Chapter 1657

"Music isn't about being lucky or unlucky; it's just that the tune is like that. Being able to play it like this is great, it's fine, very impressive, but let's not play it at home, okay? Just play it when you go to your master's to practice."

Ye Xiaoxi huffed, "I knew you wouldn't let me play at home either."

"I'm not home anyway, I don't care if you play at home or not."

"Hmph hmph."

"Next time tell your master to teach you something normal. You're just a child, playing with such a bitter and deep-seated look on your face, how bad that is."

"I finished learning this one, and now I'm learning others, and they sound just as screechy."

"Fine, then you learn slowly."

Lin Xiuqing said helplessly, "Her master specializes in playing the erhu for funeral processions; what kind of normal tunes could he teach?"

"Then just keep learning for now. At least the fingering and techniques learned are her own. When she's older, she can learn somewhere else, and then change masters."

Ye Xiaoxi excitedly ran to his side and hugged his arm, "Dad, after this semester is over, can I go with you too? Can I go to school with my sister? Just let Auntie pick me up, anyway, I'll be with my sister."

"Don't you want your little friends anymore? What were they, Doudou, Xiaohong, Xiaoqing, Xiaobai, Xiaolan?"

"There's no Xiaobai or Xiaolan, only Xiaohong and Xiaoqing."

"Oh, I thought you had a whole rainbow of friends."

Ye Chengyang chimed in, "Dad, one of her friends is actually named Rainbow!"

Ye Yaodong couldn't help but laugh.

"Dad, I can wait until vacation to come back and play with them. You said it yourself, after Brother finishes middle school, you'll send him to the Magic City for high school, and Second Brother is going too, so I want to go too."

Ye Yaodong looked at Lin Xiuqing, "What grade is your son in?"

Lin Xiuqing said irritably, "Your son is about to graduate from middle school, and you're asking what grade."

"He's graduating already? He's so tiny, and he's graduating from middle school? Are you even 1.6 meters tall?"

"Hehe, exactly 1.6 meters."

"Your son started school a year or two earlier than others; others start first grade at seven or eight, but he started first grade at six, so he sits in the first or second row every year."

"Then in the second half of the year, should I find him a high school in the Magic City? Should I send the second one too?"

"Forget about the second one, right? He's still young, let him finish middle school before sending him."

Ye Chengyang was anxious, "Dad, didn't you say you'd let me go with my brother?"

"Ask your mother. Who told you both to grow up so short and small? How tall am I? And you two are so tiny."

"What? We're growing late, we'll definitely grow as tall as you later."

Ye Xiaoxi added a jab, "That's not certain, Grandpa is so short, Uncle and Second Uncle are also so short, Brother Chenghe is also so short..."

Ye Chenghu knocked her on the head, "I was born by Dad, I definitely inherited Dad's genes."

"You weren't born by Dad, you were born by Mom, maybe you inherited Mom's!"

"You inherited Mom's, I inherited Dad's."

Ye Xiaoxi thought about it and giggled at Lin Xiuqing, "That works too."

Ye Chengyang was anxious; the topic had been bypassed by them, so was he going to the Magic City or not?

"Mom?"

"You're still young, if you go, you'll be bullied by the locals and called an outsider."

"But Brother..."

"He's older, he's going to high school, it's different. You're still too young, you'll be bullied if you go. Stop talking, let your father eat."

Ye Yaodong was also starving, so he quickly started slurping his food.

Ye Chengyang was angry again.

After he finished eating, he comforted his son, "This is for your own good. If a child from out of town came to your school and spoke a different language, wouldn't the bullies in your school pick on him?"

"Can you beat a whole group of them by yourself? Your brother is different, he's older, and high school might have people from many places in the surrounding area, so it will be better."

"Study hard, and when you graduate from middle school, I'll send you too. Go to bed early tonight, I have to go to the city early tomorrow morning, don't fail to wake up; if you can't wake up, I won't wait for you."

Ye Chengyang responded in a muffled voice, "Got it."

After Ye Yaodong finished eating and showering and returned to the room, he complained to Lin Xiuqing, "Next time tell your daughter to learn something else."

"Forget it, let her learn it for fun. In our rural place, there aren't many talented people; it's good enough to be able to fill our stomachs. Let her play whatever she wants, anyway, she goes to her master's house to learn."

"Watching her, she was almost crying while playing; it feels like she's about to inherit the mantle."

"Isn't it because you wanted to send her to learn."

"Forget it, it counts as playing quite well, she has a bit of talent."

"Hmm, are you going straight to the city tomorrow?"

"Yes, I brought back a bluefin tuna, stored it at the fish cannery today, and I'll send it to my godfather tomorrow."

"Is this fish very expensive?"

"Very expensive, one costs about ten thousand yuan. I originally froze a piece of meat to bring back for you to taste, but it was frozen for too long, several months, so it wasn't very good anymore, so I processed it. If it were a whole frozen one, it would be fine."

"Don't, I don't understand what kind of fish you have that's so precious. Even if you give it to me to eat, I wouldn't know the difference, and if you brought it back, Mom would scold you."

"Tomorrow I'll take the three little ones to the city. I forgot to ask, no school tomorrow, right?"

"Since you said you're taking them to the city, they'd go even if it were raining knives, let alone whether there's school or not."

After Lin Xiuqing finished speaking, she added, "It just so happens to be Sunday, no school tomorrow."

Otherwise, she would have spoken up when he said it earlier.

"That's perfect."

"After you finish going to the city, go to Wenzhou and handle the shares of that factory; they called two months ago."

"I know, I have that plan."

The couple chatted about the situation of going out to sea in the last six months, as well as the situation in the factory; it was mainly Ye Yaodong talking, and Lin Xiuqing listening.

"Then how much money are we going to make this year..."

"Make as much as we can. The more the better; it might not be this easy to make money in the future."

"It really feels like a dream."

"Wake up, you're relying on me, not on a dream."

Lin Xiuqing said with a smile, "Go to sleep early, you've been tired for so many days, and you've talked for so long, it's very late now. I'll go check on things and then come back to sleep."

"Hmm."

The next morning, just as the sky was brightening, as soon as Ye Yaodong got up, he saw his three children up early, sweeping the floor, watering the plants, and playing with the dog.

"Why are you up so early?"

"Dad, you're up, we've been up for a long time."

"We couldn't sleep!"

"Dad, we've already finished breakfast."

Ye Yaodong looked around, they were quite sensible, "What other chores are left? Hurry up and finish them, we'll be leaving soon."

"None, we already fed the chickens and the dog this morning, and drove the ducks out to the seaside."

"I'll water the vegetable garden, and Brother can just sweep the floor."

"Very good, I commend you."

The three were extremely happy; they just wanted someone to affirm them.

After getting on the tractor, they were even happier.

"Dad, this isn't right, going to the city should be in that direction behind us, you're going the wrong way."

"No, you sit still, I'm going to the fish cannery first."

"Oh."

When Ye Yaodong had someone lift up a super large plastic box, the three were extremely curious, touching here and knocking there.

"Dad, what's in here?"

"Dad, why are you moving this?"

"A big fish, to send to your godfather's house. You sit tight, I'm starting."

"Ah! We're going to Godfather's? Then I have to go home and get my Transformers!"

"Get what, don't get it, we're already out."

"I have to get it, the kids there didn't believe I had Transformers last time, I want to bring them over, and I want to bring my other precious toy cars over to show them!"

Ye Yaodong couldn't win against Ye Chengyang, so he had to drive home first to let him get them.

The tractor rattled, and the three children were shaken like sieves on the stools, their mouths following the rhythm of the tractor, going "oh oh oh."

Now that they had just left, they were still energetic enough to sing and dance, but after half an hour, they were already bored, resting their chins on their hands, asking how much longer it would take to arrive.

In the last half hour, they were already wailing, asking every 5 minutes how much longer.

Finally arriving, as soon as they got off the car, they sat directly on the side of the road to complain.

"Why did it take so long, my butt is in eight pieces, it hurts to death."

"So tired, I ate dust the whole way."

"Dad, why did it take so long and why is it so far, why don't we take the boat, the tractor made my butt hurt so much."

Ye Yaodong was also annoyed to death by their constant complaining along the way, regretting taking them out.

"Don't complain, if you complain again, I won't take you next time."

Ye Xiaoxi pouted, "I won't come if I have to ride in a car next time."

"You said it! I won't have to take you when I go out by car in the future."

"Take me by boat, I don't want to ride in a car, my butt hurts so much."

"Fine, then you're excluded, there will be one less person to ride in the car then."

Ye Chenghu happily stood up immediately and rushed in front of him, "Dad, when are you buying a car? Are you planning to buy a car? What kind of car are you buying?"

Ye Chengyang also happily said, "Dad, I like red cars, they're so pretty, let's buy a red one, okay?"

Ye Xiaoxi hesitated, "Are cars just as bumpy as tractors? They must be, they're both vehicles. I just like taking the boat, I don't like riding in cars."

"Fine, then you're excluded, there will be one less person to ride in the car then."

"Dad, when are you buying it?" Ye Chenghu was a bit impatient.

"Wait for it, you two come over and help me move this first, Ye Xiaoxi go knock on the door."

He hadn't called to notify them before coming this time; after all, it was already dark when he finished his work and got home yesterday, and he left as soon as it was light this morning. Director Chen's house didn't have a phone, so he could only come directly.

Ye Xiaoxi remembered which house it was and excitedly ran to knock on the door.

It was just mealtime, and everyone happened to be home. They were surprised when they saw it was Ye Xiaoxi knocking on the door, and then they immediately went out to look, confirming that Ye Yaodong had come.

"Yo, Dongzi is here. You hurry up and cook some more rice, add two more dishes, I'll go take a look."

"Godfather, my dad said he brought you a huge fish, said that even if he sold me, I wouldn't be worth that fish, said I'm not as valuable as the fish."

"Hehe, don't listen to his nonsense, fish are dead, people are alive. Let's go take a look, what kind of rare fish your dad brought over that could be more valuable than you."

"That fish is also taller than me, taller than my big brother, we lay on the tractor and gestured, and it was longer than that box."

"Let me see."

Ye Yaodong saw him come out and greeted him with a smile, asking him to come over and help lift the fish.

The fish weighed over 100 jin, not to mention the ice added inside, it was over 200 jin.

"What kind of fish is more valuable than your daughter? Why didn't you take it to sell for money?" Director Chen looked curiously at the super large box in front of him.

That plastic box was also a large box used in the factory for storing fish cannery materials, and it happened to be big enough.

"I did, I sold them all, only kept two or three that I didn't sell, kept them for my own family to taste. You try it later, it's probably almost thawed by now."

"What kind of fish is it?"

"Bluefin tuna."

"What? My goodness, this fish is super expensive, it's probably eighty or a hundred yuan per jin now, right? I think they're all exported?"

"Yes, I sold them all to the fishery company and made a huge profit. This one was specially kept for you. It just so happens that I've finished the work at sea for the last two months, and now I have time to come back."

"You've worked hard, don't always keep us in mind in the future. How much can your godmother and I eat? This fish is too luxurious, you should take it back and sell it, someone in the market here will definitely buy it."

"Take it back for what? It's just a fish, it's nothing to me. It's just that I transported it all the way relying only on ice, I'm afraid it's thawed quite a bit, you'll have to lift it up quickly later, or hire someone to process it."

"You're really generous, using such an expensive fish to eat, I couldn't earn this much from now until I retire."

"It's not that bad, let's lift it inside first, the temperature outside is high."

Jin Yuzhi was surprised when she saw them carrying a huge box inside, and she came out without even putting down her spatula.

"What is this, bringing such a huge box again? I told you not to send things over in the future, why don't you listen? We won't be able to finish such a huge box even if we eat until we're old. Now in this hot weather, the refrigerator can't hold it, it's going to be wasted!"

She felt extremely pained looking at it, "Even if you have money, you shouldn't be this wasteful, it would be better to sell such a large box for a few more yuan."

"If you can't finish it, send it to leaders, neighbors, and friends."

"Send it? We've already taken advantage of all the benefits. Now all our relatives, friends, neighbors, and leaders know we have a rich boat king godson, and they all say you have dozens of boats, it's amazing."

"The rumors aren't wrong, I really do have dozens of boats. After you finish eating later, you can handle this fish however you want."

Director Chen sighed, "In the past few years, you've been sending this and that every few days, and we can't finish it so we have to distribute it everywhere, which has made our whole family very popular now. At my age, I had already planned to retire when the time came, but I didn't expect to be able to get a promotion now. I'm about to be promoted from deputy to chief."

Ye Yaodong was pleasantly surprised, "That's good news! Then you'll be the true Ocean Bureau Director! When is the promotion?"

"Hehe, the appointment letter will be issued tomorrow, I've already been notified privately in advance."

Ye Yaodong gave him a thumbs up, "Impressive, you can work for at least another 5 years."

"Come, come, come, sit down and eat something first. You came on short notice, we didn't cook much rice, the rice we just cooked will take another half hour, there's a little bit of rice left, let this little one eat first, the two big ones can eat the dishes first."

Jin Yuzhi also greeted them, "Second one, you can take off your schoolbag first, eat first. Are you so diligent? You even brought your schoolbag when you came here, are you doing homework?"

Ye Chengyang shook his head with a grin, "No need, I'll just carry it like this. It's not books or homework inside, it's my toy car and Transformers. I'm going to go out and play with Ali and the others in the courtyard later. They didn't believe I had Transformers last time, so I brought them this time."

"Fine, fine, then come eat first."

After Director Chen finished speaking, he looked at Ye Yaodong again, "There's an important piece of news. For the past two years, they've been promoting the profit retention and contract management responsibility system, expanding the autonomy of enterprises. Next year, they might 'grasp the big and let go of the small'."

Ye Yaodong looked confused; it was so cryptic, what did it mean? He didn't understand politics.

Seeing that he didn't seem to understand, Director Chen was about to explain it more directly when his eyes lit up.

"I understand, does it mean there might be state-owned enterprise reform? Small and medium-sized enterprises exiting state ownership." Ye Yaodong lowered his voice for the last part.

Director Chen nodded, "There's this rumor, but it hasn't been clarified yet."

"If small and medium-sized enterprises exit state ownership and privatize, wouldn't a bunch of workers be laid off? They were supposed to be iron rice bowls, inherited from generation to generation."

"It's hard to say. Promoting reform is also to delegate power and concede profits, optimize the layout of the state-owned economy, improve efficiency, and promote economic development. There have been signs in the last few years, it's estimated that next year some places might start implementing it one after another."

Ye Yaodong lowered his head and thought, if state-owned enterprises are privatized, could he get a piece of the pie too?

Director Chen added, "Don't leak this news, just know it yourself. If you have any ideas, you can prepare early, it's just that I don't know when it will be implemented locally."

"Understood, I'll go back and think about it."

"Hmm, eat first, tell me, how did you catch the bluefin tuna? I can brag about it when I send it to others."

"Hahaha, it was two months ago, the first trip out to sea after the New Year..."

Ye Yaodong talked eloquently, telling him about the interesting things about catching fish at sea, as well as some of the harvests he encountered.

Not to mention Director Chen, even his three little ones listened with great interest, their bright eyes fixed on him. Since the meal wasn't ready yet, they could listen to the story first.

They didn't understand other things, but they could follow along and ask a few questions when he told stories about catching fish at sea.

"Dad, can I go out to sea with you during summer vacation?"

"Not working in the factory anymore?"

"Is there a salary for going out to sea too?"

"Yes, if you want to go out to sea and see, that's fine too. When I go out to sea, I'll take you along and let you all go see it."

Ye Yaodong thought he could let them follow the fresh-fish boat to the near sea first, going and returning on the same day, which would be safer.

Ye Chengyang shook his head, "Not 'us', Dad, only Brother wants to go. I don't want to go, I'll just work in the factory, I don't want to go to sea, let Brother go to sea, Brother likes the sea."

Ye Chenghu nodded repeatedly.

"That's fine too, Yangyang is still too young, so just work in the factory for now. Since Chenghu wants to go and see, then he can go, we'll talk about it after summer vacation."

"Alright."

ps: Too sleepy, going to sleep, will write more tomorrow.