Chapter 227: Night-Luminescent Pearls

After returning to the courtyard, Zhou Yimin had just stepped through the gate when someone called out to him.

Turning his head, he saw that it was Widow Ma. Judging from her expression, she had clearly been waiting for him. He asked, “Aunt Ma, is something the matter?”

He was a little curious. It couldn’t be about food—they had just exchanged for five hundred catties of corn kernels, and it was impossible to have finished it all so soon. But aside from food, there shouldn’t be anything else that would lead her to seek him out.

Widow Ma said, “My younger brother, Daniu, brought over our family heirloom. He was hoping you could take a look and see if it could be exchanged for some grain.”

She looked a bit embarrassed. After all, he had just helped their family trade for a large amount of food, and now they were here again asking for more help.

Zhou Yimin didn’t mind and said, “Sure, have Daniu bring the item to my house.”

His own home was a better environment, and more secure too. Otherwise, if someone saw it, it wouldn’t be good—especially with the current crackdown on profiteering.

In truth, he wasn’t knowledgeable in appraisals. But if it looked like a valuable antique, he’d take it. He could help someone out while adding to his collection—why not?

Of course, all of it was under the premise of keeping himself safe.

“Alright, I’ll have Daniu bring it to you right away,” said Widow Ma happily.

She turned and went back, bringing her younger brother along to Zhou Yimin’s home.

After Zhou Yimin returned home, he didn’t shut the door. Instead, he opened it wide and brewed some honey water while waiting for Daniu and Widow Ma to arrive.

In less than three minutes, Widow Ma arrived with Daniu in tow.

Zhou Yimin said, “Aunt Ma, no need to rush. Sit down and have some water first.”

When Daniu entered, he noticed how Zhou Yimin’s home was entirely different from his sister’s—far more elegant. He took the cup of water offered to him and drank it, realizing it was sweet. It had honey in it. He began gulping it down.

He thought to himself, City folks really are different. Back in our village, most people can’t even fill their stomachs. Even if they had honey water, they wouldn’t serve it to others. Why not save something this good for yourself?

Widow Ma was speechless seeing her tactless brother. She promptly smacked the back of his head and said, “Still thinking about the water? Get the thing out.”

“But it’s really good. I haven’t had honey water in ages,” Daniu said, aggrieved.

Still, he obediently lifted his shirt to reveal a wooden box tucked into his waistband, secured by his belt. He untied it and took the box out.

Widow Ma apologized, “Yimin, it was just for safety reasons that we had to carry it this way.”

She then took the wooden box, wiped it clean with Daniu’s clothes, and only after making sure it wasn’t dirty did she hand it to Zhou Yimin.

When Zhou Yimin received it, he noticed the box appeared to be made of rosewood, which piqued his curiosity about what could be so precious as to be stored in such a material.

Rosewood, known as a dense and heavy wood from the legume family, was considered the highest grade among redwoods.

Even Zhou Yimin knew that this deep purplish-black hardwood was ideal for making furniture and carving art. Rosewood items, once waxed and polished, required no varnish and naturally exhibited a satin-like luster.

It was said that rosewood was a tropical tree that took centuries to mature. A single rosewood tree needed hundreds of years before it could be harvested. Moreover, nine out of ten rosewood trees were hollow inside; only the tiny portion of solid wood between the cavity and the bark was usable.

Thus, there had always been the saying, an inch of rosewood is worth an inch of gold. Westerners hadn’t seen large pieces of rosewood in the past, so they assumed the wood didn’t come in large sizes and could only be used to craft small objects.

Zhou Yimin opened the box and found two pearls inside. He said, “These might be night-luminescent pearls.”

To verify, he went and turned off the lights in his home. As expected, the two pearls in the wooden box emitted a green glow.

Seeing this confirmed his suspicion.

Daniu and Widow Ma weren’t surprised—they had seen the pearls before and knew what they were.

They had heard that such treasures were once worth a great deal. But nowadays, it was hard to say. Many antiques couldn’t fetch good prices even at relic shops.

So they were feeling somewhat uncertain.

Zhou Yimin knew that night-luminescent pearls were a rare type of gemstone. In ancient times, they were referred to as sui zhu (compliant pearl), xuan zhu (suspended pearl), chui ji (drooping thorn), and ming yue zhu (bright moon pearl). Typically, modern references to night-luminescent pearls meant phosphorescent stones or luminous stones.

These stones were formed over tens of millions of years from luminous elements embedded in the Earth’s crust. Originally spewed from volcanic magma, later shaped through geological movement, they became embedded in ore. Once extracted and processed, the resulting gems were what people called night-luminescent pearls.

Widow Ma asked, “Yimin, how much grain can we get for these two pearls?”

For most antiques, people had no idea what their exact worth was. It all depended on how much a buyer was willing to offer.

Looking at the two night-luminescent pearls, Zhou Yimin could see they were of excellent quality. In the past, they would have been priceless.

But in the present, it was hard to gauge their value.

Even in later times, night-luminescent pearls weren’t particularly mysterious or valuable. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Three hundred catties of grain, plus ten catties of brown sugar. Would that work for you?”

Daniu was slightly shocked when he heard that. Three hundred catties of grain, plus ten catties of brown sugar—that added up to quite a lot.

Seeing her brother frozen, Widow Ma grew anxious and elbowed him quickly.

Only then did Daniu come to his senses. He hurriedly replied, “Of course! Thank you so much!”

Zhou Yimin saw their quick agreement and nodded casually. To him, three hundred catties of grain was only worth a few dozen yuan. Getting such well-preserved night-luminescent pearls in return was definitely a great deal.

He said, “Come by tomorrow evening to pick up the grain. Daniu, what kind of grain do you want—corn or sweet potatoes?”

Daniu thought for a bit and said, “Corn would be better.”

Corn kernels were small and easier to portion out for meals. If they chose sweet potatoes, some of the larger ones could weigh a pound or more, and three hundred catties wouldn’t last long.

Zhou Yimin smiled. “Alright then, I’ll get everything ready tomorrow evening and come get you. Take this ten catties of brown sugar now.”

As he spoke, he took ten catties of brown sugar from the cupboard and handed them to Daniu.

Widow Ma also realized it was getting late, so she said, “Yimin, it’s getting late and we shouldn’t disturb your rest. We’ll head back now.”

With that, she left with Daniu, carrying the brown sugar along.

Zhou Yimin spent some time admiring the two night-luminescent pearls. The more he looked at them, the more he liked them. But for safety’s sake, he stored them away in his spatial storage. If someone saw them and reported him, that would be trouble. Even though he wasn’t afraid, avoiding unnecessary issues was always better.

(End of chapter)