389: Ambergris

"ambergris! I know about that. Back then, my roommate even bought ambergris perfume on Pinduoduo for 15 yuan a bottle."

Yang Qi remembered that former roommate who, in order to pick up girls, had bought it on Pinduoduo. According to the customer service, it was ambergris perfume.

"Oh, give it a rest! How could something from Pinduoduo be made from natural ambergris? And for 15 yuan a bottle? Do you have any idea what the price of top-quality natural ambergris raw material is?"

Bai Xue gave Yang Qi a sidelong glance, then hugged him excitedly and said:

"Hubby, rumors online say this kind of top-quality ambergris goes for over 3,000 to 5,000 yuan per gram. Your luck is truly incredible!"

"Holy crap, it's that expensive!"

"Who knows where the japanese looted this from back then? But it doesn't matter anymore; it's ours now!"

Yang Qi was startled, but then he became happy again.

ambergris, also called 'Dragon's Belly Incense,' is essentially the dried secretion of sperm whales.

When first discharged into the sea, ambergris is light black. Under the action of seawater, it gradually turns gray, light gray, and finally becomes white.

It is often used as a fixative in high-end perfumes.

Moreover, while it has a strong fishy stench when it is light black, it emits a long-lasting fragrance after drying. When ignited, the fragrance overflows even more, smelling better than Musk.

Among them, white ambergris is of the best quality. It must be soaked in seawater for over a hundred years to bleach out all impurities before it can become a top-grade ambergris.

"ambergris, Civet, Castoreum, and Musk" are known together as the four great animal-derived fragrances in medicinal materials. They possess high economic and Traditional Chinese Medicine value.

"Then these few pieces of ours, which definitely weigh four or five catties, aren't they worth tens of millions?"

Yang Qi clicked his tongue in amazement.

"At least that much. This kind of top-quality ambergris is very rare. If you find someone who needs it, the price should be even higher!"

Bai Xue took the piece of ambergris Yang Qi handed her, put it back into the box, and then took it back to the rest cabin to store it properly.

"Alright, you keep watch up here while I go down to tie the boxes. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."

Yang Qi called out to Bai Xue and then dove into the sea.

For the sixteen boxes on the deck this time, Yang Qi used that fishing line to tie up three boxes at a time.

Then he would go back up and work with Bai Xue to lift them using the Crane's boom; the speed was significantly faster.

About two and a half hours later, all sixteen boxes were tightly covered with tarpaulin.

Bai Xue looked at the panting Yang Qi beside her and said:

"Hubby, eat a few chocolate bars first to replenish your strength. We'll go down together for the next trip."

Yang Qi saw that it was already 12 o'clock. He picked up the binoculars to check the surroundings once more, then nodded:

"Alright, come with me. Maybe the two of us really can salvage everything before dawn?"

He quickly finished two chocolate bars and drank two cans of red bull. Without resting much, he took Bai Xue back into the sea.

The two of them reached the cabin of the shipwreck. Not counting the empty boxes tossed aside, they found twenty-eight boxes remaining.

Sixteen of those boxes were extremely heavy and should still contain gold bricks or Gold Bars.

Of the other twelve boxes, five were large iron chests and seven were wooden boxes.

Yang Qi pointed at the iron chests, then at the empty boxes, and then tapped her.

Bai Xue understood immediately. Yang Qi wanted her to organize the iron chests and put their contents into the empty boxes.

So she nodded and made an "OK" gesture to show she understood.

Yang Qi walked straight toward the lighter boxes. The two had a clear division of labor, each doing their own task.

When Yang Qi returned after moving one box out, he found Bai Xue packing things into an empty box.

He didn't have time to go over and check; as long as things were being repacked into the empty boxes, it was a harvest.

By the time Yang Qi had moved seven boxes, he found that Bai Xue had already organized eight wooden boxes on her side.

It was clear her expression was very excited; she must have found something good. She also began moving those boxes outward.

At first, Bai Xue could move a box by herself, but later they had to carry them together. They must have finished moving the lighter ones she had organized.

The two didn't stop for a moment. It took over two hours to move all the boxes except for the sixteen heavy ones onto the deck.

Before surfacing, Yang Qi saw Bai Xue point to six or seven wooden boxes placed on the perimeter. She even picked one up; it looked very light.

He understood immediately. These were the ones Bai Xue had organized later, meaning they were light enough to carry while swimming up.

Yang Qi nodded. After firmly tying the other four boxes, he also picked up a light one.

Then the two of them quickly swam toward the surface.

"The box doesn't even weigh twenty catties. I wonder what's inside?"

Yang Qi thought to himself.

On the surface, Bai Xue wiped her face and said excitedly to Yang Qi:

"Hubby, the ones we carried up are porcelain. Be careful not to chip them."

"Oh? Porcelain! I see."

The two carefully sent the boxes containing porcelain onto the deck. This stuff wasn't like gold; you couldn't just throw it around without worry.

With porcelain, if even a small piece is chipped off, the difference in value is like heaven and earth.

Yang Qi didn't have time to admire the porcelain. He just placed it far to one side and immediately began hoisting the boxes onto the deck.

While they were hoisting, Bai Xue told him about what she had found in the iron chests.

Of the eight organized boxes, five contained ambergris and three contained porcelain. Furthermore, there were four pieces of porcelain in the large iron chests that didn't have boxes to fit into.

Soon, the four boxes Yang Qi had tied were hoisted onto the deck and set down.

"Hubby, take out the empty boxes from the Live Well. I'll go get some sun-protective clothing to pack the porcelain in later."

Bai Xue suddenly thought of the first few empty boxes.

"Alright, I'll go get them."

In this way, the two hoisted twice more before all the boxes on the shipwreck's deck were hoisted onto the setting sail.

Now, only those sixteen heaviest boxes of gold remained on the shipwreck.

Yang Qi saw that it was already 2:30. To salvage everything before dawn, the time was too tight.

He took the chocolate Bai Xue handed him and ate it quickly. After drinking another can of red bull, the scratchy feeling in his throat finally vanished.

"Let's go. We'll go together and see if we can get it all up."

Bai Xue also understood that the setting sail had to leave before dawn. For safety's sake, they probably wouldn't even return to this area of the sea in the future.

If a few boxes of gold were left behind before dawn, it would be their own loss.

Bai Xue finished the last gulp of red bull and said to Yang Qi:

"Let's go, hubby. Let's give it our all. We should be able to get it all up."