Crew members take squid out of the freezer to feed sea lions.
Soon the sea lions accepted the food from the crew and performed various cute actions below the deck to please the crew on the deck.
After Xiang Yang got on the boat, he took a piece of Hami melon handed to him by his uncle and started eating it.
"What a pity." He Mingde held onto the side of the boat and looked under the deck. "There are a lot of pearls in this sea area, but it's not easy to salvage them with so many sea lions around."
Xiang Yang wanted to say that they should ignore these sea lions and those who wanted to go down to catch pearls could just go directly. But then he thought that it would be useless to say that and he simply stopped talking.
Just like tourists in an ocean theme park who dare to feed sea lions but never put their hands into the pool, the crew members on the ship probably won't dare to dive in the same sea with the sea lions for a while.
"Wu Shiwen, come here." However, when talking about Zhenzhu, Xiang Yang thought of what Wu Shiwen had said to him.
"I'm here, Captain. What's the matter?" Wu Shiwen immediately trotted over when he heard Xiang Yang calling him.
Xiang Yang first smiled and told He Mingde about how he brought pearl oysters to the city to gamble on oysters, then he looked at Wu Shiwen and said, "How is it? Have you asked everyone about their harvest?"
Whether to make money by gambling on pearl oysters or by opening oysters to extract pearls cannot be determined by just one or two people opening a few oyster shells. It also depends on what everyone harvests.
"I've already asked, Captain." Wu Shiwen said with a smile, "There are quite a few white pearls, but not a single black or gold pearl. If you really calculate it, the profit from betting on clams is definitely greater."
He Mingde looked at Wu Shiwen in surprise, "Betting on clams? Is this something you came up with?"
Wu Shiwen chuckled and touched his head.
He Mingde understood it immediately after seeing it.
"Xiaoyang, do you also want to get some pearl oysters to sell?" He Mingde asked.
Xiang Yang immediately shook his head, "I have a lot of things to do when I get back this time, how can I have the time?"
He Mingde nodded, knowing that Xiang Yang was telling the truth. After returning from this voyage, ordinary crew members can take a few days off, but Xiang Yang and he definitely can't rest. So many catches need them to process, and some high-quality catches need them to find sales channels.
"But the profit from betting on clams is huge. I'm wondering if I can find some agents or something like that." Xiang Yang explained.
Huge profits? He Mingde took a deep breath after doing some calculations. "If these clams are sold according to Wu Shiwen's method and there are people who buy them, then one clam can be sold for 100 yuan, ten clams can be sold for 1,000 yuan, and a hundred clams can be sold for tens of thousands of yuan!"
"I'm worried that people will just try this thing for fun, and it may not sell well in the end."
"That's true." He Mingde nodded, looking thoughtful, no one knew what he was thinking about.
Xiang Yang was actually also thinking about the profits involved.
The profit of pearl oysters is indeed very high, but Xiang Yang can't squat in the vegetable market with a sack of pearl oysters to sell them like Wu Shiwen. After thinking carefully for a while, Xiang Yang feels that it would be better for him to be a supplier as before.
"Do you plan to sell it only this time or do you want to get a batch of pearl oysters to sell every time you go out to sea in the future?" Xiang Yang looked at Wu Shiwen and said.
Wu Shiwen's eyes lit up and he said excitedly, "Captain, can we come here every time we go out to sea to get some pearl oysters?"
Fishing boats usually do not have fixed routes when sailing on the sea. They just chase schools of fish and go wherever the schools of fish swim. Wu Shiwen never thought that he could catch pearl oysters with such a high pearl production rate every time he went out to sea, so this time he tried his best to bring back more pearl oysters. But from what Xiang Yang said, it seemed that there would be a chance to bring back a batch of pearl oysters every time he went out to sea.
Xiang Yang smiled, revealing his white teeth. "Of course, no problem. There are a lot of pearl oysters in this sea area. Can't we just come here and catch some when we go out to sea next time?"
Wu Shiwen calmed down and decided that the next time he went out to sea to catch pearl oysters in this sea area, it would be like his fishing boat having a fixed fishing ground with a fixed route. This sea area was not close to the coastline, and it was even farther away from the sea area with rich fisheries. The fuel consumed in driving the fishing boat to this sea area was definitely not a small number.
"Captain, do you want to include pearl oysters as part of your fishing income in the future?" Wu Shiwen said.
"I have this idea." Xiang Yang nodded. If he could find a stable sales channel or agent, including pearl oysters as part of the catch would indeed allow Xiang Yang to make a lot of money.
He Mingde shook his head. "I don't think it's going to be easy. Consumers might be interested in the novelty at first, but after buying a few times and not getting any valuable pearls, I don't think anyone will buy them anymore. If the quantity is small, you can sell it by talking, but if the quantity is large, you will lose money."
Xiang Yang frowned in thought.
He Mingde's words make sense, pearl oyster meat is very worthless.
Once the pearl clams cannot be sold, it will be impossible to make back the money spent on oil by selling a batch of pearl clams as clam shells.
"Let's try it first!" Xiang Yang said carefully: "Wu Shiwen, tell the other crew members about this. Take advantage of your day off today to catch more pearl oysters. Then you can take them to the city to test the market. If they sell well, I will bring a batch of pearl oysters to find a market next time I go out to sea. Of course, if you think they sell well and want to sell them again, you can also buy them from me. I will definitely give you a discount on the price and try to leave you enough profit."
"Captain, if they are easy to sell, can I take on all the pearl oysters caught on the ship?" Wu Shiwen asked.
"Are you contracting it alone?" Xiang Yang and He Mingde looked at Wu Shiwen in surprise.
Wu Shiwen said seriously, "I actually have some extra money from doing business these years. I should be able to contract the pearl oysters alone. I want to try to see if I can make betting on oysters an industry."
Xiang Yang was speechless. "So you want to quit your job and work on your own after your first time going out to sea?"
"It can't be said that I'm working alone. In fact, I'm still following you, Captain, to make a living." Wu Shiwen said with a wry smile.
Xiang Yang thought about it carefully. Currently, basically no one buys pearl oysters in the seafood market, but there are actually many areas in the ocean that are rich in pearl oysters.
At present, human beings' attitude towards pearl oysters is basically to hire pearl fishers at high prices to go out into the sea to look for pearls. Pearl fishers often need to pry open hundreds or even thousands of oyster shells before they can find a plump and round valuable pearl. This is actually a huge waste of resources.
Xiang Yang did not immediately agree to Wu Shiwen's request, but he did not refuse him either. "If I were to come to this sea area specifically to catch pearl oysters, I would definitely catch a large number. It is not a small matter to contract the pearl oysters on my ship. Don't rush to make a decision. Consider the market carefully before making a decision."