"Then Mr. He, hurry up and calculate the money, and then take me to see who wants to sell the boat." Ye Cheng didn't care about the few hundred yuan; what he needed now was a proper fishing boat.
That 5-meter fishing boat is really too small. Like last night, when the fishing traps burst, it wasn't big enough to hold them all.
Boss He transported the red shrimp back, weighed them all, and found they totaled 270 jin (135 catties) for 5130 yuan.
After giving the money to Ye Cheng, Boss He took Ye Cheng to find someone to sell the boat.
"Second brother, the one selling the boat is Old Chen from Chen Village. His son has moved to the city and wants to buy a house. He's getting old anyway, so he wants to sell the boat."
"I heard that a house in the city costs hundreds of thousands of yuan. That's too expensive, don't you think, second brother?"
Xiao Hu pursed his lips behind him. "It's expensive, but my brother has already bought two sets."
Ye Cheng smiled and said, "It's one thing for other people to say it's expensive, but for a big boss like you to say it's expensive is just unacceptable."
Old He chuckled and said, "You can't say that. We earn our money through hard work, and seafood is a risky business. If we mess it up, we'll lose a lot of money."
"Unlike you guys, you just sell to me and that's it. After I explain this to you, I have to hurry back and transport the shrimp out, otherwise I'll lose a lot of money if they die."
What he said was true; they were middlemen who made a profit from the price difference, but transportation was risky.
If Ye Cheng's batch of red shrimp were bought for 19 yuan, but died en route, they wouldn't even sell for 12 yuan, resulting in a huge loss.
The three chatted as they walked, and soon arrived at a boat at the edge of the dock.
"That's it, Old Chen's boat. It looks pretty good, much newer than Wang Defa's."
Ye Cheng took a look. It was also a small fishing boat, 12 meters long. From the surface, it looked newer than Wang Defa's boat, but it was definitely quite old.
"Old Chen, Old Chen!" Old He shouted loudly from the shore.
"Coming!" came a reply from the ship, and an old man with half-white hair stepped out. He looked quite old, but his body was very upright, as if he had been working for many years.
"Boss He, what good news has come your way?" Old Chen was quite talkative.
"Well, you wanted to sell your boat, right? Let me introduce you to someone, Ye Cheng, from Baiyun Village. His brother, Ye Guowei, has been unloading cargo at the dock for many years. They're practically family. He wants to buy a boat. Why don't you two talk about it?"
Lao He's words introduced Ye Cheng's basic situation. In fact, he said two things: first, Ye Cheng is a local and not a swindler; second, Ye Cheng wants to buy a boat.
"Buying a boat, huh? Great, young man, come on up and take a look." Old Chen gestured for Ye Cheng to come aboard and have a look.
Seeing that Ye Cheng and Old Chen had made contact, Old He said goodbye and left, having earned the money from the introduction.
"Little Tiger, come up here and help me take a look."
Ye Cheng gave a shout and boarded the boat with Xiao Hu to take a look.
The ship structures are all similar, but this ship has a larger live water tank, which is quite good and meets Ye Cheng's requirements.
He often gets his hands on high-quality goods, preferably fresh, and large, live water tanks are ideal.
It also boasts 60 horsepower, and you can tell from the cockpit that this boat is indeed much newer.
"Old Chen, how many years has this boat been around?" Ye Cheng asked, offering him a cigarette.
Old Chen took the cigarette and gently tapped the deck. "I've had it for ten years, and it hasn't had any major problems. It's been maintained regularly, and the hull is in great condition. If I didn't need the money urgently, I wouldn't want to sell it."
“You’re already so old, and your son has moved to the city. It’s time for you to enjoy your retirement.”
"This boat also has a single trawl net," Old Chen added. "Mine is a single trawl net mainly because I don't have anyone to help me. You two young men could modify it into a double trawl net, but they're pretty much the same anyway."
Fishing at sea generally involves trooping and trawling. However, 12-meter fishing boats typically don't go to the open sea, so trooping is used less often; trawling is the most common method.
The hull itself is usually a single trawl net, but some have two additional poles added to the stern to create a double trawl net for better balance.
"I have the license too. Once you buy it and transfer the ownership, you can go out to sea to fish."
Ye Cheng looked at Xiao Hu, who nodded slightly, indicating that the hull was acceptable.
"Uncle Chen, how much do you want to sell it for?"
“32,000. I could have sold this boat for 35,000, but I need the money urgently, so I’ll sell it for 32,000. But I need cash.”
The price is acceptable. The hull is newer than Wang Defa's, and it's cheaper. Old Chen seems like an honest man.
Ye Cheng immediately made the decision, "Okay, Uncle Chen, 32,000 it is. I have the cash. When are you free? I'll give you the money and transfer the property directly."
Just then, Ye Cheng's phone rang. He glanced at it and saw it was President Qian calling, so he guessed that President Qian had arrived.
"Hey, Mr. Qian, you've arrived?"
"Wait here, we're at the pier, we'll be back in about 20 minutes."
Mr. Qian arrived quite quickly, probably because he heard about the Splendid Lobster.
After hanging up the phone, Ye Cheng looked at Old Chen and said, "Uncle Chen, are you free this afternoon? If you are, we can go directly to complete the transfer. I'll give you 3,000 as a deposit first."
Old Chen waved his hand, "No need for the deposit. Old He already said that we're all from the same dock. We'll go to the city together this afternoon, pay on the spot, and transfer the property."
"Okay! See you in the city this afternoon."
As Ye Cheng disembarked from Old Chen's boat, he looked at Xiao Hu and sighed, "Hu, speaking of which, your second uncle is really something else."
"That's all he'll ever be. He's hopeless. All he cares about is money," Xiao Hu said bitterly.
Old Qian was still waiting over there, so the two of them walked back along the dock and ran into Old He on the way.
"Second brother, how did it go? Did you reach an agreement?"
"Boss He, it's a deal! I have to thank you for your excellent introduction," Ye Cheng said with a smile, feeling that the few hundred yuan he spent was well worth it.
"Of course, would I lie to you? We're all family. Remember to come to me first if you have any good stuff next time."
"become!"
Ye Cheng chuckled. Damn it, he was just trying to trick Lao Zhou into thinking they were family.
The two rushed home, where Old Qian was already sitting in Ye Cheng's yard. Seeing Ye Cheng return, he quickly came out to greet him.
"Brother, you're getting busier and busier these days."
"There's no other way. If I don't sell those shrimp, they'll die and they're worthless once they're dead."
"I understand, brother. I really can't eat hundreds of pounds of shrimp." Mr. Qian began to complain. "These days, customers are picky eaters. If you dare to serve dead shrimp, they'll curse you out."
Now that living conditions have improved, diners' demands are getting higher and higher. Ye Cheng remembers that in his previous life, he wasn't by the sea. Back then, shrimp was just shrimp, something to eat during the Lunar New Year.
They just distinguish between big shrimp and small shrimp, who cares whether they live or die?
During Chinese New Year, when a plate of shrimp is served, everyone's eyes light up. Whether it's alive or dead, that's all nonsense.
Later, when conditions improved, we started eating prawns and stopped eating frozen shrimp.
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