Chapter 331: Deep-Sea Pearl Diver

Over 20 minutes, Ye Cheng had picked up a bag full, estimating another seventy or eighty, and even holding it underwater felt somewhat heavy.

Ye Cheng tugged the rope, wanting Xiao Hu to lift the stuff up.

Hmm?

No movement.

Ye Cheng tugged again, damn it, still no movement.

Ma de, I knew this damn guy wasn't focused; out at sea there's no pretty girls, no computers, I don't know what this guy finds fun.

No choice, the rope got no response, Ye Cheng could only swim up himself, damn it, swimming up several tens of meters was quite strenuous, and he still had to drag a net bag.

After finally swimming up, Ye Cheng poked his head out and shouted loudly, "Fuck! Xiao Hu, where are you?"

Hearing Ye Cheng's voice, Xiao Hu reacted, poking his upper body out from the boat,

"Brother, you're up already."

"Damn, I've tugged the rope several times, where are you?"

"I've been fishing, I've caught several sea bream already." Xiao Hu said proudly.

Ye Cheng looked speechless.

Ma de, I'm down here gathering shells while you're up there fishing.

Your leisure is fine, I guess.

You damn well fish!!!

Aren't you afraid of hooking me up?

Just seeing Ye Cheng's expression, Xiao Hu knew what he was thinking,

"Brother, rest assured, I'm fishing over there, I won't hook you."

"Yeah, you won't hook me, but I can't see the rope either; hurry up and pull it up."

"Coming, brother!"

Xiao Hu replied cheerfully, then started pulling the rope up.

"Brother, that's a lot." Xiao Hu looked at the shells in the bag, a bit surprised.

"Down there are all of them; I'll gather more today, later you open the pearls up above, remember to keep the shell meat too, take it to Qian Shen's to feed the crayfish."

After taking the pearls, this meat isn't worth much money; bringing it back to feed the crayfish is just right.

After Xiao Hu cleared out this bag of Ma's Shells, Ye Cheng pulled the net bag and went back into the water.

This time having a bottom, he swam a bit faster; according to his 40‑minute dive time, Ye Cheng had Xiao Hu pull up a net at the 20‑minute mark.

Then at 40 minutes he pulled another net, able to get a bit more than once.

After two dives, nearly two hours, Ye Cheng's stamina was wearing thin; he came up first to rest a bit, and meanwhile checked the results.

"How's it, any pearls?" Ye Cheng looked at the shells and meat scattered on the ground, but saw no pearls.

"Not many, brother, it takes seven or eight to yield one pearl; after messing with my mindset, I've probably gotten a few dozen—take a look."

Saying that, Xiao Hu handed over a plastic basket, the cheap kind sold at street stalls for two bucks that's already too expensive.

Really, for something so precious, they didn't even think to put a napkin underneath.

In the basket lay over thirty pearls glowing with white luster; Ma's Shell pearls are nicknamed little light bulbs, their luster is beyond compare.

But they're not big; the largest is seven or eight millimeters, the smallest only four millimeters, and a few have a pinkish tint.

Originally Ye Cheng thought wild pearls would grow all misshapen, but this batch turned out surprisingly round.

Although not as perfectly round as farmed ones, they're still fine; making them into ordinary necklaces is no problem.

Xiao Hu complained about the few pearls, but in Ye Cheng's view it's already plenty, after all they're wild, not farmed.

While there were still some unopened shells, Ye Cheng also grabbed a knife and started opening them, seeking that blind‑box feeling.

The result was about what Xiao Hu said—seven or eight shells yield one pearl; Ye Cheng's later haul opened up another ten pearls, bringing the total to over forty.

At noon, the two rustled up some food; Ye Cheng wouldn't dare dive without being full, it's too taxing.

While they were eating, a trawler suddenly came from afar; they thought it would just pass by, but seeing Ye Cheng and them here, it actually pulled up alongside.

Ye Cheng told Xiao Hu to put the pearls away; wealth shouldn't be flaunted—that's an timeless truth.

The boat had just one person, a man in his thirties; Ye Cheng didn't recognize him, didn't know his intent, so the two could only watch warily.

"Brothers, are you stopped here because of a breakdown?" he shouted as he approached.

Hearing that, the two relaxed, guessing he was just passing by.

"No, we're stopped here fishing." Xiao Hu raised the other fishing rod to indicate.

"Hahaha, all good then, I'm off."

Having said that, the man didn't waste words, just turned and left.

"Who's that?" Ye Cheng asked.

Xiao Hu shook his head: "Never seen him; maybe he's from another village."

"Hmm." Ye Cheng nodded, then after thinking said,

"Later you should still pretend to fish, so as not to raise suspicion."

"Damn, brother, you're not afraid of getting hooked again?"

"You're silly, just take the fishhook off."

Xiao Hu blinked: "I'll be damned, brother, even Jiang Taigong used a straight hook, you don't need anything at all."

"You're just a lookout; do your own job."

At noon Ye Cheng ate three bowls of rice, afraid of getting hungry underwater; by the time he dove again his belly was round and full, like a pufferfish.

Pulling the net bag, he resumed the miserable work of pearl gathering.

One afternoon, Ye Cheng went down three times total, finally clearing that patch of seabed of Ma's Shells, and only then swam up.

Our bored young master Xiao Hu has already dozed off, holding an empty fishing rod, just like an idiot.

"Brother, you finally came up, I'm bored to death." Xiao Hu put away his empty fishing rod.

"Just now, did anyone have a boat go by?"

"Yes, several, but they didn't say anything while watching me fish."

"Alright, we're almost done down there, you steer the boat, find a secluded spot, and we'll open the rest of the shells."

The two of them drove the boat to beside a small island, then each took a small knife and started opening them.

This thing is truly addictive to open, just like gambling.

Later on, there were people who specialized in live-streaming this; in the middle of the night, a bunch of folks wouldn't sleep, watching the shell-opening, and would casually buy some, making the pearl farmers a ton of money.

Back then Ye Cheng couldn't figure out what was fun about this, but now that he's opened it himself, damn, it's exhilarating.

Pry it open, wow!

One, two!

Wow!

Give me another!

Damn it, this adrenaline is pouring out like it's free.

These pearls took the two of them nearly an hour to open, yielding over 80 in total.

Over 80 pearls placed together, although they're all called small-bulb Akoya pearls, clearly a dozen or so are much brighter.

Ye Cheng singled them out; these dozen or so pearls are perfectly round, basically flawless, and have a pinkish glow.

"Brother, are these worth a lot?" Xiao Hu followed Ye Cheng, looking back and forth.