Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982
Chapter 79

When he was talking with his friends, his family members also heard it, and everyone in the family had no objections.

The lonely island was rich in resources; they had witnessed it once. Ye Yaodong could bring back several sacks of shellfish in one trip. After selling what they could, there would still be plenty left for the family, which could be used as food for the workers.

Before this departure, Ye’s mother specifically instructed him to bring more sacks and fill them up. What they couldn’t eat could be dried, like dried seaweed, which could be stored for quite a while and used to make delicious soups and noodles.

Ye Yaodong lifted the bucket in his hand to show her, with several folded sacks inside, “Is five enough?”

“More than enough! Also, bring a couple more water buckets.”

Who would complain about having too much of something free?

“Alright…”

After the family members had all gone to work at the homestead site, the others finally arrived.

“It’s still just the four of us. Fatty thinks it’s too sunny and won’t come. Ah Wei was called by his dad to carry watermelons up the mountain, and Haozi went to the town dock early to do some loading work.”

Fewer people was better. If they hadn’t actively called him to go beach combing, he would have wanted to go alone and have the whole island to himself.

Rowing was slow, but once you mastered the technique, it was quite simple and could exercise the body, especially the arm strength.

Xiaoxiao joked, “Who would have thought our Brother Dong could do everything, even rowing!”

“Psh, it’s nothing.”

Ah Guang sighed, “Having your own small boat is quite nice. You don’t even need to go out for odd jobs. Just go out to sea every day and cast a few nets. Isn’t that better than loading cargo at the dock?”

Ah Zheng also nodded and said, “Indeed. The ocean is rich in resources, and we all know how to swim. As long as you don’t get your feet tangled in the lines when casting the net, there’s no big problem in coastal waters.”

“Dongzi, why don’t you ask your dad to buy this small boat? It’ll save trouble when you divide the family property later. It would be awkward for your dad to give this boat to anyone,” Xiaoxiao said seriously to Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, “You didn’t need to tell me that. I asked my dad to buy it as soon as we got the boat. Now it’s my private property.”

“Ah? That’s great then. Brother, we’re counting on you to get rich and give us a hand up.”

“To be honest, you three could also pool together to get a small boat. Whether it’s cast nets, crab traps, or Korean nets, it would be better than your current on-and-off work. Loading cargo at the dock is so tiring, and you only earn one or two yuan a day.”

Ye Yaodong was serious about this. If they continued to idle away their time like this, working on and off, they would regret it when they got older.

In their previous lives, his friends had continued to do odd jobs until they were old, except for Ah Guang, who did a bit better after changing his name. It was also because his father was farsighted, saving enough money to buy a boat, and Ah Guang was his only son.

Hearing this, Ah Guang rubbed his chin, “I’m fine with it, I’m just short of some money!”

“Damn, who isn’t short of money!”

Xiaoxiao rolled his eyes, “Is it just a matter of being short of some money? It’s about being short of a lot of money, okay? Even Adong’s 6-meter small boat, a new one would cost several hundred yuan, right? And second-hand ones aren’t easy to buy.”

“Ah Guang, you keep your own money, how dare you say you’re short of money? Haven’t you been living more comfortably than anyone lately?”

“Well… I need to save up for a dowry, don’t I? I’m already getting on in years. Dongzi already has two kids, Xiaoxiao has a daughter, I need to work hard to have a son and snatch his daughter, don’t I?”

Xiaoxiao kicked at him, “Damn you, you don’t even have a wife yet, and you’re already thinking about my daughter.”

As the topic was getting off track, Ye Yaodong quickly brought it back, “You guys spend less, save up bit by bit, or ask your parents and brothers to lend you some. Buying a boat is a serious matter, they’ll surely support it.”

Ah Zheng rested his chin on his hand and sighed, “Sigh, easier said than done. They wouldn’t believe us. We’ve been idle for so long, if you go to borrow money, who knows what they’ll think you’re going to do with it? It’s not that easy to borrow.”

“Then why don’t you guys act more diligent? Like me, and also sweet-talk your wives and mothers. If you don’t show improvement in your actions, how can you expect them to believe your empty words?”

“It’s still more reliable to save money ourselves. If we had known, we wouldn’t have handed over the nearly 400 yuan from selling the mackerels. That would have been enough for us to buy a boat together.”

Xiaoxiao slapped his thigh in regret. It was easy to give the money to his wife, but hard to get it back. It only bought him a few days of smiles from her. Now she still glares when she wants to glare, and scolds when she wants to scold. Damn women!

Ye Yaodong shook his head. Everyone knew how much money the goods sold for, how could they not hand it over? They would have flipped the roof off. They weren’t very reliable to begin with, how could they be allowed to keep so much money for themselves?

“Then you guys should start saving some private money from now on. You need to have a plan, right?”

“Brother Dong, we’re counting on your small boat to help us brothers get rich. Let me hug your leg first!”

Ye Yaodong kicked Ah Zheng away, “I also need to earn money to support my family. At most, I can take you guys along when we go beach combing on the lonely island. Whether you can find good stuff depends on you.”

“What kind of net are you planning to use? Cast net? It’s a pity it’s a small wooden boat, otherwise we could even experience some deep-sea fishing!”

“Just wait, when I get rich, I’ll switch to a small yacht.”

In his previous life, he didn’t have the means, otherwise he would have liked to try deep-sea fishing too.

“You still haven’t said what kind of net you’re planning to use.”

“Crab traps. The family is busy building the house, I can’t do nothing, right? Crab traps are quite suitable. I can spend a few hours every two or three days to collect the nets. We can eat the less valuable catches, and no one can say anything about it.”

“That works too. If you set up several rows, when the catch is good, it’s not much worse than trawling.”

“Even when the catch is small, you can still make a few yuan, and have something to eat.”

Ye Yaodong nodded, “That’s the idea. So you guys should save up money to buy a boat together. Ah Guang doesn’t lack money, it depends on you two.”

Ah Zheng hesitated and said, “Do you think if we pool money to buy a boat and work together, others might feel uncomfortable?”

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes, “Are you neurotic? Why care about them? If others have ideas, they can pool money to buy one too. You’re not their father, can you control whether they eat shit or not?”

“That’s right, if they have ideas, they can also pool money to buy one,” Ah Guang agreed.

People tend to have a herd mentality. If all their friends were slacking off, they would be indifferent too. But if their friends all got boats, everyone would surely have thoughts about it and want to get a boat too.

“Alright then, let’s save up money.”

“Sigh, I originally had a casual attitude about going to the lonely island, but not anymore. Damn, I didn’t bring enough buckets.”

“I only brought two sacks!”

“Damn, Dongzi, you brought five sacks? You really don’t think it’s too much, aren’t you afraid of sinking your small boat?”

“Don’t underestimate my boat. It may be small, but it can carry 5 tons. If it’s really not enough space, you guys can take turns swimming back.”

“Damn…”