Beachcombing: The beach is full of amazing seafood, but my wife won't let me get out of bed!

When Wu Gang returned, he was riding a tricycle.

The truck bed was carrying two transparent ice cubes, each about half a person's height, with white steam billowing out.

Wu Sui went up to lend a hand.

"The ice factory owner initially refused to lend me his car, but I gave him two packs of Hongtashan cigarettes before he finally agreed."

Li Cuihua brought over a hammer and smiled as she wiped the sweat from her eldest son's brow.

Several people surrounded the tricycle, smashing the ice cubes into pieces with a hammer.

Several clean white foam boxes had already been prepared in the main room.

Wu Sui laid a thick layer of crushed ice at the bottom of the box.

Wu Jianguo carefully placed the sorted abalone into the container, his movements as gentle as if he were cradling a newborn baby.

"Dad, don't cover it completely. Leave a gap for ventilation. This thing is precious; we'll lose a lot if one of them suffocates."

It was packed into eight large foam boxes.

Wu Sui tied the foam box tightly to the tricycle with a rope, then turned to look at Chen Xue, who was washing her hands.

"Your sister-in-law is still picking snails on the flood control embankment. She must be so tired she can't straighten her back by now. Could you take a few empty bags and go pick her up?"

Chen Xue dried her hands on her apron.

"Okay, I'll go now."

Wu Sui leaned closer and whispered his instructions.

"Be careful of those gossipy women in the village. If anyone asks what my brother and I were doing in the middle of the night, just insist that we were picking bitter snails, and don't utter a single other word."

Chen Xue nodded repeatedly, pushed the cart, and carried several fertilizer bags out the door.

Li Cuihua was worried, so she asked Wu Jianguo to go with her, while she stayed home to look after the two children.

The sun has fully risen.

The two brothers took turns pedaling the tricycle, heading straight for the town.

Manager Liu lifted the lid of the styrofoam box, glanced at it, waved his hands repeatedly, and gave a wry smile.

"Brother, you're killing me! So many wild abalone, each one incredibly plump! Even if my shop is packed with customers every day, I couldn't possibly sell them all in a month!"

Wu Sui handed him a cigarette.

"Brother Liu, your business is the best in town. If you can't finish it all, I'll have to charter a car to the wholesale market in the city."

Manager Liu tucked a cigarette behind his ear and spoke with a smile.

"Going to the city is too much of a hassle. In this sweltering heat, if a bunch of people die on the road, you'll have nowhere to cry."

He pointed in the direction of the dock.

"There's a seafood purchasing station called Hai Shun near the dock; the owner's name is Lin Tao."

"That guy is honest; he charges fair prices and never overcharges."

"If you mention my name, he will definitely not cheat you."

Wu Sui clasped his hands in thanks, and the two rode their bicycles straight to the dock.

Hai Shun Seafood is a two-story building; the first floor is the purchasing station, and the second floor is for living.

A shirtless, dark-skinned man was changing the water in several pools.

A young woman with her hair in a ponytail was taking notes nearby.

Wu Sui parked his tricycle at the entrance.

"Boss Lin?"

The man looked up, wiped his hands, and greeted him with a smile.

"I'm Lin Tao, bro, selling some goods?"

"This was introduced by Manager Liu from Hongyunlou. It's some top-quality stuff. I wonder if you'd take it?"

Lin Tao chuckled: "Introduced by Brother Liu? What good stuff did you bring, bro? Shake it up and let me see?"

Wu Sui untied the rope and lifted the lid of a styrofoam box.

Lin Tao leaned closer, and the girl next to him also curiously peeked over.

"Pure wild nine-eyed abalone? The meat is so thick it's almost bursting out of the shell."

"Bro, you didn't go out to sea, did you?"

Wu Sui shook his head and said that he was just lucky to have found it.

"Boss Lin, give me a price. It's a total of over 300 jin (150 kg), and I've sorted it into large, medium, and small sizes."

Lin Tao took a deep breath, and his attitude became warmer.

"Brother, since Brother Liu introduced us, I won't play games with you."

He picked up a calculator and pressed a few keys.

"Given the current market price, I'll charge you 40 yuan for a wild abalone with 6 to 8 heads each."

「5头的按照55一个，4头到3头的，一个按照90。」

"Larger ones are rare on the market. I'll give you 150 each, is that okay?"

Lin Tao pushed the calculator in front of Wu Sui.

"Your abalone is fresh, I'll give you an extra 10%."

Wu Sui did some mental calculations. He had thought abalone was priced by weight, but it turned out to be priced by the piece.

"Okay, we've roughly selected the specifications at home. Take a look and see if they're okay. If not, we'll choose one right here."

Lin Jing was quick and efficient. She brought over several large plastic baskets, and the group began to sort out the abalone.

The most common abalone are those with six heads, accounting for about half, followed by those with five or four heads, and finally those with three or more heads.

Wu Sui took out the largest one from a separate net bag.

"Boss Lin, how do we calculate this?"

Lin Tao took the net, untied it, and his eyes nearly popped out.

The enormous, two-headed abalone, weighing half a pound, lay quietly inside, its suction cups pressed against the net cable.

"Good heavens, I've been doing this for ten years and I've only seen this a handful of times. Brother, your luck is incredible..."

Lin Tao gave a thumbs up: "This one is sold separately, a flat price of 800 yuan."

Lin Jing quickly calculated with her notebook in hand.

"Small size 6600, medium size 12000, large size 4950, plus this one 600, totaling 27150."

Wu Gang, who was standing nearby, felt his legs go weak when he heard the number. He had to grab the side of the tricycle to keep from collapsing to the ground.

More than 27000?!

Wow! When did beachcombing become so profitable?

Lin Tao opened the drawer, took out three thick stacks of hundred-yuan bills, counted the money, put it in a plastic bag, and handed it to Wu Sui.

"Brother, if you ever find any good stuff like this again, be sure to send it directly to me. I'll definitely give you a price you'll be happy with."

Wu Sui took the money and casually stuffed it into the cloth bag hanging on the front of the car.

"Okay, as long as you offer a fair price, Brother Lin, I'll definitely send you any good stuff I find."

Wu Gang's hands were shaking like a leaf, so he hung the bag around his neck and covered it tightly with his clothes.

As the two left Hai Shun Seafood and passed by the town's Yi Bu Dong business hall, Wu Sui suddenly grabbed the brakes.

"Big brother, wait for me outside for a while."

Wu Gang wiped his sweat: "Where are you going? It's already noon, hurry home. I'm getting really nervous carrying so much money in my pocket."

Wu Sui ignored him and walked straight into the store, pointing at Nokia.

"Boss, give me two 3310 phones and two SIM cards."

Wu Gang was worried and followed him in. When he saw what Wu Sui was pointing at, he was terrified.

He grabbed Wu Sui's arm and roared in a low voice.

"Ah Sui, are you crazy? This metal thing costs over a thousand yuan, why would you buy it?"

Wu Sui smiled and patted his hand.

"Brother, we'll be dealing with the purchasing station owner every day from now on. How can we contact him without a phone? Are we supposed to ride our tricycle for miles every time to ask about prices?"

The boss quickly took out two brand-new packaging boxes.

"That's 3100 in total. The card is all set up for you."

Wu Gang was so anxious he was jumping up and down: "Just buy one, why are you buying two? Are you wasting your money?!"

Wu Sui paid the money, put the phone away, and explained with a smile.

"The other one was bought for Xiaoxue. She takes care of the child at home alone, so it's convenient for her to contact me if she needs anything."

"Brother, why don't you buy one too?"

Wu Gang waved his hands repeatedly and took several steps back.

"I don't want a landline at home, it's too expensive."

Wu Sui knew his older brother's temperament well; he was afraid of being poor and couldn't accept such luxuries right away, so he didn't insist.

The Nokia from 2000 still feels quite comfortable in my hand; I wonder how well it would crack walnuts.

Holding the two phones with the SIM cards in them, Wu Sui returned to Hai Shun Seafood and exchanged contact information with Lin Tao.

Leave the dock.

Wu Sui went to the farmers' market and bought two jin of pork belly and a chicken.

He still remembered Chen Xue saying yesterday that with this money, he should buy chicken to nourish his body.