Chapter 713: The Announcement

Lin Lin Xiuqing was also very suspicious; seeing the father and son acting so secretive, she felt it was not as simple as just cleaning the hull, otherwise, what was there that couldn't be said?

And who stays up all night without sleeping to clean something overnight? Why such urgency?

However, seeing that neither of them intended to bring it up, acting as if they were talking about anything but the matter, asking now would be futile; Ye's mother had just asked and was kicked back like a hot potato.

She thought about it, swallowed her words back into her stomach, and decided to ask again later when she returned to her room.

The adults talking back and forth actually benefited Ye Chenghu.

While the adults were speaking enthusiastically, he quietly slipped back to his seat, picked up his chopsticks, carefully scooped rice from his bowl, tried not to make a sound, and tried to pick up as little food as possible to avoid drawing attention.

While the adults were talking there, he ate a few more mouthfuls first, hoping to finish his rice before they finished speaking.

The old lady smiled at him, so he kept his index finger by his lips, reminding the old lady not to make a sound at all, letting him safely get the rice into his stomach first.

Otherwise, who knows what would await him later?

Everyone actually saw it, but pretended not to know and simply ignored him.

After Ye Chenghu quickly finished his rice, he quietly got down from the table and returned to his room; only when Ye Ye Chenghai from next door came to call him to go to school did he quickly put on his schoolbag and run straight out.

He was afraid his mother would remember that he had just wanted to use a stomachache as an excuse to ask for leave.

Actually, they didn't go to school immediately; it was only shortly after finishing their meal, and it was still early before school time; they ran to the Goddess Mazu Temple to join the crowd again.

Lin Lin Xiuqing was too lazy to manage him, closing one eye and opening the other, pretending she hadn't seen it.

Anyway, as long as they went to school obediently on time, it was fine; usually they went out early, and no one knew until what time they dawdled before going to school.

Later, let A-Dong go check the Tianhou Palace; if they haven't gone by the time, then they really need to be beaten.

The Goddess Mazu Temple and the Tianhou Palace are just different names with no difference; the new temple is larger, so the plaque is engraved with Tianhou Palace, but they habitually call it the Goddess Mazu Temple, and occasionally use both names, calling them back and forth.

After the meal, Ye Yaodong strolled to the doorway and glanced at the bustling Tianhou Palace in the distance; even from a long way off, he could see the place was teeming with people, with crowds coming and going and heads bobbing.

It was only just after the meal, yet there were already so many people; when the grand opera was about to start, it would probably be even more packed, and people from ten miles around and neighboring villages would likely cram the Goddess Mazu Temple to bursting; he would have to send the old lady there a bit earlier later on.

"A-Dong, come in here!"

"Coming!"

Coming, his wife's interrogation was finally about to start.

As soon as Ye Yaodong entered the room, he saw her taking off her apron and immediately stepped in to help.

"Go back to the room, I have questions for you."

"Okay."

The husband and wife went into the room one after the other, leaving only Ye Ye Xiaoxi at the door with the old lady to listen to the radio, waiting to go to the Tianhou Palace after they finished talking.

Lin Lin Xiuqing walked behind and closed the door.

"What exactly did you and Dad do last night? You didn't return all night, only coming back at dawn."

"Hehe, guess, see?"

She looked him over from head to toe. "Did you and Dad do something bad? And you dare not say it. Hurry up and say it, stop playing games; after we finish, we'll go to the Tianhou Palace to watch the opera together."

"I'm afraid if I say it, you won't be in the mood to watch the opera; otherwise, I'll tell you when we sleep at night? Let's go watch the opera at noon first, there's another show in the evening, and after we finish, I'll explain the details to you when we return?"

"If you hadn't said that, it would have been fine; but now that you say it, I really have no mood to watch the opera; I just want to know first."

Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose, thought for a moment, and felt it was better to tell her honestly; she wasn't his mother, her mouth was tight, and the fact that the family had gained a boat had to be told to her, otherwise he couldn't explain where the boat came from.

"Yesterday evening, I picked up a boat from Luzhoudao!"

"Ah? What!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing's eyes widened, her mouth opened round, looking at him in disbelief.

"What did you just say? Wait, are you serious? You picked up a boat? Can boats be picked up? No, no, how did you pick up the boat? A boat from Luzhoudao can be picked up by you?"

She was so shocked she was somewhat incoherent, and a string of questions burst out all at once.

Could a fishing boat really be picked up by him? And one from Luzhoudao?

Was this a joke? Was he deliberately teasing her?

"Nonsense, why would I lie to you?"

She covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from making a sound of surprise; after calming down for a while, she spoke in a small, incredulous voice again: "You are serious? You really picked up a boat from Luzhoudao? No way, can that be picked up?"

"Was it a fishing boat drifting at sea with no one wanting it? Or did they have an accident? So the boat was abandoned there, and you picked it up and brought it back?"

Ye Yaodong heard her guessing wildly there, asking a string of questions, so he told her what happened yesterday afternoon and explained what they did last night.

Lin Lin Xiuqing then looked at him speechlessly. "You call this picking up?"

Ye Yaodong bared his teeth and grinned there. "It must be picking up; there was no one on the boat, and it was drifting on a deserted island; leaving it there would be such a waste; driving it back could make use of it."

"It's too risky; what if they suddenly appeared? Moreover, can you feel safe parking the boat at the town port? What if they recognize it?"

"They won't recognize it; we repainted it all over, removed all the markings, and even painted the cabin."

"What paint did you use that it could go into the water so quickly?"

"I specially bought Taiwanese goods, choosing the one that dries fastest; although the time was short, the color might peel off when it goes into the water, but it probably won't all fall off. Moreover, I painted it black; this color is deep, so the peeling shouldn't be very obvious. And even if it peels, so what? It doesn't matter; if the color peels off in a mess, people will be even more afraid to recognize it."

Lin Lin Xiuqing was also impressed by his boldness, daring to steal a fishing boat from Luzhoudao.

"Then their engine's crank handle was still left on the boat and they didn't take it away?"

"Not only did they not take it away, they even just left it right beside; they probably thought their Luzhoudao reputation was so well-known, and the markings on the fishing boat were so obvious, that no one would dare to have designs on it."

But they didn't expect to run into someone like him who didn't play by the rules.

"This is too dangerous for you; what if they left someone on the boat? Or what if they came down the mountain in time and happened to meet you?"

"I got close once before, so I was sure there was no one on the boat, which is why I dared to get closer again. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore; you know, that's enough; don't tell anyone, and don't tell Mother either."

"You and Dad conspired together not to tell Mother, right?"

"Definitely; how could we tell Mother this? Don't you know her temper? Dad and I discussed it; we'll tell Mother that we heard from a friend that someone wanted to sell a boat cheaply, and I wanted to buy it; I was afraid you would disagree, since we just bought a large boat, the boat hasn't even arrived yet, and we still owe a huge balance, so we want to buy another boat?"

"But this boat is hard to come by; some people want to buy one but can't; it's a rare opportunity, so I acted first and asked for forgiveness later, borrowed some money, paid a deposit, and bought it from them."

"When we returned yesterday, we secretly drove the boat back, but after driving it back, we didn't know how to explain it to you; parking it in the village was too conspicuous, so we temporarily drove it to the town dock."

"See, isn't that a perfect reason, a reasonable explanation! After I tell Mother, I can use her as a mouthpiece to spread the word in a few days, then bring it back out in the open, saying I've already convinced you."

Lin Lin Xiuqing genuinely admired his quick-witted mind—spinning so fast, the spur-of-the-moment idea of "picking up the boat," and after "picking it up," he instantly arranged everything that followed perfectly.

"Since you've already arranged everything, then fine. But you absolutely cannot do something like this again—it's too dangerous. We'd rather not take advantage of this bargain…"

"How is this taking advantage? I'm nipping the danger in the bud. Didn't I tell you before? Where there's a nugget of gold appearing, there's very likely a gold mine. Although they don't have a nugget on hand and don't know this, maybe there are other treasures? What if they stumble upon a gold mine by accident?"

"If there aren't other treasures, what are they doing going to the island so frequently? That boat of theirs could easily earn plenty by just running a few cargo trips out—why waste time going to a deserted island?"

"Besides, in a few days we need to start catching squid. Right after Goddess Mazu's birthday, we'll have to go up the mountain to cut branches and start preparing."

"Tell me—if I don't settle this matter, how are we supposed to catch squid? We'd end up doing free labor for someone else."

So sleepy, going to sleep, will work hard on extra chapters tomorrow