Chapter 1727

Just as the family was eating their late-night snack, Lin Ji came up.

Ye Yaodong greeted him enthusiastically. "Come, come, just in time. Freshly cooked fish balls, have a bowl for a late-night snack."

Lin Xiuqing also hurriedly got up to fill a bowl.

"Coming early is not as good as coming at the right time. I just got back."

"Where did you come back from?"

"I ran to the provincial capital the last two days and got the license plates back. These two are yours, for the Mercedes; this one is for the Santana. Don't mix them up, install them yourself tonight. As soon as I got home, I heard you were leaving early tomorrow morning, so I hurriedly sent them over."

"Oh, this license plate number is good, awesome!"

"Awesome? It's alright. I picked one that's easy to remember and has auspicious numbers."

"Then it's perfect to install them tonight and hoist them onto the boat to leave tomorrow. I was originally worried about what to do if I ran into the Maritime Bureau patrolling the sea. The two cars on the boat still didn't have license plates; I didn't want to be caught as a smuggling boat."

Lin Ji nodded. "That's exactly what I thought, so I kept urging them. Plus, it was just after the New Year and they had just started work, so there weren't many people and it was easy to handle. I went to get them as soon as they were processed."

"Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. I was also thinking about having you help me ship my car up too. I need to install the license plate on my car to feel at ease. But I have to ship goods and follow a few days later; there's no extra space on the cargo ship. Is that convenient for you?"

"Yes, no problem. My boat is big, and there are several people who can drive. I'll probably start gathering and counting people around 3 o'clock in the morning, and I guess I won't be able to leave until after 4 o'clock. You don't have to be that early..."

"I'll just drive the car over and put it in your workshop. I'll give you the key, and when you leave tomorrow, you can just drive it away. I'll find you to get the car when I get to Zhou City. That's easier."

"That works too."

For him, it wasn't a troublesome matter; it was solved along the way. Lin Ji had also helped him a lot, and the two helped each other.

After finishing the business, they chatted while eating for a while, and then Lin Ji went back to drive the car over.

Ye Yaodong also took the license plates to install them.

Now he felt at ease; with license plates, his cars were legitimate!

He didn't have to worry about encountering Maritime Bureau boats on the road.

Ye Chenghu helped him, and the more he looked, the more envious he became, mentioning it again. "Dad, why don't I just learn to drive with Mom after we go to the Magic City?"

"Don't you need to study? At what age you should do what. Your primary task now is to study. Don't think about random things. Even if you get your license, you can't drive. Do you dare to drive without an experienced hand next to you?"

"I still have to wait until I'm 18."

"That's right. You started school early, so you'll be a high school graduate by the time you're 18. If you can get into a university for me, I'll reward you with one."

Ye Chenghu's eyes widened and his mouth opened round; he felt like he was hallucinating.

"Dad, what did you just say? If I get into university, you'll buy me one? A car?"

"That's right."

Ye Chenghu instantly jumped up. "Roar, it's a deal! Keep your word! As long as I can get into university, you'll buy me a car to drive!"

"No problem."

He rubbed his hands together. "Damn it, I'll go for it."

Ye Yaodong slapped him. "Keep your mouth clean."

"When school starts, I'll change seats, sit in the first or second row, and sit with the class monitor and study committee member. Near vermilion, one gets stained red; near ink, one gets stained black. They are the people in our class most likely to get into university. If I sit closer to them, I can get into university too..."

Ye Yaodong didn't listen to his rambling.

He was naturally as excited as if he'd been injected with chicken blood just now, but who knows if he'll slack off after a while. It's very likely he'll just let things be and continue to muddle along.

Saying anything more now is just bullshit. It won't be too late to be gratified when he actually gets in.

"We have to get up early tomorrow, hurry back to sleep. Stop rambling, go back and dream first."

"Dad, you have to count the workers tomorrow and get up early. I don't have to be that early, right? Can I sleep a little longer?"

"Gather at 3:30, you have to be there by 4 o'clock at the latest, otherwise I won't wait for you."

"Alright, I'll be with Mom and the others."

They set the departure time for around 5 o'clock.

However, he had many workers, and gathering and counting them would take time. Reserving half an hour to an hour was about right.

Then he still had to use tractors to pull two loads of people, and drive three cars to send them to the town. Reserving another half hour for going to the town was necessary.

The other villagers' boats were docked outside the village pier. They didn't have to get up that early, and each boat didn't have that many people, so they could board as soon as everyone was there.

They just had to leave before 4:30 and arrive at the town around 5 o'clock to meet up with him, and then go together.

Lin Xiuqing was also telling Ye Chengyang and Ye Xiaoxi to sleep early.

There was no need to worry about these two. They had played at their grandmother's house all afternoon and ran around wildly, so they would be able to sleep as soon as they lay down.

But just as she was about to close the door to sleep, Pei Yu ran over again.

"Auntie, is sister asleep? Can I go find sister?"

"Sister is already in bed. Do you have something to tell her?"

"Then tell sister that I'm going to Zhou City with you tomorrow. I've talked it over with my mom, and I'm going to the Magic City for school too. My mom said that since my dad is out at sea every day and isn't home for a month or so, we have a few rooms built on our land in the Magic City, so we can move there. And it's convenient for her to ship goods to my aunt."

"Alright. I don't know if your sister is asleep. If she isn't, I'll tell her. If she is, you can tell her yourself when we leave tomorrow."

"Great, great."

"Then you go to sleep early too. We're leaving before dawn tomorrow."

Pei Yu showed a satisfied smile and happily turned to go home first.

Lin Xiuqing thought this arrangement was quite good. Anyway, Ye Huimei was raising three children alone everywhere, so going to the Magic City with them would provide some support. It would be convenient for her to ship goods, and the children would have companions.

Children should of course be with their own parents. If the parents could rest assured and follow her, she naturally wouldn't refuse, but it wasn't good for the children's growth.

An aunt is an aunt after all; she can't replace a biological mother, no matter how good she is.

Lin Xiuqing went upstairs to take a look. Ye Xiaoxi was already fast asleep, having kicked off the quilt, with both feet propped up on it. Her speed of falling asleep was truly fast.

She covered her with the quilt again and tucked in the corners before Lin Xiuqing returned to the room.

Ye Yaodong couldn't sleep, so he waited for her to enter the room.

"Didn't you just go to close a door and a window? Why did it take so long to come in? I even heard you walking up the stairs. The bed was already warmed for you, and you're only coming in now."

"Xiao Yu just ran over to say she's going with us tomorrow..."

"That's natural. A-Guang and Huimei are both going to Zhou City. They took their two sons but left their daughter at home—what's that like? Although the child asked to stay in her hometown, how can being with her grandmother be better than being with her own parents? They should have taken her long ago."

"Hmm, I thought so too. So when she ran over to watch your daughter pack things tonight and saw your daughter was going too, she had such a longing look, so I let her go back to talk it over. If she's with us, it doesn't matter to us; we'll just treat it as raising one more daughter, it's not like we can't afford it. But we are her uncle and aunt after all; living with us isn't as good as being with her own parents. Living with us is, after all, living under someone else's roof."

"Yes, children should of course be with their own parents."

"So she just ran over to say Huimei is taking her and the twins to the Magic City together, and is putting them in school in the Magic City too. She said the educational resources are better, and anyway, she's raising three alone everywhere, so it's convenient for her to ship goods in the Magic City."

"That's good. Then you can keep each other company. If you want to learn to drive or are busy at the office, just let Huimei take the bodyguard to help pick up the children. If the school has something and you're busy, you can call her; anyway, she's an elder to the children. If she's busy, you can help her pick them up."

"Hmm, we'll look out for each other."

Lin Xiuqing took off her clothes and hurriedly climbed into the quilt.

The quilt had already been warmed. In the middle of winter, climbing into a warm quilt was too comfortable, and there was Ye Yaodong, this big heater.

"Comfortable, right? I've been warming the quilt for you at home."

"How many times have you warmed it? You were coming back in the middle of the night every day a while ago."

"Then I warmed the quilt for you when I came back in the middle of the night. You couldn't even warm the quilt; as soon as I lay in, it was immediately warm."

Lin Xiuqing hugged him, really feeling warm. Her feet were ice-cold, so she liked to rub against his legs, which were warm.

Ye Yaodong was chilled by her and gasped, but his two legs still clamped her tightly.

"Your feet are too cold."

"My hands are cold too."

Lin Xiuqing reached her hands into his shirt and put them on his waist, chilling him.

"Hiss... are you a snake? So cold," Ye Yaodong said while putting her hands in his chest to warm them, rubbing them. "Didn't you bring a jar of old brown sugar from your parents' house? Brew some brown sugar water for yourself every day."

"I have, I've been drinking it."

"Crack two farm eggs into it and eat it to nourish yourself."

"Hmm, got it."

"Are all the things in the car's trunk? Is there anything you haven't taken that you need to put in tomorrow morning?"

Ye Yaodong rubbed her hands for a while, then started rubbing her round parts, asking while playing.

"The luggage and clothes are all in, and the children's miscellaneous things are also in the trunk. It's not like we aren't coming back, so we only moved a portion of what we needed. The main thing is the money. I took out all the money hidden at home and packed it in a sack. When we leave tomorrow, I'll take it to the car and lock it up. I also left 50,000 yuan for Mom to pay wages, which is enough for several months. I told her to keep the accounts herself."

"Alright. When we aren't home, we have to take the cash. When you go to the Magic City, open an account at a bank in the Magic City and deposit this cash into the local bank account."

Cross-regional withdrawals are still not that convenient now, and banks are still in the early stages of reform. A national electronic networked settlement system has not yet been established.

Most computer systems are city-level or provincial-level local area networks and have not yet achieved national networking.

Handling withdrawals in other places is very complicated, so he opened a passbook in the Magic City early on and deposited a sum of money there, which is convenient for him to use funds sometimes.

Aqing is going to the Magic City now, so it's just right to open an account and deposit this money, which will be more convenient to use in the future.

Lin Xiuqing was so bothered by him that she couldn't focus on thinking anymore, only agreeing with "uh-huh" and "ah."

"... It's leaking air, keep your movements smaller..."

"I'm about to sweat..."

"I'm cold..."

"Then stick closer, you aren't hugging me tight."

Lin Xiuqing pulled the quilt higher, up to his shoulders, then hugged his neck tightly, following his rhythm.

The "sage time" after exercise is exceptionally good for sleeping. Originally, he had no sleepiness at all, but after finishing, he closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, he was shaken awake by Lin Xiuqing and opened his eyes in a daze.

"What's wrong? What time is it?"

"It's just past 3 o'clock. You should get up and wash up. The workers will be gathering at the workshop door soon."

"Hmm, alright." Ye Yaodong closed his eyes to recover, then got up quickly.

"Hiss, it's really cold."

"The scarf, gloves, and hat are all placed nicely for you on the table."

"Hmm, you take another half-hour nap, and wake the children later. It's too early now; waking them up this early is suffering."

"I know."

Ye Yaodong quickly got dressed and went out to wash up.

Ye Fu also got up at the same time, and the father and son appeared in the main hall together.

The old lady had already gotten up long ago, making a fire in the stove, warming herself, and cooking something in the pot.

"You're all up. I'll boil a few eggs for you to take on the road."

"You don't have to be busy. Go back to the room and rest early, sleep a little longer. We're going out immediately too."

"It's already done. I'll take them out and rinse them in cold water, then pack them in a cloth bag for you to take."

"Hmm."

Ye Fu asked Ye Yaodong, "Is there anything to take together and put in the car later?"

"Mine are all packed. Aqing put them in the car last night. You take yours and put them in the car later."

"Hmm, then I'll go over first. You wash up quickly. I've already heard the sound of talking; I guess people are gathering one after another."

"Good."

Their large group was a bit slow if one or two people dawdled, and some people even brought their whole families.

By the time the sky turned pale, everyone had arrived. Aqing had also prepared the children and was already waiting in the car.

Ye Xiaoxi was still dazed when she was called up, being led by someone, walking with her eyes closed.

Once she got in the car, she tilted her head and continued to sleep.

Only the two brothers Ye Chenghu and Ye Chengyang were extremely energetic, their eyes wider than copper bells. Ye Yaodong was counting people outside, and the two brothers were close to him, feeling as if everyone was listening to them.

The old lady also stood on the side leaning on her cane, the Buddhist beads in her hand rolling non-stop, muttering to herself. You could guess that she was either chanting or praying to Guanyin and Mazu for protection.

After everyone arrived and was arranged in the cars, the cars started moving, and Ye Xiaoxi instantly woke up in surprise.

"Ah! Gongxi Facai, Da Hui, Xiao Hui! Mom... my..."

"Your dogs are taken. I put them on the tractor. The space here is small, there's no room for them."

Ye Xiaoxi instantly breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I thought you forgot. I only remembered them when the car started moving and I woke up."

She listened to the sound of the tractor coming from the front, her eyes fixed on the front windshield. The car lights happened to shine on the tractor, which was packed full of people.

But she still saw the four large, oily-furred wolf dogs behind the half-enclosed iron railing, and she was instantly happy.

"So many people? Are they all going with us?"

"Hmm, those are all workers from your dad's boat. There are three tractors in front; one or two tractors can't hold them all."

"Wow, so many workers?"

"Hmm."

They had 6 cars in total, which was more spectacular than a wedding procession.

Three tractors in front, three cars behind.

Having one extra car from Lin Ji for them to drive allowed them to carry a few more family members, so they didn't have to squeeze in with the workers on the tractor and blow in the cold wind.

Ye Xiaoxi took another nap. When she woke up, she was energetic and leaned on the window to look outside.

"Mom, Great-Grandma is still standing outside."

Lin Xiuqing took a look. Ye Mu seemed to be saying something nearby, and the old lady was also walking back leaning on her cane.

"She's already walking home. Grandma is looking after her, it's fine."

"Oh. Mom, the car is really comfortable, so warm. The wind can't blow in, the rain can't get in, it's not cold in here at all. It was so cold when I got up and walked to the car just now, but after staying here for a while, it's not cold anymore."

Lin Xiuqing had wrapped a wool blanket around her, fearing she would be cold. When they left, she wrapped it around her as a shawl, and it was just right to wrap it as a quilt when she got in the car.

"Hmm, it'll be cold again when we get off at the pier. Wrap the quilt well."

"Oh."

Ye Xiaoxi kept staring out the window. It was already a little bright, and she could see the road clearly.

She saw the glass fogging up, so she used her finger to draw smiley faces and little people on it, then put her mouth up to it and exhaled, playing happily by herself.

When they reached the town and saw the bustling streets, with vegetable vendors and fish vendors rushing to the morning market, she suddenly remembered that she seemed to have forgotten a major thing.

"Mom, is sister going with us?"

"Yes, she came to find you last night, but you were asleep. You'll see her when we get off the car in a while. She's in the car behind."

Ye Huimei's three children were still quite young. Ye Yaodong gave them the car from Lin Ji, which happened to be extra.

Old Pei didn't know what he promised Auntie Ma, but he didn't bring Auntie Ma and the youngest son on this trip.

Ye Yaodong and his wife were actually quite curious, but they had already started, and when they didn't see anyone, they knew they hadn't brought them. Naturally, they were too embarrassed to ask.

Lin Xiuqing planned to wait until they arrived, and when it was just her and Huimei, she would secretly gossip about it.

And A-Guang's boat was a bit small. He was still driving the "Harvest" and only fishing in the near-shore.

Last year after the New Year, several friends saw his older brother and second brother buy new boats and were itching to do the same. They all went to pre-order one, each ordering one, but they had to go to the shipyard to pick them up after the New Year.

This trip was just in time to pay the final payment and drive the boats back, and then go to the deep sea with him.

At the same time, there would be three more boats, similar to his older brother's and second brother's, and also similar to his Ocean-Going ships.

This meant he would have to coordinate with 5 other boats, plus his own nine boats.

It was fine. After the New Year, his "Pioneer 2" would also be in hand, which could be immediately put into use and come in handy.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be enough, and everyone was growing at the same time.

"I thought she didn't come and had to go to school at home."

Ye Xiaoxi stood up from the seat to look behind.

Lin Xiuqing didn't allow her to stand up, to avoid falling when braking later.

"You're leaving, and there are several children at the door who are all going to Zhou City for school. Wouldn't she be bored staying there? When we get off the car, you two can board the boat together and then talk slowly. Now sit down for me, otherwise you'll be black and blue from falling in a while."

"Alright. Mom, are we sitting on Dad's big, big, big boat that looks like a house again?"

"That's right."

"And are our cars still being put on the boat?"

"Hmm, your dad will hoist them onto the boat later."

Ye Xiaoxi looked at her with anticipation. "Then Mom, can I sit in the car and be hoisted onto the boat with Dad?"

"Ah? What's in your head? You can even think of this? No."

"Why?"

"Because it's too dangerous. Who knows if there will be any accidents? It's fine if there's no one inside, but if you're inside and the car is hoisted and swaying in mid-air, aren't you afraid?"

"I haven't tried it, so I don't know if I'm afraid."

"Don't think of one thing after another. When we get to the pier, wait in the car. We'll get off after your dad drives the boat to the cargo pier, and we can only board the boat after the cars are hoisted onto it."

"Alright."

When the car stopped at the pier, she couldn't sit still and couldn't wait in the car, so she got out directly to play with Pei Yu.

The two of them stood outside affectionately blowing in the cold wind. When the adults behind saw them, they hurriedly stuffed them back into the car to wait.

The wind at the pier was much stronger than in the streets, and the wind was howling, much colder. It was simply bone-chilling. They had only been off the car for a while before they crawled back in, cold.

When the big boat arrived, everyone got off the car and stood for a while, watching the cars being hoisted onto the boat.

It was early in the morning, the sky had just brightened, and there weren't many ships docking to unload goods, but there were several. They attracted onlookers again.

A big boat was the center of the topic, plus three eye-catching cars—it couldn't be more eye-catching, and they became the focus of the pier again.

Everyone was used to it.

When they were in Zhou City, they became the focus from time to time.

After hoisting the three cars, the workers boarded the two big boats one after another. One was the "Pioneer" that parked the cars, and the other was the "East Fishing." The two largest fishing boats could hold more people—who told him he had so many boat workers.

Half of them were retired soldiers who had arrived at the factory one after another when work started on the seventh day.

As for their family, they left early and arrived late.

"Mom, the cars are already parked on the boat. Can we sit in the cars?"

"Is there no place for you to stay outside? You can go to the pilot house or your dad's rest cabin. The boat is already swaying, and you still want to sit in the car? Don't you feel stuffy and uncomfortable? If you get seasick later, don't cry and want to go home."

She sheepishly pulled Pei Yu to find her dad.

Ye Yaodong drove the boat to the middle of the sea and dropped anchor, waiting for a while. The village's fishing boats hadn't come over yet.

He contacted them with a walkie-talkie; they were already on the way and would arrive in about 10 minutes.

When everyone arrived, they would set off together.

Ye Xiaoxi found it extremely fresh. "Dad, what is this? How can you talk on it? This looks like a phone too?"

"This is a walkie-talkie. It's inconvenient to contact at sea, so we use this to communicate with other boats."

"Then isn't this a phone? And there's no phone line?"

Ye Yaodong twitched the antenna on the walkie-talkie, pulling it back and forth to demonstrate to her. Anyway, the other boats hadn't arrived, and he was idle anyway.

"This is the antenna that receives signals."

"I understand, it's just like the antenna on our TV at home."

"That's right."

Ye Xiaoxi said "hello" several times into the walkie-talkie, and after hearing a response from the other side, she was even happier.

However, Ye Yaodong didn't let her play with it. "This is my important tool, don't break it for me. You two go to the rest cabin and stay there, don't run to me and climb up and down, it's dangerous."

"Oh, but we're so bored."

"If you're bored, go do your homework. Have you done your winter vacation homework?"

"Hehe, aren't I changing schools? Then I shouldn't have to do homework! It's not assigned by the same teacher, and it's not in the same place!"

Ye Xiaoxi was triumphant, feeling that she had found a loophole, and was so happy that she finally didn't have to do winter vacation homework. It was too cool.

"You found a loophole."

"That's right, sister told me."

Pei Yu said shyly and embarrassedly, "Because I transferred schools last year, I brought back the homework I had written, but I didn't have to take it back after I registered. And after changing schools, everyone's winter and summer vacation homework is different from mine, so it doesn't need to be checked."

"But didn't you say you were going to write a diary, 'My Ship King Father'? I'm still waiting to see it. If you don't write it, what am I going to see?"

"Ah, then I'll save it for next time. If I write it now, won't I have nothing to write next time?"

"When is next time?"

"Next time is when the teacher assigns a diary again, or I'll write about the person I love most, or write about my family."

"Alright then, Xiao Yu got lucky again. She didn't have to do homework last summer vacation, and she doesn't have to do homework this winter vacation."

Pei Yu pursed her lips and giggled secretly.

"Go find your mom, don't stay here. The village's boats are here, we're preparing to leave."

"Then I want to find my 'Gongxi Facai', and 'Da Hui' and 'Xiao Hui'."

She happily went to the deck to find those dogs again.

When Ye Yaodong saw the shadows of the village's fishing boats, he communicated and exchanged information through the walkie-talkie, then drove the boat to lead the way. His two boats took the lead, and the other boats followed behind.

The children in the middle saw a string of fishing boats behind them, dozens of them, following like a thousand sails passing by.

The children on the boat saw such a spectacular scene for the first time and were all excitedly shouting on the deck.

"Wow, so many boats following us, exactly the same as the photos my dad took!"

"I saw it too, too handsome, so spectacular, so many boats, all from our village!"

"That's right, there were many boats at the pier just now, but I think ours is more spectacular."

"That's right."

Lin Xiuqing kept watching them and said with a smile, "Your dad didn't bring all the boats back. If dozens of boats were all brought back, it would be even more spectacular and sensational."

"That's right, why didn't Dad bring all the boats back? He only brought two back. Doesn't Dad have many boats? Everyone calls him the Ship King."

"No need. It's very fuel-consuming to bring the boats back. It's enough to bring two big ones to carry the workers back. Anyway, bringing them back is just parking them there without fishing. And your dad's boats have been driving for a whole year and need maintenance. It's better to put them in the shipyard up there for maintenance and repair, which is more trouble-free."

Ye Xiaoxi knew quite a lot and nodded. "Understood, we have to save money."

"Right, save when you should save, spend when you should spend."

Pei Yu said, "Uncle is really amazing! More amazing than my dad!"

"That's of course, my dad is the most amazing! No one can compare! He is my great hero!"

"If your dad hears that, he'll be happy again."

Ps: 7200 words, made up a bit of what was missing yesterday. I'll see if I can update more tomorrow depending on the situation. There's a Yue Wen Wuhan event next month, I have to save manuscripts to go to Wuhan. I'll record a few more videos of the Wuhan event for you then.