He continued to wander around, noticing not far away, another green crab was burrowed in the sand, with only its two eyes sticking out.
“Another one that knows how to hide!”
Fortunately, his eyesight was sharp.
He picked it up for a closer look; it was a bit smaller but still weighed over a pound.
It was a male too—not bad! He placed this green crab into his bamboo basket and began to search more carefully, fearing he might miss others buried under the mud.
He moved any stones he encountered, checking to see if there was anything hidden beneath.
However, this area was a tidal flat, which had very little water.
After turning over several stones with no small fish or shrimp stranded, he wasn’t discouraged.
There was still plenty of time since the tide had just receded.
After shifting a few more stones, he finally spotted two large green crabs resting on top of each other by a big rock.
“Wow, a little battle here! You really do exist!”
He grabbed one, but the other was stuck too.
Upon closer inspection of its back, he realized it was indeed a male and a female.
Both being green crabs, Ye Yaodong thought to himself that perhaps the reason for this was the island's solitude.
With no people around and no threats, the crabs could leisurely bask in the sun on the flat after the tide receded, waiting for the next tide to return to the sea.
Excited, he stowed both crabs away, only to see not far ahead a small, flat area of tidal flat sprinkled with many tiny holes.
He quickly walked a few steps forward and crouched down.
Unlike the little holes on a sandy beach that would hide clams, his experience told him these holes probably contained razor clams.
Razor clams are a type of soft-bodied, invertebrate mollusk often found in the mud and sand of the intertidal zone.
Their shells are long and razor-like, allowing them to swiftly move up and down in their burrows.
When startled, they quickly retract into their holes.
He murmured, “If only I had some salt. I could sprinkle it around the holes and the clams would come out on their own. Now I have to dig them out myself, what a hassle!”
Setting aside the fire tongs, he dug into the holes with his hands.
Luckily, the clams weren’t buried too deeply, and it was easy to find them.
After digging a few out, he noticed a stone nearby.
He gave it a quick nudge and discovered two little shrimp beneath it, which he promptly tossed into the bamboo basket.
Even the tiniest creatures are a gain; every bit counts.
With nimble hands, he spent about ten minutes digging out all the tiny holes in the area and estimated he had collected around three or four pounds of clams, feeling quite satisfied as he stood up.
However, squatting for too long made his neck feel stiff, and his hands were too dirty to massage it.
So, Ye Yaodong stretched his neck and glanced towards the others.
Everyone seemed to have spread out quite a bit; he wondered how their catches were going.
He looked up at the sun, the blinding rays still strong.
Realizing it was still early and the tide wouldn’t rise soon, he decided to keep searching and occasionally picked up a few more shrimp.
As he wandered further from the tidal flat, he gradually made his way out into shallower waters.
Once his feet touched the sea, he sat on a large stone, planning to wash off the mud that had clung to his legs.
The sun dried the mud quickly, leaving his skin feeling tight and uncomfortable.
Just after washing his feet, he spotted a twitching tentacle emerging from a crack in the rocks.
“Caught in your own trap, huh? Come out!” He put on gloves and reached out to grab it. “Oh—it's a little white octopus!”
After tossing it into his bamboo basket, he continued to fish around under the rocks and felt something else. “Another one!”
Pulling it out revealed two more little white octopuses!
There’s a saying in Fujian: “Three little white octopuses are worth a sheep!” Other octopuses are sold by weight, but little white octopuses are sold individually!
“A whole sheep right here!”
Indeed, the resources on this lonely island proved far richer than those by the docks.
After circling the rock, he spotted several top shells.
Not many, only about seven or eight; the flesh was firmly attached to the rocks, so he grabbed them one by one.
Only those clinging to the rocks would contain meat; those soaking in sea water often housed hermit crabs instead.
Now that he had reached the shallows, he planned to explore the area further.
“Hey, stone crab…”
He noticed a red form moving among a pile of rubble and hurried over— it was a stone crab.
Stone crabs usually live in the crevices of rocks or in caves.
They seem glued to stones; no matter how deep the water is, as long as there are stones on the bottom, they’ll appear and make their home there, feeding on small shrimp.
He set down the bamboo basket and tongs to free his hands, then carefully encompassed it and caught it.
Its fin had sharp spines that were toxic, so he needed to be cautious.
The bright red stone crab was quite a sight, far prettier than ordinary fish.
Ye Yaodong felt quite pleased; no matter if the haul was worth much, it always brought joy to have a catch.
Continuing his search, he didn’t find much more until the tide began to rise.
He only managed to catch three stone crabs, enough to make a small meal, along with some shrimp, several kinds of fish, and four large green crabs.
Wading through the water, he headed back to the rocky outcrop where they had first descended.
Others were still working diligently, but Ye Yaodong called out, “The tide’s coming in!”
Everyone looked up at the sound but continued to focus on their own catches.
The tide was starting to rise, yet it was still low enough that their boat remained stranded on the beach.
There was no hurry.
As he got closer, Ye Yaodong called out again, “Aren’t you all hungry?”
“Who isn’t hungry? We’re starving!”
“I’ve already eaten several shrimp raw.”
Not realizing until now that he hadn’t found any shrimp today, he said, “I didn’t find any shrimp.”
“What did you catch then?”
“Three little white octopuses, three stone crabs, some various shellfish, three or four pounds of razor clams, and seven large green crabs…”
“Wow, you found seven large green crabs? How big?” The nearby Xiaoxiao asked in disbelief.
“All over a pound, the biggest one’s almost two pounds!”
The largest crab he found just as he was about to pass by, was underneath a rock in the shallow water.
Luckily he spotted it; otherwise, it would have returned to the sea when the tide rose.
Azheng shouted out in envy, “What luck! Three or four pounds of razor clams are one thing, but seven large green crabs? I only found one.”
“I found one too! It was pretty big, probably around one or one and a half pounds,” Chen Wei added as he walked over.
“It seems there are plenty of green crabs here. I wonder if it’s because this is a lonely island, and nets can’t be thrown here. There seems to be a lot of resources.”
“I feel the same. It’s probably because no one has come here before,” Xiaoxiao remarked, glancing at Ye Yaodong’s bamboo basket. “Yours is filled to the brim.”
“Dongzi has indeed had good luck these past few days! Every time he returns from the same spot, he catches more than us.”
(End of Chapter)