Chapter 904: Repairing the Motorcycle (Two Chapters Combined, 7200)

Early the next morning, Ye Yaodong was shaken awake by Lin Lin Xiuqing. It was only 6 o'clock.

With a leader staying at home, he couldn't be allowed to sleep until whenever he pleased—he had to get up early. If the leader wanted to leave early and he wasn't up, it would leave a terrible impression.

Ye Yaodong jolted awake and sat straight up. "Are they up yet?"

"They should be. I heard some movement, but they haven't come out of the room yet. The village head and the village party secretary came over and are sitting in the courtyard chatting with Dad."

"Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"They just arrived too. I only just heard the movement, so I came in to call you right away."

Ye Yaodong pulled on long pants, threw on a small vest, and headed straight outside—happening to open the door at the same time as Director Chen.

"Morning~"

"Morning, Director Chen. Did you sleep okay last night? Was it too cramped?"

"Not at all, slept pretty well. Your seaside is really comfortable and cool—no need for a fan. Lying in the room at night, you can even hear the waves on the shore. Quite pleasant, actually. And there's a faint sea smell in the air, feels great. If I didn't have to get back to work, I'd want to stay another two days."

"Haha, next time you get the chance, come stay a few more days. Our little place can only offer simple accommodations for the novelty—it's not as comfortable as your city."

"Each has its own good points."

"How's Comrade Jiang's injury?"

"Not bad, just hard for him to walk. I'll get him a stick later and let him hobble along on his own."

Lin Lin Xiuqing brought over two toothbrushes and said with a smile, "I just went out to buy these this morning. The village head and the secretary are already here, at the door. Go freshen up, eat first, and we'll chat after."

"Thanks, your wife really thinks of everything."

"It's only right. When you leave later, I'll have my dad go buy a crutch…"

"No need to trouble yourselves. Any old stick will do. Anyway, we'll leave right after breakfast."

Ye Yaodong gave a nod, and the two of them squatted at the door to brush their teeth.

The village head and the village party secretary greeted them briefly, then waited nearby, watching them brush their teeth. Only after they finished did they follow them inside.

The old lady also served the village head and the secretary two bowls of porridge, greeting them cheerfully, "Don't be polite, eat together. I cooked extra."

"Alright, alright, then we won't stand on ceremony…"

Director Chen turned to Ye Yaodong and said, "About the motorcycle you mentioned yesterday—I'll go back and file a report. It's busted up like that anyway, and it'd be a hassle to transport back. Not sure if it can even be repaired."

"If you want it, just keep it. Do as you see fit. If it can't be fixed, sell it as scrap. No need to pay anything—scrap iron won't fetch much anyway."

The village head, the secretary, and Ye's father all stared in shock, their chopsticks clattering onto the table. "A motorcycle…"

Ye Yaodong was overjoyed, grinning so wide his mouth nearly split to the back of his head.

"Great, great, thank you, Director Chen! You're really my benefactor. Ever since I met you, good things have kept coming—prosperity, wealth, luck, everything thriving! Next time when the old lady goes to pray to Buddha, I'll have her ask Bodhisattva to bless you with long life, smooth official career, promotion after promotion, better and better every year…"

"Hahaha, enough flattery. It's all busted up—really just a pile of scrap metal. Whether it can even be fixed is another question."

"I'll take a look at it later. Sorry to trouble you, Director Chen. Thanks so much."

"No trouble at all. Let's eat. The dried fish at your place is really good. Steaming a few every morning to go with rice—even after eating it for months, I never get tired of it."

"When you head back, take another bag with you."

"No, no, I was just saying it offhand…"

"Yes, yes, take it. These are just small dried fish our family sun-dries ourselves—local specialty from our fishing village. Nothing valuable. Take it back and share with your relatives and friends to try…"

The old lady chimed in, "Right, all sun-dried at home. Even this Shigu fish on the table was just dried a couple days ago—smells wonderful."

Ye's father added, "Right, the ones we sent before didn't have this kind of dried fish. Give it a try—different dried fish, different flavors, different ways to eat them."

Having just gotten such a bargain, the family had to show proper gratitude—they couldn't let him leave empty-handed.

Director Chen saw how enthusiastic they were, smiled and didn't refuse further. He turned to Jiang Jiang Zhicheng with a grin and said, "Then we'll take some back later and split it between us to try."

"Up to you, Director Chen. I'm just along for the ride."

"Hehe…"

Breakfast was a cheerful affair. The village head and the secretary barely said a few words the whole time—just listening made them green with envy. Clearly they were eating porridge, but it tasted like lemons in their mouths.

After seeing Director Chen and the others off, Chen Shuji couldn't help but say enviously, "Good lad, you got a busted motorcycle for free just by letting the leader stay one night. That's quite something."

"Not really. It's just scrap metal now—not sure if it can even be fixed. Leaving it here for me to tinker with saves him the trouble of having to ship it back."

"You're getting a bargain and still playing coy."

The village head walked over to the busted motorcycle piled in the corner of the courtyard and looked at it. "Your luck is something else. Who would've thought you'd run into someone as easygoing as Director Chen—and with such fortune too…"

Ye's father was so happy he couldn't close his mouth, overjoyed. "Remember to call Old Zhou over later to take a look and see if it can be fixed."

"Mm, that's what I was thinking too. Zhou Shu has been driving tractors for over ten years—he knows a fair bit about fixing tractors. Let him take a look at this motorcycle and see if it can be repaired."

"The scratches and the dented sidecar aren't too bad—a few taps to reshape them would be simple enough. The question is whether the wiring inside is damaged, and whether the tires can be reshaped…"

"We'll know once someone comes to take a look."

Chen Shuji couldn't help sighing again, "Your luck is really something, kid."

Ye Yaodong nodded in agreement—he thought so too. Even though it was a busted motorcycle, if he could fix it up, it'd be seriously cool. The key thing was it was practical.

Whether going to town or to the county city, he'd get there in no time. With enough gas, running to the city wasn't out of the question—this motorcycle was way faster than a tractor.

Ye's father said cheerfully, "I'll go call Old Zhou. Not sure if he's home. Anyway, we're free today, nothing going on. Get him over to take a look first, and we'll all study it together."

"Then hurry up and go."

Ye Yaodong was already itching to get the motorcycle fixed.

Seeing no one else in the courtyard, Chen Shuji lowered his voice and said to Ye Yaodong, "About that Type 56 you mentioned the other day—the village head agreed. He said he can sell you two, but you can't tell anyone else. If word gets out, everyone will want one, and no matter who he sells to, he'll be in trouble either way."

He was instantly thrilled.

"Holy crap! I knew it—last night I kept dreaming magpies calling. So all the good stuff was coming today!"

The village head said sternly, "Don't tell anyone, or everyone will come asking me for one. There aren't enough to go around!"

"I get it, I get it. Then can you throw in two muskets too?"

After Ye Yaodong pushed his luck with that, just as they glared and prepared to refuse, he quickly added, "There are plenty of muskets anyway—keeping them all just sitting there is useless to you. Our village is so harmonious, right? And we have good relations with the surrounding villages and neighbors. Just throw in two more for me, huh?"

"Mainly because I've got a lot of boats. When I head out, I'll have four boats. By the equipment setup, each boat should have one, right? That's not a lot either. Help someone to the very end—see a Buddha off to the western heaven, as they say?"

"You were willing to sell me two Type 56 semis, so what's two muzzle-loaders matter? I won't take them for free—I'll pay. And I won't tell anyone."

The two of them stood there looking at each other, wavering and hesitating.

Ye Yaodong saw them still hesitating and pressed on, "It's for the safety of myself and the boats too. If this route goes smoothly, we can rush over to Zhejiang Province every year right on time."

"Compare it to what we earned during the cuttlefish fishing season—Village Chief, you should be able to imagine how much profit this could bring to the village, right? It's just two more muzzle-loaders."

Chen Shuji also chimed in to help, "Just approve it. They're just sitting around anyway. People matter more than things—the leadership said so."

"Right, things are dead, people are alive. We've got to be flexible."

"Fine, fine. We'll go pick them up at the village committee when we're getting off work in the evening."

"You got it!" Ye Yaodong replied happily, "How much?"

"Type 56 semi, 200 each, two is 400. Add the muzzle-loaders, 500. And I'll throw in a few boxes of ammo."

The price was reasonable—not expensive at all—and they even threw in a few boxes of ammunition.

"Great, great, great. Thanks, Village Chief and Secretary, for looking out for me. I definitely won't tell anyone. But if someone else thinks of it too, that's none of my business."

"Mm, that's all settled then. We'll be heading off first."

"Alright, take care walking."

After Ye Yaodong saw them out the door, he rubbed his hands together gleefully, back and forth.

Ye's father had just led Zhou Shu over when he saw Ye Yaodong looking like he'd picked up a treasure. Thinking he was happy about getting the motorcycle, he smiled along.

"This is the sidecar motorcycle. It's all banged up and warped, scratches everywhere—but that's all fine. As long as it can run, these are small problems. Take a look…"

Ye Yaodong also stepped forward, "The tire under the sidecar fell off too. We picked it up. See if you can put it back on."

"Then I'll have to study it. I've never even touched a motorcycle before, don't know if I can fix it. This is a whole different thing from a tractor—got to do some research."

Zhou Shu's eyes lit up, staring unblinkingly at the damaged motorcycle in the corner.

No man can resist the lure of cold machinery, just as no child can resist the charm of an engineering truck, and no woman can resist a beauty camera.

"No worries, take your time studying it. Whatever shape you can fix it into, that's good enough."

"I'll do my best. Let me take a look first."

He set down the toolbox he'd been carrying on his back, leaned in close to the motorcycle, and first checked the signs of damage on it.

Ye Yaodong was also mulling it over in his mind—if Zhou Shu couldn't fix it, he'd see in a few days if he could find time to head into the city.

To find a big tractor manufacturer and see if he could hire a master mechanic at a high price to come take a look.

He'd have to tinker with it no matter what. What if it worked?

If it worked, that'd be a huge win.

What did a little loss from failure count for in the face of success?

Since they weren't going out to sea today anyway, Ye Yaodong stuck around to help out, studying it together with them, asking whenever he didn't understand.

After the kids at home woke up and saw an extra motorcycle in the yard, and heard it was going to be theirs from now on, they nearly went wild with excitement.

"Dad, is this motorcycle really ours?"

"Really? How did it become ours just from sleeping one night?"

"My wish really came true! I was making a wish last night—Dad earns lots and lots of money and buys a motorcycle home!" Ye Ye Chengyang bounced and jumped with excitement, not forgetting to claim credit for himself.

"Quite the ambition! So you had a hand in it too—well done!" Ye Yaodong laughed and patted his head.

"Hehe~"

"Dad, I also dreamed that you took both of us and let us sit in the sidecar going for a ride. So cool! I was even playing ball inside the sidecar."

"You're quite the dreamer too!"

Ye Chenghu took his dad's words as praise and lifted his chin proudly, feeling he shared in the glory.

"Dad, why is this motorcycle broken?" After his excitement passed, Ye Ye Chengyang also curiously squatted down, craning his neck to look.

"If it weren't broken, it wouldn't have ended up in our hands. It's only because it's broken that I could ask for it."

Ye Chenghu instantly grew worried again and squatted down with him, "Can it be fixed, Dad?"

"Don't know. Give it a try."

"You have to fix it! This is a motorcycle!"

Ye Yaodong shot him a look, "Do I need you to tell me that? If it could be fixed, would we deliberately leave it broken and just sit on it as scrap? Go on, get out of here, go play outside, don't get in the way here."

"I'm just looking…"

Lin Lin Xiuqing walked over, grabbed both her sons by the back of their collars, and shuffled them outside, "Go play outside. Don't hold up your dad and grandpa fixing the bike."

Ye Ye Chengyang ambushed Ye Chenghu, snatched the basketball from his arms, and ran off, "If big brother won't play, I'll play…"

"Ah! Damn you, Ye Ye Chengyang…"

Ye Chenghu, caught off guard and outplayed, was so angry he jumped up and down, cursing without thinking the moment he opened his mouth—forgetting his mother was right beside him.

Lin Lin Xiuqing grabbed his clothes and smacked his bottom hard twice, "What 'your mother'? Your mother's right here. Barely out of diapers and already cursing—I'll tan your hide. Get over here…"

Ye Chenghu was on the verge of tears, being dragged backward with no choice but to retreat, hurriedly explaining as he stepped back, "Mom, I was wrong… it was Yangyang who snatched my ball…"

"All day long you don't learn the good stuff, only the bad. A few years old and already 'your mother, your mother'—comes right out your mouth. What kind of behavior is that?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing dragged him to the door, picked up the whip resting on the windowsill, and lashed his calves twice. He could only hop around like a monkey.

"Mom, I won't do it again, don't hit me, it hurts! I'll never curse again… never again…"

"Dad curses 'damn it' every day… 'f***, f***'…"

"And you think that gives you a reason…"

Ye Yaodong suddenly piped up, "Don't you also curse 'damn it'? 'Your mother, your mother'—won't your mother get mad?"

"You shut up!" Lin Lin Xiuqing glared at him furiously.

When teaching the kids, the worst thing is a teammate like this.

Ye Yaodong immediately clamped his mouth shut, not daring to make a sound.

Ye Ye Chengyang, seeing that Ye Chenghu hadn't chased him out, hugged the ball in confusion and ran back, stood at the courtyard gate and peeked in, then quickly ran off again, utterly without sympathy.

The child next door finished his meal, hugged the ball, and ran off; he didn't know Ye Yaodong's courtyard had gained a motorcycle, and only learned after hearing Ye Ye Chengyang excitedly tell him about it.

Then, with a great whoosh, a large group of children swarmed to Ye Yaodong's doorway again to peer in, wanting to confirm whether the motorcycle was really there.

"Wow! There's really a motorcycle!"

"There's really a motorcycle! Yangyang, has your dad struck it rich again?"

"Wow, Yangyang, your dad is so capable — your family even has a motorcycle now?"

"That's amazing, Yangyang, have you guys ridden a motorcycle?"

Ye Ye Chengyang was also so happy his face flushed red, his eyes sparkling. "Of course we have, we took turns riding it just last night."

The various praises at the courtyard gate made Ye Chenghu, who was currently being beaten, terribly miserable; he wished he could rush right over and show off too.

Lin Lin Xiuqing watched his struggling and hit him even harder.

"Mom, there are so many people out there, everyone's looking at our family's motorcycle, let me go."

"You behave yourself for me. Don't be so showy, don't go around bragging. Everything we have was earned by your dad; the capable one is your dad, not you. You can feel proud, but you must not be complacent, look down on others, got it?"

"I'm not looking down on anyone, Mom."

"Then stop being so smug and ordering people around. The day before yesterday I saw you make a kid squat down so you could jump over his head, and then made a whole group of people jump over his head too."

"We were just playing a game!"

"Whether it was a game or not, I'm warning you: play all you want, but you can't be arrogant and complacent, thinking you're above others. Did you hear me?"

"I heard you."

Lin Lin Xiuqing also saw that the household's big-ticket items were growing more and more, the children had whatever they wanted, and things other people didn't have, they had.

Things city kids didn't have, they also had; now they had already become the leaders of all the village children.

She was afraid they'd get too big for their britches, get so puffed up they wouldn't know which way was up, wouldn't know their own surname. Children's characters were already unstable to begin with, far too easy to go crooked.

Right now there were so many kids gathered there watching the fun; in a bit there'd probably be another round of fawning. Who isn't vain? He needed a few more beatings, to teach this son a good lesson.

Although they got more than other children, beatings couldn't be shorted either.

Materially they didn't seem to lack much, so they could only take a few more beatings, to let them know a little of the common people's hardships.

Although adults are vain too, an adult's character is already set; though they'd be influenced, they wouldn't go crooked as easily as children.

"Mom, I won't show off, I'll just play with them, I definitely won't order people around... I'll be good... I'll just play, won't scold anyone, won't boss anyone around..."

Ye Chenghu made all sorts of promises, snot and tears streaming down his face, before Lin Lin Xiuqing finally let him go.

The old lady stood to the side holding Ye Ye Xiaoxi, who had her eyes wide open, just watching without speaking. After Lin Lin Xiuqing finished the beating, she smiled and said to Ye Ye Xiaoxi: "Only naughty brothers get beaten. You have to be good, you have to listen."

She covered her bottom with one hand and nodded vigorously.

Ye Yaodong was being driven mad by the nieces and nephews around him, asking this and that, all asking when the motorcycle could be fixed.

He quickly chased them all out and locked the courtyard gate while he was at it.

"In the way, good thing there's a courtyard to keep them all out."

"Is it easy to fix?" Lin Lin Xiuqing asked.

"Zhou Shu said he needs to study it. After all, he's never fixed a motorcycle before. He'll repair the simple dents first, and the harder parts he can research slowly later."

"That's fine too. Do the easy ones first; the hard ones can wait."

Ye Yaodong turned his head and went back to being busy, helping hand over tools, hammering away together.

"Aren't you going to get the photos developed?"

"Oh right, I'm going. I almost forgot — I need to hurry and send the film off to be developed first."

"Ride your bicycle over early, while the morning sun isn't too strong. If you wait it'll be too hot later. Just drop off the roll and come back; pick it up in a couple of days."

"Mm, I'll go now. Does Zhou Shu need any tools or parts? I'll buy them in town on the way back."

Zhou Shu didn't even look up: "Not for the moment. I have every tool here. When I need something I'll let you know."

"Then Dad, you help out here, I'll be right back."

Ye Fu nodded. "You go do your thing, I've got it here."

Ye Yaodong ran back to the room, took the camera, and hung it around his neck. He was afraid that if he took the film out directly, it might leave fingerprints or have something else touch the film, and the developed pictures wouldn't be clear — that wouldn't be good. Better to bring the whole thing and take it out on site.

He pushed his bicycle out, planning to go quickly and return quickly.

However, to his surprise, when he went to develop his photos he ran into Hong Hong Wenle.

It felt like a long time since he'd seen this young master. Thinking back, the last time they'd met seemed to be when he'd gone to the market before the New Year to buy Angong Niuhuang Pills.

When he greeted him, Hong Hong Wenle was stunned for a moment.

"Huh? Huh! You're the fish seller from before!" Hong Hong Wenle was puzzled for a second, then suddenly had a revelation.

Ye Yaodong laughed awkwardly. "Yes, I'm the fish seller, and also the fisherman."

"Are you still fishing?"

"Fishing, yeah. That's how I make a living, get by."

"Oh, looks like you're doing pretty well, you even have a camera."

"So-so. This thing isn't actually that expensive, it's just that ordinary people can't bear to part with the money."

Hong Hong Wenle nodded without speaking.

Ye Yaodong's heart stirred, though. "Ah, Young Master Hong, may I ask — where did you buy your motorcycle?"

"What? You want to buy one?"

"You're joking. Even if you sold me off I couldn't afford a single tire. I just thought your motorcycle looked so cool, so handsome. Why didn't you ride it out today?"

"How would I ride it on these streets? Early morning, there are more people than ants. That bike can only be driven on empty roads."

"Where did you buy your bike? It looks so awesome."

"Hehe, they sell them in the province, but not in our city."

"Oh, oh."

Hong Hong Wenle had already decided not to speak, but suddenly thought of something and turned his head to ask, "Oh right, I heard someone say there's a village near you where a basking shark got stranded yesterday. True or false? They said it was taken away by some big shot — really?"

"Word spread that fast? It's only early morning and the whole town already knows?"

"I heard it from the buyer at the shop. If I could get shark fin made from that basking shark's fin and put it on display in the shop, it'd really be something."

"Probably not. It was taken away by the Haishi Bureau — they said it's being sent to the provincial research institute, and after the research is done it'll go to a museum."

"Oh my! Such a waste of heaven's gift — taking something this good off to research it. Do they even know what they're looking at? How do you know all this?"

Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose. "Because it stranded right at our village."

Hong Hong Wenle's eyes went wide. "It stranded at your village and you didn't come tell me?"

"It wasn't me who found it first…"

"Then you didn't have to donate it either. Damn, what a waste."

"You can't put it that way. Being able to provide research value for science is also a collective honor."

He gave a snort of laughter, looked Ye Yaodong up and down, and said, "You're pretty politically aware, aren't you."

"It wasn't me. Collective assets have to be decided by the village committee, right? It's the village committee that's so enlightened, not me. I'd have loved to sell it for cash — hack off the fins and bring them over to you. Next time I run into a big fish like that, I'll definitely find you and we'll get a good price."

That was his honest thought too — if it could be sold for money, who'd be stupid enough to donate it?

"What a pity. Probably a school of basking sharks passed by the day before yesterday during the day, and then one accidentally got stranded that night. We were all guessing at the time what kind of sharks that big school passing by was."

"One from that school got stranded, because two boats showed up at the time. One of them was mine, and those basking sharks were following right alongside me…"

Ye Yaodong started bragging again, chatting away about what happened that day, leaving Hong Hong Wenle so stunned his eyes bulged out, and the photo studio owner too, listening with his mouth hanging open.

None of them had seen with their own eyes the scene of the basking shark school passing the town dock that day — they'd only heard rumors. Now having an eyewitness retell it made it all the more fantastical.

"If you don't believe it, just get these photos developed and you'll see. Good thing I brought my camera — took several shots from the boat…"

"Really?"

"Of course. Why would I lie to you?"

"Then develop them — develop a few more copies. How many copies did you just get developed? Two, right? Develop 5 more copies for me, and for each photo develop 5 more prints. I'll pay for all the developing, including your 2 copies."

Huh? An unexpected bonus?

Tell one story and the whole thing's free!

Ye Yaodong was delighted. The money saved could go into his private stash — several yuan, enough for cigarettes and snacks for the kids at home.

Besides, among the 5 copies of photos, some were portraits he'd taken before, and some were shots of Goddess Mazu's scene. Those useless ones — he figured he could probably get those back too, and get a few more photos for free.

When the time came, the extra photos — the relevant ones could perhaps be donated to the Goddess Mazu temple for preservation. In the future they'd be part of their Tianhou Palace's glorious history.

Hong Hong Wenle was extremely curious about what had happened that day and pulled him aside to ask a whole bunch more, including how it had been taken away yesterday — he questioned him in detail.

After Ye Yaodong finished happily daydreaming, he held nothing back — told him everything he knew.

There was nothing he couldn't say about this. He retold the story of everything he'd seen and heard over the past two days, gave them the rundown, let them hear the original version.

"That's way too thrilling…" Hong Hong Wenle listened, a longing rising in his heart.

"You said it."

"When can I go out to sea fishing with you? Give it a try and see if we can run into a fish that big. You've run into big ones several times already — the odds seem pretty high."

"Cut it out… You're a young master… how could you do a fisherman's work? It's not even suitable for an outing. Going out to sea is risky — it's no joke."

"From the way you describe it, it sounds pretty exciting. It's not like I've never been out to sea — when I was overseas, I occasionally went out on a yacht with friends to fish."

"Don't. Actual fishing is really boring and exhausting."

"Then how about this — I'll go fishing with you, or you fish while I fish. We'll go out for a few hours and come back. I'll give you a fishing rod!"

This time it was Ye Yaodong's turn to gape.

"You're kidding, right? I've seen your fishing rods before — they're all imported goods, super expensive."

"What's the big deal? Just say whether you'll go or not."

"I can go with you, but you can't go with me."

"Why?"

"Because if you come with me, you become my responsibility. But if I go with you, you're responsible for my safety. There's a huge difference there — I can't afford to be responsible for you."