Chapter 1699

Ye Yaodong found Ye Chenghu an eyesore and chased him away directly.

Although what he said wasn't wrong—that having more skills doesn't weigh you down—there is a time and place for everything.

Hobbies can be expanded, but is sailing a ship something a fifteen or sixteen-year-old kid should be learning?

Driving isn't something he should be learning at his age either; wait until he's 18.

As for sailing, wait until he graduates.

What he should be doing now is studying hard.

At most, when there's an opportunity, he'll take him to see the world and broaden his horizons, so he doesn't stay on campus reading until he's silly and can't tell his head from his tail.

Ye Yaodong steered this steel giant straight toward Zhoushan Port. Although the fishing boat was large and heavy, its speed was not slow at all; it really did reduce the travel time by 1/3 compared to ordinary fishing boats.

The salty, humid sea breeze carried the fishy smell of the catch. The pier was bustling with noise, and cranes roared as they lifted baskets of silver-glittering fish.

However, all this customary clamor was broken by a huge figure slowly approaching from the horizon.

It was a moving steel mountain. What was more conspicuous was the big red flower tied to the bow, so simple yet bright, making it clear at a glance that this was a new ship.

Its massive body seemed to press the sea surface down a few inches. The waves displaced during its voyage pushed toward both sides of the pier in layers, making the surrounding thirty or forty-meter fishing boats instantly become "small sampans" surrounding a giant.

The huge dark blue propeller at the stern occasionally churned up clusters of murky spray, showing that it had just decelerated.

The low and sonorous whistle "Woo—" blew long and loud, making people's chests resonate; this was reporting to the port.

Whether it was the fishermen on the sea or the people on the shore, they were all pointing at their new ship in surprise.

The two or three-meter difference wasn't very obvious on such a large fishing boat, but such a large new ship could cause a stir wherever it went.

After all, the port was still dominated by offshore trawlers around 20m.

When the fishing boat was queuing to enter the port, it was already very eye-catching. After finishing the docking procedures and arriving at the docking area, boatmen from nearby fishing boats started talking to them; they were also old acquaintances from the fishing company.

The local fishing company had many fishing boats of all sizes. There weren't many fishing boats that could dock in this deep-water area; most were from the fishing company or were fresh-catch transport ships.

There weren't many individual ones, and most were out fishing at sea. They happened to run into a fresh-catch transport ship from the fishing company again; after all, only fresh-catch transport ships docked every few days, and unloading took half a day, so the chance of bumping into them was the highest.

"Hey brother, is this yours from Dongsheng again?"

"Haha, old acquaintances."

"I knew it, how could there be such a big new ship entering the port again? So it's yours again. Looking at it from afar, I felt it was yours."

"That's right."

"Our two families are like competing; you have a new ship, we have a new ship."

Ye Chenghu chimed in, "Hehe, our boss is capable, awesome."

"Indeed capable, incredible, one individual is almost catching up to our collective. How big is this ship of yours? It looks bigger than the Dongyu No. 1 from last year."

"It is bigger than the Dongyu No. 1 from last year, and also bigger than your new ship. Our ship actually measures 71.8m."

"Ah! Then your ship is now the largest in the whole port?"

The people from Dongsheng were all very proud standing on the deck; it was such a face-saving moment, they had outdone the workers of the big factory.

Ye Chenghu was also full of pride; this was his family's ship, the ship his dad bought, his dad was just awesome.

"If your family doesn't have a ship bigger than this, then our ship is the largest!" He straightened his chest, incomparably proud.

The other party gave them a thumbs up.

Not long after, when they were done with the docking work, the workers in the unloading area all knew that their ship was 71.8m, the largest in the whole port now.

Ye Yaodong stayed in the cockpit for a while longer, just to study the new equipment on the fishing boat; anyway, the docking work wouldn't be that fast.

When the deck was mostly done, he went down, but only let them get off the ship first. He walked around inside and out again before he felt relieved and went down.

"Dad, when does this ship start working?"

"Tomorrow."

"Ah, tomorrow? So urgent to set sail? I was still thinking about when I could follow along?"

"Of course it's urgent. Fresh-catch transport ships were already in short supply, and every day was tight. If it weren't for the typhoon days when we rested for a few days and made a return trip, the fresh-catch transport ships wouldn't have been able to keep up at all, and the goods would have burst the warehouse."

"Alright."

"I'll let you take a look today. Tomorrow, after the fishing boat finishes the departure ceremony, you'll take the ship to Shanghai, and you have classes the day after."

"Oh."

"Remember the 800-word essay on your impressions."

He wanted to sigh, but quickly held it back. Being a student is really hard, 800 words at every turn.

"Let's go, back to the factory."

At this time, people on the shore also knew that this ship was another new ship from Dongsheng, and everyone was pointing and talking.

"... Are these two families competing? You have a new ship, I have a new ship, taking turns."

"Yeah, how long has it been? The ships entering the port are getting bigger and bigger."

"The two docking points are even right next to each other. Dongsheng Fishery is too capable, too amazing, right?"

"I heard the boss has very strong connections..."

"Ah, definitely strong, otherwise how could he catch up to the local fishing company?"

As they walked all the way, all they heard were discussions.

Some passersby stopped them to ask, but they just said they were in a hurry and walked away directly.

"Dad, how many ships does the fishing company have? Do we have more or fewer ships than them?"

"That definitely isn't more than them. After all, they are the local number one fishing company; they must have earned a lot over so many years."

"Then their ships look tattered, not as good as ours."

"How many years has the fishing company existed? Haven't the fishing boats been running for as many years? How many new ships can they have? The new ones must have been added gradually in the last two years. Big companies like them have troublesome procedures; small things have to be reported layer by layer, and then wait for approval, let alone big things like building large ships; there must be many voices."

"Oh, so in the end, we are still better."

"Hehe, at least they are a state-owned unit, and for now, it's still an iron rice bowl. But when social security comes out, I'll pay it for everyone, so that when you get old, you'll have a pension."

"What is this?"

"Kids shouldn't ask so much. This is policy; you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Ye Yaodong quickened his pace.

There were no cars to be called here; they were all used for transporting goods. They could only rely on their two legs to walk slowly to the street to make a phone call and notify the factory to come and pick them up, otherwise, it would be a two-hour walk.

Others were used to walking, but he couldn't; he wasn't used to it, and that was two hours.

And his time was very precious. If he spent two hours walking, he would rather spend it on the way to collect debts, or sleeping to replenish his sleep.

Ye's father received the call and hurriedly drove the tractor out, but he picked them up halfway, so he didn't have a chance to take a look at the pier.

He really wanted to go to the pier to take a look.

Ye Yaodong told him to go by himself; they were going home to sleep. To catch the ship at the shipyard this morning, they had set off at one in the morning, and now they were exhausted and wanted to go back to sleep quickly.

Ye Chenghu was excited and volunteered to go to the pier with Ye's father to continue watching the ship. The grandfather and grandson suddenly had company; they jumped off the car, said hello, and left first.

Ye Yaodong didn't care about them. He now had to go back to get his energy up, and then tomorrow sail this ship to support the fresh-catch transport ships near DYD.

"Go back and have a good sleep later, get your energy up. We'll set off tomorrow morning. After I go back, I'll also count and arrange the manpower, and we'll set sail at 8 o'clock sharp in the morning."

"Received."

He had already planned the personnel on the ship a month ago, organized the list, and posted the announcement. After going back this time, he would hand the list to the person in charge to notify them. Now, the least lacking thing was manpower.

With several expansions, the factory now had over 300 people, and another batch would have to be added after the new year. Even the family quarters had already started construction.

And his fishing boats also had 400 people. Dongsheng had already reached No. 11, and there were 7 deep-sea fishing boats, with two more at the Donghai Shipyard in Shanghai, and another two at other shipyards in Shanghai.

The two at the Donghai Shipyard would also be delivered soon. Counting it up, he could have 9 deep-sea fishing boats before the new year, and they would probably all be in hand after the new year, so he would have 11.

Fresh-catch transport ships: one 30m, one 36m, one 40m, and another Dongyu No. 1.

There was another Pioneer No. 2 fresh-catch transport ship at Jiangnan Shipyard that would be delivered in half a year, and two more trawlers similar to the Pioneer were still under construction.

Just counting casually, his fishing boats had accumulated to twenty-seven, not counting those not yet delivered. He was already a commander in secret.

Ye Yaodong returned to the dormitory, lay on the bed, and counted his ships silently. The more he thought, the more satisfied he felt.

If those dozen small boats hadn't been sold, he could have had nearly 50 now.

But those small boats were just making up the numbers; it was the same whether he had them or not, it just sounded good in terms of quantity.

He didn't expect that the total number of workers in his hands now was seven or eight hundred. This was simply unbelievable, more than all the men in their village.

No wonder he had to pay so much salary every month. Every time the finance department brought the payroll for him to sign at the end of the month, he felt the amount was getting bigger every month, it was terrifying.

At the same time, he was thinking about recruiting assistants for the finance department, otherwise, with so many people's salaries, they would have to work overtime until midnight at the end of every month.

It was already dark when he lay on the bed, but it was just right for him to sleep until dawn.

Ye's father wanted to talk to him at night, but knew he was sleeping and didn't dare to disturb him. He held it in until the next morning, and came over to call him with dark circles under his eyes.

"What's wrong? The new ship is back, and you're so excited you can't sleep. If a car was driven back, wouldn't you stay up all night?"

"I heard that this Pioneer you just took over is planning to set sail this morning?"

"Right, if this ship doesn't arrive, the other ships will burst their warehouses, and they'll have to sail back to unload themselves. Now that this ship is in hand, we have to hurry and sail to the sea to support them."

"Alright, the manpower..."

"The shifts have long been arranged and prepared. Everyone is probably already waiting in the parking area by now."

"Then I'll watch at the factory. How many days are you planning to go for? Come back early."

"I'll come back after collecting the goods. It definitely won't exceed 7 days."

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment and instructed his father, "If Dongyu No. 1 returns, notify them to prepare their nets for another trip out to sea and start trawling. If I can make contact on the ship, I'll notify them too."

"Good."

"After I come back from the next trip, this Pioneer will be handed over to the boat captain. You go to the ship to watch too; I have to stay on shore to collect debts. It's the end of the year, collect as much as you can. If I don't go ask, the money won't be settled, and it will be even harder to ask for next year."

Ye's father originally wanted to say that he would watch the factory on shore and let Dongzi watch those fishing boats at sea. Anyway, he was most familiar with the new ship that had just arrived, and now another ship had to participate in fishing, so he definitely had to command it.

But collecting payments was more important. With the new year approaching, everything had to be settled everywhere, and the reasons were all very sufficient.

"Okay, I know. If there's anything I don't understand, I'll ask the other captains."

"Hmm, when the time comes, you can take a look near the reef island with that lighthouse. The red flag should still be stuck there; you can go and see the place."

"You just know how to poke at my heart."

"What are you talking about? This is to make you remember the loss caused by laziness."

"Alright, stop talking nonsense here. There are people waiting downstairs. Think again if there's anything you haven't instructed, hurry up and instruct it, otherwise, once you're gone, you won't be able to instruct, and if people want to find you, they won't be able to."

"That's about it. What needs to be instructed has been instructed. I haven't been busy with anything recently. If you have anything, go find Manager Qi and the others. They know more about everything than I do; they are the ones reporting."

As Ye Yaodong said this, he hurriedly brought the luggage he had already prepared. Knowing that he would have to stay at sea for a few days, he had to bring the clothes and supplies he needed.

"Dad..."

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you going to board your ship?"

"Going to the pier with you. Isn't there a departure ceremony? I'll go take a look, see you sprinkle wine and sticky rice, chanting 'mali mali hong'..."

Ye Yaodong threw the luggage in his hand to him, "Then you take it, and take the ship back to Shanghai later."

"Dad, is Grandpa not going back to Shanghai?"

"He's already passed his driving test, why go back to Shanghai?"

"Alright, then it's just me alone."

"Isn't there Chen Baoguo?"

"He's not family."

"What's wrong? Do you need someone to accompany you to study? How old are you? If you have a lot of free time after school, then go play with friends. No puppy love allowed."

Ye Chenghu's face turned bright red instantly, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"I'm just reminding you, don't learn from Ye Chenghe. Puppy love is not advisable. Look at him, he married early and regretted it."

"I didn't."

"Better not, otherwise the money you've saved in your piggy bank for years won't be enough for you to spend."

"I can't even bear to spend it myself!"

"That's good."

Still hasn't opened his mind, very good.

"When you were little, you were holding those cards of yours every day, chanting that you wouldn't marry a wife."

He felt awkward again, "There are so many people here, stop talking, I'm getting on the car."

PS: Now I go to bed early and get up early. I was sleepy at 10 o'clock, but fortunately, I insisted on finishing it.