Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Gooseneck Barnacle
The moment the giant mud crab appeared, it instantly captured everyone’s attention.
"What a huge mud crab!"
"Is that a mud crab? How can they grow so big!"
The Boss Lin that Ah Wang had brought over and his friends were clearly interested as well.
"Interesting. This must be the king of mud crabs. Put it on the scale; let’s see how much it weighs."
Ah Wang brought over the scale.
"Three jin and two liang!"
The onlookers’ eyes widened as they immediately broke into a heated discussion.
"A three-jin mud crab! I’ve lived this long and never seen one so big!"
Yun Linhe lifted his chin slightly. "So, Boss Lin, what do you think? Want the crab? It’s still alive, guaranteed fresh."
Lin Kuang laughed heartily. "Of course I want it. I’ll give you thirty yuan for this crab."
Thirty yuan. The eyes of the onlookers went red with envy and jealousy.
Selling a single mud crab for thirty yuan was something they wouldn’t even dare to dream of.
Under normal circumstances, Ah Wang wouldn’t be able to offer such a high price. Ten-something yuan would be the absolute maximum.
"Boss Lin, you’re a straightforward man."
Yun Linhai and the others were just as decisive, handing over the giant mud crab directly.
The foreigners gathered around the giant mud crab, chattering away in a language the locals couldn’t understand.
"Do you have anything else?"
"Want some abalone? We don’t have much, just a little over two jin."
"I’ll take it."
However, he bought the abalone at market price. While this Boss Lin was generous, he wasn’t a fool to be taken advantage of.
"We also have a Three-blade Fish, and it’s quite large."
Boss Lin grew excited when he saw the Three-blade Fish.
"I’ll buy this. A Three-blade Fish this big is rare. I’ll give you nine yuan per jin."
The Three-blade Fish is also known as the "King of Fish" by people from Taiwan, and its price has always been high, fluctuating around eight yuan per jin.
Their Three-blade Fish was large, and it had survived being carried by that sea eagle for so long.
This Three-blade Fish was two jin and eight liang.
Boss Lin was already quite satisfied after acquiring two rare items, but suddenly, his good friend James cried out in excitement.
"Lin, gooseneck barnacles! There are gooseneck barnacles here!"
Boss Lin went over to look, and sure enough, there they were.
Yun Chendong: ???
’Why is that foreigner getting so excited over sea chicken feet?’
The other two foreigners also came over, staring at the sea chicken feet in Yun Chendong’s bucket and chattering about something.
"I’ll take these gooseneck barnacles, too. I’ll give you twenty yuan per jin."
"PFFT..."
Yun Linhai, who was taking a breather and drinking some water, immediately spat it all out when he heard the price.
Ah Wang was stunned too. He squeezed through the crowd to see what could possibly be so expensive.
The others in the crowd also ran over, exclaiming in shock.
"What’s so expensive? What gooseneck?"
"Aren’t those just sea chicken feet? The purchasing station only buys them for one-something yuan a jin, right? How are they twenty a jin now?"
’This boss must be an idiot.’
Boss Lin picked up one of the gooseneck barnacles.
"This is called a gooseneck barnacle. Although it’s a similar species to sea chicken feet, the quality is different. Are the sea chicken feet you normally see this long?"
They really weren’t. But aside from the length, there... there didn’t seem to be any other difference.
Boss Lin looked very satisfied with the gooseneck barnacles. The flesh looked plump and full.
"Let’s weigh them."
Exactly three jin.
Just from these three items sold to Boss Lin, they had made 131 yuan!
Both sides were very satisfied. To Yun Linhe and his family, Boss Lin and the foreigners looked like walking Gods of Fortune.
A boss this generous was a rare sight indeed.
Yun Linhe clapped Ah Wang on the shoulder. "Good brother, thanks for introducing us to such a generous boss."
Ah Wang chuckled. "Don’t mention it. My business relies on you brothers looking out for me, too."
Yun Linhai said, "Alright, enough chit-chat. Come on and weigh the fish."
Ah Wang went onto the deck of the wooden boat and exclaimed, "Bro, your luck is incredible! You actually ran into a school of red bigeyes!"
He was getting jealous.
A giant crab king, a Three-blade Fish, gooseneck barnacles, and on top of all that, they had even caught so many red bigeyes. What kind of luck was this?
By now, a large crowd had gathered around their boat. Mr. Yun and the others had heard the news and run over, just in time to help unload the fish.
Someone sneakily ran up to Yun Jiao and asked.
"Jiaojiao, dear, Auntie will give you some candy. Where did you find those... gooseneck barnacles?"
Yun Jiao: ’Do I look stupid?’
She accepted the candy with an innocent and pure expression, then turned her head and shouted.
"Dad, this auntie is asking where we found the gooseneck barnacles!"
She spoke so quickly that by the time the auntie realized what was happening, it was too late to cover her mouth.
Instantly, all eyes swiveled to land on the auntie.
Wang Mei planted her hands on her hips and cursed furiously, "You shameless old hag! You think our family is easy to bully? If you have something to ask, ask me! I’ll give you an earful. What kind of skill is tricking a little kid?
"Pah! Even if we found the spot ourselves, it’s our family’s luck and skill! Who in their right mind would give away their good fishing spots? A grown adult like you, instead of doing honest work, you resort to these crooked methods. If everyone was like you, how would anyone catch fish?!"
Wang Mei’s curses were loud and clear, shaming the woman so badly that she scurried away in disgrace.
Those who had similar ideas didn’t dare to step forward anymore.
Yun Linhai’s family was large. You couldn’t out-argue them, and you certainly couldn’t out-fight them.
Only after all the fish were weighed and Ah Wang had settled the payment did the family head home.
They had kept a good number of small shrimp, a few red bigeyes, and some other small miscellaneous fish for themselves.
Yun Jiao was eating a piece of candy.
Shen Yunlian asked her where she got it.
She said in a soft, sweet voice, "The auntie that Little Aunt just chewed out gave it to me."
Shen Yunlian and the others didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
That auntie had truly suffered a double loss.
Mr. Yun frowned. "Still, you all need to be more careful when you go out to sea from now on. With those sea chicken feet being so expensive, some people are bound to get ideas."
"Yes, we know."
Yun Linhe sighed. "Those sea chicken feet are just a bit longer than the ones we usually see, right? How can the price be so much higher?"
Yun Chendong said, "I overheard a bit. Back in the foreigners’ home country, they’re called gooseneck barnacles. They said they’re delicious and very rare, so they’ve always sold for a high price."
"But even if someone goes looking for them, we don’t need to worry. That Boss Lin and his foreign friends just happened to be visiting for fun. They should be leaving soon. Not many people know about these things, and who around here would spend that much money to buy them?"
Yun Linhai nodded. "Right. Ah Wang told me that unless someone specifically contacts him to buy those ’long-necked sea chicken feet,’ he won’t purchase them at such a high price."
So, although the things were valuable, it was probably just a one-time deal.
Unless they could find a long-term buyer, it wasn’t worth the risk to go looking specifically for these sea chicken feet.
Yun Chendong knew firsthand just how dangerous the places where gooseneck barnacles grew could be.
Comments