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

The carriage was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Lin Tao stared blankly for half a minute before swallowing.

"Ah Sui, don't tease Brother Tao."

"I was also tempted by that yard after the Chinese New Year, thinking of using it as a seafood warehouse."

He gestured with three fingers, and his voice changed.

"I asked someone through connections to inquire, and they immediately asked for three million, not a penny less!"

"You're telling me you bought it?"

Wu Sui leaned back in his chair and nodded.

"We did manage to buy it, but it didn't cost three million. We negotiated with Wang Hai and finally settled on two million three hundred and eighty thousand."

He paused, then added.

"Full payment."

"Hiss..." Lin Tao gasped, feeling a tingling sensation down his spine.

Two million three hundred and eighty thousand!

Full payment?!

Lin Tao has been working at the docks for so many years, and all he has is a little over a million in cash flow.

This kid quietly pulled out more than two million?

When Lin Tao looked at Wu Sui again, his eyes were completely different. This guy is a fisherman?

What fisherman could possibly have so much money?

If fishing at sea were so profitable, why would he need to run a purchasing station?

He had previously thought Wu Sui was lucky and that they got along well, which was why he considered him a friend.

Now it seems... does this kid have some kind of background that he doesn't know about?

"Ah Sui... no, Boss Wu." Lin Tao rubbed his hands together, restarted the car, and his tone unconsciously carried a hint of flattery.

"You're really discreet. A deal worth over two million, and you didn't even let a whisper of it out."

Wu Sui waved his hand: "Brother Tao, are you making fun of me? It sounds better to call me Ah Sui. The formalities haven't been completed yet, so I haven't told anyone."

"I understand, I understand, you shouldn't flaunt your wealth."

Lin Tao nodded repeatedly, driving the car much more steadily than before.

"Now that the yard is yours, things will be much easier."

As Lin Tao drove, he gave a detailed account of the ship's origins.

"That steel boat, it didn't originally belong to us. It was a smuggling vessel that the coast guard seized last year."

"Smuggling?" Wu Sui raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I don't know what they're messing around with," Lin Tao said in a low voice.

"Those smugglers must have gotten wind of it, so they abandoned their boat at sea and ran away."

"That boat may not be big, but it's equipped with a high-powered diesel engine."

"Later, the perpetrators were caught, the case was closed, and the boat was towed to the Maritime Safety Administration's yard for temporary storage."

"It was supposed to be auctioned off, but for some reason, it's just been sitting there."

Lin Tao chuckled.

"When you bought the yard, this boat was definitely not included in the price."

"Now that the yard is your territory, and the boat is moored in your yard, you have the advantage of being close to the water. You can easily find Wang Hai for a chat and get it for the price of scrap metal."

Wu Sui's heart stirred upon hearing this.

High horsepower, steel body—it's practically tailor-made for him!

Although it can't be used for trawling, it's more than enough for longline fishing or for going out to sea specifically to find big catches.

Lin Tao didn't waste any more words and stepped on the gas, parking the car directly at the entrance of the compound.

Old Liu, the gatekeeper, was sitting in the guardhouse listening to the radio when he heard the loudspeaker and poked his head out.

Upon seeing that the visitor was Wu Sui, Old Liu quickly turned off the radio and ran out to open the iron gate.

"Boss Wu, you're here!" Old Liu smiled so broadly that his face was full of wrinkles and his back was almost bent to the ground.

Ever since he learned that the courtyard had a new owner, Old Liu has been living in constant fear, afraid that Wu Sui would make him pack his bags and leave with just a word.

Wu Sui casually pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and tossed it over.

"Uncle Liu, thank you for your hard work."

Old Liu hurriedly caught the cigarette, and when he saw the brand, he couldn't stop smiling.

"It's no trouble at all, Mr. Wu. Please go inside and take a look. If you need any help, just call me anytime."

Lin Tao got off the car behind him and saw this scene. The last bit of doubt in his heart vanished.

The two went straight to the independent pier.

A 9-meter boat is quietly moored in its berth.

The ship's hull was covered in rust, and the deck was covered in bird droppings, making it look dilapidated.

"This is the one."

Lin Tao pointed to the boat and jumped aboard first.

Wu Sui followed closely behind.

Stepping on the steel deck produced a dull metallic clanging sound.

This feeling is definitely much more reassuring than the iron-clad wood car at Cheng Kaixuan's house.

Lin Tao familiarly climbed into the cockpit and then went down to the engine room in the lower compartment for a look around.

A dozen minutes later, he crawled out covered in dust and gave Wu Sui a thumbs up.

"Ah Sui, you've hit the jackpot!"

Lin Tao brushed the dust off his clothes, his eyes shining.

"I just checked it. It looks rough on the outside, but the equipment inside is fine."

"This machine can be used as soon as you change the oil and clean the oil lines."

He stomped his foot on the deck.

"The thickness of this steel plate is more than enough to withstand the wind and waves at sea."

"Take it to the shipyard and have it repainted with anti-rust paint. It should only take two or three days."

Wu Sui felt a surge of warmth upon hearing this.

There was still more than a month before the delivery of the 17-meter-long ship, but now that they had the ship, it wouldn't affect their ability to go to sea.

"Okay, this is it."

Wu Sui took out his phone, found Wang Hai's number, and dialed it.

"Beep...beep..."

The phone rang several times before it was answered.

"Hey? Ah Sui, why are you calling at this hour? The transfer of ownership will be completed in two more days..."

Wang Hai's voice came through the receiver, carrying a hint of politeness.

"Brother Wang, I'm not in a hurry about the paperwork. I trust you to handle things."

Wu Sui, with his phone between his fingers, walked to the ship's railing and looked at the distant sea.

"I took a walk around the yard today and saw a dilapidated iron-hulled boat docked at the pier."

"This ship is taking up too much space on my dock."

"I'd like to ask, is this ship still under the jurisdiction of your maritime bureau?"

"If you don't care, I'll offer you scrap metal price and buy it as junk, which will save you the trouble of hiring someone to haul it away."

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the phone.

All that could be heard was Wang Hai's slightly heavy breathing.

After a good ten seconds, Wang Hai lowered his voice, his tone becoming very strange.

"Brother Wu... listen to your brother's advice."

"That boat... you'd better not touch it."

Wu Sui frowned.

"What? Wasn't this case closed? What else is there to say?"

Wang Hai stammered for a long time, seemingly wary of something.

"The case is closed... but... well, this is hard to explain over the phone."

"In short, that ship is a hot potato."

"Use your yard for now, just pretend you didn't see that boat."

After saying that, Wang Hai hung up the phone immediately.

Hearing the busy tone on his phone, Wu Sui squinted.

A wrecked boat, how could it possibly eat people?

Lin Tao leaned closer and noticed Wu Sui's expression was off: "What's wrong? The Maritime Bureau won't sell?"

Wu Sui put away his phone, stared at the deck beneath his feet, and nodded.

"The Maritime Safety Administration said it was a hot potato and told me not to touch it."