Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Abalone Pearl
The rest of the abalone were priced by the pound, but they had to be sorted first.
The five-to-six head abalone totaled 21 pounds, at ten yuan per pound.
The smaller ones were all grouped into one category, totaling 43 pounds, and were priced at five yuan per pound.
Then there were 68 pounds of Du’s Buri. Because they were so large, Ah Wang gave them a price of fifty cents a pound.
pounds of shrimp, 15 pounds of ragworms.
As for the assorted crabs they had gathered, along with a red-spotted grouper and a black sea bream, they brought those back to eat themselves.
All the small, miscellaneous items added up to several more yuan.
The final total came to 583.5 yuan.
"Uncle, you’re not selling those sea urchins?"
Yun Jiao and Yun Xiao Liu yelled at the top of their lungs, "We’re not selling them!"
Ah Wang looked exasperated. "Fine, fine. You’re not selling, you’re not selling."
While Ah Wang did the math, Mr. Yun was doing his own calculations.
Once the number was confirmed, the entire family’s breathing quickened.
’So much... so much money...’
Yun Wang gave them the tally sheet and left with the abalone, needing to sell the haul as quickly as possible.
"583.5 yuan... We made that much on our first trip out? I must be dreaming, right?"
Wang Mei muttered to herself, then pinched the person beside her.
Yun Linhe hissed in pain.
"What did you pinch me for?!"
Staring at his pained expression, Wang Mei said, "It’s not a dream. It’s all real. We really made over five hundred yuan!"
Granny Yun carefully tucked the tally sheet away.
This successful first haul brought relaxed smiles to everyone’s faces.
Yun Linhe said, "We never expected to find such a huge patch of abalone on that little island."
They excitedly recounted how they had discovered the abalone on the island and how they’d found the huge Du’s Buri.
The young boys listening on the side were completely fired up, wishing they could rush over to the island right that second.
"Dad, I want to go tomorrow! I want to gather abalone too!"
Yun Xiaowu immediately started clamoring, "I have to go! If you don’t let me, I’ll... I’ll swim there myself!"
Yun Linhai’s face fell. He immediately slipped off his shoe, raised it, and moved to smack his son with it.
"Threatening your old man now, are you?!"
Yun Xiaowu darted away like a little monkey.
"I don’t care! I’m going out to sea with you all too!"
Yun Xiaoqi’s eyes lit up as he turned to look at his own dad.
Yun Linhe also pulled off his shoe.
"Just you dare say a word."
Yun Xiaoqi shouted, "If Fifth Brother goes, I’m going!"
He took off running as soon as the words left his mouth, and the shoe Yun Linhe threw flew past, just grazing his shoulder.
For a moment, the house was filled with a chaotic, lively clamor.
"AHHH!!!"
A sudden scream from Little Aunt made Yun Jiao jump.
She looked up and saw Little Aunt staring right at her—or more precisely, at the abalone in her hands, which had prompted the shriek.
"Jiaojiao, you... how do you still have one in your hands?"
And it was such a big one! ’An abalone like that must be worth 18 yuan!’
Her cry drew everyone else’s attention, and they all saw the huge abalone clutched in Yun Jiao’s arms.
Everyone: ...
Yun Jiao said, "It’s mine."
She hugged the abalone in her arms even tighter.
"Not selling."
Yun Linhai quickly interjected, "Jiaojiao found that one. I already promised her she could keep it for herself."
Granny Yun’s heart ached at the thought. That was 17 yuan right there.
"You’re keeping it to eat? If you wanted some, we could have kept a few of the small ones."
It felt like a painful waste to eat an abalone that big.
Yun Jiao paid her no mind, running over to Yun Linhai while clutching the abalone.
"Dad, open it."
Although it stung to do so, if this was what Yun Jiao wanted, they could only grit their teeth and bear it.
’Just have to look on the bright side,’ they thought. ’We made over five hundred yuan today!’
"It’s open, Jiaojiao. You want to eat it now?"
Yun Linhai handed her both the abalone meat and the shell.
Yun Jiao shook her head and set the meat aside.
The inner wall of the abalone shell was a gorgeous, brilliant color, and the pearl that had formed inside was nearly the same shade.
"What’s this?"
Yun Xiaowu craned his head over and also saw the protrusion on the inner wall of the shell.
The others crowded around to look.
In a firm, childish voice, Yun Jiao said, "A pearl."
"A pearl?!"
The reason they hadn’t recognized it was because it wasn’t the perfectly round shape they associated with pearls.
In reality, pearls aren’t just round; their shape can vary greatly depending on how they are formed.
But in most people’s minds, round pearls are the best kind.
The one inside the abalone shell Yun Jiao was holding was a baroque pearl, part of which was still embedded in the shell’s inner wall.
"Let’s get it out and have a look."
Yun Xiaowu rolled up his sleeves. "Let me!"
"The hell you will," Yun Linhai said. "You’re too clumsy."
In the end, Yun Linhai did it himself, carefully prying the baroque pearl out with a small knife.
"Why does it look like a fish’s tail?"
The pearl’s overall shape was that of a stunningly beautiful fishtail—one with a very large, fanned-out caudal fin, complete with undulating ripples.
Both its color and shape were exceptionally beautiful.
The color was peacock green with a hint of blue.
"This is a pearl too? It’s gorgeous."
The two women of the house, Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei, were completely captivated.
Few women can resist the allure of pearls.
Even though it wasn’t round, that didn’t detract from its beauty in the slightest.
Yun Jiao herself was also quite fond of it.
"Wait a minute... Abalone can have pearls inside them?"
Once the realization hit, everyone was dumbfounded.
They had never heard of abalone producing pearls before.
Even Mr. Yun and Granny Yun had never heard of such a thing.
Wang Mei asked, "Then what about the other abalone we sold? Could they have had pearls in them too?"
If they did, how much had they missed out on?
A pearl like this had to be valuable.
Mr. Yun was more level-headed. "What are you thinking? You expect every good thing to fall into your lap?"
"We’d at least heard of a Flame Pearl before. But an abalone pearl? In all my years, I’ve never heard anyone mention one. What does that tell you? It tells you they’re incredibly rare."
Yun Linhe nodded quickly in agreement. "Dad’s right. The boss who bought our Flame Pearl told us that you might find only one Flame Pearl for every ten thousand bailer shells.
A pearl from an abalone is something no one’s even heard of. It must be even rarer. Are we really going to cut open all the abalone for the slim chance of finding another one? If we did that, not only would we likely find no pearls, but the abalone would be worthless too. That would be a catastrophic loss."
He didn’t have the guts to gamble on such a slim chance.
Hearing that, Wang Mei also calmed down.
"You’re right. The other abalone probably didn’t have any."
They couldn’t help but look over at Yun Jiao.
"Our Jiaojiao is just too lucky. She picks one abalone and it has a pearl. The Flame Pearl last time also came from a bailer shell that Jiaojiao found. Our Jiaojiao must be the sea goddess Mazu’s own daughter."
"It’s a good thing we kept it. Otherwise, who knows who would have ended up with this pearl."
At that moment, no one felt the sting of not selling the abalone Yun Jiao had kept anymore.
Comments