The two dug for more than an hour until Ye Cheng realized that he could no longer dig anything up, and then they stopped.
Now he roughly understood the meaning: the higher the luck value, the more things you dig up, and 70 luck value is about what you have now.
The two buckets were already full, and Xiao Hu's snakeskin bag was also quite full; it was already a very good harvest.
"Let's go, let's sell them for money."
"Alright, bro, making money is really hard work."
"Get lost. Making money is never easy."
The two packed up, and Xiao Hu carried a snakeskin bag and half a bucket, while Ye Cheng carried the whole bucket himself as they walked towards the village.
It's already 10:30, and most of the beachcombers have gone home, leaving only a few scattered people.
By the time they rode their bikes to the dock, it was already eleven o'clock.
It's still Lao Lin Seafood; for now, it's the only seafood restaurant I'm familiar with.
"Hey, Brother Ye, you're here again. What good stuff do you have this time?" Old Lin greeted them warmly upon seeing the two.
"Yeah, I got some stuff done today, take a look." Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu unload the stuff.
"Wow, so much stuff! What is it?" Old Lin looked at the snakeskin bag with curiosity, wondering who would use this to pack seafood.
"Sea cucumbers and sandworms are all mixed together."
Ye Cheng was too lazy to divide it up; he'd let Lao Lin divide it up himself.
"Sea cucumbers and sandworms?" Old Lin rubbed his hands excitedly. These things are not easy to get.
It wasn't until the later stages of breeding that these things became plentiful.
Moreover, farmed ones can't compare to wild ones.
Just like cultivated ginseng has no effect, can farmed sea cucumbers and sandworms have the same effect?
Old Lin found several large boxes and had Xiao Hu pour the contents into them.
Xiao Hu was also very strong, and without Ye Cheng lifting a finger, he emptied the entire contents of the snakeskin bag by himself.
Old Lin's eyes widened at the sight of the whole box of sea cucumbers. "Holy crap, you two got this many?"
"My brother dug most of them up; I just assisted him," Xiao Hu said proudly.
Sea cucumbers and sandworms wriggled and scurried around in the box, full of energy.
Ye Cheng casually picked up a sea cucumber, held it in his hand, and said, "Look at this, isn't it big enough?"
"Enough, enough." Even Old Lin, the shrewd businessman, couldn't stand it anymore. Sea cucumbers thicker than two fingers. If he could get some of these to nourish himself, would his wife stop nagging him all the time?
"These are all good items, name your price."
"20, 20 yuan a pound, I'll take them all. How about that, is that generous enough?" Old Lin said with a magnanimous air, as if he had offered 200 instead of 20.
This time, Xiao Hu learned his lesson and kept his mouth shut when Brother Cheng was negotiating the price.
Ye Cheng didn't say anything, but just shook his head slightly. "Boss Lin, if you keep charging like this, I'll go somewhere else next time."
"Hey brother, don't be fooled by this small shop. The expenses are huge, rent and utilities are all there. You have to let me make a little profit, right?" Old Lin started his usual routine again.
"20 is for ordinary goods. For my kind, you can estimate the price yourself."
"Yes, but they're all different sizes. The bigger ones are more expensive, but the smaller ones are cheaper." Old Lin said, picking out a small sandworm from among them.
"Look, this is just average."
Ye Cheng was speechless. This guy was definitely a shrewd businessman. He really needed to find a different one next time.
He was too lazy to argue with Lao Lin anymore. "30 all-inclusive, take it or leave it."
"30? How could that be? I'd lose money!" Old Lin immediately started complaining about being poor.
"Little Tiger, let's go!" Ye Cheng shouted.
"Here it comes, brother." Little Tiger was already familiar with this routine, so without asking any questions, he bent down, took out a snakeskin bag, and started packing.
"Wait, wait, 30 it is." Old Lin quickly stopped Xiao Hu.
"Xiao Hu, put it down and wait for Boss Lin to weigh it."
Old Lin shook his head helplessly, pointed at Ye Cheng and said, "Brother Ye, you're really shrewd. You managed to get me from 20 to 30 in one go. Let me tell you, I really didn't make any money."
"Let me tell you, here I also need to store, transport, and manpower..."
Old Lin kept muttering to himself, but Ye Cheng pretended not to hear and lit a cigarette.
Old Lin realized that this guy was unyielding to both soft and hard approaches, and he had run out of ideas for him.
"Okay, then I'll put myself on the scale."
Before weighing the items, Lao Lin found another box and sorted through the items, leaving the smaller ones in the box.
"Brother, these are too small, I won't accept them."
Ye Cheng glanced at it; it wasn't exactly small, but the old man was a little reluctant to sell it for 30.
"Okay, those will do. Let's see how much they weigh."
These small ones are delicious if you bring them back and stir-fry them yourself.
"It weighs 63 jin (31.5 catties) in total, and costs 1890 yuan. Do you think that's correct?"
Upon hearing "over a thousand," Xiao Hu's eyes widened involuntarily once again.
"Okay, this price will do." Ye Cheng didn't waste any more words.
Old Lin counted out a stack of money and handed it to Ye Cheng, saying, "Brother, this is a really good price. If you need anything in the future, just come to me."
"Okay, I got it. I need something from you."
...
After the two came out, Ye Cheng deliberately stuffed the money into his pocket without even glancing at Xiao Hu.
Xiao Hu was so anxious, he was scratching his head, wanting to say something but also hesitant to.
"What, do you have something to say?"
Xiao Hu gave an awkward laugh. "Brother, I... was it...?"
"Yes, you are something else, look at you, you're such a coward." Ye Cheng was too lazy to tease him anymore.
He took out some money, counted out four large bills, and gave them to Xiaohu. "Here, this is yours, 400. Take it back to your parents."
"Hey, hey, okay, bro, 400? My mom's probably going to cry again."
"If she cries, tell her that good days are coming, and that every day will be good from now on. See if she still cries."
After receiving the money, Ye Cheng calculated that he still had 400 yuan left from yesterday, and with today's money, he had a total of 1,800 yuan, which was still some distance from the 5,000 yuan he owed.
However, there is no pressure at all to pay it off within a month.
"Brother, my mom said that since you're helping me earn money, I should treat you to a meal. Shall we go to a restaurant in town?"
Ye Cheng hadn't heard the phrase "going to a restaurant" in a long time.
In the era when food delivery services were ubiquitous, most people ordered takeout or attended drinking parties; simple meals were much less common.
Back in 2002, there was no food delivery service, and people didn't have much money. They usually cooked at home, and would only go to a restaurant if relatives or friends came to visit.
Then we'll call it eating out.
The biggest difference between restaurant food and home-cooked food is that the cooking time is higher and the ingredients are more abundant.
High heat produces dishes with a strong smoky flavor, and freshly cooked dishes taste much better.
In addition, the various spices and seasonings used in restaurants make it taste much better than the simple scallions, ginger, and garlic at home.
So, Xiao Hu's words swayed Ye Cheng's heart.
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