After he quickly washed up, the Dong Sheng slowly docked at the pier.
Feng Ye glanced at the dock but didn't see any delivery tractors.
They had too much cargo, and the seafood market was quite far away, so only tractors could help them transport the goods.
"Ah-Can, I'm going to find the tractor."
Feng Ye gave these instructions so that if he suddenly disappeared, they wouldn't know where to look for him.
He then walked briskly along the dock, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
Just as he was about to ask someone why the tractor wasn't there today, he heard a "putt-putt-putt" sound coming from afar.
The sound grew louder as it approached, and soon reached the dock.
Feng Ye looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tractor driving towards them.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that a tractor had come, even if it was just one.
With so much cargo, one tractor was clearly not enough, but it was still better than transporting it by other means.
If you keep hauling it, you'll eventually finish.
In fact, using trucks for transportation is the ideal method.
However, large ships like the Dongsheng are actually quite rare at the county docks.
Moreover, most of them are controlled by fishing companies, which have their own transportation systems and do not need to hire external parties temporarily.
Large privately owned fishing boats are even rarer, and those that dock at shore are even less common.
Therefore, there are usually no trucks waiting at the dock.
The main means of transporting seafood were tractors, as well as handcarts, oxcarts, and other human or animal-powered vehicles.
The moment Feng Ye saw the tractor, he ran up and stopped it.
He was afraid that someone would steal the tractor, and then who knew when the next one would come.
After talking with the tractor driver, I understood that it was because the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, and many large ships were returning today.
"Normally, there aren't that many large ships coming back. It's mostly small trawlers, and it takes the combined cargo of several ships to make one trip."
Several large ships returned today, carrying so much cargo that our tractors for hauling it are insufficient.
We just used five tractors together to deliver a boatload of goods to the trading market. It took us two trips to finish.
My tractor was the first to finish unloading, so I rushed back first; the others will have to wait a while.
"So that's why I didn't see any tractors today."
How much does it cost to haul a load of goods?
Feng Ye actually knew the price, but just wanted to confirm it again.
Moreover, he only knows the price from last year, and he doesn't know if the price has increased this year.
"Four yuan a trip, no bargaining."
The tractor driver gave a price readily without the slightest hesitation.
This is clearly the market price; there's no deception involved.
That price is extremely expensive.
However, there's nothing we can do about it; we still have to pay the money.
Feng Ye nodded: "Okay."
The price is exactly the same as last year, so it seems that it hasn't increased just because of the New Year.
He also knew that tractors had fixed prices for hauling goods and did not accept bargaining.
He led the tractor to the Dong Sheng ship, then immediately returned to the dock entrance to intercept other tractors.
The Dong Sheng ship carries a lot of cargo.
Even after deducting the miscellaneous fish and shrimp that were kept to be dried and did not need to be transported, there were still nearly 20 tons.
This can't be hauled by just one tractor in one trip; he'll need to call several more.
After all, tractors have limited load-bearing capacity and space.
Even if it's overloaded, it can't carry much, at most around three tons.
Of course, this is not the upper limit for a single-bar tractor; it's just that space is limited.
If it's a high-density cargo like steel, it could easily weigh five or six tons.
But fish are different; heavy fish are also large in size and take up more space, while small fish are not heavy.
Therefore, tractors can only carry about three tons of seafood at their maximum capacity.
Feng Ye waited at the entrance of the dock for a short while before another tractor arrived.
Then came the third, the fourth...
He called six tractors in total; overloading them should be enough to haul the load.
When he returned to the Dong Sheng with the last tractor, the first tractor was already fully loaded with goods.
He said a few words to A-Can and his son, then took Ye Chenliang and got on the tractor, heading to the seafood market.
As for the remaining five tractors, one person took one tractor, leaving just enough for one person to stay on the boat.
There's still a lot of money on the Dong Sheng ship, so someone has to stay on board and guard it.
When they arrived at the market, it was not yet two o'clock, and the market was naturally not open yet.
However, it doesn't take too long; it only takes about ten minutes until 2 o'clock.
At this time, many people were already waiting at the market's entrances and exits, eagerly anticipating the market's opening.
In the open space in front of the gate, all kinds of seafood were piled up everywhere.
Feng Ye found a spot and, together with Ye Chenliang, unloaded the baskets of seafood from the tractor.
Tractor drivers are generally only responsible for hauling and delivering goods, not for loading and unloading.
However, this tractor driver was different.
Perhaps it was out of kindness, or perhaps it was because he wanted to get back to the dock quickly to pick up the next shipment...
In short, regardless of their purpose, they all helped with unloading.
Feng Ye was quite grateful.
After unloading the goods, I casually handed him the only pack of Marlboro cigarettes I had on me, which I had just opened and hadn't even smoked a few.
The tractor driver was overjoyed when he saw the English letters on it and thanked them profusely.
Although he didn't recognize the brand, he knew it was a foreign brand of cigarettes and very expensive.
After they finished unloading their goods, the market had already been open for a while.
"Brother, you stay here and watch over things. I'll go borrow a tow truck."
Feng Ye gave the instructions and then turned to walk towards the market entrance.
He has his own shop and doesn't need to draw up a stall like others before he can borrow a trailer.
"Uh... okay."
Ye Chenliang was like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, curious about everything, looking around with his eyes wide open.
He had never been to the county town before.
Before this, the farthest place he had ever been was White Stone Island.
These days, most ordinary people have a very narrow range of activities.
Especially in rural areas, they almost never leave the town or village where they grew up.
Feng Ye entered the market, but instead of immediately borrowing a tow truck, he went to shop number 4 to get the keys from Xu Shaoping.
Last fall, the two best-located shops, numbers 11 and 13, were rented out to others.
But after the New Year, for some unknown reason, the person who originally rented shop number 11 suddenly did not renew the lease.
Although the "For Rent" sign has been posted, it has remained vacant and has not been rented out.
In hindsight, it's actually a good thing that it wasn't rented out.
Otherwise, if this shipment of goods were placed in some obscure corner of shop number 51, selling it would be an impossible task.
In comparison, it would be better to just give up a stall and let the market take a cut.
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