Delicate ripples spread across the sea, shimmering with a silvery glow under the moonlight.
Four ships sailed in a single file, cutting through the darkness and guiding each other forward.
Along the way, most of the time only the lights of their four boats flickered in the night, and they only occasionally encountered one or two other boats that passed by them.
When they were almost at Baishi Island, Feng Ye distributed the commission for the trip to everyone, which was almost 150 yuan per person.
The trip was short, less than ten days, but the results were pretty good; the Donglai ship earned nearly 30,000 yuan.
Feng Ye also inquired about the Dong Sheng and Feng Shou ships; they said they would be taking fewer, but still over 20,000 each.
Although Ye Chenliang and Luo Zhiping were happy, they were not overly excited.
After all, I've been to sea so many times, and the harvest has always been good; I'm used to it.
However, the newly hired boatmen were extremely excited, almost to the point of losing their bearings.
They made so much money on their first voyage, in less than ten days—far more than they had ever earned before.
They expressed their gratitude profusely and said they would work even harder in the future and would never slack off.
Seeing their excited expressions, Feng Ye was quite satisfied.
They earned a lot, but he, his older brother, and Ah-Can earned even more.
After distributing the commissions, Feng Ye instructed, "Everyone, take a good rest when you get back. The next voyage is tentatively scheduled for the 16th, but we'll adjust it if there are any unforeseen circumstances."
"Okay."
Everyone readily agreed, their faces beaming with smiles.
"We're about to dock. Everyone, pack your things and take them back with you. Oh, and take your sheets and blankets back with you to wash them too."
"Oh, there's no need for that. I've only slept here for a few nights, and it's not dirty."
"It's not dirty, it stinks! It's full of sweaty odor, can't you smell it?"
Everyone laughed awkwardly.
Going out to sea is hard work, and showering is inconvenient, so the smell of sweat is inevitable.
Men, on the other hand, tend to pay less attention to these details; as long as it still works, they won't be too particular.
"Haha, it does have a bit of a smell. Then take it home and wash it thoroughly. It'll be more comfortable to use next time it's clean."
"That's more like it. You have to take care of your personal affairs. Don't wait until others tell you."
Despite making promises, very few people actually took their sheets and blankets with them when they disembarked.
They all felt it was too much trouble to carry it around, and thought that the temperature would drop soon, so they would take it back to wash it then and make do with it for the time being.
Feng Ye was too lazy to argue anymore; anyway, he didn't live with them, so the smell wouldn't bother him.
It was already past midnight, and since there was no need to move any goods, everyone dispersed after getting ashore, their figures quickly disappearing into the night.
The house was completely dark, without a single light on; everyone was obviously asleep.
Feng Ye called out several times from the window before Ye Qingling groggily responded and got up to open the door.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't be back until the thirteenth when you left? Why are you back today, and so late at night?"
Ye Qingling, still sleepy-eyed and with her hair disheveled, yawned and rubbed her eyes as she asked.
"Something unexpected happened, so we had to dock and come back early."
As Feng Ye spoke, he and Ye Chenliang went inside, casually put their luggage down, and went to pour themselves some tea.
"What accident?"
Ye Qingling pressed further, "Did you find something strange again?"
"I guess so, we dragged back a gray whale..."
Feng Ye briefly recounted what had happened on this voyage.
Ye Qingling was stunned and it took her a while to come back to her senses. She exclaimed, "It's unbelievable that you actually encountered such a big gray whale and even dragged it back."
"Yes, we were also surprised. We didn't expect to encounter something like this."
Feng Ye smiled, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and said, "Without further ado, go and boil some water for us. We haven't had a proper bath in ten days."
There's nothing you can do in the sea, but when you get home, a hot shower is still more comfortable.
"Um."
Ye Qingling nodded and turned to go to the kitchen to boil water.
Ye Chenliang took out a cigarette, handed one to Feng Ye, lit one for himself, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled the smoke.
"Ah Ye, I'm going back tomorrow. Will you take me to town?"
"Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't we agree to go back with me and Ah Ling?"
"No, since you're back early, you should go back soon. I also need to accompany your sister-in-law to her parents' home for the festival."
“In that case, Ah Ling and I will go back tomorrow to avoid the hassle of traveling back and forth. We didn’t go for the Dragon Boat Festival, so we have to go for the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
"That would be great."
"I'll go and tell Ah Ling."
Feng Ye turned and went to the kitchen to discuss with Ye Qingling about going to her parents' home to send off the festival gifts the next day.
Ye Qingling also wanted to go back to see her parents, and with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, it was indeed time to go back.
"However, we were originally planning to go back on the 14th, but now we're going back so many days earlier, and we haven't prepared anything."
"It's alright, we can buy it in town tomorrow. They have everything there, and we can deliver it right away. Besides, the thought is what matters most, and your parents won't mind these details."
"Well, I'll just buy some mooncakes, pork, and fruit, and bring some dried fish back with me. That should be enough."
"If I had known that my brother was going back tomorrow, I should have left some fish and shrimp with me. Now I can only wait until tomorrow to go to Uncle Fa and see if he has any left."
Ye Qingling smiled and shook her head: "If there are no fresh fish and shrimp, that's fine. They can't eat much anyway. It's better to bring back more dried goods, which can be stored for a long time and eaten slowly."
Feng Ye nodded: "Let's see tomorrow."
Ye Qingling then remembered the gray whale: "You just said which department took the gray whale away?"
"The Provincial Oceanographic Institute was contacted by Lao Fang."
"Will there be a reward like last time?"
"I don't know, but I think there should be a reward. It's just a matter of how much it will be, but it certainly won't be as good as the sonar we found last time."
Feng Ye paused for a moment, then continued, "Moreover, this time it was three ships that towed it back together, and there were more than twenty people. Even if there is a reward, it won't be much for each person."
"That's good too, something is better than nothing."
...
The next day, Feng Ye woke up naturally, not getting out of bed until almost nine o'clock.
By this time, news of their return with a gray whale had spread throughout the entire village.
I don't know who was the first to say it.
So many people know this, and some of them are big mouths who like to brag, so it's not surprising that it gets out.
The villagers were all talking about it, and they were all very envious.
They all said that it wouldn't be long before they were in the newspapers and received awards.
He also said that as long as you work for him, you can not only make money, but also become famous.
On his way to find Feng Jiafa, Feng Ye was stopped several times, with everyone asking him all sorts of questions.
They even asked him when he would buy a new ship and when he would hire more boatmen.
He always just smiled and didn't answer, only saying that he would talk about it later.
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