258: got engaged

Just imagine, how could someone who can afford a large villa with a sea view not have money at home?

The other old men instantly had the thought that they didn't want to play with this old man anymore.

"Who said I don't want it? There are only four in total, and I won't take too many, just one!"

"I'll have one too."

"How about we offer 7,000 yuan per jin? Let Yang Qi earn a little less."

"I think that works. We're all neighbors. Yang Qi will probably give us a discount."

After discussing, the old men asked Yang Qi:

"Yang Qi, um, how about you sell the wild Large Yellow Croaker to us old men? 7,000 yuan per jin. You'd be looking out for your neighbors. What do you think?"

Yang Qi paused, then nodded, pretending to reluctantly agree. After all, the acquisition price was only around 5,000 yuan per jin.

Of course, these old men couldn't buy it at this price anywhere else; it's normal for middlemen to earn a price difference.

Finally, Yang Qi and Bai Xue pulled the remaining chunzi fish and returned home. After tallying the accounts, the total income was 134,000 yuan.

For the next few days, the two of them did not go out to sea again, because their engagement date was approaching.

Because it was the same day as Uncle Zheng Tie's, their maternal grandparents, maternal uncle, and second maternal uncle's entire families from their hometown rushed over.

On Yang Qi's side, besides inviting his two aunts' families, he didn't invite anyone else.

In the village, because there were no other direct relatives, the closest were Yang Limin's several cousins, but they were not invited this time either, as the journey was too far.

When they get married, they can just hold another ceremony back in their hometown.

In the southern regions, the process for a couple's engagement is still very complex.

Generally, the groom's parents, accompanied by a matchmaker, first visit the bride's parents, bringing gifts to discuss engagement details, such as the amount of the betrothal gift and return gifts, selecting the date, location, and number of guests, as well as some rituals, and so on.

On that day, the groom, accompanied by a matchmaker and 6-7 close relatives, brings the betrothal gifts, the three golds (or five golds), four-color candies, five-color grains (which can also be converted to cash), a whole pig, and banquet gifts to the bride's home.

In some southern areas, a red envelope for the mother-in-law, called the "bellyache red envelope," is also prepared, usually 3,000-5,000 yuan, specifically to thank the mother-in-law for her suffering on the day she gave birth to the wife.

The bride, in turn, gives return gifts to the groom: such as a suit, a watch, a red envelope, and so on.

The engagement banquet is usually held at the bride's home. Of course, the groom can also host a banquet himself.

Now, with the development of the times, most young people are in free love, and the details of the engagement ceremony process are becoming simpler.

Nowadays, it's basically the bride and groom who go to a restaurant together to host the banquet. All the lively parts are basically spent on hiring an emcee to create atmosphere.

On the day of the engagement, several families booked a hotel and held it together; the scene was very lively.

Yang Qi and Zheng Tie were like two puppets on strings, guided through the ceremony by others.

Most of the guests attending the engagement banquet that day were from the two brides' families.

However, although Yang Qi's guests were few, they were all important: Zhang Jun's parents and his group of Anglers friends.

In the evening, Yang Qi took out the necklace inlaid with a melo pearl and personally put it on Bai Xue.

The flame patterns on the golden melo pearl shimmered brilliantly under the light, further enhancing Bai Xue's beauty.

"Husband, when did you make this? It's too beautiful."

Bai Xue's eyes were glistening as she gazed at Yang Qi.

"It was made a long time ago, just waiting for today to give it to you. Do you like it?"

"I love it! Thank you, Husband!"

...The next day, Yang Qi, who had become weak-kneed, brought Bai Xue, who was full of vigor after a night's sleep, to his mother's place for lunch.

Because that afternoon, his two aunts, along with several cousins, were going back to work.

"Cousin, can I go fishing with you in the future?"

During lunch, his seventeen-year-old cousin, Pang Feng, asked.

"Yes, you can come and play next summer vacation. I'll let you go out to sea a few times on the boat. As long as you can persevere and not cry, I'll let you work a summer job."

"If you want to fish with me long-term, don't even think about it before you graduate from university."

Yang Qi looked at his cousin, who was as thin as a monkey and seemed to have ADHD, and said calmly.

"Also, you don't even weigh as much as a fish, and you tell me you want to be a fisherman!"

"Uh... alright! I'll exercise more in the future."

Pang Feng said sheepishly.

Yang Qi had long thought that once he started making money, relatives and friends would surely want to follow him.

His cousin's words might have been prompted by his aunt, but Yang Qi didn't indulge him.

If it were someone as strong and powerful as Uncle, and their character was also good, then he might consider it.

But someone with bad character or poor physical condition, no matter who they were, wouldn't work; wouldn't that just be pure trouble?

His several female cousins were quite well-behaved, just sitting there quietly eating.

Yang Qi instantly thought that he didn't want to have sons in the future; girls were so much better!

His mother prepared a lot of dried seafood for his two aunts' families to take home and eat. If they wanted seafood in the future, they could call, and she would mail it to them.

His mother had also invited his two uncles this time, and they had initially agreed. However, in the end, both of them declined, saying they were busy, and neither came.

This made his mother a bit unhappy. Yang Qi guessed they thought his family, being fishermen by the sea, must be doing very poorly and didn't want to waste time coming over.

Finally, Yang Qi and Bai Xue drove them to the high-speed rail station to board the train.

The two of them then drove themselves to the shipyard again. For some time recently, whenever they had free time, they would visit and compare shipyards in nearby provinces and cities.

Eventually, the two negotiated several times with the city's shipyard. Today, they received the design renderings from the other party, so they arranged to go discuss the construction cost that afternoon.

General Manager Cao of the shipyard received them in his office as usual. Before discussing business, they first drank some tea and chatted casually.

After a few cups of black tea, General Manager Cao said, "Brother, after our company's engineers evaluated it, we can build this ship."

"According to your design and material requirements, we've made a budget, and the price is truly not low."

"How much?"

"35 million at the minimum, 40 million at the maximum. This is the price we settled on after multiple evaluations. So, our temporary pricing is 38 million."

Yang Qi and Bai Xue exchanged glances. To be honest, after their recent extensive inquiries and comparisons,

this price was really not high.

The design of the new ship was not just a simple fishing boat; it combined the functions of a luxury yacht and an exploration vessel. It was also an intelligent ship capable of fishing and marine research.

"Alright, General Manager Cao, I can accept this price."

Yang Qi readily agreed.

Finally, General Manager Cao presented the contract terms for Yang Qi and Bai Xue to review.

Yang Qi and Bai Xue took turns carefully reading through it. The contract terms were basically standard.