Chapter 211: This is the King!
Chapter 211: This is the King!
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia walked into the kitchen together.
Apart from Zhou Father, no one in the courtyard paid much attention when Jiang Xia mentioned wanting to eat sea snail meat.
Tea Caihua had also found a conch today, but she sold it. Jiang Xia knew how to eat it, and she was generous with her food.
Tea Caihua, however, was not as generous as Jiang Xia.
Zhou Father glanced at the group intently cleaning the fish, put down his knife, picked up a fish, and stood up. "I'll take a fish for Xia to cook."
No one paid it much mind; the fish was a treasure from head to tail, and the meat could fetch a good price. But with so many fish, it was normal to cook one for the family.
Zhou Chenglei was in the kitchen, extracting snail meat.
Jiang Xia saw Zhou Father enter with a fish and asked, "Dad, do you want to eat fish? How do you like it?"
Zhou Father placed the fish in a basin and spoke softly, "No, I just came to witness a historic moment!"
Jiang Xia: "..."
Where did Zhou Father get this mysterious confidence from?
At that moment, Zhou Chenglei extracted the snail meat.
Zhou Father hurriedly urged Jiang Xia, "Xia, go and look for it! Look together!"
He didn't trust anyone else's hands; only Wang Cai's lucky hand was reliable! Of course, a couple working together was even more trustworthy.
Zhou Chenglei handed the snail meat to Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia took it and carefully searched, soon feeling a round, hard object.
She pinched it, and a small, orange-red pearl with a flame pattern came off in her hand!
Zhou Father took a look and smiled. Indeed, there was a pearl!
Although this pearl was smaller than expected, it was still a rare find.
The chances of finding a pearl in this type of sea snail were one in several thousand!
People in their village had found these snails many times, but no one had ever found a pearl!
Only Wang Cai had such luck! A dragon pearl was still a dragon pearl, no matter its size.
Zhou Father loved the festive color and the beautiful name of the pearl.
Jiang Xia also felt the pearl was a bit small, but Melody Pearls could be much larger. She had heard that the largest Melody Pearls could reach 200 carats, while this one was only estimated to be a few dozen carats.
But finding one was already incredibly lucky!
Jiang Xia rinsed the pearl in water, then placed it in her palm, examining it closely. The more she looked, the more excited she became. She whispered, "Zhou Chenglei, look at the pattern on this pearl. What do you think it resembles?"
Zhou Chenglei leaned in to take a closer look.
Zhou Father couldn't help but lean in too! The father and son examined the pearl for a while, and then Jiang Xia asked, "What do you think it looks like?"
Zhou Father couldn't quite make out the resemblance, but he found it very beautiful.
This dragon pearl was small, but its color was truly stunning!
The entire pearl was crystal clear, with a radiant luster and flawless appearance.
Zhou Chenglei said, "It looks a bit like a chrysanthemum."
Although it only resembled a chrysanthemum slightly, this resemblance was enough to elevate the pearl's value.
Jiang Xia smiled, "I think it looks a bit like a chrysanthemum too."
Haha... this pearl was indeed a bit small, with a diameter of only about 6mm, but the color was amazing! Its color was a vibrant orange-red, like a ripe mangosteen, and its shape was perfectly round, translucent, and lustrous, with a porcelain-like sheen. The flame pattern inside was yellow, delicately distributed, and at first glance, it resembled a blooming yellow chrysanthemum.
This was truly rare!
Zhou Father immediately asked, "How did you see that?"
The value of a pearl was vastly different depending on whether its pattern was random or resembled something specific.
Jiang Xia handed the pearl to Zhou Father, whose eyes were almost popping out, captivated by the Melody Pearl.
Zhou Father took it and placed it in his palm, fiddling with it. "How does it look like a chrysanthemum?"
Jiang Xia extended a finger and rolled the pearl in Zhou Father's palm. "Dad, look at it this way. Don't the flame patterns at the bottom look like a blooming chrysanthemum supporting a pearl?"
"Jiang Xia, you're right!" Zhou Father exclaimed, feeling like he had hit the mark.
"It's similar! Very similar! Extremely similar! Super similar!"
Even if it didn't look like it, he had to say it was similar!
Only then could a single pearl turn into a motorcycle!
"Can this pearl be sold for over a thousand yuan?"
The Melody Pearl, also known as the Dragon Pearl or Flame Pearl, was an extremely rare and precious pearl.
Moreover, it couldn't be artificially cultivated. If it were in modern times, this pearl would be worth hundreds of thousands.
Jiang Xia couldn't guess how much this pearl could sell for in this era, but ultimately, it was still a bit small, not even reaching 8mm.
However, a thousand yuan was definitely possible.
"It's possible!" Jiang Xia casually continued to touch the snail meat, checking if there were any more pearls hidden.
She was genuinely searching casually, and sure enough, she found something.
Moreover, it seemed like there was more than one!
And, it seemed a bit bigger than the previous one?!
Jiang Xia quickly scooped it up.
One pearl, similar in color to the previous one but half its size, was scooped up by Jiang Xia and placed in the bowl.
This one was estimated to be around sixty carats!
It was quite a large pearl!
Zhou Father's eyes widened in surprise, "There are two of them?!"
He knew that Wang Cai's luck couldn't be this bad!
"Not just two, there's another one!" Jiang Xia scooped out another pearl.
The third pearl was even larger, noticeably bigger than the second one! The other two pearls beside it seemed like its babies.
This one was quite big, probably around one hundred and fifty carats!
All three pearls had similar colors, a tangerine red.
The most expensive and beautiful color among Melody Pearls!
Three perfect, flawless Dragon Pearls from a single sea snail, and they were all perfectly round!
Haha... No wonder it's called Wang Cai!
Zhou Father felt like a house in town was now secure!
Jiang Xia carefully examined the flame patterns on the remaining two pearls.
The flame pattern on the second pearl was not very noticeable, extremely fine and fragmented, so the entire pearl looked like a night sky filled with stars, mysterious and dazzling.
It sparkled brilliantly!
The flame pattern on the third pearl was almost invisible. If this pearl was like an orange sunset, then its flame pattern was like a peony quietly blooming deep within the sun.
Incredibly low-key,
Yet also exceptionally noble.
This was the king!
The king of pearls!
After examining the three pearls, Zhou Father felt like even a house in the city was within reach!
Three flawless Dragon Pearls from a single sea snail, and they were all perfectly round! With these, they could almost gather the entire family.
If they auctioned these together, their value would likely increase by more than threefold.
Jiang Xia was delighted. She handed the pearls to Zhou Chenglei, "Keep these pearls safe. I'll go and cook."
With such good luck today, she had to prepare a delicious meal to celebrate.
Zhou Chenglei first took the three pearls back to the house and hid them in the roof beams before coming out to cook with Jiang Xia.
After witnessing this historic moment, Zhou Father went out to clean the fish!
There was still a pile of fish to be cleaned and a pile of fish jelly to be processed in the courtyard.
The dinner was prepared by Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia, with Zhou Zhou helping to stoke the fire.
The menu included pan-fried Golden Scallop fish fillets, steamed Butter Crab, Sichuan-style Hot Fish Head, chili stir-fried snail meat, seaweed salad, and green vegetables.
When the Butter Crab was steamed, the moment the lid was lifted, it revealed a crab filled with golden crab roe, and the sight of the golden oil roe made one's mouth water.
The oil roe was sweet and fragrant, and the meat was fresh and tender! This was undoubtedly the best crab Jiang Xia had ever tasted.
The other dishes were also incredibly delicious. The fish fillets were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the snail meat was refreshing and chewy, and the fish head was fragrant and spicy.
As they ate the crab, Zhou Chenglei used a spoon to scoop out the crab roe and pass it to Jiang Xia, saying, "Today, Xia and I bought several shops and seafood stalls in the new seafood market in town. I think the prices are quite reasonable. Big Brother, do you want to buy some?"
I've seen online that some have found three Melody Pearls, but I'm not sure if it's true! It's the Mid-Autumn Festival, and besides mooncakes, you can also eat seafood~
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone!
(End of Chapter)
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