Since the first day Chen Yang gave him over a hundred yuan in dividends, Shen Guangfu, Shen Laifu, Zheng Weiguo, and Liu Maosheng had fully thrown themselves into Chen Yang's fish purchasing endeavor.
At this moment, they realized what a great opportunity Chen Yang had given them.
The money they earned today was more than they had earned in several years, so why wouldn't they work hard for Chen Yang?
Of course, while they earned a lot, Chen Yang earned even more. They only received ten percent, with Chen Yang taking the remaining eighty percent.
In the following days, until the latter half of July, the four major teams could almost consistently yield fourteen to fifteen thousand catties of fish daily.
After deducting costs, the dividends for the four of them, and losses from fish dying during transport, Chen Yang was netting nearly four thousand yuan in pure profit every day.
By now, he had accumulated nearly thirty thousand yuan in cash.
In the beginning, Chen Yang and Shen Xue would sometimes spread the money on the bed, counting it and giggling foolishly.
But later, as the money grew, Chen Yang became too lazy to count it.
"Today we are raising the main beam of the house. We need to buy more meat. Raising the beam is a big event, and we have to treat the whole village."
In just over a week, the walls were built, and the lumber for the main beam was transported. It was time to raise the beam and lay the tiles.
In those years, houses in the countryside were generally not built with reinforced concrete floors. Brick and tile houses were already considered top-tier mansions.
The foundation had been laid long ago, and the walls were built quickly. Primarily, Chen Yang wanted to live more comfortably, so he asked Cui Jianguo to build large windows with pre-cast concrete window sills.
To get the steel bars and cement for the window sills, as well as the glass for the windows, Chen Yang had to rely on Liao Erye, a ticket scalper, and waited for several days to obtain them.
During this time, Chen Yang also hired village carpenters to make several sets of furniture: a large wooden bed, a square table, and a wardrobe. All furniture was purely handmade and unfurnished with paint.
The entire house was simply whitewashed with lime on the inner walls, making it appear brighter. There were virtually no concerns about formaldehyde exceeding safety standards.
Once the main beam was raised and the tiles were laid today, and the furniture moved in, a brazier could be lit to dispel any dampness, and the house would be basically ready for occupancy. The efficiency was shockingly high.
"Alright, since we're doing it, let's make it a grand affair. We don't lack the money for this now."
"Later, when we deliver the fish, let Dad come into the city with us. We'll take the donkey cart around the food processing plant, the state-run department store, and the vegetable market."
"Besides cigarettes, alcohol, and meat, let's buy some candy too. We can scatter some from the roof during the beam-raising ceremony to entertain the children."
Chen Yang pulled the woman in his arms closer. After half a month of meticulous care, her body had become noticeably more rounded than when he had first been reborn.
Holding her, the soft touch made him feel a familiar stir of desire.
As if sensing the change in Chen Yang's body, Shen Xue shot him a playful glare.
"It's almost dawn. Tonight, I'll reward you properly. Raising the beam is a big deal, please spare me."
"Husband, please."
Shen Xue, afraid that the older man's passion might render her unable to get out of bed, resorted to pleading.
Hearing her call him "husband," Chen Yang felt his bones go soft.
Shen Xue rarely called him husband, and she seldom acted so playfully. It was strange; after being married for so long, this foolish woman was still so shy.
"Slap."
Seeing that Chen Yang made no move, Shen Xue quickly tried to get up. But as soon as she moved.
A crisp slap echoed.
In that moment, the entire room fell silent.
"You, you..."
Shen Xue covered her slightly numb backside, her face instantly flushing as if it could drip water.
"Ahem, wife, I, I couldn't help it."
"It's gotten bigger, and more responsive."
Before Chen Yang could finish speaking, a pillow was instantly thrown forcefully at his head.
"Go to hell!"
After throwing the pillow, Shen Xue, without looking back, quickly ran out of the room.
She was so embarrassed!
How could this rascal slap her there!
However, not long after leaving the room, her hand involuntarily reached out to touch her still slightly numb backside.
That feeling just now, tingly and numb, as if an electric current was flowing through her. It was shameful, but also, perhaps, a little exciting?
She even patted herself with her hand, but felt nothing, as if only Chen Yang's hand possessed that special magic.
Shen Xue quickly shook her head. Bah, bah, bah. She wouldn't want that scoundrel to touch her there again. She was too embarrassed.
Shen Xue got up, and Chen Yang could only smile helplessly, and then he had to get up to collect the fish.
As usual, he drove the donkey cart to Liujiawan. This had been the routine for over a week, and Chen Yang was now very familiar with it.
Upon arriving at Liujiawan, Liu Ergaga was already waiting with the villagers. The fish were weighed, put into buckets, and paid for.
"Uncle Ergaga, starting today, let's stop catching fish under one catty."
"Today, we only have 1800 catties. The fish season is almost over. We can't catch all these small fish, or there will be nothing left in the Willow River next year."
In the first few days, they had caught over two thousand catties daily, but it had slowly decreased, and today it was less than two thousand. Chen Yang knew it was already late July.
This fishing season would likely end in about a week or so.
With only a few hundred catties a day after that, he wouldn't bother coming.
Working under the scorching sun of thirty-five to thirty-six degrees Celsius, not only him but even the old donkey from the production team couldn't take it.
As for Zhang Weiyang, once his house was built, he should go and check on him. He wondered how the repair of the radios was going and if he had successfully fixed a few to sell.
When Chen Yang arrived at Shenjiaba with the donkey cart to gather, he saw Zheng Weiguo and the others waiting for him with unhappy faces.
"Brother Yang, we only caught three thousand catties today. Why are there so few fish?"
Zheng Weiguo scratched his head. In the past few days, following Chen Yang, he had earned over a hundred yuan almost every day. With fewer fish, their share of the money would definitely decrease.
But more importantly, they felt they had let Chen Yang down. Chen Yang gave them so much money, yet he and Liu Maosheng had caught fewer fish.
"Uncle Er, Uncle Laifu, Weiguo, Maosheng, the fish season is almost over. Starting tomorrow, you should also stop catching small fish."
"These small fish need to be left to grow. Otherwise, there will be nothing left in the Willow River next year."
"We have earned a lot of money these past few days. If we don't leave some to breed, even heaven will not tolerate it. We can't just catch them all greedily, or we'll have bad luck next year."
"We've already made plenty of money. I'm planning to stop this fish purchasing business in about a week."
Chen Yang was very calm. In his plan, this fish purchasing business was merely a transitional phase with a limited lifespan. After this period, as the subsequent income decreased, it was no longer worth his significant effort.
"Yangzi, such a good business, and you're just going to stop it?"
After hearing Chen Yang's words, not only Shen Guangfu and the others, but even Shen Futang couldn't sit still.
Although he didn't know how much money his son-in-law's business had made, it was definitely not a small amount. He had seen his brother and that old fox Shen Laifu earn seven to eight hundred yuan.
Shen Laifu was reluctant to see it stop.
"Dad, if you're interested, after the house is built, you can lead Uncle Er and the others to continue collecting fish. However, there will be fewer and fewer fish from now on. Even with the four major teams combined, one to two thousand catties a day would be considered good, certainly not like before."
Chen Yang had long intended to hand over this business to his father-in-law. Even small gains were still gains, and he didn't care for them, so why let them go to outsiders?