"Ah!" Ye Yaodong exclaimed in surprise.
"It was ordered jointly by those four men who died-the fathers, sons, uncles, and nephews-and some partners. Now that they're dead, their families can't afford the final payment. They're disheartened, too, and don't dare go out to sea anymore. The other partners are brothers as well, and they're a bit scared now. They used to work from a small wooden boat, but now they don't dare go out either."
"So they don't want the boat they ordered anymore? They're planning to sell it?"
Ye Yaodong now knew why he had come looking for him. Either he wanted to borrow money to buy the boat, wanted him to go in on it, or had simply come to let him know.
He probably hadn't made a special trip to ask him to buy it outright. He knew perfectly well that Ye Yaodong had already ordered a twenty-four-meter boat from the shipyard, due for delivery next year.
A-Guang nodded. "They're pretty pitiful, really. Four men died-fathers, sons, uncles, and nephews. Although there are still a few men left in the family, they're frightened now. I heard people saying they were cursed or something. Something about seeing a body out at sea in the middle of the night before and not daring to retrieve it..."
"And because they had so many brothers and men in the family, they were usually pretty overbearing and often made enemies... People are saying it was retribution... Ah, there are all sorts of rumors going around..."
"And then? Was Uncle Zheng the one who told you about this?"
"Yes. It seems it happened three or four days ago. We'd heard a few rumors before, but we didn't pay much attention. We just listened and let it pass. What year goes by without someone