In just over 20 minutes, Ye Cheng had filled a whole bag, estimating it to be about 70 or 80 more, which looked quite heavy underwater.
Ye Cheng tugged on the rope, wanting Xiao Hu to lift the things up.
Um?
There was no movement.
Ye Cheng tugged again, but damn it, there was still no response.
Damn it, I knew this son of a bitch wasn't paying attention. There aren't any pretty girls or computers out there. I don't know what this guy has to do with anything.
There was nothing he could do; pulling the rope had no effect, so Ye Cheng had to swim upwards on his own. Damn, swimming dozens of meters was quite strenuous, especially since he had to hold onto a net.
After finally swimming to the surface, Ye Cheng poked his head out and yelled, "Damn it! Little Tiger, where are you?"
Upon hearing Ye Cheng's voice, Xiao Hu reacted and leaned out of the boat.
"Brother, you're up here."
"Damn it, I've pulled the rope so many times, where are you?"
"I'm fishing, and I've caught several sea bream," Xiao Hu said proudly.
Ye Cheng was speechless.
Damn it, I'm down here picking up seashells while you're up here fishing.
It's one thing for you to be so relaxed.
You're fishing!
Aren't you afraid of catching me in the act?
Xiao Hu could tell what Ye Cheng was thinking just by looking at his expression.
"Brother, don't worry, I'm fishing over there, I won't catch you."
"Yes, you won't be able to hook me, but you can't see the rope anymore. Hurry up and pull the rope up."
"Here I am, bro!"
Little Tiger responded cheerfully, then pulled on the rope and started to climb up.
"Brother, so many!" Xiao Hu looked at the seashells in his pocket with some surprise.
"There's plenty below. I'll get a lot more today. You can open the pearls on top later. Remember to keep the shell meat too, and take it to Aunt Qian's to feed the crayfish."
After the pearls are harvested, the meat won't fetch much money; it's perfect for feeding the crayfish.
After Xiao Hu cleaned out the bag of Pinctada martensii, Ye Cheng pulled the net and went back into the water.
This time, feeling more confident, he swam faster. Based on his usual 40-minute diving time, Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu pull him up in the net after 20 minutes.
Then, after 40 minutes, do another netting; you can catch more than you did in one go.
After two dives, lasting nearly two hours, Ye Cheng was a bit exhausted. He came up to rest for a while and checked the results.
"How about it, are there many pearls?" Ye Cheng looked at the shells and bits of meat scattered on the ground, but couldn't see any pearls.
"Not many, bro. It takes seven or eight to get one. It's really tough on me, so I only managed to get a few dozen. Take a look."
As he spoke, Xiao Hu handed over a plastic basket, the kind of cheap plastic basket that you'd think would cost more than 2 yuan at a street stall.
Seriously, such a valuable item, and they didn't even bother to put a napkin on it.
The basket contained more than 30 pearls with a white luster. The pearls from the Pinctada martensii oyster are known as "little light bulbs" because of their undeniable luster.
However, they are not very big; the largest is seven or eight millimeters, and the smallest is only four millimeters. Some of them are also pinkish.
Ye Cheng originally thought that wild pearls would grow crookedly, but he didn't expect that this batch would grow to be quite round.
While not as perfectly round as those farmed ones, they're still quite good and perfectly suitable for making ordinary necklaces.
Xiao Hu complained about the lack of pearls, but Ye Cheng thought it was already a lot, considering they were wild, not farmed.
While there were still some unopened shells, Ye Cheng grabbed a knife and started opening them, wanting to experience the thrill of opening blind boxes.
The result was similar to what Xiaohu had predicted; out of seven or eight pearls, one would come out. Ye Cheng then retrieved another ten pearls, bringing the total to over 40.
At noon, the two prepared some food. Ye Cheng dared not go down until he was full, as it would be too tiring.
While they were eating, a trawler suddenly came from a distance. They thought it would just pass by, but when it saw Ye Cheng and the others there, it actually came right up to them.
Ye Cheng told Xiao Hu to put the pearls away; wealth should not be flaunted, this is an eternal truth.
There was only one person on the boat, a man in his thirties. Ye Cheng looked at him but didn't recognize him and didn't know his purpose. The two of them could only watch him warily.
"Hey bro, is your car malfunctioning here?" the man called out as he approached.
Hearing this question, the two were relieved, guessing that the person was just passing by.
"No, we're here fishing." Xiao Hu raised the other fishing rod to indicate.
"Haha, it's good that you're alright. I'm off now."
After saying that, the man didn't waste any more words and turned to leave.
"Who is this?" Ye Cheng asked.
Xiao Hu shook his head. "I've never seen it before. It's probably from another village."
"Hmm." Ye Cheng nodded, then thought for a moment and said...
"You should pretend to be fishing later, so people won't get suspicious."
"Damn, bro, aren't you afraid of getting hooked again?"
"Are you stupid? Why don't you just remove the fishhook?"
Xiao Hu was stunned. "Wow, bro, even Jiang Ziya used a straight hook, but you don't use anything?"
"You're just a lookout; do your job well."
Ye Cheng ate three bowls of rice at noon, afraid of getting hungry while swimming. As a result, when he finally went into the water, his belly was round and bulging, just like a pufferfish.
Pulling on the net, they resumed their arduous work as pearl divers.
Ye Cheng went down three times that afternoon and finally emptied the seabed of the Pinctada martensii before swimming back up.
Our bored young master, Little Tiger, is already dozing off, holding an empty fishing rod like a fool.
"Brother, you're finally up! I was so bored." Xiao Hu put away his empty fishing rod.
Did anyone's boat pass by just now?
"Yes, there are several, but they didn't say anything when they saw me fishing."
"Okay, that's about it. You steer the boat and find a quiet spot so we can open the rest of the shells."
The two men steered the boat to a small island, and then each took a knife and started fighting.
This thing is really addictive, just like gambling.
In later generations, there were people who would specifically broadcast this live. In the middle of the night, a group of people would stay up and watch the shells being opened, and then buy some on the side. Those who farmed pearls made a lot of money.
Ye Cheng couldn't understand why this thing was so interesting at first, but now that he's opened it himself, wow, it's so exciting!
Pry it open, wow!
One or two!
Wow!
One more!
Damn it, the adrenaline is gushing out like it's free.
It took the two of them almost an hour to open this batch of pearls, and they got more than 80 pearls in total.
More than 80 pearls were laid out together. Although they were all Akoya pearls, which are known as "little light bulbs," more than a dozen of them were noticeably brighter.
Ye Cheng picked them out separately. These dozen or so pearls were perfectly round, with virtually no flaws, and even had a pinkish halo.
"Brother, are these few expensive?" Xiao Hu followed Ye Cheng, looking at them over and over.
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