"Mr. Zhuang, please take out the pearls inside and let us see them..."
"Yes, this is a real pearl, it's truly amazing..."
"Xiao Zhuang, take it out and let's take a look. There aren't many ancient pearls unearthed here..."
Not only were the onlookers making a fuss, but Professor Meng was also very curious and kept urging Zhuang Rui on the side.
Unlike other gemstones such as jade and diamonds, pearls will decompose into powder if left out for a long time and suddenly exposed to the outside air. Therefore, although pearl jewelry was popular in ancient China, very few pieces have been preserved intact.
Therefore, most of the jewelry unearthed from tombs is made of gold and silver, while pearls from the Tang and Song dynasties are extremely rare.
Of course, pearls have been unearthed in modern times, such as the Eastern pearls found in the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi, which were preserved because they were buried for a short time.
"Okay, I'll take it out and let everyone see..."
Seeing the crowd's outrage, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh. He tore open the piece of clam meat in his arms, and when he looked inside, he was stunned.
A black pearl, slightly smaller than a pigeon egg, still displays an alluring luster under the sunlight, even though it is covered with a layer of mucus emitted by the clam.
What surprised Zhuang Rui the most was that when he first looked at the pearl, it was black, but as he moved his hand, the pearl seemed to change color, turning from black to deep purple in an instant, and exhibiting a metallic luster.
Although the large pearl was not perfectly round and was slightly irregular in shape, Zhuang Rui was still completely mesmerized by it. This kind of direct visual experience was far superior to anything that could be obtained through spiritual energy.
Beside the large pearl, there is a ring of pearls the size of beans, all pure black pearls, surrounding the large pearl like stars around the moon.
Seeing this, Zhuang Rui was also somewhat surprised. Why would a black-lipped clam, which grows in the Pacific Ocean, appear in the waters off Fujian? Could it really be a clam spirit, wandering the four seas?
"A pearl, a pearl has really appeared..."
"It's black, wow, it's huge..."
"Black pearls? Aren't they very valuable?"
While Zhuang Rui was in a daze, people gathered around, and some with sharp eyes had already spotted the pearl encased in the clam meat, causing gasps of amazement to erupt.
However, all the pearls available on the market in recent years are cultured, and the most expensive ones only cost a few thousand yuan. Although people envy them, they don't take them too seriously.
Others may not know, but Zhuang Rui is quite aware of the value of these pearls. Putting aside the smaller pearls, this pigeon-egg-sized black pearl is absolutely priceless, its value far exceeding that of an imperial green jade of the same size.
The size of a pearl is directly related to the mother oyster that nurtures it. If the debris that falls into the mother oyster is too large, it will be directly cleaned out by the mother oyster. Only a large oyster of this size can nurture such a large pearl.
"Xiao Zhuang, take it out and let me see..."
The onlookers got so excited that they forgot about leaders. Professor Meng and Director Wu, whose physical condition was not as good as these young people, were squeezed to the outside and became a little anxious.
When Zhuang Rui saw people reaching out to touch the pearls, he frowned and shouted, "Hey everyone, make way! If these are lost, each one is worth tens of thousands..."
The personnel involved in this salvage operation were quite diverse, including fishermen from the coast, staff from the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport, and students led by experts and professors. If someone had really taken the items, it would be impossible to search and inspect each and every one of them.
The tens of thousands of dollars Zhuang Rui mentioned referred to those smaller black pearls. Although these small pearls are also rare, they are still produced in the Pacific region every year, and their price is indeed tens of thousands of dollars.
Zhuang Rui's shout made everyone a little embarrassed, and they all stepped back. The ship's security guards also rushed over, and four or five guards with batons surrounded Zhuang Rui.
Zhuang Rui breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took out all the pearls. Then he took off his vest and vigorously wiped the mucus off the pearls.
After Zhuang Rui spread out the pearls again, the dozen or so black pearls that appeared before everyone's eyes all exuded an alluring luster, and even without polishing, they were still extraordinary.
After Professor Meng squeezed in, Zhuang Rui handed him the largest black pearl.
Although Professor Meng's expertise in appraising antiques was not as great as Zhuang Rui's, he was well-traveled and familiar with black pearls. After examining them, he couldn't help but exclaim, "The color is naturally perfect, it absorbs the spiritual energy of the sea, and gathers the essence of the sun and moon. It's a top-grade, top-grade black pearl..."
"Professor Meng, this pearl is so big, how much can it sell for?"
Most of the onlookers were wage earners who lived off their wages. They had almost no knowledge of luxury goods and could only intuitively judge the pearl by its price.
"Well... it's hard to say. Such a large bead, if designed by a famous jewelry designer and combined with other materials, should be worth at least... at least several million, right?"
Professor Meng didn't know much about the luxury goods market, so he guessed a price in his mind. However, he didn't know that the value of this black pearl was far greater than the price he had given.
"Hey, Mr. Zhuang is really lucky. He just went into business and made several million..."
"Yeah, let's go to the shallow water area later and see if we can pull one out too..."
"Dream on! Natural pearls aren't that easy to find. Mr. Zhuang is just lucky..."
Even though the price Professor Meng quoted was vastly different from the actual value of the black pearl, it still drew gasps of amazement from the surrounding crowd.
It's important to understand that even several million is an astronomical figure that is unattainable for many people who earn a fixed salary.
Everyone knew Zhuang Rui's wealth, and they only felt envy, not jealousy. Zhuang Rui was already a rich man, so this extra bit of money was nothing to him. However, if someone who was penniless had obtained this black pearl, their mentality would certainly not have been so calm.
Only Old Li, who used to run a pearl farm, shook his head slightly. A natural, top-quality black pearl with a diameter exceeding 20mm is unheard of in the history of black pearls. Not to mention millions, even tens of millions wouldn't be enough to acquire one.
After Director Wu had admired the large pearl for a while, Zhuang Rui held it in his hand and presented it to Qin Xuanbing, saying, "Xuanbing, this is a gift for you. Do you like it?"
"I love it, of course I love it... Zhuang Rui, if this pearl were carved into a pendant, its value would be at least fifty million US dollars. We could probably win another gold medal at the World Jewelry Fair..."
Although she comes from a family of jewelers and works in jewelry design, Qin Xuanbing had never seen such a large natural black pearl, not even in the jewelry of the British royal family. Her eyes were already sparkling.
"Wh...what? Fifty million...or US dollars?"
"Really? This bead is worth that much money?"
Although Qin Xuanbing's voice wasn't loud, it was still heard by the onlookers, which made those who had just calmed down almost pop their eyes out.
Even including Professor Meng, no one on this deck could estimate that the pearl was worth so much money. Although Old Li estimated that the pearl was worth tens of millions, his estimate was in RMB.
"I'm glad you like it. You designed this bead, and I want to put it on you myself." The price Qin Xuanbing quoted was somewhat unexpected for Zhuang Rui, but he really didn't care about money now. He took Qin Xuanbing's small hand and placed the pearl in his wife's palm.
"Alright, alright, everyone disperse. We need to get to work soon. What kind of behavior is this, standing around like this?"
Although Director Wu was also filled with envy and jealousy, as a leader at the provincial level, he had a slightly stronger immune system and managed to disperse the crowd.
Chapter 1022 Salvage (Part 1)
The news that Zhuang Rui had extracted a pearl worth hundreds of millions of RMB from a giant clam spread throughout the entire cruise ship in a very short time. Now, wherever Zhuang Rui went, everyone looked at him with envy.
Fortunately, the security guards on the ship were all Li Zhen's men, and the original crew members had all been replaced by sailors. If those Portuguese thugs were still there, they might have come up with some bad ideas to kidnap Zhuang Rui.
"Boss, you're so lucky! I think if we go to the Pacific Ocean, we'll definitely find countless treasures..."
Captain Clyde, having somehow gotten wind of the news, rushed out of the captain's cabin to congratulate Zhuang Rui, and in his words, he began to encourage Zhuang Rui to go to the Pacific Ocean to salvage the treasure.
Zhuang Rui had promised him that Clyde would receive one percent of any treasure salvaged from the open sea.
Don't underestimate this one percent. You know, the value of many shipwreck treasures is calculated in billions of dollars. This one percent is still tens of millions of dollars. That's why the bearded captain kept reminding Zhuang Rui.
Upon hearing Clyde's words, Zhuang Rui suddenly remembered the incident of the bearded, sly captain hiding in the control room watching adult films, and couldn't help but laugh and say, "Clyde, you'll have your chance to conquer the seas in the future. By the way, what do you need so much money for? Perhaps you're looking for a captain's wife?"
"Oh, Zhuang, this is an insult to me! I challenge you to a duel!" Clyde feigned fury, but quickly switched to a smile and said, "However, boss, if you're willing to let me realize my dream as soon as possible, I can forgive you..."
"Get out of the way, winter is coming soon, we'll have to wait until next year to do any salvage work..."
Zhuang Rui shook his head. "So foreigners have learned this national treasure of Chinese face-changing? Their faces change faster than turning the pages of a book!"
"Alright, enough of this nonsense, let's get to work..."
Zhuang Rui saw from the captain's cabin window that the floating crane boom on the deck had been raised high, so he quickly left the captain's cabin and rushed to the deck.
"Bullshit? What does that mean? How do you talk about bullshit?"
Although the bearded captain was an expert on China, he still didn't quite understand what Zhuang Rui was saying. After Zhuang Rui left, he carefully reached into his crotch, causing the old man to yelp in pain before clutching it tightly. ...
"President Zhuang, the preparations are complete. I've just finished speaking to the comrades. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"
When Zhuang Rui arrived on the deck, Director Wu had just finished his speech.
"Well, I don't have much to say. If we can have a great start today, we'll have an extra meal tonight," Zhuang Rui said with a smile, which made everyone on the ship cheer. Now everyone on the ship knew that Zhuang Rui had taken a pearl worth tens of millions of dollars from a giant clam, and everyone was extremely envious.
Although I won't get the pearls, I can eat clam meat and boast about it to others in the future. That's like getting a little bit of the magic.
Seeing everyone's happy expressions, Zhuang Rui smiled and turned to Director Wu, saying, "Director Wu, we can begin..."
People in this system are very particular about order. When attending events, who walks in front and who walks behind is a matter of great importance. Naturally, the order to begin the salvage operation should be issued by Director Wu. Zhuang Rui would not steal the limelight.
"Alright, all units, begin implementing salvage plan number one..."
Looking at the camera in front of him, Director Wu, with a serious expression, waved his hand confidently and gave an order into the microphone.
After taking a few close-up shots, the CCTV special report team reporters approached Director Wu for an interview. Seeing this, Zhuang Rui quickly pulled Professor Meng to the drilling platform.
Although the sea area where the shipwreck was salvaged was not very deep, the silt washed down from the coast during the receding tide will fill the cleared area.
Therefore, after investigation and discussion, the technicians decided to use both the drilling platform and the floating crane boom to clean up the silt around the wreckage as quickly as possible.
A bucket has been temporarily installed at the top of the floating crane's cantilever, which is part of the supporting facilities. Above the bucket, an underwater camera is also installed to ensure that the shipwreck remains are not further damaged.
After Director Wu gave the order, the huge floating crane arm stretched out like a Transformer, and then the bucket went into the water first, extending towards the site of the sunken shipwreck under the operation of skilled technicians.
At this moment, Zhuang Rui and Professor Meng were both standing in the floating crane control room, their eyes fixed on the display screen that was specially placed there, watching the excavator bucket continuously approach the sunken ship wreckage.
"Gently, gently, slowly..."
The trembling camera footage from the excavator bucket showed that it had already touched the seabed silt. Professor Meng couldn't help but feel nervous. What if there was a Peking Man skull fossil underneath? It wouldn't be able to withstand the force of the excavator bucket.
You know, fossils are still stones, and they'll break just like metal objects when they collide. Although we haven't determined what the object below is, Professor Meng is still very nervous.
"Commander Meng, don't worry, I'll give him a good rip-off, it definitely won't damage the things underneath..."
The technician operating the floating crane was quite talkative and even knew a few archaeological terms, which made Professor Meng laugh and ease his tension a bit.
This guy is really something else; his skills are truly amazing. Under his operation, the bucket seemed to come alive, gliding past the surface of the silt with such gentle movements that it didn't even stir up the seawater, which remained as clear as before.
As the bucket slid over the object being surveyed, the front teeth seemed to pull up the broken fishing net, lifting up a large chunk of silt and blurring the image.
"Pull it back, pull it further away, wait until the water is clear before continuing..."
While others couldn't see what was happening on the seabed, Zhuang Rui could sense it. He discovered that when the bucket went down, it actually tore away the silt and fishing nets on the shipwreck wreckage.
It is very likely that the shipwreck wreckage below caught the fishermen's nets back then, and over time a lot of silt accumulated. An unintentional movement of the excavator bucket lifted the entire net, revealing the shipwreck wreckage underneath.
The technician operating the floating crane extended it, and after about seven or eight minutes, the seawater gradually cleared up. Through the camera, it could be seen that the front of the bucket was covered with small mountains of silt and seabed sediment.
"Clean this up and get the divers out to sea..."
Seeing this, Zhuang Rui gave an order over the walkie-talkie. As for Director Wu, he probably hadn't finished his interview yet.
"Xiao Zhuang, should we wait and see how things go?"
Professor Meng sensed that Zhuang Rui was being a bit impatient. This digging had only stirred up some fishing nets; who knew how deep the silt was below?
Zhuang Rui shook his head and said, "Teacher, since we can't do any more work until the floating crane clears all this debris, let's send the divers down to take a look first..."
"Hmm, that makes sense. Practice really does increase experience. Zhuang Rui, you've only been involved in one ocean salvage operation, yet your knowledge in this area already surpasses that of your teacher..."