"Squeak squeak...!"
In the early morning, on the longan tree outside the yard, young birds chirped noisily, waiting for their parents to return.
"Ugh~~! Slept till dawn, so comfortable."
Li Hao Chen stretched lazily.
"Beep beep beep...!"
As soon as he opened his phone, it was flooded with messages, almost bursting.
"Damn, Old Third, you have a house and a car? Are you being kept?"
"Treat us to a big meal quickly, or we'll torture you when you get back!"
"Old Third, what do you use that tricycle for?"
"The environment is quite beautiful. Can you take me to see it sometime?" Murong Yan Ran messaged.
Seeing so many messages of concern, Li Hao Chen replied to them one by one before heading out with his snorkeling gear.
"Hey, Hao Chen, what's with you?" Huang Hai Yuan, just back from fishing, saw Li Hao Chen carrying a bag and a plastic bucket.
"Uncle Yuan, just got back from the sea? I'm going to Butterfly Bay to see if I can find anything."
"Butterfly Bay, that place is treacherous. That's why not many people go there. Be careful, you hear?" Upon hearing Butterfly Bay, Huang Hai Yuan's expression changed. He had said what he needed to; whether Li Hao Chen listened was up to him.
"Okay, I'll be careful. I'm heading over now."
Li Hao Chen walked along the rugged coastline, carefully climbing over a treacherous section. After walking a few more minutes along a short sandy beach, he reached his destination.
"It really is dangerous. If I hadn't been quick enough to grab that bunch of tough vines...!"
Li Hao Chen recalled how he almost slipped and fell on the steep section earlier, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"No wonder this place is still so primitive. Otherwise, it would have been stripped bare, and there would be nothing for me."
Arriving at his secret spot from last time, he changed into his gear and found a place where the current was relatively less swift. He slowly and cautiously stepped into the water. When the seawater reached his chest, Li Hao Chen leaned down and peered into the sea.
"This spot is pretty good. Swimming a few meters forward will be much calmer."
After a brief assessment, Li Hao Chen plunged into the sea.
"These... so many black sea bream?... This school of rockfish?... Golden Trevally, Sergeant Fish...!"
Li Hao Chen, who had only dived a few meters, was stunned by the abundance of marine life. However, he could only watch wistfully, as he had no way to catch these fish underwater.
Li Hao Chen spent a full three hours exploring the twenty-mu Butterfly Bay. Looking at the shipwrecks on the seabed, he finally understood why this sea area was so rich.
"No wonder so many fish-rich coastal areas are unexploited. It turns out the entire Butterfly Bay is surrounded by a thick layer of hidden reefs, and the land is so treacherous. With humans, their biggest predator, absent, this is truly a natural haven for fish to thrive and multiply."
Li Hao Chen swam back to the shore and returned to his secret spot. He entered his spatial dimension and picked two coconuts.
While drinking coconut water, Li Hao Chen pondered, "This is truly a great place. If I could lease it, it would be a massive treasure trove for me."
After regaining his strength, Li Hao Chen dived back into the sea. Relying on his memory, he harvested shellfish and snails. In less than half an hour, his net bag was full.
"Huh, Orchid Crabs?"
As Li Hao Chen was preparing to go ashore, he noticed several large orchid crabs at the base of the reef not far away. He immediately got excited, picked up his small net, and slowly reached out.
"Whoosh~!"
With quick reflexes, Li Hao Chen managed to cover several large crabs with his net. The ones nearby, startled, quickly escaped. He lifted the net and saw three large orchid crabs caught inside. Li Hao Chen smiled with satisfaction and swam back to shore.
"Heh heh, this is great. These few orchid crabs alone can sell for four or five hundred. It seems leasing Butterfly Bay is a must."
In about ten minutes, Li Hao Chen brought his haul into his spatial dimension in batches. He tossed a few orchid crabs and a few large whelks into the sea, and the remaining shellfish were kept in a large pit dug on the beach.
After nervously traversing the treacherous path once more, he looked back at the chasm, thinking, "I really need to find a way to conquer you. Otherwise, it will be difficult to develop."
Back home, Li Hao Chen locked the door, entered his spatial dimension, and brought out the shellfish he had caught today, placing them in the plastic basket of his tricycle. He glanced at the large tricycle, and the seafood seemed rather sparse.
Entering his spatial dimension again, he looked at the dark mass of snails at the bottom of the reef. Li Hao Chen's eyes lit up. "It's been over a year. These snails have reproduced well, at twice the speed outside. I need to be diligent."
Li Hao Chen didn't pick too many, only about three to four pounds of each type before stopping.
"The fastest to reproduce are these mussels. There must be at least two to three thousand pounds here, but the price is a bit low."
Li Hao Chen thought for a moment and broke off a large bunch of mussels, about thirty to forty pounds. After another half hour of bringing the snails and mussels out of his spatial dimension, he placed them all in the water tank of his tricycle to keep them alive.
"Here I go, off to do business!"
The journey was short. Li Hao Chen drove his vehicle for less than three minutes before arriving at the beach outside Dalong Village, where several seafood buyers had already gathered.
"Reversing, please be careful... Reversing, please be careful!"
The peculiar reversing sound startled the waiting merchants who were anticipating the return of the fishermen. The first to react and run over was his "old acquaintance," Yang Tao.
Li Hao Chen harbored no great resentment towards Yang Tao, who was not very honorable, as merchants were driven by profit, but he didn't offer a friendly expression either.
"Wow, such big "General's Hats"? Mussels as big as three fingers? These are trumpet shells, grouper shells, spicy shells...!"
Yang Tao was stunned by the unbelievably large sea snails but dared not speak out, fearing it would attract other merchants to scramble for them.
"Boss, what if I buy all these snails from you?" Yang Tao pulled Li Hao Chen aside, away from the other merchants, and whispered.
"Tell me the price!" Li Hao Chen glanced at Yang Tao and said calmly, "Don't play any tricks like last time."
Yang Tao scratched his head sheepishly. "Boss, I was wrong last time. This time, the price will definitely satisfy you."
"Mussels are 8 yuan a pound, General's Hats 90, trumpet shells 30...! What do you think of these prices?"
After Yang Tao quoted the prices, Li Hao Chen pondered for a moment and then nodded. "The prices are acceptable. I'll let you have them."
Yang Tao was overjoyed and efficiently helped Li Hao Chen pack and weigh the seafood.
"That's 1750 in total. Boss Li, please count it."
Li Hao Chen took the money and counted it carefully. "It's correct. Thanks, Brother Yang."
"Boss Li, let's add each other on WeChat. If you have any goods in the future, just let me know on WeChat, and I'll come to your door to buy them, hehe!"
Li Hao Chen thought for a moment. "That would be good. It saves me the trouble of setting up a stall."
"Okay...!"
"By the way, Brother Yang, your Binhai Grand Hotel is one of the top hotels here. Do you still need to come out to buy seafood? Don't people compete to deliver it to your door?" Li Hao Chen asked curiously.
"Sigh, that's true, but every family has its own troubles." Yang Tao glanced around and said in a low voice, "We can't help it. Our lifeline is controlled by the Mu family. The farmed seafood they supply is generally of average quality. If we don't go out to collect some wild catches to support ourselves, how can we retain our customers? Fortunately, our President Murong's influence is not to be underestimated. We've leased tens of mu of aquaculture sea area in the eastern district, which can support a few branches. Otherwise, we'd have to kowtow to the Mu family."
"Rumble rumble~!"
"Enough said, I'm going to grab some fish first."
Li Hao Chen watched Yang Tao run off, his eyes rolling.
"So Binhai Grand Hotel belongs to Yan Ran's family. This is a good point of connection."