As soon as Ye Qingling entered the room, she glanced at the sleeping Feng Xinan and then quickly went to check on the coconut snails.
At this point, the shell of the coconut snail had fallen to the ground, leaving only the snail meat hanging on the scale hook.
"Where are the Melo Pearls? Are they encased in flesh like pearls?"
Ye Qingling's eyes lit up.
"Not necessarily. It might be encased in meat, or it might be inside the shell, or it might even spit itself out."
Feng Ye once saw a news report; he didn't know if it was true or not, but it was certainly quite unusual.
The story is about the owner of a seafood restaurant in Taiwan. When she was changing the water in her aquarium after closing time, she noticed something strange about a coconut snail. When she picked it up, she was surprised to find that the snail had spat out an orange-red pearl that shimmered with golden light under the sun.
The shop owner didn't recognize the pearl, so she took a picture and posted it online. Netizens recognized it and replied that it was a valuable Melo pearl, which was eventually appraised at approximately 100,000 yuan.
"Oh, is that so strange?"
Ye Qingling picked up the snail shell first, closed one eye, and looked inside the shell with the other eye open.
Feng Ye asked excitedly, "Is it inside?"
"No, there's nothing in here."
"If there are beads, they can only be inside the flesh; otherwise, there aren't any."
Ye Qingling put the shell down, then removed the snail meat from the scale hook. She pinched the snail meat with both hands and carefully felt for any abnormalities.
“There really is one, it’s hard here.”
Ye Qingling suddenly opened her eyes wide with surprise and even lowered her voice.
Holy crap, it really exists?
Feng Ye was instantly excited.
He didn't have high expectations to begin with.
After all, Melaleuca is extremely rare.
In later generations, it is said that only about 200 of them have survived.
"Hahaha...I'm rich..."
Ye Qingling looked like a money-grubber.
"Don't rush to conclusions. Take it out first and check its quality before you know if it can bring you wealth."
"Um."
Ye Qingling took out scissors and carefully cut open the snail meat.
Soon, Ye Qingling took a round, orange-yellow bead with a crystal-clear, porcelain-like luster out of the flesh.
"This is Melo pearls? Melo pearls that are more expensive than pearls?"
Ye Qingling looked at the beads in her hand, her face filled with uncontrollable joy.
"That's right, this is Melaleuca."
Feng Ye said with certainty, his eyes sparkling with excitement: "It is said that the probability of a coconut snail finding a Melo pearl is only one in several thousand, and the probability of finding one that is larger and of better quality is even lower."
"These beads are so beautiful, the colors are so pretty."
Ye Qingling held the Melo Pearl in her palm, admiring it over and over.
"That's natural. Melo Pearls are also called Dragon Pearls and Flame Pearls. Their colors range from orange-red, orange-yellow, yellow, and yellowish-brown to near-white. They have a ceramic-like, shiny appearance and flame-like patterns. Their shapes range from irregular and oval to egg-shaped."
Looking at the Melody Pearl in Ye Qingling's hand, he swallowed hard and excitedly added, "In terms of shape, round ones are usually the most valuable, while orange ones are the most precious."
"Round? Orange?" Ye Qingling's eyes widened, and she asked somewhat uncertainly, "Our bead seems to meet both criteria?"
“Yes.” Feng Ye beamed with excitement. “Ours is a top-grade Melo Pearl, and it’s quite large in diameter, almost the size of a coin.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Qingling quickly opened the drawer and took out three coins with denominations of one cent, two cents, and five cents.
The diameter of a one-cent coin is 18 millimeters, that of a two-cent coin is 21 millimeters, and that of a five-cent coin is 24 millimeters.
She compared the Melaleuca beads with the three coins and found that their diameter was roughly between a one-cent coin and a two-cent coin, that is, between 18 millimeters and 21 millimeters.
This head is already quite large.
"How much can this bead sell for?" she asked hopefully.
This question really stumped Feng Ye.
For a moment, he really didn't know how much this Melo Pearl was worth.
Because the Vietnamese royal family was deeply influenced by my country's traditional dragon culture, they regarded My Lok Chau as a "dragon pearl," which was kept exclusively by the emperor and was also given sacred symbolic meaning.
Therefore, Melo beads have always been collectible treasures sought after by collectors in both the East and the West.
In later generations, a single Melo pearl the size of a mung bean could sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
More than a decade later, at an auction in Hong Kong, a 100.4-carat Melo pearl fetched an astronomical price, selling for US$2.7 million.
The average price per carat was US dollars, setting a world record for the highest price ever paid for a single pearl.
Known as the most precious pearl, the Melo pearl truly deserves its reputation.
Based on this, their top-grade Melo Pearl should be worth at least a million dollars, in US dollars.
But now, Feng Ye doesn't know.
He thought for a moment and said, "I only know that Melaleuca is expensive, but I don't know exactly how expensive it is."
"Its price is affected by many factors, such as size, shape, color, gloss, and defects."
“Ours is so perfect, it must be very valuable. To sell it for a good price, we have to go to big cities with lots of rich people.”
"We can forget about cities like ours; it has to be at least Xiamen, or even Hong Kong Island or Taiwan."
"Oh? Is it that complicated?"
Ye Qingling was dumbfounded.
Are we going to Hong Kong Island and Taiwan as well?
Are these beads really that expensive?
This is outrageous!
“We’re not short of money right now. We have tens of thousands in cash on hand, and money is coming in every day. Today’s abalone and baby lobster will bring in another sum. Maybe we should just keep them for our own collection instead of selling them.”
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