Back to the small fishing village in 1982

Chapter 1150 Lighter

"Nonsense, I'm just thinking about the festival soon. Everyone is out of town, do I have to give out red envelopes?"

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes, "I think that's what you want. You used to be so stingy, reluctant to eat this, reluctant to spend that. Whenever I ate something good, you would scold me. How come you're so generous now?"

"They are paid 4 or 5 yuan a day, and tomorrow we give them a day off for the holiday. This is equivalent to a day's salary for white-collar workers, and they still want red envelopes?"

"You're getting cocky, Dad. You've been thinking about giving them red envelopes all this time. I think it's not me who wants to be the guild president, it's you who wants to be the guild president. Are you shaking?"

Ye's father was speechless when he heard what he said.

"I... I was thinking about how generous you were before. You gave them red envelopes when you caught big fish, and you gave them red envelopes again when you defeated pirates..."

"You also said that you caught 11 kilograms of plum fish in one net, and then repelled the pirates. Isn't that a fair reward? The fishing boat was given a reward for its first big harvest, which is also fair. Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, so it's enough to have a day off. Tomorrow you can just treat us to good wine, meat and good food."

"Don't be so generous, or people will think you are making easy money here. You are not stupid or rich. It's enough to pay them such a high salary. Pay them before they go back and give them a red envelope to thank them for their hard work during this period. Don't give them red envelopes all the time, it will spoil them."

"If you say so, Red Tide had to give one for making so many catches some time ago; another for becoming the president; another for the Mid-Autumn Festival; and another for returning home. Are they here to work, or to receive red envelopes?"

"You are just too proud! Chairman's father, hold back a little, it's not easy for your son to earn money."

Ye's father looked a little unnatural when he told him this. He coughed dryly and said, "I thought too much. I just thought that I didn't give out red envelopes because I caught so many goods some time ago. Now that I'm the chairman again and it's the Mid-Autumn Festival, it's a double happiness. So I suggested it again. If you don't want to give it, then don't give it."

"Others don't have to give one, but I'll give one to you. The private money you hid under your pillow some time ago was taken away by my mother, right?"

Ye Yaodong had an expression that said 'I don't know you yet'.

His father had saved up some private money with great difficulty, but after a quarrel with his mother, all of it was confiscated. During that period, the two old people did not speak to each other for several days.

"I have it, I don't need you to give it to me."

"I'll bring it to you when I get back to the house. I'll also give you money for the groceries. Go buy groceries tomorrow. Buy whatever you want. Prepare a few more meat dishes and a table. Also order a few pounds of wine."

Father Ye was happy now. "Okay, I'll go buy some groceries tomorrow. I'll buy some good ones. It's a rare holiday and we're all in different places. I have to give everyone good food and drinks."

"Ah."

The next morning, Ye Yaodong locked the gate and took a group of people to call home to report that they were safe.

He asked everyone to take turns making their phone calls first, and then they could go shopping as long as they didn't cause any trouble. He would make the final call to his father and settle the bill at the same time.

Lin Xiuqing on the other end of the phone also waited until the last person called before taking the phone from the previous person.

"We all thought you would be back in the next two days, and you didn't call in advance to say you wouldn't be back. We were all waiting for you to come back."

"The weather has been good these days, and I have been fishing continuously, so I have forgotten the time. I can't bear to go back even though I earn hundreds of dollars a day, so I thought I might as well stay a few more days. Anyway, I can celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival every year. If I go back this time, I won't come here again this year. I might as well stay a few more days until the weather turns cooler and it's not suitable to go fishing, and then go back."

"It's because you didn't tell me in advance that the kids at home all thought you would be back in the next two days, and they were already counting the days with their fingers."

"They are thinking about getting gifts, right? They are not thinking about me going back, but they are really asking for gifts."

Lin Xiuqing smiled and said, "It's good that you know. The stationery I bought at the beginning of the school year gave them a lot of face. When they came home from school for the past few days, they were chattering about how much their classmates envied them for having cartoon stationery."

"Do you practice Cheng Hu's calligraphy every day?"

At this time, Ye Chenghu also shouted on the phone, "Dad, please don't buy anymore. Buy something else. Don't buy me calligraphy. I can't finish it. It's so annoying."

"Got it, bring some more when you go back."

"No."

"I brought this back home from Zhejiang Province, which is farther away than the provincial capital."

Ye Chenghu was very troubled. He didn't want to write it, but he also wanted it very much. If he had it, he could take it to school to show off to other classmates and get a lot of envious looks.

Lin Xiuqing laughed, "Don't tease him. I've asked him to write a big character every day recently. His handwriting is getting more and more neat. Even if he can't go to school in the future, his handwriting can still be used to scare people. It's not bad. We have to let him continue to practice."

"By the way, I have something to tell you. A fishery association has been set up in the city, and I was hired as the vice president of the fishery association..."

"Huh? What?"

"Yes, that's what you heard, the vice president of the Fisheries Association."

Lin Xiuqing was confused for a moment, "What is this for?"

"I don't know what others do, but I just got a sinecure." Ye Yaodong told him the whole story from beginning to end.

"So, it was because you proposed this association that they discussed it and thought it was feasible and could be established, and then your name was added to it?"

Lin Xiuqing was a little bit unbelievable. He just went there to fish, so how come he captured an official?

In her opinion, the president of this association is just like the leader of a government department. How can he be parachuted in so casually?
"And with the help of the leader, a big fish was brought into the institute during that time. Maybe he also recruited a vote? I'm not sure, but it happened to be finalized yesterday. I also received the employment letter. Today is a holiday. I will go and hand in the photo for record tomorrow and pay the membership fee."

"Oh, are you coming back?"

"Nonsense, if I don't come back, can I really settle down here, marry a wife, and have a few children?"

Lin Xiuqing said gloomily: "It's not impossible. The aunties and grandmas in the village all say that when the bosses outside make a lot of money, they will buy a house in the place where they make money and marry a wife..."

"Don't listen to those gossipy things. I'll be back in about half a month. By then, the weather will be cooler and things here should be almost over. I'm just a figurehead, so it's definitely not my turn to do anything, and no one will ask me to do anything."

"Oh."

"I will transfer 1 yuan to you after I hang up the phone. Please pay attention in the next few days, remember to check the telegram, and then withdraw the money."

"real!"

Lin Xiuqing cheered up, and her unhappy expression changed. A smile appeared on her face, her mood improved, and her tone of voice became relaxed.

"I'll keep an eye on it these few days."

"Are you happy now? Reality really only has money to talk to you about."

"Then go and remit the money. It's not safe to carry so much money around with you. You should have remitted the money before calling."

"I came out too early and the bank was not open, so I called first."

Ye Yaodong said, then looked at his father beside him, "Do you want to talk to my mother?"

Father Ye waved his hand, "What is there to say? You have said everything you need to say. I have nothing to say."

"Dad said he has nothing to say to Mom, so I'm hanging up."

Mother Ye's loud voice rang out at this time, "Why do you have nothing to say? You have nothing to say after going out? If you have nothing to say to me, then who do you have to talk to? Not only did you go out and not come back, but you didn't even say a word. You've only been gone for a month and it's like this. If you stay for a few more months, you don't have to come back."

Ye Yaodong could feel the vibration of the phone in his hand. He quickly put the phone farther away from his ear, fearing that his father might not hear clearly. He then quickly put it close to his father's ear to save his own eardrum from damage.

Ye's father's ear was pressed against the phone and it was vibrating so much that he hurriedly tried to move it farther away, but he didn't hold it firmly and it fell on the table, causing the salesgirl to glare at him. On the other end of the phone, Ye's mother started a new round of scolding.

"You have such a bad temper. You can't even talk to me. You even smashed your phone and broke it. Can you afford to pay for it? You are so reckless. The older you get, the worse your temper gets..."

Father Ye was angry, "Have you said enough? You keep talking nonsense all day long, and your voice is so loud that my ears are going deaf. Shouldn't you hold it farther away? You made me lose my balance on the phone."

"Dongzi has just said everything that needs to be said. What else do you want me to say? What is there to say? I will be back in half a month. You can slowly tell me what you want to hear when the time comes. Is the phone call free? So many people have taken turns calling, and it has been almost an hour. Okay, I have finished what I want to say. I will hang up now."

"Beep beep..."

After saying this, Ye's father hung up immediately without giving Ye's mother a chance to react.

Then quickly clean your ears.

"My ears have been deafened by her shouting, it's so loud, she's old, but still in a hurry every day."

"You hung up so quickly, my mom must be cursing into the phone right now."

"Anyway, you can't hear her, so just let her scold you. Pay the bill quickly, you still have to wire the money back."

"Ah."

Ye's father went to the post office with Ye Yaodong, watched him remit the money, and then went to buy groceries.

It’s just buying some vegetables, so it doesn’t require two people. Ye Yaodong went out to the street and wandered around alone.

When I saw some little things I had never seen before, or small toys that I didn’t have at home, I bought a little of them all. It’s a rare opportunity to go shopping, so I might as well buy a little of everything first, and then buy some local food before going home.

Just after he took his ID photo, he saw an acquaintance while walking around, Fang Jingfu, whom he had just met.

He arranged the cloth bag he was carrying, which was already jingling with small items inside, and stepped forward to greet, "Comrade Fang Jingfu."

"Huh? What a coincidence."

"Today is a holiday, are you out shopping too?"

"No, I'm sending something to other friends." He hesitated for a moment, opened the iron box in his hand, then took out a lighter and handed it to Ye Yaodong.

"give you."

Ye Yaodong was surprised, "Lighter?"

"you know?"

"Ah? What's there about a lighter that you don't recognize?" He took it with a smile as if it was a matter of course, and slid it twice, watching the small flame rise up and then extinguish it.

Fang Jingfu looked at him inquiringly. He was surprisingly skilled in the use and it seemed as if he had used the lighter many times.

He smiled and asked, "You heard me say this as if it's everywhere. Although this is made in our small workshop, this metal one is not cheap. It's not as expensive as the ones in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, which cost hundreds of dollars, but it still costs dozens of dollars each."

Ye Yaodong was surprised again. He had heard that the local lighters were particularly famous, especially in this era when there were small family workshops everywhere. That was how the local lighter companies rose.

He looked at the metal lighter in his hand again and quickly explained with a smile, "I didn't say this thing is so popular, I'm just surprised that you are so generous to give me a lighter. This one is very expensive. The cheap ones cost dozens of yuan, and if it's in the Friendship Store, it costs hundreds of yuan."

I almost forgot that lighters are now also luxury goods, and they are sold on the streets for only one yuan each.

He can't even afford a lighter right now, the way he slid it just now was so skillful...

Fang Jingfu was very proud. "You are quite knowledgeable. This was developed by my brother this year. His friend brought it back from another country as a gift for him during the Chinese New Year. My brother took the lighter apart and studied its structure and the principle of ignition. I didn't expect that he actually figured it out for him. He made it himself, so I don't feel bad about giving it to him as a gift."

"Fuck, you made it yourself? That's too awesome, right? Is your family full of talented people? You even researched and produced lighters? Is your whole family engaged in research?"

"No, I don't know anything."

"Now that you have figured this out, do you want to start a small workshop? Then expand it and make it a big company, start exporting, and bring down Japan and South Korea by making them sell at such a high price!"

"Hey, the workshop is already working on it. This is freshly produced. I just got a batch ready to give to my friends. I just happened to meet you, so I'll give you one too."

"Brother, your lighters look no different from those made in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. If the price is lower, you will definitely be able to capture the market quickly and make a fortune."

"Haha, you really know what you are talking about. I'll give it to my friends first and ask them to promote it."

"Such a good thing doesn't need to be advertised. Once it appears on the market, it will be snapped up. Old smokers are everywhere, not to mention that it can be used for cooking. Every family needs it. It is much more convenient than matches. A box of matches costs 5 cents, and there are only or of them."

Fang Jingfu nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I'll go first, see you later."

Although Ye Yaodong was quite curious and had many questions to ask, he felt that they were not that familiar with each other, so he waved his hand and did not disturb him.

He moved the lighter in his hand, lighting and releasing it repeatedly, having a lot of fun, and didn't feel sorry at all. Passersby who saw this felt very distressed.

"Finally, there are lighters. When I saw them at the Friendship Store, I was almost shocked by the price. A shabby lighter costs two or three hundred yuan. A bicycle that can be ridden for decades doesn't cost that much. Damn it, it looks like the local lighter market is going to rise."

He muttered as he walked, and when he had enough fun, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit one for himself, while using his other hand to light a lighter as usual, playing as he walked.

"Brother, it's a bit of a waste for you to play with the lighter like this. Can you lend me a lighter?"

Hearing someone talking to him, he stopped and saw that the person was staring at the lighter he was playing with, and there was also a cigarette in his hand. He knew that the person wanted to light the cigarette, so he lit it for the person openly.

"Be generous, brother."

"Haha, I'm from another place, I don't understand."

The young man opposite raised his eyebrows in surprise and changed to Mandarin, "Oh, so, where are you from? What do you do?"

"I'm from Fujian Province, and I'm a fisherman."

The man was even more surprised and frowned, "Fisherman? Is this true? Are you kidding me?"

"Haha, what's so deceptive about this? I don't know you, and you don't know me. We just met on the road. What's so deceptive about this? I'm just a fisherman, haha, I'm leaving first."

After saying this, Ye Yaodong put away his lighter, put one hand in his pocket, smoked with the other hand, and continued on his way.

Believe it or not, what happened to the fishermen?
Tsk, I might never have as much money as him in my entire life.

He has 2 workshops, 5 shops, 13 acres of land, a house here, 17 trawlers, one Dongsheng, one fresh-collecting boat, three large partnership boats, and a share in the Fengshou. He also has 20 yuan in savings and several treasures at home.

Although some fishing boats have not been obtained yet, it is only a matter of time.

He feels unhappy when he frowns.

But as I walked, my good mood came back. Why should I care about someone I don't know?

He went home happily and showed the lighter to his father. His father was surprised and asked what this thing was and how it could produce fire out of thin air.

Ordinary people in rural areas now only know matches and have never seen a lighter. Some people living in the mountains may still use flints.

Ye Yaodong gave his father a brief explanation about lighters, which caused his father to exclaim in amazement.

"Your new friend is really good, he even casually gave you something this valuable."

He nodded and indeed Fang Jingfu seemed to be a pretty nice person. Although he was a chatterbox, he seemed to be a second-generation person who was easy to get along with and did not discriminate against him because he was from another place.

Maybe they have received higher education and have been abroad, so they are not as xenophobic as the locals.

"Indeed, it's only the second time we've met."

"Next time, you should also give him something. We should reciprocate and not take advantage of others."

"understood."

Father Ye felt in his pocket but couldn't find any cigarettes. "Give me a cigarette and light it up."

Ye Yaodong gave him the whole box of cigarettes.

"No, no, just give me one. I'm not used to this cigarette. I'm still more into hookah. I'll light one and try it out."

"It's up to you. You can order it empty or not. It's up to you."

"What a waste."

"Do you think you can light a cigarette and not waste it? It's even more of a waste, because you're not used to smoking this cigarette anyway."

Ye's father ignored him and played with the lighter for a long time. He even tried to use it to light his hookah, but as soon as he took a puff, he burned himself and choked.

I coughed for a long time before I recovered.

"No, no, this thing doesn't work. Matches are better. I can scratch one and it will make me gulp several times until it burns to the bottom."

"Silly!" Ye Yaodong put away the lighter and put it in his pocket.

Others looked at it enviously, but they didn't dare to borrow such a valuable item. They could only look at it or say a few words.

Ye Yaodong crossed his feet, thinking about what to give Fang Jingfu in return. To him, lighters were just common things, but they were indeed rare now, and this metal one was not cheap.

But he looks like a college student and a second-generation with a good background. It seems that he has everything he needs, which is a headache.

Unexpectedly, he put it aside for the time being. After all, people just gave it to him without asking for anything in return. As I just said, it was made by themselves, so he didn't feel bad about giving it away.

Everyone was busy there killing chickens and ducks, washing, cutting vegetables and cooking, while the father and son were sitting with their feet up, one playing with a lighter, the other with his hands behind his back, looking here and there, looking more like the boss than Ye Yaodong.

Father Ye is becoming more and more like President Ye's father.

Father Ye walked around for a long time, and then came to Ye Yaodong's side again, "We will go back in half a month, what are you going to do with this house?"

Ye Yaodong paused as he played with his lighter, "I'll think about it later."

"You have to find someone to look after the house, or rent it out. Otherwise, if no one lives in the house, it will easily fall into disrepair even if no one comes to occupy it."

"let me see."

"How about asking the neighbors to help watch over it?"

"I'm afraid that the neighbors will move in just because they see us. It will be hard to chase them away then. After all, they live right next door and are more familiar with the people around them than we are."

"Then put up a notice to rent it out?"

"Okay, let's try and see if anyone wants to rent it."

"Then you should write a notice and post it at the gate tomorrow. Do it sooner rather than later. Otherwise, if no one rents the place, you'll have to think of another way."

Ye Yaodong nodded. Since they were going back, what to do with the house was indeed a big problem. After all, they would still have to come here next year. He was already the vice president, so he would definitely have to come here every year to report for a few months.

Give it a try first.

"The food is ready, do you want to eat?"

"Can we eat it right after it's cooked?"

When Ye Yaodong heard them running out to ask, he stood up and told them to start eating right away.

They were all rough people, so they didn't care about much. As soon as they finished cooking, they started to eat the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner and drink wine at noon.

It was a rare day of relaxation, so Ye Yaodong let them drink as much as they wanted. If they drank too much, they could just go to sleep. They didn’t have to work today anyway.

With him around, and with unlimited drinks, everyone really ate and drank to their heart's content.

He drank until he was completely drunk, then staggered back to his room and fell asleep. The table was covered with messy cups and plates and no one cleared them away. He only cleaned the table when he woke up in the evening and heated up the dishes before eating them.

Then they take out the big cakes to offer sacrifice to the moon, and after that they eat the moon cakes while enjoying the cool air.

Ye Yaodong also took advantage of the cool air to take out a piece of paper and pen and wrote a house for rent notice, and posted it directly on the door in the dark.

At night, every family was worshiping the moon and enjoying the cool air at their doorstep, so no one was looking at them.

The local custom of worshiping the moon is quite similar to that in their hometown.

The next morning, Ye Yaodong went out to sea with the fishing boat to catch sea urchins as usual.

The ID photo he took yesterday could not be obtained so quickly. He planned to wait until he could get the ID photo before going to the Fisheries Association to pay the membership fee to avoid making two trips. He would lose hundreds of dollars for every day he did not go out to sea.

Just as he was waiting for his ID photo to be handed in, when he went to pay his membership fee early in the morning, he unexpectedly ran into Fang Jingfu, who was also handing in his ID photo.

Ye Yaodong asked curiously: "Why are you paying now?"

"Aren't you just handing it in now?"

"I didn't leave a phone number, and the appointment letter had to be mailed to my home. I didn't know I had to take a photo for my ID until I received it, so I've been putting it off until now."

"Oh, I was busy running errands for my brother to find a place to set up a workshop, and I forgot about the ID photo. I only remembered to get the photo and send it over yesterday when I received the call."

"Lighter workshop?"

"Yes, it's too noisy at home, so my parents asked him to find a place outside and not do it at home."

Ye Yaodong slapped his thigh and said, "What a coincidence, let's go to my place."

His notice had been posted for three or four days, but no one had asked about it.

Fang Jingfu's troubles now coincided with his troubles.

"Why? I'm worried about helping him find a place to stay. Every household here doesn't have enough space. Where can I find one?"

"Walk, walk, walk, and talk as we walk."

　Today's update is 1 words, and another chapter will be added tomorrow

　　
　
(End of this chapter)