Chapter 286: Squirt

The three Ye brothers chatted excitedly the whole way, their eyes unable to leave that big king squid.

"If we could catch it alive, it'd definitely be worth more."

"If it were alive, that whip lash you took earlier probably would've knocked you flat on your back, and those tentacles of its aren't vegetarian either — they'd just wrap you up, and you… you couldn't handle it."

He had been about to say "they'd strangle you to death," but Ye Yaodong shut his mouth in time — mentioning death on New Year's was bad luck.

Big Brother Ye laughed and laughed, "I was just saying it off the top of my head. This thing, half-dead and half-alive, already gave me a fright. If it were alive, who would dare get close?"

Ye Erge Ye also said with a smile, "Big Brother, don't be greedy. Running into one is already great luck. Luckily today is the first of the New Year, and the sea breeze is strong, so nobody came to the beach. Otherwise, if a whole crowd spotted it at once, there'd be quite a ruckus."

Ye Yaodong nodded in agreement. Good thing the seaside was empty today — no need to argue with anyone.

Besides, fish and shrimp from the sea generally die the moment they hit shore, and squid are the same — as long as it's fresh, it doesn't affect the sale. Crabs, mantis shrimp, octopus and the like are a bit more stubborn.

Not to mention, with the size of this big king squid on display, anyone who saw it would be amazed.

"Dongzi, are we not going to hawk this big king squid on the street? Hawking it on the street to attract more bosses to bid — wouldn't that be better? Like when you sold the oarfish last time?"

"Yeah, more people competing means we can sell for a higher price."

"Let's not. Last time shouting up and down the street made enough of a splash — we got targeted by a gang of thugs and almost didn't make it back. Better keep a low profile. That Crown Prince Hongsheng seems decent enough; we've dealt with him a few times, he probably won't go too far. If the offer's too low, we can just not sell and try somewhere else — it's not like he's the only hotel in town."

They'd already been targeted once. A second time, and they might not make it back at all. Old grudges and new might be settled together — they'd end up missing an arm or a leg.

No need, no need — gotta learn from the lesson.

Besides, Hong Hong Wenle really does seem decent. Last time he even helped him buy the Angong Niuhuang Pills. This time, delivering a good catch right to his door can be considered returning a favor.

"Right, right, right — times aren't peaceful these days. Better keep a low profile and just deliver it straight to the hotel. Selling for a bit less doesn't matter — safety first." Big Brother Ye said hurriedly.

Although they hadn't been there at the time, when they came back from sea they'd also heard about it. Their old man had even been called to go pick them up by boat. They heard it was a close call — even Zhou Shu had been beaten when he came back with an empty cart.

Ye Erge Ye also recalled it. "Right, right, right — let's not take risks."

"Mm."

The tractor bumped along, slowly heading toward town. The roads really are terrible — and this is the main road. It rocked and swayed so much that several times the big king squid was jolted into shifting. Luckily the ropes in their hands were still tied around its tentacles, otherwise it really would've been shaken off.

Even so, it was jolted into shifting quite a bit. Halfway there, they even had to stop and readjust it, otherwise after a bit more bumping it might really have fallen off.

The three of them kept a constant eye on it. Once they entered the town's boundaries, the road conditions were a bit better.

They had already told Zhou Shu to head straight for Hongsheng Hotel. After suffering a loss once, Zhou Shu knew how serious it was and had originally wanted to take a route with fewer people.

But later he saw that the shops on the main road were all closed. Apart from a few Taiwanese goods stores and small sundries shops, there was nobody around — even the street vendors were resting for the New Year. Only then did he feel at ease taking the main road boldly.

The tractor arrived at the hotel's back gate without incident. Other places had shut down for the holiday, but a place like a hotel couldn't possibly close.

Ye Yaodong told them to wait at the back gate while he went in to take a look — at least he still knew that fatty Wang Maoquan.

Fortunately, that fatty didn't look down on him either. Maybe it was because they'd dealt a few times — when he saw Ye Yaodong, he was only briefly surprised, then turned to him with a beaming smile.

"Happy New Year! What's up? Got something to deliver again, or are you looking for our young boss?"

"Happy New Year! I'm looking for you. Haven't seen you in a few days — Manager Wang, you look more and more radiant, clearly about to strike it rich."

"Hee hee hee… it's New Year, who doesn't look festive? Your demeanor is bound to be different from usual. Aren't you also beaming all over? Something good happen again?"

"Ha ha ha, Manager Wang, your mouth is really auspicious — no wonder you became manager of such a big hotel. The way you talk is a real art."

Wang Maoquan was genuinely flattered by his sincere flattery, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile. "Out with it, I don't have time to stand here bantering with you all day."

"Come, come, come — got something good to show you. It's at the back gate, let's step out and talk."

"What's so good? Just tell me already…"

Ye Yaodong, seeing how chatty he was today, didn't stand on ceremony and draped an arm over his shoulder, walking him outside. "This one you have to see with your own eyes. Without seeing it, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"If it turns out to be nothing special and just wastes my time, just see how I'll deal with you?"

"Just don't have your eyes pop out later…"

"Quit the big talk. Laozi has seen far more than you — what rare thing in this place haven't I seen?"

"You've seen an oarfish?"

Wang Maoquan was instantly at a loss for words. Walking along, he shot him a sideways glance. "Don't tell me you got another one?"

"Actually, no…"

Wang Maoquan gave him a look that said, "Well, there you go then."

Ye Yaodong, however, grinned slyly. Just before walking up to the tractor, he placed his hand directly over Wang Maoquan's eyes, covering them for a moment.

"Ah, what are you doing? What are you doing? No respect for elders — you brat are getting more and more outrageous. Can't be nice to you for a second. If it weren't for our young boss having a good impression of you, just see if I'd still be nice to…"

While Wang Maoquan was grabbing at his hand and pulling, Ye Yaodong gave him a shove, pushing him right up to the tractor before taking his hand away from his eyes.

Wang Maoquan had been grumbling unhappily, and after being shoved he was even more displeased. He glared, ready to turn his head and start cursing—

His neck had only turned halfway, his body hadn't even followed yet, when he froze stiff. Then, unable to believe it himself, he wrenched his head back to face forward and looked at what was in front of him.

His eyes went wide. He pointed at the big white creature on the tractor with an incredulous index finger. "Wh-what is this? A squid? Or a cuttlefish? This big? Real or fake?"

"Touch it and see if it's real or fake. It's called a giant cuttlefish, but it's actually a squid, so it's also called a king squid."

Wang Maoquan, hearing this, really did reach out and touch one of its tentacles — slippery and sticky. He pinched it and it was quite springy. This was clearly real…

He was utterly astonished. "Damn! There really are squids this big in this world? How many meters is this?"

"Still think I'm being outrageous? Manager Wang, heh heh — surprised? Shocked? Satisfied with this big fellow?"

Wang Maoquan glared at him irritably, then laughed again. "You brat really are bold — you've got some backing to dare be so disrespectful."

"Ha ha, just pulling your leg. Isn't it more of a surprise this way? Right?"

Wang Maoquan extended his index finger, smiling, and tapped him twice in mid-air. He didn't say anything, but instead turned his head to keep looking at the big king squid on the tractor.

"Has this big squid been measured? Do you know how many meters? How heavy?"

"No, just caught. It was still alive earlier, could still move a bit. It should be dead by now. Find something to measure it, weigh it. I don't know how long or how heavy either."

"Wait here."

With that, he scurried into the building like a gust of wind — where on earth did that look like a short, fat guy?

In a little while, two people came out pushing a large scale, with someone behind them carrying a board.

"Just put it here, this will do, there's a bit more space here…"

Wang Maoquan directed his men to first set up the scale and board, weighed the wooden board properly, then said to Ye Yaodong with a beaming smile: "Brother, I've already sent someone to call our young master. This big fellow still needs him to make the call. Let's measure the size first, weigh it first. That wooden board just now was 6 Jin in weight, we'll deduct it directly later."

"Alright, get your workers to come help lift it too. This big king squid weighs several hundred Jin in weight, it's very heavy, hard to lift."

"Go on, all of you go help lift it together."

Everyone carefully and steadily placed this big fellow onto the wooden board. The moment it was set down, the scale's measuring rod clanged straight up and hit the top.

The wooden board placed underneath still wasn't big enough — it could only hold the body of the big king squid, its head and tentacles still hung down to the ground.

They carefully adjusted and shifted it a bit before managing to get its head and tentacles onto the wooden board too.

This weighing was no small matter either — they added weight after weight, then switched them out, stacked four 50-kilogram weights and then added another 10-kilogram one, almost running out of room to stack more.

Just when everyone on the spot thought they'd need to switch out the weights again, the measuring rod floated up a bit, then drooped down a little, then swung back and forth a few times in the middle.

"Yo, 411 Jin, deduct the 6 Jin Weight of the wooden board, this king squid is 405 Jin."

Ye Yaodong's eyes lit up as he looked at the scale. He'd guessed it should be three or four hundred Jin, but he hadn't expected it to exceed 400 Jin.

Goodness, this king squid is the biggest catch I've landed so far!

Damn, it's actually 405 Jin!

Just as everyone was marveling at its weight, several young men and women hurried out from the back door of the hotel.

"Where's the giant squid?"

"Move aside, move aside, stop crowding around…"

Wang Maoquan immediately waved back the workers who had crowded into a pile, his face plastered with smiles as he went up to greet them. "Young master…"

"Holy crap, it's really huge…"

"Huh? There's really a squid this big…"

Now it was the turn of a group of young masters and young ladies to marvel — they too had never seen such a big king squid.

"Goodness, just the body alone is this long. If you add the tentacles, wouldn't it be about ten meters?"

"Tsk tsk tsk… this is the first time I've seen such a big squid. I wonder what it tastes like, is it good to eat?"

"Last time that oarfish — I never got to eat it, what a pity. This time I definitely have to have a taste…"

Hong Hong Wenle watched, excited beyond measure. He was, after all, a man from the seaside — how could he not love seafood? And there really wasn't any kind of seafood he hadn't eaten. He missed out on the oarfish last time, but this time no one was going to compete with him.

He looked at Ye Yaodong with a beaming smile. "Sure enough, you've got the skills. Whatever good stuff, whatever rare thing, you can always get your hands on it!"

"Ahaha… just good luck, that's all…" he said modestly. And indeed it really was luck — it was this king squid that came knocking on his door.

"Luck is also part of strength, and not just anyone has your kind of luck. I have high hopes for you. In the future, if you come across this kind of giant again, send them all over!"

Ye Yaodong said with a smile: "These kinds of things are extremely rare, you only come across them by chance, you can't seek them out. How would I dare to guarantee it?"

"We'll talk about it later, we'll talk about it later. How many Jin was it again?"

"405 Jin! The length still hasn't been measured…"

"Goodness, I'll measure the length!"

Hong Hong Wenle took the tape measure with great enthusiasm, intending to do it himself. Such a big squid — just thinking about it was exciting. This was the first one in the whole town, the whole county, the whole city. As for other places, he wouldn't dare to be certain.

"You guys go get a camera, take a few more photos later. And stretch the tape measure over — first measure its body, then measure the head and tentacles…"

His face was full of smiles, the corners of his mouth stretched wide, as he squatted beside the head of the big king squid.

But just then, from the two tentacles of the big king squid — or rather, from its hectocotylus arms — a large amount of spermatophores suddenly spurted out…

And it sprayed directly onto the person squatting right in front of it…