Chapter 911: The Phone Call Comes

Out at sea the whole day, Ye Yaodong was physically with the boat but his heart was back home—his hands were fishing, but his mind had long since flown back.

Anyway, today he had brought Chen Shi along, and to give him better training and let him learn more, he ordered Chen Shi to do every job on the boat except steering.

Although his father was a bit dismissive of Chen Shi, he wasn't—anyone who could help him work was a good man.

He himself just sat there fishing, still using the miscellaneous goods they had just netted up as bait.

Each busy with his own task, each fulfilling his role, everything in good order.

Until the sun had just begun to slant west, he saw his father getting ready to haul the net, and he couldn't wait any longer and quickly reeled in his line.

No matter how important fishing was, it wasn't as important as the motorcycle. He hadn't really wanted to come out today, but his father had nagged and grumbled, looking down on Chen Shi for his stutter, so he had no choice but to come along too.

What was the point of coming along? He still just sat there fishing his fish, and all the other work was done by Chen Shi cooperating with his father, yet they still insisted on calling him out to follow.

His father, like most ordinary people, also looked at people with disabilities through colored glasses.

Because they had Chen Shi with them, they hadn't set any bottom or shrimp pots—if they snagged the bottom it wouldn't be convenient to dive, and after his father hauled the net up, he started clamoring to head back.

But his father had clearly already forgotten about the agreement from last night to head back early today to make a phone call.

"Isn't it still early? Why go back so early? We can drag one more net. It only gets dark around seven now—if we drag one more net and head back, it'll still be light out."

"I need to go to the village committee to make a phone call, my motorcycle still hasn't been arranged for repairs."

"With Zhou Shu around, what's the rush? Give him a few days to tinker with it and he'll fix it up naturally. Keep dragging the net, don't go changing your mind every minute. The province isn't that easy to get to, right? Don't let yourself get scammed."

"You keep fishing your fish. I'm not nagging you for not working—just stay there. I'll drag one more net, and you can catch a few more fish too. I see the stuff you've been catching is quite a lot…"

Last night when he said he wasn't going, they had insisted on calling him along; now they were trying to placate him, afraid he'd head back halfway?

From seeing him fishing there in the middle of the night and ordering Chen Shi around, his father had already cursed and scolded him several times—even though his father had experienced the joy of fishing himself before.

He figured his father probably hadn't wanted him to come out to sea in the first place, found him an eyesore, and also looked down on Chen Shi, so he was deliberately finding excuses to lecture him.

Later, seeing him catch one fish after another, his father was itching to try, but didn't have the nerve to ask him for a turn.

Now he sure changed his tune fast.

"We already agreed, today we go back early. How important is the motorcycle? It's the biggest big-ticket item. Now that we have the motorcycle factory's number, how can we just let Zhou Shu tinker with it however he wants?"

"Isn't having the factory repair it more reliable than Zhou Shu?"

"I heard one motorcycle costs ten thousand-something. If it gets fixed, isn't that the same as us earning ten thousand-something? That's way better than you dragging one more net of catch."

Ye Fu thought about it and figured that was true too—if the motorcycle got fixed, how flashy would that be in the village? The whole county didn't have a few of them, and this was far more valuable than all the small appliances put together.

As the father, naturally his own stock would rise too, he'd have more face, more to be proud of.

Ye Yaodong paid no attention to his father's words and went to steer the boat himself.

Ye Fu pretended he hadn't seen, tacitly agreed, and lowered his head to continue sorting the catch.

From boarding the boat and heading out in the middle of the night, Ye Yaodong had started fishing, and had fished for twelve hours straight. The haul was really not bad—much better than yesterday's hit-and-run, constantly switching spots.

While the boat was doing trawl operations, he kept hauling in catch too. Chen Shi watching from the side was dumbfounded—basically every time he cast his line, it wasn't long before he got a bite.

But his father had to steer the boat for work and couldn't come over, so he could only crane his neck and watch eagerly, asking every now and then what he'd caught.

Only when the net was hauled did he get a chance to come closer and look at the fish he'd caught, or during breaks for meals he'd ask him, unable to resist, how to use it.

But Ye Yaodong definitely wasn't going to invite his father to try it—after all, when they first boarded the boat, his father had cursed him for not doing proper work and messing around.

Better to let his father do what he considered proper work—fishing wasn't for him.

Still, it was a pity yesterday. If he'd known the bite was this good, why did they have to keep using remoras to fish all night? Wouldn't it have been better to just void the bet? There was no stake anyway, and fishing with a rod wasn't more fun?

Although using remoras to fish sounded novel, after trying it a few times, if you didn't catch anything later you should have switched to a rod long ago—otherwise you wouldn't have ended up with so little catch, and you wouldn't have had to keep switching spots.

Sigh, no money buys hindsight. No use thinking about it now. Luckily his haul today was great.

At first he caught yellowfin seabreams, about thirty of them. He went from excited at the start to completely numb by the end, until his father hauled a net and they moved to a different area to work, and then he started catching other fish.

Today, just the fish he caught filled two full baskets—nearly a hundred jin by count. Although none were big, mostly only one or two jin, there were one or two big ones at five or six jin.

And the quality of the fish he caught wasn't bad—yellowfin seabreams, black seabreams, sea bass, pomfrets, and so on.

Ye Yaodong mentally ran through today's catch as he steered the boat.

He didn't know until he counted, and was shocked when he did—the catch he'd reeled in alone could probably sell for thirty or forty yuan!

He widened his eyes in surprise and opened his mouth.

A fortune! This was no worse than trawling for a whole day.

The value of the catch on the boat today was going to double!

His heart swelled with sweetness instantly—making money really did depend on him.

Actually, it was mainly because the trawl catch was a mishmash of everything—half of it was cheap and useless stuff.

The valuable stuff was just that one net's worth when it came up—more if lucky, but if unlucky, one net's haul was all those worthless small fish and miscellaneous goods.

Longline fishing was actually really friendly, and very eco-friendly—specifically targeting big fish, letting the small ones go, not wiping out the stock.

But after doing it for half a year, he also found it too much trouble. Even though he hired people to organize the lines, he still had to replenish them every couple of days, and had to bait the hooks himself for ages.

And if he didn't retrieve them the same day and went out again the next day, he was afraid the waves would wash them away. If he set and retrieved them the same day, the catch rate wasn't as high.

After doing it back and forth, he actually still felt trawling was the easiest—once done, just stow it in the hold, and if there was any damage every three to five or seven days, bring it back to patch and rinse.

But some of the followers in the village didn't mind the hassle and were still setting them.

Just as he was enjoying the breeze and calculating how much money they could make today, his father came over holding his fishing rod.

"Is this rod about turning this wheel to reel in and let out line? Is there anything else to watch out for?"

Ye Yaodong glanced at his father with disdain. He had wanted to make a couple of cutting remarks, but then thought—his father had held out until now before getting his hands on it, that wasn't easy either.

"That's right, give it a try. Swing it a couple of times and once you're used to it, you'll get the hang of it."

"Then I'll try."

"Is the catch sorted?"

"Isn't Chen Shi there? Let him sort the odds and ends. The net and everything, I've already tidied up and put it in the hold."

Ye Fu said this as he excitedly returned to the side of the boat, fiddling with the fishing rod in his hand.

Watching his dad keep baiting the hook and casting the rod, and successfully reel in a fish, his eyes crinkled into a happy smile. He figured that from now on, this fishing rod definitely wouldn't belong solely to him anymore.

Ye Fu was also becoming more and more skilled with each round of unloading cargo, and his interest in fishing was growing. He hadn't expected that the boat could keep moving forward and still fish.

By the time they reached shore, he was still reluctant to stop, feeling that Ye Yaodong had driven the boat too fast—he hadn't fished to his heart's content before they'd already docked.

At this moment he truly understood why Dongzi could sit still for so long. One whole day of fishing, not even needing to shift his bottom for meals or bathroom breaks. Now that it was his turn, he could do it too.

"We're here already?"

"Fast? Isn't this the usual speed?"

"This fishing rod is pretty easy to fish with. In just this little bit of time, I've also caught seven or eight fish. How about we just leave it on the boat? Saves us carrying it back and forth." Ye Fu looked at him expectantly.

If it stayed on the boat, even when Dongzi didn't have time to go out to sea, he could still use it.

"You sure dream nice. This one cost several hundred yuan. Leave it on the boat for someone to steal?"

"Didn't you say one or two hundred?"

"I was guessing. From now on, no matter what new thing we have at home, we can always say it's a bit more expensive—makes it sound more high-class."

"Fine then, better take it home to be safe. Locking it in the cabin isn't safe either—if someone finds out, they'll just smash it open."

Ye Fu also thought about how Chen Shi had been watching today today. You can never know a person by their face. If it really stayed in the cabin, he wouldn't be able to sleep either.

"Now you know how good this fishing rod is, right? This one can actually make money. Think about what we caught today—probably worth several dozen yuan."

Ye Fu nodded with a smile. "Yeah, didn't expect this fishing rod to be so useful. Much better than the bamboo pole you used before."

"You still have the nerve to say that. You kept saying you'd make me a new one with a bamboo pole. Where'd that go?"

"You didn't care yourself, never asked, so why would I bother making one? Even if I made it, it wouldn't last—broken in two or three uses. Save the trouble. With that effort, I'd rather weave two more baskets—more practical."

Ye Yaodong didn't bother arguing with his dad. He was just casually ribbing him anyway. Now he had a fishing rod that could be considered new and real to play with.

"With this fishing rod, we can earn a bit more money every time we go out to sea. Look at today—probably about 30-something yuan extra."

Besides, this counts as a no-cost business. He just needed to hire one more person to help with work on the boat. Chen Shi was a ready-made candidate.

"Mm, from now on remember to bring it every time you go out to sea."

"Absolutely. Gotta make full use of it."

While father and son chatted, Chen Shi had already unloaded all of today's cargo from its stacked state, just waiting to be carried off the boat.

Ye Yaodong also told Chen Shi that from now on, whenever there was a trip out to sea, he had to come along.

This made him overjoyed. Previously, only when Ye Fu went out on the Harvest with him was he called along. Other times, he mostly took turns doing odd jobs at the workshop with Wang Wang Guangliang.

Now he could finally be permanently assigned to work on the boat. Wonderful.

Thinking about it, most of the others had fixed jobs. Maybe his was the least work. Now he had his own place to shine—and he'd be with Brother Dong every day too.

Whether he could earn money didn't matter. Being with Brother Dong every day was an opportunity in itself.

Yesterday he followed along on the boat for a little while, and in just half a day he earned 4 yuan. That was the opportunity.

Ye Yaodong didn't mention paying him by the month, planning to try it out for a few days first. It was already the 22nd, so waiting until the 1st of next month wouldn't be late.

They set the fishing rod aside first, then carried the boat full of cargo down.

Acai glanced at the sky, then at the time. The weather had been pretty good today, and it was still early. He'd been wondering why they came back early today.

It wasn't until he saw them carrying the fish catch off the boat that he laughed and said, "So it was a good haul, that's why you're back early. I was just saying, why so early today."

"We also had things to do, so we came back early. Otherwise, with a good haul, we should have stayed out for another net."

"The fish you wanted today won't be delivered until evening."

"No problem, no rush."

"Also, your family's soccer ball was bought in the city, right? Next time you go, can you bring one back for me too?"

"For your little son to play with?"

"Yeah, he made an awful fuss. During the day he runs after your kids all day long, and as soon as he gets home he starts throwing a tantrum, rolling on the ground, crying for a soccer ball too. Even after getting spanked till his skin split open, he still cried and screamed for the ball. He even kicks things in his sleep."

"Alright, next time I go, I'll bring one back for you."

Acai couldn't help complaining, "Why'd you have to buy a soccer ball of all things? Now kids from the whole village and the next village all come running to play together. I could never find him before, now it's even worse. Such an expensive thing and you had the heart to buy it?"

"Aren't you willing to buy one now too?"

"What can I do? He rolls on the ground demanding it every day. He's wearing me down to half my life. Beating him doesn't work, so I had to buy him one to keep him quiet."

Ye Yaodong snorted twice. That took the family background and means. Without the means, who would be willing to buy one? They'd hang the kid up and beat him and still not buy it.

"Let's weigh the cargo quickly. I'll bring one back for you next time I go."

"The cargo you brought back today looks really nice…"

Anyway, they were already back, and it was only around 4 o'clock. Ye Yaodong wasn't in a rush. He planned to finish weighing the cargo, go home and shower, then make a phone call.

At this hour, even if he got in touch, nothing could be done. Anything that needed transporting would have to wait until the next day to arrange.

When he got home, Aqing started nagging him—Zhou Shu had been inspecting again for half the day today, and there were even more screws left. In the afternoon, because someone from a nearby village asked him to haul sand, they called him away. He wasn't here right now.

She also opened her palm, showing a pile of screws, looking at him helplessly.

Ye Yaodong also got a headache. "Wrap the screws up in newspaper and put them somewhere the kids can't reach. I'll shower and go make a phone call to check."

"Mm."

Ye Yaodong quickly took a combat shower, grabbed the slip of paper he'd brought back yesterday, and rode his bike to the village committee.

But just as he finished contacting the factory and hung up the phone, about to call the gatekeeper old man over to settle the phone bill, he heard the phone ring again. He picked it up casually.

Damn, what timing!

He'd just hung up one call, and another came in—and it was for him.

"Ah, this is Ye Yaodong! Brother Brother Nian, right?"

……

"Ah??? That fast?"

……

"Ah, oh oh, okay okay, I know, let me get ready first, in the next couple of days. I'll call you a day in advance when the time comes."

……

"Okay okay, fine, that's it then, goodbye, we'll talk later…"

Hearing the beep beep beep of the hung-up phone, Ye Yaodong's whole body was boiling over, and his heart tensed up a little too.

Is the fishing season arriving this soon?

Chen Jianian had just called to say that a few scattered jellyfish had been spotted drifting on the sea surface in Zhejiang Province over the past couple of days, and today about a dozen jellyfish had been delivered to the processing plant. It shouldn't take more than a few days for the fishing season to arrive, and told him to get ready in the next couple of days.

What damn coincidence. He had just contacted the motorcycle shop, asked for the address, and arranged to bring it in for repairs tomorrow. Now he could only push it back.

Making money comes first.

But this was too fast. If the fishing season came at the end of the month, it was still a few days earlier than last year.

May Goddess Mazu bless us, hope there won't be any typhoons from here on out, otherwise it'll probably delay the fishing again. July, August, and September have the most typhoons every year, and occasionally they still come in October.

Last year they had heard locally that, normally, once the fishing season arrived, you could fish for two or three months, depending on that year's numbers. Last year they had only fished for just over a month, finishing up before Mid-Autumn Festival, all because a typhoon came during the fishing and delayed things.

After hanging up on Chen Jianian, he sorted through the matters in his head again, then immediately called the motorcycle shop back, only saying that something had come up and he needed to postpone the repair, and that he'd call ahead when he brought it in.

After hanging up, he settled the phone bills for all the calls.

Then he didn't ride the bicycle anymore. He walked while pushing it, thinking about what he needed to bring this time.

Good thing he had already gotten the gun. The remaining odds and ends could be prepared in the next couple of days, quick enough.

His father's worry wasn't without reason—the fishing season could come earlier or later. Now he had to arrange things.

He walked along absent-mindedly, and even when villagers saw him and greeted him, he barely responded, just nodding absently, his mind entirely on what he needed to prepare.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. He had just realized—Aguang's boat, the Harvest, hadn't returned yet!

That was an important resource. Whether this trip earned more or less, that boat accounted for a big share.

He turned the bicycle's handlebars again, got on, and rode toward Aguand's house, to give him a heads-up first, let him know, and also ask him if he knew when his father would be back.

He thought about it. That boat had been out at sea for four days now. He didn't know how many days it would stay out this time before coming back, how the catch was, or whether there was any way to get in touch.

Ye Yaodong pedaled faster. Just as he arrived at Aguand's door, he saw him sitting there eating mung bean soup, while his daughter played by herself in the standing cage.

He was instantly jealous! His face contorted!

Starting over, who is the real big winner?

Damn, turns out it wasn't him, it was Aguand!

His old man was out on the big boat fighting and struggling to build up the family fortune, and his wife worked at the village committee with dignity and respect, earning a reputation!

And him?

Lazing around at home, rotting away like a useless piece of trash!!!

tmd, isn't this a portrait of his past life? Only Pei Guang was lucky—his whole family earned money for him, the family was warm and harmonious, no one looked down on him.

While he, Ye Yaodong, was despised by his whole family, gossiped about behind his back by the whole village!

What a huge contrast!

Starting over, he was tired like a dog again, only building up that family fortune through diligent hard work, while Aguand seemed to get it all so easily—his old man always stood in front of him, fighting for him.

Not even counting hidden wealth, on the surface Aguand's family was only a little worse off than his. If he weren't married, he'd be a proper golden tortoise son-in-law, a diamond Wang Wang Laowu.

Most importantly, he could lie at home and laze around as if it were perfectly justified!

Jealousy makes a person unrecognizable!

Ye Yaodong glared at him through gritted teeth!

Aguand was happily eating mung bean soup to cool off when he felt a hostile gaze, as if someone was staring at him. He looked up and nearly jumped in fright.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I don't think I've offended you recently, don't think I owe you money either, and I've been pretty good to your little sister, haven't I? Working without complaint, taking beatings and scoldings, the only thing missing is doing laundry and cooking…"

Aguand looked at his vicious expression and watched him step forward bit by bit, so scared that he shrank back. The recliner behind him had its front two legs lifted up by his leaning, then fell over hard, sending him tumbling.

"Ouch~ damn, you freaking lost your mind, made Laozi fall down."

"Serves you right!" Ye Yaodong instantly felt better.

Aguand flipped himself up, and propped the recliner back up. "What are you doing? You came over looking like you were about to eat someone. Where did I offend you?"

"Seeing you sitting there so leisurely, drinking mung bean soup, just makes me irritated all over."

"Pfft, why didn't you say so earlier? There's still a big pot in the wok, help yourself. I can even pack a whole pot for you to take home later."

"Laozi would care about your little bit of food."

"Then you're just jealous of me."

"Right, I'm jealous of you. Lying around so brazenly, not having to do anything—must feel great, doesn't it."

"I do work too, okay? The land out back all depends on me to look after. I'm still going to the dock to pick up cargo later."

Ye Yaodong instantly felt a little better. That was indeed better than him. Seeing the child babbling away beside him without knowing what she was saying, at least he was helping watch the kid.

"Did you go out to sea today or not? Coming to my house at this hour, what's up?"

"Came back early. I was originally planning to take the motorcycle in for repairs…"

"Holy shit, Laozi forgot to even mention it—you even Bai De a motorcycle. I should be the one jealous of you, and you're jealous of me? Jealous of my ass. Is it your turn to be jealous of me? It should be me who's so jealous I'm unrecognizable."

"Tingtingting, stop with the jealousy jealousy jealousy, listening to it is making my head spin. You were already better off than me to begin with. Laozi was out there working myself to death making money at sea, while you enjoyed yourself at home. I don't know how many lifetimes of good karma earned you that."

"Can't envy that. Who told me to be an only child. Once I have a son someday, my old man will probably be able to rest easy. For nearshore trips, he doesn't worry. It's just that the Harvest goes farther out, so he won't let me go along."

Aguand still explained himself. Seeing his old man out there working hard through wind and rain, while he sat at home with his legs crossed, he actually didn't feel it was all that justified either. He could only manage things at home well first.

Ye Yaodong nodded. He knew that being an only child had its perks, but for seaside families like theirs, of course the more sons the better.

"I'm not here out of envy or jealousy. I just came to tell you something."

"If it's about the motorcycle, then don't say it. I'm afraid I'll go rob your house overnight."

"No, I just got a call. The middleman who went with us to Zhejiang last year called to say that in the past couple of days, jellyfish have already been spotted near the Zhejiang-Fujian border. Today someone even delivered over 10 jellyfish to the processing plant. He wants us to get ready in the next couple of days and make the most of the fishing season."

Hmm?

Agu's eyes went wide. "That fast? Wasn't it the end of August last year?"

"Last year it was because of the typhoon, and then it kept raining heavily, which affected the fishing season catch. So when I managed to get a batch of jellyfish delivered to Zhejiang Province at the end of August, I just happened to catch it in time."

"Now they start showing up around this time. Wait until the fishing season arrives, and the end of July is about right. Some earlier, some later, that's normal, and the difference isn't that big."

Agu slapped his thigh. "Oh no, that's bad—my dad's boat hasn't come back yet! No idea when it'll be back? He's only been gone four days, I don't know if he can make it in time. When are you planning to go?"

"You don't know when he'll be back either? When your dad left, didn't he tell you roughly how many days this trip would take?"

"My dad said it depends on the weather, and he did say probably five to seven days. A trip that's too long isn't good either, and not everyone on the boat is an old crew member. The key is, when are you planning to go? If you're planning to leave tonight and travel through the night, then he definitely won't make it in time."

"It's not that urgent. I just got the news, so I definitely need to prepare a bit. I'm thinking the day after tomorrow or the day after that? Wait until I get back and discuss it with my dad—the latest shouldn't be more than two days from now. I just took the call too, was halfway there, and when I thought of the Fengshou Hao I detoured to your place first. Prepare these next couple of days, and we'll see then."

"If you can wait two or three days, the Fengshou Hao might still make it. If you leave tomorrow or the day after, then it's probably iffy—shouldn't be able to catch it."

"Mm, is there no way to contact your dad?"

Agu spread his hands. "There's no communication equipment at home, how would I contact him? It's not like we can just call him up."

"Looks like the household still needs to get a marine VHF…"

"Are you crazy? That thing's expensive, forget it. How many times would we even use it? Having one marine radio on the boat is enough. Better to pray my dad comes back soon and doesn't linger out there. He probably won't stay too many days either—the new boat was just launched and hasn't been out many days, so I'd guess he won't be gone more than a week before he's back."

Ye Yaodong chimed in, "Hope he comes back soon and makes it in time."

"If my dad's boat can't make it, I'll go with you, taking the two boats we have at home."

"Didn't you rent them out?"

"I rented them out, but they're still my family's boats—they have to listen to me. Besides, they'd probably be more than happy to go along."

"Mm, that works too. Then start getting the things you need ready. Stock up on more food on the boat, slaughtering knives, baskets, basins—get a few more of those. Just play it by ear. Prepare these next couple of days. Even if your dad doesn't end up using them, you'll be able to use them yourself."

"I know. Hurry back and talk it over with my father-in-law."

"Then I'll head off first."

Ye Yaodong got back on his bicycle and rode home.