Tong Zhaodi could no longer bear to say no. The thing was that the noodles smelled really good, and she had not eaten anything since the morning. She also noticed that Han Ruochen indeed had a generous amount of food in her bowl, and only then did she take a bite of her meal. However, her eyes could not help but sting when she thought of how her own mother never cared about her, but Han Ruochen, who had no relation to her, was willing to take care of her.

She could not help but sniff as she tried to hold back tears. "Sister Ruochen, thank you."

"There is no need to thank me." Han Ruochen waved her gratitude aside and simply stated, "You just need to focus on working hard and nothing else. If you don’t eat well, then how will you have the strength to collect the crab cages and scoop the fishnet? Eat your fill and make sure that you do a better job for me. Maybe if we hit it big, then I will also arrange for a little promotion for you."

Han Ruochen had long wanted to increase Tong Zhaodi’s salary because she knew that the woman was having a hard time. She wished that with the money she earned, Tong Zhaodi would be able to break free from the Tong family. Because, unlike her, Tong Zhaodi had someone who could help her. She did not want Tong Zhaodi to be sold off to that old widower and then die at the hands of that man.

Tong Zhaodi’s mouth fell agape. She dropped the chopsticks in the tiffin box and waved her hands. "No, there is no need. You have already helped me a lot. I cannot possibly ask for more." Tong Zhaodi knew better than anyone that Han Ruochen had done more than enough for her. If not for her, she wouldn’t even have the chance of eating something decent. Because of Han Ruochen, she could at least hide in the darkness of the night and eat without any worries.

"This has nothing to do with helping you," Han Ruochen corrected her. She knew what Tong Zhaodi was thinking and casually waved her hand. "If you work hard, then naturally, I will have to give you a reward for your hard work. In the end, it will depend on you, and it has nothing to do with me being kind to you."

Tong Zhaodi nodded and swore that she would work even harder.

She had no plans of separating from her family at the time being, but no one would complain about having too much money. She agreed with what Han Ruochen said, and the two of them finished eating their meal in silence.

Once they were done eating, Han Ruochen hit the winch button, and as soon as she pressed the button, the motor started to strain. The cable hissed, vibrating with a high-pitched metallic whine. As soon as the first trap appeared out of the clear water, Tong Zhaodi gasped. She covered her mouth with her hands, and her eyes popped right out of their sockets as she looked at the thing that was inside the crab cage.

She looked at the mess of crab cages in front of her and could not help but half-sob and half-laugh. The traps were not just full, but they were filled with a writhing mess of deep-sea imperial lobsters. These weren’t the common brown ones that were found near the docks. These were a brilliant shade of burnt orange with violent spots, their antennae nearly three feet long.

"There are actually thirty of them!" Tong Zhaodi cried, counting frantically as she looked at the crab cages. "Sister Ruochen, these are banquet kings! I know them very well; my great-grandfather caught one, and we still have its broken antenna on display. If I am not wrong, they can be sold for one hundred and fifty yuan each! My dad was telling it to my brother."

Han Ruochen was quite satisfied with the bounty that she had hunted, but at the same time, she was still not quite satisfied; her eyes glanced at the screen that was in front of her. She saw that there was another stationary point of light that was not moving.

She turned to look at Tong Zhaodi and said to her, "Zhaodi, give me the heavy-duty grappling claw. The one that I bought at the store."

Tong Zhaodi heard the urgency in Han Ruochen’s voice and immediately rushed to get the grappling claw.

Han Ruochen took it from her and then started to guide the claw using the scanner’s position on the screen. On the screen, he saw the claw close around the jagged, irregular shape. As she pulled it out of the sea, the water around the boat started to change. It turned a milky, iridescent sheen as it started to bubble to the surface.

When the claw finally broke through the surface, even Han Ruochen’s eyes could not help but turn wide as she looked at the thing that she was clutching between the claws. She actually caught a giant black lip pearl oyster! It was so big that Han Ruochen could see that it was bigger than a man’s torso. Han Ruochen pulled the oyster along with the countless barnacles that had covered it and placed it on the floor of the motorboat.

"This....this.." Tong Zhaodi fell on her knees as she stared at the thing in front of her.

While Han Ruochen took out a short dagger that she carried with her all the time and wedged it into the hinge of the oyster, she slowly turned the blade of the dagger around so that she would not damage the goods inside it. And as she cocked the thing open, the violet-grey mantle appeared in front of the two of them. But that was not all. Inside the pearl was a conjoined twin king pearl. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The shine of the two perfectly round, silver-blue pearls shimmered under the sunlight. Each one of them was the size of a pigeon egg.