1992: Starting with the Second Generation of Shipowners

Chapter 12 Expanding Enrollment

The seafood company's four boats took twenty days to repair.

The first oil-burning problem was solved by replacing the piston rings, as the cylinder liner wear was not significant. The second oil-burning problem was more troublesome, with severe crankcase blow-by. The crankshaft was disassembled, and two scratches were found on the journals. It was taken to the factory where 20 microns were ground off, and larger bearings were installed.

The third gearbox was making a strange noise. Upon disassembly, it was found that the bearing had fallen apart, and a ball had fallen into the gear, damaging one of the teeth. The bearing and gear needed to be replaced. The fourth issue was with the rudder system. The rudder stock was rusted to one-third extent when it was removed. Lao Fang said it could still be used without replacement, but it would only last for a year at most.

Master Zheng squatted on the dock and smoked half a pack of cigarettes before finally saying he wanted to change.

On the day all four ships were repaired, Master Zhou and Master Zheng came together for a sea trial. They tested each ship, from the first to the fourth, working on the main engine, gearbox, and rudder system one by one.

After trying the last one, Master Zhou squatted on the dock and took out an envelope from his pocket.

"The repair cost is seven thousand six. That's four hundred cheaper than the initial quote." He handed the envelope to Jiang Haiping. "I've already spoken to the company. We'll bring in the ships for repair in the second half of the year as well."

Master Zheng, standing to the side, added, "Our company has more than thirty transport ships. We'll come to you for ship repairs from now on."

After Master Zhou and Master Zheng left, Old Fang squatted on the rocks and counted the money in the envelope. Seven thousand six hundred, not a penny less. He took out four hundred and handed it to Jiang Haiping.

"The crankshaft was ground down by 20 millimeters, only one gear was damaged, and the rudder post was replaced with a new one and it's still usable. That saved on material costs."

Jiang Haiping took the money and carefully put it in his notebook. The ship repair shop had been open for six months, and they had accumulated over eight thousand yuan. That was enough.

Ah Hai's cousin arrived the next day.

Sixteen years old, half a head shorter than Ahai, with broad shoulders and calluses on his hands from farm work. He wore a faded blue cloth jacket and black cloth shoes with worn-out toes, revealing his socks underneath.

The socks were patterned, and they were obviously hand-me-downs from the older sister.

"His name is A-Guang." A-Hai pushed him forward a step. "He's from my aunt's family. He's been hardworking since he was little; he can carry water, chop firewood, and feed pigs."

Ah Guang kept his head down, not daring to look at anyone.

Old Fang squatted down. "How old are you?"

"sixteen."

"How many years of schooling did you receive?"

"I only completed one year of junior high school. My family couldn't afford it anymore."

"Ship repair is tough. In winter, the sea wind is biting, and in summer, the engine room is forty or fifty degrees Celsius. You get calluses on your hands, and you still have to keep working on them. Can you handle the hardship?"

Ah Guang looked up. "I can eat."

Old Fang stood up, took a chisel from the wall of tools, and handed it to him.

"See that sampan? Peel out that rotten plank from the bottom. Don't go too deep, just remove as much of the rotten part as possible."

Ah Guang took the chisel and squatted down beside the sampan. He looked at the edge of the rotten wood, aimed the chisel, and struck it. Missed. He struck again, and missed again.

With the third strike, the chisel slid outside the rotten wood and poked a hole in the good board.

Ah Hai panicked. "Be careful! If you damage a good board, you'll have to replace it!"

Ah Guang's face turned bright red, and he gripped the chisel so tightly that he dared not move.

Qiu Changhai walked over and squatted down. He took the chisel from A Guang's hand and demonstrated with a hammer blow. The chisel blade was positioned precisely at the boundary between the rotten wood and the good board. He struck, and a crack appeared in the rotten wood.

"Aim carefully before you strike. Rotten wood is darker in color, while good wood is lighter. Position the chisel blade where the dark and light colors meet, and the rotten wood will crack, while the good wood will remain still."

He returned the chisel to A-Guang. A-Guang took it and, imitating him, wedged the chisel blade at the junction of the shallow and deep sections and struck it. A piece of the rotten wood cracked. He struck it again, and another piece cracked.

After the tenth hammer blow, a fist-sized piece of rotten wood was completely chipped off, leaving a clean groove and no damage to the good planks.

Qiu Changhai glanced at it. "Okay. Stay."

Ah Guang, gripping his chisel, grinned. Ah Hai patted him on the back of the head. "Call him Master Qiu!" Ah Guang bowed. "Master Qiu."

Qiu Changhai waved his hand and squatted down to continue sewing his seams.

Two days later, another person arrived.

He wasn't from the island. He came from the town across the river, in his early thirties, wearing an old work uniform with worn-out cuffs. He stood at the gate of the courtyard, first looking at the wooden sign, then at the several boats moored in the stone trough.

Are you hiring here?

Jiang Haiping said yes.

"I used to work in a farm machinery factory, repairing tractors. I've repaired diesel engines, chassis, and hydraulic systems." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, which was his farm machinery factory work ID, which read "Machine Repair Workshop, Level 3 Technician." The person in the photo looked much younger, and the ID was stamped with the factory's red seal.

"The agricultural machinery factory went bankrupt last year. I've been unemployed at home for half a year." He took back his work permit. "I've never repaired diesel engines on ships, but the principle is similar. Let me try for three days; if it doesn't work, I'll leave myself."

Jiang Haiping glanced at Lao Fang. Lao Fang walked over and looked him up and down.

"Have you repaired tractors before?"

"It's been repaired. Dongfanghong, Tieniu, and Shanghai 50 have all been repaired."

Has the high-pressure fuel pump for the diesel engine been calibrated?

"It's been checked. It was checked on the test bench."

Old Fang took a wrench from the wall of tools and tossed it to him. The man caught it.

"That boat. Fisheries Administration 003. Take the main engine high-pressure oil pump off and calibrate it on the test bench. After calibration, put it back on and test it."

The man boarded the boat carrying a wrench.

Three hours later, the high-pressure oil pump was reinstalled. During the test run, the main engine ran smoothly, and the pale blue smoke from the exhaust pipe was even. Old Fang squatted at the engine bay door for a while, then stood up.

"What's your name?"

"Guo Dayong".

"Okay. Stay."

Guo Dayong wiped the wrench clean and put it back on the tool wall.

In the evening, Jiang Haiping sat in the stone house doing accounts.

The boat repair shop currently has eight people. Lao Fang, Qiu Changhai, and Ding Haisheng are considered masters, and their wages are calculated based on the boats they repair. Guo Dayong is also a master, and his wages are the same as Ding Haisheng's. Ahai, Aguang, and Lin Xiue are apprentices; they are provided with meals but not wages, except for a New Year's bonus at the end of the year. Including himself, there are eight people.

The stone trough can accommodate four boats at the same time, with one boat mounted on a raft, and another boat mounted on the leveled rocky beach to the west. At most, six boats can be repaired simultaneously. Any more and it will be too crowded.

He closed the ledger. Eight people, their wages, materials, and miscellaneous expenses totaled around three thousand a month. The ship repair shop, repairing about ten ships a month, had a gross profit of four to five thousand. That was enough to cover expenses, and they could even save a little.

Old Fang pushed open the door and came in, carrying a bowl of porridge.

"What about settling the accounts?"

"Um."

Old Fang sat down and took a sip of porridge. "Guo Dayong is a skilled man. But repairing tractors is different from repairing boats. The diesel engines on boats operate under much harsher conditions than tractors. Seawater corrosion, ship vibrations, and running continuously for dozens of hours. He'll need some time to adapt."

Please take care of him/her.

"I'll definitely bring him," Old Fang said, finishing his porridge. "But he's over thirty, not like Ah Hai or Ah Guang, who are just teenagers. Teenagers are like blank slates, they can be taught however they want. He's been working in the agricultural machinery factory for over ten years, he has his own habits. Changing habits is harder than learning a trade."

Jiang Haiping nodded.

"There's one more thing," Old Fang put down his bowl. "I've looked at the old rudders from the four boats at the seafood company. A third of them were rusted, but they could still be used after a little machining. I had Ding Haisheng machine them and put them on the old parts shelf. In the future, if any fishermen have rusted rudders, they can replace them with these; it's half the price of buying a new one."

"OK."

"Also, when leveling the rocky beach on the west side, we should also dig drainage ditches. In spring, there is a lot of rain, and if the rocky beach is flooded for a long time, the steel rails of the boat rafts are prone to rust."

"I've got it."

Old Fang stood up, walked to the door, and then turned back.

"Xiao Jiang. The ship repair shop has been open for half a year, and the number of people has grown from three to eight. You should keep that in mind."

"What number?"

"With more people, there are more problems. Skilled craftsmen have big tempers, unskilled craftsmen are willing to work but slow, apprentices are clumsy and prone to making mistakes, and masters will also compete with each other. Qiu Changhai and Guo Dayong, one mortars and the other repairs mainframes, originally kept to themselves. But if Guo Dayong ever said that mortaring was not as fast as replacing the board, Qiu Changhai would ignore him for a month."

Jiang Haiping thought for a moment.

"Master Fang, how did you manage these things back in the factory?"

Old Fang smiled.

"I don't care. I only care about repairing the boat. I'll listen to whoever repairs it well, and I'll scold whoever does it poorly. After I'm done scolding, we'll go for a drink after get off work."

He pushed open the door and went out.

In mid-March, the peak of the spring flood season arrived.

Fishing boats set off early and return late at Moon Island, and the dock is filled with the sounds of unloading their catch from morning till night. Ribbonfish, pomfret, small yellow croaker, and cuttlefish are carried ashore basket after basket. Fishmongers squat by the dock, weighing, recording, and paying, too busy to even have time to smoke.

The boat repair shops are also busy. Fishing boats are frequently out to sea, and minor problems keep arising. Today, this boat's propeller is tangled in fishing nets; tomorrow, that boat's engine overheats; and the day after, someone comes to borrow a wrench.

Old Fang refused to lend any fish, but said, "Bring your boat over here and I'll show you." When they came over, he found the water pump belt was loose; tightening it would fix it. He wouldn't charge them. The fishermen felt bad and brought over two ribbonfish that afternoon.

Lin's father's Ping'an boat had the best catch during the spring fishing season. Almost every day it returned with a full catch, including ribbonfish, pomfret, and occasionally, valuable large yellow croaker.

Lin Xiu'e comes to the dock every evening to help her family unload their catch. After unloading, she takes one or two fish to the ship repair shop, saying her father asked her to bring them. Old Fang says Old Lin is too kind. Lin Xiu'e says it's not kindness, it's fish caught by the Ping'an, and it should be shared with the ship repairmen.

Ah Hai squatted on the rocks, gutting and cleaning the ribbonfish. He gutted and removed the gills, washed them clean, salted them, and hung them under the eaves to air dry. In a few days, a row of dried ribbonfish hung under the eaves of the ship repair shop, emitting a fishy, ​​fragrant aroma in the sea breeze.

Ah Guang squatted down beside him, watching. After a while, he asked Ah Hai, "Brother, when can we eat this dried fish?"

"Wait a few more days. Let it air dry and then steam it; it'll taste delicious."

Ah Guang swallowed hard.

On March 20th, something happened.

When Guo Dayong was testing the main engine of a fishing boat he was repairing, the high-pressure oil pump leaked. Diesel fuel seeped from the pump's seal, dripping onto the exhaust pipe and emitting a puff of blue smoke. Lao Fang immediately told him to stop the engine.

Upon inspection, it was found that the sealing gasket was not installed properly and had been twisted when tightened.

Guo Dayong's face turned pale.

Old Fang didn't curse. He removed the sealing gasket, used a copper scraper to clean the residue from the mating surface, and replaced it with a new one. When installing it, he tightened it diagonally, turning it one turn, pausing, then turning it another turn. After installation, he tested the machine; it didn't leak.

"The diesel engines on a ship vibrate much more than those on a tractor. When installing the gaskets, the mating surfaces must be thoroughly cleaned, the bolts must be tightened diagonally, and the torque must be even." Old Fang wiped his hands. "You used to repair tractors, where the vibration wasn't this great, and the gaskets could be installed slightly off-center and still work. But that won't do on a ship."

Guo Dayong stood to the side. "I've got it."

Old Fang handed him the wrench. "Reassemble it."

Guo Dayong took it, disassembled it, and reassembled it. This time, he was slow, scraping the mating surfaces three times, tightening the bolts diagonally, and checking the gaskets by hand after each turn to ensure even pressure. After reassembly, he tested the machine and found no leaks.

Old Fang squatted at the cabin door and watched for a while.

"Okay. We'll pretend like this from now on."

Guo Dayong wiped the wrench clean and put it back on the tool wall. That night, after finishing work, he didn't leave. Instead, he squatted in the engine room and inspected all the sealing points of the entire main engine. He checked the oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, water pump seal, and oil filter seal one by one. By the time he finished, it was already dark.

As March came to a close, the ship repair shop's account saw another addition.

Twenty-three boats were repaired during the spring flood season, all minor repairs. Gross profit was over three thousand.

Jiang Haiping locked the account book in the drawer. The stone trough was now empty; the spring fishing season was over, and the fishermen were taking a few days off. The dried ribbonfish under the eaves had dried out, so Ahai took one down, steamed it, and shared it with everyone. The fish was firm, salty, and fragrant—perfect with porridge.

Lin Xiu'e walked over with a bowl of dried ribbonfish and sat down next to Jiang Haiping.

"Brother Ping. My dad said the spring fishing season is over, and the Ping'an boat caught more fish this spring than last autumn. The loan from the credit union can be paid off next month."

"That's good."

"My dad also said that now that the loan is paid off, he wants to treat you to a meal. Just family."

Jiang Haiping looked at her.

"When?"

"The night after tomorrow."

"OK."

Lin Xiu'e lowered her head, a slight smile playing on her lips. She picked up a piece of dried ribbonfish from her bowl and placed it into Jiang Haiping's bowl.

"My mom made it. She said you like to eat it."

A sea breeze blows. Dried ribbonfish hang under the eaves, swaying gently. In the distance, at the dock, fishing boats returning to port are unloading their last catch. The spring sun dips below the horizon, turning the sky a fiery orange-red, then slowly deepening to a deep blue.

The wooden sign at the entrance of the ship repair shop was bathed in the red glow of the sunset, clearly displaying the seven characters "Moon Island Ship Repair Department".