Mingjing discarded the abalone meat, took the pearl in her palm, and found it to be a perfect pearl—purple, round, and shiny.
"Wow, such a small abalone has such a big pearl inside?" Mingliang was also surprised.
"Dad, how much does one of this quality cost?"
Ming Dahai caught the abalone and examined it closely. "The abalone I sold to Lao Zhao last time was smaller than this one, and it wasn't in good condition either. It cost a thousand each. This one is probably worth more than a thousand."
"Hmm, this is even better than the one I gave Qian Jiu'er! Dad, we're rich!" Mingliang excitedly jumped up and danced.
"There's only one left, it's not enough to make you rich yet, hurry up and pick it up." Ming Dahai didn't dare to eat any more now, he felt that catching abalone was more important.
In the past, he would go to the deep sea to catch abalone, and he might not even be able to catch any. Now, with so many abalone, he even found an abalone pearl, which has aroused his fighting spirit.
The Ming family found an abalone pearl in their food and had the idea of staying there.
"Dad, let's take all the abalone back here and put the traps away this afternoon," Mingjing said, getting up and bending down to pick out the abalone.
Minghai grinned so hard his eyes disappeared. "That's right, that's right. We've made our money back today. Let's get to work!"
Seeing that the two children were more diligent than before, Ming Dahai was happy. Bao Zhu was extremely rare, and he was very satisfied that one of them could come out. He would keep the rest to sell for money.
The three of them worked hard, and soon the sack was bulging.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Mingjing had collected all the abalone from the island.
"Let's go check on the fish traps, then go back," Mingjing said, looking up at the sunset over the beach, feeling a bit dizzy.
"Okay, that's enough. The rest are just small abalone, they're not very useful."
Ming Dahai stopped and pulled a sack of abalone toward the boat.
The engine roared to life, the propeller rose, Mingliang pulled up the anchor, and the small boat turned and headed towards the fish trap.
Two balloons floated on the sea. Mingjing pulled them up, and inside were many colorful fish, banana fish, and two small pufferfish.
Mingjing used the pufferfish to clean her shoes for a while before throwing it away.
Mingjing and Mingliang were picking up abalone on the boat when, accompanied by the thumping of the motor, the boat slowly left the nearshore waters.
Three large bags were filled with abalone. Ming Dahai stopped the boat, went home to get a cart to carry them, and Mingjing and Mingliang watched the abalone.
At the dock, they ran into Old Zhao, who collected seafood. He glanced at Mingjing's bucket and said, "Wow, so many abalone! Mingjing, sell them to me, I guarantee a good price."
"How much can you give?" Mingliang asked, being talkative.
"They're too small, but there's a lot of them. How about thirteen a pound? Mingjing, I heard you've been getting a lot of good stuff lately. Send them all to me from now on, and I guarantee you'll make a fortune."
Hearing this, Mingjing twitched her lips. "Uncle Zhao, I weigh at least 31 jin in the city. Don't try to cheat me."
"No way, you're talking about large abalone. Yours looks too small. Thirteen a pound is an astronomical price. Why don't you go to the city and ask if they have that price?"
"Dad, do you like abalone?"
Ming Dahai looked bewildered by her question and nodded hesitantly.
"You can eat your fill today, but these abalone are not for sale."
"Mingjing, don't talk nonsense. There must be seven or eight hundred pounds of abalone. Are you keeping them all to lay smaller abalone?"
Old Zhao clearly didn't take Mingjing's words to heart and chuckled.
"Yes, not only will I stay, but I'll also treat the whole village to abalone."
Upon hearing this, Old Zhao snorted and turned to leave. If he didn't want to sell to him, he could just say he didn't want to buy and invite the whole village to a feast for his sixtieth birthday.
Seeing that Lao Zhao had left, Ming Dahai chuckled, "Lao Zhao still wants to fool us? It's not the right time. When we get home, call Boss Dong over, and it definitely won't be this price."
Mingjing didn't say anything and followed the car home, while Mingliang went to Song Yugui's place to inform him to come and collect the boat.
Back home, Sun Yunmei poured out all the abalone, her face beaming with excitement. "Wow, so many abalone? And whelks too! This is going to be quite a lot of money."
"Not for sale." Mingjing squatted down, untied the sack, and put Cai Mei and the banana fish into the pool.
There's no need to collect the whelks; just rinse them with water to remove the mud and sand, and set them aside to wait to be sold.
Upon hearing that they weren't selling, Sun Yunmei stamped her feet in frustration, "Why aren't you selling them? What are you doing with all these abalone piled up at home? They may be a bit small, but they're still valuable."
After Mingjing finished, he closed the door, took out the pearl, and handed it to Sun Yunmei.
She took it and frowned. "What is this?"
"Baozhu".
Sun Yunmei was overjoyed. Even a poor-quality abalone pearl costs several thousand, but this one is of good quality and costs at least five thousand. No wonder Mingjing wanted to keep it.
Better to kill a thousand than let one go.
Ming Dahai hesitated upon hearing this. Abalone pearls could be profitable, but with so many abalone, it would be good if even one pearl could be found. If all the abalone were harvested, it would be a loss.
"Mingjing, let's forget about it. We'd be lucky to get one out of a thousand abalone. Once an abalone is cut open, it's worthless. It's a losing proposition."
Sun Yunmei sighed, "Open up, Mingjing has been lucky lately. He found abalone pearls again. Maybe every single one in there has abalone pearls. Even if there aren't, this one is enough to break even. It's not a loss."
All the abalone were spilled on the ground, leaving no place for the group to step.
"Mom, go and call Uncle's family over. The more people there are, the faster we can get the job done."
Mingjing had back pain and stiff joints from picking at abalone, making it difficult for her to even hold a knife; she needed help from others.
As soon as she finished speaking, Mingliang walked in from outside. Sun Yunmei said, "Mingliang, go and call your uncle's family over. They'll have dinner here tonight and help us prepare the abalone."
"Alright. By the way, Mingjing, Uncle Song asked when you're going to rent a boat again. He'll be in the city for a few days and won't be back. If you need one, go find Song Laosan."
After saying that, Mingliang turned and ran outside.
"I'll go cook," Sun Yunmei said, getting up and heading to the kitchen. "There are still quite a few leftovers from heaven; let's make some new ones today."
Mingjing was just about to open the abalone when a familiar voice sounded at the door.
"Mingjing, you guys have big shipments every day? Why don't you tell us?" Ming Xingwang's wife, Wang Jinhua, stood at the door, cracking sunflower seeds as if watching a commotion, and said this.
"There are big shipments every day? That's all just a rumor. I'm lucky today, I just happened to run into abalone meeting." Sun Yunmei chuckled, inwardly blaming Mingliang for not closing the door when he left, which brought this trouble upon him.
"I think so. While I was away, your family was having a great time. I heard you were getting big shipments every day. What are you doing scraping all that abalone? Can you even eat it?"
"If we can't finish it, let's treat the villagers to it," Mingjing interjected.
"Really? Mingjing, you're getting more and more generous these days. You can't be lying to us. It's not a holiday, what are you up to?"
Wang Jinhua paused, still unable to figure out whether Mingjing was telling the truth or not.
"Really, go back and wait." Mingjing didn't even lift her eyelids, focusing intently on the abalone in her hand.
"Then I trust you and will wait for your abalone."
After Wang Jinhua left, Mingjing frowned. She had opened seven or eight abalone, but there wasn't a single pearl among them.
Could it be that she really was wrong?
Mingjing returned home, opened the fishing tackle shop, and found his luck stat still high.
"Mingjing, why don't we just forget about it? Those pearls are rare; it's normal that you might not get one out of ten thousand. Let's just sell the rest."
Ming Dahai felt sorry for him.
"No, there must be something there."
"Mingjing, your hands look as hard as a zombie's. Are you tired? Why don't you take a break?" Sun Yunmei wondered to herself.
"Need not."
Mingjing picked up an abalone, and carefully used her right middle and ring fingers to hold the knife and stab it into the abalone meat.
She cut the scallop open, but still nothing; her brows furrowed deeper.
"Don't rush, take your time, sister," Mingyue comforted her, holding an abalone beside her.
"Mom and Dad, Uncle is here!" Mingliang ran in.
Sun Yang exclaimed upon seeing the abalone scattered all over the ground, "Goodness, is this an abalone meeting?"
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