Chapter 41

After carefully observing the cave, Ye Yuan discovered several pieces of "stone" in the corner that had turned to ash. These resembled the black stone in his hand, except that the black one was glossy while the gray ones were more dull, as if some kind of energy had been drained from them.

He tried touching the gray stones with his hand, but the system had no reaction. Putting the gray stones in the spatial bag also had no effect. It seemed his guess was correct; these stones were likely the result of the sea snake absorbing the energy inside them.

In the end, Ye Yuan took one gray stone and two black stones, put them in the net bag, and swam out of the cave. After searching the area for a while and finding nothing else, he returned directly to the ship.

......

Ye Yuan had been back on Fishing Bay Island for a few days.

Li Hui's sudden appearance surprised Ye Yuan a bit.

"How did you come back so quickly? Didn't I ask you to take care of Uncle in Shangjing?"

"My mom is taking care of him. My dad had another check-up these past few days, and they completely ruled out cancer. The doctor said that my dad is just a bit malnourished and can be discharged after resting for 3 to 5 days."

Li Hui spoke with a radiant demeanor, his previous fatigue gone.

"The things you asked me to do are done. Take a look."

Li Hui took out a wooden box from his backpack. The box was made of sandalwood, with the scenery of Fishing Bay Island carved on the front. In the top left corner, in running script, it read "Fishing Bay Seafood," and in the bottom right corner was a number.

This was what Ye Yuan had asked Li Hui to do before leaving Shangjing.

Ye Yuan liked the packaging at first sight and immediately decided to have Li Hui customize it.

Li Hui shook his head with a bitter smile. "Mass customization isn't possible because sandalwood is very scarce. I used some connections and can probably customize about 30 of these packages, each costing 30,000 yuan."

Ye Yuan nodded in understanding.

Sandalwood, also known as Green Dragon Wood, is hard, fragrant, and colorful. It is said to be immune to all poisons, eternal, and can ward off evil, hence it is also called Holy Sandalwood.

It mainly grows in tropical regions and is very resistant to decay. It is mainly used for carving, crafts, sports equipment, and musical instruments.

Sandalwood is subdivided into several types: purple sandalwood, red sandalwood, green sandalwood, black sandalwood, etc.

Purple Sandalwood: Also known as small-leaf purple sandalwood, it mainly grows in YD. Small-leaf purple sandalwood has a high density and small pores, is very stable, and does not easily deform or crack.

It is hard, has a fine texture, grows very slowly, with one growth ring every five years, and takes over 800 years to mature. It is one of the hardest woods and one of the most precious woods in the world, and one of the three royal woods used by ancient emperors.

Red Sandalwood: Mainly distributed in tropical America and Africa. Red sandalwood has a fine structure, a pleasant color, beautiful patterns, a lustrous appearance, and a faint fragrance. Many of its characteristics are similar to those of rosewood. It is hard, wear-resistant, and resistant to decay and termites, making it very suitable for furniture, flooring, and carving.

Green Sandalwood: Generally refers to "guaiac wood." This wood has a fine and neat texture, with a heartwood that is dark greenish-brown or black and a slight luster. It has only recently entered China and is not used in traditional classical furniture. It is generally used for prayer beads, Buddha statues, and stationery.

Black Sandalwood: Also known as ebony, it is very strong and hard, grows very slowly, and is highly resistant to decay. The heartwood of ebony is jet black or dark brown, with a fine structure and indistinct growth rings.

The packaging Li Hui gave to Ye Yuan was made of red sandalwood. Although it wasn't the most expensive type of sandalwood, it was still quite expensive.

Ye Yuan directly transferred 1 million yuan to Li Hui and asked him to purchase a batch of packaging.

Li Hui didn't rest and immediately went to handle the matter. With Li Hui's help, Ye Yuan felt much more relaxed.

At this moment, Ye Yuan's phone rang, and his brother-in-law's anxious voice came through. "Xiao Yuan, come quickly to Pinghai Hospital. Your dad was beaten by someone."

Ye Yuan's mind went blank. His father was not young, and being beaten and hospitalized was no small matter. "How is he?"

"He is being treated right now. Come quickly." He hung up the phone.

Ye Yuan ran to the dock and jumped onto the "Water Control." Several crew members were cleaning the deck. Ye Yuan called over Ding Yi and told him to head to Pinghai County as fast as possible.

Standing on the deck, looking at the sea, his hands clenched, and a coldness appeared in his eyes.

"Better let my dad be fine, or I'll make the person who did this wish they were dead."

Soon, Ye Yuan arrived at the hospital. In the ward, his father's head was wrapped in thick bandages, and he was already asleep on the bed.

His sister was taking care of him, and his brother-in-law was holding Niu Niu on the side. Niu Niu's face was swollen, and her eyes were red, clearly having just cried.

Seeing that his father was temporarily out of danger, he pulled his brother-in-law out of the ward.

"What did the doctor say?"

"Nothing serious, just a mild concussion. At first, there was a lot of blood on his head, so everyone was very scared."

"Tell me what happened," Ye Yuan's tone was cold.

"Ah~ It was just a small matter, but it ended up like this..." His brother-in-law recounted the incident.

The incident started with Niu Niu. Recently, everyone in the family was busy, so his sister and brother-in-law sent Niu Niu to kindergarten.

Today, his father happened to be in the county, and his sister and brother-in-law couldn't get away, so they asked his father to pick up Niu Niu. When he got there, he saw Niu Niu being bullied by a little boy. His father couldn't stand it and grabbed the little boy, insisting on finding his parents. The little boy was scared and started crying.

At that moment, the little boy's father came to pick up his child. Seeing his child being held by an old man and crying, he didn't ask for any reason and immediately hit Ye Yuan's father, kicking him in the head several times after knocking him down.

The kindergarten immediately called the police and notified his sister and brother-in-law.

When his brother-in-law arrived, the police were already on the scene, and the person who did the beating had already left. His father was taken to the hospital.

His brother-in-law recounted everything he knew.

"What did the police say? The person who did this just walked away?" Ye Yuan's voice was already very cold.

"What else could they say? The other party claimed that your father was trying to kidnap a child, and it was a misunderstanding. They offered to pay all the medical expenses," his brother-in-law said angrily.

Ye Yuan looked at Niu Niu's injuries. "What about Niu Niu? This doesn't look like something a child would do."

Ye Yuan's question made Niu Niu cry out loud. She cried and said in a pitiful voice, "He hit Grandpa, so Niu Niu bit him, and he slapped Niu Niu. It hurt so much~ Uncle~ Uncle~ Niu Niu doesn't want to go to kindergarten~ Uncle, take Niu Niu back to the island. Niu Niu will be good~ Niu Niu won't cause any trouble for Uncle."

Ye Yuan, feeling heartache, took Niu Niu from his brother-in-law's arms, stroked her face, and looked at her swollen face. Thinking of his father's bandaged head in the ward, a flame of anger burned in his heart.

PS: Thank you, 08a, for the tip. Thank you all for your support. Today is the last day of the app's popularity recommendation. This week's performance wasn't great, but starting tomorrow, it will be the web's popular recommendation. As a new writer, I don't know which recommendation is better, so I thank all my supporters. Thank you.