Premium Abalone

Back on the island, I had Dad arrange for people to release the abalone seedlings along the reef shore, then followed him to the warehouse.

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I said to Dad, "I got a batch of high-quality feed from abroad. Mix it with our local feed at a 1:10 ratio. No outsiders can know about this. I'm putting you in charge of it—any problem?"

"Hmm~! I get it. It's called a trade secret. I've seen it on TV shows. Don't worry, I won't even tell your Second Uncle." Dad patted his chest as he gave his word.

That evening, Ye Yuan directly placed a large batch of Spatial Feed into the small warehouse Father Ye had designated. Father Ye told Ye Yuan that this warehouse was the safest on the island—the security door had been rushed out by Brother-in-law just today, absolutely secure, and only the two of them had the keys.

In Blue Island City, at a very upscale restaurant, Ye Yuan sat across from Wang Yueshan. On the table before them was only one dish: abalone.

These two abalones were the premium ones from Ye Yuan's space. He wanted to know how the space-farmed abalone tasted, and he also needed to discuss sales with Wang Yueshan.

As soon as Wang Yueshan heard that Ye Yuan had premium abalone and wanted to taste it, he immediately booked the most famous seafood restaurant in all of Blue Island, "Seaside Restaurant," where he was well-acquainted with the owner.

The abalone entered their mouths—rich aroma, sweet and succulent flesh, an endless aftertaste. Wang Yueshan couldn't stop praising the texture. The two Ye Yuan brought for tasting were Three-Head Abalones.

"These are still fresh abalones. If they were made into dried abalone, they'd be even more delicious."

Wang Yueshan chewed the abalone in his mouth as he spoke.

"With the same quality, what price could a Double-Head Abalone fetch?" Ye Yuan probed.

"Brother, are you joking? You've got Double-Head abalones like this? Leave them all for me, no matter the cost."

"Brother Wang, don't rush. I'm asking you—if I suddenly put out too many of these abalones, would it affect the high-end market?" Ye Yuan pressed on.

Wang Yueshan pondered for a moment before saying, "If sold to restaurants, of course it would cause a shock. But if sold directly to the wealthy, that's different. With this quality, how many Double-Head ones can you get?" He then shook his head with a wry smile.

"With this quality, even one is rare enough. Ah, I'm being greedy." Before Ye Yuan could speak, Wang Yueshan muttered to himself.

"Twenty-five Double-Head, one One-Head." Ye Yuan stated the number in his mind.

Before coming, Ye Yuan had carefully checked the abalone count in his space. He hadn't even bothered counting those below Three-Head. Just the Double-Head Abalones alone numbered over 150, including three oversized One-Head Abalones.

"Brother, you're not messing with me, are you? That many super-premium ones? Can you really produce them all at once? I doubt the whole world produces that many large abalones in a year."

After confirming the number again, Wang Yueshan was stunned for a long time.

Wang Yueshan deliberated for a while and finally came up with a plan.

He would contact an auction house on Hong Kong Island. Ye Yuan would turn these abalones into dried ones for the auction, on the condition that of the twenty-five Double-Head Abalones, only fifteen would go to the auction. The other ten would be purchased by Wang Yueshan at the auction's average price.

"Fine, but the ten sold to you will be priced at the auction's minimum." Ye Yuan did this to keep this sales channel open—he understood the principle of everyone making money together.

After parting with Wang Yueshan, Ye Yuan drove to the aquaculture base. This time, he needed to buy fish fry in bulk. The sea area he had contracted was huge, and all the supporting facilities were in place, but the sea only had some abalone stocked along the reef shore.

Because of this, Dad nagged him every day. He bought some lobster and grouper fry. The purchase was so large that Ye Yuan's pickup couldn't hold it all. The person in charge readily asked for Ye Yuan's address and promised to deliver it directly to his island.

Ye Yuan returned to the island and found Ding Er.

"How's the carving going these days?"

Ding Er led Ye Yuan to a room in the crew's rest area. Inside, various carving tools were laid out on a workbench, and a large pile of finished pieces covered the floor.

From these finished pieces, you could see a person's progress—starting with slightly crude work, then becoming more pleasing to the eye, and finally reaching perfect pieces.

If a carver were here, they would never believe that one person had completed all this in just a few days.

Ye Yuan looked over the pieces and was satisfied.

"These days, help me make a tea tray out of Petrified Wood, and also a few bracelets and ornaments."

The tea tray was for home use. The bracelets and small ornaments could be made from leftover scraps.

Ye Yuan planned to use these as gifts in the future. As his business grew, he'd occasionally need to give small presents to business partners—these would be perfect.

He casually picked up a figure from the workbench—a girl doll shaped like Niuniu. Many of Ding Er's carvings were modeled after Ye Yuan's family.

When he got home and saw the doll in Ye Yuan's hand, Niuniu immediately ran over, staring at the ornament with her big eyes.

"Do you like it?" Ye Yuan patted the little girl's head.

"Yes, Uncle, but aren't we really poor? Why have you been giving me gifts lately and living in such a big house?"

"Niuniu, who told you our family is poor?"

"Mom did. She said I have to be good, study hard when I grow up, and earn a lot of money."

Hearing Niuniu's words, Ye Yuan felt the hardships his sister had endured all these years, and a pang of bitterness struck him for no reason.

"Niuniu, I promise you'll become the most beautiful little princess. But you have to be good too, okay?"

"Thank you, Uncle. Niuniu is the best-behaved kid in the world."

With that, she took the doll that looked like her and hopped away to the yard to find Big Yellow.

Watching Niuniu, Ye Yuan thought to himself, having a kid around isn't so bad.

"I wonder if my own child would be as cute as Niuniu."

Why was he thinking about such random things? He hadn't even found a wife yet, and already he was thinking about kids.

Just then, Father Ye walked straight in.

"Xiao Yuan, you haven't forgotten about buying that ferry you promised the villagers, have you? These past few days, everyone's been commuting on a couple of puny sampans, and today I already heard someone complaining."

Dad finished speaking, then directly picked up the cup on the table and took a sip.

Ye Yuan slapped his forehead—he really had forgotten. If Dad hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have remembered this matter was still unresolved at all.

"I'll get on it right now." Ye Yuan pulled out his phone and directly called the shipyard that had modified his yacht for Blue Island last time.

Putting down the phone, he said directly, "Use my fishing boat for the next few days. It'll take them a few days over there. I'll arrange the crew right now."

Dad knew his son had taken care of it, so he just hummed a little tune and walked out.

Ye Yuan called Ding Yi over and told him to use the fishing boat to ferry the workers to and from work for the next few days, and then arrange for some people to go to the shipyard to take over the ferry.