons. Once we've earned enough, once it's about right, we pull back a bit. How can we chase every last copper coin?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing was at a loss for words for a moment, but then said: "But isn't it still good money right now? Instead of hoping other people also buy big boats, wouldn't it be faster to just hope you yourself buy a few more?"

"I am buying, but the shipyard has to build them for me. I've ordered too many — they won't even take the orders. How can they serve just me alone? And didn't I already say it? One person being strong isn't called strong. If everyone even remotely related stands up, not to mention how awesome that is, at least when they go out, everyone can speak louder. When others look at our village, they'll have to take it a few times more seriously. Unity is strength."

"You sure think big."

"Isn't it just because I've seen more? And when you're out and about, everyone sticks together — who doesn't have a bit of collective honor? Besides, everyone's worked for me all these years, helped me make so much money. Of course I hope they do well too."

"But you still have to wait a few years before selling. Right now is exactly when the money's good. Just the rental income from those boats is enough to cover all the workers' wages — saves a big chunk."

"Got it, then let's wait two more years. Once I'm not fishing the nearshore anymore and have to go farther out, I'll sell the boats to them, let them accumulate a bit more."

Once they'd accumulated for two years, he'd then egg everyone on to go deep-sea or international waters with him. By then, in everyone's eyes, he'd also have plenty of experience.

Then, he'd keep taking shares — he could make money, and the others could just share the risk. When the time came, everyone would definitely follow right behind him again, and he'd set up a few more fresh-collection boats to earn even more.

This could be considered him following through from start to finish — individual prosperity driving collective prosperity.

Lin Lin Xiuqing only felt relieved after hearing this, then earnestly soothed and made up for it.

"We're renting the boats to them, and they're already better off than boat workers. That already counts as helping them. We've already given priority to relatives in everything."

"At most, just drop a hint to them now — say that in a couple of years, once you have more big boats and don't have the energy to manage, you'll sell them the small boats."

"That way everyone has something to look forward to, and they won't all go buy new boats. If they all run off, we'll have to find new people to rent to, and then we'd have to give priority to selling to the renters anyway."

"Knowing our boats will be sold cheap in a couple of years, everyone will definitely think about holding on a bit, won't rush to buy new boats. That way they can also save up a bit more money on hand."

Ye Yaodong listened and chimed in, "Alright, alright, got it, we'll do it your way. Just drop a hint for now, hold off for two years."

"Right, that way it also keeps everyone steady."

Actually, by Lin Lin Xiuqing's logic, what's the harm in just keeping them? Hire a few more people to help out, keep good books — it's making money anyway, what's wrong with putting in a bit more effort.

But Ye Yaodong knew that nearshore resources would slowly deplete, many fish species nearly fished to extinction, until the state stepped in and implemented a fishing moratorium that eased things.

He'd rather save that energy and put it toward the big boats.

After this matter was settled, he finally brought up the real business.

When Ye's father called yesterday, he'd also mentioned some things. Lin Lin Xiuqing was mentally prepared, didn't say much, and agreed cleanly right away, telling him to report the names and amounts.

He reported one, she recorded one.

After he'd read them all out, Lin Lin Xiuqing also reported the names back to him to double-check.

People from their own village were fine, but for those not from their village, she asked repeatedly to clarify the address and name, planning to confirm the home address with Ye's mother later.

After all, she'd only married in for 10 years — not like Ye's mother who'd been entrenched locally for decades.

After checking everything over and over and confirming there were no errors, Lin Lin Xiuqing finally asked about the boat.

Yesterday when Ye's father called her, it was mainly to file a complaint; he wasn't particularly clear about the boat, since after all he hadn't gone along to the shipyard.

Ye Yaodong, not minding the phone bill being expensive, carefully told her about the shipyard's price increase, and mentioned that he had taken the opportunity of someone canceling their order to buy up all the boats.

Lin Lin Xiuqing now only nods at his boat purchases, never shakes her head, but she still couldn't help ribbing him.

"The price hike is way too outrageous, jumping up that much all at once — shouldn't it go up gradually?"

"Probably because the hundred-yuan bills were issued, so raw material prices shot up, and on top of that, fishing here really does bring in a lot of money."

"You really called it a few years ago — if you don't buy, things will just keep getting more expensive, and money will keep losing value."

"So now it proves I'm right about everything, right? Listening to me is never wrong. All these years reading the newspaper wasn't for nothing — I've been keeping up with current affairs and the economy."

"Heh, yeah, we listen to you. Good thing we bought a lot a few years back — we've earned it all back now, and the boats are worth even more. Convenient that the shipyard has boats for sale again, so you can go spend all the money you made this month."

Ye Yaodong also took the chance to mention his trip to the Magic City, which was why he wanted to scrape together everyone's money and keep more cash on himself — just in case a chance to strike it rich came up, he'd be ready to act on it.

Lin Lin Xiuqing was now fully convinced by his ideas, and just told him to arrange things as he saw fit, and to call her if he needed anything.

"Be careful out there, and don't get into any conflicts with people."

"A whole bunch of us are going together, don't worry. You be careful too — if anything comes up, call me. You can pass word to Dad, and get the village cadres to keep a closer eye on our house."

"Got it."

Ye Yaodong planned to go back and hurry Fatty along, to see when the phone line would be installed.

After Lin Lin Xiuqing finished the serious talk, the old lady's voice came calling from the other end of the line.

The old lady had been listening nearby the whole time; she just didn't interrupt while they were discussing business — she only pricked up her ears and waited.

After handing the phone over to the old lady, Lin Lin Xiuqing took the list she had just noted down and went inside to count the money first, planning to pay the villagers first, starting with those closest by and working outward.

By the time Ye Yaodong finished the call and strolled back, the closer relatives had all already received their money.

But he didn't know that. Once home, he just told everyone the word had been passed along, and asked them to call home a little later to check — but not to all rush to call at the same time, since delivering to each household one by one wouldn't be that fast.

The impatient ones had already gone out early that morning to call home; most people held themselves back, planning to wait until later.

What if it wasn't that fast — they called and the money hadn't arrived, then they'd have to call again later, wasting money. One call costs at least a buck; normally they might only call home once every half month to report they were safe.

By evening, basically everyone had called home, all of them beaming, saying the money had arrived — that was fast.

"Ah Dong, next time can we just send money home through you too?"

"Yeah, with your help, sending money home is way faster and much more convenient."

Ye Yaodong neither agreed nor refused.

"Next time when? You'll have to save up for a few months, right? It's only half a year until New Year. If your family needs the money urgently, you can come find me then — this little favor I can still do."

"That's good. Normally it's not urgent, and there isn't much money anyway. This time we saved up for several months, and it worked out perfectly to send it back through you. If you hadn't said anything, I'd been planning to send money home in the next couple of days."

Everyone chimed in in agreement, happy as could be — a win for all, really.

Still, early the next morning he prepared to call home and ask A Qing how things had gone — he couldn't just look after his side and neglect home.

Lin Lin Xiuqing's side reported that everything at home was fine.

But over the next few nights, the dogs barked a lot more; she had gotten up several times, and thought to herself that she should raise the wall a bit higher.

She was also a bit shrewd — she hadn't shut the family dogs into their kennels, and over the past two months the dogs had successively had two more litters of puppies, adding over a dozen more.

She discussed it with Ye Ye Ersao, the household in the middle, and along the wall between the two houses, they built a dog kennel by her door — there had originally been one by the door too.

The workshop side also had two dog kennels. Her family now had at least twenty-odd dogs; at night, the moment there was any movement, they'd set off one after another — noisy, really noisy, but also reassuring.

One or two, two or three dogs might get poisoned, but dozens of dogs — surely no one could poison them all, right? Stay alert, and there shouldn't be much of a problem.

Still, she got up the next day and mentioned it to the neighbors on either side.

Everyone around had boats, and had followed Ye Yaodong out to sea and made money; their households were well-off too. Giving them a heads-up meant everyone would be more alert at night, watching out for one another — after all, other families didn't keep as many dogs as his.

Women hold up half the sky — rural women these days are fierce too.

Lin Lin Xiuqing also took the chance to spread the word: if any petty thief actually snuck into her house and got caught, they'd be beaten to death or crippled, no questions asked.

And anyone from the same village as the thief could forget about going out to sea with their boats to make money.

The other women in the village all chimed in in agreement — their village was very united now, twisted into a single rope.

Now, if anyone harmed the collective interest, or harmed the Ye Yaodong family's interest, the whole village wouldn't stand for it.

More than half the village was making money following Ye Yaodong.

And the word Lin Lin Xiuqing put out spread on its own legs, blowing through the neighboring villages.

Generally, in any given village, people pretty much knew who had sticky fingers.

This could also be considered a veiled warning.

Lin Lin Xiuqing had been running the workshop for several years now, and her word carried a lot of weight in the village.

Ye's mother's mouth, borrowing the occasion to go chat with people she knew in the surrounding villages, cursing without naming names and going village by village — it really shook the village to its core.

Ye Yaodong had a lot to busy himself with later; once he heard everything was fine, he got busy too.

At the agreed-upon time, he and his older brother and Ye Ye Erge got up early together and headed to the shipyard to sign the contract and pay.

The contract was pretty much the same as the original order, with only a few minor adjustments per their requests, and the price had gone up 30%. After the three brothers checked it over and confirmed it was correct, they signed the contracts one by one.

This could be considered a major matter settled for the three of them.

"You guys confirming it verbally that day was pretty timely — these past two days, the people who canceled have been trickling back, wanting to order again. Heh…"

The three brothers exchanged glances, all feeling lucky they had gone two days earlier.

Ye Yaodong said, "It's not their shipyard — how can they just cancel and then want to order again whenever they feel like it?"

"Exactly. The nastier they cursed back then, the more they regret now. Begging and plead all they want — it's useless."

Ye Ye Yaopeng asked, "Did they go inquire about the market around, and that's why they regretted it?"

"Of course. Prices are up everywhere — am I the only one? Repair costs have gone up, let alone building costs."

"Good thing we acted in time."

"Mm, we usually go by the deposit too. It's only because you have several hundred thousand sitting here that we trust you."

"Thanks, thanks. We'll follow the rules. Will there be any boats backing out later?"

"Hard to say. If no one comes by to look, I have no way to notify them. Orders that haven't been confirmed as still wanted — we've stopped work on all of them for now. We'll do the confirmed orders first."

Ye Yaodong figured that made sense. With communication being inconvenient, they'd just have to wait for buyers to come by and check the progress to know the situation.

He could only let it go.

After signing the contract, they took another walk around the shipyard before heading back.

With only three days left until the scheduled departure for Modu, he didn't have much to prepare — two changes of clothes and a thousand-odd yuan tucked close to his body would do. After all, it was only a few hours by boat.

It was close, and the round trip was convenient.

He definitely couldn't carry several hundred thousand on his back and take it out under uncertain circumstances.

"Dongzi, the boat matter's settled. We're heading out to sea tonight too."

"We've rested plenty of days already. While there are few typhoons this month, we need to hurry. Starting next month, typhoons will pick up."

Ye Yaodong gave a reply.

The two brothers took turns speaking again.

"When you go to Modu in a couple of days, I'll have to trouble you to keep an eye on the two boys. If they don't listen, just give them a beating."

"Feel free to hit or scold them however you like, as long as you bring them back. I'll tell them later to listen to you."

"Alright."

"Neither of them has seen much of the world. Just follow your arrangements…"

Parents worry themselves to pieces for their children, while the children still don't know anything.

When they reached the doorway, they still saw the two boys squeezed onto the tractor, holding what looked like a magazine or something in their hands, eyes shining, so absorbed they didn't even notice the three of them walking up beside them.

"Holy crap, you guys are reading dirty books!"

Only then did the two notice someone approaching. They immediately hid the magazine behind their backs, then looked at the three of them with faces full of awkwardness.

"Dad, Second Uncle, Third Uncle…"

"Dad…"

The expressions on Ye Ye Yaopeng's and Ye Ye Yaohua's faces were especially awkward, not knowing what to say for the moment.

Ye Yaodong wasn't embarrassed at all, and was even curious enough to want to grab it. "What are you hiding? Bring it out and share. What are you looking at? Where'd you get it?"

The two brothers hid it tightly behind their backs, ignoring him, only staring at their two dads with sheepish smiles.

"Dad, are you back from buying the boat? Have you eaten? Hurry up and go eat, or there won't be any food left."

"Yeah, yeah, we've already eaten. You guys go on ahead."

They weren't worried about Third Uncle seeing it, but being caught by their own dads — that was truly mortifying.

Ye Ye Yaopeng cleared his throat dryly. "Mm, you two aren't allowed to spend money recklessly, and aren't allowed to mess around."

Ye Ye Yaohua also said: "Read more newspapers, and cut down on the other stuff you shouldn't be looking at."

"Hehe, we're just reading ordinary magazines, hehe…"

The two of them didn't know what to say for the moment, and just left.

"Dongzi, aren't you coming?"

"You guys go ahead. I'll check on your behalf — see what kind of trash they're reading."

Once they had walked far away, the two finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Bring it out and let me see. What good stuff are you looking at?"

"Third Uncle, you just called it trash."

"And now it's good stuff?"

Ye Yaodong spread his hands. "Cut the crap, let me take a look. That cover just now nearly made my eyes pop out. You two are completely unashamed, not hiding it at all…"

"Third Uncle, you sit up here, we'll share it with you…"

Ye Chenghe shifted his butt to the side, even giving up the middle spot.

"Who wants to look? Two minors, haven't even grown hair yet…"

"We have!" Ye Chenghe stood right up and argued back.

Ye Yaodong glared at him, then directly snatched the magazine from Ye Ye Chengjiang's hand.

"Damn, this is so white and so big. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. You two really are brazen…"

He rolled the magazine into a cylinder and tapped each of them on the head.

"Confiscated. Minors aren't allowed to look!"

"Ah!"

"Holy crap! We just started looking…"

The two were struck as if by a bolt from the blue sky, and hurriedly jumped off the vehicle to chase after him.

"Third Uncle, give it back. We'll share it with you, it's not like we won't let you look."

"Exactly, Third Uncle, don't try to hog it all!"

The two walked on either side of him, trying to snatch the magazine from his hand.

Ye Yaodong raised his hand high and tapped each of them on the forehead. "Behave, or I'll take this straight to your dads."

"We didn't share it with Dad, but we're sharing it with you…"

"As if I care?"

"You're hogging it all right now."

"Believe it or not, I'll take this to your dads right now and they'll beat your butts to a pulp. In a couple of days, don't even think about coming with me to Modu."

The two immediately didn't dare to act up, but they also didn't want to give up, and kept following beside him.

"Uncle Three, you're being so unfair…"

"We were just at the best part…"

"Where did you get it? How much did it cost?"

"Those two brats really know how to spend—just made some money and already know how to waste it?"

"We didn't buy it. We ran into Fatty selling this at a back alley near the dock—he just gave us one copy."

"We were stunned when we saw him selling it on the street!"

Ye Yaodong was stunned too. "Fatty's hawking Little Imperial Books on the street? Holy shit…"

"Yeah, yeah, business is booming—crowds of people gathered around. We had no idea what he was selling, so we squeezed in during a break."

"People come from morning till night, three layers deep, all fighting to get one."

"He asked us to help sell them, so we took turns delivering—someone stayed behind to help him, so he gave us one copy."

"That damn Fatty's corrupting kids—abandoning honest work to make money off this." He grumbled. No wonder he hadn't been seen for days.

It probably wasn't his first day.

"Uncle Three, we told you already—can we have it back now?"

"Want it? Not a chance! Confiscated!"

Ye Chenghe glared at Ye Ye Chengjiang. "It's all your fault—going to look at that tractor. Now it's gone."

"Where else should we go? The room's full of others, the canteen's packed, every other corner gets full sun—there's no big tree here!"

"You could read under the covers at night."

"Read under your own damn covers—who wants to share a blanket with you? It's sweltering, you'll suffocate."

Both were deeply annoyed—they'd gone out of their way to avoid people and sat on the tractor to read.

And then, just as they hit the climax, they got caught red-handed.

Damn it!

Ye Ye Chengjiang jogged after Ye Yaodong up the stairs. "Uncle Three, let us finish reading first, okay?"

"Uncle Three, please…"

"Uncle Three, we're just glancing—there's really a story inside."

"What story? A porn one?"

Ye Chenghe held up his finger, showing a tiny gap. "Just a little bit! Just a tiny bit!"

Ye Yaodong swatted him again. "I'm worried you won't sleep noon or night—you've got work this afternoon. Go on, go sleep."

"Our hearts are itching—we can't sleep like this…"

"You won't let us finish, we won't sleep…"

"No discussion. Get out."

Ye Yaodong walked straight into the room and slammed the door shut, locking them out.

He shoved the magazine under his pillow, grabbed his lunchbox, then opened the door again—and locked it behind him.

"Hey, Uncle Three, are you treating us like thieves?"

"Aren't you two exactly that?"

Ye Yaodong walked off with his lunchbox to get food, ignoring them. He'd been busy all morning—his stomach was growling.

The two sighed and slumped down in front of their door, blaming each other.

If Ye's father hadn't come upstairs with clean lunchboxes for his nap, they'd have started fighting.

Ye's father was puzzled. Why were they sitting outside the door?

"Hehe, we're waiting for Uncle Three."

"Isn't he eating downstairs?"

"Exactly, so we're waiting here. Open up quick—we're melting."

"It's scorching, huh? Next year I'll plant a few trees…" Ye's father muttered, then unlocked the door and let them in.

They were ecstatic—once inside, their eyes darted around like searchlights.

The sharper-eyed one spotted a corner of the cover peeking out from under the pillow.

Both yanked it out and rolled it into a tight bundle.

"What are you doing? What are you holding? Don't touch Uncle Three's things—his stuff is important…"

They were already running out, their voices echoing down the hallway.

"It's a magazine…"

"Not important to Uncle Three…"

"It's ours…"

"Hey hey hey…"

Ye's father shouted as he chased after them—but too late. By the time he reached the door, they'd turned the corner and dashed down the stairs, faster than rabbits.

"What the hell are those two up to? What did they grab? Been acting weird all morning…"

When Ye Yaodong came upstairs, Ye's father hurried to tell him.

Ye Yaodong gave his father a disgusted look. Right under his nose, and he still didn't know a thing.

His father had been helping them earn money—what an idiot. And now he was asking him?

"None of your business, old man. It's a young person's matter. Leave them alone."

"What kind of young person's matter? Nonsense…"

Those two brats had grown up.

(End of Chapter)