Chapter 374: Too Massive Sunken Wood

Xiao Hu returned to the Boat, found a bundle of rope, first tied it to the Boat's rail, then threw the other end to Ye Cheng.

【2> Da Huang also took the opportunity to jump into the sea, watching Ye Cheng from the side.

Da Huang also took the opportunity to jump into the sea, watching Ye Cheng from the side.

Ye Cheng patted Da Huang's head, then dove in.

After swimming to the Sea Bottom, Ye Cheng found a spot where it could be wedged and wrapped the rope around it three times, then tugged the rope to signal Xiao Hu above to start the Boat.

Ye Cheng himself stayed to the side, waiting to see if he could help pull when the time came.

Soon, a mechanical rumbling came from above, growing louder.

The rope was gradually pulled, and soon it became taut.

With a hum, a ripple shook the seabed.

Ye Cheng saw the wood move a bit, but the force was still insufficient; the Boat above, having been pulled slightly off‑center, began to yaw.

The engine noise increased; Xiao Hu must have opened the throttle, yet the wood remained stubbornly immobile.

Ye Cheng, helpless, could only swim over; he dared not stand face‑on, so he lay on his side on the seabed and kicked with his feet.

After a few kicks, the wood began to loosen; as the engine noise rose again, it was gradually pulled out of the water.

After Xiao Hu drove the Boat forward a stretch and then stopped, the sunken wood lost its drive and sank back to the Sea Bottom.

After the silt cleared away, Ye Cheng carefully examined this whole piece of sunken wood.

This piece of wood is over half a meter thick; overall, Ye Cheng estimated it to be about five or six meters long.

It is black all over; some parts have cracked from brittleness, so it is not a perfect cylinder, with many depressions and protruding branches.

Yet it feels smooth to the touch, with a jade‑like sensation.

Now that it was pulled out, Ye Cheng gave it a try, wanting to see if he could lift it.

He swam to the rear and attempted to lift it.

Damn, it's really heavy—there's no movement at all; it must be over a ton, though I don't know exactly how much.

Having gotten it out of the water, Ye Cheng climbed up first.

"Brother, did you get it out? Why aren't you bringing it up?" Xiao Hu asked as he poked his head out.

"What the hell, it's over half a meter thick and five or six meters long—I can't lift it at all."

Ye Cheng said while climbing onto the Boat first; he needed to rest a bit.

"That big." Xiao Hu gasped in surprise, then started counting on his fingers,

"Yesterday that little stick was 3000; how much would this huge piece of wood cost? Could it be millions?"

"What are you thinking? Yesterday it was cheap because the stick was small, and besides, Zhou Lao Ban deliberately offered a high price to buy it back for fun; a piece this big definitely couldn't fetch that much."

Although it wouldn't sell for a million, Ye Cheng estimated that selling it for several hundred thousand would be no problem.

I just don't know what kind of wood this is; if it were golden‑thread nanmu, we'd really strike it rich.

But this piece of wood is a bit heavy; figuring out how to bring it back is a hassle.

"Xiao Hu, this piece of wood weighs over a ton—how should we get it back?"

Xiao Hu also worried upon hearing it; a lighter load could be hauled up, but this heavy—how to manage?

"Why not cut it in half?"

"You're stupid—this is sunken wood, it's extremely hard; besides, you want me to go chop trees on the sea bottom?"

"Or we could trawl‑net it, drag it up with the net? Our trawl net isn't the biggest, but it can handle up to a ton, right?"

Ye Cheng narrowed his eyes; this isn't completely unfeasible.

But the trawl net simply isn't that big—it definitely wouldn't fit—and Ye Cheng had no confidence; the thing might even rip the net apart at once.

However, Xiao Hu did give him a hint.

"Xiao Hu, if we tie the trawl net's float boards and floats to it, do you think we could pull this wood?"

"That should work; if not, we can add a few more float boards, and there are spare floats on the Boat, so when it gets moving there shouldn't be a big problem."

"Fine, let's do it that way."

Said and done.

The two began dismantling the floats and float boards from the trawl net, then fetched two lengths of rope, each side tying a float and a float board, after which Ye Cheng went down and tied the rope to both ends of the wood.

Once everything was ready, Ye Cheng tried to gradually accelerate the Boat.

As the throttle was pushed forward, the Boat's speed gradually increased, lifting the wood halfway out of the water and making it float.

"All right."

The test succeeded; Ye Cheng stopped the Boat—not because he couldn't pull it, but because he couldn't haul it back now.

It's broad daylight; if I tried to pull it back now, it would definitely cause a stir at the Matou.

Even if not everyone knows what sunken wood is, just one person recognizing it would surely draw everyone's attention.

Moreover, given that I sold that piece of wood to Zhou Lao Ban yesterday for 3000, everyone could guess the value of this wood.

Something worth several hundred thousand isn't a flex—it's a test of human nature.

And human nature, after 5000 years of historical sedimentation, is the least able to withstand such a test.

So Ye Cheng plans to return later, avoiding peak hours, and not to the Matou but to the village.

Although the village shore isn't ideal for docking, you can still pull alongside; once alongside, I'll try to find people to get the stuff out, doing my best to keep others from knowing.

After I explained the idea to Xiao Hu, he had no objection,

"Then, Brother, we'll have to wait until night—what do we do in the daytime?"

Ye Cheng checked the time; it's only noon, and even after lunch there's still an afternoon left—we can't waste it.

He looked at the island and pointed to the woods over there,

"Come on, let's go up to the island and see if another batch of bird's nests shows up."

"You're dreaming, Brother—bird's nests don't just grow anywhere."

Ye Cheng didn't know whether there was bird's nest, but it was indeed true that walking into the woods made it much cooler.

The two simply took their lunch to the island to eat, enjoying the sea breeze and staying in the shade, which made them quite happy.

The only way Da Huang differs from a dog is that it doesn't cling to people.

It's even annoying.

Now I don't even know where it went.

After finishing lunch, Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu began to stroll leisurely through the woods.

The woods here were fairly normal, but when they walked to the other side, the two discovered that this area had actually been flooded by seawater, presenting a scene of half mudflat, half forest.

"Brother, look at this." Xiao Hu casually picked up a seashell from the muddy ground.

This seashell is quite large, about the size of Xiao Hu's palm, a pale dung-yellow color—it is a mangrove clam.

Mangrove clams commonly inhabit the brackish waters of river estuaries and intertidal zones; they are a very common type of shell, and because of their color, some places call them cow dung snails.

As for why they aren't called cow dung shells, Ye Cheng also doesn't know.

Mangrove clams aren't a particularly valuable variety, and basically no one farms them.