Chapter Seventy-Eight: An Encounter Beneath the Malignant Reef (Part One)

Liu Xiaoqin had never flown before. In the ticketing hall, Zhang Can escorted her to the boarding gate. Looking at Liu Xiaoqin’s frail, pitiable demeanor, Zhang Can truly wished he could accompany her home, but he simply couldn't get away these two days.

After seeing Liu Xiaoqin off and returning that evening, he spent half the night chatting with his younger sister. Early the next morning, he took his sister Zhang Hua to the old Shi Zhai shop. Uncle Su and his nephew had already left, leaving only three clerks behind. Zhu Senlin had arrived early, opened the shop, and waited for them. When Zhang Can and his sister arrived, he hurriedly brought out several sets of keys, handing one to each of them. “Xiao Zhang, little sister, these are the shop keys—one set each. Heh, I suppose from now on, little sister will be coming here every day to open the shop. Your second brother... well, he’s just like me—a lazybones!”

Though a bit nervous, Zhang Hua answered readily to Zhu Senlin’s arrangements, saying, “No problem at all. I’m an early riser, and to be honest, the work in the shop is much easier than what I’m used to. Back home, I’d be working in the fields with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law. I’m used to it—this isn’t real work to me. Don’t worry about it, thank you, Boss Zhu!”

“Hey now, little sister, don’t call me Boss Zhu in the future—call me Brother Zhu. From now on, your second brother and I are equal partners in this shop, so you’re a boss too—no need to stand on ceremony. Besides, this shop—haha—will need your second brother to take the lead. When it comes to making money, it’s all on his shoulders!”

Zhu Senlin chuckled as he spoke to Zhang Hua. Zhang Can smiled as well, signaling his sister to take the keys. “Third sister, just take the keys. I suspect you really will be opening and closing the shop every day from now on. Your Brother Zhu is lazy, and your second brother is just as bad. I won’t take the keys—most of the time I wouldn’t even be able to open the door.”

Zhang Hua nodded. Since her second brother said so, and Zhu Senlin admitted as much, it must be true. It seemed their family really did own half the shop now, so helping her brother look after it was only right. She accepted the keys cheerfully and replied earnestly, “Very well, I’ll call you Brother Zhu from now on. I’ll take good care of the shop for you both!”

Zhu Senlin grinned and added, “Little sister, just keep both sets of keys. Since your second brother doesn’t want his, give them to your sister-in-law when she arrives. With the two of you watching the shop, there won’t be any problem. And…” Turning to Zhang Can, he said, “Brother, let me make it clear—this shop, from now on, I won’t meddle in anything. With your sister and your wife managing the place, and you handling the expertise, I’m just here to split the profits. No objections, right?”

Zhang Can replied, a bit embarrassed, “My dear Brother Zhu, you’re really going to be a hands-off boss? You’re confident, but I’m not so sure!”

In truth, Zhang Can still had some doubts. The shop had belonged to Zhu Senlin, and though he claimed not to want money and split half with Zhang Can, he wasn’t actually losing out. Zhang Can understood the reasoning: as long as he brought Zhang Can on board, the profits Zhang Can could generate would likely be hundreds of times greater than before. If he put himself in Zhu Senlin’s shoes—what could he offer in return for such earnings? Money? Zhang Can’s own wealth was no less than Zhu Senlin’s now, and would surely surpass it in the future. Money was not an issue. The only thing left was the shop itself. Even splitting the shop’s value, it amounted to just three million—something Zhang Can didn’t lack. It was all about sincerity; as long as Zhu Senlin was genuine, Zhang Can would stay. Otherwise, if it were just about money—even Wang Qian could offer far more, not to mention Zhang Can himself, who could make a fortune from lucky finds. Making money was no longer a worry for him.

Zhang Can also told Zhu Senlin that Liu Xiaoqin had gone back to the provincial capital to bring her parents to Jincheng for medical treatment, which might take two or three days. Of course, Zhu Senlin had no objections and waved it off, saying such matters were up to Zhang Can.

Having handed over the keys, Zhu Senlin said nothing more and hurried out, explaining that his youngest was having a parent-teacher meeting at high school—he couldn’t miss it.

Zhang Can smiled, finding Zhu Senlin’s predicament amusing. He’d already heard that Zhu Senlin’s three children were a constant headache for him. Young people nowadays seemed interested in nothing but asking their parents for money.

He stayed in the shop for another two hours, ordered a sumptuous meal for A Qiang, the other clerks, and his sister, gave Zhang Hua some instructions, and left her to handle serving tea, pouring water, and collecting payments in Liu Xiaoqin’s absence. When Liu Xiaoqin returned, she could take over the accounts, as only she was up to the task of bookkeeping.

Zhang Qiang and the other clerks were very kind to Zhang Hua, teaching her how to do everything. She didn’t have to do any heavy lifting or technical work, so it was all quite easy. In fact, there wasn’t much to do in the shop; originally, only A Qiang had been employed, given the small volume of business. Now that Zhang Can was making money so quickly, they’d simply hired two more people.

But Zhang Can still couldn’t get away—he realized they really needed to hire a master appraiser, or else he’d never be able to leave. When he wasn’t there, the shop needed a true expert to hold down the fort, or they wouldn’t be able to do business at all.

After lunch, he stayed in the shop for another three hours. No major deals were made—just three small sales totaling a little over a thousand, yielding only a modest profit, just enough to cover the shop’s expenses.

By three or four in the afternoon, Zhang Can noticed it was getting late, and he really couldn’t stand being indoors any longer. He told Zhang Hua to lock up and go home after closing, since the shop was only a few minutes away, so there was nothing to worry about, and then he left early.

Mostly, he was bored. After driving out, he didn’t know where to go, so he decided to head toward the seaside along Riverside Road. This time, he avoided the amusement park, since it was always crowded—he wanted some peace and quiet. Passing Riverside Road and reaching the shore, he found himself well outside the suburbs. Unlike the amusement park area, the coastline here was rugged and rocky, with very little flat ground—at most a ten-meter stretch. The rest was treacherous, and no sailors or tourists ever came here.

Parking by the roadside, Zhang Can gazed out at the sea. The weather was good and the waves were gentle. He touched the water-repelling pearl in his pocket, and a thought crossed his mind. Looking around, he saw not a soul, not even a passing car, so he wasn’t worried. He slowly made his way down the slope to the water’s edge. The waves were calm, and though the rocks were jagged, he wasn’t afraid. He took the pearl out and put it in his mouth, then stripped down to his shorts, bundled up his clothes, and hid them behind a rock. Then he waded into the water, unhurried, carefully feeling his way. After going four or five meters out, he was fully submerged, and once completely underwater, he was no longer so cautious—now in deeper water, he could swim freely. Thanks to the water-repelling pearl, he felt at ease, moving loosely in the water, his skin absorbing oxygen from the seawater to sustain him.

Diving deeper, he was now about two hundred meters from shore, where the water was likely over a hundred meters deep. With his x-ray vision, he could see the bottom—some places were deep, others slightly shallower, but all were jagged with reefs. No one would ever dive to these depths.

Zhang Can wasn’t worried about oxygen, so he felt no fear. In this stretch of sea, there were rarely any sharks or large predators, though there were plenty of fish. At sixty or seventy meters deep, he tested his body’s ability to withstand the pressure and felt nothing unusual—the pressure at this depth didn’t bother him at all, as if he were on land. By that measure, he could probably go twice as deep.

He dove further but still didn’t feel the crushing pressure of the water. His chest wasn’t tight, and he moved with ease. At the seabed, he watched fish dart through the cracks in the rocks, just two or three meters from him, unafraid unless he got too close.

Seeing that this depth posed no challenge, Zhang Can decided to swim further out. As long as he couldn’t drown, there was nothing to fear. He could go as far as his stamina allowed.

The depth here was about a hundred meters, and further out, it grew even deeper—much deeper than near the amusement park, which was the flattest area.

He’d been underwater for nearly an hour. Because his skin never actually touched the seawater, with a two-centimeter barrier maintained by the pearl, the effect was truly miraculous.

But as wonderful as it was, Zhang Can still felt his x-ray vision was his greatest asset. Without it, how could he have obtained such a rare treasure as the water-repelling pearl? Not to mention his newfound wealth—within just half a month, he’d gone from wanting to end his life to having a fortune of forty or fifty million, a transformation no one could have imagined.

He dove further, testing his limits, descending another hundred meters or so. The deepest ravines here were likely two hundred meters down, but even that posed no difficulty for him. Zhang Can grew curious—just how deep could he go?

After a while at the bottom, he realized he was too far from shore. Staring into the inky darkness ahead, he decided to head back and prepare better for a deeper test next time. He had plenty of time, and this was a good spot—few people ever came, as long as the weather was calm.

But just then, Zhang Can suddenly sensed something amiss. Alert, he turned and saw, two or three meters above him, the shadowy figure of a black-clad diver. On the surface above, there was a small fishing boat.

Since boats and divers were almost unheard of in this area, Zhang Can was startled. He quickly hid behind a rock to observe, his x-ray vision allowing him to see everything clearly.