Chapter 994: Stay a Week Before Returning

Ye's father listened and listened, then laughed.

"This isn't pride; this is satisfaction. Who in the village doesn't praise me for having such good sons now? When people get old, they rely on their children to bring them face."

"Yes, so don't keep opposing my decisions, and don't keep worrying. I wouldn't be messing around if I didn't have confidence... wait, no, not messing around; I'm messing around because I have confidence."

"You've messed around enough already. The family has two workshops, several shops in the city, selling things and collecting rent; being steady like this is fine. The family still has several boats, and you've ordered several more. Once they're all in hand, the rental income alone will be enough to earn a living. You won't have to worry about the rest of your life. This is good enough; no need to go messing around with anything else."

Ye Yaodong nodded, agreeing that his father made a very reasonable point; compared to people nowadays, his assets were far ahead.

In the future, he just needed to take time to add the necessary equipment, such as some dryers for the workshops, making things a bit more intelligent so they wouldn't rely on manual labor. Gradually, the scale would probably expand directly, and there would be no need to mess around with anything else.

Of course, his current assets were already enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

However, he still had his heart set on buying houses and shops!

Having been reborn, how could he only have those few shops? For illiterate people who understood nothing, had no skills other than fishing, and possessed no brains, buying many houses and shops was the primary condition for retirement.

It was just that he only had forty thousand yuan on hand, which wasn't even worth looking at. How many houses and shops could that buy? There was no point in small places, and he couldn't buy many in big places. His asset accumulation was still far from enough; he would have to take it slow.

"You won't have to worry about the rest of your life; you have enough for retirement. But I still have thirty or forty years before I retire. If you don't object, I could just retire right now..."

"That won't do! You're only how old, thinking about retirement? People in their seventies and eighties still carry hoes to the fields. You're talking about retirement now..."

"Didn't you say it yourself? The things I've messed around with are enough for me to live comfortably for the rest of my life, and I don't need to go messing around with anything else. So what should I do? I don't need to work; I can just lie at home, and that's enough for me to eat."

Ye's father was speechless, regretting having said those words.

He still couldn't say in front of him that he had earned enough and could retire, or else he would just stop doing anything and lie at home like a good-for-nothing. What then?

"I mean these things of yours are enough for your retirement, not that you can retire right now. You still have to do the work that needs doing. If you don't work hard while you're young, you'll have to fight for your life when you're old..."

"Got it, got it, stop nagging..."

Hearing his father drone on with a long speech gave him a headache. They were just talking nicely, and then he started lecturing again.

"Do you want me to steer the boat while you take a rest?"

"We're eating soon. Rest for what?"

"I was just thinking you didn't nap this afternoon. I've had enough sleep this afternoon. After we eat, you can go straight to sleep with the two uncles, and I'll steer the boat."

"Hmm, let's talk about it after we eat then."

At this moment, the fishing boat was still closely following the Fengshou Hao, heading directly toward the East Sea with a clear purpose.

Just as the father and son had been talking for a short while, a connection sound came through the radio.

Ye's father immediately and deftly accepted the call.

It was Uncle Pei.

He was happily laughing on the other end.

"This time, docking was definitely the right move. I really didn't expect those devil rays to be so valuable. Good thing we didn't miss out. Dongzi was sharp; otherwise, we probably would have been fooled and sold them casually. That would have made us slap our thighs in regret."

"Haha, we didn't expect it either. It really all depended on his sharpness to sell at such a high price. It's a pity; originally, we could have sold it even higher..."

"No need to regret; we can't be too greedy. This price already exceeds expectations by a lot. Getting the money and leaving is the most important thing. Even if you sold it for a higher price, it's useless if you can't get out of the dock."

"Right, that's the logic. As long as we made a profit, that's fine."

The two old men chatted endlessly over the maritime radio, both filled with excited laughter. Unexpected joy was certainly worth being happy about.

When out and about, having someone to talk to and share with was quite rare.

Ye Yaodong suddenly felt that marrying Ah Guang off wasn't a bad match after all; the relationship between the two families grew closer, advancing together.

Who knows if this kid has been clinging to the God of Wealth's leg these past few years, making money while lying comfortably at home? Who knows what kind of dog shit luck he walked into; he's almost surpassed this adopted son of Goddess Mazu.

Fortunately, he still had the upper hand.

Damn, I didn't expect changing a name to have such power. This feng shui metaphysics is quite impressive too. Indeed, one can't just believe in science; one must also believe in the fantastical.

Directly changing from Pei Guang to Pei Buliao.

Ye Yaodong listened for a while in the cockpit before going down to the deck. On the pitch-black sea, only their two boats shimmered with light. The sea wind howled and howled in his ears. Without paying attention, the hat on his head was blown off.

He quickly reached out to catch it, but, slap, it fell into the sea. His hair was also blown straight back into a pompadour, revealing a large forehead.

"Ah..."

"W-w-w-h-h-how... B-brother D-dong?"

"Nothing. Laozi's hat was blown into the sea by the wind."

"M-m-my... I'll g-g-give you..." As he spoke, Chen Shi loosened the rope tied under his chin and took off the hat on his head.

"No need. I have another one in the cabin."

Ah Qing had knitted him a woolen cap before the New Year, saying it was warmer and wouldn't be blown off by the wind.

He just hadn't worn it because it was brand new; he didn't want to ruin it. He put it in his suitcase, planning to wear the old one first since it gets very dirty on the boat anyway. It would be a pity to wear the new one now; he would take it out to wear after dinner.

"How do you feel? Are you still afraid of the sea on all sides?"

He shook his head. "G-g-goto Z-zhejiang P-p-province, n-n-not... h-h-have... t-t-too m-much... f-f-feeling, b-b-boats... y-y-yesterday..."

"I know. Yesterday we went far out, with water on all sides and only one boat drifting alone in the middle of the sea. It gives you a sense of thalassophobia. I felt the same way when I first went to sea, but it got better after staying out there for a while."

He nodded.

"Your stuttering is much better now. Talk more and practice more. If you can't speak, just spit out two words at a time."

"Mm-hmm." He looked at Ye Yaodong with a face full of gratitude.

Ye Yaodong also patted his shoulder. "We'll be drifting for a few more days. Depending on the weather, if it's good, we'll stay a few more days and catch more cargo."

He continued nodding.

"Time to eat~"

After someone shouted, they responded in kind, stopped talking, and went to eat first.

After the meal, it was already 7 o'clock. Ye Yaodong ran to steer the boat, following the Fengshou Hao on the journey, and told everyone else to go rest.

Anyway, there was no need to cast the nets. On the boat, if there's a chance to rest, grab the gaps and rest quickly. Otherwise, normal fishing is non-stop for 24 hours, requiring shifts, which is quite tiring.

They would likely have to sail at full speed for another three to four hours before starting to fish; only then would they begin rotating shifts. Casting the nets now would merely waste time; near-shore waters are inferior to distant seas, and the depth is insufficient—dropping a fishing net over 300 meters long would snag the seabed.

Beneath the roar of the engines, the fishing boat plowed through the deep darkness. Surging waves battered the hull, emitting low, rumbling booms as if recounting tales of the sea, while the boat's forward motion stirred up waves in its wake.

Moonlight spilled over the hull, casting a silver-white glow that stood in stark contrast to the surrounding darkness.

With the Fengshou Hao leading the way, it saved him considerable effort; he didn't need to remain fully alert and constantly monitor their bearings, but could simply follow along.

The two boats raced across the sea surface, one ahead of the other. Amidst the monotonous voyage, only the sound of the wind, the crashing waves, and the intermittent roar of the engines accompanied them.

One cigarette butt after another fell to the ground, but Ye Yaodong was quite accustomed to it.

Starting from just after dusk, before 6 o'clock, they had set off, moving away from the shore until past 9 o'clock. Watching the Fengshou Hao slow down, the distance between the two fishing boats instantly closed; it turned out they were preparing to cast their nets.

After the Dongsheng Hao passed the Fengshou Hao, he also slowed down and went below deck to wake Chen Shi and another crewman.

They had all slept during the afternoon, so they could join him in rotating the first watch until dawn, then return below deck to sleep until noon; this way, everyone could get sufficient rest.

With the old hands guiding the new, after a full day the day before yesterday, Chen Shi had become quite proficient, following along to help cast the nets. Whatever the veteran told him to do, he did, and he was quite diligent.

Ye Yaodong slowed the boat's speed and began a new round of fishing.

The interval between finishing the morning fishing and resuming net-casting after a full-speed rush was exactly twelve hours. Half a day without fishing meant roughly four fewer nets were caught, but fortunately, this wasted time was worth it.

After casting the nets, the two men returned below deck to rest. Since the nets had just been deployed, there was no work on deck; they had to wait until the nets were hauled in before they could sort the catch.

Only Ye Yaodong remained diligently steering the boat, but fortunately, it wasn't cold inside the cockpit.

During the trawling operation, they unexpectedly encountered another fishing boat. Actually, they didn't see the boat itself, only a point of light on the sea surface, distinguishable as the faint lamp on a fishing vessel, unlike the ring of light from the Golden Eye Snapper that had appeared at dawn the previous day.

However, it was only for a moment; the other vessel sailed out of their line of sight, leaving the end of the coastline, and did not affect their fishing.

After midnight, it was the twelfth day of the first lunar month.

There was no need for Ye Yaodong to call them; the two men simply watched the time and came out when the moment was right.

He took the opportunity to call for them to haul in the nets.

This haul was rather unremarkable, a jumbled mess, but the weight was substantial. Poured onto the deck, it visually amounted to three or four thousand jin.

Compared to the sixty or seven thousand jin hauled in the two nets at dawn yesterday, this was less, but it was about the same as the two hauls from the first day; it just lacked any particularly valuable catch.

After dumping out all the catch, they immediately lowered the fishing nets again to continue operations, then began sorting the goods on the deck.

After maneuvering the fishing boat, Ye Yaodong went down to take a look. There was a lot of worthless miscellaneous catch; he even spotted five or six large jellyfish, accounting for at least three or four hundred jin.

Since there was nothing special, he didn't stay on deck to blow in the cold wind. He returned directly to the cockpit, waiting for them to finish sorting. Then he would go down to inspect the sorted catch and supervise them as they cleaned the goods destined to be dumped back into the sea.

Truly, one never tires of watching it. As time passes, the amount dumped will decrease even further. If he doesn't watch closely now, he won't see it later.

Yet, just as he finished watching the cleanup, his mind began to stir again.

Previously, thinking no one was following up, he feared that even with a fifty-fifty split, the people he found might be unreliable, fail to keep accounts, so he hadn't dared to order more such fishing boats.

Now thinking about it, perhaps he could also order a dedicated cargo transport vessel to shuttle back and forth daily, collecting the catch from his own boats to sell ashore. This way, he wouldn't have to sell to the fresh-fish buyers and let them take half the profit.

The catch from his own boats would be profit for himself alone.

The purchase price would still follow that of the fresh-fish buyers. In this scenario, all expenses would be covered by the fresh-fish buyers. After the fifty-fifty split, it would be equivalent to one boat keeping three-quarters for itself, distributing only one-quarter to the hired boat captain.

For the boat captain, this wouldn't mean earning less; at the very least, it would be better than being a crewman on a fixed salary. It would be equivalent to offering a net income split of 2.5 times.

After deducting labor costs, there would still be roughly twenty percent profit, which is better than owning a near-shore trawler, and it would motivate people to fish with all their heart and soul.

Meanwhile, his own boats earning an extra half would allow him to recoup the cost of the transport fishing boat very quickly.

The more Ye Yaodong pondered, the more feasible it seemed. As long as the fishing boats didn't venture too far and could dock within five or six hours, making daily round trips would suffice.

Moreover, the worthless trash catch on board could all be utilized. The transport ship could shuttle every other day, delivering the trash and miscellaneous goods after selling the main catch, with a return trip roughly every other day as well.

Time utilization would be maximized, leaving the transport fishing boat idle not at all. The crew on board wouldn't work too hard; only the loading and unloading required some physical effort. During the voyage, they could rest, making it quite easy.

Then, the output from his two workshops could also be increased!

Let alone fermented fish sauce; even the dried fish wouldn't need to be purchased from outside. His own family's fishing boats could haul a full load back every other day, tens of thousands of jin, guaranteeing they couldn't finish selling it all, while also increasing employment rates for the village women!

Thinking of this, he slapped the control console hard. This was truly killing multiple birds with one stone.

While owning more boats, he could earn more money, and not a single bit of the caught goods would be wasted or dumped back into the sea.

It could transport to production, then to sales and wholesale—truly a one-stop operation.

While increasing production capacity, it could also accelerate the payback period for the fishing boats.

Most importantly, from weighing the goods transferred from the other boats to selling them, everything would be handled by himself. He wouldn't have to fear others tampering or failing to keep accounts, and he would have complete control over everything.

All initiative would be in his own hands; it would truly be his own Yiyantang.

Furthermore, once he had more fishing boats, he would naturally form a fishing scale, with his own fleet...

Ye Yaodong dared not think any further, unable to imagine how he would act, how he would act, how he would act...

He would probably wake up laughing in his dreams.

Boat King Dong!

No longer Salted Fish Dong!

Just thinking about it, his mouth split wide open in a secret smile. He didn't need to dream; he was already overjoyed.

However, he still needed to check the fishing situation over the past few days; otherwise, his father would surely scold him. He had only just emerged, the new boat had only made one trip, and he was already planning to stir up something even bigger. He had just been told not to stir up trouble.

Those seven boats... thinking about them, he suddenly felt reluctant to give them up. Originally, he had intended to order them to Occupy delivery period.

Perhaps later he could transfer them to Azheng and Hearing Xiao Xiao?

But there was no rush now. With this type of large boat, the output was limited to just two or three per year, matching the small factory in the county town. The one partnered with his eldest and second brothers was already scheduled for next year. If he ordered more now, they would be pushed back to the year after next.

He still had to wait until he returned to ponder this with Aqing; it was no good for him to just imagine things alone.

Ye Yaodong took one step but thought ten steps ahead. Gaining one part, he thought of ten.

While he was lost in his wild imaginings, the goods on the deck were all sorted. Nearly thirty percent had to be dumped into the sea, leaving only seventy percent, roughly two thousand-plus jin, that could be sold. As usual, frogfish accounted for half, followed by other scattered goods, some worth a few tenths of a yuan, others worth only a few cents.

"This haul is only this small? This can probably sell for just a hundred or so yuan at most?"

The veteran smiled and said, "This is a normal catch. The day before yesterday and at dawn yesterday, we just got lucky, stepping on dog shit."

That was true.

Compared to the harvest from the Abundance-Number before, he had earned in one day what used to take a whole week.

Compared to the trawler back home, there was no need to even mention it — this single haul could match two years of that boat's catch.

The old boatman added, "If this one net can sell for about a hundred-something kuai, that's already impressive — it equals two days of work for your family's boat back home."

"Ah, right, right, right… I got greedy, thinking it'd be the same as yesterday's early morning haul."

"Two or three thousand jin per net is normal, four thousand-plus jin is a very good haul. That seven or eight thousand jin in one net yesterday at dawn — that was truly Goddess Mazu's blessing, we ran into a school of fish."

"Mm, you all carry it in first, I'll tidy up the deck."

"Okay, okay…"

The big bamboo-strip broom couldn't even sweep it all in one pass — the scattered, piled-up fish still had plenty of weight to them.

Ye Yaodong swept them into a small pile, then shoved the dustpan straight in under the pile of catch from below, squatted down, raked the fish into the dustpan with both hands, and once it was full, dumped it into a bamboo basket, then kept going.

Only after filling more than ten baskets did he finally clear all the catch off the deck and get it into the baskets.

And once they had moved most of the cargo into the fish hold, they kept on dumping the catch.

"Let me, let me…"

"No, no, no, I'll do it! I've never tried dumping whole baskets of fish into the sea."

"Hehehe… what's the big deal? As long as you're out at sea, you'll be dumping several thousand jin every day for the next few days."

Ye Yaodong finished speaking, then immediately hoisted an entire basket straight up onto his shoulder, walked to the gunwale, and dumped it straight over the side.

"Splash splash~"

A great mass of cargo hit the water, sending up bursts of spray.

The old boatman beside him and Chen Shi also carried a basket over and dumped it with a splashing splash.

He only tried dumping two baskets himself, got a taste of it, then stopped too, and went back to the wheelhouse to avoid catching the cold wind outside.

After they finished dumping all the catch, he hauled up another net, continuously without pause kept casting nets again, and the two on the deck immediately followed suit and got back to work.

It wasn't easy at all.

This net's catch wasn't much different from the previous one — not bad, but not great either; you could only say it was better than the worst but not as good as the best.

Ye Yaodong glanced at the haul, felt no surprise, and went back into the wheelhouse, not planning to stand on deck catching the cold wind.

He had waited the whole night, watching the surrounding sea surface with eager anticipation for any chance of the halo from yesterday's dawn — but he was disappointed; there were no signs of heaven and earth at all.

Forget signs of heaven and earth — there weren't even many red fish in the net, let alone red sea bream; it was all toadfish, black on one side and white on the other, and a swarming mass of mixed small fish.

It wasn't until past five in the morning, just as day was breaking and the red glow was rising on the horizon, that he went to the cabin to wake his father and the others.

"This net's about to come up now, hurry up and get up to take over."

"Alright, how many nets did you drag through the night? Any good catch?"

"We didn't cast the net until past nine, and we were slowly heading toward the East Sea while casting. Maybe it's because we're close to shore, the haul wasn't that great — each net came up around three to four thousand jin, toadfish making up half, mixed small fish a third, and the rest was all sorts of other odds and ends. The one we're about to haul up now is the third net."

"That's fine then, that's still pretty good — one net can sell for about a hundred-something kuai, steady and solid."

"Mm, so it's a good thing I didn't hesitate when we were coming ashore yesterday, didn't overthink whether staying out at sea might bring a better haul — otherwise we'd have lost out big time."

"Have you cooked the porridge yet?"

"Cooked it, just finished cooking it ahead of time and it's still sitting in the pot. We've already eaten — same as usual, seafood porridge with some green leafy vegetables, a bit wilted, so eat up quick."

"Alright, you all get some rest then, we'll go out, grab a few bites, and then haul in the net."

Ye Yaodong didn't bother with anyone else, stripped off his clothes and pants, crawled straight into the bed, looked at the photo stuck to the wall on the inner side of the bed for a few extra glances, and then, amid the rumbling in his ears, drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't until he woke up around noon that he learned the net cast when he went to sleep had a decent haul — better than the previous two nets — bringing up over a thousand jin of boli fish, which are also red.

He stretched lazily. "Today's sky is gloomy again, not a ray of sunshine, and the sea breeze blowing in feels even colder."

"That's because you just woke up and just stepped out of the cabin, so it feels especially cold."

"Pretty much. You've been standing on the deck for most of the day, so you've gotten used to it. How much more catch has gone into the fish hold over this half of the day?"

"Not counting the net hauled up at five-thirty, only two more nets have come up since then — you just woke up. This current net won't be ready until two o'clock."

"Oh."

"The food's in the pot, we just finished eating, still warm — go help yourselves."

"Alright."

Ye Yaodong turned and went to brush his teeth first, only to see the other two come out of the cabin, sleepy-eyed, stretch lazily, turn their backs to him to pee, and then just go straight to serving themselves food and eating.

Sigh!

Someone as obsessed with hygiene as him is a rare sight.

"This pot is the seafood we cooked last night, right? After we finish eating, dump whatever's left. Later, go grab some of the fatty ones from the cabin and cook up another pot — the next net won't be ready that fast."

Both of them nodded while eating.

That's just how it is on a boat — you might lack other things, but seafood is in endless supply, eat as much as you want, no big deal.

The calm, uneventful fishing continued for two days before the entire fish hold was finally full. Ye Yaodong felt this was the normal situation — filling the hold on the very first day out at sea was the abnormal one.

During the dawn shift change, Ye Yaodong reminded his father.

"Dad, it's time to contact the fish-buying boat. One night has passed and the fish hold is already full — any catch we haul up from now on will have to be piled on the deck. Perfect time to get in touch with the fish-buying boat to come take all the cargo."

"Alright, got it, you go rest. I'll get in touch in a bit, see when the fish-buying boat can come over today. I'll also check in with the in-laws, ask how things are on their end, give them a heads-up, so we can sell everything together."

"Then you go ahead and make the call, I'll go catch some sleep — should be about right by the time I wake up."

Ye Yaodung yawned heavily — another all-nighter. Today his father would take the first half of the night and he'd take the second half.

"When are you planning to head back to shore?"

Counting it up, today is the fourteenth of the lunar calendar, the fifth day out at sea. These past two days the haul didn't look great, but luckily the first day's catch had carried them.

Still, although the weather had been overcast these two days, the wind and waves hadn't gotten so rough they couldn't handle it — they could keep fishing at sea as usual.

"A round trip takes most of a day, so if we can stay an extra two days, let's stay an extra two days. The catch these two days has been just so-so. Stay two more days, wait until after the fifteenth — the tenth?"

"Just fish in this area for one more day, then we'll slowly head back in the direction of home while continuing to fish along the way. Get home on the sixteenth? Two days should be enough to fill up another boat cabin with cargo, and once we dock, we can sell it right away?"

"Then over the next two days, let's also sort out all that useless cargo and leave it to be shipped back? Two days should be enough to accumulate a full hold, and while we're at it, let's notify Uncle Pei to have him sort out all the useless cargo on the ship over the next two days and bring it back too—bring as much as possible."

Coming out to fish for seven days is enough; this is only the first trip out, staying this many days is already plenty long, and he needs to head back to check on the house, see if anything's come up.

"Fine, staying two more days is about right. Coming out for a week works out perfectly—go back, rest a day or two, resupply, then head out again."

By the afternoon, the fresh-fish collector boat Ye Fu had arranged only arrived, slow and late—out at sea you have to figure out bearings, and finding a fishing boat to collect cargo from isn't that easy.

The fresh-fish collector boat's hull is similar to a regular refrigerated transport ship, but the tonnage isn't large; the fish hold capacity ranges from several dozen to several hundred tons, depending on the size of the collector boat.

And the collector boat currently heading toward them was clearly not large. Ye Yaodong could see the captain was only about thirty meters long, looked terribly dilapidated, not far from the look of crumbling apart, full of a sense of age.

But for this era it already counted as a big fellow—just didn't know if it had the proper license.

Looking at it, there wasn't much difference from their own trawler—probably just a much bigger fish hold, with the other fishing machinery removed from the deck.

From now on, all those fresh-fish collector boats would need to have a license to engage in collecting seafood at sea.

Ye Yaodong saw that the deck of the fishing boat pulling up had seven big blue barrels, filled to the brim with all kinds of fresh fish, covered with chunks of ice on top. The most numerous seemed to be toadfish—he caught a glimpse of one corner peeking out from under the ice in the distance, and he really admired his own eyesight.

"The collector boat's here!"

"Finally here. We made contact this morning, and it only showed up by afternoon."