"Hurry up, hurry up! That clam is rolling back into the sea!"
Lin Xiuqing laughed brightly, skipping through the waves to pick it up.
Her face was glowing with joy, and Ye Yaodong couldn't help but steal a few glances at her; it had been years since he had seen her smile so carefree and happy.
After she collected the clam from the ocean, she happily walked over to him, raising her hand.
"Look! This one is the biggest I found; it’s as big as my fist!"
"Alright, put it in the basket. Let's head towards the rocky reef and keep looking. By the time we get there, the tide should have come in as well."
She nodded with a smile.
Ye Yaodong took just a few steps before he couldn’t resist stopping.
He squatted down and poked a small air bubble hole in the sand, pulling out a sand clam.
"You sure know how to spot them!"
After saying this, she also aimed for a hole and managed to dig one out herself.
The sand clams were scattered unevenly on the beach, requiring time to find.
Only when the tide was just right, leaving air bubble holes behind, was it easier to spot them.
"Should we dig here for a bit longer, or keep moving forward?" Seeing how much fun she was having, Ye Yaodong quickly asked.
She stood up, still wanting more.
"Let’s not dig anymore. Let's move towards the rocky area and see if we can find anything good!"
"Alright."
As they walked to a small stretch of gravel along the beach, both were pleasantly surprised.
"Look, there’s a fish over there."
"It’s a sea bream."
The fish had already died, washed ashore.
Ye Yaodong opened its gills to check, and they were a dark red, suggesting it had died in the water and was later washed up.
"Not fresh anymore, let’s toss it back into the sea!"
"Alright."
Lin Xiuqing looked disappointed, having finally found a fish, only to discover it wasn’t fresh.
The sea bream, known as black bream, lived in the ocean while its freshwater counterpart lived in lakes and marshes.
She picked up the fish and walked toward the waves.
Just as she tossed it back into the sea, a wave washed towards her.
She quickly stepped back and was surprised to see a big blue crab appeared on the shore when the water receded.
"Yaodong! Yaodong! Come quick, there’s a big blue crab! It’s going to escape!"
Hearing her shout, Ye Yaodong rushed over.
He saw a large blue crab scuttling quickly across the sand, waving its pincers.
He quickly stomped down on it and grabbed it, as it continued to wave its pincers threateningly.
"What a catch! This one must weigh two pounds! It’s lucky we came out during the typhoon."
Lin Xiuqing beamed with delight.
"We really came out at the right time today."
"But before, when I called you, you didn’t want to come. This one is worth more than two days of your weaving work."
"I didn’t know! Let’s go, let’s follow the waves further ahead."
Now it was her turn to eagerly pull him along.
As they followed the tide, picking up small fish, shrimp, crabs, and clams along the way, they amassed quite a collection.
None were particularly valuable, but they were still very satisfying to find.
Their beach stretched on, and as they walked down from the shore, stopping occasionally to see if anything had washed up, it took them over half an hour to reach the rocky area.
Just as they stopped, Ye Yaodong spotted two small puddles between the cracks in the rocks, where two juvenile wrasse were swimming.
Attached to one of the rocky walls was a sea snail, about the size of a baby’s fist.
After catching the fish, under his wife’s request, he left the snail for her to take.
Juvenile wrasse were often mistaken for small yellow croaker by untrained eyes; they looked quite similar, and their prices were not too different either.
"What a pity there are only two, and they are so small."
Lin Xiuqing tilted her head with a smile, "That’s fine! We can steam them with the golden pomfret and the small bass we just found. A mixed seafood dish!"
"Yeah, let’s split up to search some more."
With the tide now receding, they separated to look for more catches.
Ye Yaodong had barely taken a few steps when he heard Lin Xiuqing's excited voice.
"Eel! Yaodong, there’s a huge eel here!"
He hurried over to her.
A big eel, about three to four pounds, was floppy in a low area of water, likely washed ashore by the waves.
This eel had sharp teeth, capable of drawing blood with one bite, so catching it required caution.
Ye Yaodong waited for the perfect moment and stepped on its head, while its tail thrashed wildly.
No matter how much it struggled, it was no use.
He quickly secured its head and tossed it into their sack.
Seeing he had caught the eel, Lin Xiuqing continued to search among the rocky area.
"Yaodong! Yaodong! Grouper! There's a grouper here!"
Was his wife having the luck today? It seemed like she was the one making all the discoveries!
"Wow, it's a bass! How did a bass end up here?"
Lin Xiuqing didn’t recognize all the types of grouper, but she knew it was one.
Ye Yaodong, having more familiarity with the fish, immediately recognized it.
The bass was a type of grouper, oval and robust, usually found in clear water among coral reefs.
Young fish could often be found in tidal pools, while mature fish tended to dwell in deeper water.
It was surprising that a typhoon had managed to wash this fish ashore!
Today was indeed a big harvest! They definitely didn’t come out in vain.
If he had known, he should have brought a bucket.
"Should I run back home to grab a bucket? I can keep watch here."
This fish was not like the others they’d found; although it wouldn’t fetch a high price in these times, it was still a rare find.
It would be good to keep it alive, maybe sell it to a big restaurant for display or as a centerpiece.
"Is this fish valuable?"
"Of course! Just look at its patterns; it’s uncommon. The bass grouper is not native to our waters; I’m not sure how it got washed up."
Feeling assured by his words, Lin Xiuqing was thrilled.
"You keep an eye on it, don’t let the waves or the rain wash it away. I’ll run back home to grab a bucket."
Whether it was luck for him or for his wife today, he had mainly followed along behind her and picked up what she found.
They say that beginners in mahjong or card games tend to have better luck; could that apply to beachcombing?
The key point was that she wasn’t really a beginner; it was just her first time out during a typhoon.
This fish was quite valuable, and he didn’t want to take his eyes off it, so he stood by watching.
To his surprise, while standing still, a blue crab crawled out from a crevice in the rocks.
Such a gift, he would be foolish to turn it down!
The blue crab population in their area was quite rich, though this one was missing a claw; the other claw was newly grown and didn’t quite match its size.
It was clearly a replacement, not an original.
Even though it weighed a pound, its value had significantly decreased!
With one claw missing, the price would drop by at least a third.
The other claw was only a recent growth, so it wasn’t worth much, but it would be a good ingredient to take home and simmer with some dangshen, benefiting the children.
(End of Chapter)