Chapter 173 The Gift of the Sea
Lu Ju grabbed half a bun and followed Cheng Ling's line of sight.
The sea, the beach, broken shells, leaves, stones, broken wood...
"Sister Ling, what kind of fortune? Why didn't I see anything valuable?"
Cheng Ling picked up the paper towel on the table, wiped her hands and mouth, and stood up.
"You'll know in a moment."
She walked straight to the coast.
The beach here is very primitive, with coarse sand and gravel everywhere.
Cheng Ling quickly walked to the shore of the island, bent down and picked up a large, inconspicuous white stone on the ground.
The stone is about the same size as a basketball, but it is flatter and longer than a basketball.
The surface is bumpy and waxy. Cheng Ling pinched the surface and smelled it.
There is a strong fishy smell.
Lu Ju followed and saw Cheng Ling sniffing a stone, confused.
"Sister Ling, is this the valuable thing you mentioned? Isn't it just an ordinary stone?"
Cheng Ling shook her head: "No, it's not a stone. It's the feces or vomit of a sperm whale."
Lu Ju:...
Cheng Ling saw the confused and disgusted expression on Lu Ju's face, and explained: "This is not dirty."
"It is said that money is dirt, and some dirt is more valuable than gold, such as this piece of sperm whale feces."
"It is also called ambergris. It is a very precious and expensive perfume fixative."
Lu Ju showed a surprised expression: "Hey! Ambergris? I have read many novels and harem TV dramas, and the name of ambergris has been mentioned. It turns out to be the feces of sperm whales... Does it smell good?"
After saying that, he came over to smell it.
Cheng Ling took the ambergris back and said, "It doesn't smell good right now. You just had a full meal, so I won't let you smell it."
Lu Ju asked curiously, "Is this thing really valuable?"
Cheng Ling weighed it with his hand and estimated the weight.
"This piece of ambergris weighs about eight or nine pounds. The lighter the color, the higher the price. This piece is close to snow white. I will calculate it according to the market price. This piece is estimated to be worth 10 million."
Lu Ju was stunned with his eyes wide open:...(っ °Д °;)っ
The photographer who followed: !!!
Bullet screen.
【……】
【No more, even if I have to walk, I will walk to Xiashi! 】
【Let's meet on the beach to pick up ambergris! 】
【Oh my god! 10 million!!! 】
【If this is not called getting rich...】
【The knowledge of getting rich has increased again. 】
Lu Ju couldn't accept it.
It was too shocking.
Cheng Ling exclaimed, "I miscalculated, it's probably not 10 million."
Lu Ju exclaimed.
Her voice was full of regret.
Cheng Ling smiled, "I forgot to calculate its collection value. It can't be calculated simply based on quality. If such a large piece is put up for auction, it will probably sell for 15 million. I remember in 2012, an eight-year-old child in the UK picked up a piece of ambergris weighing 1.2 jin on the beach around Bournemouth and sold it for 40,000 pounds, about 400,000 Chinese yuan. In 2017, a piece of ambergris weighing a little more than 10 jin was sold for 28 million Chinese yuan."
Lu Ju's mood was like a roller coaster.
"Since it is so valuable, why don't we just locate and track a sperm whale and collect its feces, then we can have endless ambergris, right?"
Cheng Ling shook her head and explained very seriously:
"Ordinary sperm whale feces are not valuable. Only when sperm whales swallow mollusks, such as giant squids and octopuses, etc., because mollusks have horny palates and tongue teeth that are not easy to digest, these difficult-to-digest parts will accumulate in the stomach and intestines of sperm whales."
"If there are too many accumulations, it will stimulate the intestines to secrete special waxy substances to wrap up the accumulations."
"One day, sperm whales will vomit or excrete these things into the ocean. They are lighter than seawater and will float on the sea surface without sinking. sink."
"Then comes the important formation process of ambergris - these inclusions float in the ocean for a long time, undergo oxidation, saponification of salt and alkali in seawater, and finally form ambergris."
"The inclusions discharged into the sea are black at first, and the longer they are, the lighter the color becomes."
"The most valuable is the snow-white color, which may have been soaked in seawater for hundreds of years before the impurities in it can be floated out."
"Some criminals, in order to obtain ambergris, kill sperm whales and take out the accumulation from their stomachs and intestines. This is ambergris without any value. It is worthless. And they will also get a pair of silver bracelets - hunting sperm whales is a felony, with a minimum sentence of ten years in prison."
[Ahhhh! Love it! I didn't expect to learn so much knowledge from watching a variety show!]
[I feel that Sister Ling explained it in such detail because she was afraid that someone would watch the show and get greedy and go to hunt sperm whales! Sister Ling told everyone clearly that this is useless! And you can only sing tears behind bars for the rest of your life! ]
[Key point: Do not hunt sperm whales! ]
[Sperm whales are Class I protected animals in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora! We must protect them! ]
Lu Ju looked at the ambergris in Cheng Ling's hand with awe, "Sister Ling, this piece of ambergris may have been floating in the sea for hundreds of years?"
Cheng Ling nodded.
"Perhaps it was those showers last night that brought this piece of ambergris here."
"Even if you put it in front of me, I can't recognize it." Lu Ju sighed, "I feel like this is a gift from God to you."
Cheng Ling looked at the ambergris reflecting the warm light in the morning light, and her eyes became distant.
Is this a gift from the sea to her?