Chapter 502: No Rent Increase

About half an hour later, the two cars arrived at Huangpu Wharf.

Deputy Bureau Chief Yang led He Yuzhu and Secretary Liu to the warehouse area of the Yu Ren Shipyard Storage Company.

This place was indeed remote; the weeds grew over a person's height, and from time to time, one could see small animals scurrying through the grass with a rustle.

Looking at the warehouses, they were even more dilapidated: most of the original white wall plaster had peeled off, the rusted large iron gates were half-open, and there was hardly a single intact pane of glass in the windows.

Deputy Bureau Chief Yang smiled and gestured: "If your factory is willing to rent this place, I can take the responsibility to waive the rent for the first three years, as long as you clean the place up."

He Yuzhu nodded: "Cleaning up is no problem. However, I hope to sign a long-term contract for twenty years."

Secretary Liu glanced at He Yuzhu, feeling puzzled: You are only staying here for two years, why sign for so long?

He Yuzhu leaned into his ear and whispered an explanation: "Didn't I mention to you before that our factory shouldn't just be a Tractor Factory; it could be planned as an industrial park. In the future, our products can be exported directly from here to Hong Kong, which would be very convenient."

Upon hearing this, Secretary Liu immediately smiled.

He turned around and discussed it in a low voice with Deputy Bureau Chief Yang for a while, then returned to tell He Yuzhu: "Bureau Chief Yang has agreed. A twenty-year contract, thirty million per year, with the first three years rent-free. Does that work for you?"

"It works!" He Yuzhu readily agreed.

"Zhuzi, why do you want to rent it for twenty years?" Secretary Liu asked, confused.

"I'm afraid that after I finish building the warehouses, they will double the rent," He Yuzhu said.

"This is state property, not private, so that kind of thing won't happen!" Secretary Liu looked at He Yuzhu, puzzled. It was as if he were saying, do you really distrust the state that much?

He Yuzhu continued to ask: "Secretary Liu, then as for the wharf side, it won't increase the rent by 5% every year, will it?"

"You talk too much nonsense today! Let me tell you again: this contract is thirty million per year, and the rent won't increase for 20 years!" Secretary Liu said with annoyance.

"Thank you!" He Yuzhu said.

After looking at the warehouses, Deputy Bureau Chief Yang suddenly suggested: "Secretary Liu, since we're already at the wharf, would you like to take a boat out to do some fishing?"

Secretary Liu became interested: "I tasted the braised Big Yellow Fish made by Comrade He Daqing yesterday, and the flavor was truly fresh. He said you caught it, and I didn't quite believe him. Since it's a good opportunity today, why don't you show us your skills?"

"Deal!" He Yuzhu was also eager to try.

At another corner of the wharf, An Daiyuan and Duan Yunpeng were staring closely at He Yuzhu's group through a Telescope.

"The opportunity today is too good to miss," Duan Yunpeng said in a low voice.

An Daiyuan, however, had some concerns: "They have eight people, and we only have thirteen. A head-on collision might not be wise..."

Duan Yunpeng sneered: "Who said we were going to do it here? The location has long been chosen—remember Cailong Bridge? We buried Explosive under the bridge, and arranged two snipers on the dirt slope opposite... We don't need to go into battle ourselves."

An Daiyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had originally thought this Special Commissioner was the type who dared to charge and fight; it turned out he was also someone good at driving his subordinates.

"Special Commissioner is wise! This time we will surely wipe them all out!" An Daiyuan flattered him quickly.

Duan Yunpeng waved his hand, and the two cars started quietly and drove off into the distance.

He Yuzhu was learning to cast a net from an old fisherman on the Fishing Boat.

Secretary Liu teased from the side: "Zhuzi, your father said you could fish, so he was lying?"

He Yuzhu smiled: "I found the school of fish, but I hired a fisherman to help cast the net. Does that count as me catching them?"

The old fisherman who was teaching him to cast the net heard this and laughed too: "Young man, you really know how to brag! I've been fishing for thirty years and wouldn't dare say I can always pinpoint where the school of fish is."

He Yuzhu smiled: "Knowing where the school of fish is doesn't seem to have much to do with age."

The old fisherman became unconvinced: "Then let's make a bet! You cast a net, and I'll cast a net, and we'll see who catches more. The loser has to eat the largest fish from the other person's net raw!"

"You're on! Grandpa," He Yuzhu replied, imitating his accent.

The old fisherman immediately became serious.

He observed the movements of the water birds, tested the water temperature, listened intently to the movements under the water, and scattered some food scraps into the sea.

After working for a good while, he finally chose a spot and cast his net nimbly.

About half an hour later, the three nets were pulled up one after another, and the catch was dumped into the hold, weighing over a hundred jin, with Big Yellow Fish, Small Yellow Fish, conger eels, sea shrimp, crabs, and various miscellaneous fish jumping and piling up in a large heap.

The old fisherman proudly ordered his assistant: "A Qiang, pick out the biggest one and prepare it for this young man to eat raw!"

He Yuzhu smiled, thinking this old man was quite one to hold a "grudge."

After the fish were sorted and the deck was washed clean, He Yuzhu directed the Fishing Boat to sail in another direction.

The old fisherman squinted at him with an expression of "let's see what kind of trick you can pull."

After the boat had traveled for a distance, He Yuzhu suddenly shouted: "Stop!"

The Fishing Boat anchored steadily on the sea surface.

He Yuzhu learned quickly; he nimbly cast a trawl net and let the boat move forward slowly.

After about half an hour, He Yuzhu sensed that there were already quite a few fish in the net, but his competitive spirit arose; with a thought, he gathered all the fish within ten meters into his space and then quietly transferred them into the trawl net.

When it was time to haul the net, he asked the old fisherman for help.

As soon as the old man pulled the net rope, his expression changed: "So heavy! I'm afraid we've caught a large school of fish!"

"What should we do then?" He Yuzhu asked.

"We have to let some go, otherwise the net will break."

"Aren't you cheating? If I let the fish go, I'll lose," He Yuzhu shook his head.

The old fisherman sighed: "... I'll count it as my loss. But if we don't let some go, the net will break and we won't have a single one left."

He Yuzhu then nodded.

When the fishing net was fully pulled up, everyone was stunned: the number of fish in the net was not only astonishing, but the size was also exceptionally large, almost entirely plump Big Yellow Fish, Small Yellow Fish, as well as eel, hairtail, sea shrimp, and crabs, totaling a full four or five hundred jin. If one counted the portion the old fisherman had released earlier, it was probably nearly a thousand jin.

The old fisherman looked at the pile of seafood like a small mountain and sighed sincerely: "Young man, you are a master! I've been fishing all my life and have never caught so much in one net!"

Secretary Liu looked at the full hold of fish and also laughed: "Zhuzi, it seems your father wasn't bragging; you really are a natural at fishing."

He Yuzhu said: "Secretary Liu, once the factory is on the right track, I plan to get a large boat, install a refrigeration system, and go to the deep sea to fish, bringing back tens of tons in one trip."

Secretary Liu was delighted: "You'll have to take me along when that time comes."

"No problem!" He Yuzhu agreed readily.

He Yuzhu's group ate lunch at a restaurant by the wharf and, carrying several hundred jin of fresh fish, happily headed back.

When the vehicle drove to within about a hundred meters of Cailong Bridge, the system in He Yuzhu's mind suddenly issued a sharp warning: "Host, danger ahead, stop the car immediately!"

He Yuzhu's entire body tensed, and he immediately shouted to the driver: "Stop!"

The Jeep they were riding in braked violently, but the car in front continued to move forward.

He Yuzhu grabbed Secretary Liu and pressed her down into the back seat, then pushed the door open and leaped out himself.

He quickly surveyed the terrain and discovered that the earthen hill opposite was an excellent sniping location, so he immediately raised his rifle and pulled the trigger toward the direction of the earthen slope diagonally ahead.

"Bang!..."

The moment the gunshot exploded, the car in front also braked to a sudden stop.

Damn it! There must be a sniper on the other side, but he could not take out his own Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle. He Yuzhu shouted: "There is a sniper on the earthen hill!"

"Bang!" The opponent's gunshot also rang out immediately afterward.