The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: Strange-Looking Seafood: Red Stingray

Everyone sorted and cleaned the Yellow Croakers. After washing their hands, they each found a spot to rest.

They had saved a lot of money after a month and a half at sea with Han Xiaorui.

They were all fisherwomen who only knew how to do manual labor and didn’t have much schooling.

Aside from recognizing many types of ocean fish, they weren’t very knowledgeable about other things.

They felt Han Xiaorui was very educated and capable.

Despite Han Xiaorui’s young age, everyone admired her greatly.

Sister Tang smiled. ”Captain, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

Just then, Liu Huamei brought over some snacks—crab shell pastries she had woken up early to bake at home.

”Everyone must be tired, right? Have some crab shell pastries!”

”Thank you.” Han Xiaorui took two and started eating one as she looked at Sister Tang. ”Sister Tang, just ask whatever’s on your mind. I won’t hold anything back.”

Everyone ate their snacks while listening to the conversation.

Sister Tang smiled and said, ”Thanks to you, Captain, I’ve saved up a good bit of money recently! I just don’t feel right keeping it at home.”

Liang Xiaoyu blinked. ”Sister Tang, it’s not safe to keep that much money at home! You should hurry and deposit it in the bank!”

Sister Tang nodded. ”I already have. When I said it didn’t feel right, I meant it doesn’t feel right to just let the money sit there. Even with the bank’s interest, I feel like prices are rising faster than the interest rate.”

”I was thinking, maybe I should buy some gold to hold onto? But I don’t know if the price will drop and I’ll lose money.”

”You know me, I’m just an uneducated woman. The few characters I know, I learned in a literacy class back in the day. That’s why I wanted to ask you, Captain, if it’s a reliable idea.”

As soon as they heard this, everyone’s eyes lit up, and they all turned to look at Han Xiaorui.

Their situations were similar to Sister Tang’s.

”That’s right, Captain. Groceries like grain, meat, and eggs are all more expensive than they used to be. Of course, people’s incomes are higher now too.”

”If this keeps up, the money we have will be worth less and less! It would be better if we could trade it for something that holds its value.”

Seeing that everyone shared this concern, Han Xiaorui smiled and nodded. ”Since you all trust me, I’ll tell you what to do: buy property.”

Hearing this, everyone was confused. Sister Tang scratched the tip of her nose.

”But all our families have houses. Even if they’re a little run-down, if we need a new one, we build it. Why would we go out and buy one?”

”Exactly! We wouldn’t even live in it, so it’d be useless! And who would we rent it to?”

Han Xiaorui answered, ”The Reform and Opening-Up is causing rapid development here in Shencheng. In the future, a lot of people will be coming here for work.”

”You’ll be able to rent it out, but the rent isn’t the most critical part. The property itself will appreciate in value. Right now, you can buy a two-story house for just twenty or thirty thousand.”

”In a few years, the value of the house will have gone up a lot, and you’ll have been earning rent the whole time. It’s much better than buying gold. Not only does the value increase more, but it’s also more reliable.”

”After all, if you keep gold at home, you have to worry about thieves. But a house? Who can steal a house?”

Hearing Han Xiaorui’s explanation, Liang Xiaoyu smiled. ”A while ago, my mother-in-law and I went into the city to look. Those two houses Xiao Rui bought have already gone up a lot in value.”

”We also had Lawyer Chen help us with the transfer and bought a two-story house. We’ve rented it out now for twenty yuan a month.”

Chen Yishui blinked. ”Xiao Yu, you and your mother-in-law work fast!”

Liang Xiaoyu nodded. ”We took Xiao Rui’s advice back then, and my mother-in-law always says that investing in property has been the most reliable thing to do since ancient times.”

”Nowadays, the land belongs to the state, and there are limits on how much each person can have, so you can’t buy land. That means buying more houses is definitely the right move!”

Chen Yishui nodded. ”That makes sense! I’ll have to ask around later and see if I can find a house to buy.”

Everyone was quite tempted. ”When we’re not so busy, let’s go look together.”

Han Xiaorui thought for a moment before suggesting, ”When you have free time, it’s a good idea to get out there and look around. You can definitely find a suitable property.”

”But when you’re handling the paperwork, make sure you go through the official title transfer process. If you don’t understand it and are worried about getting swindled, go find Lawyer Chen.”

”It’ll cost a little money, but they’ll handle everything properly and make sure there are no disputes over the title.”

Liang Xiaoyu nodded vigorously. ”Exactly. When we were transferring the title, we heard about someone who tried to save a little money and hassle by not doing the official transfer.”

”It turned out the original owner needed money, so they sold the house to someone else and officially transferred the title to them! The first buyer cried their eyes out, but it was no use.”

Chen Yishui nodded. ”Of course you have to transfer the title when you buy a house. It’s better to spend a bit more money upfront for peace of mind later.”

Everyone deeply agreed.

Liang Xiaoyu added, ”Lawyer Chen runs a real estate agency with a lot of listings. If you’re serious about buying, you can just go there and have them show you properties. You just have to pay the commission fee afterward!”

”How much is the commission?” Chen Yishui asked.

Liang Xiaoyu answered, ”It’s one percent of the property price. We paid over two hundred yuan last time. It’s not a small amount, but they took us directly to see the properties instead of making us run all over town looking on our own.”

”They handled all the follow-up documents and procedures for us, too. All we had to do was go sign the papers for the title transfer, and the house was ours.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Lawyer Chen’s law firm and his real estate agency are both very reliable. Don’t be reluctant to spend a little money, or you might end up getting cheated out of a lot more.”

Chen Yishui nodded. ”That makes sense. Trying to save on the commission only to lose a fortune isn’t worth it.”

”Besides, we’re familiar enough with the countryside, but once we’re in the city, we can’t even tell east from west. If we try to find a place on our own, we might never even hear about a house for sale.”

”When we have some downtime, let’s all plan to go take a look together!”

As the first mate, Chen Yishui earned a one-percent commission, which came out to two or three thousand each time. She had enough money to buy a house.

And so, they all agreed to go together.

Han Xiaorui sensed the net was full again and had Chen Yishui haul it in.

This haul was a mixed one, containing fish, shrimp, and a few strange-looking creatures.

”What is that?” Han Xiaorui asked. Even though she’d studied many types of marine fish, she didn’t always recognize the real thing, even if she’d seen it in a book.

For example, she still had trouble telling apart the eight different types of yellow croaker and knew she had to keep studying.

Han Xiaorui had a hard time identifying the more peculiar and rare species.

Just then, Chen Yishui laughed. ”Xiao Rui, that’s a red stingray. It also has a lot of other names, like pot-lid fish, cattail-cushion fish, and yellow stingray.”

”This is a real prize. They get pretty big, usually over ten pounds. The meat is delicious, the liver is tender and not fishy, and the thick skin is full of collagen. It’s considered a delicacy.”

”You can find them in both saltwater and freshwater. The barb on its tail is venomous, so everyone be extra careful while sorting. Don’t get stung. A sting from one of these can be fatal if you’re not careful.”

”If it’s that good, let’s try it,” Han Xiaorui said. She’d never had it before and wasn’t about to miss the chance to taste something new.