"Brother Hai..."
Sitting by the bed, Zhao Rou gently massaged Li Guohai, easing his aching body.
"I saw the news about that giant lobster Yangyang caught yesterday on a short-video app."
As she massaged him, Zhao Rou said with a smile, "Your son is much more capable than you. You've never caught a lobster that big."
Li Guohai smiled as she spoke. "Yangyang just got lucky. If I were there, I could have caught that giant lobster too."
Hearing this, Zhao Rou said, exasperated, "You're a grown man. Stop competing with your own son."
BZZZ...
As they were talking, Zhao Rou's phone suddenly started buzzing.
She glanced at it and said with a smile, "It's a call from Yangyang."
She answered, and Li Yang's face immediately appeared on the screen. It was a video call.
"Dad, Mom," Li Yang said quickly after connecting. "Let me show you something I found in the sea."
He held up the conch shell in his hand.
He was sure his father would recognize this particular conch.
Zhao Rou looked at the conch and couldn't help but say, "Yangyang, that shell is so ugly. Where did you find it? Throw it away."
Her face was full of disgust. Li Guohai, on the other hand, stared with wide eyes and asked in astonishment, "Yangyang, is that a Dragon Palace Pleurotomaria?"
He was very interested in the ocean and knew its treasures like the back of his hand.
"Wow, Dad, you're amazing. You recognized it at a glance."
Li Yang said with a smile, "I found it on the beach today!"
Of course, he couldn't tell them he'd actually found it on the seabed.
"You found it, Yangyang?" Hearing this, Li Guohai's face lit up with delighted surprise.
"That Dragon Palace Pleurotomaria must be over twenty centimeters in diameter, right?"
Both father and son were beaming, while Zhao Rou looked confused.
"Yangyang, what exactly is this conch? Is it famous?"
She had seen many seashells at the beach, including plenty of beautiful ones. To her, the Dragon Palace Pleurotomaria before her was just plain ugly.
Li Yang didn't say anything, letting Li Guohai explain with a smile. "A Dragon Palace Pleurotomaria... There are probably only three hundred of them in the entire world. In our country, one that's twenty-two centimeters in diameter is estimated to be worth around six million..."
He explained it all to Zhao Rou.
'Dad loves showing off his knowledge to Mom,' Li Yang thought. 'I can't take this moment away from him.'
After he finished, Li Yang added, "Yeah, Mom. I saw something about it on my phone a few days ago, and then I was lucky enough to stumble upon it at the beach today."
"Six million."
Zhao Rou was stunned. That ugly conch in her son's hand was actually worth so much money.
After a moment of shock, her face filled with delight.
In truth, that amount of money wasn't a huge deal to her; she had seen much larger sums before and wasn't the type to get giddy over cash. But right now, the family desperately needed money.
Just a short while ago, she had been consumed with worry about their finances.
"Dad, Mom, this conch isn't of any use to us, so I'm planning to sell it. Do you know a good way to do that?" Li Yang asked.
Li Guohai and Zhao Rou were people who had weathered great storms. After the initial shock and excitement, they quickly calmed down. Hearing their son's question, Li Guohai thought for a moment and said, "Yangyang, your Uncle Qin's family is in the auction business. I'll give him a call. You can go straight to him and have him auction off this Dragon Palace Pleurotomaria."
A competitive auction would fetch the highest price.
"Okay, Dad," Li Yang nodded.
The Uncle Qin that Li Guohai mentioned was named Qin Shanchuan. He was Li Guohai's college roommate, and the two were very close.
When Li Guohai was hospitalized, Qin Shanchuan had come to visit him several times, and Li Yang had been there on one of those occasions.
He had heard his parents mention that this Qin Shanchuan also had a daughter named Qin Yue.
Back then, Li Guohai and Qin Shanchuan had gotten married in the same year. At the time, they had made a pact, like a joke from a wuxia novel: if they both had sons, the boys would become sworn brothers; if they both had daughters, they would become sworn sisters; and if one had a son and the other a daughter, they would be wed.
Of course, this was all clearly said in jest.
But the fact that they could even joke like that showed just how good their relationship was.
After hanging up the video call, Li Guohai marveled, "Yangyang's luck is something else..."
Zhao Rou said with a smile, "Brother Hai, you were just trying to compete with our son. Can you still compare?"
She was overjoyed. A moment ago, she'd been worried about money, and now her son had brought them such a wonderful surprise.
"So what if I can't compare to my own son?" Li Guohai said, also smiling. "Let me give Shanchuan a call first..."
...
Meanwhile, after carefully packing away the Dragon Palace Pleurotomaria, Li Yang immediately hailed a cab to Xuan City.
One of the ten largest auction houses in Hua Country was located in Xuan City.
It took him six hours, but Li Yang finally reached his destination. There were already people waiting for him there.
In front of a residential complex, three people were waiting: a middle-aged man and woman, and a young girl.
The girl was very beautiful, and passersby on the street kept glancing in their direction. A pretty girl easily attracts attention wherever she goes.
These three were, of course, Qin Shanchuan's family, waiting for Li Yang.
"Yueyue, Li Yang is a month older than you. When you see him, you should call him Brother Li Yang," Qin Shanchuan instructed.
"Let me tell you, Li Yang is a fine, handsome young man—very polite and well-mannered. I took you to his house when you were little. You two even used to play together."
Qin Shanchuan clearly admired Li Yang, showering him with praise.
As for Qin Yue, she had a look of clear impatience on her face. "I know," she said.
She vaguely remembered meeting Li Yang as a child, but the memory was so fuzzy she could barely recall it, so she felt no connection to him whatsoever.
Right now, Qin Yue was very annoyed. Her father was obviously trying to set her up with Li Yang, even bringing up that old joke he'd made with Li Yang's father.
'God, what century are we in?' she thought. 'Is my dad some kind of fossil?'
So, she was genuinely irritated. She hadn't even met Li Yang yet, and she was already completely against the idea of him.
Of course, she knew her father was only gently pushing them together, not forcing anything.
But she was a firm believer in freedom. As far as she was concerned, matters of the heart were for her to decide alone; no one else had any right to interfere.
Seeing the look on his daughter's face, Qin Shanchuan felt helpless. He was about to say more when his phone suddenly rang.
He glanced at the screen—it was Li Yang. Qin Shanchuan quickly answered.
"Xiaoyang, we're right at the south gate. You'll see us when you get here..."
He was still on the phone when a taxi pulled up and stopped in front of them.
The car door opened, and Li Yang stepped out.
Qin Yue sized up Li Yang. He was just as her father had described—tall and handsome, but that was all. 'There are plenty of tall, handsome guys out there, and it's not like I only care about looks,' she thought, feeling no emotional stirrings whatsoever.