Time suddenly rewound.
"Xiao Erzi, how are things over there?"
"Boss, none of the ones I opened were 1.4. The biggest was 1.3 centimeters."
"Mm, 1.3 is fine. Anything above 1.4 depends on luck."
The boss chatted with the workers as they opened clams. After handing the clam he had just opened to another worker responsible for collecting and sorting the pearls, the dark-skinned worker reached out again and picked up a thick, plump Pearl Clam. Only then did Dong Xuebin, having returned from the previous stretch of time, see which clam it was. He hurried over to stop him. "Wait, wait, don't open that one yet. How much is this clam? I'll take it."
The boss looked at him, then at the clam. "You only want one?"
Dong Xuebin nodded. "I still need to look through the rest. I'll take just one for now."
After thinking it over, the boss stopped his rusty kitchen knife and shook his head. "This clam is plump. If there's a good pearl, it'll definitely come from a fat one like this. If you only want one, then I won't sell it." Plump was industry jargon here, referring to thickness. Generally, the thicker the clam, the larger the pearl inside. "Xiao Erzi, keep opening them."
"Wait, wait, wait!" How could Dong Xuebin let him open it? "How about five thousand?"
That was the normal price, but the boss still shook his head.
Dong Xuebin frowned and hesitated. "...Six thousand, then. That's my limit."
The dark-skinned worker glanced at the boss. He thought the price was already very high. Even if it yielded a 1.1-centimeter pearl, six thousand yuan would mean a loss. A 1.1-centimeter pearl was nowhere near worth six thousand. Of course, if they got absurdly lucky and found one over 1.5 centimeters,