Chapter 1563: Sudden Thunder

Ye Yaodong felt that if they were truly going to engage in resale, they would have to go to Guangzhou.

Many things in Shanghai actually come from Guangzhou; procuring goods there yields higher profits, but with two women unfamiliar with the place, how could a long journey be so easy?

Better to let them trade here for now; he didn't expect them to earn much, and just trying casually to accumulate some experience would suffice.

At least the idea was good, and with a good idea, he certainly couldn't stop them.

Starting with small ventures now, who knows what they might actually accomplish later.

In this life, one by one they had all walked out of the village, their horizons had broadened considerably; even Ah Guang no longer opposed Ye Huimei's antics and supported them as well.

Trying casually was fine; once they got the hang of it later, they could change locations.

Upon hearing that Ye Yaodong had already sent someone to Shanghai and that the boat tickets were bought today, with departure possibly tomorrow, Ye Ye Huimei also felt regret for missing the chance.

"That's fine; I definitely can't leave these past two days. I must first take them to play enough, then find a kindergarten and send them off before I can free my hands. Besides, Dongqing must first list things for me so I know what to buy."

"Mm, you two figure it out yourselves. Once I free my hands, I'll have to go to Shanghai too; we'll see then. If we can go together, I'll take you along."

"Great, then let's talk about it in a few days."

"Then you go play."

Ye Yaodong pinched Pei Yu's rosy cheeks and watched his family of five go out to play.

He was very busy; in the morning he had to hold down the fort at the processing factory to handle order matters, and also discuss with the other two how to expand order volumes, hire sales staff, and so on—a whole bunch of things.

However, naturally he let them make suggestions and let them arrange things; he was only responsible for nodding or refusing.

When the fresh catch boats returned one after another in the afternoon, he had to rush to organize a crowd of people to drive to the dock to receive the goods, then arrange delivery matters.

For large quantities, several vehicles followed him to deliver; for small quantities, they were left for last, and he had those few vehicles split up to deliver separately. They would collect payment according to the cargo lists and hand it over to him upon return, which was much more efficient.

The processing factory no longer needed to purchase from outside; it could supply itself.

After some time, he would have to go to Shanghai again to order a batch of large machines; now that orders were coming in, capacity naturally had to be increased once things stabilized for a while.

For seven consecutive days, Ye Yaodong didn't rest even a single day; busy with inside and outside affairs, he slept only a few hours each day, and he urgently wanted to summon his father back to help.

However, it wasn't the right time yet; his father still had to help watch over the two new ships. In another ten days or half a month, he must summon him back, and then he could free his hands to maintain client relationships.

After playing for a week, Ah Guang and his wife stopped running around wildly and instead went everywhere asking about kindergartens, sending all three children to kindergarten.

The three who had just started school were extremely curious; Pei Yu, upon returning from school on the first day, couldn't wait to call Ye Ye Xiaoxi to share.

At noon, just as Ye Yaodong was planning to go out for a meal, Pei Yu, who had run over wanting to make a call, blocked him right in his tracks.

She ran ahead alone, the twins following right behind her butt, also shouting "Uncle," while Ah Guang followed at the very back.

"What?"

"I want to call big sister."

"You want to call big sister on the very first day of school?"

She nodded.

Ah Guang asked, "Where are you going?"

"It's mealtime; I plan to go out for a meal."

"No need to go out to eat; come eat at our place. Ye Huimei cooked extra. I was supposed to tell you before picking up the children, but you weren't in the office then, and I was in a hurry to pick up the children, so I didn't go look elsewhere."

"That works too; that saves running outside."

"You don't need to go out to eat in the future either; as long as you're around here, come eat at our place."

"Fine, let's go; I'll take you to make the call first."

"Great."

The three happily swung their schoolbags, hopping along.

While walking, Ye Yaodong asked Ah Guang, "Why are they coming back at noon? Doesn't the school provide meals or naps at noon?"

"We missed the registration deadline; it was too late. Many kindergartens wouldn't accept them, so we could only find a small kindergarten nearby. They don't provide lunch."

"No private ones?"

"Where would private ones come from? Those too far away aren't suitable; it's inconvenient to pick them up. I can't pick up the children every day; occasionally I have to go out to sea. Ye Huimei can't ride a motorcycle. Picking up three children alone, I'm afraid I can't keep an eye on them on the road, so I thought it was better to be nearby. Anyway, we'll just let them study there for half a year temporarily."

"If you have to go out to sea, have your father come over to help with picking up and dropping off the children."

Ah Guang nodded.

"Let's adapt for half a year and see. If it's really too troublesome, send them back home. After all, running around freely in the village doesn't require worry, and my mother is at home too; she can help watch the children."

"We'll see. Our place is after all a small rural area; education isn't that good. Education is a bit better in big places."

He actually agreed with this. "That's true. In a few years, I was thinking of sending Chenghu and Yangyang to study in Shanghai, and hiring a nanny to take care of their food, clothing, and daily life."

"Send them to Shanghai? Is that suitable? The locals there look down on outsiders with their noses in the air."

"So in a few years when they're a bit older, at worst we'll hire two retired soldiers to be their bodyguards."

Ah Guang's face was full of envy. "You really are wealthy and bold."

"Uncle, hurry up! Hurry and help press the phone..."

"Okay."

It had been a few days since he last called back; it was just right to make a call.

At mealtime, everyone was at home. As soon as the phone was picked up, a bunch of voices chattered away; he didn't know who to talk to.

Only after hearing Lin Lin Xiuqing scold did the other end quiet down.

"So noisy! As soon as they come home, my head is about to explode."

Ye Chenghu shouted, "We come back late, and you say we don't know to come home after school, running around everywhere every day. We come back early, and you complain we're annoying your headache. We're too hard on ourselves!"

"Say one thing, answer one thing; you only know how to talk back."

"See? Speaking is wrong, not speaking is also wrong!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him with eyes full of killing intent, and only then did he fall silent.

Ye Yaodong said with a smile, "Your son seems to have a point."

Pei Yu couldn't wait any longer and shouted, "Auntie, Auntie, I want to find my big sister. Auntie, I want to find my big sister..."

"Xiao Yu went to kindergarten for the first time today. After school, she came back saying she wanted to find your daughter and asked me to call. Please have your daughter answer the phone so they can talk to each other."

"I thought it was you calling. It turns out to be Xiao Yu..." After murmuring that, Lin Lin Xiuqing handed the phone to Ye Ye Xiaoxi.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi was sneaking food at the dinner table. Seeing the phone pressed to her ear, she was delighted and quickly grabbed it.

The other two brothers immediately crowded around her, and then the children started chattering away.

Even the twins beside Pei Yu quickly climbed onto their stools and joined in, shouting excitedly into the phone.

Ye Yaodong dug his ear and said, "I haven't seen them get along this well before."

"It's just the novelty."

"When are you planning to set sail?"

"If there's a need, I'll go out to replace you. If not, I'll stay on shore for now. Anyway, we hired extra workers, so there are enough. Just remember to call Ye Ye Huimei whenever you go to Shanghai."

"Understood. I can only leave once my father returns in a few days."

The two chatted idly, and after a few minutes, they let the children settle down and go eat.

He also chatted a couple of sentences with Lin Lin Xiuqing.

"I forgot to tell you. Brother Brother Ahai called a few days ago and said he mailed the report back to you. There's nothing major wrong, but you need to watch your diet. Eat less pickled food and more healthy fruits and vegetables."

"Also, there's a slight inflammation in your gynecological area. He prescribed some medicine and mailed it back with the report. The instructions on how to take the medicine are written on it."

"As for other minor issues like nodules, just get regular checkups. Brother Brother Ahai wrote down exactly what the doctor said on a piece of paper and mailed it back to you."

A few days ago, he received the report and called. After that call, he didn't call the family again to avoid having to say the same thing twice. Anyway, Brother Brother Ahai had written down everything the doctor said on the sheet.

Ye Yaodong was busy at the time. After hanging up, something outside required his attention. He figured the courier wouldn't arrive that quickly anyway, so calling a few days later wouldn't hurt.

Lin Lin Xiuqing had already put the matter of the report out of her mind. She felt her body was perfectly fine and she wasn't uncomfortable anywhere.

She thought he was completely overdoing it, wasting money. The elders refused to go for checkups, yet he insisted on sending her, a young person, for one.

So she didn't care. After the checkup, she returned and never thought about it again. She didn't even think to call and ask, showing zero concern.

Hearing a string of words about nodules, gynecological inflammation, and needing a healthy diet now left her completely stunned.

"What's wrong with me that there are so many problems?"

"That's exactly why you need regular checkups. How can you know if there's a problem without checking?"

"You're crazy. A perfectly healthy person can find diseases just by going to the hospital."

"Anyway, Brother Brother Ahai mailed the report back. You just look at it yourself. I haven't seen the sheet."

"What about you? Did they say you have any problems?"

"What problems could I have? My body is very healthy."

"How much medicine was prescribed? How much did it cost? You should send that money to Brother Brother Ahai. There's nothing wrong, yet they made me take medicine. I feel like I've been scammed."

"If the hospital prescribed it, it definitely won't poison you. Just take it. Even if it's just for psychological comfort, the money shouldn't be wasted."

"Alright, I understand. Since the money is already spent, I'll definitely finish it."

"That's settled then. I'm going to eat now."

Ah Guang had already led the three of them to eat. He had to go over too, otherwise the dishes would get cold or everyone would have to wait for him.

When they went to eat, Ye Ye Huimei asked him again when he was going to Shanghai. He answered as before, saying he had to wait for his father to return.

The fresh catch collection boat went out to sea every day to collect goods. He also kept an eye on the performance of those veteran soldiers, asking them if they were used to it, or quietly asking others.

He also took a relatively free day, getting up early in the morning to go out to sea with the fresh catch collection boat to collect goods once.

It had been quite a long time since he went out to sea. As usual, he wrapped himself up tightly and put on sunglasses. Standing on the sea surface, he felt the bone-chilling sea wind blowing against his face.

The sparkling seawater reflected the sunlight. The waves crashed against the upturned bow of the boat, raising a large patch of white foam.

It was a bit colder, but since he hadn't been out to sea for so long, he felt a bit restless inside. Having been accustomed to being at sea, it was quite uncomfortable to be away from it for such a long time suddenly.

When he reached the cockpit, he received many signals on the public channel, all looking for the fresh catch collection boat. He switched channels directly.

Switching to their private channel, he notified the other fishing boats that the fresh catch collection boat was now out collecting goods.

When we arrive in a while, whichever boat has already pulled up its nets or hasn't lowered them yet, make a sound in advance. We will go collect from them one by one.

As soon as his voice appeared, everyone was somewhat surprised and asked all at once in a jumble.

"Dongzi?"

"Boss? Why is it you?"

"Wow, Dongzi, you're coming out personally today?"

"What wind is blowing today that managed to blow you out?"

"Did something happen? Do you have to come out personally?"

Ye Yaodong smiled and replied, "Nothing happened. I just had some free time today. I thought it had been too long since I went out to sea, so I drove the fresh catch collection boat out to collect goods once and check on your work."

"I get it. You're out to sea to inspect the work!"

"So that's how it is."

"You do need to come out and take a look."

Ye's father said, "Otherwise, let's swap. You stay at sea for a few days, and I'll go back?"

"You go back to take my shift, help me manage the processing factory, handle my matters, and deliver goods for me at night?"

"Forget it. Delivering goods is fine, but how could I handle your processing factory? I can't even recognize all the characters. If someone asks me about something, I know nothing about anything."

"I just came out to take a look. You all just work as usual."

With so many people around, he planned to wait until they arrived and tell his father face-to-face that his father should stay a few more days before returning to help him.

February only has 28 days, and today is already March 1st. He had to hurry up and handle some matters on hand before he could peacefully sail the ship to the deep sea.

With another two months of transition time, the processing factory should stabilize a bit, which should be about right.

When he drove the fresh catch collection boat to approach the fishing boats that had stopped working one by one to prepare for collecting goods, everyone greeted him with smiles. They all said it was rare to see him out at sea now.

"What's so rare about it? Haven't you seen me heading out to sea again?"

"How can that be the same? You're a big boss now; how can you go out fishing?"

"You're joking. Why can't a boss go out fishing? Didn't I start by going out fishing? It's only been these few months that delivering goods on shore has been so busy, leaving no hands free to go to sea, so I arranged for a few boat captains to sail."

"You're a big boss and have earned so much money; there's no need to go to sea, endure hardships and take risks, when you earn more on shore anyway."

"Hehe, in a few months, I plan to take several large ships into the deep sea. Seeing the deep-sea goods brought back by the fresh-fish collection boats along the shore, they are truly beautiful."

He felt there was no need to keep it hidden anymore; he would drop a hint early so everyone would have an idea.

"What? You're going to the deep sea?"

"Going to the deep sea?"

"So you won't fish in this fishing ground anymore? You catch so much cargo every day..."

"So you're just going to stop fishing like that?"

"What do you know? The resources in the deep sea are richer. Those smaller boats can't go there; only large ships of thirty or forty meters can. Ah Dong's large ships are wasted in the near-sea."

Ye Yaodong nodded in agreement. "Yes, I ordered those forty-plus-meter ships specifically for the deep sea. Didn't I take them to the shipyard for maintenance during the New Year? It was all preparation for this."

"Using these large ships in the near sea is a waste. Although the resources in this fishing ground are very rich, incomparable to our side, there are too many boats; the sea surface is densely packed with fishing vessels."

Moreover, they were all those small near-sea boats. Right now, within his line of sight, there were no fewer than twenty or thirty, and if he sailed further forward, there would be entire fleets of fishing boats.

Fishing without restraint like this will surely lead to ruin sooner or later.

Looking at the sea this year, he felt there were more than double the fishing boats compared to previous years. He hadn't been out to sea for too long, so the contrast was immediately obvious.

Others went out to sea every day; whether the number of fishing boats increased or decreased slightly each day, they didn't feel much, thinking it was normal.

"Isn't there always this many boats every day? Anyway, the cargo is plentiful every day."

Ye Yaodong shook his head. "The small boats will continue fishing here as usual, and the Dongsheng Hao will also stay in this fishing ground. I plan to take the ships over forty meters to the deep sea."

"Everyone can rest assured about safety. The ships built these past few years were constructed with great investment, and some instruments on board are equipped with the most advanced technology; wherever possible, imported ones were chosen."

"As for experience, everyone need not worry. This year, the military unit supplied me with a batch of veterans, many of whom have gone to the deep sea on warships. They are all technical specialists, so you can rest assured."

This was also a good excuse, and it was the truth.

After all, people are afraid of unknown places and definitely want to stay in familiar ones. Telling everyone in advance can also settle their nerves.

All the hints that should be dropped have been dropped; by the time it happens, there won't be too much surprise. Now there are two months for everyone to discuss and let the news ferment.

Ye Yaodong didn't explain it on every single boat; he only mentioned it on the boat where his father was currently staying. His father already knew, and now he could help say a few words.

A bit later, when their few fishing boats spoke on the channel, his father could explain a few things.

By then, he would definitely have to schedule and arrange some personnel in advance; there would certainly be more veterans on the fishing boats.

Even if the fishing boats return to shore for rest this month, he would have to make personnel adjustments and let everyone have an idea in advance.

After collecting the goods, regardless of how much of a shockwave he left behind, he collected the cargo boat by boat until everything that needed to be collected was collected, only then did he turn back home.

The three fresh-fish collection boats collected goods separately; once finished, they returned, regardless of whether the hold was full.

Last year, the fresh-fish collection boats went out to collect goods on a rotating basis; they didn't all set out every day. However, since the end of last year and into this year, several large ships were added, and the rotating collection by the fresh-fish boats was no longer enough.

The daily collection volume now has doubled compared to last year; otherwise, why would he be so busy every day? It was all to find buyers for his goods.

And during these two months, he also prepared to expand the processing plant again, planning to order large-scale dryers in Magic City; otherwise, he would worry every day about having too much cargo.

However, if they go to the deep sea later, there will be no distinction between this fishing ground or near and far; the cargo from his fishing boats could then be sent a bit to his home area.

By then, the family wouldn't need to buy raw materials; his own fishing boats could provide them as a side benefit.