Wu Dehu was stunned for a moment, feeling a lump in his throat. Of the four boats of the Yu family, to be honest, Yu Jinshan's status was indeed above theirs, because he was the most trusted by Yu Changhe and was also a member of their own clan. There was no comparison.
Yu Jinshan's tone made Wu Dehu uncomfortable. He thought to himself, "It's pitch black. You asked me to cast the net, so I'll do it. I won't be responsible if I don't catch any fish. I'll still get the money, and you can take the blame. There's nothing wrong with that."
Wu Dehu stopped the boat at the location designated by Uncle Yu and then cast the net. However, he was a little slow, and the fish had already drifted away from their positions by the time he cast the net. After all, it wasn't Zhou Xuan on the boat directing and controlling the net casting himself, so he couldn't do it perfectly. Directing it remotely was bound to be less effective.
Zhou Xuan's net was cast at the perfect time and in the perfect place, catching fish almost everywhere. Wu Dehu's net, however, missed the mark, with fish only appearing in about half of the area.
Even so, the haul was considerable. According to Zhou Xuan's estimation, the net caught at least 15,000 catties of fish.
Zhou Xuan himself caught at least 30,000 catties of fish in his net.
After Zhou Xuan reported that the net had been cast, Wu Dehu also notified them that the net had been cast as instructed and they were now just waiting to haul it in.
Uncle Yu immediately used a loudspeaker to notify everyone on the ship. Fu Gui, Fu Bao, Fu Shan, Yu Qiang, Lao Jiang, and several others quickly got up and came out onto the deck.
Zhou Xuan pushed the sluice gate to close the net, and the large net began to be pulled in as the winch swung. On the other side, Wu Dehu also pulled in his net.
A few minutes later, Fu Gui and the others saw the rope on the winch creaking and squeaking, clearly indicating that it had caught something heavy. Just like last time, as long as it wasn't dragging up a large rock from the seabed, if it was fish, this haul would be quite substantial.
The group became excited. If the net was full of fish again, they would receive a huge bonus. The prospect of a large sum of money motivated each of them.
Half an hour later, the sky gradually began to brighten, and the nets were hauled into the boat. Looking at the mountain of fish piled up in the nets, jumping and wriggling, everyone on the boat grinned with joy. It seemed that Zhou Xuan was truly their lucky star, and Zhou Xuan had indeed proven that he was a real fishing master.
Both fishing boats stopped. The crew on Wu Dehu's boat were stunned when they saw the fish wriggling in the net.
This net contained at least tens of thousands of kilograms of fish. For Wu Dehu and his team, this was an unprecedented quantity. Even during peak season, they had never caught so many fish in a single net.
Moreover, this net was cast in the dead of night. In Wu Dehu's many years of experience, finding schools of fish in such an environment was virtually impossible, both technically and in terms of experience. Yet, Uncle Yu's notification had allowed him to catch so many fish in a single net, something he had never done before.
The people on the two boats had two different feelings: those on Wu Dehu's boat were utterly astonished, while those on Uncle Yu's boat were beaming with joy; it seemed the prize money was almost in their hands again.
Moreover, this trip wasn't that far from the last one; it was only a five-hour sea voyage, whereas the last time we went into the deep sea, it took a full twelve hours.
Zhou Xuan and Uncle Yu went up to the deck to help again. This net of fish filled 370 baskets, weighing almost 40,000 jin (20,000 kg).
Wu Dehu's boat was loaded with 170 baskets, nearly 20,000 catties of fish. With work to do, the crew members were very enthusiastic. What usually took two or three hours was now finished in an hour. After loading the fish and hauling in the nets, it was only seven o'clock, and the sky was already bright.
Uncle Yu chuckled and said, "Little Hu, I can tell you directly now, from now on you are the highest leader of this ship, and you will be in charge of everything on the ship. Hehe, does anyone have any objections?"
"No, no, how can you have a problem with this? That would be outrageous!"
"No complaints. They always make us a lot of money. If anyone complains, I'll argue with them."
...
Everyone chimed in with their opinions. Even Yu Qiang, though filled with envy and resentment, had to admit that with Zhou Xuan on the ship, their income had increased many times over. This was the most tangible benefit. In the past, even though he and Guan Lin had won a lot of money by cheating at cards, Fu Gui and the others didn't have much money to begin with. The money earned from Zhou Xuan's salary was far less than the bonus they were receiving now. Last time they went to sea, he and Guan Lin received a bonus of 50,000 yuan because they were of slightly higher rank, which was 10,000 yuan more than Fu Gui and the others.
In the past, when we went out to sea, the money we won from playing cards was only a few thousand dollars. If we split it between two people, it would only be about two thousand dollars a time. How could that compare to the tens of thousands of dollars in prize money?
Uncle Yu added, "Xiao Hu, also, I'm informing you that your probationary period has officially ended. From now on, you're part of our ship. Hehe, I see it's just dawn, and everyone's done a lot of hard work, so let's eat and drink on the deck."
Then he turned to Fugui and the others and said, "Go and bring out all the food and wine from the warehouse, let's have a good celebration."
Meanwhile, on the other ship, Wu Dehu sent a message asking Yu Jinshan where to go now, whether to go back or continue sailing.
When Wu Dehu asked, Yu Jinshan followed suit and asked Zhou Xuan, "Xiao Hu, should we continue sailing into the deep sea or turn back?"
Because this net caught more than 40,000 catties of fish, according to the capacity of their boat, they could only hold a maximum of 20,000 catties of fish. Last time they caught more than 60,000 catties of fish, and there were still 5,000 to 6,000 catties left that didn't have a basket to put in, so they were piled up on the deck.
Therefore, even if Zhou Xuan were to venture into the deep sea, he wouldn't be able to catch a single net, given his capabilities. And if he were to catch another 30,000 to 40,000 jin (15,000-20,000 kg) in one go, the ship wouldn't be able to hold it all.
Zhou Xuan seemed not to hear Uncle Yu's question, tilting his head as he pondered something.
In fact, Zhou Xuan was distracted, using his special ability to probe the seabed. In that narrow channel, there were hundreds or thousands of clams the size of large bowls, and inside each clam was a pearl. In the pearl part, each clam had one or two relatively large pearls.
Although Zhou Xuan's company is a jewelry company, it mainly deals in gold, silver and jade products, but does not have pearl products. Therefore, he is not very familiar with the price of pearls and does not have a deep understanding of pearls.
However, I have seen quite a few. Nowadays, wild seawater pearls are extremely rare. The vast majority are artificially cultured freshwater pearls. Because of the shorter cultivation period, the pearls are much smaller, and large pearls are basically nonexistent.
The pearls that Zhou Xuan detected inside these oysters were all one or two larger pearls in each oyster, but Zhou Xuan was not familiar with the price of pearls.
The trenches where these pearl oysters hide are about 120 to 130 meters deep. This depth is a piece of cake for Zhou Xuan, and he doesn't even need a high-end decompression diving suit. However, if he were to go underwater, it would be difficult to conceal himself without diving equipment. Moreover, it is winter now, and going underwater would arouse speculation from others.
Aside from professional divers or winter swimmers, who else would go into the water in winter?
However, it's not winter yet. It's mid-March, so it should be considered spring. The temperature isn't that low, and it's still quite pleasant under the sun during the day.
What Zhou Xuan wanted to figure out was whether those clams were worth diving down to retrieve.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Xuan asked Yu Jinshan, "Second Uncle, I'd like to ask, have you ever fished for pearl oysters in the East China Sea? What was the price of pearls like?"
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Volume 1, Chapter 458: The King of Seawater Pearls (Part 2)
Yu Jinshan was taken aback, not expecting Zhou Xuan to suddenly ask him such a question.
In all my years of fishing, I've never specifically targeted clams. However, I have caught some in my nets sometimes. But clams live in shallow waters and are rarely found in deep waters. They also prefer warmer waters.
Although Yu Jinshan had never fished for oysters, he knew a little about the price of pearls.
"Pearls? Generally, it depends on whether they are wild or cultured. Cultured pearls are specifically cultivated using artificial methods, so they are very round and generally similar in size, with almost no difference between them. Cultured pearls, after careful selection, with larger pearls and excellent color and texture, can cost over 20,000 yuan for a necklace of about 60. Of course, lower-quality pearls can cost tens or hundreds of yuan, with varying prices. The best quality pearls can cost hundreds of thousands of yuan. The best and largest pearls are the rare wild saltwater pearls, with a diameter exceeding 1.5 centimeters. If the quality and color are excellent, a single wild saltwater pearl can be worth over a million yuan."
After saying all that, Yu Jinshan paused, then continued, "Of course, wild sea pearls are very rare nowadays. Usually, the pearl oysters we catch don't have large pearls, so they're not worth much. But relatively speaking, wild pearls are more valuable than cultured pearls. You all know that pearls have extremely high medicinal and cosmetic value, and the older the wild pearl, the better. Therefore, the older a wild pearl is, the more precious it is."
Cultured pearls are typically cultured for only three years because additional growth hormones are added. As a result, the medicinal value of cultured pearls is much lower. Generally speaking, pearls with a diameter of two to three millimeters need to be cultured for three years, those around five millimeters need six to seven years, those eight or nine millimeters or larger need more than ten years, and even larger ones require even longer.
Zhou Xuan didn't understand these things, and he couldn't distinguish the value of wild and artificially cultivated pearls. But after hearing Uncle Yu say that wild pearls are relatively large and can be worth millions of yuan if they are of good quality, he wondered how much the pearls in the large oysters in the underwater trenches were worth. However, the pearls that his supernatural ability detected were larger than the pearls he had seen in the stores.