Chen Hong sent out red envelopes containing more than 400 yuan. If you calculate it that way, she lost half of it. But no matter how much it was, it was a token of her goodwill and a blessing. The adults and children were all very happy.

Starting from the second day of the Lunar New Year, the mother and daughter went from house to house eating. The villagers would invite each other, and so on.

Every family has a full reservation. Sometimes several families are hosting a meal, and it's so crowded that the children have to go to each family's house in advance to invite more people.

Chen Hong is quite busy with her business. Today at noon, she takes a box of milk to this store, and tomorrow night she takes a box of wine to that store. Sometimes she exchanges it for cooking oil and fruit.

When Chen Hong went to her house to host a dinner party, she discovered that while the fruit hadn't returned, all the other gifts—milk and cooking oil—had come back after making their way around the village. It turned out the New Year's gifts had also made their way around!

It wasn't until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year that this trend of treating each other to meals subsided, and migrant workers began to leave their homes. The streets of the village were nearly deserted, as most people had gone back to work in the city.

On the sixth day of the lunar new year, Chen Hong also offered sacrifices to the Dragon King, sailed around the nearshore waters and cast two nets, marking his first fishing trip of the year. From then on, Chen Hong started fishing again.

Just after the Lantern Festival, Yang Wei called Chen Hong. Their maritime bureau was going to deal with a batch of fishing boats and fishing boats that had been seized and confiscated, and asked Chen Hong if she had any ideas about changing boats, so that he could go and take a look.

These boats were all sold privately at relatively low prices, some even for a pittance. He felt they were much better than Chen Hong's own fishing boats, and that Chen Hong should buy one; after all, such good opportunities don't come around easily.

After arranging a time to visit the ship, Chen Hong contacted Geng Dazhi, an engineer at the shipyard. After more than two months of frequent contact, Chen Hong had become very familiar with him.

Without any hesitation, she asked Geng Dazhi to help her look at boats. If they found one that was cheap and suitable, or easy to modify, she could order it on the spot.

Since he had just received a gift from Chen Hong before the Lunar New Year, Geng Dazhi felt embarrassed to refuse and readily offered to help her buy and modify a boat.

The two went to the maritime bureau's public dock together the next day. Under Yang Wei's guidance, they saw more than eighty boats of various sizes moored at the dock.

From small fiberglass fishing boats of two or three meters to large and medium-sized fishing boats of over one hundred meters, there are all kinds of models and uses.

Yang Wei pointed out four or five boats that were suitable for Chen Hong to buy, and that closely matched Chen Hong's needs.

After looking around at all the boats, Chen Hong and Geng Dazhi immediately took a liking to a boat that was over 17 meters long. The boat was 90% new, equipped with two foreign-made 1500-horsepower diesel engines, two 3000-liter fuel tanks, a range of 800 nautical miles, and a top speed of 40 knots.

Ordinary ships simply cannot catch it; it's practically a lifesaver at sea. It's equipped with two high-powered generators, radar fish finders, nautical charts, and GPS. It's 4.5 meters wide, with exceptionally large decks at both the bow and stern, and refrigerated and chilled compartments occupying half of the ship's space.

With only three bedrooms and two bathrooms, it perfectly met Chen Hong's needs.

As soon as Geng Dazhi saw the boat, he smiled and said, "Chen Hong, look, isn't this the boat we customized for you? Did you already know about this boat before you went to our shipyard to order it?"

Chen Hong thought to herself, "How would I know? I just want to fish more. I'm not going to throw a yacht party with a bunch of people."

I never imagined there were people in this world who thought like me, designing their boats like this, definitely to catch a lot of fish and make more money, not to enjoy themselves at sea.

After Yang Wei's introduction, they learned that this was a smuggling ship that smuggled animal heads, hooves, and offal from abroad into China. The refrigerated and chilled holds were standard equipment for them to smuggle and stockpile goods.

The live water tank and live bait tank were just a cover. Now, only the factory-installed machinery remained on the ship; all the other furniture, appliances, kitchenware, and fishing gear had already been looted, leaving the ship looking quite desolate.

The Maritime Safety Administration quoted 500,000 yuan for the ship. If Chen Hong wants to buy it, the Maritime Safety Administration will handle all the subsequent procedures, including the CCS Class I shipping certificate and the declaration and inspection certificates after the modification. All legal procedures will be completed.

Geng Dazhi kept tugging at Chen Hong's sleeve, "Buying this for 500,000 yuan is a huge profit. Not to mention the other things on the ship, just the two imported engines alone cost more than 500,000 yuan."

If you spend another 100,000 to 200,000 yuan to have the shipyard refit and paint it, it will be even better than a brand new ship custom-made for you. You can be sailing a new ship in less than a month, and the Maritime Safety Administration will definitely handle all the legal procedures for ships sold to you.

With this boat, you can fish anywhere on the sea.

Chen Hong knew that Class I shipping certificates were difficult to obtain in later generations, but now the Maritime Safety Administration handled them all, so wasn't she getting a great deal?

With everything settled and all the necessary permits readily available, Chen Hong immediately decided to purchase the ship, paying a deposit of 300,000 yuan. The remaining 200,000 yuan would be paid once the shipyard completed the modifications, passed inspections, and obtained all the legal documentation.

Geng Dazhi enthusiastically called the shipyard and arranged for a large ship to be dispatched to tow the ship back to the shipyard for modification.

Looking at the various imported equipment on board, Geng Dazhi was even more excited than Chen Hong; this was finally a chance for him to put his skills to good use. He handled everything himself, without asking anyone else to help, and following Chen Hong's ideas, he restored the ship to its original condition in less than a month.

Even the cabin bedrooms had been renovated, and when Chen Hong saw the ship again at the shipyard, she couldn't recognize it.

The ship has now been revitalized. The upper part is white and the lower part is sky blue, with particularly clean and beautiful colors. The front and rear decks are covered with non-slip flooring.

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