Chapter 324: Cooperation

Wu An arrived at the office.

He knocked on the door.

Gao Qiangqi's voice came out: "Come in, what are you knocking for?"

He pushed the door open and entered.

There were quite a few people in the office.

Gao Qiangqi, A Jin, A Qing, Lao Fu Tou, and the restaurant boss Qin Zong; seeing him, Qin Zong was the first to greet: "A An, it's really good to see you again."

Wu An was taken aback.

Qin Zong's attitude—was he looking for him about something?

Gao Qiangqi, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, sat at the tea table, brewing tea, and greeted him: "Come sit, I haven't been out running around; a friend sent some tea leaves."

"Try it, how is it?"

Wu An casually sat down: "Brother Qiang, you've got the wrong person—I drink tea like gulping down alcohol."

He looked at A Qing and Lao Fu Tou.

Seeing the two of them drinking tea, still unable to hide their fatigue, the words he had wanted to say got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't get them out.

Forget it.

It's all for making money.

Those two worked so hard; in the end, the one who reaped the benefits for free wasn't him?

He talked a lot, acting like he'd gained an advantage but was being modest.

He drank a cup of tea.

Gao Qiangqi took out several stacks of money, placed them on the table, and said: "Altogether it's seventy-three thousand; I rounded it up, and there's some left over."

Wu An looked astonished.

He hadn't expected that A Qing and Lao Fu Tou, after a day and night at sea, could earn that much money.

Apart from the crab pots, they relied entirely on themselves.

He was quite surprised.

Gao Qiangqi added: "They absolutely refuse to take this money, saying they'll wait for you to come."

Wu An smiled.

He then divided the money on the spot, giving A Qing eleven thousand (one and a half tenths), and Lao Fu Tou seven thousand three hundred (one tenth).

Since he didn't go on this trip, counting as one tenth, he gave each of them half a tenth.

A Qing said nothing and didn't take the money; that stack of eleven thousand was no small amount, and since he had no bag, stuffing it in his pocket made walking uncomfortable.

Still, let Wu An hold the money and deposit it later.

Lao Fu Tou put the money away, smiling so wide his mouth couldn't close.

Although they had drifted at sea for a day and night and got soaked in the rain, holding that much money instantly filled them with energy; they weren't hungry or tired at all.

Feeling happy inside, they still yawned as much as they should.

Wu An curiously asked: "Even on the phone it wasn't made clear—did you also do longline fishing at Panshuikeng?"

Lao Fu Tou enumerated: "The crab pots' income made up the bulk; besides shrimp and crabs, there were many snails, fragrant snails and east wind snails—all valuable goods."

"Panshuikeng was also decent; basically there was a harvest."

"Maybe because it's just me and A Qing, the fish in the ponds aren't as easy to catch as before; it takes a bit more effort."

"The last pond still had plenty of catch, but before we could finish, the water rose."

Upon hearing this, A Qing involuntarily slapped his thigh.

He obviously still held a grudge about this.

It's just like fishing: you hook a big fish, pull it up, then just as you're about to put it in the fish basket, it flops back into the water—almost the same situation.

That really could make a person miserable.

Wu An listened, thinking: "Back at Panshuikeng, I kept boosting my Luck Value, letting it drain—this is why."

He had long discovered that when the ponds were drained of Luck Value, the catch inside was easier to get.

It took no effort.

One could easily clean out the ponds.

Catch the big fish, release the small ones.

"The reason we were delayed is because of longline fishing."

"Once we got busy, it turned dark and started raining; anyway, there was food and drink on the boat, so we simply stayed out at sea overnight."

Lao Fu Tou finished speaking and smiled.

Wu An said, "You've worked hard."

Lao Fu Tou shook his head; actually he didn't feel it was hard at all.

First, although they spent the night at sea, aside from not sleeping very comfortably, there really wasn't anything else.

Second, under Captain Wu An, the workload actually wasn't heavy.

If it weren't for his age, he could go several days without leaving the boat.

What a pity.

He wanted to work on the boat every day, but Old Heaven wouldn't allow it.

When it's windy and rainy, they can only rest.

The upcoming weather forecast said the next two days would be bad; originally yesterday's forecast had said it would be good, but the weather changed in the afternoon.

But there was nothing to be done.

After all, a weather forecast is just a forecast; with the weather so changeable, no one dares to claim they can grasp it.

Lao Fu Tou divided the money, said the fishing boats were already tidied up, then got up and left.

A Qing didn't leave.

After the phone got a signal, he called Li Juan, and for now he wasn't in a hurry to leave.

Wu An had planned to chat with Gao Qiangqi and then leave, but Gao Qiangqi had A Jin find a place to sleep and arranged for A Qing to rest a while.

Wu An also didn't interject.

He could see that Gao Qiangqi had something to say to him.

"Come, have some tea."

Gao Qiangqi poured three cups of tea; Qin Zong came over from the sofa; this side of the tea table had wooden stools, hard and stiff; Qin Zong was used to enjoying comfort and couldn't sit on such stools.

Gao Qiangqi said, "Old Qin, at this age you should cultivate your mind and nurture your nature."

Qin Zong patted his belly and said somewhat shamelessly, "This belly of fat of mine isn't something you can brush off with a few cups of tea."

"Alright, we're not outsiders either."

"A An, I have something to discuss with you."

Wu An put down his tea cup and asked, "What is it?"

"I want to invest in a homestay."

"Hmm?"

"And me too." Gao Qiangqi said with a smile, "Recently I've been not too busy, I also have some time and spare money; leaving it idle would be idle, so I might as well do some investing."

Wu An said, "Brother Qiang, Brother Qin, you seem to know I'm short on money."

The two of them smiled and nodded.

Wu An felt warm inside; these two weren't trying to take advantage of his predicament, but were giving him help in the snow.

No.

Qin Zong not necessarily.

But Gao Qiangqi, besides making money, more so wanted to help him.

"If you're willing to invest, I'm certainly happy." Wu An sighed and said, "Originally I planned to take it step by step, doing as much as my money allowed."

"But the result... greed is not enough; a snake trying to swallow an elephant."

He couldn't help but wryly smile.

People, you know.

Greed is human nature.

Moreover, he knows the prospects of this business; driven by profit, it's natural for him to find it hard to give up the "meat" he can already taste.

Gao Qiangqi said, "Greed is a bit greedy."

"However, steady and solid progress isn't necessarily correct either."

"What is a windfall? This wind blows in a gust and then passes."

"This homestay, although the initial investment is not small, is very easy to replicate."

"If you're a step behind, others might be a step ahead; when the time comes, it might be others who get to eat the crab."

Qin Zong also said, "Going it alone is not as good as us joining forces; if anything happens, we can also respond together."

Wu An nodded deeply in agreement.

These two elders make sense.

In this situation, Gao Qiangqi and Qin Zong taking out money to give him—should he accept it?

Of course he should.

Certainly.

Some things also need to be said up front.

This homestay is his undertaking, so he definitely wants to keep control in his hands.