About an hour passed before the three from the Lin family left, and only then did Ye's mother and the others hurried into the house.
"What do you think? Are they really here to buy the land of our foundation?"
Ye's father just finished a puff of his water pipe and nodded, "I don't know where they found this master, but he says our land has good feng shui and will bring him fortune. He mentioned that his luck has been poor these past two years and wants to turn it around."
"But he's not from our village. What's he buying our ground for?"
"He claims he wants to build a small house. Occasionally, when he returns from the sea and can't make it to the county in time, he needs a place to dock his ship and rest."
"Is he wealthy?"
"I heard he has a large ship, but not much else is known."
Ye Yaodong leaned lazily against the wall, saying, "This person's not being honest. I'd guess he’s been smuggling on the high seas, and our little dock here is perfect for them to unload goods at night while avoiding the major ports. If they're unloading at night, wouldn't he need a place to stay?"
"This piece of land is close to the beach and there aren’t many houses around. Isn’t it just right? Maybe he thinks the feng shui is good too!"
In his previous life, he had also caught some wind of the Lin family, who had gotten rich through smuggling, though he didn't know what they were smuggling on the high seas.
Living in the countryside, villagers tended to avoid trouble, and even if they knew something, they only whispered about it among themselves, never reporting anything.
The people in the room gasped, since smuggling on the high seas is against the law.
Ye's father was quite surprised too, "How do you know?"
"I’m just guessing. From the way he spoke, he seemed a bit secretive. Ah, whatever, it doesn’t affect us; we gained a small boat out of it. Just don’t go around blabbering about it."
"What did you talk about? How did we get a small boat?" Ye's mother felt anxiety creeping in but no one spoke up.
The others were also curious, "Yes, what did he say?"
Ye's father smiled and explained, "We’re handing over the plot where we’re currently building our house to Lin Jishang's uncle, Zhou Yechi. For this period, his labor and food expenses are covered by him. We can choose another piece of land in the village, and he’ll pay for the new foundation too. Plus, he’ll compensate us with a 6-meter wooden boat."
Everyone’s eyes brightened; this was practically like getting a boat for free!
“If he doesn’t give some benefits, why would he want us to give him our land that we’re already working on?” Ye Yaodong pointed out.
“Then, Dad, since we sold the land to him, won’t we have to count our labor expenses?” Ye Dasao couldn’t help but ask.
“Yes, you’re all helping with the work, so of course, it needs to be counted. In the evening, let your mother total up how many days you’ve worked and your food expenses, then we can go to the commune tomorrow to see Secretary Chen.”
Ye Yaopeng reminded, “Dad, we need to check the boat tomorrow to ensure it’s not broken.”
“Of course! We have to make sure it’s seaworthy.”
Ye Dasao asked cheerfully, “So where do we want to select our new foundation?”
Ye’s father looked at the three brothers, “Where do you want to choose?”
“Let’s pick that land in front of the beach; it’s close to the shore. When the tide goes out, we’ll know right away—very convenient for gathering sea treasures.”
In front of everyone, Ye Yaodong wouldn’t say anything poetic about facing the sea and blossoming flowers; if his parents heard that, he would probably catch some flak for it.
It was tough enough just to survive from day to day, let alone be sentimental.
Ye’s father frowned, “What about typhoons…?”
“Just don’t build too close. If the waves can’t reach it, then it’ll be fine. This land is conveniently close to the beach, so you won’t have to walk far to go to the dock.”
Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua had no objections.
They were okay with wherever it got built.
Neither Ye Dasao nor Ye Ersao had any issues with the suggestion either, finding it reasonable—being able to see the tides rise and fall at any time was great.
As long as they build in a place where the waves couldn’t reach, it would be perfect.
“Well, if none of you have objections, then let’s build there. We’ll go measure it tomorrow.”
Seeing there were no dissenting voices, Ye’s father made a decisive call on the matter.
Since they had important things to do the next day, Ye’s father stayed home that night instead of going to sea.
He also informed the workers that construction would stop temporarily until they settled on a new foundation.
The small wooden boat was 6 meters long, capable of carrying about 5 tons—so it wasn’t really old and worn out.
Even if buying a second-hand one, it would cost around 200 coins.
Ye’s father took the boat out to check it, and after ensuring there were no issues, he asked the village’s shipbuilder to inspect it as well.
Once it passed their inspection, he felt relieved and headed to the commune to get a witness from Secretary Chen, while also sorting out the new foundation’s approval.
The Ye family was all quite delighted.
It was just a matter of changing the foundation, and they had gotten a boat for free—nothing could be better than that!
As the transaction went smoothly, Secretary Chen made sure to confirm with Ye's father that they were doing this willingly before promptly issuing a new certificate and approving the coastal land, with Zhou Yechi paying, of course.
After counting everything related to labor, the Ye family no longer paid any attention to that plot and planned to notify workers to dig holes at the new foundation site and resume work.
On returning home, Ye Yaodong couldn’t help but ask, “Dad, what are you planning to do with that small boat?”
“Huh? What do you mean ‘what to do’?”
“You have a big ship now; you can't bring that small one back!”
Ye’s father frowned, “What are you getting at?”
“Sell it to me!”
A 6-meter boat wasn’t very small.
He couldn’t afford a bigger one, and a new one was out of the question.
For now, having a second-hand wooden boat would work just fine.
It was better than taking turns with his two brothers to go out to sea with their father; it would take three days for a turn, and whatever they caught had to be pooled for building houses—there wasn't any money left to split.
He wanted to make some money, but he didn’t know how to do business or have any capital.
No one believed in him.
As someone from the coastal area, having a small wooden boat to set some traps would be a good start.
After all, fishing boats are vital tools for seaside folks, and it’s rare for someone to sell a perfectly good boat unless upgrading from a small to a large one.
The smaller boats are often first sold to relatives, and second-hand boats are hard to come by.
So today, this boat was an opportunity for him.
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback, asking in unison, “You want to buy it?”
“Is that not allowed?”
Ye’s father frowned, “You can’t just say ‘buy’ when it comes to your own family’s boat. If you need it, just take it out to use.”
“Then, Dad, you have three sons. Who do you plan to take with you?"
Uh...
This question left Ye's father stumped.
Luckily, Ye's mother had a knack for balancing family matters.
She changed the topic, “Dongzi, why do you want to buy that wooden boat?”
“I just want to have a boat of my own. I can’t afford a new one, and I can’t find a second-hand one. Since we now have an extra boat at home, the three brothers can't split it, so I just want to buy it.”
Hearing him say he wanted a boat of his own, both Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua felt a stir in their hearts—they wanted one too.
Ye’s father looked at him doubtfully, “You plan on going out to fish by yourself?”
Why didn’t he believe it? If the oldest or the second brother said they wanted their own boat, he would totally believe them, but the youngest…
He had a reputation!
Even though he'd been looking diligent and hardworking recently, he still doubted how long the boy could keep it up!
(End of Chapter)