The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 455: Chapter 455: Second-hand Ship, Buying Insurance

Han Xiaorui was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing. ”You have a point. If it comes to that, his parents can go to the Maoshan Sect and drag him out themselves.”

Wu Lingling didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”We have the family planning policy now. How could we have so many?”

Wu Cuicui was dismissive. ”You’re self-employed, and Yao Ziqian is a semi-Daoist who deals in metaphysics and feng shui. You’re worried about the family planning policy? If you get pregnant, worst-case scenario, you just hide out in Yue Province and pay the fine.”

Wu Lingling blinked. ”You have a point, Sis. I think that could work.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”When it comes to having kids, just do what you can. Don’t force it. From what I can see, Yao Ziqian isn’t the type to completely renounce the mortal world.”

Wu Cuicui’s expression flickered as she recalled hemorrhaging during her daughter’s birth. ”Xiao Rui is right. A baby is important, but you’re more important. Got it? Lingling, don’t do anything foolish.”

Wu Lingling nodded again and again. ”I know, Sis. I’m not a fool.”

Yao Ziqian walked over to Han Xiaorui. ”This is great. They’re going to build a Daoist Temple on the island, so I’ll be able to go cultivate often.”

Wu Lingling looked nervous.

Yao Ziqian quickly corrected himself. ”Lingling, don’t worry. ’Cultivation’ is just another word for studying. You’re never too old to learn. That’s how you make progress.”

Wu Lingling breathed a sigh of relief. ”You were gone for so long. Of course I was worried. By the way, what happened with that ancient predecessor?”

Yao Ziqian answered, ”He was laid to rest, of course, but he also showed everyone the path forward.”

Han Xiaorui asked, ”Is ascension really possible?”

Yao Ziqian hesitated. ”It’s mentioned in the scriptures, and the existence of the predecessor Yuan Cheng has given everyone hope. But who can say for sure about these things? My aptitude is poor, and my mind is filled with too many distracting thoughts. I can’t leave behind my parents, Lingling, or my many friends. So I try not to think about it too much and just let things happen naturally.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”That’s the right way to think about it. Doesn’t Taoism emphasize following the course of nature and being true to your own heart?”

”You know it,” Yao Ziqian said with a laugh. ”Let me tell you a funny story. One of my martial uncles, who usually stays at the Daoist Temple, went down the mountain one day. A scammer tried to pull a ’bump-and-fall’ on him, but my uncle exposed the trick. The man started cursing my uncle out, but my uncle just held his tongue and didn’t say anything back.”

”But when he got back, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He couldn’t even quiet his mind to meditate. So, in the middle of the night, he ran back down the mountain, found that man, and cursed him out with everything he had. Only after venting all that pent-up anger was he able to stabilize his Dao-heart.”

Both Wu Cuicui and Wu Lingling were stunned. ’In their minds, these were enlightened masters. How could one of them curse someone out like a fishwife on the street?’

”Don’t believe me?” Yao Ziqian countered.

Wu Lingling nodded. ”Yeah, I don’t. He’s supposed to be an enlightened master. How could he act like some village shrew?”

Yao Ziqian smiled. ”See, that’s what you don’t get. It’s all about being true to your heart. He was cursed at, and it made him feel awful. He cursed back, and he felt better. If behaving like a shrew on the street is what makes his heart content, then why should the form matter?”

His words made everyone all the more curious about Taoism.

Yao Ziqian’s witty remarks quickly cleared up everyone’s misunderstandings about him, and he settled in to celebrate the New Year there.

Of course, Wu Lingling was a devoted daughter. She not only prepared New Year’s gifts for her own parents but also sent plenty to her mother-in-law.

The end of the year is also known as the ”Year-End Pass.”

Those who made money celebrated the New Year with joy.

For those who didn’t, or who even lost money, it was a difficult hurdle to overcome.

How could life be easy with so many creditors knocking at your door?

Not everyone was like Han Xiaorui and Yang Zhigang’s fishing boats at Jinshan Bay, which returned fully loaded and raked in huge profits every single time.

By year’s end, some couldn’t even pay wages, unable to settle their debts with the fueling station and the ice supplier.

Thus, many people began to sell their boats.

Many of the boat owners didn’t know Han Xiaorui, but they knew Yang Zhigang.

They came to Yang Zhigang one after another, wanting to sell their boats and then stay on as crewmen.

Yang Zhigang had spent this time doing little else but privately gathering information on the local fishermen’s circumstances.

He was familiar with the condition of most of the boats and was tempted by the offers, but he hadn’t made a final decision.

Yang Zhigang went to discuss it with Han Xiaorui. ”Xiao Rui, I have two boats registered to my name, and you have four. In theory, that’s plenty, but now a lot of my friends are coming to me, wanting to sell me their boats.”

”We’re two months into the new year. The fishing moratorium starts in May, which is only three months away. Is it cost-effective for us to buy boats now? After all, buying boats means hiring a crew, and we’d have to pay their wages during the fishing ban.”

When Han Xiaorui heard this, she just smiled. ”Each boat makes fifty thousand per trip. We’ll earn back the cost of a boat in just one or two months!”

”During the moratorium, we’ll just pay a base salary, which a single voyage is more than enough to cover. By that logic, the more boats and crewmen we have, the more money we can make.”

”Of course, I know you’re hesitating because you’re worried. More boats and more people mean greater responsibility and greater pressure.”

Yang Zhigang nodded at her words. ”That’s right. When you’re out fishing at sea, suspended between the sky and the deep, who can predict what will arrive faster, the fish or a storm?”

This was Yang Zhigang’s greatest fear.

Han Xiaorui produced a file. ”Uncle Yang, this is some information an insurance agent sent over. We can insure not only our boats, but also our crew.”

”If our boats and crew stay safe and sound, that’s obviously for the best. We can just think of the premium as money spent helping those in need. But if there is an accident involving our boats or people, we can receive an insurance payout.”

”Let’s not even talk about the boats; let’s just talk about insuring our people. Offshore work is high-risk, so the premiums are a little higher. For two hundred yuan per person per year, there will be corresponding compensation whether they’re injured or lose their life.”

Yang Zhigang looked over the documents. ”You know I don’t understand this kind of thing. You’re the educated one, and you know lawyers. You should have them take a look.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”I’ve already had a lawyer from Nanyang Law Firm review it for me. This insurance policy is actually pretty good.”

”It’s extremely beneficial for us, and it’s the best fit for our situation, so I’d like to buy it for all the crewmen.”

”Life is unpredictable; who knows when disaster might strike? If it does, the payout from this insurance, plus the compensation from our own seafood company, will add up to a substantial amount.”

”When someone is gone, their family is overcome with grief. But those who are still living must look forward. With this money, we can at least ensure the crewmen’s families won’t have to bear any financial pressure.”

Seeing how strongly Han Xiaorui advocated for it, Yang Zhigang said, ”If you say it’s a good thing, then I agree. Now, let’s talk about buying those secondhand boats.”

Han Xiaorui replied, ”Uncle Yang, now that we’ve formed a company, splitting the profits on a per-boat basis is a bit complex, and it also makes the crews harder to manage.”

”How about we do it by shares? We can put a value on our current boats, add the money for buying the secondhand boats, and calculate our respective ownership stakes based on the total. You’ll be the legal representative of the company, and you’ll be in charge of management, but we’ll distribute profits based on shares.”