Mingjing could clearly feel the fishing net sinking heavily. When she pulled the net back, Xia Wei exclaimed in surprise, "Such a big grouper?"
When Mingjing pulled the net up completely, it contained more than a dozen river bream, the larger ones weighing about a pound and the smaller ones weighing a little over five ounces.
River grouper are generally small in size, with delicious meat. They require extremely high water quality and are rarely seen in the wild. Moreover, they usually appear in groups, which means that there are still some here.
"You've struck it rich! The river grouper weighs at least 81 jin now. Mingjing, you're really lucky."
Chen An praised her, secretly envying her, wishing she were his daughter.
He secretly counted them in his mind; there were at least a dozen rockfish. It was strange, though, because he had cast his net in the same spot earlier, but he hadn't had the same luck.
"Mingjing, what do you think of Jun'an?" Xia Wei suddenly asked.
“That’s fine, Auntie. These groupers are all in the bucket; they’re worthless once they die,” Mingjing changed the subject.
River groupers are generally polygamous, so among these groupers, only one or two are male, and they cannot be completely exterminated.
Mingjing picked out a few of the smaller ones and threw them out, then put the rest into a wooden bucket filled with stream water.
Chen An and his wife were busy picking up the fish, while Mingjing continued casting her net. Her net wasn't very dense, so she always managed to catch a lot of small fish.
This net caught a swarm of small, silvery fish. These fish don't grow very big, and they can be used as bait or stir-fried with chili peppers, which tastes delicious.
Mingjing didn't intend to keep the remaining crucian carp eggs and lotus fry, so he released them directly.
Standing there casting his net, Mingjing found it boring, catching only tiny river shrimp or ordinary small fish.
Walking against the current, the further upstream you go, the more turbulent the water becomes. After about ten minutes, Mingjing arrives at the source of the stream, which is a natural waterfall.
Calling it a waterfall isn't accurate; it's more like a spring, because the water flow doesn't reach the standard of a waterfall—it's just a sparse stream cascading down.
It looks to be at least three meters long.
The pool water was black, and the water splashed down, creating white waves. Mingjing had a premonition that this place was at least several tens of meters deep, and might even lead to an underground river.
Mingjing stood on a rock by the pool, surrounded by high rocks, several meters deep from the water.
Then there must be a large shipment.
Without hesitation, Mingjing threw the net down.
When it was time to pull the net, it wouldn't budge.
Could it be that the internet is down?
Mingjing didn't see any water plants or stones in the pond.
She used all her strength to pull upwards.
Suddenly she felt the fishing net in her hand moving, and she was startled – there was a big catch!
Because he couldn't pull it, Mingjing kept dragging the fishing net further and further away, trying to pull it out of the water.
She slowly tightened the fishing net until she finally saw what was inside.
Oh My God!
She was so excited that she couldn't utter a complete sentence.
"Mingjing, what are you doing?"
Chen Anhao couldn't see Mingjing for a long time, so he caught up and saw her looking at him with a happy and curious expression.
When he saw what was in the fishing net, he frowned. The thing was slippery, like a large black fish, lying in the net, at least a meter long.
It has four claws, all black, and its cry sounds like a baby's wail.
"A giant salamander! It's a giant salamander!" Chen An rushed forward to help.
Upon hearing that it was a giant salamander, Mingjing's expression tensed up. She pulled the giant salamander up and placed it on the ground, then squatted down to examine it closely. It looked like a catfish.
Its head is flat and oval-shaped, its back is smooth and without scales, its third toe is the longest among its four claws, its body is soft and elastic, and it weighs about fifty pounds.
"Mingjing, you actually caught a giant salamander! Do you know how much one costs?"
"I don't know, is it possible to buy and sell it?"
Mingjing only knew that this thing would be a Class I protected animal in later generations, but he really didn't know its current status.
The system didn't give her any notification for a long time saying she couldn't accept it, which put her in a dilemma.
"Come on, come on, hurry up and pack it up," Chen An said impatiently, taking out another snakeskin bag to pack it up.
The giant salamander was heavy inside the snakeskin bag.
"Uncle Chen, do you have some connections to help?" Mingjing asked curiously.
"Yeah, there's a big boss who likes to keep these things. These days, the rarer something is, the more expensive it is."
As soon as Chen An finished speaking, Xia Wei nudged him.
This thing was obtained by Mingjing, and she didn't mention her at all when she spoke, which inevitably makes people wonder.
"Don't worry, the price is negotiable," Chen An added.
"Alright, it's getting late. Let's hurry back. This one alone is enough for us to buy two shops."
Chen An picked up the sack and walked back.
Back at the seafood restaurant, Dong Li couldn't hide his joy upon seeing the giant salamander.
But he couldn't accept this small restaurant; he could only order turtles and groupers.
The five soft-shelled turtles weigh a total of 21.3 jin, and are priced at 85 yuan per jin. The grouper in the bucket weighs a total of 35.6 jin, and is priced at 93 yuan per jin.
Two mandarin fish weighed 18 jin and 1 liang, which locals don't really like to eat. They cost 45 yuan per jin. Including the wild boar bill from last time, which hasn't been settled yet, the total came to 10 yuan.
Chen Ping took the giant salamander, saying he was going to discuss the price with the big boss and would pay Mingjing after it was all settled.
After paying the bill, Xia Wei exclaimed, "Mingjing, you make money just like you do from mountain fishing and beachcombing! You've earned in a few hours what others earn in several years!"
Keep in mind that most people earn a maximum of 300 yuan a year these days, so Mingjing has surpassed that of many others.
Mingjing smiled as she counted the money, then took out five thousand yuan and handed it to Dong Li.
"What are you giving me? I didn't go," Dong Li waved his hand, refusing.
“You didn’t go, but your uncles and aunts did. Jun’an went, and Chen Cheng got a share. Your family should share it. Don’t keep it all to yourself. I can’t earn this money without you.”
Dong Li didn't want it, but Ming Jing forced it on him, and he finally accepted it.
He gave Xia Wei and her husband 80% of the profits, and kept 20% for himself.
"By the way, Mingjing, I've got the DVDs you wanted. You'll have to go to the movie theater in town or find somewhere that can show movies to watch them."
Mingjing nodded in agreement, then asked, "Uncle Dong, you sold that wild boar for so much money?"
"Here, the bill is still here. Take a look. City people love to eat wild game these days. I sold the wild boar to a big restaurant and kept a piece of pork belly to try."
"I bought those ginseng and lingzhi at a pharmacy in the city. They offered the highest price to buy them. Take a look."
Dong Li handed over the bill: 335.8 jin of wild boar, 130 yuan per jin; 3 rabbits, 39.5 jin, 50 yuan per jin.
Ginseng is sold by the piece. The largest ginseng costs 3,200 yuan, while the rest are sold for 2,100, 1,300 and 580 yuan respectively.
Lingzhi is cheaper, only 120 yuan per piece.
Mingjing couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. These things were so expensive; no wonder poachers would take the risk. If they were available every day, she wouldn't plan to go out to sea anymore.
Suddenly, she realized that if she put all these things on the farm, wouldn't that be like putting money in the bank and waiting for it to grow?
Thinking about this made her a little irritated. She should have picked more and kept some in the warehouse so she could save money once the farm was ready.
I don't know if I'll still be able to see those things when I go back. I guess these things will attract everyone's attention soon, and then what will she have to do with them?
"Should I bring the rest back too?" Xie Junan asked, observing Mingjing's less-than-pleasant expression from behind, guessing her regretful thoughts.
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