Chapter 1564: Wanting to Buy a Mobile Phone

They worked continuously until nearly mid-month, when the fishing boats at sea had to return one by one for repairs due to the thunder and lightning of early spring.

The Ocean Voyager had been at sea for nearly a month from start to finish, while the Dongsheng had returned once in the meantime for rest.

Taking advantage of all the fishing boats returning this time, with the crew finally gathered together at the camp.

Ye Yaodong discussed with his father to make some personnel adjustments, promoting those who deserved it.

Those with more experience were transferred to the deep-sea fishing boats to work alongside the veteran soldiers already on board.

After half a month of training and learning, these veteran soldiers had become familiar with the daily work of fishing at sea.

His further adjustments were also in preparation for the upcoming deep-sea operations.

Once this adjustment was complete and they had trained together, there were no plans to make changes easily again.

He also told his father not to go to sea anymore; the fishing boats would be steered by the boat captains, while the fresh catch collection boats would continue to sail daily to collect shipments.

They wouldn't necessarily visit every single boat; as long as a hold was nearly full, they could call the fresh catch collection boat to pick up a load.

He needed to go to Magic City to deliver goods, a task he would hand over to his father; now Chen Baoxing was already a capable assistant, and with Chen Baoxing helping his father, he could leave with peace of mind.

It was just that Ye's father wore a bitter expression, looking extremely reluctant.

"Why do you look like you're being sent to execution? Isn't it happy to be sent to collect money?"

"The money being collected isn't mine."

"That's still better than being out at sea, isn't it?"

"That's debatable. Out at sea, you don't need to use your brain or deal with people. Delivering goods means dealing with all those people, it's annoying, and you have to force a smile. My Mandarin isn't even clear, so I'd rather stay at sea."

"Is it that difficult?"

"What do you think? My Mandarin isn't fluent, and you want me to make small talk with people? It's killing me. I'd rather face a pile of dead fish than those bosses."

"You're exaggerating. I'll be back soon, at most a week."

"Understood, that means half a month."

Ye Yaodong looked speechless. "Why don't you trust me? I said a week, so it will be a week."

"You never return on time. You always push things back. Once you step out that door, you have all kinds of excuses."

"That's because the job wasn't finished. Don't worry, this trip will be quick. I haven't been there in so long, I must go check how the fishing boats are being built. There are several boats, over a million yuan tied up there, so I must pay attention. Also, the processing factory needs to expand its scale, and I need to order more machines. Plus, I need to check the land I bought; I saw a policy announced in the newspaper and need to see the situation."

Ye's father widened his eyes in surprise. "What policy was announced?"

"The Pudong Great Development. Didn't I tell you last year? It was news from my godfather's side, and now it seems to be implemented; the news has already come out."

"Damn it, is it really being developed? Won't that require land requisition? Does land requisition come with money? How much money?"

"I don't know. I haven't gone to see it myself, so how would I know? A while ago, I sent two people over to watch the land and listen for news. They said it's from east to south, west to north. It's just starting to enclose the land; the compensation plans for requisition haven't been finalized yet, but development is definitely going to happen."

Ye's father slapped his thigh hard. "Then land requisition definitely can't let the common people lose out, right? If they lose money, everyone will disagree; land and houses are their lifelines! Won't the land you bought make a profit then?"

"It hasn't reached the area we bought yet. What we bought is considered in the middle, so it definitely won't be that fast; it will probably take a few years, right?"

"Ah, then I should have known to buy land closer to that river. Land closer to that river would definitely be developed earlier, after all, that river connects directly to Puxi; the two places are separated only by that river."

"Late development has its own benefits. The thing to worry about isn't that, but whether anyone will be unwilling. Will there be disputes over the land we bought later? But we haven't reached that time yet."

Before the development truly reaches them, no common people are certain to what extent it will develop or exactly where in Pudong it will reach.

Right now, they can only wait and watch, hoping in their hearts, praying and burning incense to ensure development reaches them quickly, swapping their dilapidated Pudong houses for large Puxi houses.

"Disputes? Ah, what should we do?" Ye's father suddenly became afraid. "We outsiders definitely can't compete with these locals."

"What are you afraid of? It's a society ruled by law; everyone must follow reason and the law. That's not your worry, and it's not a problem to concern yourself with right now. Just help me deliver goods for a few days. Anyway, Baoxing will be your assistant to help; if anything comes up, he will arrange someone to take over. You just collect the money."

"Alright then, just remember to come back early."

"Mm, I'll buy the boat ticket in a while and leave tomorrow."

"Take two more people with you; one person isn't safe. You aren't the same as before; your net worth is so high, and now many people know you."

"Yes, I adjusted the personnel today and arranged for two veteran soldiers with good skills to follow me."

Anyway, they all work for him; once they arrive, they must listen to him. They just need to be familiar with fishing. Now that he is going to handle business, they must accompany him out first.

Ye Ye Huimei waited for more than half a month and finally heard he was going to Magic City, so she immediately asked him to buy an extra boat ticket.

"If you don't go soon, I'm thinking of going with A-Guang myself and leaving the child with dad to watch."

"Is that necessary? How much money can you make that you'd abandon the child?"

"You can't imagine how hot my desire to make money is right now."

"Does A-Guang lack food or drink? Isn't all the money he earns given to you?"

"It's still different; earning money myself is naturally happier."

"Alright, stop talking nonsense. Pack your things and leave early tomorrow morning. When we arrive, I won't have time to accompany you shopping; I'll assign two people to you then."

"Mm, I know you're busy. Just let Baoguo or whoever follow me."

Ye Yaodong didn't say much more to her; notifying the time was enough. He also had to go back to pack his luggage and bring more money.

In the past month, he had earned several hundred thousand more, but because his volume was now so large, several well-connected processing factories had also started collecting payments for outstanding debts from each other.

This was unavoidable. Who else could it be? With his huge shipment volume, some large factories consume so much that they definitely can't settle accounts so decisively; they always have to let a debt hang and settle it slowly.

Unless he didn't want to supply goods anymore, but the key is he can't stop supplying; the volume is too large. Small factories can't consume much, but as long as large factories can take it, owing is fine; just collect it slowly. It's better than rotting in hand.

So, although the Ocean Voyager had several more ships this year, the actual money received was only slightly more than last year; part of it was owed by several factories, collected a little bit every month.

And he was eager to produce and sell himself, so he wouldn't be controlled by others and wouldn't have to worry about having too much stock.

The money he just acquired this month, he would take out directly to invest in the processing factory, buying several more machines to expand the scale and increase the variety.

Anyway, the money in A-Qing's hands would serve as the safety net; the money in his hands was for him to mess around with. Even if he failed, he wouldn't fail that badly.

Although he messed around fiercely and invested heavily, in reality, he only invested part or half of his earnings. There was a guaranteed bottom line; he wouldn't throw out everything that would lead to bankruptcy.

Moreover, most of what he bought were fixed assets or production tools, which could guarantee a bottom line. Even if he lost, he would still have the boats.

The processing factory itself wasn't very valuable, but the land of the processing factory was valuable, the machines were valuable, and the supply source was from his own ships anyway, so there was a guaranteed bottom line.

He took big steps, but actually, he took every step firmly; everything was steady and safe.

The next day, before leaving, he specifically instructed Chen Baoxing and the two factory managers, telling them he was going to Shanghai for a week and that they should discuss and handle matters over the coming days.

Anyway, with his father there, he would call home every day, and they could contact him by phone if anything came up.

Along the way, he also thought about whether he could buy a brick phone in Shanghai, having already seen people showing off with one in their hands.

However, the brick phones of now were as big as bricks, heavy, had poor signal, and, crucially, were hard to buy.

Pagers, on the other hand, were quite easy to buy; he had seen other bosses playing with them and had asked about the price of a pager, which was as high as 2,000 yuan, equivalent to several months' wages for an ordinary person, belonging to the category of luxury goods.

But for businessmen in the 90s, 2,000 yuan was now a trifle; they were willing to spend it to show off, and this thing, just like the brick phone, was now also a symbol of status.

However, the current pagers only supported numbers, not Chinese character input.

Users needed to consult an encoding manual to understand the meaning of messages, such as "88" representing "goodbye."

Moreover, contact required dialing a paging station via a public phone or landline, with the operator sending the message to the pager.

After receiving the message, the other party needed to find a phone to call back, only then could the complete communication process be finished.

To others, it was both novel and advanced, but to him, it was too backward; he had absolutely no desire to buy one, though a brick phone would do.

A bit more expensive was fine, but being able to make calls and stay in touch was much more convenient, something a pager couldn't compare to.

His business volume was now huge, his operations spread out in many places, and he ran everywhere; sometimes, when something came up, people couldn't find him.

With a brick phone, it would be different; he could be reached at any time if something came up, and even if the signal wasn't great, he could at least make a call and manage to talk.

After getting rich, he clearly felt that society was different; he could also tangibly experience social progress.

For instance, in his previous life, where would he have known when brick phones and pagers appeared; anyway, by the time he knew, they were everywhere.

Now it was different; now he encountered many wealthy people and immediately discovered that some were already showing off with one in their hands.

And since he wasn't short of money now, he naturally had to show off a bit himself; what he couldn't show off in his previous life, he had to show off in this life.

Moreover, this was also a symbol of status; holding a brick phone in hand, everyone would know he was a big boss, making it much easier to talk business and brag.

On the boat ride, Ye Yaodong sat there thinking about the things he needed to handle on this trip, so much so that he remained silent in thought.

Ye Ye Huimei watched him thinking constantly and didn't dare disturb him, only asking after they disembarked: "Third Brother, what were you thinking about the whole way? You were so absorbed."

"Thinking about how to spend money on this trip."

"Huh? What do you want to buy?"

"Big items," Ye Yaodong looked at the scene around the pier, "It's still early, the sun hasn't set yet; let's go find Chen Baoguo and the others in Pudong first, then go to the villa."

It was still the same saying: without a phone for contact, it was inconvenient; they could only rely on two legs to find people.

After finding the people, they then walked and talked their way to the villa.

The two also reported to Ye Yaodong along the way about what had happened in Pudong during this period; they had spoken about it over the phone, but upon meeting, they had to start from the beginning again, and also discuss recent matters.

Ye Ye Huimei walked on the side, listening to the two report to him along the way, while her Third Brother only nodded, then continued asking questions, with two bodyguards following at the very back.

She watched, her eyes sparkling brightly.

Normally, she didn't feel her Third Brother was that awesome, lacking any big boss awareness; this time, she really felt her Third Brother was too handsome, had the look of a big boss, and looked the part.

So amazing.

With someone reporting while walking beside him and bodyguards following behind, she felt she herself was rising with the tide.

When they arrived at the villa, she quietly crept over and smilingly told Ye Yaodong about her feelings just now.

"Brother, you finally have the look of a boss! So handsome, so charming!"

Ye Yaodong turned his head, smiling at her, and flicked her forehead.

"Your brother is already a big boss now! Isn't it normal to be charming? Your brother has been handsome since childhood, and is still a handsome young man now; people who don't know would definitely think I'm only in my twenties; I just wear work clothes too often, so you don't have that feeling."

Ye Ye Huimei nodded while listening, "Right, right, right, you've been handsome since childhood. Also, you're wearing such a neat outfit today; Third Brother, I even saw people wearing suits on the way; you should order a set too! You'd definitely look even more handsome."

"No, what if I look like an insurance salesman when I wear it?"

"What insurance salesman?"

"Hurry up and tidy the room, and make a bed for me; I'm exhausted."

"Alright, got it."

Ye Ye Huimei happily ran upstairs to choose a room, asking him which room he was staying in while she ran.

Ye Yaodong told him to take the third-floor room facing the sun, then called Chen Baoguo and the others over to talk.

There were four people here; he planned to assign two to Ye Ye Huimei tomorrow, keep one bodyguard for himself, and keep Chen Baoguo.

He would give them the instructions now.

When Ye Ye Huimei came down after making the bed, she was surprised to hear that a bodyguard was assigned to her.

"Why assign a bodyguard to me? I just need someone to carry my things."

"You're a woman going out alone; you need to pay attention to safety. I have two people, which is enough; the other two will be with you."

"That works; anyway, I should finish everything in a day. Wherever you go then, I'll go with you too; I'll follow you to see things."

"Sure."

"Don't you also need to go see that million-yuan big ship? I want to go see what it looks like too."

"Alright, as long as you don't mind being tired or tiring out your feet."

"I won't; I wouldn't get tired even if I walked 10 kilometers."

Period came; I originally wanted to take a day off, but thought I'd better post anyway, just writing a little less.