Chapter 28

"There are a total of 3 snakeskin bags, I helped you count them, a total of 84 blue crabs." Zhang Guafu reported the quantity efficiently.

Ye Cheng: "Alright, you've gotten quick to answer."

However, Zhang Guafu being able to report the quantity so quickly at least shows this woman isn't stupid; we can really consider giving her a chance later.

Ye Cheng opened the bag and looked; the blue crabs were packed tightly, each bag only half full.

"If you overfill them they get crushed and die, then you can't sell them for a good price, so I only filled them halfway." Zhang Guafu explained, looking at Ye Cheng with anticipation.

Now it's time for Ye Cheng to make good on his promise.

"Hmm." Ye Cheng nodded, giving Zhang Guafu an approving glance; he didn't expect a widow from a small mountain village to make him feel like he was seeing corporate administration.

Ye Cheng picked out four relatively large blue crabs from inside, put them in a bucket, and handed it to Zhang Guafu, saying, "Aunt, this is yours."

"Huh? We agreed on three, why did you give me an extra one?" Zhang Guafu's face lit up with excitement; getting an extra crab naturally made her happy, but she felt embarrassed to show it, so she could only rub her hands nervously.

Ye Cheng shoved the bucket into her hands, saying, "Aunt, you did well, so you naturally deserve more."

Zhang Guafu gripped the bucket tightly, then glanced worriedly at Ye Guowei and Xiao Hu beside her, and whispered, "What about them?"

"It's fine, I'm in charge here." Ye Cheng said, patting his chest.

"Well, then I'll take it." Zhang Guafu then lifted the bucket toward herself, smiling happily; four blue crabs—that could fetch a good amount of money.

"Oh, right, you're taking these blue crabs to sell, right?" Ye Cheng suddenly asked.

Zhang Guafu: "Of course, who would eat their own at home?"

"We also want to sell; do you want us to help you sell and give you the money, or do you want to sell it yourself?"

Ye Cheng asked kindly; this time he planned to sell elsewhere, not wanting to go to Laolin's, because that guy wasn't honest at all.

Zhang Guafu hesitated a bit, glanced embarrassedly at Ye Cheng, and said, "Um... I think I'll go sell it myself."

Ye Cheng could see that although Zhang Guafu was grateful to him, she still had strong reservations.

"Aunt, what do you mean? Could my older brother possibly steal your money?" Xiao Hu couldn't stand it and said angrily.

Hearing Xiao Hu say that, Zhang Guafu quickly waved her hands in denial, anxiously saying, "No, no, A Cheng, I didn't mean that; don't misunderstand."

"I... I just..."

"Alright, aunt, you don't need to explain." Ye Cheng interrupted her, "Don't worry about Xiao Hu; he's just a blockhead—what he says is what he gives, you can sell wherever you want."

"Well, then thank you, A Cheng." Zhang Guafu felt a bit embarrassed.

"It's fine, aunt; you should head back early, the kids are still at home."

"Okay, then I'll head back first."

Zhang Guafu carried the bucket up to the shore, turned back and said, "A Cheng, I'll return the bucket later."

Ye Cheng waved his hand, indicating he understood.

After Zhang Guafu walked away, Ye Guowei finally spoke up, "A Cheng, want to take it to the dock to sell? I can help you carry it over."

"Not the dock; I want to sell in the city, prices are a bit higher there."

Ye Cheng indeed wanted to go to the city; from a sales perspective, Baiyun Village here is the place of origin, and the origin price must be increased by shipping costs, middlemen's margins, spoilage, etc., so by the time it reaches the customer it's at least 30% more.

As long as we can find customers, we can keep that entire 30% for ourselves.

Moreover, he already has a target customer: Boss Qian from last time.

"Going to the city, there are many rules; we country folk don't understand, we could get scammed, and there might be fines." Ye Guowei said, a bit worried.

It's 2002 now; many things are just getting started, and even the later seafood market has so many regulatory bodies and many fake-busting streamers, yet they still can't regulate the seafood market.

Ye Guowei's concern is also normal; who doesn't know that selling in the city fetches higher prices? The problem is you lack connections.

"Brother, don't worry; Xiao Hu and I will make a trip to the city; if it doesn't work out, we can just go back to the dock to sell—after all, it's still early."

"Alright, you guys watch out for safety."

Since Ye Cheng has decided, Ye Guowei didn't say much more; he wasn't really the type to have ideas anyway.

The three of them carried the blue crabs back together, first putting them at Xiao Hu's house; there was no way around it, Ye Cheng's broken door was left wide open, which was unsafe.

Ye Guowei went back to the dock to work; Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu wait at home while he himself went to the convenience store to make a phone call.

Really should buy a mobile phone; otherwise it's really inconvenient.

Quite a few people in the village have mobile phones now, but the cost is high, so many people are reluctant to use them; usually they find a landline to call, which is cheaper.

Therefore, landlines still have a market nowadays.

Li Quezi's place has a telephone installed; local calls are five jiao per minute, long-distance two yuan per minute.

Seeing Ye Cheng come in, Li Quezi greeted him.

"I'll use the phone."

"Sure, go ahead." Li Quezi pointed to the telephone over there, "Local or long-distance?"

"Just to the East Sea."

"Alright, I'll check the time after you finish."

After the phone call ends, the phone shows the time, and Li Quezi charges based on that.

Ye Cheng took out the phone number Boss Qian gave him last time and dialed it; he hadn't called a customer in a while and actually felt a bit nervous.

After the phone rang three times, it was picked up, and a voice asked, "Who is it?"

"Boss Qian, right? I'm Ye Cheng, who went out to sea with you last time and sold you a batch of seafood, from Baiyun Village."

"Baiyun Village? Oh, that batch of sea cucumber and abalone, right? I remember now. What, do you need something from me?"

Ye Cheng thought, Boss Qian is alright, he still remembers; otherwise I'd have to explain again.

"Hmm, this morning I went gathering and got a batch of blue crabs, quite large, each about a little over a catty; Boss Qian, are you interested?"

"A batch?" A surprised voice came from the other end, "How many are in a batch?"

"80 blue crabs."

"Hiss." Boss Qian sucked in a breath of cold air, "Are you gathering these or farming them?"

Ye Cheng smiled, "Boss Qian, you're joking—I couldn't possibly afford a farm; I just gather from the sea."

"Low-tide gathering can yield 80 Blue Crabs—you must have swept the whole sea clean!" Boss Qian teased.

"Boss Qian, are you interested in taking this batch?"

"Sure, as long as it's good quality I'll definitely take it, the price will surely satisfy you, but I need to inspect the goods first."

"No problem, Boss Qian, give me an address and I'll deliver it."

"Alright, come to Fuwang Seafood Grand Restaurant and just give my name."

Fuwang Seafood Grand Restaurant, Ye Cheng silently thought to himself, it seems Boss Qian himself runs a seafood restaurant, no wonder he can offer such a high price.