1992: Starting with the Second Generation of Shipowners

Chapter 76 Uncle 3's Fishing Boat

The day Hong Xiaobing's third uncle came to the service station with the fishing boat registration certificate was a gloomy morning.

Thick clouds hung over the sea, hazy and obscuring the sun completely.

The sea breeze carried a salty, fishy, ​​and damp smell. Old Fang squatted at the workshop entrance, finished a cigarette, looked up at the sky, and said that it looked like it was going to rain.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the rain to start, a fine, dense rain that pattered softly on the asbestos tile roof.

The seawater in the stone trough rippled in circles as the raindrops hit it.

Hong Xiaobing's third uncle came despite the rain.

He propped up his old bicycle at the gate of the yard, with a snakeskin bag tied to the back seat. The bag was half full of sweet potatoes, just like last time, small in size, and covered in mud.

He got out of the car and first took off the snakeskin bag and held it in his hand.

He stood at the gate of the courtyard and looked inside for a long time. Rain dripped down the brim of his straw hat, staining his shoulder with a dark water stain.

Hong Xiaobing was squatting by the stone trough, cleaning the old water pump with Ashun, when he looked up and saw his third uncle standing in the rain. He stood up, wiped his hands with cotton gauze, walked over and called out to his third uncle.

His third uncle placed the snakeskin bag he was carrying at the entrance of the kitchen and said that he was not here to buy on credit this time, but to pay back the money.

Hong Xiaobing was stunned for a moment.

His third uncle took out a cloth bag from his pocket, opened it and found a stack of crumpled banknotes, ten or five yuan notes stacked together and bound with rubber bands twice.

The rubber band had become sticky, and there was a thin crack around the edge.

He handed over the money, saying it was the two hundred yuan he owed his father last time, and he would pay it back today. The boat repair on credit would be settled separately.

Hong Xiaobing took the money, weighed it in his hand, and asked his third uncle where the money came from.

His third uncle said to sell the old tractor at home, since it was no longer operable and was just taking up space in the yard. Selling it would bring in some money.

Hong Xiaobing remained silent for a while, put the money in his pocket, said okay, he would send the money to his father later, and then led his third uncle into the workshop.

Jiang Haiping is checking the registration records of refurbished water pumps in the workshop.

Ah Guang squatted down beside him and tapped the numbers onto the new nameplates. The steel characters made a crisp clinking sound as they hit the aluminum sheet.

Hong Xiaobing explained the money matter again and then placed his third uncle's fishing boat registration certificate on the worktable.

The registration certificate was issued by the county fisheries bureau. The plastic cover was worn white and had several tears at the edges. The paper inside had been soaked in seawater and had a faint salt frost on the edges, but the name and number of the boat were still clearly visible.

Jiang Haiping flipped through the registration certificate from beginning to end to confirm that the document was correct, and then called Lao Fang out of the cabin.

Old Fang squatted down at the workshop entrance, lit another cigarette, took the registration certificate, looked at it, and asked Hong Xiaobing where his third uncle's boat was now.

Hong Xiaobing said the boat is still sitting on the mudflats of the old village of Hongjiadao. Several pieces of the bottom plate are rotten, the diesel engine needs major repairs, there is a crack in the gearbox housing, and the rudder system also needs calibration.

After finishing his cigarette, Lao Fang stood up, dusted off his trousers, and said that he would have Ah Hai take Hong Xiaobing and Hong Ashun to Hongjia Island in the afternoon to tow the boat over and put it on the raft. They would inspect it first and then assess the damage. The credit limit would be set according to the rules, and the interest and repayment date would be written on the credit agreement. If the payment was not made by the due date, the service station would have the right to impound the boat.

Hong Xiaobing relayed Lao Fang's original words to his third uncle.

His third uncle squatted at the workshop entrance, his hands on his knees, his fingers unconsciously picking at the fabric of his pants. He said, "Okay, we'll do it according to the service station's rules. I'll sign the credit agreement, I'll accept the interest, and the repayment date will be clearly written down."

Jiang Haiping took out a blank credit agreement from the drawer, filled in the ship's name, ship number, ship owner's name, expected maintenance items, estimated costs, repayment date and interest, and left blanks for his third uncle to sign and affix his seal after each item.

His third uncle took it and read it from beginning to end. He used a ballpoint pen to write his name crookedly in the ship owner's signature column, then took the inkpad from Lao Fang and pressed his fingerprint under his name.

He pressed the handprint too hard, and the red ink spread out in a circle, sticking to his fingertip and refusing to wash off for several days.

After the agreement was signed, Lao Fang asked Ahai and Hong Xiaobing to go to Hongjia Island in the afternoon to tow the boat over.

Hong Ashun stood up from the stone trough, dusted off the rust on his hands, and walked towards the dock with Hong Xiaobing.

A group of people braved the rain to tow the old fishing boat from Hongjia Island back to Moon Island, and placed it upside down on the new boat rack to the west.

The barnacles were densely covered with a layer of plaster, and the rotten board was circled by Hong Ashun with a slate pencil. The diesel engine was lifted out of the engine room and placed on the workshop floor.

The rain washed away some of the white salt frost on the jar lid, revealing the mottled rust underneath.

As evening fell, the rain stopped, and the last few dark clouds on the sea were moving eastward.

Hong Xiaobing's third uncle squatted by the raft, looking at the old fishing boat that was placed on the raft. The rotten planks at the bottom of the boat were circled in several places, the diesel engine was sitting on the workshop floor waiting for major repairs, and the cracks on the gearbox casing were clearly visible in the setting sun.

He squatted there for a long time without saying a word, just staring at the boat.

Ahai came out of the workshop, squatted down next to him, and handed him a cigarette.

Hong Xiaobing's third uncle took the boat, lit it, took a puff, and said that he bought the boat last year. He knew it had many problems when he bought it, but he didn't have the money to repair it, so he just made do and made a few trips to the near sea. Now he really couldn't take it anymore.

Ahai said that the service station should use refurbished parts as much as possible, as they are more than half the price of new parts. When overhauling a diesel engine, Lao Fang will make a list of the parts that need to be replaced. There are several sets of old pistons and cylinder liners from Weichai in the used parts warehouse, all of which have been refurbished and are of good quality.

After finishing his cigarette, Hong Xiaobing's third uncle stubbed it out on the sole of his shoe, stood up, and said, "Okay, I trust the service station with this boat."

Hong Xiaobing went home that night and returned the two hundred yuan to his father.

His father was squatting in the yard mending fishing nets when he took the money, counted it, tied it back with a rubber band, and put it in his pocket, saying that he thought he would never get the money back.

Hong Xiaobing didn't mention that the money came from his third uncle selling his tractor. He only said that his third uncle came to the service station today to sign an credit agreement, the fishing boat was towed over and put on the raft, the diesel engine was overhauled, and all the rotten bottom plates were replaced. Once it's repaired, it can go out to sea to run transport.

His father was silent for a while, then said that repairing the ship was the important business, and he would accept the money to settle the score.

The next morning, Lao Fang began dismantling the diesel engine of Hong Xiaobing's third uncle's boat.

The cylinder head was disassembled, and the inner wall of the cylinder liner was covered in rust. The piston rings were stuck in the piston groove and had to be soaked in diesel fuel for a long time before they could be removed.

The engine oil in the crankcase was as black as ink, and it smelled burnt when it was drained.

Old Fang arranged the disassembled parts one by one on the workbench, wiped them clean with cotton yarn, and checked their wear against the light.

The cylinder liners need to be replaced, the piston rings need to be replaced, the connecting rod bearings and crankshaft bearings need to be replaced, and the crankshaft journal is scratched and needs to be ground.

Hong Xiaobing handed him a wrench, his lips pressed tightly together as he looked at the long row of parts waiting to be replaced on the worktable.

Old Fang handed the list to Jiang Haiping, saying that the diesel engine would need at least a major overhaul.

Jiang Haiping glanced at the list, while A-Guang next to him had already turned to the page of the credit record in the register and was about to fill in the estimated cost.

Qiu Changhai squatted down beside the boat raft, cleaning the trough.

The four rotten bottom planks were removed yesterday. The grooves are still there. Before installing the new planks, the grooves need to be cleaned again, the rotten wood needs to be removed, and the depth and shallowness need to be smoothed out.

After he finished carving one groove, he slowly straightened up, supporting his back, pounded his lower back with his fist, and then bent down to continue carving.

Lin Xiu'e came over carrying a basin of freshly mixed tung oil putty.

Squat down next to him, place the basin in a convenient position, tear the hemp fibers evenly, stuff them one by one into the gaps, tap them firmly with a blunt chisel, apply tung oil putty to the hemp fibers, and smooth it out.

The two squatted side by side, the sound of chisels striking hemp fibers and tung oil putty being applied alternating, one strike after another.

After filling out the credit record, Ah Guang turned to the page for refurbished parts inventory.

On the old parts shelf were two sets of old Weichai pistons, a set of connecting rod bearings, and a set of crankshaft bearings of the same model, all of which had been salvaged and refurbished from a scrapped ship of the aquatic products company.

He marked out the model numbers of all the usable old parts and showed them to Lao Fang.

Old Fang glanced at it and said, "Okay. The quality of the refurbished old parts is no worse than that of the new parts, and the price is more than half cheaper. Let's use them all on Hong Xiaobing's third uncle's boat."

Ah Guang copied the model number of the refurbished parts after the credit record, and wrote a line in the remarks column of the register: Hong Laosan's fishing boat is undergoing major repairs, refurbished parts are given priority, and the inventory of old parts in the warehouse will be reduced accordingly.

Before finishing work in the evening, Jiang Haiping filed the credit agreement, fishing boat registration certificate, Lao Fang's repair list, and refurbished parts requisition record together and locked them in a drawer.

Outside the window, Qiu Changhai was still squatting by the ship's raft, chipping the sluice gate, Lin Xiu'e was sewing next to him, and Hong Xiaobing was squatting by the diesel engine, wiping the cylinder head bolts with cotton yarn.

The courtyard was quiet, with only the sound of chisels striking hemp fibers and the gentle lapping of waves against the stone trough.

Hong Xiaobing's third uncle's fishing boat was mounted on the raft; the rotten planks had been removed, and the new planks had not yet been installed.

The diesel engine lay on the workbench awaiting major repair; Ding Haisheng had patched the cracks in the gearbox housing with welding rods; and the steering system awaited Qiu Changhai's calibration.

Once the boat is repaired, it can go out to sea to run transport business, and the debts can be paid off slowly after fishing next spring.

This is the umpteenth boat repair bill that the service station has issued on credit. Every single one is recorded in the register, and every single one bears the boat owner's signature and fingerprint.