He forced me to sever ties with my family and sleep on a dilapidated boat, then turned around and be

Zhang Xiuli offered her some words of comfort.

"Yeah, Bayi is awesome! The whole village is talking about it now. Even though his ship was destroyed, a giant sea turtle carried him back. Who else could make a giant sea turtle so attentive?"

"He must be the Dragon King's godson!"

"We must have confidence in Bayi."

Hearing her parents' and brother's comforting words, He Zhenzhen smiled through her tears, but then became worried again.

"Why hasn't Niu Bayi come back yet? What is he doing in the county town? Did he sell some golden sea willow and make some money, so... he's looking for other women in the county town?"

Her parents and brother looked at each other in bewilderment.

This?

Cough!

That night, Niu Bayi sneezed more than a dozen times in a row, making Yang Qianjin's beautiful house shake.

The drunken Yang Qianjin was also startled awake, shaking her head and sighing.

"What an amazing little guy! Even his sneeze is earth-shattering!"

Niu Ba arrived early the next morning.

Although he drank nearly two jin of liquor last night, he was still in high spirits.

Yang Qianjin had her servants arrange a nice room for him, which even had a bathroom, a rarity in this era.

It has a bathtub.

All his toiletries have been prepared.

Having been reborn, Niu Bayi naturally found it very easy to use.

After washing up, I stepped out of my room.

A servant was waiting there and led Niu Bayi into a magnificent restaurant.

No wonder they're rich.

This restaurant is even bigger than his future father-in-law's yard!

Yang Qianjin sat there.

Upon seeing Niu Bayi enter, he immediately stood up, beaming and waving.

"Young man, sit down and have breakfast."

Niu Bayi sighed upon seeing it.

"Mr. Yang, you really are a rich man. Your breakfast is so lavish. The food we eat in our fishing village during festivals can't even compare to your breakfast."

Absolutely, this breakfast is incredibly lavish.

On a large table, chicken, duck, fish, and meat were all laid out.

People who don't know the situation might think they're here for a wedding banquet.

Yang Qianjin laughed heartily.

"I'm just trying to treat you to a nice meal. If it were me, I'd just have the maid make me a pot of chicken porridge or something every morning. You're young and eat a lot."

"Come, come, sit down and eat while it's hot."

Niu Bayi didn't stand on ceremony, sat down, picked up a big, oily chicken leg, and smiled at Yang Qianjin.

"I won't stand on ceremony."

He took a bite, and his mouth was full of oil.

This is definitely a free-range chicken raised on insects. Compared to factory-farmed chickens decades later, it's like comparing heaven and earth.

Niu Bayi, his mouth greasy from eating, was incredibly satisfied.

Yang Qianjin watched him eat with a smile.

"Young man, no, from now on I'll call you Bayi, it's more friendly. Watching you eat like this, I'm getting an appetite too."

Then, the old man and the young man started eating and drinking.

Yang Qianjin was very thoughtful; she personally ladled out a bowl of bird's nest and white fungus soup and placed it in front of Niu Bayi.

"August 1st, this soup is good for your health, drink a couple more bowls."

Niu Ba nodded and, without any hesitation, took the drink and drank it with relish.

Instantly, I felt refreshed all over.

"This soup is delicious, it's so sweet, much more refreshing than drinking spring water."

Yang Qianjin laughed heartily.

"Drink a few more bowls, and you can finish the whole pot without any problem. If you like, I'll have the maid prepare some bird's nest and white fungus for you to take back and cook with some rock sugar. It'll be delicious and nutritious."

Niu Bayi finished the bird's nest and white fungus soup in one go.

He wiped his mouth, then asked, "Mr. Yang, your granddaughter-in-law should have used the fish bladder by now, right? How is she doing?"

Yang Qianjin's face immediately showed gratitude, and she nodded repeatedly.

"I had someone send the swim bladder of the golden turtle to the provincial capital overnight. They immediately processed it into fish maw and made soup, which my granddaughter-in-law took. She was still bleeding."

"The bleeding stopped shortly after I ate it, and I regained my strength."

"The swim bladder of this golden turtle is indeed extraordinary. Bayi, you are truly my family's savior."

Niu Bayi waved his hand.

"Mr. Yang, you're too kind. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. You paid a high price to have me prepare the golden turtle, so it's not a matter of saving a life or not. By the way, you said last night you had something else to discuss with me?"

"Now you can talk about it."

Niu Bayi's intuition told him that this might be another opportunity to make a fortune.

Sure enough, Yang Qianjin asked, "Bayi, do you know about giant clams?"

Niu Bayi was taken aback: "Tridacna? I know, but it's not worth much."

He's right, giant clams are indeed large seashells.

Decades later, it was listed as a Class I protected animal in China, meaning it cannot be hunted and is extremely precious.

But in the 1970s and 80s, it was quite rampant.

The smaller ones weigh tens of kilograms, while the larger ones weigh hundreds of kilograms, and they are distributed at depths of thirty to forty meters on the seabed.

Fishermen would catch them one by one, remove the meat inside, and make dried scallops from the essence.

A pound can sell for twenty or thirty yuan.

The meat that has been stripped of its essential parts is not very valuable.

Fresh ones cost only a few cents a pound.

As for the seashells, they will be treasures decades later, and can be used to make various handicrafts.

But now fishermen are too lazy to take it back; after cutting the meat, they just throw it back into the sea.

Even if someone were to buy them, they would only buy them to use as building materials or something.

For example, in fishing villages by the sea, many houses have walls made of seashells.

Most of these shells come from giant clams.

They smashed the giant seashells, mixed them with other materials, and used them to build walls.

Yang Qianjin said, "Tridacna shells are indeed not worth much, but there's a type of tridacna shell that's particularly large. Do you know what it is?"

Niu Bayi thought for a moment and said, "Ku-style giant clam! This kind of giant clam can generally reach a diameter of more than one meter, and the larger ones can reach two meters."

After a slight pause, he added.

"Moreover, this kind of giant clam shell is more likely to be jade-like. A complete and fully jade-like giant clam shell is very beautiful. I remember it was even called the first of the seven treasures of Buddhism."

"Abroad, especially in Southeast Asia, he is highly respected, but he is not worth much in China."

"Yes, that's absolutely right! Bayi, I never expected a mere fisherman like you to have such insight. Impressive! I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

Yang Qianjin got excited and praised Niu Bayi repeatedly.

Then, I stated my purpose.

He has an old friend in Thailand who runs a temple that even the King and Queen visit during festivals.

This temple has everything, but it lacks a large, substantial giant clam shell of sufficient weight to serve as its treasure.

He wanted a complete giant clam shell, about three meters in diameter, that had to be completely jade-like.

Although giant clams are very common and not valuable, this particular giant clam is extremely rare.

It would probably take thousands of years for a giant clam shell to become completely jade-like.

Of course, it died long ago; all the flesh inside had long since disappeared, leaving only an empty shell.

This hollow shell is about to turn into jade, becoming warm, smooth, white, and pure without any stain.

In Buddhism, it symbolizes a pure mind, and is therefore highly revered.

After listening, Niu Bayi scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"There are many giant clams, but giant clams that are over three meters long, intact, and completely jade-like are extremely difficult to find. They may be buried deep in the seabed mud or under coral and broken shells."

Finding it is like finding a needle in a haystack!