Chapter 550: Ahead of Schedule
Chapter 550: Ahead of Schedule
Zhou Fu enjoyed chatting with the villagers, but Zhao Cheng Lei did not. He approached Zhou Mu and Tian Caihua, glancing at the baby in their arms. "Xia Xia isn't here?"
"Xia Xia came, she's at the Commune taking a call."
Zhao Cheng Lei looked in the direction of the Commune. "Mom, ask four people to unload the fish from the nets."
Tian Caihua immediately asked, "Four people? Was today's catch particularly good?"
Zhao Cheng Lei nodded and teased his son, "It was decent. The other four boats also had a good haul. I saw many fish still waiting to be sorted. They should be back soon."
Zhou Mu smiled. "I'll go right away."
After a typhoon, the catch is usually better than usual.
Zhou Mu noticed that the other villagers' boats also had better catches today.
Tian Caihua continued, "Did your brother's boat also have a good catch?"
Zhao Cheng Lei was brief. "Yes."
Tian Caihua's face lit up. She gazed out at the sea, hoping their boat would return soon.
Zhao Cheng Lei walked toward the Commune.
Commune Office
Jiang Xia held the triplets, cradling the phone between her shoulder and ear while talking. Wen Wan was looking for an admission notice in a corner.
She always came to check in the morning and evening.
Then she heard Jiang Xia say into the phone, "The new ship can be launched? Great, let's do it tomorrow! Is tomorrow okay?"
Zhou Fu planned to head out to the open sea the day after tomorrow. If the large ship could be launched and tested tomorrow without any issues, Zhou Fu could set sail on the new ship the following day.
Wen Wan was shocked: Zhao Cheng Lei bought another large ship?
The Factory Manager on the other end replied, "Sure, come by before 8:30 AM tomorrow!"
Jiang Xia smiled. "Alright."
The Factory Manager then asked about the triplets, "How are the triplets doing?"
Jiang Xia smiled and looked at the baby in her arms. "They've gained a lot of weight."
She was starting to feel the strain from holding them for so long.
Wen Wan instinctively glanced at the babies in Jiang Xia's arms. In just a few days, their skin had improved, looking a bit more rosy.
The Factory Manager laughed. "That's good! A little weight is healthy! Bring them to the city for a while sometime. Well—"
Zhao Cheng Lei walked in at that moment.
Jiang Xia glanced at Zhao Cheng Lei and smiled. "Alright."
The Factory Manager said, "I have to get back to work. See you tomorrow."
Zhao Cheng Lei took the baby from Jiang Xia. He had washed his hands before coming in and had changed into clean clothes before getting off the boat.
"Lei will go tomorrow, I'll stay home with the children. We'll see you next time."
"Sure, next time."
Jiang Xia waited for the Factory Manager to hang up before ending her call.
"Whose call was that?"
"Let's go." Jiang Xia took his arm, indicating they should leave. "It was the Factory Manager."
They walked out together, and once they were outside, Jiang Xia continued, "The Factory Manager said the new fishing boat can be launched and tested tomorrow. We agreed to go by 8:30 AM. Dad was planning to head out to the open sea the day after tomorrow, so he can take the new boat."
"I need to call more people to come."
Wen Wan, who hadn't found her admission notice, walked out and overheard their conversation.
More people? Not just a few more, but quite a few more. How many more exactly?
If they needed more people, Zhao Cheng Lei's new ship must be another large ocean fishing boat.
In this life, Zhao Cheng Lei was becoming wealthy much faster than in the previous one.
It was almost incomparable!
Jiang Xia held out her arms for the baby. "Give me the baby, you go make the calls."
Zhao Cheng Lei: "No need. I can carry her; it won’t be a problem."
Zhao Cheng Lei cradled his daughter and turned back to make a phone call.
Jiang Xia didn’t bother with him.
She went to the dock to tell Zhou Mu about the new ship being launched tomorrow. They needed to prepare the offerings for the gods, and she wasn’t quite sure what to buy.
As Zhao Cheng Lei passed by Wenwan, she couldn’t help but glance at him. Zhao Cheng Lei’s posture while holding the baby was so skilled, much better than Zhou Guohua’s.
Zhou Guohua always complained about being exhausted after coming back from sea and refused to take care of the children.
Their daughter was a crier, needing to be held all the time. She would wake up as soon as she was placed in the crib, which was incredibly frustrating.
Wenwan didn’t want to go home so soon either. At home, she would have to hold the baby constantly, with no free time at all.
She walked to the dock to wait for the family’s boat to return.
Jiang Xia approached Zhou Fu and Zhou Mu to tell them about the new ship being ready for launch.
Zhou Mu was surprised: "It’s been moved up again?"
"Yep, it usually happens that way. The shipyard gives the latest possible time."
Of course, their large ship was part of an order where a water company had initially ordered four large fishing boats, each about sixty meters long. Later, they decided to convert two of them into fresh fish collector boats, reducing the number of fishing boats.
By the time the order was placed, the ships were already one-third complete. Normally, such changes couldn’t be made, and there would be a penalty.
However, the factory manager, knowing that Zhao Cheng Lei had ordered a sixty-meter fishing boat, helped them convert two of the ships into fresh fish collector boats. One of the sixty-six-meter boats went to Zhao Cheng Lei, while the other was put on hold, which is why they received their ship so quickly.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Fu couldn’t contain his excitement. He didn’t want to wait at the dock to sell fish anymore: "I’m going to buy firecrackers."
He ran over to Tian Caihua and said, "Xiaohua, you stay here and watch. When the time comes, tell Xin and Sen not to go out to sea tomorrow. Our new fishing boat will be launched, and they should come to the shipyard to see it!"
Tian Caihua was pleasantly surprised: "The new ship is ready to be launched?"
"Yes, it’s ready. We’ll test it tomorrow! I’m going to buy firecrackers!" Zhou Fu said and hurriedly ran to the entrance of the commune to get on his motorcycle to buy the firecrackers.
The dock was bustling with people. Some villagers, upon hearing the news, couldn’t help but chase after Zhou Fu and ask, "Yongfu, is Lei buying a new ship again?"
Zhou Fu happily replied, "Yes, he is!"
"How big is this one?"
Zhou Fu straddled his motorcycle, then with a cheerful laugh, he kicked the stand up, revved the engine, and took off, teasing them, "You’ll find out when we bring it back at noon tomorrow!"
With a quick press of the clutch, the motorcycle sped away.
Seeing Zhou Fu’s excited state, everyone guessed that this time, he had bought a large ship again.
Some of the women went to ask Zhou Mu and Tian Caihua.
Zhou Mu smiled, "Lei ordered it. I don’t know how big it is, but it’s a large ocean fishing boat."
They then turned to Jiang Xia, "Xia, how big is the fishing boat your family ordered this time?"
"Definitely bigger than the current one, right?"
Jiang Xia laughed and nodded, "Yes, it’s a bit bigger than the current fishing boat."
At that moment, the baby in Tian Caihua’s arms started crying. She felt warmth in her palm: "He’s peed!"
"Let me hold him." Jiang Xia extended her arms to take the baby, immediately feeling the warmth in her hands. "Mom, Big Sister, I’ll go home and change the baby’s diaper."
Zhou Mu said, "I’ll go too! Xiaohua, you stay here and wait until the fish are sold!"
There was a lot to prepare for the ship’s launch ceremony, and she had a busy night ahead.
"Alright, you go ahead!"
Jiang Xia and Zhou Mu hurried home.
As soon as Jiang Xia left, the others continued to pepper Tian Caihua with questions.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
