Chapter 271: One trip out to sea brings in over ten thousand—this is bound to make a fortune

Due to their usual steep and dangerous growing environment, collectors have to work in wind and waves, making accidents easy, so they are called "delicacies from hell."

Buddha's Hand Snail is a genuine high-end seafood; yes, don't judge by its appearance, it's quite expensive—one reason is that it's hard to collect, another is that its meat is tender and fresh.

Live Buddha's Hand Snail can sell for several hundred per catty, and high-end restaurants may charge over a thousand, and it's not always available for purchase.

Moreover, the price of Buddha's Hand Snail is closely related to its size: generally small ones (under 5 cm) cost over a hundred, medium ones (5–8 cm) a few hundred, and large specimens (over 8 cm) can cost several hundred.

Even from this distance, Ye Cheng couldn't tell whether this batch of Buddha's Hand Snails were large or small, but letting them go was impossible for him.

This was still a stretch of reef; Ye Cheng drove the boat around the back side and took another look—basically every crevice in the rocks had them.

This thing is expensive for a reason: collecting it is difficult, and each one has to be pulled out individually, which is labor-intensive.

Looking at it now, with so many Buddha's Hand Snails, Ye Cheng and his crew would probably need a whole day to handle them.

"Brother, shall we do it?" Xiao Hu was raring to go—this is money, after all.

Ye Cheng checked the time; it was past 3 p. m., and if they started now they'd be cutting it close, likely finishing only in the evening.

Going out to gather at night is fine, but handling Buddha's Hand Snails at night? Better forget it—too dangerous.

"Let's not do it; we'll come back tomorrow specially to spend a whole day on it."

For just one night, it's unlikely anyone would notice; having made up his mind, Ye Cheng circled the island once more to confirm tomorrow's anchorage, then set off back.

The way back was all about eating and drinking; the two of them finished the remaining meat and vegetables, so they even saved supper.

By the time they returned to the dock, it was almost 5 p. m., and several old customers came over.

"Lao Er, did you catch anything today? Any big yellow fish? The folks in the neighboring village landed big yellow fish yesterday." He Lao Ban asked.

While securing the boat, Ye Cheng said, "How about today—did anyone catch anything? I saw only boats over there, so I didn't go over."

"What nonsense—several have already come back empty‑handed." Laolin said scornfully, "Do they think this is easy to get? None of them consider whether they're up to the task."

As he said that, Laolin's eyes shifted to Ye Cheng: "Hey, Lao Er, your luck's always been good—did you catch big yellow fish and not say? You're probably saving it to sell for a high price in town."

Ye Cheng glanced at Laolin—still a sly fellow—but he had caught it the night before last, and these people couldn't possibly know.

He feigned a sigh: "Big yellow fish? If I had any, that'd be great—I caught a few pomfret today; let me show you."

Saying that, Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu hauled out a few pomfret,

"Well, pomfret—about this length; the biggest is one meter long, altogether maybe 300 catties."

Pomfret is fairly common, but a quantity of 300 catties still surprised everyone.

"Holy cow, Lao Er, you alone caught 300 catties of pomfret?"

"Sure, and you keep saying your luck's bad—must have run into a school of fish, right?"

Ye Cheng nodded: "Exactly, I just happened upon a fish school—give me a price, everyone."

"25, I'll take them all." Laolin shouted loudly—regardless of whether the price is high or low, his voice was certainly loud.

"Damn, Lao Er's goods are all top‑grade, and you want to take them at 25?" He Lao Ban chimed in, "I'll take them all at 26."

Ye Cheng gave the two a contemptuous look—neither is a pushover; they're shouting offers but actually trying to press the price down.

"Gentlemen, pomfret isn't plentiful right now; although my batch isn't the blue‑spotted horse pomfret, it's fresh and big—surely 30 per catty is reasonable?"

Blue‑spotted horse pomfret is a high‑end variety of horse pomfret; what Ye Cheng caught this time isn't that, just ordinary horse pomfret, which wouldn't reach a hundred, but 30 bucks is still needed.

"Fine, 30 it is—I'll take them." Before Lao He could speak, Laolin already agreed, leaving Lao He unable to say anything.

"Congratulations, Laolin—Xiao Hu, bring the fish to Laolin."

They weighed this batch of pomfret—it came to 310 catties, worth 9,300 yuan.

After buying the pomfret, Laolin left laughing, leaving the other few bosses.

"Gentlemen, there are still some plumchild fish and white maiden child; I'll have Xiao Hu bring them out for you to see."

The two lifted the remaining fish out; the plumchild fish had bumped into the water tank, and they were afraid they'd die.

"Look at all these plumchild fish—this size isn't bad either."

"These are all over two taels, right? Good—quality's fine."

"They're still alive, very fresh, Lao Er."

Plumchild fish, this kind of small seafood, sells well; the bosses competed, and in the end Lao He won the batch.

For those over two taels, at 30 yuan each, there were 13, totaling 390 yuan.

For those under two taels, at 30 yuan per catty, there were 82 catties, totaling 2,460 yuan.

Together, the plumchild fish brought in 2,850 yuan.

White maiden child is cheaper, at 10 yuan per catty, bringing in 820 yuan total.

Adding it all up, today's total catch sold for yuan, about thirteen thousand.

Several bosses had witnessed the whole process, watching Ye Cheng's speed at collecting money, each of them green with envy.

"Lao Er, you really can do this—one trip out to sea and you're making over ten thousand; you're bound to get rich."

"They've already gotten rich—just a couple days ago they snatched up their village's tidal flat and are now running aquaculture."

"Impressive, Lao Er—don't forget us when you strike it rich next time."

A crowd gathered around Ye Cheng, singing his praises; unable to get away, he had Xiao Hu buy a pack of cigarettes and hand them out, finally dispersing the crowd.

From this sum Ye Cheng gave Xiao Hu 4,000 and kept 9,000 for himself; working it out, this haul was quite large, but if judged by luck value it shouldn't have been this much—probably due to running into a fish school.

So the current totals are: savings 119,000, external debt 30,000, mortgage 300,000 (including interest).

By the time they got home it was already past 6 p. m.; facing a cold stove and empty pantry, though not very hungry, they still felt something was missing, and not wanting to cook, they could only go to the sister‑in‑law's place to mooch a bit.

They had taken just two steps when someone behind called out, "Lao Er, where are you headed?"

Ye Cheng turned around—it was Zhang Guafu, who had bought two bottles of soy sauce and was about to head home.

"Aunt, I'm going to my older brother's place," Ye Cheng replied, intending to answer and leave, but Zhang Guafu ended up stopping him.

"A Cheng, you just got back from sea and haven't eaten, right?" Zhang Guafu sized him up and could tell—his clothes were still dirty.

"Yeah, I went out to sea today." Ye Cheng didn't mention not having eaten, lest it cause trouble.