Mingjing was afraid the grouper would die, so he asked Mingliang to take a bucket to the sea to fetch seawater. The grouper was placed in a huge wooden basin, which was just the right size.
On the other side, Ming Dahai began to untie the other sacks.
He didn't even look at the octagonal cage before dumping it into a sack. Knowing the buyer was coming, he acted much faster.
"There seem to be sea cucumbers in the sack. I don't know if they'll survive."
Mingjing remembered that she did pick up a lot of large sea cucumbers. Those things seem to need water, but she was in a hurry at the time and didn't think about it that much.
"Mom and Dad, let's dump all the goods into the water first, so they don't die. We can pick out the rest slowly."
"Okay!"
The group poured everything from the sack into a basin of water and added seawater. They put the dead and those missing limbs together.
There was just too much cargo, and before long Mingjing's back was so sore he couldn't straighten up.
Beep beep beep!
Mingjing stood up and straightened her back. The sound of Xie Jun'an's car horn came from the doorway.
"Mirror! Where's the grouper?"
Xie Jun'an got out of the car and shouted at the top of his lungs. Mingjing heard the noise and pulled him inside.
"Keep your voice down, you're still alive."
Xie Junan looked down at the seafood in the yard and exclaimed in horror, "Didn't you say there was only one fish?"
"Didn't you drive here? But I guess you probably can't take it with you. Grouper is delicate and needs to be sent back as soon as possible, so you'll have to come again tomorrow."
"Okay, let me see the fish."
Xie Junan turned his head and said, "Let me take the scale off the car first."
"It's alright, let's go. You look at the fish." Mingliang politely went out and went with Mingdahai to move the scales.
Xie Junan nodded and followed Mingjing to the corner of the yard, where the grouper was placed in a wooden bucket covered with a plastic sheet.
When the plastic sheet was lifted, the grouper was still alive, breathing in the water. Perhaps because the space was too small, it flicked its tail a few times, creating a huge splash.
"So big?"
Xie Junan was stunned.
"I've been eating seafood since I was little, and I watched my dad collect seafood. I've never seen such a big grouper before. How many do you want?"
Mingjing chuckled dryly, "Young Master, this is a Neptune grouper. I dare say there's only one like it on the market. Doesn't your dad know a big boss? Let's discuss it and raise the price."
After being reminded, Xie Jun'an looked at the fish more carefully and said, "It really is a Neptune grouper. I've heard that this thing is extremely rare. I've only seen it once in another province."
How did you catch him? That's impressive.
"You're too kind, it was just a coincidence."
After Mingjing finished speaking, he called out, "Hurry up and weigh it. We haven't weighed it much before, so you can give us the price you want."
"OK!"
Ming Dahai and Xie Jun'an and the others helped lift the grouper onto the scale, which weighed a total of 68 jin, about the same as Ming Dahai's estimate.
"My god, this fish is so heavy? I need to talk to my dad about this."
Xie Junan felt he was about to strike it rich. Neptune grouper was a rare find, even more precious than large yellow croaker. If they could get one, they would be set for life.
Xie Junan called Dong Li and told him about the situation. When Dong Li heard that it weighed more than 60 kilograms, he was almost speechless with shock.
After chatting with Dong Li for a while, Xie Junan hung up the phone.
The Ming family members stared expectantly at Xie Jun'an, eager to hear a satisfactory price from him.
"Mingjing, do you have a larger basin at home that can hold the grouper? I'm afraid the grouper will get hurt."
Mingjing shook her head. "No, this basin is the biggest."
"Alright." Xie Junan checked the time. "Maybe it's fine. Add more seawater. I might have to take this fish back and keep it in our tank for now."
“My dad is too busy to come over. He needs to see this before we can set a price. I don’t know the specifics either. My dad said you should go see him tomorrow.”
"He contacted several big bosses in the city, and we discussed it together. We'll split the profits then."
How to divide it?
"I'll take fourth place and you'll take sixth. Don't worry, I'll talk to my dad."
Xie Junan felt that this fish was worth at least 50,000 yuan, and even taking 40% would be a lot of money. The important thing was that he could catch Mingjing, this great treasure.
"Alright then, I'll come find you tomorrow."
Xie Junan looked down at the seafood scattered on the ground and smiled, "Well, I'll bring you back tomorrow and take all this with me. Oh, right, and this too, take it."
Xie Junan took out a wad of cash and handed it to Mingjing.
"Here's your money from yesterday, count it."
Mingjing counted the eight thousand yuan, which was just right. She took out five yuan and handed it to Xie Jun'an, putting it in her pocket. "This is the five yuan I owed you last time. Take it, or I won't buy fish from you next time."
Xie Junan didn't refuse and accepted the offer to catch fish with Ming Dahai before getting into the car.
"Then I'll trouble you, young man. Delivering the fish is an important matter, so I won't keep you any longer. I'll definitely treat you to a meal tomorrow once things are done."
Ming Dahai helped put the fish into the trunk of the truck.
Before leaving, Ming Dahai was still worried and said again, "Young man, I have no idea how much this thing is worth."
"Uncle, don't worry, it won't be less than 50,000 yuan. If it's not that price, I'll give you my seafood shop as a discount."
Upon hearing this, Ming Dahai's face lit up with a smile, and he nodded repeatedly as he saw Xie Jun'an off.
After the car drove away, Minghai happily sang a song, and the Ming family members were overjoyed when they learned about it.
"My God, we've become rich overnight? We've earned in just a few hours what others can't earn in years?"
Sun Yunmei still couldn't believe it even after receiving the eight thousand yuan.
"Sister, how come you're so lucky?" Mingyue is becoming more and more of a fan of Mingjing.
"Yes, your sister is our family's lucky star."
"Mom and Dad, please stop flattering me. Many hands make light work, and it's not my achievement alone."
"Mingjing, with your luck, should we hire more people to do the work? The more people we have, the more money we'll make," Mingliang thought to himself.
"Forget it, we can't figure out people's hearts. If they can earn more, why would they help you? You wouldn't even know what they might be hiding from you."
“Your mother is right. We are family members, but we don’t trust outsiders. Who knows what they might be up to?”
Having lived through those ten years, Ming Dahai saw through people's hearts. Back when he was still a landlord, everyone flattered him and greeted him with smiles. If someone didn't kick him when he was down, they were considered a good person.
Sometimes, in order to grab work points or large shipments, people would frame others, commit murder and arson, and so on. In any case, they would just throw the goods into the sea and nobody would know.
"Mom and Dad, what would you do if you had a lot of money?" Mingyue suddenly remembered this while picking up sea cucumbers.
Mingjing laughed and said, "Of course we should enjoy ourselves first. Let's eat first, and after we finish eating, I'll take you to town to eat, drink, and have fun."
"You can't just spend money recklessly. You have to be frugal. Your brother isn't married yet, and the family doesn't have a house. You can't afford to waste money like that."
Ming Dahai was the first to object.
“Dad, you’ve worked your whole life, what’s wrong with enjoying yourself? If you’re not going, I’ll take Mom to a restaurant in town and go disco.”
Sun Yunmei had heard that there were dance halls in town, where young people would jump around and drink, and that there were also hooligans. She didn't want to go.
"The food is fine, but I won't go dancing. It's not for me, and you're not allowed to go either. That place isn't clean."
Mingjing shook her head and didn't say anything. These days, dance halls are indeed a mixed bag, so it's better not to go.
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