154: It's eight or eighteen pounds.

“How much?”

Xiao Jiu Zheng Tie thought he misheard and asked again.

“Three to four hundred thousand, no more, no less!”

Bai Dahai repeated.

Yang Qi told Xiao Jiu about the Large Yellow Croaker they sold last time, how a 5-6 jin individual sold for 12,000 yuan per jin, and also explained that Large Yellow Croaker gains a grade for every half-jin, becoming more expensive the larger it is.

Xiao Jiu nodded, finally believing, but still felt it was a bit incredible:

“Sigh! Spending hundreds of thousands to eat a fish, poverty truly limited my imagination! I never understood what that meant before, but now I truly get it!”

Looking at the time, it was already 2:30 AM, and the tide was slowly starting to rise.

The three began loading the car. Yang Qi first went to the live fish tank and scooped some water. He put the more valuable live fish from the small puddle, such as East Star Grouper, Dog Sharks, and Sesame Grouper, into the live fish tank and turned on the aerator.

The rest was easier: shellfish and snails went at the bottom, various Crabs and abalones on top, and Sea Cucumbers at the very top.

The Large Yellow Croaker was the top priority and was definitely placed in the safest spot, as it couldn't be pressed or bumped, which would affect its skin and appearance for sale.

When they returned home, they found that everyone else was in the yard, sorting through the seafood they had gathered.

Yang Qi went over to look and saw that the mudflats' harvest was indeed abundant, and the varieties were slightly different from their rocky shore.

The mudflats mainly yielded various snails, shrimp, and fish. There were also some Conger Eels and Sea Cucumbers, but not many Crabs.

The harvest was quite impressive; four or five fish baskets were full, and there was still a pile on the ground, easily several hundred jin.

The Crabs and Sea Cucumbers that Bai Dahai had brought back for them the first time had already been sorted and placed aside.

Seeing Yang Qi and the others come in, Yang Limin greeted them and asked how the harvest was.

“Why are you shirtless? Did gathering seafood make you so tired you lost your clothes?”

“Hey! Yang Qi and his group are truly amazing! Let me show you what they caught!”

Bai Dahai mysteriously took down the bag containing Yang Qi’s clothes. Everyone watched as Bai Dahai pulled out Yang Qi’s clothes, clearly pack a sizable fish inside.

Under everyone's gaze, Bai Dahai revealed the golden tail of the Large Yellow Croaker. He swayed it in front of them to ensure everyone saw it, then wrapped it back up.

“A Large Yellow Croaker?”

“A Large Yellow Croaker, such a big Large Yellow Croaker?”

The first to react was Chen Lanying, followed by Yang Dad Yang Limin.

“Here, Old Yang, first freeze it in the freezer. We’ll take it out when the buyer arrives. Don’t unwrap Yang Qi’s clothes; just keep it iced like this.”

After Bai Dahai finished speaking, he handed the Large Yellow Croaker to Yang Limin. The two even weighed it, and with Yang Qi's clothes, it weighed 18.9 jin, which was extremely rare!

Yang Qi, meanwhile, dragged the live fish tank to his large fish tank, which still contained many Groupers that hadn't been finished after the several people went back to their hometown.

He first turned on the fish tank light, then carefully used a net to scoop out the East Star Grouper, which was full of vitality and thrashed quite vigorously.

As Yang Qi put the fish into the tank, the East Star Grouper accelerated and swam to the bottom of the large fish tank, away from the fierce bipedal beast.

The Dog Sharks didn't get such good treatment. Yang Qi grabbed their long tails and, regardless of their struggles, put both Dog Sharks into the fish tank.

The Sesame Grouper definitely had to go in, and the large Black Fish also had its place.

Yang Qi thought for a moment and decided to put the several Rockfish, weighing four to five liang each, into the tank as well. He also picked about ten Sea Cucumbers and put them in.

For the Chinese Ornate Spiny Lobster, Yang Qi selected seven or eight of the largest and most beautiful ones and put them in the fish tank to keep.

There were only two Conger Eels, at most half a jin each. He had originally planned to save them for lunch, but now he saw that Yang Dad and the others had caught quite a few.

So he picked the two most energetic ones and also kept them in the fish tank. After all, the fish tank had enough space, adding to the biodiversity!

As for the others, he also kept two Black Seabream. Didn't they just follow the spiny abalone he kept last time after entering the water?

Yang Qi now somewhat regretted selling the Wrasse at the time.

Crabs were impossible to keep; two Conger Eels were already the limit. Yang Qi wondered if he should buy another large fish tank specifically for aggressive creatures like Crabs and Conger Eels.

“Hello, A Ming!”

“Hello, Yang Qi, why are you calling me so early?”

It was clear Chen Tianming was still asleep.

“A Ming, what time is it and you’re still sleeping? Aren’t you doing business anymore?”

Yang Qi deliberately raised his voice, “I haven’t even slept yet, so how can I let you sleep peacefully?”

“It’s been typhoon weather these past few days. No fishing boats are going out to sea. Do I need to get up early just to sell the existing stock? Why did I hire people then?”

Chen Tianming first asked three consecutive questions, then continued:

“Speaking of which, weren’t you guys fishing for big grass carp back home? When did you get back?”

“We came back yesterday afternoon. Your cousin brought back quite a few wild soft-shelled turtles. Didn’t he give you any?”

Yang Qi had a mischievous smile, anticipating the other side’s exasperation.

“Oh! Well, he should contact me today, right? Do you have something important? If not, I’m going back to sleep.”

Chen Tianming said groggily.

“Hmm, well, I went gathering seafood in the early morning and picked up some Crabs, Sea Cucumbers, Spiny Lobsters, snails, and such. And there’s a Large Yellow Croaker, a little over eighteen jin.”

Yang Qi said.

“Crabs, Sea Cucumbers, Spiny Lobsters! You’re so lucky! Ah! And a Large Yellow Croaker, how many jin is it? I didn’t hear clearly just now.”

Chen Tianming asked.

“A little over eighteen jin,” Yang Qi said.

“It’s a little over eight jin! That’s indeed very big, your luck is unparalleled! I’m coming to your house to pick up the goods right away.”

When Chen Tianming heard there were Sea Cucumbers, Spiny Lobsters, Crabs, and a Large Yellow Croaker, he immediately sobered up and quickly left for Yang Qi’s house. On the way, he called his workers, got into the shop’s car, and headed to wait near Yang Qi’s home.

Thirty minutes later, Chen Tianming arrived at Yang Qi’s house in Qingshan Town from the city.

As soon as he entered the gate, he saw both families sitting in the yard, sorting the seafood catch. After greeting everyone, he immediately arranged for his workers to come forward and help.

He then went to Yang Qi’s side and asked, “Yang Qi, where’s the Large Yellow Croaker? Take me to see it!”

“Hmm, okay, follow me, it’s in the freezer.”

Yang Qi nodded, led Chen Tianming to the utility room, opened the freezer, and took out the Large Yellow Croaker wrapped in a bath towel. (He had changed out of his clothes after putting away the live fish earlier.)

The two first turned off the lights, and using the light from their phone screens, carefully opened the bath towel.

The golden Large Yellow Croaker revealed its true form. It was a solid gold brick!

“This is the Large Yellow Croaker you said was over eight jin? Are your eyes perhaps problematic?”

Chen Tianming stared at Yang Qi, questioning him.

“I think your ears are problematic. When did I ever say it was over eight jin? I said it was a Large Yellow Croaker weighing over eighteen jin!”