After visiting the shipyard, Claire returned home carrying one bucket of small crabs, and twenty pounds of shrimp. Her grandfather was sanding a crib on the porch. When he looked at what she was carrying, he was stunned.
"Again?" he asked.
Claire nodded.
"Why did you bring back so much? This is all money! We have to save for so many things. Archer mentioned that you want to send your child to private school in the future. This will cost a lot of money. And don’t underestimate diapers." Donovan said all this while looking at the buckets with heartache.
"Grandpa, I made two hundred thousand after one trip today." Claire smiled with confidence. "One trip can cover the private school tuition for a whole year."
She went ahead to prove her words by showing her grandfather the receipts.
Her grandfather stood up suddenly, the sanding block in his hand fell to the ground. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Did you just say 200,000 dollars?"
Wilder rushed out of the house, equally stunned. She reached out and took the receipts from her husband, confirming that it was the amount Claire had said. "Claire, where did you find so many premium crabs? You just took up fishing, how are you really this lucky? How do you know where to find so many good things?’
Claire thought of the good seafood that could be found in the marketplace of Driswen. In that world, these things were like stones on the ground. They could be found everywhere and had little value. But she couldn’t talk about Driswen so she just shrugged. "I found them."
Wilder’s jaw dropped. "What do you mean by ’you found them’?" She finished off with air quotes. "Nobody just finds such things, Claire. If you are going to find them often, you should start selling at different docks to avoid being sabotaged when you are just starting out."
Donovan nodded. "Selling like this once or twice a week is enough. If you do it too many times, a lot of people will start following your boat when you set out."
Claire had already thought of this, and that was why she was not selling premium seafood to just one person. In business, if you spread some sweetness to everyone, it prevented them from turning their knives on you. Instead, they turned their energy into competing among themselves.
Wilder licked her lips. "Too bad you didn’t stumble into some of that wild abalone again."
"Tomorrow." Claire said.
Both elders stared at her like she had grown horns suddenly. It was because of how sure she seemed when she said it. As if she had an appointment with the abalone queen under the sea.
Donovan picked up the sanding block, hoping that his heart would keep calm. In his mind, he thought that Claire was probably the dream of their family’s ancestors. They had fished in the sea for years and she was the only one who could go out and return with premium goods everyday.
"I have made a deposit on a ship," Claire announced. "One million dollars. It will cost me close to three million in total."
Donovan’s sanding block fell down again. "How much?"
"One million." Claire held up a finger.
Paddy barked loudly, either reinforcing her point, or asking why he had not yet been served his afternoon snack after a long day of work.
Wilder put a hand to her head, struggling to breathe for a moment. "You...you child! That is the kind of decision you are supposed to discuss with your family before making. You must have dipped your hand in the baby’s education fund. That is embezzlement, Claire."
Claire rolled her eyes. "I earned that money and I plan to earn it back. Relax grandma, I won’t be sued or fired because I run the show."
She had a big smile, but her grandmother was not smiling.
Claire sighed. "Grandma, if I can make 200,000 today with a small boat, how much can I make with a real fishing ship? Companies with fleets bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars a day. Some make up to 400 million a month. I have done the research. After paying off the ship, I want to buy land on the mountain and start operating a fish farm. Salmon farming is very profitable."
Wilder and Donovan continued to be shocked. Claire’s plans were bigger than they had even imagined! The couple had only engaged in small time fishing all their lives. What would they know about making 400 million a month?
Paddy barked again, biting Wilder’s pant leg.
Wilder patted her chest as she stood, "Okay, okay, message received Paddy, you are starving." She walked back into the house slowly, casting a thoughtful look back at Claire.
Donovan abandoned the crib to sit in a rocking chair. "Suddenly I feel scared. Your ambitions are bigger than the ocean itself."
Claire laughed. "Grandpa, the global fishing industry nets about twelve billion per month. The opportunity is right before me. I would be a fool to give it up." At the end of the day, she was fishing in waters of another world. Earth’s sea food was mostly safe from her.
She planned to take the boat out every once in a while, in the places where other fishermen liked to fish, to keep people from raising questions about her sources. One could never be too careful.
"Grandpa, do you want to go fishing with me after lunch?" Claire asked.
The old man sat up, eyes gleaming. A chance to see his granddaughter pulling some of that premium seafood from the sea with his own eyes! Of course he wanted to go with her. He also planned to take many pictures and share them with his friends. They would be so jealous.
"Yes." He replied boisterously. "Let’s take my boat, it’s bigger than yours."
Claire took the buckets into the kitchen and then went upstairs for a nap. She was wondering whether she would be lucky enough to make another 200,000 today. If she was lucky, maybe she would make more.