Male Lead's Canon Fodder Wife-Chapter 1244: Freshwater Mussels

Chen Jianmin followed Dong Li’s gaze and spotted a narrow slope on the side. They carefully made their way down, taking slow, cautious steps. As they descended, he noticed something astonishing—the rocks beneath their feet were actually raw jadeite.

When he realized this, he was stunned by Dong Li’s incredible luck.

Judging by the cave’s condition, it was entirely possible that this entire mountain was a massive jadeite mine. If they had lived in the previous era, they could have become rich overnight. But in this era, owning jade wasn’t a blessing—it was a potential death sentence.

No matter how beautiful the jade looked, he didn’t dare take even a single piece out of this place. If someone saw it and reported him, both he and his family would be sent to a labor camp. All those who enter labor camps would never have a good ending.

Ten minutes later, the two of them reached the riverside. Placing his bamboo basket down, Dong Li said, "Jianmin, we are going into the river. The water is a little cold, so don’t force yourself if you feel uncomfortable later."

Chen Jianmin saw his friend take off his clothes until he was in his underwear and said, "Look at your thin body. Compared to me, you might not be as strong."

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Dong Li glanced at his friend’s body and sighed as he said, "I might look thinner than you, but my body is full of muscles. As for you, can’t you see your belly fat flapping when you walk?"

After saying that, he shook his head and looked at his friend with pity before walking into the river.

Watching his back, Chen Jianmin was speechless.

This friend of his was good at everything, but the only bad thing about him was that his mouth was too poisonous. If he didn’t have a generous and magnanimous heart, it would be impossible for them to be friends with his personality.

Shaking his head, he walked to the river and said, "Forget it, I won’t argue with you."

Hearing his helpless tone, Dong Li burst out laughing and replied, "Thank you for not arguing with me."

Chen Jianmin rolled his eyes and asked, "What are we looking for here?"

Pointing at the big mussels at the bottom of the river, Dong Li replied, "We are going to harvest the pearls inside these mussels."

The moment he heard this, Chen Jianmin’s eyes widened with surprise. Even though people no longer wore jewelry made of pearls, they were still valuable medicinal ingredients. Besides that, pearls could also be used to improve women’s beauty. So, there was still a huge market for pearls.

After a moment of surprise, he looked at his friend and asked, "Ah Li, do you know how valuable these pearls are?"

"Of course I know. Otherwise, why would I risk my life walking across the mountains to come to this place?" Dong Li replied casually.

"If you know they are valuable, why did you share this location with me?" Chen Jianmin asked again.

Dong Li looked at him and said, "Jianmin, I know your family’s situation, and I want to help you. I know you have your pride so even if I gave you money, you wouldn’t accept it."

"Since that’s the case, isn’t it better to have you help me and share the money later? I can’t do all the work alone. With you helping me, it will save me a lot of time and energy. This is a win-win solution for both of us."

After a long silence, Chen Jianmin asked, "Ah Li, you trust me that much?"

Hearing his question, Dong Li chuckled and replied, "I trust my father’s judgment."

The moment he heard this, Chen Jianmin understood that Dong Li had shown him this place solely because he was accepted as a disciple by Li Chenmo. The one Dong Li truly trusted was not him but his master.

But even so, he didn’t feel angry or disappointed. By telling him how he truly felt, his friend was showing that he was sincere and valued their friendship.

Between friends, if you still have to be polite and hide your true thoughts, then what’s the difference between your friendship and that of strangers?

Reaching this conclusion, Chen Jianmin smiled and said, "Thank you, Ah Li."

"Alright, stop wasting time and help me pick up the mussels. We still need to harvest the pearls, and this process will take a long time," Dong Li said as he picked up the mussels from the river.

Hearing this, Chen Jianmin quickly helped him. When they had fished out enough mussels, they wiped themselves with the towel Dong Li had brought and put on their clothes and shoes.

Afterward, Dong Li handed him a long, thin bamboo stick with a circular end. He then showed his friend how to open the mussels and extract the pearls using the tool without killing the mussels.

The process of harvesting pearls indeed took a long time, as they needed to be careful—otherwise, the mussels would die. Your next read is at novelbuddy

After harvesting the pearls, they would put the mussels back into the river and let them continue producing pearls. It took a long time for a mussel to produce pearls but they could live up to 130 years.

For mussels of this size, they would need around four to ten years to produce pearls. Despite the long time required, each freshwater mussel could produce up to 50 pearls.

The pearls harvested from the freshwater mussels varied in size, but their luminous, iridescent luster was no worse than that of saltwater oyster pearls.

Dong Li had learned about pearls and how to harvest them from his father. So when he stumbled upon this place, he was excited. He made a lot of preparations before coming to harvest the pearls today.

He thought he could get at most around 40 pearls from each mussel. Unexpectedly, when he finished harvesting one mussel, he noticed that it had produced more than 80 pearls. Each pearl was big and the shape was almost in a perfect round shape.