Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982 - Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Wanting a Boat of My Own

About an hour passed before the three from Lin Ji Shang left, and only then did Mother Ye and the others anxiously enter the house.

“What did they say? They really want to buy our house plot?”

Father Ye had just finished taking a puff from his water pipe and nodded, “Don’t know where they found their feng shui master, but they say our plot has good feng shui that would bring them prosperity. He mentioned his luck has been poor these two years and wants to change it.”

“He’s not even from our village, what’s he buying the land for?”

“He says he wants to build a small house, for times when he returns from sea and can’t make it back to the county town. He needs somewhere to dock his boat at our pier and rest.”

“Is he very wealthy?”

“I hear he has a large ship, but don’t know much else.”

Ye Yaodong lazily leaned against the wall and said: “This man isn’t being honest. I reckon he’s smuggling on international waters and can’t dock at the major ports. Our village’s small pier is perfect for them to unload cargo secretly at night. When they unload at night, don’t they need somewhere to stay?”

“This plot’s location isn’t far from the beach, and there aren’t many residents around – isn’t that perfect? Maybe there’s also something to their belief about the feng shui!”

In his previous life, he had heard rumors that Lin Ji Shang’s family made their fortune through smuggling, though he didn’t know what they smuggled on international waters.

In their rural area, villagers preferred to avoid trouble. Even if they knew something, they would only discuss it privately and wouldn’t go out of their way to report anything.

Everyone in the room drew in a sharp breath – smuggling on international waters was illegal. Father Ye was also extremely shocked, “How do you know?”

“Just guessing. From the way he was talking earlier, he seemed evasive. Ah well, it doesn’t matter – our family hasn’t lost out, we even gained a boat. Just don’t go around talking about it.”

“How did the negotiation go? What’s this about gaining a boat?” Mother Ye was itching with curiosity, yet nobody had volunteered the information.

Others were also anxious, “Yes, what was discussed?”

Father Ye smiled and said: “We’re giving our current house plot that we’re building on to Lin Ji Shang’s maternal uncle Zhou Yechi. He’ll cover the workers’ wages and meal expenses for this period. We’ll choose a new plot in the village, he’ll pay for that too, and he’ll compensate us with a 6-meter wooden boat.”

Everyone’s eyes lit up – wasn’t this like getting a free boat?

“Without some benefit, why would we give him the house plot we’re currently building on?” Ye Yaodong said.

“Dad, since we’re selling him the land, shouldn’t we be paid for our labor too?” Big Sister-in-law Ye couldn’t help asking.

“Yes, you all helped with the work, so wages should be counted. Tonight, let your mother calculate how many days you worked, the wages, and meal expenses. Tomorrow we’ll go to the commune to find Secretary Lin.”

Ye Yaopeng reminded, “Dad, tomorrow we should first check what kind of boat it is, we can’t accept a broken one.”

“Of course, we’ll need to test it in the water.”

Big Sister-in-law Ye asked happily: “Then where should we choose our new house plot?”

Father Ye looked at his three sons, “Where do you want to choose?”

“Let’s choose the plot in front of the beach. It’s close to the seaside, we’ll know first-hand when the tide goes out, convenient for beach combing.”

Speaking to everyone, Ye Yaodong wouldn’t say something poetic like “facing the sea with spring flowers blooming” – if his parents heard that, he’d probably get scolded. When they were struggling daily for meals, who had time for facing the sea and spring flowers?

Father Ye frowned, “During typhoons…”

“We won’t build too close to the front, as long as the waves can’t reach it, it’s fine. Being close to the beach means you’ll have a shorter walk to the pier too.”

Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua had no objections, anywhere was fine to build.

Big Sister-in-law Ye and Second Sister-in-law Ye also thought his reasoning made sense. They could always see the tides, and when the tide went out, they could reach the beach faster than others. As long as it was built where the waves couldn’t reach, it would be fine.

“If none of you have objections, then we’ll build in that area. Tomorrow we’ll measure it out.”

Seeing no opposing voices, Father Ye made the final decision.

Because of the important matters the next day, Father Ye didn’t go to sea that night. They also notified the workers to temporarily stop construction, waiting to resume after confirming the new house plot.

The small wooden boat was 6 meters long, with about 5 tons capacity, and wasn’t too old. If bought second-hand, it would still cost around two hundred yuan.

Father Ye tested the boat by rowing it around at sea, and after checking that there were no problems, to be safe, he also asked their village’s experienced boat builder to inspect it. Only after confirming there were no issues did he feel comfortable going to the commune to find Secretary Chen as a witness, and to mark out the new house plot.

The entire Ye family was delighted – just by switching house plots, they got a free boat. There couldn’t be anything better than this.

After the transaction went smoothly, and Secretary Lin repeatedly confirmed with Father Ye that they were willing, he promptly issued a new certificate and approved the seaside plot, with the money naturally coming from Lin Ji Shang’s maternal uncle Zhou Yechi.

After calculating all the wages, the Ye family left that plot alone, planning to notify the workers to start digging at the new foundation tomorrow and resume construction.

After returning home, Ye Yaodong couldn’t help asking: “Dad, what do you plan to do with that small boat?”

“Hm? What do you mean what to do?”

“You have a big boat now, you can’t operate that small boat too!”

Father Ye frowned, “What are you thinking?”

“Sell it to me!”

A 6-meter boat wasn’t really small. He couldn’t afford a bigger one, and couldn’t afford a new one, but getting this kind of second-hand wooden boat to operate for now wouldn’t be bad.

It was better than taking turns with his two brothers to go to sea with their father, only getting a turn every three days, and all the trawling earnings going towards building the house, with nothing to distribute.

He wanted to make money, but he didn’t know how to do business, had no capital, and nobody trusted him. As a coastal person, getting a small wooden boat to set some fish traps wouldn’t be bad.

It’s worth noting that fishing boats were essential survival tools for coastal people, and few would sell a perfectly good boat unless they were upgrading from a small boat to a big one. Even then, the discarded small boat would preferentially be sold to relatives. Second-hand boats were hard to come by, so today’s boat was his opportunity.

When he said this, everyone was surprised and asked in unison: “You want to buy it?”

“Is that not allowed?”

Father Ye frowned, “Why talk about buying when it’s our family’s boat? If you need to use it, just take it.”

“But Dad, you have three sons, who are you planning to give it to?”

Uh… this question stumped Father Ye.

Mother Ye was better at balancing family matters, and she changed the subject: “Dongzi, why do you want to buy that wooden boat?”

“I just want to have my own boat. Can’t afford a new one, can’t find a second-hand one to buy, and now that the family has an extra boat that’s difficult to divide between three brothers, I thought I’d buy it.”

Hearing him talk about wanting his own boat, Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua also felt stirred – they wanted one too.

Father Ye looked at him suspiciously, “You want to go fishing by yourself?”

Why was he so disbelieving? If the eldest or second son had said they wanted their own boat, he would definitely believe them, but the third son…

He had a record!

Even though he seemed hardworking and willing lately, he still doubted how long this kid could keep it up!