“I have sharp eyesight. I spotted several crabs hidden in the mud on the tidal flats. I almost missed them,” he admitted, acknowledging his fortunate luck, but also attributing a part of it to his experience.
“I originally caught a green crab and was quite pleased, but in comparison, it feels rather insignificant now, like a small fish before a big one,” Azheng said, shaking his head in frustration.
“It's fine, the tide hasn’t come in yet. Let’s wander around the tidal flats some more. Hey, where’s Fatty and A Guang?”
Little Xiao pointed toward the sandy area by the rocks. “Look! Fatty is napping over there.”
Ye Yaodong turned his head to see Fatty lying on the beach with his hands behind his head, shades covering his face.
“No way, how can he even sleep here? Is he a pig?”
“Isn’t he just that?”
They sighed in disbelief.
Under such a hot sun, he could lay down like this, using the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed.
They were truly amazed.
“A Guang went to collect some small abalone. He thinks the rocks above have more suitable catches,” said Azheng.
“Oh!” Ye Yaodong noticed a figure bent over with its backside sticking up by the rocks, “Then you guys keep looking. The tide isn’t up yet, I’ll go take a break first.”
As he spoke, he walked back to the sandy mud where he had caught sea centipedes before.
There was still a half bucket of small sea centipedes he had caught earlier, perfect for resting and then continuing his catch.
Despite looking a bit unsightly, these sea centipedes were considered delicacies by food lovers.
The beach near their village didn’t produce such things.
With the tide still low, he could dig a few more before it started rising.
He wasn’t sure if the dock would take them.
Even if they didn’t accept them, it didn’t matter.
As long as they didn’t die, they could be kept for a few days.
His family was large, and he guessed they wouldn’t last three days—two at most before being devoured.
One by one, he pulled the sea centipedes out, some reaching 20-30 centimeters, while others were just a few centimeters long.
“You're still catching them? Aren't you disgusted?”
Ye Yaodong recognized A Guang’s voice without lifting his head. “It's not bad pulling them out one by one. They’re just sea centipedes, not like I’ve never seen them before.”
“Are you planning to sell such a big haul? Or will you just eat it?”
“Depends on whether A Cai will buy them. After all, our dock doesn’t sell these. If not, I’ll just keep them for us.”
A Guang glanced at the bamboo basket beside him. “You’ve got some green crabs here too. They’re quite large; sounds like a good haul. You’ve almost earned a day’s wages.”
“Don’t make me jealous, I caught seven—two females and five males, all meaty.” Ye Yaodong said with pride, astonished at the abundance of resources on this isolated island.
“What? Seven? What kind of luck is that!”
A Guang’s eyes widened in disbelief as he shook the bamboo basket, revealing several large pincers from the bottom.
“Azheng and Chen Wei each caught one too. Why don’t you go look around again? The tide hasn’t come in yet.”
“Okay! I’m going right now! Just tell me where to catch them!”
Ye Yaodong pointed in ease. “Over there, but I’ve pretty much searched that area. You might want to walk a bit farther. I haven’t been that way.”
“Got it!”
A Guang excitedly ran toward the direction Ye Yaodong pointed.
As long as the tide hadn’t started to come in, he could still have a chance.
Besides, the tide had already passed the first phase, and today the water level hadn’t dropped too low.
Ye Yaodong didn’t expect that what was just a suggestion would lead A Guang to catch two more green crabs, one of which was even larger than his biggest catch.
When A Guang returned, everyone looked on enviously.
Little Xiao teased, “Master Dongzi, when will you guide me on where to grab them?”
“Yeah, I wish I had asked you earlier where to catch them. Maybe I would have snagged two for myself!” Azheng regretted, his stomach feeling tight as he chatted with Dongzi earlier.
A Guang seemed to be savoring his good fortune, expressing a bit of regret, “Sigh, I arrived too late. I only found two before the tide came in. The second one almost got washed away, but luckily I was quick.”
“Not bad! At least you got two green crabs. Fatty and Little Xiao got none. If I had known there were more over there, I would have gone myself,” Ye Yaodong laughed before reminding everyone, “The tide is coming in. Let’s pack up and head back to the boat.”
“Let’s go! I’m starving!”
“I’m starving as well. My stomach feels flat.”
“Wake up that fat guy…”
“Just leave him here like a wild man…”
“Do you have to shout so loudly? Do you think I’m deaf?”
Everyone joked as they grabbed their buckets and tools, getting on the boat.
It was then A Guang went to untie the ropes and used a bamboo pole to push off from the shore before starting the engine.
It was already three o’clock.
They had been out since early morning, working all day long, leaving them all exhausted.
Once aboard, they slumped into various positions, some leaning, others sitting.
“This beachcombing is really tiring, but thankfully today’s catch was good; it wasn’t in vain,” Chen Wei said, twisting his neck.
His nature was more serious compared to the others.
Usually, he spoke little amidst their banter and only chimed in occasionally.
Fatty rolled his eyes. “How do I feel like you’re mocking me?”
“Ha! Be confident. Just drop the word ‘feel’.” Ye Yaodong chuckled.
The others couldn’t help but laugh along.
“Fatty, you might as well not have come. Look at your chubby face, it’s all tanned now.”
“It doesn't matter if a man gets a little tanned. It’s just too hot and sunny. I won’t come again next time.”
“You’ll still have to cope with the sun while helping at Dongzi’s place tomorrow…”
Ye Yaodong quickly interjected, “Hey, I’m not forcing anyone. Who wants to work under the hot sun in this weather? You can come or not as you please.”
Fatty felt a bit awkward, “I’ll see how things go and help a bit.”
“It’s fine. Building a house isn’t done in a day or two. I’ve hired some workers for the family, so you can just help like before.”
Everyone nodded, agreeing they would assist as they saw fit.
After sailing for a little while, they finally reached the dock.
The boat was secured, and they all jumped off, leaving Ye Yaodong alone on the boat to watch over things.
They headed back to get some sacks to haul their catch.
The deck was piled high with the shellfish they had gathered, and they also needed to push a cart over; otherwise, it’d be too heavy to carry home.
While waiting, he noticed fishing boats coming in one after the other.
It was already afternoon, and it was time for the fishing boats to return.
All were from the same village, so there were no strangers.
They waved at him and, seeing the boat filled with shellfish, curiously asked a few questions.
But he brushed them off.
Seeing they were just the common shellfish found on the rocks, no one was overly curious, though they were surprised by their abundance.
Seeing Ye Yaodong reluctant to say more, they stopped asking, though they couldn't help but glance a few extra times.
These things weren’t worth much.
There were few families in the village with proper boats; most were small, hand-rowed wooden boats that were meant for fishing to earn money, otherwise, there wouldn’t be much left around these isolated islands.
After a short wait, he saw his mother appearing on the shore, clearly waiting for his father.
Ye Mother spotted him and hurried over, exclaiming, “Why are you back so late? Have you been out the whole day... What’s with all those shells?”
Before she could finish, her eyes widened in surprise at the boat piled high with shelled treasures.
(End of Chapter)