Chapter 1521: Buy Boats and Machines

Ye Yaodong recorded the things to be done one by one.

Just after the New Year, he felt like opening up wasteland, with a pile of things to do.

After lunch, he squinted for a while, and then took the small assistant out without stopping, first stabilizing the newly met bosses and finalizing the cooperation.

Now that work has just started, many factories may not have started work, or have just started work. It is relatively easy to talk about supplying goods.

But there are also walls, and he is also prepared for individual goods to be left over and dried by himself. Anyway, there are always leftovers.

After the construction site officially started work the next day, he didn't care anymore, and arranged for a logistics supervisor to watch over there.

Originally, he had arranged more than a dozen logistics replacements here. In case of special circumstances, he also needed shift work, and drying was also needed here.

Ye Yaodong spent half a month before arranging

This time, he wasn't going alone either; his young assistant, Chen Baoxing, stayed behind to help his father with the records, while he brought along another cousin, Chen Baoguo, to serve as his temporary assistant.

Anyway, he had plenty of extended relatives, and the next generation was growing up; many of those working in logistics were young juniors, so he treated it as mentoring—he needed the manpower regardless.

Going out alone was a bit dull, and with two people, they could look out for each other; if anything happened, there would be someone by his side.

Ye Yaodong watched his father work for three days, and seeing that no issues arose and that all the factories recognized him, he gave a few instructions and left for Shanghai the next day.

This time, he didn't drive his motorcycle; he only moved a bicycle onto the boat, as not all boats could transport motorcycles.

He set off early and arrived early; he didn't go to the Western-style house first that day, but went straight to the Jiangnan Shipyard.

However, he had a wasted trip; Director Zhang, who had received him initially and helped him with the brokerage, was on leave today and wasn't at work.

He had no choice but to briefly explain his needs to the person on duty, take a general tour, and wait to come back tomorrow.

After all, it was getting late, and after wandering around a bit to understand the construction costs, the sky was already turning dark.

The Western-style house was still in the same state as when he left before the New Year; it had only been a month, and he didn't care about the dust, so he just shook out the quilt and went straight to sleep.

When his cousin Chen Baoguo saw the Western-style house, he was stunned, his mouth hanging wide open. He immediately pledged his loyalty, saying he would work hard to earn a big house of his own in the future, which left Ye Yaodong feeling both amused and helpless.

When he went to the shipyard the next day, Director Zhang was there, and as soon as he saw him, he came over with a face full of smiles.

"Oh my, what wind blew Comrade Ye Yaodong over here?"

"Director Zhang, you're a very busy man now; I came by yesterday and didn't see you."

"Not at all, not at all. I had something to attend to yesterday, so I arranged for time off in advance. I just heard from a colleague that you came by yesterday wanting to order a thousand-ton fishing boat?"

"That's right."

Although Director Zhang had already been surprised once, hearing his affirmative reply still left a look of astonishment on his face.

"Really?"

"Of course. How could I joke about this? Wouldn't that be playing you for a fool?"

Director Zhang didn't quite know what to say. When Ye Yaodong came last year, he had only taken him around for a tour out of boredom because the man was a smooth talker; he hadn't truly believed he could buy a thousand-ton fishing boat, and he had treated the words Ye Yaodong said upon leaving as mere pleasantries.

Now he was doing it for real?

"Are you thirty yet?"

"Huh?"

Ye Yaodong was momentarily dumbfounded. Was there an age requirement for buying a thousand-ton fishing boat?

"The waves behind the Yangtze River push the ones in front! You're so young and already able to buy a thousand-ton fishing boat; that's truly incredible. Usually, the ones ordering thousand-ton boats here are state-run units or fishing companies; I've never seen an individual come to place an order."

"Is that so? Then I guess I was lucky you didn't kick me out last year?"

"Haha, it wouldn't have come to that."

"Then could you first introduce the configuration of a thousand-ton fishing boat and the corresponding construction costs? If there's a finished boat I can look at for reference, that would be best."

"Let's go, there's one currently under construction; I'll introduce it to you while we look..."

Ordering a thousand-ton fishing boat wasn't something that could be settled in a day or two; there were numerous details and configuration requirements involved, and even after a quote was issued, it required back-and-forth negotiation.

Although Ye Yaodong was in a hurry, he knew it couldn't be rushed, so he had to run there every day, while also finding time to go to the machinery factory to order large-scale dryers.

These large-scale dryers couldn't be settled in a day or two either, and it wasn't a matter of just looking at them and placing an order; it also required back-and-forth negotiation.

But this was simpler than the large fishing boat, as the fishing boat was much more complex due to its configuration and equipment.

Because of negotiating these two matters, Ye Yaodong stayed in Shanghai for a full half-month before he successively finalized both major tasks.

However, he only had 500,000 on him; 200,000 was brought from home, and the remaining 300,000 was what he had saved up in the days leading up to his trip to Shanghai. The accounts for the other boats hadn't been settled yet, so he had just brought all the cash he had on him.

And because he had ordered the large-scale dryers earlier than the fishing boat, he had already paid 300,000 to the machinery factory as a deposit. The remaining 200,000 could barely serve as the down payment for the boat; if the deposit was short, he would have to go back and get more to make up for it.

The construction cost of a thousand-ton fishing boat was 1.3 million. A fishing boat isn't a simple case of 1+1=2; the higher the configuration, the more expensive it is.

Ye Yaodong also understood that if this fishing boat were placed after 2020, it would cost millions, so after negotiating for half a month and failing to lower the price, he signed the contract quite decisively.

The payment method was also in installments: first, a 30% deposit, followed by two 20% payments during production, until the full amount was paid, at which point he could take delivery of the boat.

He had no objections to this payment method.

His family had plenty of cash now, and if his fishing boat operations remained stable, he would be bringing in hundreds of thousands every month, which would be perfect for paying off the installments here.

According to his estimates, the money he earned this year would at least double compared to last year, or if not double, at least increase by two-thirds.

Last year he had earned nearly 4 million; this year he figured he could make at least 6 or 7 million, though it was possible that this year's marine resources wouldn't be as good.

After all, the number of fishing boats at sea was increasing, and everyone was fishing frantically; near-shore resources would gradually be depleted, but he could still earn several million.

The more Ye Yaodong thought about it, the more pleased he felt. Sure enough, by mastering the means of production and the channels, he had the potential to become a capitalist.

Chen Baoguo had been by his side for half a month, and from his initial state of being dumbfounded, he remained dumbfounded to the very end.

He felt that the people in the village who flattered Uncle Dong didn't even come close to the mark; they thought their bragging reached the heavens, but in reality, they hadn't even touched the hem of his garment.

Uncle Dong's strength was simply not on the same level as they imagined; it was unimaginable and bottomless. He had originally thought he had looked at him highly enough, but in reality, he hadn't even touched the surface.

The combined wealth of the entire village couldn't rival Uncle Dong's personal net worth. With millions being thrown around, he was scared just hearing the numbers.

These were astronomical figures he couldn't have imagined in his entire life.

Yet, in Uncle Dong's mouth, they were commonplace. When those bundles of cash were brought out, his eyes went straight, and he also saw the gun hidden in Uncle Dong's jacket, which made his heart tremble again and again, and he secretly swallowed his saliva several times.

After all, he was still a young man who hadn't seen much of the world; his recent experiences were unprecedented in his dozen or so years of life and exceeded his personal understanding.

Over the past few days, he couldn't help but become increasingly respectful.

"Uncle Dong..."

"Hmm?"

Chen Baoguo said cautiously, "Are we going back to get money and then coming back again?"

"Right, I have to hurry back to book the boat. We'll go back tomorrow and come back the day after to pay."

"Uncle Dong, you... you're too awesome..."

"Hehe, work hard and you won't be shortchanged in the future. You'll be able to live in a big house too."

He nodded repeatedly.

"Then before we leave, should we go to the other shipyards to check on the progress of the boats?"

"No need, seeing them once is enough. We're in a hurry now."

Over the past half-month, besides ordering the large-scale dryers and the thousand-ton fishing boat, Ye Yaodong had also found time to visit the shipyard once or twice to check on the progress of the two ocean-going fishing boats he had ordered.

And the more Chen Baoguo was exposed to it, the more he saw, and the more surprised he became.

In places others didn't know about, Uncle Dong had actually hidden many super-large boats that hadn't been delivered yet and were still in production.

Once they were all delivered, he couldn't even imagine how many boats he would have.

"Uncle Dong, I think the people in the village shouldn't call you 'Salted Fish Dong'; they should call you 'Boat King Dong.' All the boats in the village combined aren't worth as much as one of your boats."

"Haha, I think so too."

"You're just too low-key; you haven't let anyone know how many boats you have. Everyone doesn't know you still have so many boats yet to be delivered. This 'Boat King Dong' title must be yours; it's well-deserved!"

"You'll naturally know in the future."

"It's too amazing, too awesome; I'm stunned."

"Stop being stunned. Hurry to the pier and book a boat for me, buy the tickets. If you can't buy tomorrow's tickets, I'll replace you next time."

Chen Baoguo was anxious. "Right away, I'll definitely be able to buy them."

Ye Yaodong had been walking for a day and was too lazy to move. Once they reached the pier, he had him go inquire and run errands to buy the tickets. Only after they were bought did they go to eat, and only after eating did they pedal the bicycle back to the Western-style house.

"Uncle Dong, this Western-style house of yours shouldn't be cheap, right?"

"It's quite cheap."

"The 'cheap' you're talking about... shouldn't be just a few thousand or ten thousand, right?"

"You're ugly, but you have beautiful thoughts?"

"Uh..."

Ye Yaodong didn't say much more to him and just dismissed him to go to sleep.

Ye's father had been waiting anxiously at home, but Ye Yaodong hadn't called back, and he couldn't call to urge him.

Finally seeing him return, he hurriedly pulled him aside to complain, blaming him for being gone so long—he had promised to be gone for a week, but ended up being gone for half a month.

"I've turned my hair white for you. Do you know how many things there are now? How much work there is? The volume is so huge, and you're still content to be gone for so long..."

Ye's father rambled on for a long time, and Ye Yaodong just kept nodding, responding with "uh-huh" and "yeah."

Only after his father had finished venting did he ask how much money had been earned in the past half-month.

"It's all in the sacks; go count it yourself."

"Forget it, I'll just have Old You bring me the ledger."

This couldn't be faked; the money was all delivered and collected by his father personally, without passing through anyone else's hands. Even if Old You's ledger was written in fancy script, the money wouldn't be short.

If he wanted to know how much was earned, he could just take the ledger and look at it; did he need to count it himself?

"You should have finished everything, right? Boat bought? Dryers bought too, right? Not leaving again, right?"

"I came back to get money; it wasn't enough, I have to go one more time..."

"You have to go again? You took 500,000 over there, and it's still not enough?"

"I'll be back in a day or two."

Ye Yaodong told him about the construction cost of the boat and the large-scale dryers, and Ye's father felt his heart ache just listening.

"How come you're spending more and more? That's 2 million spent just like that? I couldn't earn this much money in several lifetimes..."

"So you just watch me spend it; I didn't ask you to spend it."

"But you asked me to help earn it. If you weren't tossing and turning, these 2 million would be enough to eat and drink for two lifetimes."

"If I toss and turn a bit, who knows, maybe these 2 million can turn into a hundred times that? Don't worry, I have a plan. The tickets are already bought; I'll go again tomorrow, and if all goes well, I'll be back the day after."

Ye's father frowned and sighed, his heart aching terribly.

Although it wasn't his money, thinking about how Dongzi was about to spend so much, his heart felt twisted together. He shook his head, deciding that out of sight was out of mind, and hurried away from him, lest he couldn't help but scold him a couple more times later.

Ye Yaodong made another non-stop trip to Shanghai, but he had a wasted trip again and didn't run into Director Zhang.

He was a bit puzzled. How could this person be absent every other day? Were state-owned enterprises this lax?

He waited another day before seeing him return to work.

"I say, Director Zhang, your job is way too relaxed, isn't it?"

Director Zhang laughed awkwardly. "Keep it down. I didn't think you'd go back to get money so quickly, so I went to take care of some business yesterday."

"What business is so urgent that it's more important than receiving a million-dollar order?"

Director Zhang looked left and right before whispering, "For the past few months, I've been intermittently helping people bridge connections to sell houses and shops."

Ye Yaodong was surprised, both his eyebrows arching up. "You've tasted the sweetness and started doing brokerage?"

"Brokerage? That counts, I suppose. It's just that when acquaintances want to buy or sell houses, I help bridge the connection."

"Oh my, so I gave you the inspiration for this?"

"Hehe, something like that, something like that..."

"Then you must have earned quite a bit, otherwise you wouldn't be neglecting your good job at a state-owned enterprise, not doing your work as office director, and taking leave every other day."

"Hehe..."

Damn it, state-owned enterprises are indeed good; they don't fire people easily, it's an iron rice bowl for life, and it doesn't affect doing side jobs.

"You didn't even call me when you had such a good thing going."

"What good thing?" Director Zhang was momentarily confused.

"Didn't I tell you last year? If anyone wants to sell houses, shops, or land, you should look for me."

"Didn't you buy them all? I thought you were just being polite. Besides, I couldn't get in touch with you."

"Damn it, I gave you my home number. As long as you call and say you're looking for Ye Yaodong, someone will naturally leave me a message."

"Uh, I'll go back and flip through my phone book to check."

"Flip through what? Isn't the phone number I left on the fishing boat order right there?"

"Be a bit more civilized, hehe."

"I only use foul language because I treat you as one of my own."

Director Zhang couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Was it an honor to hear him curse?

Ye Yaodong added, "Next time someone sells a house or land, remember to call me."

"Why are you so keen on buying houses and land?"

"I'm also keen on buying shops. Isn't building up assets a good thing? It's never wrong to buy more fixed assets when you have extra money in hand, right? Anyway, if I need a large sum of money, I can just sell them later."

"You can also save it in the bank; the interest is also very high. Buying land isn't necessarily useful; the land in Pudong is so cheap, buying it is useless."

"Anyway, if you have anyone on hand selling houses, shops, or land, contacting me is the right thing to do."

"You're so young, and you can't spend all your money? Is fishing that profitable?"

"I don't know about others, but I earn my money with my life. Naturally, I don't want to work so hard in the future, which is why I'm thinking about buying houses and land to build up assets."

"Fine, I've noted it down."

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment and gave him another hint. "Since you're already doing brokerage, why not get a space, hang up a sign, and start a brokerage office? Charge a commission with clearly marked prices. That way, people who need to sell or buy houses, shops, or land in the future can come directly to you. You can expand your business faster without just dealing with acquaintances."

Director Zhang frowned. "That's a bit too much trouble, and it wastes time, interferes with my work. I originally only helped bridge connections because acquaintances asked."

"This doesn't necessarily require you to sit there. You can still go to your job and just hire someone to sit at the office and take on business, pay them a salary. That way, you can earn the commission and save yourself the trouble."

He lowered his head to think. "What you said makes some sense; I'll ponder it."

"Ponder it later; process the paperwork for me first."

"Alright, sure."

Ye Yaodong reminded him of this not just to do him a favor, but also for his own convenience.

If he could get the brokerage company set up in advance, wouldn't it be much more convenient to buy and sell houses in Shanghai in the future?

He would have resources to choose from, a place to go for consultation, and people familiar with the paperwork to help run errands. He would only need to pay a small commission, which would save a lot of trouble.

It was mutually beneficial and good for everyone.

In case there was a wave of layoffs and he got cut, he would still have a fallback and wouldn't have to worry until his hair turned white.

Ye Yaodong spent half a day getting the boat matter completely settled.

He originally wanted to leave immediately, but was held back by Director Zhang and forced to stay for a meal, then talk about the brokerage business because he really wanted to hear his advice.

Ye Yaodong was only half-knowledgeable himself, knowing only the generalities, mainly the trends and the usefulness of brokerage.

He just spoke casually, but it was enough to make people benefit a lot.

After the meal, Director Zhang had already patted his chest and promised that next time someone sold a house or shop, he would definitely contact him first and give him priority in choosing resources.

Ye Yaodong was satisfied; he hadn't wasted his breath.

Chen Baoguo, however, couldn't quite understand why he still wanted to buy houses, land, and shops when he already had a Western-style house, and heard he had shops and land too.

However, there was no room for him to interject, and Ye Yaodong didn't intend to explain it to him.

If everyone came to ask him this question, his mouth would be dry from talking.

Anyway, the smart ones would know to learn from him; being able to stay by his side was the greatest fortune for a young man!

Writer's block, I'm super blocked lately. What I write is dry as dust; I want to explode with updates but I can't. Let's transition a bit; once the boat is in hand, we'll head out to sea.

Drank a cup of coffee, will work on another chapter in the middle of the night to make up for it.

(End of Chapter)