Premium Abalone

After returning to the island, Ye Yuan had his father arrange for the abalone fry to be stocked along the rocky shore, then went with him to the warehouse.

He said to his father, "I got a batch of high-quality feed from overseas. Mix it with our local feed at a ratio of one to ten. Outsiders can't know about this. I'm leaving this matter to you. No problem, right?"

"Mm! Got it. This is called a trade secret—I've seen it on TV dramas. Don't worry, I won't even tell your second uncle." As he spoke, Father Ye patted his chest in assurance.

That night, Ye Yuan directly placed a large batch of Spatial Feed in the small warehouse Father Ye had designated. Father Ye told him that this was the safest warehouse on the island. The anti-theft door had been specially rushed out by brother-in-law today, and it was absolutely secure. Only the two of them had keys.

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

These two abalones were premium specimens from Ye Yuan's space. He wanted to find out how the abalones raised there tasted, and he also needed to discuss their sale with Wang Yueshan.

The moment Wang Yueshan heard that Ye Yuan had premium abalone and wanted to taste them, he immediately booked Seaside Restaurant, the most famous seafood restaurant in all of Blue Island. He was very familiar with the owner there.

The abalone was rich and fragrant, its flesh tender and sweet, leaving an endless aftertaste. Wang Yueshan could not stop praising its texture. The two abalones Ye Yuan had brought for tasting this time were Three-Head Abalone.

"These are still fresh abalone. They'd taste even better if made into dried abalone."

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

"At the same quality, how much could Double-Head Abalone sell for?" Ye Yuan asked tentatively.

"Brother, you're not joking, are you? You have Double-Head Abalone like this? No matter the price, save them for me."

"Brother Wang, don't rush. What I want to ask is, if I put too many abalones like this on the market at once, would it affect the high-end market?" Ye Yuan continued.

Wang Yueshan pondered for a while before saying, "If you sell them to restaurants, it'll definitely cause an impact. But it would be different if you sold them directly to wealthy people. How many Double-Head Abalone of this quality can you get?" After saying that, Wang Yueshan gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

"Even one abalone of this quality is already hard to come by. Sigh, I'm being greedy." Before Ye Yuan could answer, Wang Yueshan muttered to himself.

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

Before coming here, Ye Yuan had carefully checked the number of abalones in his space. He had not even bothered counting those below Three-Head Abalone. There were more than 150 Double-Head Abalone alone, including three enormous One-Head Abalone.

"Brother, you're not joking with me, are you? So many supreme-grade specimens. You can bring them all out at once? I'm afraid the entire world doesn't produce that many large abalones in a year."

After confirming the number again, Wang Yueshan was unable to react for quite some time.

Wang Yueshan pondered for a long while before finally proposing a plan.

He would contact an auction house on Hong Kong Island. Ye Yuan would turn the abalones intended for auction into dried abalone. The condition was that of the twenty-five Double-Head Abalone, only fifteen would be sent to the auction, while Wang Yueshan would buy the other ten at the auction's average price.

"Fine, but the ten I sell you will be priced at the auction's lowest price." Ye Yuan did this to secure this sales channel. He understood the principle of letting everyone make money together.

After parting with Wang Yueshan, Ye Yuan drove to the aquatic breeding base. This time, he intended to purchase fish fry in bulk. The sea area he had contracted was so vast, and although all the supporting facilities were in place, only the rocky shore had been stocked with some abalone.

His father had been nagging him about it every day. Ye Yuan bought some lobster and grouper fry. The order was too large to fit in his pickup, so the person in charge readily took his address and promised to deliver everything directly to his island.

After returning to the island, Ye Yuan found Ding Er.

"How has the carving been going these past few days?"

Ding Er led Ye Yuan to a room in the crew rest area. All kinds of carving tools were laid out on the workbench, while a large pile of finished products covered the floor.

From these finished pieces, one could see the history of a person's progress—from slightly crude beginnings, to increasingly pleasing work, and finally to perfect creations.

If there had been a master carver here, he would never have believed that all of this had been completed by one person in just a few days.

Ye Yuan looked over the pieces and was very satisfied.

"Over the next few days, make me a Tea Tray out of Petrified Wood, along with several bead bracelets and ornaments."

The Tea Tray was for his own household. The bracelets and ornaments were little things that could be made from scraps.

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

He casually picked up a figurine from the workbench. It was a doll of a little girl, modeled after Niuniu. Many of Ding Er's carvings had been made in the likeness of Ye Yuan's family.

When he returned home, Niuniu immediately ran over upon seeing the doll in Ye Yuan's hand, staring at the ornament with her large eyes.

"Do you like it?" Ye Yuan asked, patting the little girl's head.

"I like it, Uncle. But isn't our family very poor? Why have you been giving Niuniu gifts lately, and why are we living in such a big house?"

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

"Mom did. She also told me to be obedient, study hard, and earn lots of money when I grow up."

Hearing Niuniu's words, Ye Yuan felt the hardship his sister had endured over the years, and an inexplicable pang of sorrow rose in his heart.

"Niuniu, Uncle promises that you'll become the prettiest little princess. But you have to be good too, okay?"

"Thank you, Uncle. Niuniu is the most well-behaved child in the world."

With that, she held the doll that looked like herself and skipped into the courtyard to find Big Yellow.

Watching Niuniu, Ye Yuan thought that having a child at home did not seem so bad.

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

Why was he thinking about such messy things? He had not even found a wife yet, so why was he already thinking about children?

Just then, Father Ye walked straight in.

"Xiao Yuan, did you forget that you promised the villagers you'd buy a ferry? Everyone's been using a few sampans to get to work these days. I even heard people complaining today."

After saying that, Father Ye picked up the cup on the table and took a sip.

Ye Yuan slapped his forehead. He really had forgotten. If his father had not reminded him, he would not have remembered that this matter was still unfinished.

"I'll contact them right now." Ye Yuan took out his phone and called the shipyard in Blue Island that had modified his yacht last time.

After hanging up, he said directly, "Use my fishing boat for the next few days. They'll need several days over there, so I'll arrange the manpower now."

Knowing that his son had taken care of it, Father Ye hummed a little tune as he headed outside.

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