Beachcombing: The beach is full of amazing seafood, but my wife won't let me get out of bed!

After lunch, Wu Sui went to the village entrance and found a tricycle, taking Wu Gang and Chen Yang straight to the town.

First, we went to the largest fishing tackle wholesale store in town.

The boss was bald and was dozing off behind the counter.

Wu Sui went inside and knocked on the glass counter.

"Boss, bring ten spools of 500-meter Dyneema line, thirty spools of nylon line, and two thousand fishhooks."

The bald boss snapped out of his daze, and upon recognizing the buyer as someone who wanted a large shipment, his face immediately broke into a wide smile.

"Hey bro, this much? Getting ready for a big raft fishing trip?"

"Hmm, let's calculate how much it costs." Wu Sui picked out the buoy and sinker himself.

The boss frantically pressed keys on the calculator.

"That's two thousand three hundred and fifty in total. I'll round it down to two thousand three."

After paying and loading the materials onto the tricycle, the three of them went to the ship repair shop by the dock.

The chubby, dark-skinned boss, a cigarette dangling from his lips, came to greet us.

"Boss, what would you like to see?"

"Do you have any used winches in stock?" Wu Sui asked.

The fat, dark-skinned man led them to a corner and pointed to a metal-cased machine.

"This one is 80% new. The original price was 4,000, but I'll sell it to you for 3,500."

Wu Sui stepped forward, squatted down, touched the motor, and then turned the bearing.

"The bearings have been replaced, and the gears inside the reducer are quite worn. This motor is at most a refurbished one."

He stood up and dusted off his hands.

"Two thousand yuan, okay, I'll take it now; otherwise, I'll go check next door."

The fat man's face stiffened.

"Dude, you're really aggressive with your bargaining."

"I really can't sell it for two thousand. I bought it for two thousand one. Add a little more, two thousand four, just to be friends."

Wu Sui looked at his elder brother, and seeing him nod, he didn't haggle anymore and took out the money directly.

After paying and agreeing on a delivery time, the group left the repair shop.

"Brother, even close brothers should keep clear accounts."

"This machine is a major investment on our ship. Since you own 20% of the shares, you have to pay 20% of the money, which is 480 yuan."

Wu Gang nodded, patted his pockets, and found he had no money. He scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"Second brother, I'll ask your sister-in-law for the money when we get back."

"You're right. Anything we need to add to the ship in the future will be paid for proportionally. We can't let you pay for it all yourself."

Chen Yang stood to the side, watching this scene unfold, and nodded to himself.

My brother-in-law is generous in his actions, but he sets clear rules so that we won't have any arguments about money in the future.

Wu Sui was somewhat surprised. Logically speaking, how come her brother-in-law didn't have any money on him when he had earned so much?

Thinking about his sister-in-law's personality, he could only sigh.

"Alright, this money will be deducted from the profit sharing later."

"Brother, I'm not trying to be mean, but how can a man be without money? This whole thing..."

Wu Gang looked puzzled: "What do I need money for? I don't smoke or drink, and your sister-in-law cooks all the meals at home. I have no use for money."

Got it!

Wu Sui felt it was like casting pearls before swine to talk to his older brother about these things, so he simply shut up.

"Brother, take Xiaoyang back first. Wait for the repair shop to send the winch over for installation. I have some things to do, so I'll be back later."

After giving his instructions, Wu Sui turned and went to the large supermarket in town.

At noon, the village accountant relayed the message that the land for the residential building had been approved.

But only a fool would hand over money empty-handed.

Wu Sui entered the supermarket and went straight to the tobacco and liquor counter.

I picked out two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, two bottles of Moutai, and after thinking about it, I added two boxes of health supplements that I couldn't understand.

It cost a total of one thousand yuan.

Carrying several large red bags, Wu Sui finally got into the car and returned to the village.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Wang Feng and Chen Xue pulling nylon thread in the yard.

Wang Feng looked up and saw the several large red bags with gold lettering in Wu Sui's hand; her eyes widened in surprise.

"Second brother, what are you bringing up? Are you wasting money again?"

She dropped the string in her hand and leaned forward to rummage through the bag.

It would have been better if he hadn't started shoving; the moment he did, his voice rose eight octaves.

"Cigarettes? Alcohol? And health supplements?"

"What are you doing? Did you win the lottery and go offer sacrifices to some deity?"

Wu Sui placed the items steadily on the stone table.

"Sister-in-law, this is for the village chief."

"Give it to Chen Changgui?!" Wang Feng was furious when she heard the name, and put her hands on her hips.

Why should we give him a gift?

"We handed over every penny of the money we spent on buying the land to the village committee, so why should Chen Changgui get any benefits?"

"That old bastard is always eyeing the villagers' pockets; he even tries to extort money and kickbacks when he gets land approved."

"Damn it, you should return it right away!"

Chen Xue tugged at Wang Feng's sleeve from the side.

"Sister-in-law, Ah Sui has already bought it, there must be a reason for it, don't worry."

"What kind of logic is that? Wouldn't it be better to use that thousand or so yuan to buy meat and eat it? Why throw it down the drain like that old man?"

Wang Feng was so angry that she stomped her feet.

Wu Sui pulled over a bench, sat down, and took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

"Sister-in-law, calm down and listen to me."

"As the old saying goes, water that is too clear has no fish."

"Chen Changgui is a bit greedy and likes to take advantage of others, but has he really done anything for the village?"

Wang Feng pursed her lips.

"What business did they have? They just repaired a broken road."

Wu Sui exhaled a smoke ring.

"That road is a proper cement road. In the past, the mud and water would be knee-deep on rainy days, but now tricycles can drive directly to the dock."

"And the breakwater repairs, the new streetlights installed in the village—weren't all of those things secured by Chen Changgui's efforts in town?"

"Don't even mention a village chief; even if you were just a factory supervisor in the city, wouldn't the workshop foreman take some kickbacks?"

"The key question is whether he does anything substantial after receiving benefits."

"Chen Changgui did something practical, so this gift is well worth it. It will also make things easier for us to get things done in the village in the future."

Wu Jianguo came out after hearing the commotion and nodded in agreement.

"Da Feng, what the second brother said makes sense."

"The village chief is fond of taking advantage of others, but he's not a bad person."

"In the past few years, when our family was struggling, I was hospitalized and short two thousand yuan for surgery. Wasn't that a loan he lent us?"

"Now that the second son has made money, he needs to establish himself in the village, so he can't neglect social skills and interpersonal relationships."

After hearing her father's words, Wang Feng's arrogance immediately subsided by more than half.

She glanced at the Moutai on the table and felt a pang of heartache.

"Fine, I'll give it to you, but this gift is too extravagant—two bottles of Moutai! I've never even seen what Moutai looks like in my entire life."

Wu Sui smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, once the new house is built, I'll buy you a case of Moutai so you can look at it every day."

Wang Feng rolled her eyes at him.

"Stop joking around and hurry up. The sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back. You still need to tie fishing hooks when you get back."

It was past 8 p.m. when it was completely dark.

Most of the houses in the village were closed.

Wu Sui carried the bag and strolled over to Chen Changgui's house.

Chen Changgui's house is located in the center of the village. It is a two-story villa with two osmanthus trees in the yard.

The lights were on in the main room.

Wu Sui walked to the door and called out.

"Uncle Changgui, are you home?"