I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: 4000 Jin Satellite

Jiang Weimin was so amused by Zhao Wendong that he burst out laughing, turning to Wang Defa beside him.

”Old Wang, what’s our current procurement policy? Why don’t you explain it in detail to Comrade Zhao Wendong? He’s a bit worried, you see. We mustn’t shortchange our good comrades!”

”Er, right now for seafood, it’s twenty cents a jin, plus an additional jin of grain ration coupons.”

Wang Defa paused after speaking, then added with some embarrassment.

”It’s just... if there are really three or four thousand jin, we can’t cover all the coupons. The station only has five hundred jin worth of coupons left...”

This wasn’t Wang Defa trying to go back on his word. The grain coupons were an extra procurement bonus, added because seafood was so scarce these days. But with Zhao Wendong bringing in so much at once, they really couldn’t cover it.

Jiang Weimin thought for a moment and looked at Zhao Wendong.

”How about this? We’ll give you all five hundred jin of grain ration coupons, and the county will buy your fish for thirty cents a jin! That should put your mind at ease, right?”

Zhao Wendong shot a discreet glance at Zheng Guangrong. When he saw the man give a faint, almost imperceptible nod, he broke into a smile.

”Yes, yes, that puts my mind at ease! It’s just... I’m not sure if these ration coupons will actually get me any grain...”

”Hahaha!”

Jiang Weimin laughed for a long time before he stopped. It had been ages since he’d met such an interesting young comrade. The young man was clearly angling for his own benefit with every word, but in a way that wasn’t the least bit annoying.

”This is Wang Defa, the chief of the procurement station. The ration coupons are from him. Have him go with you to the grain bureau to pick up the grain. If you can’t get it, you come find me! Oh, and Old Wang, have the comrades from the transport team go the extra mile and help Comrade Zhao Wendong deliver the grain to his home. We can’t make him lug it all the way back from the county himself, can we!”

Even though grain was in short supply, there were still basic reserves. Jiang Weimin was confident enough to personally guarantee Zhao Wendong the five hundred jin of grain.

”In that case, thank you, Secretary Jiang!”

Zhao Wendong was finally completely at ease. He scanned the area and saw the crowd had mostly dispersed. The few who remained were watching from a distance, under the watchful eyes of the militia. Now that he was surrounded by people from the county, Zhao Wendong started jumping up and down, waving toward the sea.

Out on the water, Zhao Wenjun and the other four men had been keeping a close eye on the shore. They grew anxious when they first saw the crowd rush over, but breathed a sigh of relief when the convoy of vehicles arrived and dispersed the onlookers. Now, seeing Zhao Wendong’s signal, they happily began their return to shore.

As the boat neared the shore, Zhao Wenwu threw out the mooring line. A crowd of people on land scrambled to help pull it in. Once the boat was secured, Jiang Weimin, unable to wait, was the first to climb aboard. He was pleased by the sight of the fish in the baskets on deck, but when the hold was opened to reveal it was packed to the brim, the last of his worries vanished.

”Haha, excellent! This is wonderful!”

”Comrade Zhao Wendong, you caught so many fish! You say running into a massive school was just luck, but I say it speaks more to your courage in daring to head out to sea despite the difficulties. Congratulations!”

After personally inspecting the boat’s full catch, Jiang Weimin was extremely satisfied. Grinning from ear to ear, he heaped praise on Zhao Wendong. Beside him, an excited Wang Defa was rubbing his hands together, about to call people over to unload the fish.

”Wait!”

Jiang Weimin stopped Wang Defa, then waved over his aide. ”Take a picture of us.” From a thick, insulated bag on his back, the aide took out a camera and snapped a photo of Jiang Weimin and Zhao Wendong together.

A calculating glint appeared in Zhao Wendong’s eyes. He suggested, ”Secretary Jiang, could my brothers and I take a group photo with you, Station Chief Zheng, Station Chief Wang, and... ah, yes, our very own Secretary Yang?”

Jiang Weimin gave Zhao Wendong a long, meaningful look, then smiled and nodded. ”Of course. Come, come, everyone get in for a picture!”

The men Zhao Wendong had called out by name were overjoyed and quickly came forward to get into position. Jiang Weimin and Zhao Wendong stood in the center, with Zheng Guangrong, Wang Defa, and Yang Wenxue in the front row. Behind them stood his five brothers. Once everyone was ready, the aide pressed the shutter again.

”Once the photos are developed, I’ll have a copy sent to each of you.”

”Great, thank you, Secretary Jiang!”

Seeing they had finished talking, Wang Defa patted Zhao Wendong’s shoulder warmly.

”Comrade Zhao Wendong, shall we start weighing the catch and loading the trucks?”

”Let’s do it!”

A group of people started unloading the boat. Many hands make light work, and soon the entire catch was offloaded, weighed on the large steelyard scale they had brought, and loaded onto the trucks.

Zhao Wendong negotiated with Jiang Weimin and the others for quite a while, finally convincing them to let him keep the cod that were mixed in with the catch, as well as two seals. Jiang Weimin had said ”the more, the better” regarding the Hai Pangtou, so all of those were taken. Fortunately, the men had roasted a few fish the night before; otherwise, they wouldn’t have gotten a single bite of their own massive haul.

The final weigh-in came to over 4,100 jin of Hai Pangtou. Everyone was stunned. No one had ever imagined that someone could actually haul in 4,000 jin of fish in a single trip, especially not in the middle of winter. This was a truly monumental achievement.

The catch was split evenly between two of the trucks, while the third continued to transport the militiamen. Jiang Weimin invited Zhao Wendong to ride with them to the county to settle the payment.

Zhao Wendong agreed, but the village motorboat couldn’t just be abandoned here; it had to be returned. But who would take it back? This was a trip to the county, after all—a place many people never got to see in their entire lives. He wanted to bring all of his brothers along.

Zhao Wenjun saw his dilemma and spoke up.

”Wendong, you take the others to the county. I’ll take the boat back!”

Just as Zhao Wendong was about to nod, Liangzi’s father spoke up with a smile.

”Dongzi, you all go on ahead to the county and don’t worry about a thing. I’ll call a couple of my old buddies and we’ll get this boat back for you!”

Zhao Wendong viewed Liangzi’s father as his own uncle, so he didn’t stand on ceremony. He and his five brothers climbed into one of the big trucks. The convoy then drove off toward the county seat, watched by everyone in Qianjin Commune.

Watching the convoy drive away, Yang Wenxue couldn’t help but remark to Li Dawei, who was standing beside him.

”That kid is really something. A real character. He’s not just lucky, he knows how to deal with people. Our Qianjin Commune certainly produces some talented individuals! We need to take good care of a fine comrade like him!”

The Public Security officer, Li Dawei, was speechless. ’Isn’t that the guy I’ve been keeping a close eye on, Zhao Wendong, the king of the street loafers? How did I look away for a few days and suddenly the kid’s transformed into a model comrade?’ Hearing Yang Wenxue sing Zhao Wendong’s praises, all he could do was swallow his words with a wry, helpless feeling.

After arriving at the main procurement depot, Jiang Weimin watched as the Hai Pangtou were moved into the warehouse. He arranged for a militia platoon to stand guard and urged Wang Defa to take good care of Zhao Wendong and his men before leaving in a hurry. He still had to discuss how to report this to the First Secretary. This was a solid, real-life winter fish haul right here—no exaggeration or padding whatsoever.

Wang Defa first took Zhao Wendong to the accountant to collect the cash and ration coupons. At the sight of the thick stack of Dahei ten-yuan bills and coupons, Zhao Wendong remained composed, but his brothers were ecstatic.

Little Shanghai’s and Liangzi’s eyes shone. Zhao Ergou’s young face was flushed red. Zhao Wenjun’s legs were so shaky he could barely stand. This was a fortune the likes of which none of them had ever seen in their lives!

Zhao Wendong took out the money and walked up to Little Shanghai.

”It’s five hundred jin of ration coupons in total, plus 1,256 yuan and 40 cents. I promised at the start that I’d give you half of whatever we got. So this money and these coupons, just like I said...”

”Wendong!”

Before Zhao Wendong could finish, Little Shanghai put a hand on his, his expression serious.

”Wendong, back then, I was thinking we’d get a hundred jin at most. How could I have ever imagined you’d bring in this much all at once? We can’t split the money this way. All I was hoping for was to save up a few dozen yuan to go home and see my family. So, I’ll be shameless and ask for two hundred. That’s more than enough for me to go home, see my family, and leave them with some emergency cash.”

”No. I said half, and I meant half!”

”Damn it, Zhao Wendong! If you insist on splitting it this way, then I, Li Dong, will walk out of here right now, and I won’t take a single cent! From this day forward, we’ll be strangers, not brothers!”

Liangzi and the Zhao Brothers said nothing, silently watching Zhao Wendong and Little Shanghai argue back and forth. Wang Defa glanced at Little Shanghai with admiration. ’If that were me,’ he thought, ’I’m not sure I could have refused that much money.’