Chapter 888: Going It Alone Too

"What's all this 'gentle and soft' nonsense?"

Fatty's wife walked in, glanced at the two of them with a puzzled look, then went ahead and took a bowl to pour herself some tea.

Ye Yaodong spared no effort in stirring up hatred for him, completely ignoring the fact that Fatty had been signaling him with his eyes until they were about to cramp.

"Oh, so Fatty is praising my wife for being gentle..."

"No, I said his wife is too gentle; that doesn't work in our countryside. Now that he's made his fortune, relatives come knocking day and night asking for help. You need someone like you to keep them in line. When marrying, you have to marry someone like you."

Fatty's wife was instantly satisfied. "They are all relatives, either from the village or the township. If they have difficulties, we can't just ignore them. We must help those who deserve help. But for those shameless people, you can't be too polite, or they'll take advantage and climb onto your face."

"Right, right, right..."

"Right my foot! It's been ages, and the loaches still aren't stewed. What are you doing? Dragging your feet! By the time you finish cooking, dawn will break."

"Almost there, almost there. I just poured in some vinegar, just killed them. I'll pour in the wine, add the angelica and codonopsis, and start stewing right away."

Fatty dared not say more and quickly started the fire to get busy.

Ye Yaodong sat on the side, eating pig stomach while laughing, but since his wife was still nearby, he didn't laugh out loud.

Fatty's wife smiled at him. "Ah Dong, your luck has been very good this year. People all over the village have been talking about you lately."

He nodded. "I know. They're all envious of my earnings."

"Yes, they're all counting how many boats you have. Just now, the neighbors at the door were saying you only had one boat last year, but this year you suddenly have five or six."

"Some of them haven't even been delivered yet."

"Even if they haven't been delivered, they count," Fatty chimed in while tending the fire.

"Actually, the rumors are exaggerated. For these recent boats, I only paid deposits; I haven't spent much money yet."

As for those two smaller ones, one was "picked up," and the other was acquired at a low price. All things considered, he really hadn't spent much.

However, when the final payments were due at the end of the year, that would truly require a huge sum.

"Not much? I heard one share costs 1,500, plus the deposit. Since we split the family, we haven't even saved up 1,500."

"No, the deposit only requires a thousand or so. The bulk of the final payment is due later, so it's good to have some buffer."

"Even adding those up, it's a lot. For an average family in the village, wanting to partner with someone to buy a boat would bankrupt them. I heard that when they went to the city to look at boats the day before yesterday, they all really wanted to buy, but after returning, they all said they couldn't afford it."

"Actually, buying would be worth it. The price will surely go up in a couple of days. Getting them earlier means earning money sooner. Anyway, you only need to pay a deposit upfront. Alas... those people just won't think about it; it's useless to tell them."

Ye Yaodong didn't want to drag this out either. He had said it many times; smart people could calculate it themselves. If they were reluctant to buy, there was no point in saying anything.

After finishing a piece of pig stomach, he wiped his hands and stood up, preparing to go out and invite the other friends over to eat the loaches and eels together. It was free stuff; everyone could eat together and make it lively.

Anyway, with the typhoon these past few days, the whole village was probably very idle.

It was just that Xiao Xiao and Ah Zheng kept praising him and Ah Guang all the way, making the two of them feel a bit overwhelmed.

When they arrived at Fatty's house, the scent of angelica permeated the entire room, and only then did they stop bragging.

After entering the room, Ah Guang sniffed the scent heavily before saying, "The few underlings you recruited are quite sensible; they even know to make offerings."

Ah Zheng went to shake the bucket nearby, and two loaches instantly jumped out. "Quite a lot. Looks like you've been busy."

"Don't call them 'underlings,' it makes me sound like a gang boss. They just ran up voluntarily to work for me. I thought I couldn't let them work for free, so I occasionally calculated some wages for them."

"So, was it really you who ordered them to beat those people back then?"

Xiao Xiao glared at Ah Zheng indignantly. "Isn't that a stupid question? I could figure it out with my butt."

Ah Zheng ignored what Xiao Xiao said and only looked at Ye Yaodong. "Then if you go to catch jellyfish, will you take them along too?"

"I don't know. We'll see when the time comes. I have several boats now; it's a bit early to talk about this."

"So, Dongzi, is it true that you and your brother and the others partnered up for another boat?"

"It's true."

"Alright. Xiao Xiao and I were thinking of buying another boat, but we were still hesitating. Such a big boat, and you just bought it without a second thought."

"There's nothing to hesitate about. If you buy another boat and each operate one, you won't have to share the profits with an extra person, and you can earn a bit more. Your father won't have to work for others either."

"We've been discussing this these past two days. It's good that you called us together today. Let's chat and see if it's better for us to split up and each operate one boat."

Xiao Xiao also nodded. "I've also heard the villagers talking lately. Everyone says you must have made a huge fortune catching jellyfish in Zhejiang Province last year, which is why you've been buying boat after boat with such generosity this year, and your earnings keep growing like a snowball."

"That's why I was thinking of discussing with Ah Zheng to buy another boat, so we can catch up next month or the month after and go to Zhejiang with you."

Ye Yaodong sat by the table, propping his chin with his hands. "Why does everyone think going to Zhejiang with me will make you rich? It's very dangerous, you know. It's someone else's territory; you might end up making money but losing your life."

"Hey! Don't you have to take risks to make money? Aren't we taking risks every day we go out to sea?"

"I don't know what the situation will be this year, and I dare not say whether we'll earn a lot or a little. But last year, we really earned quite a lot. That trip was very worthwhile. You can buy a boat and go along to take a gamble, but you must be mentally prepared."

He thought of the few days ago when he was dividing the money at Ah Guang's house and mentioned buying two muskets from the village committee.

With a bit of free time today, he was also pondering it, thinking that if they went to Zhejiang next month, he would also need to get a few on the boat, both for self-defense and for deterrence. Last year had been too messy, like a guerrilla war.

Thinking of this, he asked Ah Guang again, "You mentioned a few days ago about getting a musket from the village committee. Did you get it?"

"I didn't get it, but my father went and ran the errand and got one."

"I'll go get two back another day." After saying this, he looked at Ah Zheng and Xiao Xiao. "If you two also plan to go to Zhejiang, you'd better get two as well."

The two looked at each other, somewhat hesitant.

"That dangerous? Will guns even be used?"

"No, no. It's just for precaution and self-defense. When you're out and about, earning too much money is dangerous. Getting two guns can provide more security."

The two nodded simultaneously.

"We'll consider this after we discuss the boat purchase."

"Buy it, buy it. It's always a good thing. Having an extra boat means more capital. Didn't you also say that after I earned the jellyfish money, it grew like a snowball? You try it too; it's never a bad thing."

"Alright! Then I'll grit my teeth, toughen my skin, and call on a few more sisters to support us!"

Ye Yaodong's mouth corner couldn't help but twitch. Indeed, a dog never changes its habit of eating shit; when there's a problem or difficulty, find the sisters.

Having many sisters is really something to be proud of...

Shedding a tear of sympathy for his brothers-in-law...

"Coming, coming, the eels are out of the wok. Nobody's allowed to touch their chopsticks yet. I'm boiling the loaches right away—wait until I'm done before you eat."

"Not even your wife?"

"She can. You lot can't!"

"Pfft—"

A Guang changed the subject. "So, A Zheng, are you planning to buy a boat on your own? The new boat—still pooling it with Xiao Xiao?"

"Probably not, right? When the time comes I'll call my dad to go in with me. I'm his only son, so he'll have to dig out his coffin money to help me. That way I probably won't need to pool with Xiao Xiao anymore."

"Then what about the boat you two pooled together? Keep pooling, or pull out?" Ye Yaodong asked a sharp question.

It was better to get this question out in the open, while everyone was here right now. If they muddled through it vaguely, everyone would probably have a few little schemes in mind, and if it left a knot between them, that wouldn't be good.

A Zheng looked at Xiao Xiao. "What do you say?"

Xiao Xiao shrugged. "If you want to buy a new boat on your own, then it depends on what you say, not what I say?"

A Zheng looked up at the ceiling beam, thought for a moment, and said, "Then I'll pull out? One boat each? Saves the hassle too. I'll have a new boat by then anyway."

The shipyard had one or two ten-plus-meter trawlers available off the shelf. From what they knew, this kind had been selling pretty well over the past couple of years. Compared with the big boats, it wasn't very expensive, and the value was good.

Still, most people would think about looking around for a secondhand one first—after all, you could save a few hundred that way, and sometimes there wasn't even one off the shelf; you had to put in an order.

Xiao Xiao smiled and nodded, speaking frankly. "Fine, I'd be only too glad to have it all to myself. If you want to pull out, we'll go by the capital each of us put in at the time, and I'll refund half to you."

"Good, then I won't stand on ceremony. If you refund half, my dad's coffin money won't have to come out as much, and I won't have to borrow money from my sisters either. But it'll have to wait—I can only refund you after I've bought the new boat."

"Of course. If you're short, I'll advance it to you ahead of time. After all, the two of us go out together for one day, so count one extra day."

Everyone was happy.

Once it was all spelled out, there wouldn't be any quarrel over money later.

Although none of them were people who couldn't see reason, when profit was on the line, you couldn't guarantee they wouldn't get muddled. Settling it in advance meant there'd be no hesitation or reluctance later.

"Done talking? If you're done, help me discuss the little shop idea too." Fatty sat down on the side as well, ready to hash it out with them.

After Dongzi brought it up earlier, he really was quite tempted and had been mulling it over.

He'd just gotten too used to being lazy. After a year of being forced to clock in, his temper had grown sharp.

Doing his own thing was freer—and the key was, he wouldn't have to take any crap.

Otherwise, he had no legitimate reason to quit.

Without a legitimate reason, not only would his wife be a hard hurdle to get past, his dad would be just as hard.

Anyone would give him a good scolding. Such a good job that everyone envied—decent and stable—something others would love to have but couldn't get, yet he didn't know how to cherish it. Just up and quit, would he? The spit from his whole family could drown him.

But if he opened a shop, that'd be easy to explain—