Chapter 997: Wrong Goods, Wrong Version

The exclamations of the boatmen rang in his ears.

Ye Yaodong was holding his rice bowl in his hands, and he was so startled that he gripped the rim tightly. He didn't even bother to chew the rice in his mouth, swallowing it straight down. His neck was stretched long from choking, and he clutched at his throat with one hand, finally managing to get it down after some difficulty.

"Shit! Whether two boats colliding kills anyone, I don't know, but Laozi almost choked to death!"

"Hong Tian, I wonder how they are after crashing into each other?"

"Why did they suddenly stop out of nowhere? And the other one too—weren't they watching from the wheelhouse? It's already dark at night, the light is bad to begin with, way too scary."

"It hasn't even been that long since dark…"

Ye Fu also noticed the commotion not far away, and walked out of the wheelhouse, shouting loudly.

"What's going on? How did the two boats collide?"

Ye Yaodong took a sip of water before saying, "I don't know. We were just eating and chatting, and even said it was rare to see two boats out at night, and who knew they'd just crash into each other?"

A boatman added, "No, it was one boat that suddenly stopped first, and the other boat couldn't change direction in time and just rammed straight into it."

Someone else said, "What do we do? Should we haul in the nets and then go over and take a look?"

Ye Fu said, "I'll get on the line with Old Pei first to check. If we're going over, we'll go together."

Ye Yaodong said, "Alright, then you get on the line first. Pull the nets up while you're at it, we have to go over and check anyway."

"I wonder if it'll be damaged…"

"There's definitely a problem. Ramming into each other at that speed—if the people are fine, the boats definitely aren't. They're stuck there not moving now, they've probably already sent out a distress call, right?"

"Very likely…"

Everyone held their rice bowls, pointed at the sea ahead with their chopsticks, gesturing and commenting, no longer bothering to eat.

"First, get two people to haul in the nets. Don't just stand there gawking. Whoever needs to eat, eat quickly. Eating uses your mouth, not your eyes."

"Then let's eat first. Whoever needs to eat, eat; whoever needs to haul nets, haul. We'll have to go over and check again in a bit."

"Hey, hey, just do what you need to do first…"

Everyone responded actively to Ye Yaodong's words, though their attention kept drifting to the fishing boat in the distance.

But it had just gotten dark, and all they could see was the faint orange-yellow light on the boats, far off across the sea. Even staring, they couldn't make out the current state of the fishing boats—only two points of light swaying and drifting every now and then.

The Dong Sheng Hao slowly made its way toward the two collided boats, hauling in the nets as it went, and the Feng Shou Hao followed behind.

Ye Yaodong finished his meal, watched the others haul in the nets. Since there was nothing for him to do, he went up to the wheelhouse and asked his father.

"Uncle Pei has followed along too, he's behind us."

"Mm, I told him when we got on the line just now. We'll haul in the nets and head over together to see what's going on. Their boat just sent out a distress signal too."

"Let's be careful and take a look. Don't get too close for now. As long as the boat hasn't sunk, there shouldn't be any casualties. It's only been a short while since it happened, the lights up there are still swaying—it might be that they hit a reef, who knows."

"That's what I thought too. Otherwise, why would they suddenly stop, causing the other boat to crash into them without any warning?"

"Today happens to be the fifteenth, and right now it's the big ebb tide—the water has receded to its lowest. The sea level dropped, so some of the underwater reefs rose up too. Maybe it's easier to hit a reef?"

Ye Fu stared intently ahead, shook his head, and said, "Hard to say. Let's go over and take a look first."

Ye Yaodong said nothing, walked out of the wheelhouse, and stood on the bridge deck, staring fixedly ahead.

The fishing nets on deck were slowly being hauled up, and as the distance closed, he noticed the fishing boat ahead was a bit lopsided, tilting toward the southeast.

And the other boat that had crashed into it—the entire bow was tilted up, stacked on top of the listing fishing boat, forming a "human pyramid" of sorts, also leaning toward the west.

The two boats were at roughly a right angle to each other, and the situation didn't look good—both were listing.

"Shit, both of them are tilting. Doesn't that just speed up the sinking? One big wave crashing over and both of them could capsize together. No wonder they're stuck in place, not moving at all—neither of them can move anymore."

As time went on, the angle of the tilt would only grow smaller, until water flooded the deck, and the fishing boat would sink straight down—and then it'd be done for.

Standing on the bridge deck, he could barely make out a little by the faint light, and as their boat drew closer, the boatmen below could also see the shape of the two boats and started discussing.

In the time the Feng Shou Hao had been sailing, it had probably hauled in its nets too. The two boats were now side by side, and the people on board had probably all seen it.

He looked around at the situation, then went into the wheelhouse to tell his father.

Ye Fu was surprised. "They're stacked on top of each other? And both tilting? If rescue doesn't come in time, won't they both sink together?"

"Have you contacted the Haishi Bureau? Where are we right now?"

"Somewhere around the city area, I think? They already sent out a distress signal, so I didn't bother contacting them."

"Let's help call for help too. Who knows why they collided. Since we saw it, let's help get in touch and see."

"Alright, alright, I'll send the distress signal right away."

The two boats drew closer and closer. Once they neared the scene of the accident, they slowed down, drifting around at a distance of twenty or thirty meters. Ye Yaodong also had someone wave a flag to signal the other boats that they were coming over.

The two wrecked boats had long since noticed the other two boats working on the sea, and seeing them approach, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ah! It's that fresh-fish collector boat from yesterday!"

"Huh? It really is yesterday's fresh-fish collector boat… We ran into them again?"

"Maybe they're heading back to Huigang…"

"Even so, there's no need to go that fast, right?"

"Of course they have to go fast. The wholesale market opens at night, doing the pre-dawn business. If you're late, it won't do…"

Ye Yaodong saw it too. The one stacked on top in the human pyramid was the fresh-fish collector boat—the bow of the fishing boat was resting on the other boat, the stern floating on the sea surface, the hull tilted, extremely precarious.

And the fishing boat pressed underneath was tilting even more severely. That one seemed to be a transport boat, loaded with quite a bit of cargo. Because of the tilt, boxes of cargo had already scattered everywhere, some probably falling into the sea.

As soon as their boat drew close, the people on the fresh-fish collector boat immediately shouted and waved. "Over here~ Over here~"

Ye Fu steered the boat toward the stern, planning to pick up the people on board first, while the Feng Shou Hao headed toward the other boat, ready to pick up its people—splitting up to rescue.

But just as they were about to bring the people aboard first, the other side refused.

"This boat and the cargo on it represent most of our life's savings. We can't leave right now. We have to stay on the boat and watch, keeping an eye on any changes to the hull. Please stand by nearby. Help us out if needed, and if something happens, you can take us aboard. Is that alright? We'll be sure to reward you handsomely."

Ye Yaodong could understand how they felt. The fresh-fish collector boat was piled high with cargo—they were probably planning to rush back, dock at night, and deliver the goods to the wholesale market to sell.

Several dozen tons of cargo, worth tens of thousands. They paid cash for the goods—there's no credit when buying out at sea. It really did represent most of their livelihood. If something happened to this boat, they'd really have nowhere to cry.

After Ye Fu brought the boat over, he went down to the deck. Hearing this, he quickly replied politely in his halting Mandarin mixed with the local dialect, "It's only right, only right. Out at sea, calling out to heaven gets no answer, calling out to earth gets no reply. When help is needed, if we run into each other, we definitely have to lend a hand."

Ye Yaodong nodded and said, "Alright then, we'll wait on the side until the rescue boat arrives and see if there's anything we can help with."

The other few people were full of gratitude.

"Thank you. Tonight's luck was really terrible. Fortunately, there were still your two boats nearby, which was a silver lining in this misfortune. At the very least, if the worst happened, we'd lose the money but keep our lives," the other person said self-mockingly.

Indeed, in the vast, boundless ocean, even if you can swim, how long could you last? Who knows when the rescue boat would arrive?

If the fishing boat really started sinking bit by bit, and before the rescuers arrived, they would only be able to wait while soaking in the water. If they swam elsewhere, deviating from the initial rescue coordinates, where would anyone find them?

"Let's wait and see. If the rescue is timely, it might be saved."

"Let's hope so."

Ye Yaodong asked in confusion, "We were eating just then, and happened to see your two boats appear on the edge of the horizon. We were surprised that we could see other fishing boats tonight, but we never expected how you suddenly collided."

"We had set a navigation route and were also eating. We didn't know our route would conflict with that ship's. By the time we realized it, it was too late."

Someone nearby added, "We just exchanged some curses, then figured it out. There were hidden reefs below, and we happened to hit them during the spring tide. If it weren't for that ship, we probably would have been the ones hitting the reef."

"I don't know if it's fortunate or unfortunate. Our boat is stacked on top. Although it's tilted, at least there's something underneath to cushion the fall. If the rescue is timely and the boat backs up a bit, it might be saved."

"Or perhaps that ship sinks directly. Our tilt angle isn't that steep. If the waves don't keep hitting us, we might just land on the water's surface directly, and that way we'd be saved."

"Let the other Daoist die, not this poor Daoist." The thought wasn't wrong.

At least there was something underneath to cushion the fall. If it sinks, their boat, though currently tilted at forty-five degrees, would naturally land on the water's surface once it sinks.

Probably everyone on that ship was hoping in their hearts that the other ship would sink quickly so their own boat could land steadily on the water.

"These hidden reefs are unavoidable. In the vast ocean, it's not our own backyard. How could we possibly be familiar with every spot? Accidents are impossible to predict."

"That's what they say, but we were also distracted. We thought we'd reach shore soon. If we had kept watch, we could have turned in time and wouldn't have crashed directly like this."

Ye Yaodong nodded. The weather is unpredictable; human fortune and misfortune change in an instant. Nothing in the world is constant, and nothing can always be predicted.

"Alright then, you stay on the boat and watch for now, and think of a plan. If the rescue boat doesn't come, figure out how to save yourselves. We'll back our boat up a bit and wait on the side for now."

"Okay, okay. Thanks for the trouble..."

"Much obliged. Thank you..."

Amidst their repeated polite thanks, he returned to the cabin first, backed the boat out, and kept a certain distance.

The Fengshou Boat was still stuck against the other ship, talking over there. Probably that ship was in a similar situation, just unlucky enough to hit the reef first and become the cushion.

However, Ye Yaodong saw they were well-prepared; they had already put on life jackets. His boat didn't even have life jackets. He didn't expect the other party to have them; quite thoughtful.

The Fengshou Boat, like them, wanted to take people aboard but returned empty-handed.

Right now, it was slowly drifting closer to his side. The two boats were pressed together, anchored on the sea.

Pei's father also came onto the deck and spoke with them.

"That ship said the captain took a nap and hit the reef directly. They wanted to take them over, but everyone shook their heads, saying they wanted to check the situation on the boat first. Anyway, our boats are stopped nearby, so if anything unexpected happens, we're not afraid. At least staying on the boat, they still have some ability to react."

"Yes, with us here, personal safety is no longer an issue. Now it's just a property issue for them. This ship probably carries most of their assets. Is the one that hit the reef a cargo ship? Is it loaded with goods?" Ye Yaodong asked curiously.

"Yes, it looks like a cargo ship. The cargo on the deck is piled high. The boxes below are stacked neatly, but the ones on top, because of the reef strike, are in a mess. The stacked cargo is scattered everywhere. The ship is in chaos now; it seems there's barely room to step."

"They dare not move around recklessly, afraid of making the ship tilt even more. They can only stay at the stern waiting for rescue, hoping the waves are smaller and the ship tilts slower."

"It seems the fallen boxes even hit some people. I saw two or three with bloody heads, just holding a cloth over their foreheads and sitting there."

Ye's father also spoke up and asked, "Can you tell where they are from by their accent?"

"Their accent isn't local. Don't know where they're from. Anyway, communication is very difficult. Wherever they're from, let's just watch for now. If they need help, we help. If not, we wait for them to get out of danger and get a red envelope."

"Don't know how many hours the rescue will take... We can only wait here idly..." Ye Yaodong lit a cigarette. Bored while waiting, he started smoking.

"Wait. The others can go rest first. Anyway, the first net of goods just brought up is probably only about a thousand jin. We didn't drag for long. Just leave two people to sort it."

Pei's father also said, "We just put the net down and pulled it up. I need to go sleep for a while too. While the boat is stopped here, there's no noise from the machines. It's rare to have such quiet; I should sleep well."

"When the rescuers arrive later, just have the others call me. You really can't drive a boat while fatigued. Look at them; they hit the reef just because the captain took a nap. That's unlucky enough."

After speaking, he arranged for the boatmen to return to the cabin to rest, leaving just one person to keep watch. Anyway, they didn't have much cargo to sort.

Ye's father also asked Ye Yaodong, "Do you want to go sleep first? It is indeed rare to have such quiet right now, with no noise from the machines."

"No, I just woke up from my nap at noon. You go eat first. You haven't had time to eat from just now until now."

"Mm, alright..."

Ye's father also took the opportunity to go eat first. Anyway, with the boat stopped here, waiting idly meant there was nothing to do.

Ye Yaodong took two puffs of his cigarette; the ember flickered bright and dim at his fingertips.

After finishing the cigarette, he casually flicked the butt into the sea, but noticed several boxes floating on the sea surface a few meters ahead. Under a few faint lights, it wasn't very clear, but they were indeed drifting over with the waves.

"Boxes again!"

Damn it, he seemed to have a strong connection with boxes? He could see boxes on the sea from time to time, either spotting them or dredging them up from the seabed.

Nothing but boxes, just boxes.

The things opened from them varied in size and type, everything imaginable, just like opening blind boxes.

Seeing there was nothing to do now except wait, everyone else took the opportunity to sleep or squat on the ground sorting. His father was there too, head down, picking up food with chopsticks and eating fiercely, as if he was the only one who saw it.

He looked at the ship that had hit the reef not far away. Probably when that ship hit the reef, the hull shook, vibrated, and tilted, so some items accidentally fell into the water.

Idle is idle; if you don't fish them up, you lose them for nothing.

"Hey, stop sorting for a moment. Those boxes drifting over with the water over there, hook them with a bamboo pole together and see if we can hook them over?"

"Where, where, where?"

"Oh, did those fall from the ship ahead? Quick, quick, let's fish them up first and see what's inside. That ship is a cargo ship; maybe there are some good things."

Ye's father, holding his rice bowl, leaned against the ship's railing. "The cargo from that ship? Let's fish them up and take a look."

"Return, return, return, or..."

"Return what? Anyway, they fell into the sea. As long as they can get out of danger, it's already a blessing from Amitabha. Where would they care about these few boxes? They'll have to thank our two boats properly later," the old boatman said.

Ye Yaodong also agreed strongly. "Anyway, they won't know. If you don't pick them up, you lose them for nothing. Chen Shi, don't be too honest. They have a ship full of cargo; how could they miss these few boxes? They should be weeping with gratitude just to save the rest of their cargo and get out of danger."

"Exactly. Who knows we fished up their cargo? They dropped it into the sea themselves. We came up specifically to help them. Seeing boxes on the sea, what's wrong with fishing up a few?" The old boatman rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a long bamboo pole, and went to hook them.

"Keep it quiet, hook it over toward the stern, let the cabin block the view, then we'll haul this crate up. Don't let them see it."

They all stood gazing around the sea surface, waiting for rescue. They had seen it, so it wouldn't look good not to return it later.

"Alright, alright, I'm heading toward the stern to hook it…"

The bamboo pole, three or four meters long, was easy to maneuver. The hook tied to its end gradually drew the crate slowly over toward the fishing boat.

"Shine the flashlight again, check if there's anything else on the sea? Could be something good, you never know."

"Already checked everywhere. Whatever we saw just drifted away. This is the only thing we could hook."

Without waiting for his father to say anything, he had already been shining the flashlight all around. Free labor compensation—who'd say no to that?

Just didn't know if it was worth anything.

When the boatman hooked the crate to the side of the boat, he went along to help lift it.

"Huh, damn, this is pretty heavy. It was floating on the sea but already half-sunk. What the hell is this?"

"Don't just stand there talking, haul it up and let's see."

"Aren't I hauling it right now? Talking doesn't stop me from lifting the cargo."

Working together, the two of them lifted a small square crate right up to the side of the cabin. The walkway could only fit one person to begin with, and the crate fit perfectly onto the walkway once lifted up.

"Let's open it right here. The cabin's blocking the view, no one can see. Let's see what's inside first."

"Need to get pliers to pull these wooden strips off…"

"I'll go get them…"

With nothing better to do, all four stretched their necks, eager to see what was inside, standing on the narrow little walkway waiting for the crate to be opened.

"You think this could be a smuggling ship? That the crate's full of smuggled goods?"

"Could be."

"Then when the rescue boat comes, won't they just get caught red-handed?"

"Exactly, so the stuff in this crate—take it, don't pass it up. Why return it? Get it? Chen Shi—a name's just a name, doesn't mean you have to be honest."

Chen Shi laughed sheepishly.

"We're just guessing blindly anyway. Who knows, maybe it's just normal cargo being shipped. Whatever, let's just see what it is first…"

The moment Ye Yaodong finished speaking, he opened the crate.

"Huh? Straw?" The moment he opened the crate and saw straw, he quickly brushed it aside. "Huh? Canned food? Fish canned food?"

"Huh? Fish canned food? There's fish canned food too?"

"Fish can be canned too?"

"Aren't canned goods all orange canned fruit, yellow peach canned fruit? There's fish canned food too? Fish from the sea can be canned—what would that taste like? Hand me one, let me look!"

Ye Fu reached out in surprise, took one can, held it under the light and examined it back and forth, clicking his tongue in wonder.

"Just the other day you asked me if I knew about fish canned food—turns out there really is fish canned food? Tsk tsk tsk, I've eaten plenty of fish in my life, but canned fish—now that's something I've never heard of."

Ye Yaodong also shone his flashlight back and forth over the fish can in his hand. This stuff wasn't cheap nowadays.

"I was just asking offhand, I'd only heard about it, didn't expect there really was. This one's made with fermented black beans, right? That's pretty rare…"

"I've never even heard of it. I only knew about orange canned fruit, yellow peach canned fruit—this fish canned food is my first time seeing it. Is this stuff expensive or not? What kind of fish is that printed on top? Getting old, can't see well at night…"

The boatman also curiously took a can, examining it back and forth, fiddling with it.

Ye Yaodong said, "It's canned dace."

"Dace? What's dace?"

"It's a freshwater fish."

"No wonder I've never seen or heard of it. Freshwater fish doesn't taste good—who'd eat that, and they went and canned it on purpose…" Ye Fu shook his head, saying disdainfully, "Wasted effort, thought there'd be something good."

"You can't be biased, freshwater fish has its good ones too."

"We can't even finish all the fish from the sea, who'd bother eating that muddy taste from the river? Put it back, throw it back in the sea, no use keeping it. Went and canned it on purpose too… what a waste of money. Such tiny fish, barely palm-sized, even giving them away people would turn up their noses. We toss back thousands of jin to the sea every day, and someone actually canned these fish?"

Ye Fu found it more and more incomprehensible no matter how he looked at it, and disdainfully put the fish can back. "Might as well have been a crate of orange canned fruit."

"You haven't even tried it, how do you know it doesn't taste good? Such small fish are cheap, the cost of canning is low, that's where the big profit is, get it?"

"If you want it, keep it."

"Weren't you eating? I'll open one for you to try, perfect to go with your meal."

"I'm not eating this. There's plenty of fish and shrimp on the boat, why would I eat freshwater fish? Who knows if it's even fresh. I'd leave the fresh stuff uneaten to eat this?"

Ye Fu shook his head in disdain as usual, then walked back to the deck after speaking, done with the cargo. To him, this stuff held zero appeal—not as good as crabs full of shell.

The boatman also shook his head. "Of course fresh is better. We folks by the sea eat sea fish, who eats freshwater? Thought there'd be something good, such a big ship, turns out it's all loaded with this freshwater fish canned food."

Ye Yaodong watched the two old men turn up their noses and was speechless. Old folks' thinking was deeply ingrained—even though this fish canned food wasn't cheap.

"Fine, if you don't want it, forget it. I'll keep it myself, perfect to go with my meals. You can't even buy this fish canned food around here if you wanted to—it's all for export now."

"Those people just never had anything fresh, so they have to eat this kind of stuff."

"If you put it that way, you're not wrong. Inland areas can't get sea fish, they eat freshwater fish, and some places don't even have freshwater fish for sure. This kind of freshwater fish canned food is popular with them, and this fermented black bean flavor is pretty unique too. Don't believe me? Let me open one for you to try?"

"Didn't you say this stuff is all for export? How's it inland areas now?" Ye Fu listened to him talk out of both sides of his mouth, his face full of confusion.

Ye Yaodong was a bit tongue-tied too. Although it was all for export now, inland areas did welcome it. His sense of the timeline was a bit muddled—one sentence here, another there.

"Alright, I'm talking out of my ass, you listen with half an ear, why so serious?"

"So you were just bragging. Like I said, who'd want to eat this."

Sigh, Ye Yaodong simply took one to the deck, hacked it open with a knife, ready to let him have a taste first.

Everything has to be tried before you can say.

"Try it and you'll know. Different fish, different flavors. Like the blue mackerel, isn't that cheap too? But our family likes… ah…"

Ye Yaodong's eyes went wide, staring at the round black beads inside the opened can that didn't match what was supposed to be there, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

What was going on?

Everyone else was also extremely surprised—wasn't it supposed to be canned fish?

They had all been about to turn away, but now they turned back and looked on curiously.

"What is this? How come it's black and shiny, just like rat droppings?"

"Isn't it canned fish? Why is there no fish when you open it? What is this? It really does look like rat droppings…"

"Where are the fish? Where are the fish?"

Ye Yaodong also uncertainly raised his palm and looked at the picture on the edge of the can—that's right, the label said canned dace, and there was even a picture of a dace on it.

"This is a scam, right? The outside has a fish label, but when you open it there's no fish inside."