Chapter 332: with translation of chapter title

Hmm, these are Heavenly Maiden Grade, estimated at over a thousand each, especially these three large ones.

Ye Cheng carefully picked out the three largest.

Ordinary Akoya pearls only go up to 8mm, but these three are a full 12mm, twice as large, and still Heavenly Maiden Grade, which means the value increases exponentially.

Ordinary ones are over a hundred, Heavenly Maiden Grade over a thousand, these three could be worth over ten thousand.

Hearing Ye Cheng say over ten thousand, Xiao Hu's eyes almost popped out,

"Damn! I didn't notice when I opened it earlier; if you'd told me it was over ten thousand, I wouldn't dare touch it at all."

"You should be glad; luckily these few weren't scratched by you, otherwise we'd have taken a big loss."

Xiao Hu was a bit shaken,

"Brother, you take the pearls; I won't take any."

"Look at your ambition, it's just a few tens of thousands of dollars worth of stuff."

Though he said that, Ye Cheng also carefully wrapped each of the Heavenly Maiden Grade pearls separately.

Fortunately we had prepared some soft stuff beforehand; otherwise, any bumps would have been problematic.

All the pearls, Ye Cheng put them in a small box and carried it on his person.

Xiao Hu put the shellfish meat into a water tank, then the two headed back; they did nothing all day but soak in the water, and Ye Cheng felt his whole skin loosen.

"Lao Er, you're back?" As soon as they docked, He Lao Ban came over.

At the whole dock, his nose is the most sensitive.

"He Lao Ban, I'll disappoint you today—we didn't catch anything." Ye Cheng set the pearls aside; the whole boat only had Xiao Hu catching three black seabream and one sea bass, nothing else.

"Ah, just this little? I heard you guys were fishing for a long out there, I thought you'd have a big haul." He Lao Ban said disappointedly.

"No way, even people know we were fishing."

"Yeah, several people coming back said they saw you; alright, these two fish—sell or not, I'll buy them anyway." He Lao Ban, following the principle that even a tiny fly is meat, planned to still take these fish.

"I won't sell them; I'll give them to you, He Lao Ban." Ye Cheng generously handed over the fish, then said, "Please continue to look after me in the future."

"Damn, Lao Er, you really laid on the sentiment." He Lao Ban looked at the fish in his hand, laughing and crying,

"Next time, when you pull the net, give me a discount of one dollar; that's better than this."

"So, do you want it or not?"

"I want it; I won't take it for free."

Ye Cheng gave him a white-eye, hugged the box of pearls and a water tank of shellfish meat, and went ashore.

"No, wait, Lao Er, aren't you keeping some good stuff from us to sell?" Just as he walked up, He Lao Ban followed, both eyes fixed on Ye Cheng's water tank.

"You mean this?" Ye Cheng pointed at the water tank, "If you don't want it, fine; if you do, it's 100 per catty."

Hearing Ye Cheng say that, He Lao Ban was a bit unsure: "No, Lao Er, open it and let me have a look; if it's really good stuff, I'd pay 500, not just 100—we've dealt with each other this long, you shouldn't give all the good stuff to others."

"Damn, this guy still thinks he's really hiding something, huh."

Yes.

I am hiding it.

But it's not hidden in the water tank; it's in the box in my hand.

"Xiao Hu, show He Lao Ban what we've stored in the water tank for reporting."

Xiao Hu opened the water tank; He Lao Ban took a look and immediately frowned,

"Damn, what are you doing? All this shellfish meat—are you planning to eat it yourself when you get back, or dry it?"

"Want it or not? 100 per catty." Ye Cheng teased.

"Forget it; this stuff isn't worth ten bucks—did you just get this from a day at sea?"

"Can't help it; our luck's been bad lately."

"Forget it; you always say your luck's bad, yet I've never seen you lose."

Seeing that there really wasn't anything valuable here, He Lao Ban also lost interest in pressing the matter.

The two rode Xiao Hu's tricycle home, took the shellfish meat to Jiang Yunxiang's place, had her pick through it; some were taken out to dry and eat, while the rest of the scraps were thrown into Qian Shen's pond to feed the crayfish.

That night Ye Cheng slept uneasily, fearing the pearls might come to harm; after finally waiting for dawn, he got up early, played a game for a while, and lasted until about eight o'clock.

Only then did he carry this packet of pearls into the city; if he didn't sell them, he'd be unable to rest or eat.

To sell jewelry, find Cai Zong!

Last time the cooperation with Meile Zhu was fairly pleasant; Ye Cheng this time directly sought Cai Zong.

"Cai Zong, take a look at these Akoya pearls—how much can you buy them for?" Ye Cheng first brought out that batch of somewhat ordinary ones, over sixty in total.

"This batch I got wild." Ye Cheng added, although wild ones don't add much value.

"Brother, wild vs farmed doesn't differ much; let me have a look." Cai Zong spoke in a flat tone, a bit disappointed.

I had thought Ye Cheng would bring something like Meile Zhu again, but it turned out to be just this ordinary seawater pearl.

However, in business, maintaining relations is sometimes important; otherwise, when others have good goods they won't come to you.

Cai Zong took up a magnifying glass and examined them carefully, not just holding them up to the light and looking left and right.

Ye Cheng guessed he was checking for a nucleus and luster.

Over sixty pearls, Cai Zong spent nearly an hour examining them before putting down the magnifying glass and discussing price with Ye Cheng.

"Brother, this batch really is wild—you managed to get so many, you're truly impressive." Cai Zong gave a thumbs up,

"Knowing how hard it is for us pearl divers, Cai Zong, be considerate and give a better price."

"Seawater pearl prices are quite transparent: over 6mm it's 150 each, 6mm or under it's 100 each; these few that lack roundness also count at 100. Since they're wild, I'll add 10 yuan each." Cai Zong skillfully sorted the pearls, separating size and roundness.

Ye Cheng thought this price was okay, mainly because there's nowhere else to compare.

When tallied, it came to several thousand, enough.

"Alright, let's go with what Cai Zong said."

After saying that, Ye Cheng had Cai Zong total them up, and he also wasn't in a hurry to take out his Heavenly Maiden Grade.

Altogether 65 beads, the total comes to 49,150 yuan.

Cai Zong was just about to turn around to get the money when Ye Cheng suddenly said,

"Cai Zong, wait a moment, take another look at this batch."

After saying that, he took out his 12 Heavenly Maiden Grade.

As soon as the pearls came out, Cai Zong's eyes lit up instantly, and he pulled out a pair of white gloves from behind and put them on.

High-end jewelry must be paired with high-end white gloves, otherwise the pretentiousness just drops.

Wearing the white gloves, Cai Zong examined all 12 Heavenly Maiden Grade beads; the previous 60-plus beads had taken nearly an hour.

These 12 also took about an hour, examined really carefully.