Chapter 217: Ambergris Price

Yun Jiao’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Mr. Mu.

"How much can I sell this for?"

Mr. Mu held the ambergris, hefting it in his arms. "I’d estimate this piece is about fifty-five pounds. With quality this good, even calculating at a price of three to five hundred per gram, you’re looking at at least seven million dollars."

Hearing this number, Yun Chenbei gasped.

It was an astronomical figure!

Yun Jiao wasn’t great at math and was still trying to count on her fingers.

But she just got dizzy before she could figure it out.

Whatever. In short, it was a lot! A whole lot!

"That... That’s so much."

Yun Chenbei’s eyes glazed over as he stared at the ambergris.

Mr. Mu patted the block of ambergris. "I’m just estimating based on current prices. But it won’t be easy to find a buyer for this."

That made sense. With that much money, who could possibly afford it?

"However,"

Mr. Mu said slowly with his hands behind his back, "this old man happens to know someone who would probably buy it."

Yun Jiao and Yun Chenbei looked at him at the same time, their eyes filled with a hint of disbelief.

’You actually know someone that rich?’

Mr. Mu read their expressions and stomped his foot in exasperation.

"What? Just because this old man lives here, you really think I’m just some ordinary old carpenter?"

Yun Jiao blinked. "Aren’t you?"

Mr. Mu huffed loudly. "Being a carpenter is just a hobby, a side gig for this old man. I’m a famous master carver in the field. Plus, the number of people who still know Mechanical Techniques can be counted on one hand, and I’m one of them."

A glint appeared in Yun Chenbei’s eyes.

Given their master-apprentice relationship, he knew a bit more than she did.

But Yun Jiao didn’t know any of this, so she just looked confused.

Mr. Mu shook his head. "Silly girl. Such a silly little girl."

Yun Jiao was speechless.

’I don’t like being called that! I’m very smart, you know! How am I a silly little girl?!’

"Why is this old man even telling you all this... All you need to know is that I can connect you with someone who can buy this ambergris. But it’s up to you whether you want to sell. Based on the country’s current development, the price of ambergris is only going to get higher in the future."

Yun Jiao didn’t hesitate for a second. "Sell it!"

’It’s just Sperm Whale excretion. What would I keep it for?’

She much preferred pearls and gemstones.

Once she sold this thing, Yun Jiao wanted to buy pretty things.

Besides, she also wanted to buy a house for her mom and dad—a big house.

"Are the houses in the Capital the best?"

Mr. Mu nodded. "Naturally. Ah, the Capital... That’s a place many people dream of. If you’re thinking of buying a house, you’d best buy a courtyard home. Those residences are steeped in historical charm. They were where the nobility used to live, and every detail is exquisite—the timber, the tiles, the pavilions, the rockeries, and the gardens."

Yun Jiao asked, "If it’s so great, then why don’t you go to the Capital, Grandpa Mu?"

Mr. Mu seemed to drift off into a memory, a hint of sorrow in his eyes.

"That place... holds some bad memories for me."

He patted Yun Jiao’s head, changing the subject. "So, you’ve really made up your mind?"

Yun Jiao nodded. "I’ll have to trouble you then, Grandpa Mu. I’ll ask Grandma to make you something delicious."

Mr. Mu laughed again. "Alright, alright. This old man will be looking forward to it."

She set the ambergris aside. Since it was going to be sold, it wouldn’t take up space on the curio shelf.

Seeing how casually she handled it, Yun Chenbei, who was standing to the side, winced. Losing even a single gram would mean a loss of several hundred dollars!

He silently left the room to get a better box to store it in!

Meanwhile, Yun Jiao went back to organizing her treasures.

Mr. Mu had thought that stumbling upon such a large piece of ambergris was surprising enough for one day.

He didn’t expect Yun Jiao to then pull out two Black Pearls, the kind that shimmered with a peacock green luster.

Their value certainly couldn’t compare to the ambergris, but they were still very rare.

There was also a pearl shaped like a fishtail.

Yun Jiao placed all these pearls into a polished abalone shell.

Then she set it on the curio shelf.

Next were three gemstones. One of them was a particularly beautiful color, and a single glance was enough to tell its quality was high.

Mr. Mu hadn’t studied gems or pearls, so he couldn’t identify what kind of gemstone it was.

However, if he remembered correctly, wasn’t this family famously poor in the village just a year ago?

How much time had passed since then?

Never mind the fact that they’d built a new house, but for a little girl to pull out so many valuable treasures... Was this even logical?!

Thankfully, the things Yun Jiao took out next were just ordinary stones, though their colors were quite pretty.

"All done!"

Yun Jiao clapped her hands after arranging everything, a satisfied look on her face.

Of course, there were some things she wasn’t happy with.

For instance, the containers she used for her pretty stones and pearls weren’t very pretty themselves.

Yun Jiao thought about the Conch she had thrown back into the sea before.

Of course, she didn’t want to catch a living Conch; she just wanted a Conch Shell.

’You can’t catch the living ones, but I should be able to bring back a shell from one that’s already dead, right?’

’I wonder if Conches have pearls inside. For a clam that big, if it had a pearl, it should be pretty big, too, right?’

Yun Chenbei walked in carrying a wooden chest, having lined the bottom with a blanket.

Then he carefully placed the ambergris inside.

"Jiaojiao, put it away safely."

Yun Jiao just said "Oh," and added, "Fourth Brother, you should put it in your room."

Ever since she found out the thing was excretion from a Sperm Whale, she didn’t want to share a room with it, no matter how valuable it was.

’No matter how expensive this stuff is, could it be more expensive than a Jue Pearl?’

’It’s just that things like Jue Pearls don’t exist anymore.’

Yun Chenbei thought, ’If I keep this in my room, I’ll probably have to check on it several times a day just to feel at ease.’

That afternoon, Mr. Mu had a meal at the Yun family’s home.

Yun Xiaowu and the others were still at school, so it was just a few of the elders at home. Yun Jiao casually brought up the ambergris.

"Grandpa Mu said it could sell for over seven million!"

CLATTER...

Something fell to the floor.

Yun Jiao looked over in confusion, only to find that everyone at the dinner table, except for Grandpa Mu and her Fourth Brother, was frozen stiff. Her dad had even dropped his chopsticks on the floor.

"What? Jiaojiao, what did you just say?!"

’Did we mishear her?’

’We must have misheard. It was seven hundred, not seven million, right?’

Yun Jiao finished chewing the food in her mouth, then repeated herself seriously and clearly.

"Seven. Million. Dollars!"

CLATTER...

Great. This time, more than half of the people holding chopsticks dropped them.

They stared blankly, their eyes fixed on Yun Jiao.

"Seven million, seven million..."

Muttering "seven million" over and over, Yun Linhai suddenly remembered how casually he had tossed that block of ambergris earlier and let out a strangled cry.

"I... I just tossed it aside like that! Did I chip it or dent it?!"

Seven million! He would die from heartache if it was even slightly damaged.

His shout snapped the others back to their senses.

Mr. Yun took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart, which was pounding so hard he felt it was about to leap out of his chest.