Chapter 919: Giving Aguang Some Ideas (Combined Chapter, 7200 words)

Flashlights shone everywhere across the island; no one was asleep, probably having only just finished tidying up not long ago.

Awnings had been set up everywhere too, making this a makeshift camp of sorts.

Still, they would have to sleep on the boats at night; the shore was only good for cooking and butchering jellyfish.

He was afraid that if he lay on the beach half-asleep, a crab might pinch him, or some unknown thing might come along.

Sleeping on the boat felt more reassuring, and the fishing boat rocking back and forth was just like a cradle—easier to sleep.

Everyone was exhausted today. Many of them hadn't really slept the night before, then spent a whole day on the boat, and worked until the small hours—everyone was utterly worn out.

Hearing Lin Lin Yongshou say he had already called home to report they were safe, everyone relaxed, and they all planned to head back to their own boats to sleep.

It really was very late; in another four hours it would be dawn, and tomorrow was bound to be another day of hard work to make money.

While Lin Lin Yongshou was getting off the boat and talking to the others, Ye Yaodong was also on the boat making up his bed for the night. His mat had already been given to that half-dead person to sleep on, so he could only mooch off the boatmen's mats.

He laid their mats out in a row so everyone could sleep side by side, barely squeezing in a spot. His father and the boatmen also came back aboard.

Since no one had been working, they'd spent the whole day letting the sea breeze blow over them on the boat without sweating, and fresh water was scarce, so tonight no one bathed either.

Ye Yaodong smelled the sweat and body odor beside him, so he could only turn over with his back to them, facing outward—thankfully he was sleeping at the very edge.

Now his nose was filled with the smell of the sea. He closed his eyes, let his body sway with the rocking of the boat, listened to the waves mixed with the rising and falling of snores, and before long he fell fast asleep.

He didn't wake until the sun burst out the first streak of color on the horizon, when his father kicked him awake; the noisy chatter around him never stopped.

Damn, no one needs to sleep. Staring at the streak of red light on the horizon, he sat up with huge dark circles under his eyes.

But once he heard clearly what his father was saying and the discussions at his ear, he was instantly wide awake and immediately stood up to look out at the sea.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and get down here to work, quick now. Each of you grab a dip net and get in the water to scoop. The sun just rose, it's not hot yet—scoop up these jellyfish floating on the surface and butcher a batch first." Excitement rang in Ye Fu's voice.

"Yeah yeah, coming."

At some unknown time, a pile of jellyfish had drifted to the surface of the sea. Refracted by the morning sunlight, their rainbow colors looked even more eye-catching, each one transparent and beautiful.

By now, many people had already waded into the water wearing only shorts to scoop. Their faces were full of joy—indeed worth being happy about, money to pick up the moment they opened their eyes.

"So many, so many…"

"When I opened my eyes and saw it, it almost gave me a fright—the whole side of the boat was covered…"

"Hehe, the moment we got up we saw this many jellyfish, hurry and scoop…"

"Hurry, hurry, scoop them up, this is all money…"

"Hurry and scoop more, stop just standing around talking…"

Urged on by his father, Ye Yaodong hurriedly put on only shorts and a vest, grabbed a dip net, and scrambled down the boat to scoop along with the others.

The preparatory work last night hadn't been wasted; it had come in handy first thing this morning.

Everyone was greedy, picking the big nets. Actually, they had no experience—the bigger the jellyfish, the more strength it took. Medium-sized ones of forty or fifty catties were actually more efficient to drag up.

Dragging two forty-or-fifty-catty ones in a row was faster than dragging one seventy-or-eighty-catty one.

Early in the morning, everyone was drenched in sweat as they hauled jellyfish back and forth along the shore, joy written all over their faces.

No one had expected that the moment they opened their eyes at dawn, they'd see a huge pile of jellyfish floating near the fishing boats, all being washed toward the shore by the rising tide.

Wearing a vest and big boxer shorts, Ye Yaodong had just netted a big jellyfish back to their makeshift camp when he stood and rested for a bit. He kept wiping sweat from his forehead, thinking this trip was the right call—he'd made it in time.

Nylon plastic sheets were spread on the beach beneath their feet, so after the jellyfish were dragged up, butchering them on the spot was convenient and wouldn't get them caked in mud and sand.

At this point no one cared about butchering; everyone wanted to scoop as much as possible while the numbers on the sea were still high. After all, with so many fishing boats here, they were all competitors—if you netted more, then I might net less.

Working together, the jellyfish floating near the boats were divided up among them in no time; the efficiency of over a hundred people was extremely high.

There were also scattered jellyfish floating on the sea farther out, bobbing unsteadily as the tide washed them in.

Ye Yaodong had his older and younger cousins and Brother Brother Asheng stay behind to butcher, while he and his father took two boats out to fish. After all, the three of them had butchered large batches last year, so they had the most experience and the highest efficiency.

Actually they didn't go out far either, just around the island; the others had simply drifted away from the shore and weren't clustered together anymore.

Everyone was in high spirits. Each boat also left two people on the beach to butcher, while the rest went out on the boats to fish.

The same thought popped into everyone's mind: coming here was the right call!

For half the morning they circled the island, constantly searching the nearby sea, scooping them up one by one—the big ones hauled by two people together, the small ones handled solo, either with a bamboo pole tipped with a hook or a dip net.

As they busied themselves, the sun gradually climbed up from the horizon, growing bigger and hanging higher and higher, and the temperature rose faster and faster—but everyone's enthusiasm didn't flag.

Not until the boats were piled high with jellyfish, and boats of theirs filled every direction around the island so that even nearby ones were hard to come by, did Ye Yaodong see it was already 8 o'clock and they had been at it for three hours, so he decisively headed back to shore first.

The jellyfish they'd scooped onto the boat had been split as they scooped, but a small portion still hadn't been finished. That was fine—they could keep splitting them on the way to sell.

They had to get Chen Jianian to the town dock quickly, so he could contact the processing plant to send a truck over to collect them. At the same time, they also needed to take the jellyfish to the town dock and wait.

Once one boat docked, the rest also gradually pulled in to shore and unloaded one after another.

"Dongzi, shouldn't we send these to town first? Are we selling them at the town dock?"

"Right, going straight to the town dock to sell is safer." Ye Yaodong said as he hauled, "You all hurry up. We'll grab a quick breakfast and then take them straight to town, otherwise they'll shrink or melt into water."

"Okay, okay, right away, we're butchering now."

"If there's no time, we can also butcher them on the boat as we go."

"That would be best."

The batch of jellyfish scooped up early that morning had long been split. After finishing, the older cousin, the younger cousin, and Brother Brother Asheng immediately started cooking. By the time the others got back, the food was ready to eat, and the jellyfish blood had also been boiled and set out to dry.

The batch of jellyfish blood they were now bringing back could go straight into the pot to boil again.

With experience, they worked very efficiently. The others left on the beach watched them work, then hurriedly tried to copy them, but their efficiency wasn't as high—they hadn't even boiled out the first pot of jellyfish blood.

Ye Yaodong and the others had just finished breakfast. Leaving only the older cousin on the island to watch their things, they rushed back onto the boat and called out to the others to hurry up too. Anyone who hadn't finished splitting could just do it on the boat along the way—after all, the jellyfish blood could be kept and brought back to boil, everything else was to be sold directly.

With so many people, they had to wait for each other, and it was slow. Ye Fu was so anxious he was getting worked up, but luckily it didn't delay too long.

However, once Ye Yaodong got on the boat, he said to his father: "After we take them on one trip to town and they all know the route, next time…no…this afternoon we won't act together. Let them split theirs themselves and go to town to sell on their own."

"Right right right, this waiting on each other is driving me crazy."

"Yeah, and when the time comes, each boat will go out to fish on its own, and the time they come back won't be fixed. There's no way to wait for every boat to return before going to sell together."

"Later, after this batch is sold, let's tell everyone. Anyway, just have Chen Jianian wait at the town dock. Whenever one of our boats docks, have him immediately contact someone to come collect it. If he's going to earn money as the middleman, he has to do the job properly—we can't be worrying about everything for him."

"That's exactly what I was thinking. He's on his relative's boat. Once we get to shore, I'll have a word with him. In a bit, I'll tell him not to come back with us, just have him wait on shore. This afternoon or evening, depending on how the catch goes, we'll deliver the goods to town, and then he can do whatever he wants—come back with us in the evening, stay at a guesthouse on his own, or stay with relatives or friends."

This also avoids everyone having to come and go together. Once they know the route and how to sell, they can just look for Chen Jianian on their own, saving him from being bothered to death.

"It has to be this way. With so many people, things get complicated and troublesome. Just let them do as they please. We've brought them to the place anyway."

"Caught so many jellyfish first thing this morning. Looks like there'll be plenty more. Every one of them is already secretly overjoyed."

Ye Fu smiled when he heard this. "Yeah, yesterday before dark we saw a few every now and then. Didn't expect so many first thing this morning. Looks like we won't have to worry about nothing to catch from here on."

"Didn't have time to count how many there were just now, but there are quite a few in each basket."

The baskets of jellyfish heads and jellyfish skins on the boat were all lined with nylon bags to prevent moisture loss. He estimated the whole boat should add up to around 2,000 jin.

Not a lot. Last year, when their boat had a good trip, they could get over 4,000 jin in one go. But this wasn't bad either. These should sell for several dozen yuan, and adding the scraped-off jellyfish blood, this morning's haul should sell for around a hundred yuan, no problem.

And this was only the first day, just the beginning. If they went to scout around the nearby sea surface this afternoon, they should find some too.

"Let's see how much we can sell in a bit. When we come back this afternoon, let's cruise around the sea surface again. Whatever we can harvest is a bonus. We can also check out that sea trench from last year."

"Dad, you read my mind. I was thinking about that sea trench too. There were jellyfish drifting around the nearby sea surface—no reason the trench wouldn't have any."

He'd been thinking about last year's sea trench the whole way here yesterday. He'd originally planned to quietly steer the boat over to check it out today.

"Hehe, hope there's a big batch drifting there too. Then we can have a bumper harvest right from day one."

"I'm not counting on a big batch now, after all we haven't hit peak season yet. Just hope it hasn't been discovered by other boats."

"Mm, right. Once we sell this batch of goods and come back, let's go check it out. And let the others go catch on their own—don't let them follow us."

After Ye Yaodong finished discussing with his father, he sat back down on the small stool. With nothing to do, he propped his chin and watched them cut up the remaining few jellyfish.

Aguang also picked up his little stool and scooted over. "When we go to town later, can I make a phone call by the way?"

"Sure. A lot of people are probably in a rush to call home. Once you guys finish selling the goods, you can go together. I already made a call yesterday, so I won't make one today. After we sell the goods, I'll head back. You can go back with the others."

"That works too."

"When can your dad come?"

"I don't know either. I'm dying of anxiety. At the crucial moment, my dad still hasn't shown up. It's really frustrating. So I was thinking, once we get to shore, I'll call home and ask if he's back yet."

"Mm, it's fine. One or two days won't make a difference. Your dad will be back in the next day or two no matter what."

"Sigh!" Aguang let out a heavy sigh. "Wanting to earn every kind of money is really not easy. Hope when I call home later, my dad's already back."

"Anyway, if your dad's not earning money here, he's earning it somewhere else. What's the difference? He's not losing out. Coming a day late just means he earned an extra day on the sea."

"That's true."

Ye Yaodong thought for a moment, then told Aguang everything he'd just discussed with his father, and immediately followed up: "Do you want to just wait at the dock this afternoon for your family's two boats to dock and pick up the goods?"

"Your two boats are both out. If you follow one, you can't follow the other. If you keep following me to catch, then neither of your two boats can be followed."

"You're a landlord anyway, you don't need to go out to sea. Might as well just wait at the dock for those two boats. Whenever they dock, you collect. You can also deliver goods to the factory with Chen Jianian and broaden your horizons."

Aguang stroked his chin and drew an inference: "Once I figure out the factory's address and situation, can I be a middleman and earn middleman fees too? I'm not participating in the fishing anyway!"

Ye Yaodong slapped his thigh hard. "Great idea! Once you quietly follow behind him and figure out the middleman business, find two jellyfish buyers, and be your own middleman. Wouldn't that be easier money?"

"It's just a bit unethical. Feels like I'm stealing someone's business."

"Who's asking you to steal his business now? You can follow behind and observe more this year. Take advantage of the free time in town after the fishing boats sell a batch—wander around, look for more factories?"

"There can't be just one monopoly, right? These processing factories are usually clustered, or at least not far from each other."

"Then next year, won't the whole village's goods go to you? We don't even need to call him. This year we can let him earn first. Look, he even brought two extra boats out himself this year. Next year he'll probably bring even more. By then he won't have to worry about not making money either."

Aguang rubbed his aching thigh and hissed twice. He was about to curse him out, but got distracted by what he said. He thought about it seriously and figured it was feasible.

"Then I'll think it over this afternoon. If I don't go out to sea and just collect goods on shore, I'll definitely have plenty of free time. I'll go take a look. If I can do it, I'll do it. If not, forget it. After all, we're outsiders, no connections. The factory might not give us the time of day."

"Mm, take a look first. Best to find one that pays on the spot. Then you won't have to worry about not getting paid. Cash on delivery. At most you're just connecting the two sides, no risk."

"That would be best, of course. Let's see first."

Suddenly Aguang turned the tables on him, slapped Ye Yaodong's thigh hard, and shouted loudly.

"Ouch, that's a brilliant idea of yours! If I can find a factory that pays on delivery and settles on the spot, then at the very least I can collect my own family's goods first, earn my own family's middleman fees, and save the money from going to someone else."

Ye Yaodong was in so much pain he grimaced and rubbed his own thigh back and forth. He figured the guy did it on purpose, getting back at him.

That freaking killed me. Probably used his full twelve points of strength.

"Dongzi, you're really smart!"

Saying that, Aguang raised his hand again, wanting to slap his thigh.

Luckily Ye Yaodong was quick and immediately picked up the stool under him and scooted to the side.

"Huh? What are you dodging?"

Ye Yaodong glared at him fiercely. "I gave you a money-making idea, and you don't thank me—you hit me!"

"How is that hitting you? Wasn't it just one thing leading to another, getting excited?"

"Get lost."

Aguang, instead of backing off, advanced, grinning cheekily, and picked up his little stool, continuing to move closer to him.

"Tell me, is my idea good? If I can find one, I'll be the middleman for my own family's boat first. That's not unreasonable, right? And the other party pays on the spot—that's even more appealing, even more welcome."

"Sure, why not? If you can find a factory that pays on the spot, that's your own connection and ability. You're just doing your own family's business, not pulling his customers. Besides, nobody said it has to go to him. But we do need to have some ethics—can't just make him run around for nothing."

"By the way, how much did he make as a middleman last year?"

"Quite a lot. He takes five points. Our three boats together sold for fifteen or sixteen thousand last year. He directly made a killing of seven or eight hundred. And it's a no-capital business—just some phone bills. You could call it a small investment with ten-thousand-fold returns."

"Shit! That much!" Aguang's eyes went wide. "Three boats made that much, and it was only a little over a month. This year there are seventeen boats—won't he be raking it in?"

Ye Yaodong had originally suggested Aguang become a middleman without thinking about how much he could earn, but after this calculation, it really was scary.

Three boats made seven or eight hundred. Seventeen boats wouldn't make four or five thousand? And that was only a little over a month.

If things go smoothly this year and they can fish for two months, wouldn't that be nine thousand or ten thousand?

Shit, a killing!

One boat doesn't make that much. And he barely has to deduct costs—whatever he sells is a net five points. But their fishing boats have high costs. The money they get has a lot of costs deducted before it's net profit.

Thinking about it this way, the profit is just too ruthless!

And the Harvest is still on its way over too. If all the goods get collected by Chen Jianian, making a clean ten thousand is really no problem at all!

Ye Yaodong's eyes went wide as he looked at him, and the two of them were both shocked after running the numbers like that.

"No way, Laozi has to find some way out too. We can't just let him rake in all that money. Most of the people in our village were brought out by you—what does he have to do with it?"

A Guang instantly felt it was unfair.

"We're not related to him by blood, and we made so much for him last year. Why should we have to give him ten thousand for free again this year? If there's money to be made, shouldn't it go to our own people first?"

"You don't feel right about bringing people along and then running off halfway, but I have no problem with it at all, and neither do the villagers. Everyone has no ties with him, no blood relation—of course whoever pays the best gets the goods."

"Besides, didn't he bring out two boats himself? There's no way he's making less, and he won't come away empty-handed."

Ye Yaodong felt A Guang made a very good point.

He also didn't feel that giving A Guang ideas was stabbing the other guy in the back. People have their close and distant relations; if there's money to be made, of course it goes to your own people first. Moreover, last year was a win-win situation—it wasn't just one side benefiting.

"Mm, then after you get ashore later, take a look. Last year at the town dock, boats hauling jellyfish came back at every time slot, and there were tractors hauling goods."

"If you see any, boldly go up and chat up two of them. We don't need to go through Chen Jianian. Being a middleman is just that one thing—as long as you can get in touch with a factory to take the goods, that's fine."

"If it doesn't work out, you won't lose anything anyway. If it does, you profit. You're not stepping on him to climb up. Even if he's depressed about losing money, he can't say anything. After all, you only just followed out today, and you never relied on him for anything."

A Guang nodded. "Good brother, if this works out, I'll give you a big red envelope."

"Cut it out, don't talk big first. Who knows if it'll work? Wait until it works, then we'll talk."

"Once we dock, I'll go give it a try."

"Go for it!" Ye Yaodong clenched his fist, cheering him on.

A Guang's face was full of fighting spirit, his eyes gleaming. In his heart, anticipation was quietly rising, as if he'd found the meaning of following out. He'd show what he was made of in a bit.

"Why is our dad going so slow? We've been talking for ages and we still haven't docked."

"It's not that fast. It's not like we grew wings and can fly straight over."

Ye Yaodong bumped him with his knee. "Move over a bit, why are you sitting so close to me? Don't touch Laozi."

"Just being affectionate."

"Get lost."

A Guang looked at the person lying in the corner, tilted his chin up, and gestured that way. "Hey, why is this guy still half-dead lying there? It's been a whole day and he hasn't woken up. Have you checked if he's still breathing?"

"He's breathing. I even fed him rice porridge this morning. Probably his body functions are too weak, so he's in deep sleep self-repairing."

"What what skill? What are you talking about?"

"I mean he's still alive. Just wait for him to wake up and he'll be fine. Otherwise you go mouth-to-mouth, give him artificial respiration, blow a breath of immortal qi into him—might just wake him up."

"Want some horse piss? Immortal qi?"

"Then he'd probably be woken up by the nourishment!"

"Ah, he's moving, he's moving…" A Guang patted Ye Yaodong in surprise. "He's awake, look at his fingers."

Ye Yaodong immediately got up and went over, leaning in to look. "Huh? We really called it. Said he'd wake and he woke, his eyes are opening."

The other boatmen, hearing them say the man had woken, also crowded over to take a look.

The person lying on the deck, the moment he opened his eyes, saw a circle of heads above him, and was so scared he immediately closed his eyes again.

"Why did he close his eyes again?"

"Did he fall back asleep?"

Ye Yaodong squatted down and patted his shoulder. "Hey, comrade, are you awake? If you're awake, open your eyes, sit up, don't just keep lying there."

The middle-aged man in the button-up shirt opened his eyes again. In a hoarse voice he asked, "Have I been rescued?"

Ye Yaodong was a little surprised hearing him speak—this Mandarin was really damn standard, every word perfectly enunciated, worlds apart from their clumsy speech.

"Yes, you're lucky. You happened to run into us as our boat passed by. We saw you and fished you up."

Ye Yaodong also switched his dialect, speaking to the man in Mandarin, and helped prop him up straight, leaning him against the gunwale.

Originally it was for cutting up the jellyfish that they'd moved him to the very edge of the corner, but now it was convenient for him having somewhere to lean.

"Thank you. If you hadn't fished me up, I'd probably have met King Yama by now."

"Indeed. When we first fished you up, everyone thought you were a dead man—your breathing was so weak. But when we felt your neck, the carotid artery was still pulsing."

Hearing that, he reached up to feel his own neck and said with a smile, "Normally people wouldn't feel the neck, they'd just check for breathing. I really am lucky."

"Mm, you just woke up, rest a bit. Don't talk too much, just keep lying down. Are you hungry? Though there's no porridge now, we're past mealtime. You can drink some hot water first. We don't know how long you were drifting at sea, and you just woke up—seems like you shouldn't eat too much either."

"Some hot water will do."

"Then I'll go pour it." A Guang turned to go get the water.

"My name is Zeng Zhao Weimin. How should I address you, young comrade? From your accent, you seem to speak Minnan, don't you?"

"My name is Ye Yaodong. Yes, I speak Minnan. My Mandarin really is a bit clumsy, not as good as yours, comrade. Listening to you talk, I can tell you're an educated person, and you're not from around here either."

"Mm, I'm not from around here. I'm from the north."

"The north? That's quite a distance. You came here on business, right? Fell into the water by accident?"

He nodded and didn't say much more.

These days there were plenty of people running around doing business everywhere, nothing strange about it. The folks on the boat were only curious for a moment; after listening a while, they stopped crowding around.

Ye Yaodong explained to him where they were headed now, their current position, that all the things on the boat were cut-up jellyfish, and gave him a rundown of the fishing boat's current situation.

"If you're in a hurry to get back or report that you're safe, you can get off the boat once we dock later."

"I just woke up and can't walk yet, and I'm not in a hurry. Would it be convenient to let me recuperate on the boat for a couple of days? Once I'm better, I'll properly thank you."

"That's fine, then just recuperate on the boat. I'm worried your family might be anxious."

He nodded. "I'll give you a string of numbers. Once you get off the boat, would you mind helping me make a call to report that I'm safe?"

"Sure."

Help someone to the very end, see a Buddha all the way to the Western land.

"Thank you, Comrade Ye Yaodong. I met a benefactor when I went out; my life was not meant to end. I am truly grateful to you."

"Ah, it was just a small favor. Making a living while traveling is not easy for anyone. Lie down; we will be docking soon. I'll go get a pen to write down the number."

"Good, good, thank you!"

Ye Yaodong held the pen, waiting for him to give the number, but was shocked to discover that the prefix was actually the Jingcheng area code!!!

My ancestors!!

He almost knelt; it was a Jingcheng lord!