Chapter 376: What? Over a ton?

Hearing Ye Cheng say that, everyone's relations were instantly set in opposition; several people glanced at each other, then spoke with a hollow smile.

"We have no problem, you name a price."

Ye Cheng didn't want to cheat anyone either; he first had Xiao Hu weigh all the blue crabs—78 in total, net weight 200 catties, averaging less than 3 catties each.

"Gentlemen, these blue crabs aren't roe crabs, just big-sized; I estimate their taste is a bit worse than small blue crabs, so even starting at 20 per catty, the opening bid is 4000."

Ye Cheng's price is quite fair—even ordinary blue crabs could fetch this; although big blue crabs aren't necessarily tastier, seafood buyers often care more about face than flavor.

So when the bosses heard it was only 20 per catty, they instantly got excited.

"I bid 4500!" Boss Wu raised the price by 500 directly.

"Damn, Boss Wu, you're loaded—adding 500 each time, I'll add another 100, 4600." Boss Lin was the second to bid.

Tsk!

After all that talk, he only added 100; several bosses looked at Boss Lin with disdain—this guy is just petty.

"You're being so indecisive; I'll just state my bottom line: 6000. If you go over, I'll drop out." Boss Zhou shouted loudly.

Ye Cheng found those words very familiar.

It's just like when I later played games, leading a gold raid to sell gear for 6000P.

The price of 6000 isn't low; hearing it, several bosses hesitated a bit, since not everyone has such good channels.

But with so many people, it's not only Boss Zhou who has the channel.

"Boss Zhou already named his bottom line, so let's go with 6200." Boss He said calmly.

He made tens of thousands last time flipping clams, and now he's flush with cash.

As soon as they heard Boss He raise the price again, the other bosses couldn't take it and fell silent.

Boss He looked around proudly, then turned his gaze to Ye Cheng,

"Old Two, 6200, deal?"

Ye Cheng nodded, about to speak, when suddenly another voice sounded,

"Wait! I bid 7000!"

7000—damn, that's another 800 added.

Ye Cheng wanted to see who was so bold; he looked up and instantly wore a strange expression.

The speaker was Boss Zhou, the man who had said 6000P.

Just now he clearly said he'd drop out if it went over 6000, yet now he's raising the bid—this is getting a bit tricky; if this were a game, he'd probably get flamed.

"No, Boss Zhou, you just said you'd quit if it exceeded 6000; why are you raising the bid now?" Boss He glared at him, displeased.

Boss Zhou kept a calm face,

"I was just talking; no contract signed, so the highest bidder wins, right, Old Two?"

Ye Cheng wore a helpless expression; indeed, the highest bidder wins, and though their psychological tactics are a bit underhanded, they're not illegal.

"Boss Zhou at 7000—anyone else want to raise?" Ye Cheng said helplessly.

Boss He's face darkened; he frowned, calculated for a while, then said displeasedly,

"I'm out."

"Alright then, Boss Zhou, 7000—cash and goods cleared."

"Hahaha, don't worry, I'll pay right now." Boss Zhou generously handed over the cash on the spot.

The remaining red tree clams weren't worth much; Ye Cheng sold them at 5 per catty, getting over 600, for a total of 7600.

Not much, not little—Ye Cheng gave 2600 to Xiao Hu and kept 5000 for himself.

Anyway, this is small change; the big sum is still out in the village.

After the goods sold, the bosses each went to rest; Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu tidied up, then took Xiao Hu back to the village, casually putting Da Huang inside the house.

Ye Cheng went to find his older brother, then sent Xiao Hu to Duan Yong to retrieve his motorcycle.

Such heavy timber would be tough to move by hand alone, but with a motorcycle helping pull, it would be much easier.

Seeing Ye Cheng enter, Ye Guowei was a bit surprised—it was already 9 p. m., and he was about to go to bed with his wife for a meeting; why was his brother coming now?

"A Cheng, what urgent matter brings you here so late?" Ye Guowei and Jiang Yunxiang came out wearing an extra layer.

"Brother, I've gotten some sunk wood; it's heavy—I need your help to bring it home."

"Sunk wood? What's that?" Ye Guowei didn't react at once.

"Isn't that the black wood, the kind said to ward off evil?" Jiang Yunxiang interjected excitedly.

"Right, sis, that's it—though this log is big, I estimate it weighs over a ton."

"What? Over a ton? Isn't this stuff supposed to be rare?" Jiang Yunxiang gasped.

"Anyway, I fished it out of the sea; I've moved it to the water outside the village now. I need to get it home tonight while no one's around, or it'll be trouble if seen."

Ye Guowei was dumbstruck, standing there frozen, not even pulling his clothes down.

"You're dealing with black wood—this stuff, a ton."

"Yes, brother—black wood, a ton, in the sea, needs to be hauled up." Ye Cheng gave his older brother a brief explanation.

"Alright, let's go—do we need to go down to the sea to salvage it?"

"You don't have to go down; I'll go down, you stay above and ride the motorcycles to pull me up, then we'll find a three-wheeled flatbed to haul it home."

The flatbed Ye Cheng referred to is the wooden cart used before three-wheelers became popular.

Such a purely man‑powered cart is labor‑intensive, but its advantage is being long enough to pull this log.

"A flatbed? Sure, sure—I'll go borrow one now." Ye Guowei threw on his clothes and headed out.

"Hey, remember not to tell people what you're doing." Jiang Yunxiang whispered, watching Ye Guowei's back.

"Let's go, sis—you keep an eye on things for us later." Ye Cheng called Jiang Yunxiang along.

To be honest, this thing is so big, and without a crane, I don't even know if I can pull it.

Ye Cheng pulled Jiang Yunxiang to the seaside; Xiao Hu was already waiting there on his motorcycle, with several bundles of rope in his hands.

Such a huge log definitely couldn't be dragged up with just one rope, and with such a long distance, not having enough rope also wouldn't work.

The three walked toward the beach; this tidal flat had already been contracted by Ye Guowei, and no one came.

Ye Cheng looked out at the distant sea surface; his marker was still there.

"Xiao Hu, you and my sister-in-law tidy up the ropes up there; I'll first take one down into the sea."

When putting the wood down, Ye Cheng deliberately didn't remove the float, so that when it was pulled up later it would give some buoyancy.

He went down into the sea, pulled the rope to find the sunk wood, tied one end securely, then came up again and took another rope.

When he came up, Ye Guowei had already arrived with a large cart.

"I borrowed it from someone; is this enough?"

"Enough, Brother—adjust your positions with Xiao Hu; after I tie the ropes, I'll give you a signal, and you both move forward together to see if we can pull it."

"All right!"