The Legend of the Big Clam

  "This kind of stone fish generally likes to live in the warmer seawater of the South China Sea, and it appears here probably because the summer seawater temperature has not retreated yet."

  The fisherman continued to explain the living environment of the stone fish, but everyone had lost interest in listening. They were all thinking about the terrifying power of that big fish, which could actually drag such a large fishing boat for more than 20 nautical miles. How frightening! Too frightening!

  On the return trip, Yu Qingying still held Tang Zhendong's arm, as if she would disappear if she let go.

  "How can you be so reckless and not know how dangerous this fish is?"

  "You said big fish, I'll catch a big one for you to take a closer look." Tang Zhendong sincerely said to Qingying.

  "Promise me, don't do such a dangerous thing again."

  "Oh, okay." In his heart, Tang Zhen Dong was actually thinking that he wouldn't catch such big fish again, but he must make time to retrieve that huge black pearl. Getting the black pearl shouldn't be so dangerous, right?

  As the two were in a romantic moment, the dock of Qīngtóng Island was already in sight. The fisherman who had just explained the stone bass to everyone came over and said, "Excuse me for disturbing you, but may I ask, what do you plan to do with this stone bass you caught?"

  At the sight of Qingying seeing someone coming, he let go of Tang Zhendong's hand and said, "What's wrong, big brother? Got any ideas?"

  "I was thinking, can you sell this fish to me?"

  "Oh, what price is big brother planning to put on it?"

  "One, twenty thousand, do you think that's okay?" The fisherman seemed a bit hesitant to say it, and reported a high price that even Tang Zhendong didn't expect. Tang Zhendong originally thought the fish was about 400 catties, at 20 yuan per catty, it would be no more than 8,000 yuan, and since they were buying all of it, he could give them at most 3,500 to 5,000 yuan.

  He didn't expect the fisherman to give such a high price all at once. Tang Zhendong looked into the fisherman's eyes, his eyes were sincere, and the inner corners of his cheeks were bright, with a dark luster, Tang Zhendong instantly determined that this was not a person who was good at telling lies.

  "This fish, I think it's worth more than this price?" Tang Zhendong said after some thought.

  "It's indeed not just this price, but I'm afraid it won't sell well, so I don't dare give you too much."

  Tang Zhendong turned to Qingying and said, "Qingying, you decide. This fish was caught for you, whatever you say goes."

  "I just wanted to see the fish, didn't say you had to catch it for me to look at. You decide, I don't care." Yu Qingying kicked the ball back to Tang Zhendong again.

  "Alright, you sell the fish and after selling it, I'll give you 10,000 yuan as a reward for your trouble. How about that?" The other person had come out with his boat to rescue him, although he didn't have to, Tang Zhendong wouldn't have drowned anyway, but still, the other person's attitude was there, and he had worked hard, so Tang Zhendong was still grateful in his heart.

  "This can be done, but I really have no idea how much it can sell for. The stone fish from Jimo last year sold for 600,000 yuan, and this one is slightly smaller than that one, so I don't dare to say. If someone genuinely wants it, then probably 400,000 to 500,000 yuan would be no problem, but if it's hard to find a buyer, then maybe it can only sell for 100,000 to 200,000 yuan."

  Tang Zhendong waved his hand, "Alright, you watch out, if it sells for 10,000, I'll leave them all to you. If it sells for 20,000, you can keep 10,000, that's the deal! Qingying, do you think this is alright?"

  "Whatever you say, I don't care."

  "Alright then, it's settled."

  That afternoon, the fisherman took the fish to Haicheng and contacted a buyer. Tang Zhendong's clothes were left on the coast, Yu Qingying picked them up and held onto them.

  Colleagues from the newspaper, upon hearing that Yu Qingying's friend had been found, also came to pay their respects, and it wasn't until around 6 or 7 in the evening that the owner of the house where Tang Zhendong lived finally started dinner.

  Fishermen usually eat dinner late, besides it's now the end of summer, after 6 o'clock, the sky just turned dark. Tang Zhen Dong originally wanted to find some tools, at night go to the reef below, crack open that big clam, steal that huge black pearl.

  But the friends of Qingying were very enthusiastic, especially when they heard that someone had caught a big fish of over 400 catties, and they all wanted to come and have a look. However, none of them got to see the fish as the fisherman had already taken it to the market to find a buyer.

  No one saw the actual object, so everyone could only ask Tang Zhendong, and Tang Zhendong could only briefly describe his own fishing scene. However, when he described the size of the big fish, everyone expressed their doubts at the same time. But this is an unproven matter, and there's no evidence to back it up, so everyone can only continue to express their suspicions about each other.

  At dinner, even the owner who had been fishing for a lifetime asked about the scene of Tang Zhendong catching that big fish. When he heard that Tang Zhendong was dragged by the big fish and turned around the island, the owner was amazed and couldn't close his mouth.

  The fishermen and Yu Qingying's colleagues were different, they had all seen the ocean, there were too many strange things in the ocean, and the risks were too great. Many things in the ocean that humans had never seen before, so when Tang Zhendong mentioned the size of the stone bass, the host family did not suspect anything, but the host family was curious how such a large fish could appear in the near sea of Qingtou Island, and this stone bass, which generally likes to grow in the south, would actually appear in Bohai Bay?

  This topic started very well, and with this topic, the host's mouth also began to open, telling many strange things he encountered at sea, as well as some interesting fishing stories.

  The dishes were sumptuous, the wine was also good, and with this slightly mysterious topic, everyone opened up to drink. When Tang Zhendong drank with the host, he also quietly asked the host if there were any pearls in the nearby sea? How are pearls taken out?

  "I'm telling you, young man, the pearls being sold now are all cultivated, but the truly top-quality pearls are from the sea, some of which have been living in the sea for hundreds or thousands of years. The big ones are as large as eggs, but those must be from depths of over a thousand meters, where humans can't even dive."

  "What kind of clam would have to be that big to nurture a pearl of that size?" Xu Zhi-jun, although he was a first-rate editor at the newspaper and had seen his fair share of things, but a pearl as big as an egg, this was the first time he'd ever heard of it.

  "Who knows? I haven't seen it either, but since the pearls are already several hundred to thousands of years old, wouldn't the clam's age be even greater? I feel that maybe it's even older than this house."

  Tang Zhendong thought of the big clam he had seen, although it wasn't as big as this ten-square-meter room, but it was almost half the size of a house.

  "With a clam as big as this, isn't it going to become a spirit?"

  "Who knows, it's also possible for it to become a spirit, after all these years."

  "That clam is so big, even if there's a pearl as large as an egg inside, it can't be taken out. It would suck a person in with one gulp."

  "You're right, clams of this size have an amazing suction power. Even slightly smaller fish shouldn't dare to get close easily."