The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: A Middle-aged Woman’s ”Taste

Han Xiaorui had been fishing for a while now, so she had a good idea of current seafood prices.

”Alright, Boss Zhang, you’re a generous man.” Han Xiaorui smiled. ”I like doing business with straightforward people. I can’t stand beating around the bush—it’s pointless and a waste of time.”

Boss Zhang let out a hearty laugh and slapped his chest. ”Me too! You’re a straight shooter, Xiao Han. Hey, you lot, be careful with those! Don’t ruin their appearance.”

These days, some of Shencheng’s high-end restaurants were sourcing their ingredients from him.

Delicious deep-sea fish like the Red Ribbon Fish were especially popular. He could sell half his stock with a single phone call, and the profit margins were substantial.

Large Red Ribbon Fish: 1,200 pounds at 12 yuan/pound, for a total of 14,400 yuan.

Small Red Ribbon Fish: 930 pounds at 10 yuan/pound, for a total of 9,300 yuan.

The freshly caught Red Ribbon Fish alone sold for 23,700 yuan.

After settling the bill, Boss Zhang saw Xiao Liu and Xiao Zhao sorting the gray pomfret. His eyes lit up, and he let out a knowing chuckle. ”This is the good stuff, the really good stuff...”

He’d been working rather ”hard” lately and needed to... recharge.

And his friends needed to recharge, too.

Eat plenty of gray pomfret, and you’ll have no more aches in your back or legs—just the vigor of a dragon.

Han Xiaorui, who was aware of the gray pomfret’s supposed therapeutic properties, couldn’t help but smile. ’Men really are particular about this, aren’t they?’

Knowing Han Xiaorui was a respectable woman, Boss Zhang immediately wiped the lewd grin off his face. ”Ahem... Xiao Han, this gray pomfret isn’t as expensive as silver pomfret, but the price is still decent. And what’s especially rare is that yours are all large fish, so the price is even better.”

Gray pomfret over 3 pounds: 7 yuan a pound, 280 pounds, for 1,980 yuan.

2-3 pounds: 5 yuan/pound, 610 pounds, for 3,050 yuan.

1-2 pounds: 3 yuan/pound, 190 pounds, for 570 yuan.

0.5-1 pound: 1.5 yuan/pound, 60 pounds, for 90 yuan.

She wasn’t selling the ones under half a pound. There were 23 pounds left, which she would take home for her family to eat.

The gray pomfret sold for 5,670 yuan.

The two types of fish sold for a total of 29,370 yuan.

Boss Zhang noticed there was still half a basket of large gray pomfret. ”Xiao Han, what about those in that basket?”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Those aren’t for sale!”

Boss Zhang looked disappointed but understood. He started counting out the money, pulling 630 yuan from a stack of 30,000, and handed the rest to Han Xiaorui as payment.

Han Xiaorui counted the money on the spot, her fingers flying. ”Perfect. Thanks for the business, Boss Zhang.”

Boss Zhang was a smooth operator. He chuckled, ”I should be the one thanking you for your patronage, Xiao Han. When you have time, come by my restaurant for a meal. My treat.”

”I’ll take you up on that,” Han Xiaorui chuckled. She continued chatting with Boss Zhang while waiting for Ye Feng. ”Later, Wang Gensheng from our village will bring over my one hundred and twenty shrimp pots. You can just give him the money directly.”

”No problem,” Boss Zhang nodded, agreeing readily.

By the time the small boat was cleaned inside and out, Ye Feng and his colleague, Zhou Yang, had arrived.

A jeep pulled up at the pier. As soon as the onlookers saw men in service caps get out, they automatically cleared a path.

”Ms. Han, thank you for your hard work.” When Ye Feng saw Han Xiaorui, his usually stern and cold expression instantly softened into a smile, and a hint of amusement sparkled in his eyes.

Han Xiaorui stuffed the money into her bag and pointed at the boat. ”It’s that thing. Go ahead and haul it away.”

”Right!” Ye Feng and Zhou Yang worked together to move the object into the jeep. ”Ms. Han, when you have a moment, come by the Public Security Bureau to collect your reward money.”

The people nearby all turned to look, eager to eavesdrop.

If the reward money was good, they’d be sure to haul in anything similar they found in the future.

If Ye Feng hadn’t mentioned it, Han Xiaorui would have almost forgotten about it.

Ye Feng took the opportunity to make a public announcement. ”Four thousand yuan. There’s a generous reward for recovering valuable foreign items.”

”Whoa, that’s a lot!” Han Xiaorui said, surprised. That was as much as some people made in a year or two.

The crowd was also stunned.

’If you found something like that, you’d strike it rich!’

”Heh, the country won’t treat its patriotic citizens unfairly,” Ye Feng said with a smile. ’Once our researchers get their hands on these surveillance devices and reverse-engineer them, it will significantly cut down on our own R&D time.’

’Who knows? Maybe in the future, Hua Country’s own surveillance devices will be gathering all sorts of information near the coastlines of other countries.’

”Okay. I can’t go out to sea tomorrow, so I’ll stop by this afternoon,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile, waving. ”Goodbye, Mr. Ye.”

”Goodbye.” Ye Feng stood on the shore, watching as Han Xiaorui entered the cabin and steered the boat away before he got back in his car and left.

As Han Xiaorui was steering the boat, Liang Xiaoyu’s eyes glinted. ”Xiao Rui, you seem pretty familiar with that Mr. Ye, huh?”

Han Xiaorui shook her head. ”Not really. We’ve only met a few times. Why?”

Liang Xiaoyu giggled. ”Oh, nothing. I just think Mr. Ye is quite handsome. He has long legs, he’s tall, and he looks very well-built.”

Seeing Liang Xiaoyu’s suggestive smile, Han Xiaorui raised an eyebrow. ”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, that smile of yours is a little creepy.”

”Haha, it’s nothing! I just think a man like that is a gift to women.” Liang Xiaoyu waggled her eyebrows and gave a mysterious smile. ”Whoever marries a man like him is guaranteed a satisfying night, every night.”

Han Xiaorui was dumbfounded. Sister-in-law Xiao Yu was getting bolder and bolder. ”You can tell all that just from a single glance from afar? How could you possibly know something like that without... trying it out?”

Liang Xiaoyu put on the air of a seasoned expert. ”Didn’t you see his legs, his waist, his build? And his face? Especially his nose—it’s so high, straight, and large. The ’package’ down below must be impressive.”

Han Xiaorui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’I’ll never be able to look at Ye Feng’s nose again without thinking of this!’

”Sister-in-law Xiao Yu, stop, stop! We can’t talk about this anymore,” Han Xiaorui said, blushing beet red. ”That’s all just baseless nonsense you’re spouting.”

”I didn’t get it before either, but then I listened to the other wives and aunties talking, and compared it with my Wenjun... it’s a pretty reliable rule.” Liang Xiaoyu giggled. ”Even if it’s a little big, and hurts a bit at first, it feels much better later on.”

”Can we really be talking about this?” Han Xiaorui’s face was as red as a sunset.

’Sister-in-law Xiao Yu is really too much!’

”Eh? Why not?” Liang Xiaoyu cackled. ”We’re close girlfriends, what’s there we can’t talk about? That Mr. Ye just now, he’s a fine specimen.”

”Stop it, Sister-in-law Xiao Yu,” Han Xiaorui said, shaking her head with a resigned laugh. ”When we dock, you should take your gray pomfret, go home early, and have a nice, long ’chat’ with Wenjun. Squeeze him dry.”

”But of course,” Liang Xiaoyu said, delighted to see Han Xiaorui’s shy, blushing face.

Liang Xiaoyu finally understood why the older married women and aunties always loved to say these things in front of the younger wives.

It was a special ”hobby” of middle-aged women, an achievement that automatically unlocked once you reached a certain age.

When they reached the pier, Han Xiaorui kept only two two-pound gray pomfret for herself. She gave the other few large ones and the twenty-odd pounds of small ones to Liang Xiaoyu.

”I’ll share these with the other families,” Liang Xiaoyu said with a smile as she carried the fish home.

After Liang Xiaoyu left, Han Xiaorui finally let herself go, doubling over with laughter.

She had been terribly embarrassed a moment ago, but now, thinking back on Sister-in-law Xiao Yu’s words, Han Xiaorui couldn’t hold back her laughter.

At the same time, Han Xiaorui felt that her relationship with Liang Xiaoyu had grown closer than before.