172: Hailiuzi's greeting gift

After a hearty meal, under the horrified expressions of the waiters, Chen Xiangbei swaggered out of this seafood buffet restaurant.

The reason was simple: he ate too much! His appetite alone was equal to that of four or five strong young men combined, leaving the restaurant manager dumbfounded!

The manager thought to himself: Was this guy Zhu Bajie in his past life?! His stomach is like a bottomless pit, no matter how much he eats, he's never full. We've really lost big time!

After Chen Xiangbei ate his fill, he arrived at the parking lot and found that it was already full. Several cars were continuously circling the parking lot, seemingly looking for parking spots.

He walked up to his Maybach, pulled open the door, and got in. The car lights flashed, and then it slowly pulled out of the parking spot.

Just as he was about to pass the cars that were looking for parking spots, he saw them intelligently stop and continuously adjust the positions of their vehicles, clearing a large path for him to drive through.

Chen Xiangbei smiled, understanding their thoughts. When facing luxury cars, everyone is cautious, as even a slight scratch could cost more than selling their own car to compensate.

With his superb driving skills, Chen Xiangbei quickly and steadily passed by those cars.

As he passed their cars, he could still hear people in the opposite vehicles whispering, seemingly discussing the price of his Maybach.

Chen Xiangbei left the Guomao Building and sped towards the Yacht Club.

At 12 o'clock noon, he arrived at the Yacht Club's Fishermen's Wharf on time.

Led by the staff, he arrived in front of his fishing boat. After the staff's introduction, he walked onto the boat alone.

It turned out that the club sent people to clean the fishing boat every day to keep the hull clean, tidy, and odorless.

No wonder Chen Xiangbei felt like he was boarding a new boat every time he got on.

Since it was a fishing boat, anything related to fish generally carried a fishy smell, but his boat didn't. The club's cleaning staff must have used some kind of deodorizing cleaner to keep the hull smelling fresh.

Chen Xiangbei drove the fishing boat, speeding across the vast sea. His destination for this trip was near some coral reef islands north of Xisha Island.

He planned to focus on finding pearls in the coming days, with fishing as a secondary activity, to maximize his daily income.

Because the sea would officially open for fishing in a few days, he would then be able to use methods like trawling to catch fish, and the profits generated from that would be incomparable to fishing.

So he decided to simply use these few days to search for pearls. After all, the waters near Xisha Island were famous for their abundant natural pearls, and he had also researched relevant information upon returning, gaining a deeper understanding of this area.

After sailing at full speed for a while, Chen Xiangbei finally arrived near the waters of Xisha Island and gradually discovered some relatively young coral reef islands.

He navigated carefully in this area, keeping a close eye on the data on the dashboard to avoid the boat hitting reefs.

After some more time, he finally found an area with a suitable depth.

This coral reef area was about 20-40 meters deep, which was very suitable for pearl oyster survival.

The bright sunlight shone on the sea, providing ample light for the pearl oysters and promoting pearl growth.

After Chen Xiangbei moored the boat, he changed into a diving suit and leaped into the sea with a single jump.

As soon as he entered the sea, he swam freely like a fish in water, completely unconcerned about having a "traffic accident."

Looking at the familiar yet beautiful underwater world, his mood also spontaneously became beautiful.

He swam into the coral reef cluster, carefully observing the crevices, as these gaps were the most likely places to hide fish, pearl oysters, or pearl snails.

Wild pearl oysters are actually quite rare, which is why their price has always remained high. Ninety-five percent of the pearls on the market are artificially cultured.

Merchants pass off inferior goods as superior, selling artificially bred pearls as wild ones, quadrupling the price.

Chen Xiangbei searched the entire coral reef area but couldn't find any pearl oysters. However, he did find a bag full of good stuff—sea urchins!

Sea urchins are wonderful creatures of the ocean with multiple benefits.

Firstly, they are highly nutritious, containing rich protein, various amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, as well as vitamins and minerals.

These nutrients not only nourish the body and make it stronger but also provide ample energy and sustenance.

Furthermore, sea urchins may also have a certain promoting effect on male potency. However, sea urchins should be consumed in moderation, and those with allergies should avoid them.

Although sea urchins are small, they have many benefits and are highly sought after by fishermen and diners alike.

Many people are now starting to farm sea urchins because their market price is quite good; they are usually sold individually.

The price of artificially farmed sea urchins on the market is generally 10-20 yuan each, while high-quality, large wild sea urchins can sell for over thirty yuan each.

Of course, they are also sold by the jin (approx. 0.5 kg), usually for 1000-2000 yuan per jin.

The bag of sea urchins Chen Xiangbei harvested weighed about two to three jin, but he didn't plan to sell them. He would bake them directly in the oven once he got back to the boat!

After searching this coral reef area, Chen Xiangbei found no pearl oysters or high-value fish souls, so he decided to return to the boat and continue moving forward to find a new sea area.

Just as he was about to leave, a clear and ethereal sound came from the distance in front of him. Normally, he wouldn't be able to hear it, but with the Underwater Breathing talent, his five senses had evolved underwater, allowing him to hear it clearly.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw several dark figures swimming over quickly. For safety, he turned his body and hid behind the coral reef.

However, when he clearly saw the origin of the creatures, he excitedly darted out.

It turned out to be those two Sea Lizi. They were swimming joyfully like children, continuously emitting ethereal calls from their mouths.

Chen Xiangbei took out some Secret Bait from his space and waved at them. Smelling the special scent, the Orcas swam even harder, darting over like torpedoes.

The moment they approached, Chen Xiangbei released his hand holding the Secret Bait, wanting them to come up and eat it themselves.

However, what was strange was that although they looked eager, they didn't immediately eat the bait. Instead, they still came closer to where he was.

As they got closer, each Orcas spat out a golden fish from its mouth and then pushed the fish towards his embrace with its head.

Chen Xiangbei also understood. It turned out that these big guys had come to give him gifts. He felt comforted in his heart, knowing that he hadn't fed them in vain last time.

This time there were three more Orcas, making a total of five. After putting down the fish in their mouths, they turned back to eat the Secret Bait.