1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 73 Triple Price (4570 words)
"This is called a jeweled clam. I've seen it before. The luster on the outside of the shell isn't even the most obvious. If you open it, the inside is truly a jewel-like gem!"

Du Ziteng was indeed knowledgeable and actually recognized this clam.

"I know. The shell of this thing is used to make jewelry. You said it's glittering and glittering, and that's absolutely true!"

"Sure, brother. Are you lucky or something? Chicken claw snails are hard to find, and this clam is even more difficult to find! However, our Yuehai Restaurant does not accept this. You brought it to me, do you want me to introduce it to you?"

"You guessed it right. Brother Teng, you have a lot of friends. Among the people you know, there should be someone who likes to collect various valuable shells, right?"

"Indeed, there are. How else would I recognize this thing? I saw it at a friend's place. He has quite a few in his collection, about ten or so. He later sold five or six to jewelry manufacturers. He probably still has four or five at home now!"

Liang Ziqiang was delighted: "Then he should still be collecting Ji hooves. Can you ask him for me to see if he still wants them?"

Du Ziteng said affirmatively:
"No need to ask, I definitely want it. He had one similar to this one at home before, and he said he collected it for 150 yuan. If you are not in a hurry to sell it, I will ask him to talk to you in person next time I meet him. Maybe we can bargain for a higher price than 150 yuan.

If you are in a hurry to sell it, I can buy it for him now, but the price cannot be negotiated, it can only be 150. You make the decision yourself, brother!"

When Liang Ziqiang heard Du Ziteng offer the price of 150 yuan, his eyes lit up.

After all, Yang Laoshuan went to the Shell Acquisition Store to ask two years ago, and it was only fifty.

One hundred and fifty, this is directly based on the price of Yang Laoshuan's oyster shell, multiplied by three. It seems that the shell purchasing store still quoted a low price.

Regarding the multiple-choice questions raised by Du Ziteng, Liang Ziqiang felt that there was nothing to hesitate about.

It must have been sold to Du Ziteng on the spot!
Firstly, the price is already quite high, and I am too lazy to carry it into the city and back again.

Secondly, if I insisted on meeting Du Ziteng's friend, it would show that I didn't trust Du Ziteng. This would definitely not be a good thing.

After all, the person he would be working with for a long time was Du Ziteng, not his friend.

If it could be a little higher than 150, it would be considered as a small benefit that Du Ziteng should receive as a middleman. In business, how can you not leak a penny and put it all into your own pocket?

"Brother Teng, if you can collect them for him today, that would be the best! I don't go to the city very often. Next time I come, I guess I'll have to wait until your batch of snails is used up before I can send you a new batch. By the way, if you're running out of stock, you can call the village number I gave you last time."

"Yes!" Du Ziteng said as he pulled out his drawer. "Well, I'll advance the money to you on behalf of my friend. Ji He will take it."

Du Ziteng took out fifteen Great Unity notes, counted them again in front of him, and handed them to him.

Liang Ziqiang put away the money, carried the bucket and went to the warehouse with him.

I took the barnacles out of the bucket and weighed them, and they weighed five pounds and four ounces.

At four yuan per pound, twenty-one yuan and sixty cents.

I went to the accounting office and received the twenty-one dollars from the accountant.

After bidding farewell to Du Ziteng and walking out of Yuehai Restaurant, Liang Ziqiang looked at the people walking around and realized that he had more than 170 yuan in his pocket in the blink of an eye!

I didn't do anything except taking my wife and Dahuang for a stroll on the beach.

The betrothal money for proposing marriage is only 288 yuan, and the money in my pocket is only a hundred yuan short of the betrothal money.

Now he seriously doubted whether Chen Xiangbei brought Da Huang here to catch fish or to collect money for his wedding gift...

What should we do with this money? After all, it was earned by Chen Xiangbei and Da Huang.

Add it to the betrothal gift?
That would be 388, or 488. No, these two numbers are not flattering, no one would offer a betrothal gift of more than 300 or 400.

Liang Ziqiang thought about it and decided to give the money directly to Chen Xiangbei the next time they met. After all, she had to have some money on her after marriage.

After walking a few steps, Liang Ziqiang headed straight for the department store again.

This time it wasn't him who wanted to buy anything, but his parents specifically asked him to buy something this morning.

Four days later, it was the day to propose marriage. Last time, he had taken it for granted that buying two packs of cigarettes, a bottle of wine, and the 288 yuan betrothal gift would be enough.

This morning his parents specifically told him that he also had to buy candies, red dates, and especially wedding cakes.

When they arrived at the counter of the department store, Liang Ziqiang first asked if there were any wedding cakes.

The salesperson thought for a moment and asked if they wanted some cakes.

Liang Ziqiang quickly asked her to take it out and look at it. At first glance, it was a round cake with red double happiness characters printed on it.

It's just wedding cakes! People just call it differently.

As for candy, I bought the kind wrapped in big red candy papers as my mother instructed.

These don't cost much, they are just for creating a festive atmosphere and making things lively.

Carrying these things, Liang Ziqiang already felt the strong festive and joyful atmosphere before the marriage proposal day arrived...

Today's journey into the city took less time than last time, and it was only afternoon when we returned to the village.

When he was almost near his home, he saw someone calling him on the road.

A half-grown boy ran over. He looked somewhat like Lin Baixian and was none other than Lin Baixian's younger brother.

"Brother Qiang, are you back from outside? My brother asked me to come to your house to call you!"

"Your brother is looking for me? What's the matter?"

"My second uncle is here. He went to the dock to check on the broken boat and is now at my house. Didn't you say I would let you know when the time comes? My brother asked me to come and call you."

So that’s what happened.

After all, the two of them were sailing together, so if something happened, Lin Baixian certainly couldn't handle it alone. Liang Ziqiang put his things at home and ran to Lin Baixian's house.

The sound of quarreling came when they were approaching his house.

"Second uncle, how many times do you want me to tell you before you believe me? I've already told you that my friend Aqiang and I were just sailing the boat normally. There have never been any reefs or anything like that in that area. We definitely didn't collide with any other boats. It just fell off on its own. The loose rudder blade is definitely not our fault. It must have been loose before I sailed!"

"If it's not your business, then whose business is it? Xiaoxian, you've said so much, but in the end, it's just that I, your uncle, lent you a rotten boat? I lent you the boat out of kindness, but you're blaming me for it!"

"So what you mean is that I have to pay for you to have this rudder blade repaired at the shipyard and replaced with a new one?"

"It's not about the rudder blade now. Since you're blaming me, I won't be polite anymore. In addition to the rudder blade, the entire ship must be inspected and repaired. If there is any problem, you are responsible for repairing it! How would I know what else you broke while you were at sea besides the rudder blade!"

Liang Ziqiang, who had already walked to the door, shook his head. This second uncle didn't treat Lin Baixian as his nephew.

The rudder blade is fine, but you also want us to maintain and repair your entire ship?
Your boat is not that new. If you really want to do a comprehensive maintenance on it, there will be so many things that need to be replaced and repaired that it is hard to count. The money it costs is definitely not a small amount.

Is he trying to take this opportunity to give Liang Ziqiang and Lin Baixian a beating?

Liang Ziqiang pushed open the half-closed door, walked into the room, and looked at Lin Baixian's second uncle...

Lin Baixian and his son both greeted Liang Ziqiang:

"Aqiang is coming!"

"This is..." My second uncle, who was speaking, also stopped and asked.

"Oh, he is Aqiang, the friend that Axian just mentioned. The two of them went to the sea together by boat." Father Lin introduced.

Although Lin's father was very annoyed by the request made by his brother-in-law, he held back and did not get angry for the time being because the relationship between the two families was good in the past.

"That's perfect. Xiaoxian said he wanted to go to the island with his friends that day, but he didn't have a boat, so I lent the boat to you two out of kindness. You two should now discuss how to share the repair costs instead of trying to blame me!"

Liang Ziqiang frowned. He was relatively patient now, so he took over the other party's words and started to argue:
"You're putting the blame on someone else. That's not right! Is there a reef area in your Xiaolang Village?"

"Yes, no, why do you mention that? I have never driven the boat to the reef area!" Lin Baixian's uncle Zhang Bao repeatedly defended. "You didn't drive it there, I believe that. But you often lend this boat to others, right? If someone drove it to the reef area and got scratched, they didn't tell you because they were afraid of trouble."

Liang Ziqiang has been thinking about it for the past few days. The looseness of the rudder blade must have external reasons. After thinking about it, he thinks it is more likely to be scratched in the reef area.

"Everyone in the village knows about that reef area. Who would drive there for no reason? Impossible!"

"Have you asked around? There are groupers in all reef areas. Maybe he used your boat to go to the reef area to catch groupers? You didn't even ask, but you put all the responsibility on your nephew. Those who lent you the boat, to put it nicely, are secretly happy, but to put it bluntly, how will they laugh at you in secret?"

Liang Ziqiang thought that if someone really borrowed his boat to go to the reef area, it must not be a one-time thing. It is estimated that only Zhang Bao himself was kept in the dark, while some villagers knew about it.

Of course, he suggested that Zhang Bao go and ask, but he didn't hold out much hope, but he had to try. It was better than being the scapegoat and having to accept the blame with Ah Xian.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Bao didn't listen at all and said stubbornly:

"You don't have to play dumb here. It's impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"Don't speak too soon! You're so sure without even asking?"

"I am sure. If it is true as you said, my name Zhang Bao backwards..."

When he was halfway through his words, the door was suddenly pushed open again, and Zhang Bao's words were interrupted.

A middle-aged woman who looked somewhat similar to Lin Baixian's mother stepped in.

"Why are you here to cause trouble? Didn't I tell you not to get involved?" Zhang Bao complained to the woman after being stunned.

The woman called him "sister and brother-in-law", then turned away and started to curse:

"Why don't I come here to get involved so that you can wrongly accuse my nephew? You are such a bastard, I always told you that Xiaoxian would never lie.

Since you refused to ask, I went to find out. It was Liu Gang who secretly drove our boat to the reef to fish. Li Kun from the village also drove his own boat there. He heard Liu Gang say that it was not good and the stern of the boat was scratched! Fortunately, the relationship between the two families was not bad, so Li Kun was willing to disclose it. Otherwise, my nephew would have been foolishly blamed by an outsider! "

"No way, is this true? Don't tell me you are just making it up!"

"Why are you trying to fool me? I went to ask, and Liu Gang has already admitted it!"

Hearing this, Zhang Bao finally became speechless and could not speak...

Not only that, Lin's father and mother, who had originally been quiet, also started to criticize Zhang Baolai in unison.

Liang Ziqiang didn't expect that things would take a sharp turn at this critical juncture.

Now that the problem was solved, he felt relieved and got up and left.

Lin Baixian ran out of the door in small steps, grabbed Liang Ziqiang on the road, and kept giving him a thumbs up.

"Why are you thanking me? You should really thank your second aunt!"

"Then I have to thank you! You don't know, my second uncle has been sitting here making a fuss for a long time, but as soon as you came, my second aunt suddenly showed up with good news. Damn your luck, it's amazing, I can't help but admit it!"

Was it really because of his luck? Liang Ziqiang himself couldn't figure it out now.

Never mind. Anyway, a considerable amount of comprehensive repair costs were saved. The whole thing was unexpected and turned out to be an unexpected success.

Freed from the troubles of the past few days, he walked home with brisk steps.

On the road approaching his home, he saw several people surrounding a tractor.

There was a boat on the tractor. Since the boat was much longer than the tractor, the men behind the tractor held the extra part of the boat with their hands.

The tractor was deliberately driven as slowly as a snail, and the people behind it followed closely, keeping pace with the tractor...

The words "Defu" can be seen from afar on the fishing boat.

Isn’t this father, Tiancheng and Zifeng, moving their old fishing boat?

Dad has temporarily hired a tractor and brought the old boat back home today?
No wonder they were not at home when I returned home earlier. It turned out that they had gone to the beach to move the boat.

"What are you doing standing there? The people are back, why don't you come over and help hold the boat!"

Liang's father looked up and saw Liang Ziqiang, and immediately shouted at him.

Liang Ziqiang quickly ran forward and helped to hold on to the boat.

Slowly, the tractor finally drove to the house where he lived and stopped.

"One, two, three, together, hard!"

The four members of the Liang family, including the father and sons, plus the villager driving the tractor, worked hard to lift the old boat and moved it under the car little by little.

"Carry it into that shed, that's right!"

Father Liang was giving orders while exerting his strength.

There is a long thatched shed near the house. It was originally used to store firewood because the woodshed was too small.

Now it just happened that the old boat was placed under the thatched shed.

"Alright, this is the position. Hold it steady. Let go together. One, two, three, let go!"

After putting it away, Liang's father ran to the door. At the door, Liang's mother had already prepared firecrackers, matches, and incense.

Liang's father lit three incense sticks and inserted them in front of the old boat, bowed a few times, and then quickly lit firecrackers.

Crackling, bang, a burst of cheerful firecrackers sounded so loud.

Some nearby villagers heard the news and came over to watch the fun, asking Liang's father:

"It's an old boat, it's already in such a shabby state, how come you still set off firecrackers to get it back?"

"That's right, Defu. I've heard you complain every year that all the money you earned from sailing was spent on the maintenance of this ship. It's a money-losing ship! Why are you treating it like a treasure now?"

"You two know nothing!" Liang's father replied cheerfully:

"My ship can bring Ah Qiang and Ah Xian back from Chengpan Island. If it's not a treasure ship, what else can it be? If we keep this treasure ship, our new ship will definitely be full of fish and shrimps in the future, and we will have continuous good luck!"

The people who were choked were not angry at all. Instead, they started laughing.

For a moment, firecrackers were blasting, laughter was flying, and in the smoke of firecrackers, faces with teeth showing would occasionally emerge from the smoke.

In this life, everything that happened around this old ship was so funny and so interesting...

After everyone dispersed with laughter, Liang Ziqiang walked into the house.

This time, he did not mention the more than 170 yuan he brought back from the city, and his mother did not ask any more questions.

Perhaps the mother also took into consideration that the clam was picked up by Chen Xiangbei after all, so it was not appropriate for her to ask too much about the money.

Thinking about the next two or three days, the new boat will go out to sea for the first time to fish and I will go to propose marriage, one big event after another is coming.

Liang Ziqiang, who had been busy all day, couldn't sleep at night...

The two chapters updated on the 28th are included in this chapter, 4570 words, and are not divided into chapters.

Thank you for your recommendation votes, monthly votes, and wonderful praise from the book friends! Stable updates, welcome to read the latest chapters.

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(End of this chapter)