For their first beachcombing trip of the new year, Bai Yu and the others stayed on the beach until four in the morning, when the sky began to lighten, before they finally stopped and prepared to go home to rest.
"Brother Yu, why don't you go queue up at Uncle San's place? Don't you sell your catch from the beach?"
Just as Bai Yu was about to take Bai Yue and Wang Hai home, Bai Yun came over carrying a bucket and crab tongs.
"Selling fish today? Baiyun, check what day it is today, it's the first day of the Lunar New Year! Who opens for business so early on the first day of the Lunar New Year? Tell the rest of you to go home first. Those who want to sell fish can go to Uncle San's place at noon, so he can properly wish his elders a Happy New Year!"
Bai Yu patted Bai Yun on the shoulder, then walked past the latter carrying a bucket of various sea snails.
Bai Yu didn't know how this last trip yielded such a bountiful harvest; it was like he'd disturbed a nest of scallops and conches, picking them up in heaps.
There was nothing else in his bucket but at least thirty pounds of various scallops and conches, the largest of which was a coconut snail, which alone weighed three or four pounds.
In addition to what's in the bucket, he also has four net bags on his sides, containing abalone, whelks, mussels, and tuna.
With every step he takes, his entire body makes a cracking sound, like seashells colliding with each other.
After the three of them returned home, Bai Yue threw her things into the yard and went upstairs to wash up and prepare for rest.
In contrast, Bai Yu and Wang Hai were still full of energy. Not only were they not sleepy, but they even wanted to have some breakfast because they were hungry.
After all, the two brothers had been fishing at the beach for more than three hours. In those three hours, they must have walked tens of thousands of steps. They made four or five trips home just to deliver the fish they had caught. With such a huge amount of exertion, how could they not be hungry?
"Brother Yu, how about we get something to eat? What do you think of seafood noodles with more seafood and more noodles?"
"More seafood, more noodles? You could have just asked for more. Okay, I'll go boil some water first. You can choose whatever seafood you want. I'll call Yueyue."
What's wrong with eating some seafood? Anyway, Bai Yu and his friends picked all the seafood themselves. Self-sufficiency has always been a traditional virtue of our Chinese people.
Bai Yu then went to the kitchen to boil water and called Bai Yue, who said she would come down to eat after taking a shower and asked for extra shrimp.
Ten minutes later, Wang Hai came into the kitchen with three blue crabs, twelve large shrimps, and a plate of various sea snails.
As for the three of them's appetite, Bai Yu ordered five packs of instant noodles, Bai Yue ordered one pack, and he and Wang Hai each ordered two packs. With the seafood, they were almost full.
Just as Bai Yu had predicted, the three of them ate all five packs of instant noodles and a bunch of seafood.
By the time they finished breakfast, it was only a little past five o'clock, and the sun had just risen.
Thanks to the fact that it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, Bai's parents didn't have to get up too early. Around 5 a.m., only Bai Yu was awake at home, as Wang Hai had also gone home to rest.
Bai Yu wasn't really sleepy. After washing up and changing his clothes, he started editing videos in his room, cutting together footage of his beachcombing day.
At eight o'clock in the morning, Bai's father knocked on Bai Yu's door and came in.
"Hey, Xiaoyu, you're awake already. Hurry up and get ready, go downstairs and get something to eat, then come with me to wish your grandparents a Happy New Year. I'm going to wake your sister up."
"Dad, please don't call Yueyue anymore. She only went to sleep at five o'clock this morning. Let her wish Grandpa and Grandma a Happy New Year after she wakes up."
"You didn't go to sleep until after 5 a.m.? What time did you guys finish beachcombing last night? By the way, did you catch the grouper in the aquarium outside? Did you catch it while beachcombing?"
Upon hearing that Bai Yue went to bed at five in the morning, Bai's father was stunned. Then he thought of the crabs, conches, scallops, shrimp, lobsters, and various kinds of fish that had appeared in their aquarium.
Mr. Bai immediately became excited, especially since there was even a grouper among the sea fish, a very rare and high-end seafood.
"Yeah, we must have caught them while beachcombing, otherwise we couldn't have bought them, right? By the way, Dad, how much does wild grouper cost per pound now? If the price isn't too high, let's keep these grouper for ourselves."
"Hey, you've come to the right person. Our hotel just got a batch of wild grouper before the New Year, but they're not as big as the ones you caught. They're about 150 yuan a pound."
The grouper is divided into three grades: small, medium, and large. The three smaller grouper you caught this time can be considered as Middle Eastern grouper, while the large one can be considered as Large Eastern grouper. The price should be much higher than what we bought at the hotel.
"It should sell for around 140 or 150 in the Middle East, and 200 in the East shouldn't be a problem."
Although Mr. Bai is a chef and not in charge of purchasing, he still has some knowledge about the price of seafood, including grouper.
"Huh? Dad, you seem to be mistaken. Didn't your hotel buy Xiao Dong? Xiao Dong is worth 150 yuan. How come my Zhong Dong is only 140 or 150 yuan?"
"Are you stupid, kid? Our hotel's purchase price is 140 or 150 yuan. You're selling grouper to fishmongers, and they're paying you the purchase price."
Can the purchase price of fish be the same as the cost price? Don't fishmongers need to make a profit?
When our hotel sources goods from the Middle East, the price is generally between 200 and 220 yuan. This is after the price increase during holidays. Under normal circumstances, it's around 180 yuan.
I have some good news for you too. These grouper are all alive, which gives them a price premium. If you find a buyer who likes them, selling them for two or three hundred yuan per kilogram is no problem.
"Alright, hurry up and get ready to come downstairs with me. We'll go pay our New Year's visits first, and then we'll talk about selling fish."
After discussing the price of grouper with Bai Yu, Bai's father took Bai Yu downstairs and headed towards his second uncle's house.
Bai Yu's grandparents are still alive, but they don't live with Bai Yu's family; instead, they live with her second uncle's family.
When Bai Yu arrived at her second uncle's house with her father, her second uncle's family was having breakfast. As soon as they saw Bai Yu and her father, they immediately invited them to come and eat with them.
However, Bai Yu ate too much in the morning and hasn't felt hungry yet; she can't eat anything at all.
"Second Uncle, we've all eaten. You all eat. My dad and I are here to wish Grandpa and Grandma, as well as Second Uncle and Second Aunt, a Happy New Year."
You guys eat first, I'll give you my New Year's greetings after you've finished! Oh, by the way, Uncle, I brought you some blue crabs. Do you have anything in your aquarium? Should I put the blue crabs in there?
Bai Yu didn't visit his second uncle's house very often. He actually preferred his second uncle's repair shop, which was much more fun than his second uncle's house.
Following the direction her second uncle pointed, Bai Yu saw an aquarium filled with queen angelfish. Her first thought was:
"Holy crap, this aquarium is absolutely gorgeous! Orchid crabs don't deserve to be in this tank!"
My second uncle's aquarium was meticulously arranged. It contained not only rocks and corals, but also a lot of artificial aquatic plants and trees!
The layout is reasonable, the lighting is just right, and even the number of angelfish is just right, neither too many nor too few, giving people a very pleasing feeling.
How come he never noticed before that his second uncle's family had such a beautiful aquarium?
"Second Uncle, who put this aquarium in there? I never knew our family had this kind of talent! It's amazing!"
Uncle Bai didn't say a word to Bai Yu's question, but instead looked at the old man sitting opposite him eating breakfast.
!!
With just one look, Bai Yu understood what his second uncle meant: the aquarium was set up by the old man.
"Grandpa, did you set up this aquarium? Grandpa, could you get one for me too? Where did you buy these Queen Angelfish? They're really good quality. Could you get me some too?"
Having understood her second uncle's meaning, Bai Yu immediately moved a stool and sat down next to the old man, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
After Bai Yu learned more about it, he discovered that since the old man stopped going to sea, he had been idle at home, and he couldn't stay idle forever.
So the old man found something to do and eventually chose fish farming, which was more in line with his previous profession.
He really does raise fish. Of the angelfish in the aquarium, only four were bought by the old man; the rest were raised by him.
Besides this aquarium, my second uncle's house has several decorated aquariums containing clownfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, and other ornamental marine fish.
There was also an aquarium on another wall, which was specifically used for raising fish. Grandpa Bai not only raised them himself, but also sold them to others. He didn't earn much in a year, just enough to break even, and also enough for him to buy some wine and such.
Finally, after Bai Yu kowtowed and presented a thick red envelope, Grandpa Bai agreed to help Bai Yu get a beautiful aquarium as well.
...........
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