50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 385 A Casual Act of Kindness

It's February now, and the sun starts setting around 5:2 pm.

By the time Sun Zhiwei approached Thang Long Mansion, it was already getting dark, and the number of boats on the river was rapidly decreasing.

On the river, many basket boats were also returning to port. Sun Zhiwei immediately mingled into the returning basket boat fleet and followed them.

Halfway there, he noticed that all the basket boats had a good catch, and the familiar boat owners were chatting with each other about their day's catch across the boats.

He immediately saw the flaw in his 'basket boat'; what fishing boat returns to port at night with no catch at all?

Fortunately, it wasn't too late to salvage the situation; there was an empty wooden barrel on his 'basket boat,' and the lid was on.

He quickly opened up his spatial dimension and searched the bottom of the water, soon discovering many fish, shrimp, and clams.

Just then, a basket boat approached his small boat, and the man on board greeted him.

"Young man, you're so young and you already have your own 'basket boat'! How was your harvest today?"

Sun Zhiwei smiled shyly and did not answer immediately.

At this moment, he had already placed half a bucket of river water into the wooden tub. Then, through a rapid spatial transfer, before the fish and shrimp in the tub could even react, he had instantly moved them into the wooden tub.

The fish and shrimp that had just been moved were startled and immediately started jumping around in the wooden tub.

One of the slightly larger crucian carp jumped out of the water in the wooden bucket, pushing the half-closed lid to one side.

The uncle, seeing the crucian carp jump out, exclaimed, "This fish is quite big, young man, not bad!"

"It's alright," Sun Zhiwei said softly.

Before he could finish speaking, the uncle asked, "Young man, you're not from around here, are you? Where are you from?"

Sun Zhiwei immediately became alert and quickly replied, "Xing'an, there are too many people over there."

"Indeed, Xing'an is not as easy to get by as Shenglong Prefecture."

“Young man, you can call me Uncle Zhan. This is your first time here, so you may not know the situation here. Every dock has a leader, and unfamiliar fishing boats shouldn’t try to get by here.”

"When we get to the dock, don't make a sound. If anyone asks, just say you're Uncle Zhan's nephew, then sell your catch and leave as soon as possible."

"My name is Li Baolin, thank you Uncle Zhan."

"It's alright, everyone has their own difficulties."

“I’ll call you Baolin. If you want to fish in this area long-term, you can come find me and join my team.”

"If we stick together, we won't be afraid of being bullied, at least we won't be pressured to lower the price when selling our catch."

Sun Zhiwei had initially thought this person was there to cause trouble, but it turned out they were there to help him.

Of course, this is not a free help. Sun Zhiwei looks young and strong. If he is recruited, he will be a vital force in the future, whether it is to steal fish or to fight.

Even if he doesn't join for the time being, he only wasted a little breath, and he can still project a helpful image, which will spread his good reputation. In any case, he won't lose anything.

These people are a microcosm of the lower classes in Annam. With the higher-ups indulging in war and aggression, the lower classes naturally suffered.

After this battle, Annam suffered a great loss, and the lives of the lower classes became even worse.

Around 7 a.m., the fleet arrived at a small pier north of the official port of Thang Long. The pier was already bustling with people, with fishermen and merchants who had come to buy fish haggling over prices on the shore.

Sun Zhiwei followed Uncle Zhan's boat to the dock and, imitating others, carried the wooden barrels from the boat ashore.

Soon, dock management personnel came over to check, and upon seeing his unfamiliar face, immediately began to inquire.

Uncle Zhan happened to be nearby and took the initiative to speak on his behalf: "This is my nephew, Li Baolin. He just came from Xing'an to be with me. Please take good care of him."

"Baolin, call him Uncle Da."

"Hello, Uncle Da." Sun Zhiwei pretended to be socially awkward and greeted him in a low voice. "Alright, Li Baolin, right? I'll register him later, and his allowance will be paid from your team from now on."

"Oh, it's only right."

Uncle Da then left them to check on the fishermen's catch.

Soon, merchants came to look at the fish, and Sun Zhiwei sold the catch in the wooden bucket for 3 dong, which is about seven or eight yuan in China.

Before he could even enjoy the money, Uncle Da came over to him and said, "Li Baolin, this is your first time pumping water, so take 1."

Although Sun Zhiwei didn't care about the money, he still obediently looked at Uncle Zhan next to him.

Uncle Zhan nodded to him, and he then took out a few bills from the money he had just received and handed them over.

A 10,000-yuan discount on a 30,000-yuan boat, a 1/3 ratio, and that's still a discounted price. It seems the docks are really exploiting the 'basket boats'.

This is just the pumping fee; there seems to be some kind of additional fee, probably something like a monthly rent.

After Uncle Da left, Sun Zhiwei asked Uncle Zhan.

"Uncle Zhan, how come they were able to occupy the dock and collect water?"

“They have connections above them, and at least half of what they’ve taken has to be handed over.”

"If we replace them with a different group, would they be able to establish themselves here?"

"Replace the batch? Replace whom?"

"It depends on how many people you can contact, Uncle Zhan. If you have enough, I have a way to get rid of these people at the dock."

Uncle Zhan was a little surprised by what he said, but when he saw Sun Zhiwei's muscular physique, he hesitated.

He is over 40 years old this year, which is no longer young for a fisherman.

He's already finding it difficult to fish every day, and he probably won't be able to go into the water for at most three to five years.

He had clearly seen what the outcome would be: going hungry one meal and eating well the next, and dying at home in a few years.

Although it was their first meeting, Sun Zhiwei could tell that this young man was different from him.

Now that this opportunity has suddenly presented itself, he has decided to take a gamble.

"Baolin, if I can contact someone, what should I do?"

"You don't need to do anything. Just wait until I get rid of them tonight, and then you can take their empty spots before dawn."

"The most important thing is to get the higher-ups to acknowledge your control over the docks; I can't help you with that."

"I have a way to deal with this. The people above them aren't big shots. As long as the money is right, whether or not the person is replaced won't affect them."

"Then Uncle Zhan, you should go and contact the manpower now. I will take action tonight to eliminate most of their personnel."

"You'll have to deal with the remaining fish that slipped through the net yourselves. As long as you can take control of the dock before dawn tomorrow, this matter will be considered settled."

"From now on, you'll be the boss here."

"Baolin, I can't do it. I'm too old. Even if it works out, it would be better if you did it."

"My mind isn't on this. Helping you this once is my way of repaying the favor I did for you today. I'm leaving now, Uncle Zhan."

After saying that, Sun Zhiwei went ashore and left the dock, blending into the crowd outside.

Uncle Zhan watched him leave, stood on the boat for a while, then gritted his teeth and went back to look for someone.

(End of this chapter)