Chapter 261: The Chen Family Was Basically Corrupt

Wu An arrived in town; since they needed to talk, he certainly couldn't just stand on the main road.

Fortunately, the people here like drinking tea.

There are quite a few tea houses.

He found one with fewer people, asked for a window seat, and there was a screen serving as a partition; it wasn't private, but it was fairly secluded.

Quite suitable for discussing matters.

He ordered a pot of green tea, plus a fruit platter and a dish of melon seeds.

He had just drunk half a cup of tea.

Lao Fu Tou walked in.

"Lao Fu, over here."

He stood up and waved.

Lao Fu Tou walked over, saw the tea and fruit on the table, and as soon as he sat down he complained: "The tea here is really expensive."

"This plate of fruit probably costs several dozen; with that money you could buy fruit outside and not finish it for days."

"The melon seeds are soggy."

Wu An listened to Lao Fu Tou's words; he knew they were true, yet hearing them made him feel inexplicably annoyed.

Lao Fu Tou is not favored in the Chen Family; this mouth of his must have earned some merit.

Wu An poured him a cup and said: "You've said so much, your throat must be dry; let's wet it first."

Lao Fu Tou gulped it down in one go, smacked his lips: "Not bad."

"……" Wu An's forehead veins bulged; he told himself to be eager for talent, that Lao Fu Tou's personality was like this, after brainwashing himself with a few sentences, he then continued: "Teahouses are just like that."

"Let's get down to business."

"No need." Lao Fu Tou shook his head, poured himself another cup; just now at the Chen Family he was furious, a cup of tea wouldn't do anything.

Wu An was stunned.

What does that mean?

Not talking anymore?

Did his attempt to dig a wall's foundation fail just like that?

He unwillingly asked: "Could you reveal what conditions the Chen Family gave you?"

"The Chen Family told me to scram." Lao Fu Tou set down his tea cup, gave a bitter smile: "They even withheld half a month's wages, damn it……"

Wu An listened to Lao Fu Tou's cursing, then realized that his saying no talk meant he intended to follow him; he laughed: "The Chen Family is really not something good."

"Besides this, the Chen Family has done another despicable thing." Seeing Wu An agree, Lao Fu Tou became more animated: "My nephew told me the Chen Family knows I fell into the water but refuses to turn back to look for me."

"Because the trawler had an accident, right?"

"When they abandoned me, the trawler hadn't had an accident yet; after they decided to leave me to die, the trawler met with an accident—do you think that's karmic retribution?"

Lao Fu Tou, saying this, burst out laughing at their misfortune.

Wu An's mind stirred, and he asked: "Does your nephew have any evidence?"

Lao Fu Tou shook his head: "Definitely not; Chen Lao Da forced everyone to make that decision together."

"My nephew said that at the time, only he disagreed."

"But it was useless; you can't twist your arm against your thigh."

Wu An made no comment on that, and pressed on: "Then could he step forward to speak for you?"

Lao Fu Tou shook his head again: "That certainly won't work."

"My nephew still works for the Chen Family."

"If he spoke up for me, the Chen Family would surely fire him, and in the village they'd surely make things difficult for him in various ways."

Wu An felt somewhat disappointed.

But no matter how you say it, the Chen Family indeed refused to rescue someone in danger.

Originally he had planned to spread rumors to smear the Chen Family.

It seems he overthought it; the Chen Family is inherently corrupt.

"Actually, even if my nephew spoke for me it would be useless; I definitely couldn't go up against the Chen Family." Lao Fu Tou banged his fist on the table and said: "The only solution, too, has been missed."

Wu An was curious: "What is the only solution?"

"It's you not saving me." Lao Fu Tou said with a solemn expression: "If I die wronged, as a ghost I definitely won't let them off."

Wu An stared, speechless: "……"

He more or less figured it out.

Lao Fu Tou is a man of strong emotions—he swears when angry, laughs when happy, speaks his mind without thinking, says whatever comes to mind; sometimes what he says isn't very pleasant to hear.

Such a person has few ulterior motives, which is exactly the quality he needs most.

Lao Fu Tou looked at Wu An's expression, belatedly realized, and said: "Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying you rescued the wrong person."

Wu An waved his hand and said: "You don't need to explain."

"I haven't misunderstood."

"Let's talk about wages—what kind of pay does the Chen Family give you?"

Lao Fu Tou said: "Base salary plus performance; if you don't go out to sea you get no money, if you do you get a base salary of 1,500 per month, and you take performance pay according to the catch."

"Since we're not going out to sea now, making four or five thousand a month is no problem."

Wu An listened and nodded.

Most are like that, though some fishermen get a fixed wage, but that's relatively rare.

Performance pay, that is, they give money based on the income from each fishing trip; it seems like a commission, but it's not really, lacking the transparency of a true commission—how much performance pay you get still depends on the standard set by the Chen Family.

When things are good, they give a bit more.

In bad times, there isn't even a penny.

The Chen family are quite good at calculating; it's equivalent to shifting the wage risk onto the ship foreman.

However, benefiting from the high income of the trawler, the ship workers working on the Chen family's trawler still have a decent income compared to others.

But if you factor in the risks of going out to sea, it's not that high.

After hearing that, Wu An thought for a moment and said, "Old Fu, originally I planned to pay you based on commission."

"As long as you get on board, five percent of the catch's profit will be your wages."

"But after hearing what you said, I realize I was being presumptuous."

"So I temporarily came up with another plan: to give you a fixed wage."

"Calculated monthly, that's five thousand per month."

"I'll also pay you during the fishing off-season; of course, if I have work for you, you have to do it."

Upon hearing this, Lao Fu Tou instinctively sat up straight.

The first option is commission, and the commission rate isn't high; for such a small fishing boat, only one or two workers are needed, meaning they definitely wouldn't earn much.

He would only get five percent; if he earned two or three thousand a day, how much would he actually get?

Wu An wants to hire people to work on the boat, indicating the catch is too much for him to handle; thinking big, he estimates an average daily catch worth 3,000, so he would only get 150.

In a year, he goes out to sea for over a hundred days; counting two hundred days, that's only thirty thousand!

Another option, a fixed wage, guarantees six thousand a year, rain or shine!

Unless Wu An's small fishing boat can earn six thousand a day from the catch, matching the fixed income; anything over six thousand, Lao Fu Tou dare not even imagine.

How could that be possible!

Such a small fishing boat can't even handle trawling; if its average daily income reaches three thousand, that's already worthy of burning high incense.

After figuring it out, Lao Fu Tou said, "A An, the fixed wage you're offering is too high; this old body of mine isn't worth that much."

Wu An smiled and said, "Since I can offer this wage, there must be a reason."

"Let me lay it all out for you."

"The fixed wage I'm offering is quite good compared to most people's wages nowadays, but given the workload on my boat, it's not actually high."

He proposed the five percent commission, which is based on the income from his fishing boat.

He calculated that if Lao Fu Tou worked on his boat and took the five percent commission, his daily income would not fall below one thousand; even if he only went to sea for a hundred days a year, he could earn a hundred thousand in a year!

That far exceeds most people's current income, and is much stronger than the fixed wage.

But people are like that.

Just because he thinks it's good doesn't mean others will, especially Lao Fu Tou when he doesn't understand the situation; that's why he offered the fixed wage option.

As for how to choose in the end, the decision rests with Lao Fu Tou.