Chapter 1621: Deciding to Sell at a Discount

After Ye Ye Yaopeng returned from the sea, Ye's father joyfully told him about Brother Brother Ahai.

Ye Ye Yaopeng was also extremely happy; his eldest son was actually going to find a wife from the provincial capital, and from a cultured family, a leader at the shipyard no less.

This was simply like the ancestral grave emitting green smoke.

Overjoyed, he immediately went to call home to ask about the situation.

Even Ye Ye Chengjiang, who was usually unenthusiastic about finding a partner, began to feel a bit envious, sounding somewhat sour during the meal.

"Why is everyone finding partners so quickly? You didn't say a word, didn't we agree not to find partners? Now that you've all found them, what about me?"

Ye Chenghe looked somewhat smug. "That's because I have charm; what can you do if no one wants you? Just be an old bachelor."

"Tch, I just don't want to. What's so good about women? They're so annoying, nagging and managing everything all day long."

"If you don't like those who manage everything, why not find someone from Henan or Hebei?" Ye Chenghe teased with a laugh.

"Hmph, when you get married, you'll hand over all the money, not a single cent left in your pocket. Don't ask to borrow from me! I definitely won't lend it!"

"Do I care?"

Ye Chenghe turned his gaze toward Lin Guangming and Lin Lin Guangwen.

The two brothers, holding their bowls, also shook their heads together.

"I won't lend it either; neither of us has a partner."

"What does the fact that you two don't have partners have to do with lending money?"

Ye Ye Chengjiang stretched out his arm, directly blocking Ye Chenghe, preventing him from getting close to Lin Guangming and Lin Lin Guangwen.

"Because we are the faction without partners, and you are a faction of one. In the future, the three of us are not on the same path as you! Let bridges be bridges and roads be roads; don't even think about asking us for loans!"

"You dogs, I know you're just jealous."

All three rolled their eyes; after finishing their meal, they simply picked up their trays and left, not even waiting for Ye Chenghe.

Ye Chenghe widened his eyes, watching them brush off their backsides and leave, and quickly stretched out his chopsticks, shouting.

"Hey? Wait for me, wait for me..."

He also stood up, holding his tray, eating while walking out, following behind them.

"Wait for me! You're so disloyal, finishing your meal and leaving without waiting for me..."

"I already said, we're not on the same side..."

Ye Yaodong sat in the corner watching them fool around, smiling happily; they had all grown up.

Ye's father also watched their backs and said, "Only Ajiang is left unsettled."

"It's still early; he's not even twenty yet. Finding one at thirty is fine."

"Why not say fifty? Thirty is already too old, isn't it?"

"Fifty is fine too; Old Pei is in his fifties, isn't he? He can still have children. If he tries a bit harder, settling down here wouldn't be a problem."

"What nonsense are you talking?"

Ye's father also picked up his plate and left.

If they kept talking, wouldn't they say sixty was fine too?

As the weather grew colder, the machines Ye Yaodong had ordered gradually arrived. The factory's scale looked even larger; besides recruiting retired soldiers, the workers inside also included some extra female workers.

As the saying goes, men and women working together make the work less tiring; some tasks require female workers, so having only men won't work.

By December, the factory's workforce had reached 200, and Ye Yaodong's thousand-ton fishing boat was nearing delivery. Now, only some finishing work and testing remained; it should be in his hands in less than a month.

Of the money earned this year, he estimated a quarter had been spent on the fishing boat.

He had gone to see it intermittently in Shanghai, making additional payments along the way. The final payment now only amounted to 100,000, waiting to be paid upon delivery. Meanwhile, progress on another thousand-ton fishing boat and a large fresh-fish collection ship had also passed the halfway mark.

He currently had two 30-meter fresh-fish collection ships and one 40-meter one; making daily round trips was already becoming insufficient.

The two additional deep-sea vessels and one fresh-fish collection ship he had ordered were also nearing their delivery time. If acquired, they would be numbered Deep-Sea No. 7 and Medium Fresh-Fish Collection Ship No. 2.

Once the thousand-ton fishing boat was in hand, let alone that; he planned to use this fishing boat as a fresh-fish collection ship for cargo transport first.

Otherwise, without the large fresh-fish collection ship in hand, if he ran a trip to the deep sea, he wouldn't know what to do with the cargo.

This year's New Year fell on February 15. The fishing boat had been rushed out for him before the New Year, but there were still one or two months left before the holiday, and he didn't want to waste them like this.

Holding his newly bought calendar, he doodled and flipped through it, searching for dates, preparing to plan carefully.

The paper for New Year's Day had already been folded by him.

The old calendar had only a thin twenty or thirty pages left. He now had a new hobby: tearing down the wall calendar. Every time he tore one page, he felt time passed so quickly; once a calendar was torn down, another year was almost over.

On every page of the calendar, his to-do items were written densely in the blank space around the central numbers.

At the same time, on the newly bought calendar, he had written a bunch of words on the 1st of January, New Year's Day. The characters "Discounted Boat Sale" were written especially large.

The meaning was that he intended to sell the small boats he had previously rented out to the boat captains who rented them.

He had about 17 of them, all under 20 meters. Now, these boats were too useless to him; the cargo of a single deep-sea vessel could equal all of them combined.

He was very busy now and had no time to manage these boats. On settlement days, he let Old You calculate the accounts with them.

No one was watching the small amount of cargo on those small boats, and since he wasn't calculating personally, and the boats had been rented to them for so long, the selling price was basically up to them.

The money received each month was decreasing, yet he couldn't say anything; after all, varying harvests were normal. He didn't keep a constant watch, at most asking Old You, "How much rental income was there this month?"

It was tasteless to eat but a pity to discard; better to do a favor.

It was time to buy the boats back from them in one go. They had rented them for so long; they were basically their own property, and every month they handed over whatever amount they felt like.

It was better to go with the flow and do a favor, selling them directly so they would own them. This would save him trouble, and they would be happy; everyone would be pleased.

Anyway, after so much time, he had already earned back his principal many times over, and now boat prices had even tripled or quadrupled.

He certainly couldn't sell at market price, but he calculated that even at a 50% discount, it would still be more than double the price of his new boats back then.

These old boats, even at a 50% discount, could still sell for more than double the price of new boats back then; he felt a bit embarrassed.

After thinking it over, he went out to have his father fetched.

Ye's father was washing the large vehicle; as soon as he was called, he immediately ran over in a hurry.

"Dongzi, what's up?"

"Dad, I plan to sell all 17 small boats at a discounted price to those boat captains who rent them on New Year's Day."

"Sell them already?"

"I've been saying this for several years, but you kept stopping me. Now I really feel keeping them is like having a useless bone, and the monthly rent we collect keeps dropping; those people probably aren't willing to pay so much every month anyway."

It made sense; a single boat cost so little, but with current market conditions, everyone could save up for about a year and buy a new one themselves, so why let him fleece them?

Buying one himself would cost a year's income, but at least he wouldn't have to pay him every month afterward.

Some had already bought separately; while renting his boat, they also ordered a separate one for their brothers and nephews to operate, then paid those brothers and nephews wages, allowing themselves to earn even more.

He was now basically in a position where he had no choice but to sell.

If he didn't sell, the rent paid every month would keep decreasing; drag it out much longer, and everyone would probably just quit, and they wouldn't remember his kindness, but instead curse him behind his back.

They would say he only used empty promises to keep everyone hanging, claiming he'd sell the fishing boats at a discount to everyone, yet after selling for several years, nothing had been sold, and he kept holding onto them, collecting money continuously.

Now, with the New Year approaching again, almost another year had passed; he had to handle this and fulfill his promise.

Ye Yaodong also explained his thoughts to his father.

Although Ye's father was somewhat reluctant, he knew his son was right.

He had long promised to sell the fishing boats to the renters at a priority price; now that they had collected rent for so long, it would be unreasonable not to sell them at a discount, especially since the year was almost over.

"It's a pity; although the money collected keeps getting smaller, the sheer number of boats means we still make about ten thousand yuan a month."

Working a full year for Dongzi didn't earn him that much money.

Dongzi collecting just one extra month of rent was more than he earned in a whole year.

Ye Yaodong said, "Don't try to earn every last penny; we've earned enough. Back then, a new boat cost only around 2,000 yuan, and a second-hand one was just over a thousand; now they cost eight or nine thousand, which is terrifyingly high. In these few years, we've already made back several times the investment."

"That's true; many people slap their thighs in regret for not buying back then, but now prices keep rising, making them reluctant to spend the money they've worked so hard to save."

"Yes, wages have only doubled, while these production tools have increased three, four, or even five times."

"So how do you plan to set the price? A new boat now costs eight or nine thousand; our boats have only been used for seven years, and they were all brand new when we rented them out. Basically, they've been operating them since they were new. They've been in their hands the whole time, so for them, it's almost the same as buying a brand-new boat themselves."

"You're right, but we can't sell them at new-boat prices. After all, most people know roughly how much a boat cost back then. Besides, I said I'd sell them at a discounted market price."

"So how do you discount it? What percentage? 50%? That would be around 4,000 yuan."

Ye Yaodong tapped his pen on the table, "I was thinking we should sell them at the original purchase price, around 2,600 yuan."

"Wasn't it 2,400 back then? Where did 2,600 come from? But selling for over 2,000 now is way too low; new boats outside cost over 8,000, so even at 50% off, we'd get 4,000... The boats are still so new, and they've been used from new to old by them, never by anyone else..."

"When I bought mine, it was 2,200, but when my older brother and others went right after, it was 2,400; others who went two months later paid 2,600. All in the same year, so let's just sell at 2,600."

Ye's father nodded vigorously upon hearing this, "That's good; we can still make a few hundred yuan difference. Anyway, everyone only knows the price back then was around two thousand something; some did buy at 2,600, so saying 2,600 won't be wrong."

"No, 2,600 is still way too low now. How about 4,000 directly? After all, the shipyard sells them for eight or nine thousand, and you have to wait a long time."

"If you sell to them for 4,000, they still get a huge bargain; that's already a 50% discount. Besides, the new boats have always been in their hands, never operated by anyone else; for them, it's essentially a first-hand boat."

Ye's father was already reluctant to sell, and selling so low made him feel bad; he even wanted to buy them all back himself.

"We've earned enough; no need to keep making money off the boats. Adding four hundred yuan on top can be considered compensation for the rent they've been skimming, and that's enough."

"That's way too little; it's practically giving them the boats for free. It's barely less than three months' rent, yet it buys out the entire boat."

"The renters are all cousins, or brothers-in-law; they're all relatives with some connection. Back then, I wanted to give the benefit to our own people, renting only to family. Now, this benefit isn't going to outsiders. Let's just do this; consider it helping our relatives. Anyway, I haven't lost anything; I've earned what I needed to earn. Now I'm just earning a little less."

He had made huge profits elsewhere; this small amount of money didn't matter. Discounting everything and giving it away would earn him a good reputation and save him some trouble.

Let the fat water not flow into outsiders' fields.

Everyone had helped him earn money for so many years; he took the lion's share, while the other half they received still had to cover fuel and wages, meaning they actually earned only half of what he did, or just one-quarter of the total.

"Now that we're parting ways, let's be generous; let's part on good terms."

With him saying that, Ye's father had nothing more to say.

"Alright, you make sense; anyway, you don't lack this little money. Let's decide on this then."

"Mm, let's settle the accounts at the end of this month; they'll take over on New Year's Day. New Year's Day is also 1991, a new year, a new beginning."

He had decided to part ways on New Year's Day precisely because he wanted a new beginning for the new year.

"Should we spread the news early, so some people don't keep muttering behind our backs?"

"No need; just tell them when settling the accounts. Those with hidden agendas will feel ashamed instead."

"Alright then, let's catch them off guard; those who talk behind backs will get slapped in the face by you."

"Heh..."

Ye's father asked about his new boat again, "When will your thousand-ton new boat return? Didn't you say around New Year's Day, or at the latest before the New Year?"

"Soon. They said they're doing some debugging; if there are no problems, they can deliver on New Year's Day. If there are issues, they'll fix them and try their best to deliver before the New Year."

"You might as well not have said anything."

"That's how they replied to me. I'll have to go check when I have time; I expect the reply will be about the same unless the debugging is finished and there are no problems, only then will they give a definite answer."

No one in such an institution dares to give a definite answer; otherwise, customers would latch onto that time point and urge them relentlessly.

"Then go check when you have time; this is a big matter. A boat worth over a million yuan; there aren't even a few like it at the entire dock."

"Mm."

"What's its name? Decided yet?"

"Decided. I've thought of it; it's called the Dongyu Hao."

It contained his name and also meant East Sea; the name was very fitting.

This was a new name he had racked his brains to come up with, using his limited ink.

He considered it for two days, and the more he thought, the more satisfied he became, so he notified the shipyard to paint it on. He himself hadn't even gone to see it yet and planned to find time recently to take a look.

PS: Making up for last night's update; I'll write another chapter later depending on the situation.