Chapter 1773: Go Back

The next morning, a large fleet of boats set off back home.

With several hundred people gone all at once, the dormitory area instantly emptied; everyone who could leave returned to the village early, and the big iron gate was locked shut.

But over at the factory, noise and bustle continued unabated, with hundreds of workers streaming in and out daily for shifts.

After seeing everyone off, Ye Yaodong felt a hollow emptiness inside—so many people had returned to their hometowns.

After watching everyone leave, Ye Chenghu felt regret and wanted to go home too; it felt as if only he and his father remained, as if he'd been abandoned.

"Dad…"

"Let's go back to the factory. Finish up the remaining tasks, collect more debts—we'll be heading home soon too, just wait until the twenty-fifth day before dawn."

"Alright."

Ye Chenghu returned to the factory and saw Ye Ye Chengjiang and the others fast asleep in the dormitory—he felt cheered up again; there were still plenty of people left, he wasn't alone.

That evening, Ye Yaodong sent someone to call him to go out for dinner, and he felt delighted again—there'd be greasy food to get!

Every time his father took people out for meals and drinks, he'd hand him a wad of cash to pay the bill.

After settling the bill, he'd return the big bills to his father, while the small change naturally became his own—just a few days, and he'd earned more than he had from a whole month of backbreaking work at sea.

He'd been such a fool before—why had he been so eager to go out to sea every day? Wasn't it better to follow his father around, eating and drinking?

Good thing he hadn't gone home early—those two idiots just loved to play!

Ye Chenghu's schedule had now synced somewhat with Ye Ye Chengjiang's group—he stayed out drinking with his father until the third watch, while the others worked themselves to exhaustion until the third watch.

When he returned, he happened to see the others coming back too.

"Hard work, comrades!"

The four of them glared at him sharply.

Indeed, after sending his wife and children off, Ye Chenghe had rushed back to move into the dormitory again.

Lin Guang said: "Little Boss Ye is awesome!"

Ye Chenghu couldn't help but chuckle, "Why are you all back so late?"

Ye Ye Chengjiang: "Don't you know why we're back so late? We're working for Little Boss Ye."

"Pfft, they can say that, but you can't—you own your own vehicle, you keep all your earnings, you should be called Brother Ye, the Boss."

"Nah, you should call him Master Ye."

Ye Chenghu lifted the takeout bag he'd brought back, "Look what I got you!"

"What?"

All four immediately leaned in, sniffing eagerly.

"I brought back a bowl of chicken soup, a portion of fried rice noodles, and some braised beef."

Ye Chenghe: "Damn, you're a real brother—we won't have to eat instant noodles for dinner anymore!"

All four were thrilled and quickly snatched the takeout from him.

Ye Ye Chengjiang: "Finally got a conscience—you remembered to bring us dinner!"

"My dad didn't go sing karaoke tonight, just ate dinner—I saw the restaurant making extra portions, so I had them pack some up for you. Why are you back so early today? Usually you don't finish till dawn."

"Don't you see what time it is? Many factories have shut down for the holiday, work's slowed, so we can finish earlier."

As Ye Ye Chengjiang spoke, he already grabbed a large bowl and started ladling—the chicken soup was too big, so he ordered them to wash a washbasin and use that instead.

Ye Chenghe had already grabbed a slice of beef and tasted it: "I've been eating instant noodles every day—I'm sick of them. Finally, a real meal!"

They'd been working all night and were already starving.

It was now one in the morning, and nearly everything was closed; normally, they'd find street vendors on the way back, but with the New Year approaching, many vendors had returned home or packed up early.

They couldn't buy anything now, and didn't want to wander around searching in the middle of the night.

Ye Chenghu: "Wasn't your childhood dream to eat instant noodles every day? Now you've got it—aren't you happy?"

"Fucking hell…"

The others couldn't hold it in anymore—this had been their dream too…

"It wasn't even childhood—it was your dream from a few years ago. You've already achieved the freedom to eat instant noodles every day."

Ye Chenghe rolled his eyes: "Like it wasn't your dream too."

"I ate them every day as a kid—I wasn't that obsessed!"

"Enough talking—eat and get out of the way."

Ye Chenghu kept teasing: "In a few years, I'll make you all free to eat eight-treasure porridge canned food!"

"Actually, that stuff's expensive—a can costs three or four bucks," Lin Lin Guangwen said, cluelessly.

Lin Guang glared at him: "Your salary lets you eat three meals a day."

"Nah, I can't afford to waste it."

Ye Ye Chengjiang said: "Remember to bring us takeout again tomorrow."

"Depends on what time I get back."

"No matter what time you get back, we'll eat—we'll heat it up ourselves if we come back late, and if I'm asleep when you get back, I'll still get up to eat your food!"

Ye Chenghe quickly chimed in: "Exactly! You're out every night eating and drinking with Uncle San—don't forget the brothers who live on instant noodles!"

Ye Chenghu rolled his eyes: "You all make several hundred or even over a thousand a month in salary or vehicle fees…"

"Bullshit—I owe Uncle San tens of thousands; now every cent of my vehicle fee goes to paying off the debt, even my fuel money comes from my dad giving me 2,000 yuan—I'd have none otherwise. I'll find out how much I still owe after the finance department does their tally in a couple days."

"That's pitiful."

"What's pitiful about him? He eats alone, his family doesn't starve—I've got a family to support. Every month I have to borrow 200 yuan from finance—I'll probably finish paying it off only by next year's second half."

Lin Guang and Lin Lin Guangwen looked at the two brothers' pitiful state and felt glad they just collected their salary—no risk involved. Their monthly pay had risen to 500 yuan, totaling 6,500 a year—higher than the wages of the workers on the ships.

But they were drivers—skilled workers, always in demand—and their work wasn't easy either; they had to help load and unload, carry and lift, sometimes working until dawn.

"We'll talk about tomorrow—I'm going to sleep. You guys clean up after yourselves."

The four of them wolfed down the food.

The next day, Ye Chenghu packed them food as usual, except this time it was a few portions of dumplings instead of the lavish late-night snack.

His dad had gone off to sing karaoke with a client and sent him back, so he had to figure out what to grab on the way, buying whatever was available—and he had to pay out of his own pocket.

The others weren't picky either; as long as there was food, that was fine.

Ye Ye Chengjiang said through a mouth stuffed with dumplings, "Day after day, life following Third Uncle is pretty sweet."

"My dad won't take me, says those places aren't suitable for a kid like me, says he'll take me after I graduate high school."

"I'm an adult though, next time tell Third Uncle to take me along."

"Get lost."

Lin Guang said, "We're heading home the day after tomorrow, just two more days to tough it out. The others should all be home by now, right? Have you called them?"

"When I called in the afternoon, they hadn't gotten home yet. I'll call again tomorrow to check."

The days Ye Chenghu spent following Ye Yaodong were beyond comfortable, and by extension his whole dormitory got to share in the good fortune—none of them really wanted to leave.

Last year he didn't get this kind of treatment. Last year he was stuck in an office, watching for anything important that needed signing or handling.

How could that compare to now? Wherever he went, he ate well and drank well, got praised, and got to skim off the perks.

By the time they had to leave, he was almost reluctant to go. The holiday had only been a few days, and he'd already scraped together over 400 from his dad—pure bliss.

When he was packing his clothes and schoolbag, he counted the money and nearly drooled.

Ye Ye Chengjiang and Ye Chenghe, the two penniless guys, saw it and turned green with envy.

"How do you have so much money? Lend me some!" Ye Ye Chengjiang said.

"No way!"

"Just lend me 100."

"Are you guys really that broke?"

"Of course we are. I can't even scrape 20 yuan out of my pockets. I have to go back for New Year, and hanging out with friends costs money too—lend me 200. Otherwise when I go out and can't pull any cash from my pocket, how embarrassing is that? I'm out here to make the big bucks, you know."

Ye Chenghe also said, "Lend me 200 for milk powder money too. Once I pay off my debts, I'll pay you back—soon."

Ye Chenghu clutched his money tightly. No wonder they say don't flash your cash!

He'd only just taken it out to count it and already got targeted.

"Why don't you two ask those two for a loan?"

Lin Guang said, "How do you know they didn't ask me? Each of them owes me 500."

Lin Lin Guangwen's eyes went wide. "Huh? They each owe me 500 too."

The two brothers looked at each other—seems those two broke guys had planned this together.

Ye Chenghu looked at the two eyeing him greedily beside him and said glumly, "Do you guys have to be this broke? Borrowing from everyone."

"We're not borrowing from everyone, just from our own people. Could we borrow from outsiders?"

"I'm really touched you consider us your own people."

"Obviously. Can't lose face in front of outsiders. Hurry up and count out 200 for your bro. Give it a bit and I'll have money again."

Ye Chenghe chimed in, "You can't play favorites—if you lend him 200, you have to lend me 200 too!"

Ye Chenghu was on the verge of tears. "I barely scraped this together."

"We'll pay you back, okay? In a few months I'll have money."

If only he'd kept it hidden and not taken it out.

Ye Chenghu painfully counted out 200 for each of them, leaving himself with only a thin stack of big bills and a few ones and twos.

The two beside him beamed with joy after getting the money.

"Thanks, good bro. Once I pay off my debts in a couple months, I'll pay you back."

Ye Chenghe said happily, "Didn't expect you to be this loaded? Quite the stash of secret savings, huh?"

Ye Chenghu didn't dare say this was perks he'd squeezed from his dad these past few days, on top of his own secret savings.

"Remember to pay me back!"

"Definitely, don't worry. Come on, let's go home, head down and wait first."

Lin Guang patted Ye Chenghu's shoulder comfortingly. "Let's go. Think about it—we borrowed more than you did."

"They're way too broke."

Lin Lin Guangwen complained, "If the tractor didn't bring in a bit of rent every month, we'd almost be the ones eating their food."

Ye Ye Chengjiang said, "Wait till I pay off my debts, you'll see how sweet my life is!"

The two Lin brothers rolled their eyes in unison. "Walk faster, there's noise downstairs, probably everyone's here."

It was around 2:00 a. m. now. Pitch black outside, but the factory was buzzing with voices, and a crowd had gathered at the parking area downstairs—all assembled and ready to set off back home.

The main group had already left. The few remaining weren't many—just the factory's core members, mostly relatives connected by blood or marriage.

Ye Yaodong watched his brothers come down and scolded them a bit. "Dilly-dallying. Everyone else is here, just you few taking forever, making people wait."

Ye Chenghu wanted to protest, but Ye Ye Chengjiang covered his mouth. "Hehe, had to take a dump, held us up a bit. Can we head out now, Third Uncle?"

Ye Yaodong counted the heads and saw no one missing. After taking attendance and confirming everyone was there, he let them grab their luggage and get on the vehicle.

Ye Chenghu muttered under his breath, glaring at Ye Ye Chengjiang. "It was clearly you two eyeing my cash—the loan took up all the time."

"Yes, yes, whatever you say, Little Boss Ye."

Once they were on the boat, Ye Ye Chengjiang and Ye Chenghe pulled out the 200 yuan each had borrowed from him as capital and started a gambling game with the others, which made him even more depressed.

Aiding and abetting.

If only he hadn't lent the money.

"Ye Chenghu, your dad's looking for you, in the wheelhouse."

"Oh, coming."

Ye Chenghu squeezed out from the crowd and hurried toward the helm cabin.

"Dad, what is it?"

"Come over and steer the boat. Let me check the results of your time out at sea."

"Huh? I'm steering? I didn't go out to sea this whole winter break. I only worked two months during summer…"

"Didn't you say you knew how?"

"I do know, but isn't that nerve-wracking? You'll have to keep an eye out — the safety of everyone on board is at stake…"

"Just steer. What is there to fear with me here?"

"Then this course, those return coordinates…"

Ye Yaodong pointed at the screen and explained to him.

Ye Chenghu knew at most how to steer the boat and cast the nets, but the finer details and what arrangements needed to be made were not so clear to him.

"Hehe, Dad, I don't have to keep going out to sea, right?"

"Didn't you always say you wanted to be on the big boats?"

"That was me being naive. Isn't being on shore so much better? Being right by your side so much better?"

"The flower-filled world dazzles the eye — spend a few days out with me and you don't want to go to sea anymore?"

Ye Chenghu grinned. He wasn't a fool — how could he not know which to choose?

The flower-filled world is so much fun, so exciting!

In the past his brain must have short-circuited, only thinking about the high pay at sea, every day dreaming of going out to earn money.

Wasn't following behind his dad easier than earning money at sea? And it was more relaxing, and the pay came in sweet!

Ye Yaodong glared at him. "What needs to be learned still has to be learned, what needs to be done at sea still has to be done. And you'll have to take turns staying on different boats."

"Why?"

"Because our family has a lot of boats, and there'll only be more in the future. Those boat captains will be the backbone later on — we have to manage these people well, so you definitely need to be familiar with them. I'm very familiar with them — I promoted every one of them myself. You and Yangyang also have to slowly get familiar with them, and you both need to spend time at sea. Whatever needs to be known and learned has to be learned, so you won't be fooled by people or be at a loss when something happens and you don't know what to do."

Ye Chenghu nodded repeatedly after listening. "Got it. It's just that in the future these things will be handed to me and Yangyang to manage, so we need to know and understand more."

"Mm."

"Then when does Yangyang go out to sea?"

"Wait until he's in high school, same as you."

"Then by the time I'm in my final year of high school, Yangyang'll already be in his first year!"

"Then when you're in your final year, you just do what you've been doing lately — go out with me to socialize. Switch Yangyang to going out to sea."

Ye Chenghu's eyes lit up. "Great, the two of us brothers take turns — that's how it should be. I've taken my turn suffering, now it's Yangyang's turn."

"Steer your boat. Keep your eyes on it."