Chapter 185

Ye Yaodong thought only a few close acquaintances knew about buying the boat. He didn't go around shouting about it, but just because he didn't say anything didn't mean others didn't. His mother happily wandered around the village that afternoon and told all their relatives and friends.

By the time he returned to his new home from the old residence, the corner of his house was already piled with several rolls of firecrackers.

He saw that bright red color as soon as he returned.

"Word spread so fast?"

"It spread throughout the village in one afternoon. I'm thinking of ordering a tray of sugar cakes tomorrow to share with relatives and friends, since they all sent firecrackers over." Lin Xiuqing said with a smile as she went to take the food out of the pot when she saw him return.

Having a happy event at home, distributing sugar cakes is a custom here. On the day they moved, they also steamed two trays of sugar cakes to share with relatives and friends.

Buying a new boat is the same; there is also the custom of distributing sugar cakes, which signifies rising higher step by step.

Ye Yaodong had originally thought it was just a second-hand iron-hulled boat and wanted to keep a low profile without telling everyone. He didn't expect it to spread so widely.

"It must have been Mother who said it, that's why it spread so fast. Let's order them tomorrow. Order a tray of sugar cakes, cut them up, and share them with relatives and friends!"

"Hmm, your friends also sent a few strings of firecrackers. Seeing that you weren't home, they said they would come over after dinner."

"Oh."

"I was thinking that since it's a boat we just bought, we definitely have to pick a good day for the first time we take it out. I specifically went to check just now; tomorrow is not suitable, the day after tomorrow is a good day. The day after tomorrow at nine in the morning is a good time. We'll set off the firecrackers then before heading out."

Ye Yaodong frowned, "Is it necessary to be so particular about a second-hand boat?"

He was still thinking about taking it out at night to try setting the nets for a day, then painting it when he returned tomorrow and letting it dry for two days.

"Although it's second-hand, it's still our family's new boat. It has changed owners, so what should be done must be done."

"Alright, then let's paint it tomorrow. I'll go tell Father after I finish eating later."

Is this what they call a sense of ritual?

In their rural area, whenever they encounter anything, they like to pick a good day before proceeding to get a good omen. Moreover, if it's not necessary, they don't go on long journeys on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month.

They had only finished half their meal when his friends arrived one after another.

"Good fellow, you actually changed to a new boat without a sound. Awesome!"

"So disloyal, you didn't even tell us in advance. We only found out from the villagers."

Ye Yaodong hurriedly shoveled the remaining rice into his mouth, "I didn't know the boat could be bought so quickly either. I just saw one that was suitable and made the move directly. I bought it just this morning, and you found out this afternoon; it's not too late."

"That's different. You didn't mention it when we were at sea two days ago. Damn, we can't even catch up by flattering you; you changed boats so fast. I don't know when Azheng and I will be able to change to a big boat."

"You will, there will definitely be an opportunity."

Ah Guang didn't go to sea today either, and asked from the side: "Did you check the date? When are you setting off the firecrackers?"

"I originally thought it didn't matter for a second-hand boat and was going to take it out tonight. My wife insisted that she checked the date and said we should set off the firecrackers at 9 AM the day after tomorrow before taking it out to sea."

"That's necessary. The second-hand boat is over ten meters long, so of course, you have to set off firecrackers to celebrate. Even our small wooden boat sets off firecrackers to mark the occasion."

Ye Yaodong responded with "uh-huh" and "yeah-yeah," chatted for a few more sentences, and after agreeing that they would come over at nine the day after tomorrow to help set off the firecrackers, they left.

He made another trip to the old residence, bought a bucket of dark blue paint on the way back, and got up early the next day. He hired people to help lift the boat onto the shore and then started working on painting it.

Thinking to himself, after painting it and setting off the firecrackers, taking it into the water looking brand new with a sense of ritual would indeed be more pleasing psychologically than just taking it out directly. After all, it is the boat he has been looking forward to for a long time.

And the sun started coming out today, clearing up. After being overcast for several days, it's comforting to see the sunny weather.

Ye Yaodong applied one coat of paint in the morning and came out to apply another after lunch. Only then did he finish his work with satisfaction and go back. Then, immediately after, he drove the small wooden boat out to collect the ground cage nets.

The ground cages had been in the sea for two days without being collected. Because it was windy yesterday, he didn't go to collect them; otherwise, he should have collected them yesterday. He was busy until the afternoon again today.

His father had already quickly sold the small wooden boat to his second uncle's cousin this morning. Since they were family, he had greeted them in advance to borrow it for a bit; it's no big deal to take it out to sea to collect the ground cages.

It's just that he didn't expect that as soon as he walked to the pier, he would hear a major piece of news: an ocean-going fishing boat from their local area had encountered a bloody massacre at sea.

Ye Yaodong's heart tightened, and he hurriedly squeezed into the crowd, "What are they saying? What are they saying? When did it happen?"

"I heard that the fishing boat was in international waters. One of the crew members on the boat was frequently arguing and having conflicts with the first mate and second mate. Then, that crew member took advantage of the night to poison the first mate and second mate to death. I heard that the crew member was also a fugitive, brought onto the boat by the chief engineer..."

The person next to him who had just come over to listen also felt his scalp tingle and hurriedly asked: "And then? And then?"

"Then I heard that the conflicts on the boat escalated even further. The fugitive took advantage of the sleep of several other crew members he had conflicts with, killed them, and threw them into the sea. The matter completely exploded. In the end, only 5 out of 28 people survived. The captain, the first mate, and the second mate all died..."

"I heard that they even pulled over a high-voltage wire later, and aimed it at the heads of the few survivors for a round of electric output, electrocuting two people to death..."

"It's too miserable... I heard later that there were people hacking with knives. There were bloodstains, knife marks, and severed limbs everywhere, and one crew member was tied to the mast..."

"Is it true? It's too scary..."

"I went to town this morning and heard about it too. It's too miserable. There was actually a fugitive on the boat. I don't know where they hired the crew members from. It's too terrifying..."

"Is it true? Then... then the family members must be crying their hearts out. They went to the boat to earn money properly, but ended up losing their lives..."

A person watching the excitement on the side frowned and said affirmatively to everyone: "My relative is from the Maritime Bureau. This matter is true. I heard that the fugitive was brought onto the boat by the chief engineer. The two conspired to seal and close the cabin, deliberately damaged the cooling system, released toxic gas into the cabin, and then tricked the first mate and second mate into going in, locking them from the outside, poisoning the two to death. The conflicts only became more intense later."

"In the end, the 4 survivors worked together to kill the fugitive and throw him into the sea, and then tied the chief engineer to the mast, which ended this bloody incident."

The chief engineer is called "Lao Gui" by the locals.

Ye Yaodong felt a chill as he listened. In his past life, news would occasionally break out that such-and-such ocean-going ship had a bloody accident at sea, which was often not because they encountered pirates, but because of infighting on the boat.

You must know that ocean-going fishing boats go out to sea for as short as half a year and as long as two or three years according to their operation methods. Spending a long time at sea, the boring life easily affects a person's mood. Conflicts are normal. If you encounter someone with a bad temperament, even a small matter can trigger a bloody conflict.

Killing someone at sea and throwing them into the sea, you only need to say that they accidentally fell into the sea, and nothing will happen. This kind of thing is too common.

Therefore, the risks of going out to sea are extremely high, and man-made disasters account for a large part.

He didn't dare to run ocean-going voyages in his past life. The problem of not having a certificate was not a big deal; the main thing was that he was afraid that something would easily happen after a long time. So he only asked people to hire him to fish in domestic waters, and he could return to port in a few months at most, which was much better than running ocean-going voyages.

He pricked up his ears and continued to listen...

"I heard that the remaining crew members didn't know how to sail the boat and could only let the boat drift at sea. It hit a reef yesterday and was discovered by lighthouse staff, who reported it to the marine patrol, and then contacted our police. They were brought back for interrogation in the early morning. It has spread all over town this morning. It's too scary. It's really a sin..."

"Why didn't they screen them when choosing crew members? They didn't find a few reliable and familiar ones either..."

"You make it sound easy. Where is it so easy to find crew members? Ocean-going ones are even harder to find. How many people are willing to run ocean-going voyages? Getting a small boat at home and working casually is better than running ocean-going voyages."

Ocean-going fishing often encounters typhoons, machine failures, pirates, and infighting. Although the income is considerable, many traditional fishermen are unwilling to participate.

"I heard that those crew members were all inlanders introduced by intermediaries. Except for the captain, first mate, second mate, and other management, none of the others had received seaman training. Many had no ocean-going experience. They were all introduced one by one, and they weren't familiar with each other. If there's a conflict, who's going to be polite to you?"

More and more people gathered at the pier, and the matter spread wider and wider. Many people stopped going to sea and just listened to the news there. It was precisely because it was a fishing boat from their town that it could spread so fast.

"It's too miserable. This ocean-going voyage is too dangerous..."

"Isn't it? We are just ordinary fishermen. It's good to catch fish and live a stable life. Ocean-going boats are not to be taken..."

"It's not that absolute. It's mainly because that boat was a mixed bag. When looking for crew members, you still have to find those who are familiar and reliable."

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Ye Yaodong agreed with this. It is too normal for a few people to die at sea, so he asked his father for his opinion when looking for crew members. Otherwise, if you don't find the right ones, people will die.

"It is estimated that this matter will be published in the newspaper tomorrow..."

Ye Yaodong stood there listening for a long time. Everyone repeated it over and over again. He waited until he had heard enough before leaving to drive the boat.

Ocean-going voyages were out of reach for him.

But it also warned him that he must be cautious when looking for people. His father is still the most reassuring.

The ground cage nets had not been collected for two days, and the goods inside were quite impressive: blue crabs, swimming crabs, stone crabs, mantis shrimp, sword shrimp, white shrimp, red octopus, white octopus, small yellow croaker, yellow drum fish, water drum fish, etc. There were a lot of varieties, both big and small.

He specifically picked a bowl of white shrimp. Recently, the white shrimp have been very fat, with red roe on the heads of all of them, and red or light purple shrimp roe on their bellies. He also kept a 2-jin sea bass, which can be stewed into clear soup in the evening. Sea fish are rich in nutrition, and eating them will make you smart, which is just right for his wife to eat.

The two boys at home are not the material for studying. He hopes that the one in his wife's belly can be more promising and eat more fish.

By the time he returned from collecting goods at sea, people on the shore were still discussing the ocean-going ship massacre. It is estimated that it will not be able to calm down for several days.

When he returned home, Lin Xiuqing was also saying: "It's a good thing we found Father, otherwise I wouldn't be at ease."

"We are just a small boat operating in the near sea, so it's fine."