Back on shore, Li Yang found several missed calls on his phone. Some were from his older sister, Li Xue, and others were from his mother.
'Sigh, this is the one downside of being at the bottom of the sea. I can't get any calls at all.'
Feeling helpless, Li Yang called them back.
In the hospital, Li Guohai and Zhao Rou were overjoyed when they learned that the pleurotomariidae shell their son had found had sold for seven million.
This was especially true for Li Guohai. He had constantly worried that after he was gone, his wife and son would face a difficult life. But with seven million, even if they just put it in the bank, they could earn four hundred thousand a year from the six percent annual interest!
That was much more money than they could make from working a regular job.
This was the principle behind "the rich get richer." With enough money, the interest alone surpassed the earnings of countless workers.
"Our son is really something else. In such a short time, he's earned what took me more than half a lifetime to make," Li Guohai remarked with emotion.
Zhao Rou smiled and said, "Of course our son is capable."
They were both very happy. But when they tried to call Li Yang afterward, the call wouldn't go through.
It had been like this before; their son's phone was often unreachable.
It wasn't until now that Li Yang's call finally came in.
"Is that Yangyang?"
Zhao Rou looked at the caller ID and said to Li Guohai with a smile. She quickly answered the call. "Yangyang, where have you been? We kept calling, but you didn't pick up."
After talking for a moment, Zhao Rou suddenly froze. "Yangyang, did you say you want to buy a fishing boat?"
Hearing this, Li Guohai also paused, paying close attention to the conversation between Zhao Rou and their son.
On the other end of the line, Li Yang said, "Mom, I'm really interested in the ocean right now, and I feel like my luck is especially good, so I was thinking of buying a fishing boat to try it out."
Right now, his octopus avatar was continuously exploring the seabed, having already swum to a depth of thirty meters.
That was a place he couldn't reach with his own physical abilities, but for a native marine creature, it was easily accessible!
The octopus avatar had even encountered more than a dozen small yellow croakers!
This made Li Yang very excited. He couldn't wait to buy a fishing boat and head out to sea to fish!
With his octopus avatar acting as a super-radar on the seafloor, he would know the exact location of any school of fish. In that case, how could he possibly worry about not catching any?
So, after the octopus avatar had been created, Li Yang's very first thought was to buy a fishing boat!
With the World Tree, his octopus avatar had no fear of death, so he wasn't worried that his "radar" would suddenly disappear after he bought the boat.
"Yangyang, I'm putting you on speakerphone. Talk to your father," Zhao Rou said after a moment's thought, hearing what her son had to say.
She felt this was a huge matter and didn't dare to agree on her own.
Over the phone, Li Guohai said, "Yangyang, buying a fishing boat is fine. What size are you planning to get?"
Li Guohai was very open-minded and always supported his son's development. As long as it wasn't something bad, he would support him.
The situation with the college entrance exams was a prime example. When Li Yang said he didn't want to continue his studies, Li Guohai had supported his son's decision.
In his view, education wasn't the only path to success. If his son didn't want to study, then he didn't have to.
Seeing that Li Guohai agreed, Li Yang said, "Dad, Mom, I want to buy a big one—the bigger, the better. The fishing ban has just ended, so there are a lot of fish in the sea. My luck is especially good right now, so maybe I'll have a huge haul."
Hearing Li Yang say this, both Li Guohai and Zhao Rou were taken aback.
They had just assumed Li Yang wanted to buy a small boat to play around with, but now it seemed he was serious.
After a moment of thought, Li Guohai asked, "What's your budget?"
Li Yang answered truthfully, "I've decided to invest all the money from selling the pleurotomariidae shell."
Seven million was enough to buy a very large fishing boat.
"A seven million budget?"
Li Guohai and Zhao Rou were stunned by their son's extravagance.
Spending seven million on a fishing boat all at once? Just moments ago, they thought their son was going to spend a few tens of thousands to have some fun.
After a slight pause, Li Guohai asked seriously, "Yangyang, have you thought this through? I've often told you to think carefully before you act, to weigh the pros and cons of everything so you don't end up regretting your decision later."
In his opinion, making a decision and then regretting it was the most foolish thing a person could do.
Li Yang said solemnly, "Dad, Mom, I've already thought it over."
Li Guohai nodded. "Alright. Dad supports you."
He knew his son's personality. Since he had already made up his mind, he must have thought it through. Li Guohai wasn't going to say anything to stand in his way.
Besides, in his view, Li Yang had earned that seven million himself, so it was naturally his choice how to spend it.
Beside him, Zhao Rou clearly looked a little disapproving, but after hearing what Li Guohai said, she didn't object.
"Thanks, Mom and Dad."
Seeing his father agree, Li Yang said with a smile.
He was overjoyed. 'It worked!'
He had passed the 'parent' hurdle. He had always been grateful that his parents were so open-minded. Unlike many other parents, they had never constantly invalidated him as he grew up, which caused many children to lack confidence and be timid in everything they did.
"Okay. If you're going to buy a fishing boat, go find Uncle Jin Yang. Uncle Jin Yang won't rip you off," Li Guohai said with a laugh.
"I know, Dad." Li Yang nodded.
Uncle Jin Yang was an old man, nearly seventy, who worked at the fish market. He and Li Guohai had a very good relationship.
After hanging up, Zhao Rou looked at Li Guohai with some worry. "Brother Hai, are you really okay with Yangyang buying a seven-million-yuan fishing boat?"
Li Guohai smiled. "Xiaorou, Yangyang is all grown up now. Why wouldn't I be?"
He added in admiration, "I think that in deciding to spend seven million on a fishing boat, Yangyang's got far more guts than I do."
If he had to make the same decision, he wasn't sure he would go through with it.
"You just keep praising Yangyang. Is working on a fishing boat easy?" Zhao Rou couldn't help but say. "Life on a fishing boat is very hard, especially in this weather, with the wind and the sun."
Li Guohai laughed. "Don't worry. This is the time for Yangyang to try all sorts of things. If it doesn't work out, he'll naturally give it up."
He said this, but it was clear he was also a little worried himself.
"I'll call Uncle Jin Yang right now." After thinking for a moment, Li Guohai made the call.
...
Having gotten his parents' approval, Li Yang also called Uncle Jin Yang, asking him for help contacting major shipyards. He then started inquiring about the various parameters of different fishing boats, setting his plan in motion.
"Guohai's boy, you've got a lot of nerve. Your old man wanted to buy a fishing boat back in the day, but he never went through with it."
Uncle Jin Yang was an old-fashioned-looking man, his face full of the marks of time. One look at him and you could tell he had spent long years exposed to the sea wind.
"Dad wanted to buy a fishing boat too?" Li Yang was stunned to hear what Uncle Jin Yang said.
But it was true that Li Guohai was very interested in the ocean. Whenever he had free time, he didn't like to go out for fun; he preferred to go to the seashore.
As they chatted, Uncle Jin Yang also led Li Yang around, making introductions.
In the end, Li Yang chose a medium-sized gillnet fishing boat with a total length of 41 meters, a beam of 7.3 meters, a molded depth of 3.6 meters, and a draft of 2.6 meters. It had a gross tonnage of 230 tons, a cruising speed of 13 knots, and was equipped with fish-luring lights, searchlights, and a sonar detector.
The price for this fishing boat was six million, one hundred thousand.