1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 210 Successfully Sold the Flame Bead

This is a very small milky white bead, less than one centimeter in diameter.

Indeed, the beads do not look like pearls at all, but instead have another kind of luster - a ceramic-like luster.

The flame beads that came out of this papaya snail are indeed different, but the crystal clear porcelain-like luster still reveals an extraordinary aura.

The beads that come out of papaya snails are usually called "flame beads", "dragon beads", "Melo beads" and "Melo beads".

By the way, papaya snail, coconut vortex snail, coconut snail, these are folk names. The official scientific name of this snail is rarely used: "Melo Snail" or "Melo Snail".

Generally speaking, pearls are only produced by shellfish that have a mother-of-pearl layer inside their shells.

The papaya snail is very special in that it does not have a mother-of-pearl layer. Therefore, the pearls it produces are hardly "pearls" strictly speaking, and their luster is also very different from that of shellfish pearls.

But in terms of price, it is only higher than ordinary shell pearls, not lower.

In later generations, a top-quality flame bead was sold for 700,000 or 800,000 RMB, so I won’t talk about it.

In the picture album given by Pang Jiahui, the flame beads were also highly praised, and the top-quality ones could be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

However, the photo of the flame bead in the album was orange-red, with natural flame-like textures, which was completely different from the milky white appearance.

Otherwise, why is it called "Flame Bead"?

Of course, even without the atlas, Liang Ziqiang would have known about the "flame beads". Unlike some shell and conch shell collectibles, this thing is basically as famous as pearls and abalone beads, and has been passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation among fishermen.

Even when Deng Zhaocai caught a papaya snail, he knew to take it back immediately to look for the pearls.

Generally speaking, flame beads range in color from light to dark, including light yellow, orange, orange-yellow, orange-red, yellow-brown, etc., among which the bright orange is the most valuable.

If placed under the light, the beads will have an extremely gorgeous halo.

The one in Liang Ziqiang's hand had no color like orange, yellow, or orange, and it didn't have any flame patterns. Strictly speaking, he didn't know if it could be considered a flame bead.

No matter what, he planned to contact Pang Jiahui immediately!

When he walked out of the kitchen and into the main hall, Deng Zhaocai came up to him and asked anxiously after seeing his expression:
"You didn't really find the Flame Orb, did you?"

The villagers all set up tables to eat outside the house, and there were no outsiders in the main hall. Deng Zhaocai had nothing to hide. He pulled Deng Zhaocai aside and quietly opened his hand to let him see the bead in his palm:
"I found it from the biggest papaya snail. It has no patterns at all!"

Deng Zhaocai stared in amazement for a moment: "A flame bead without a flame pattern?"

"You haven't heard of it, have you? I haven't heard of it either. I don't know if it's worth much. I'll go to the city and ask some other day!"

After saying he would do it another day, he strode out of the main hall and went to Zhong Kang and Zhong Ming's house.

He didn't even need to go into the inner room to look for the album and business card at the bottom of the box. He knew Pang Jiahui's phone number by heart.

The business card had both Pang Jiahui's phone number in Hong Kong Island and Pang Jiahui's phone number in Yanghai City. Liang Ziqiang of course called the one in Yanghai City.

When he arrived at Zhong Ming's house, after a few pleasantries, he gave Xu Ping money for the phone call in advance and then called Pang Jiahui's landline.

Fortunately, it seems that Pang Jiahui has been staying in Yanghai City recently. The call was connected, and it was Pang Jiahui himself who answered the call.

"I'm Ah Qiang. Brother Hui, do you remember that you bought a clam and an abalone from me, and also gave me a picture book!"

"Remember, remember, I gave you the atlas so that you can continue to find something valuable next time. So, it seems that you really got something good again? What is it this time?" Pang Jiahui went straight to the point. "A papaya snail as big as a basketball, and a flame bead opened out of it..." Liang Ziqiang also said briefly.

"There are flame beads?!" Pang Jiahui's voice suddenly became louder. "How big is it?"

"It's not big, less than one centimeter. And the color is a bit special. It's not orange-red and it doesn't have flame patterns. It's a pure white bead!" Liang Ziqiang described it in detail.

"Pure white?" Pang Jiahui's tone was a little disappointed. "The flame beads are pure white, but among all the colors, pure white is the least valuable. The closer it is to bright orange, the better quality it is!"

"Do you buy pure white ones?" Liang Ziqiang asked directly.

"After all, it's a flame bead. Let me take a look. I'll go to Yuehai Restaurant tomorrow morning. If you are free, come over tomorrow too?" Pang Jiahui decided.

The two agreed on a time and ended the call.

The next morning, Liang Ziqiang saw that the sea was calm, so he sailed to Sham Shui Po. After parking the boat, he headed straight to Yue Hai Restaurant.

When he arrived at the restaurant, he happened to see Pang Jiahui walking towards the door from another direction.

Pang Jiahui said that he had booked a small private room to discuss something with another friend, and his friend would not arrive for half an hour, so he and Liang Ziqiang went to the private room first. This half hour was enough to talk about the flame bead.

As soon as he entered the private room, Pang Jiahui couldn't wait to see the things. Liang Ziqiang took out the beads. Pang Jiahui was an expert after all. He took it and took a look at it and immediately recognized that it was a white flame bead.

Although there is no flame pattern, the special porcelain-like luster that is different from ordinary pearls is very obvious, which is also the iconic feature of flame beads.

He shone the light in the private room again. The light, which was not bright but very strong, was also very distinctive.

"It's a pity that it's not orange, and there's no flame pattern. Otherwise, I can tell you the truth. I can give you hundreds of dollars for the flame beads! But white flame beads can also be made into jewelry, and the price is just cheaper. I'll take this bead. You've done business with me several times and you know me well. I won't bargain for the price. One hundred and eighty, how about it?"

The last clam was one hundred and fifty, and the later abalone beads were two hundred.

This time, there are 180 flame beads, which is between the giant clam and the abalone beads, just slightly lower than the abalone beads.

If it was a normal orange or orange flame bead, Liang Ziqiang would definitely bargain for the price, raising it a bit. But since it was just a white bead that was not very big, he did not bargain. One hundred and eighty was basically in line with the price he expected.

After nodding, the goods and money were exchanged on the spot. The white beads were given to Pang Jiahui, and he received one hundred and eighty yuan.

He stuffed a total of 18 big unity cards into his pocket. The whole process took only seven or eight minutes, not even half an hour.

They chatted for a few more sentences and when they were about to leave, Du Ziteng knocked on the door and came into the private room. Liang Ziqiang exchanged a few more sentences with Du Ziteng.

Du Ziteng praised Liang Ziqiang for his good fortune, and then deliberately complained to Pang Jiahui:

"Brother Hui, look at what's going on. You make a lot of money with pearl shells and the like. Now Aqiang doesn't even bother to catch fish for me. He's only concentrating on finding pearls for you!"

Pang Jiahui laughed and said, "Do you think I only know how to eat fish and don't know anything about fishing? Where can you ask him to find fish for you in this season? I just ordered grouper, and I guess you gave me frozen fish, right?"

After chatting and laughing for a while, Liang Ziqiang knew that Pang Jiahui's friends who had an appointment to discuss business were about to arrive, so he immediately said goodbye to the two of them and left the private room.

After leaving Yuehai, we returned to Sham Shui Po.

Since I was driving my own boat, I could go straight back and forth, which saved me a lot of time compared to changing buses. I finished my work in one morning and returned to the village, and arrived home just in time for lunch.

(The beautiful photo of the papaya snail has been posted in the comment section at the end of Chapter 207.)
(Beautiful photos of the flame beads are posted below this chapter.)
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(End of this chapter)