Mingjing placed the cut abalone in the kitchen, preparing to use it for stir-frying.
"Abalone pearls aren't easy to find, hurry up and pick them up," Ming Dahai sighed.
Several large sacks were piled up haphazardly, and the seafood was all sorts of strange and unusual items.
Each member of the Ming family was responsible for picking two kinds of seafood. They picked up a whole basket of crabs alone, but there was simply not enough room for them all. They were also worried that the crabs would die if left for too long, so Ming Dahai scratched his head.
“These crabs can run away, and we won’t be able to keep them all. Mingjing, you should take them to the city to sell first.”
Mingjing looked at the bucket full of crabs and nodded. "The city is too far away. Let me ask first."
In this weather, the roads to the city will probably be difficult to navigate. Not only will there be traffic jams and extra charges, but the crabs will also suffocate. Besides, everyone already knows how much money they make.
This time, the whole village knows, and she has no intention of hiding it.
Unfastening the plastic bag hanging around her neck and taking out her mobile phone, Mingjing first called Sister Wu in the city to tentatively inquire about the prices of various seafood.
Sister Wu gave the prices one by one, but Mingjing didn't reveal how much seafood there was, only saying that she would consider it.
Knowing the price, Mingjing remembered that she had left Xie Jun'an's phone number last time, so she dialed it directly, "Hello, who is it?"
The voice on the other end was that of Dong Li, the owner of the seafood restaurant.
"I'm Mingjing. I'd like to ask if you're buying seafood today, and if the prices are still the same?"
"Market conditions change every day, and prices are different now. Do you have any seafood?"
"Yes, we picked up quite a few crabs today. What's the price? It must be a couple hundred pounds."
Upon hearing that it weighed one or two hundred jin (50-100 kg), Dong Li's voice visibly excited, "One or two hundred jin? Young lady, does your family own a livestock farm?"
"No, these are from the waves during the typhoon. It's not just crabs, I also have conch, sea cucumbers, abalone, eels and lots of shellfish."
"Dad, what's making you so happy?"
Xie Jun'an's voice came from the other end.
“That young girl from last time caught a lot of good stuff while beachcombing. We were talking about it when I found out she had my phone number.”
Dong Li and his son whispered to each other.
"Dad..." Xie Jun'an spoke very softly to Dong Li afterward, and Mingjing could barely hear what they were saying.
After a moment, Dong Li laughed and said, "I'll take them all. We'll discuss the price in person, and I guarantee it will be higher than in the city. Give me your home address, and I'll have my son drive over to pick them up."
Mingjing gave Dong Li the address, hung up the phone, and laughed, "They'll come pick it up right away, saying the price is higher than in the city."
Upon hearing that it was more expensive than in the city, Ming Dahai was very satisfied.
The group spent over three hours bending over and sorting through the various types of seafood. They couldn't even fit it all in their bowls, so they had to bring out their large cooking pot.
Ming Dahai stood up and straightened his back. "These things weigh at least 500 jin, but it's a pity we don't have a scale. They're too big to use a steelyard balance."
Looking at the seafood scattered all over the ground, Mingjing looked helpless.
She took the "Good Luck Pills" for a day, but if there's no big order tomorrow, then she'll have bought them for nothing.
"Mingyue, Mingliang, you two go to the seaside and fetch some seawater. Don't let these fish die, and don't go into the deep water," Ming Dahai instructed.
The two obediently took the water trough used to feed the chickens at home and went to the beach to fetch seawater.
Seeing that it was getting late, Sun Yunmei busied herself preparing dinner, thinking that she would invite the seafood buyer over for a meal so they could discuss the price.
Each type of seafood was prepared as a dish. As the sky grew dark, Ming Dahai paced anxiously in the courtyard, puffing on his pipe one after another.
"Mingjing, call again and ask if they're lost. The weather outside is bad, so we don't want anything else to happen."
Mingjing, who was helping in the kitchen, heard Mingdahai's words and calmly said, "How could two grown people not know the way? We've given them the address, they can't go the wrong way, don't worry."
Sun Yunmei kept glancing towards the door, pointing to a spot not far away and saying, "Hey, isn't that the car?"
A black Santana pulled up in front of the Ming family's house, and a man got out. Mingjing recognized him at a glance as Wang Yong.
"Officer Wang, what brings you here?"
Wang Yong laughed and said, "I'm not here to arrest you. I'm not even wearing a police uniform or driving a police car. I'm here to tell you that the case is solved and you're no longer a suspect."
"I wanted to call you, but then I realized I didn't leave my number, so I came over to let you know."
Upon hearing that the case had been solved, Ming Dahai breathed a sigh of relief. "Was this done by Zhao Liang'an?"
"Yes, he saw that you didn't buy seafood from him and even made money from it, so he deliberately reported you to frame you and formed his own gang to fish with electricity. Ming Dashan was also involved in this."
Mingjing was shocked. She had only wanted to get revenge on Ming Dashan and make him suffer, but she never expected that he was actually involved in electrofishing.
"Ming Dashan is my younger brother. Is he really going to go to jail?"
“Ming Dashan and Zhao Liang’an’s testimonies are inconsistent. Zhao Liang’an identified Ming Dashan as the mastermind. Not only him, but the gang members also admitted that it was Ming Dashan.”
"Our investigation found that Ming Dashan and Zhao Liang'an did have a close relationship. Zhao Liang'an frequently transferred money to Ming Dashan, and the amount was not small."
Mingjing was getting more and more confused. Could it be that she had accidentally arrested Ming Lao Er?
"Will this result in jail time? Will I have to pay compensation?"
Ming Dahai looked at Wang Yong with concern.
"They don't need to pay compensation, but they captured a sea turtle, a national second-class protected animal. Although it wasn't injured, it's a crime, and they might have to stay in jail for a month or so."
"It depends on who is in charge. The act of buying and selling wild animals may be punishable by imprisonment. We can't make the decision on this matter; we have already reported it to the city."
Hearing that he was going to be sentenced, Ming Dahai didn't say anything, his expression was dejected.
"Mingjing, I wronged you last time. My master criticized me, so please don't blame me," Wang Yong said, somewhat embarrassed.
Mingjing didn't seem to care at all, and said generously, "I've already forgotten about it. As long as you find out the truth, that's fine. Don't worry, I won't say anything I can't prove."
"Now that I've finished talking, I'll be leaving. I still need to go see Zhao Liang'an's son to ask for more clues."
After Wang Yong finished speaking, he was about to leave when Sun Yunmei asked him to stay for dinner.
"Auntie, I really have something to do. Let's have dinner another time. If anyone's going to treat you, it should be me. I really have something to do today."
"Here are some oysters for you, to help you replenish your kidneys. Young people need to nourish their kidneys," Ming Dahai said, grabbing a handful of oysters, putting them in a plastic bag, and handing it to Wang Yong.
Wang Yong blushed and declined, "Uncle, we don't accept gifts. My master will scold me again if he finds out."
"It's alright, give some to your master to try too. Just say it's a gift from your relative. Come often in the future, it's no big deal."
As he spoke, Ming Dahai grabbed another handful of abalone, stuffed it into a plastic bag, and handed it to Wang Yong.
Unable to resist Ming Dahai's enthusiasm, Wang Yong accepted the money and tried to pay, but Ming Dahai refused.
Watching the black car drive away, Ming Dahai sighed and continued to sit on the stone bench smoking.
“I never expected my second brother to do something like that. What about Mom?” Sun Yunmei wasn’t worried about the old lady.
She was worried that if Ming Lao Er was no longer around, the old lady would come back to their home and ask them to support her family, which would be a big problem.
"Mom, the police haven't reached a conclusion yet. Even if Uncle really goes to jail, we've already paid his support. No matter what, this isn't our business."
Grandma doesn't like our family anyway, why should we go looking for trouble?
Sun Yunmei nodded, "Mingjing is right, this is none of our business, Ming Dahai, you shouldn't meddle in other people's affairs."
"knew."
Ming Dahai muttered something and continued smoking, "How did it turn out like this?"
Is Mingjing here?
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