In the midst of laughter and banter, the small boat slowly drifted toward a little island.
Surrounding them were many lonely islands, all uninhabited.
Perhaps due to their geographical position, at certain times the tide would retreat under the reefs, while at others, it would only lower slightly without revealing any beaches.
Ye Yaodong took a stroll along the nearby coastline.
He intentionally sought a higher island to dock.
Just as the tide began to recede, a large expanse of beach was revealed.
It seemed that during high tide, the water might not cover all the sand.
Such little islands, aside from the reefs, often held treasures on the beach as well.
After tying up the boat, he grabbed his tools and stepped ashore.
"Today's the fifteenth. At six this morning, the tide reached its peak, and now it's around eight; the tide is already going out. We have plenty of time, so let's all explore."
"This island looks smaller than last time."
"What does size matter? Finding something is what counts."
"Don't worry. If we don’t find anything, I'll just let Dongzi pick another island later."
"Hey, what's this?"
Ye Yaodong had only taken a few steps when he spotted something half-buried in the sand—an off-white egg, only a little of its shell showing.
Is that an egg?
Unsure, he poked it, then knelt down to dig a little.
Soon, the egg was fully revealed.
The others quickly gathered around to take a look.
"Is this a sea turtle egg?"
"Dongzi, keep digging a bit. If it's a turtle egg, there should be a whole nest here. Check to see if there's more underneath!"
Without needing prompting, he knew to keep digging.
The sand was loose, and after digging down about ten centimeters, he found another egg.
As he pulled it out, he uncovered a pile of eggs beneath.
"Wow, we’ve really found a sea turtle’s nest?" Ye Yaodong exclaimed in joy.
"These sea turtle eggs are highly nourishing!"
One sea turtle egg has the nutritional value of five chicken eggs.
They're known to enhance skin for women and are regarded as a treasure for men looking to boost their vitality.
Sea turtle eggs are also believed to help prevent hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even have antibacterial, anti-cancer, and anti-aging benefits.
"Wow, Dongzi’s on a roll! Count how many there are."
Ye Yaodong happily filled his bucket, counting as he went.
"Seventy-eight eggs!"
Once he had excavated all the eggs, he could see that the nest was about 40 centimeters deep and around 20 centimeters wide, with the eggs stacked on top of each other.
"Wow, that’s quite a number! This turtle must be sizable," Ah Guang said, filled with envy.
He wondered when he would ever have such luck.
"Should we look around? Check for loose sand or signs that might indicate another nest nearby?"
"Exactly! Sea turtles often lay their eggs in groups. Since Dongzi found one nest here, there could be more around the beach!"
Ye Yaodong gazed at their excited chatter and felt somewhat speechless, quickly interrupting, "Did you all forget why we’re here? Sea turtle eggs aren’t worth much; why bother looking for more?”
"Ah, it doesn’t matter about the money. It’s all about enhancing vitality!" Ah Guang said, still searching without a care.
"Why would a single guy like you need something for vitality? Aren't you worried about overdoing it and having nowhere to use it?"
"That’s none of your business."
Xiao Xiao chimed in with laughter, "Even if they aren't worth a lot, they’re rare! I’ve never even tasted a sea turtle egg. If we don’t find more, Dongzi, share a few with me so I can see how effective they are!"
"Hahaha! Are you unhappy with yourself, so now you want sea turtle eggs?" Ah Zheng teased, but was promptly kicked by Xiao Xiao.
The two started playfully chasing each other.
“Hey! I’ve already got kids; how dare you question me?”
“Hahaha!”
“Hey, stop running! I’m gonna get you…”
“Such fools!” Ah Guang rolled his eyes at their playful antics.
He had almost decided to give up searching for sea turtle eggs and thought about heading directly to the reefs to dig for shellfish.
When he first stepped ashore, he had noticed plenty of different shells on the rocks.
Just as he turned, he caught sight of some traces nearby that looked like animals had crawled by.
Hurrying over, he found some, though the prints were somewhat disturbed by the steps of a pair of silly fools.
Muttering softly, he traced the footprints to a spot and began to dig.
Not long after, he unearthed a sea turtle egg, excitement flooding through him.
"Ha! I found a nest of sea turtle eggs too!"
"Ah?"
The chasing duo rushed back and gazed enviously at Ah Guang.
"When did you get so lucky?"
"Maybe it's because I’m away from you two fools that my luck has turned!"
"Get lost!"
Watching them act foolishly made Ye Yaodong feel like they were all silly together.
He chose to keep away from their antics and picked up an empty bucket, planning to search the area around the reefs first.
The treasures on the reefs wouldn't run away, and there was no rush.
After all, they were alone here, and with the tide going out early today, they had time to split up any finds later on.
As he turned to catch some delicacies, he managed to grab three big blue crabs and five rock crabs, while the other three remained focused on searching for turtle eggs, leaving the situation difficult to describe.
"Stop searching for turtle eggs, remember you want to make money to buy a boat? I've already found three big blue crabs, and you're still dawdling!"
"Ah? So soon?"
Ah Guang hurried over, realizing he had found a nest with 82 eggs—plenty for him, it was time to get down to business.
Seeing this, the other two reluctantly gave up on their search, deciding they would look for eggs later if they had time.
"Say, if we cast a net around when we head back, do you think we could catch a sea turtle? This little island seems to have sea turtles often, and I brought a frisbee net."
Ah Zheng said, still not giving up hope.
Ye Yaodong thought for a moment and figured it was worth a try, "We can try when we're on our way back, but I doubt we'll catch anything."
"I thought about bringing the net just in case, but now we can only use it to see if any sea turtles are around."
"First, let’s gather some seafood; don’t waste time wishing for things that may not be there! I caught three stone crabs and two small white ones already."
"Dongzi, you work fast! I found a couple of rock crabs too, one stranded black eagle."
Ah Guang chimed in.
"Spare us the tales if there’s nothing good."
Xiao Xiao used his tongs to pry a blue crab out from between two stones.
"Wow, this one looks like it’s over two pounds!"
He lifted the tongs high in joy, thrilled to have found big treasures!
(End of this chapter)