The four of them happily boarded the small boat once again, their bodies filled with energy.
Indeed, money was the best motivator.
“Dongzi, let me see the receipt,” A Guang chuckled, rubbing his hands together. “How much can we split from 478 yuan?”
“I don’t know, definitely over 100 each. I’ll have my wife calculate it when we get back.”
Xiao Xiao giggled. “The ones who didn’t come are probably kicking themselves in regret.”
“Exactly, it’s just right that they didn’t come. Why gather so many people? We can enjoy more ourselves with fewer people.”
“Right!”
As Ye Yaodong rowed the boat, he said, “When we get back, you all can pool this money together to buy a boat.”
A Guang smiled as he neatly tucked the receipt back into Ye Yaodong’s pocket. “Sure! Look at you, making a fortune on your first outing in this little boat. I’m so envious! I’ve been lying around at home with nothing to do; the three of us should try and get a boat together.”
A Zheng seemed to envision his mother praising him for his success, nodding with satisfaction.
Xiao Xiao also had no objections; having something to do was better than nothing.
The small boat slowly made its way toward the deserted island.
After working for so long, it was only noon.
They didn’t rush to start collecting seafood as soon as they disembarked.
Instead, they gathered a pile of dry twigs, planning to roast a few sea turtle eggs to fill their bellies first.
Ye Yaodong then dug up a pile of mud, intending to wrap the turtle eggs in it and throw them into the fire to roast.
This brought back memories of their childhood, as when they were young, they often snuck chicken eggs from home to roast outside; those eggs tasted heavenly.
“Wrap a few for yourself!”
“Ah, it’s been years since I’ve had this!”
“Today’s a good chance to relive those memories!”
“I wonder if roasted turtle eggs taste better than chicken eggs?”
“Are you talking about sea turtle eggs? Just wrap them in mud, and we’ll find out after they’re roasted.”
After wrapping four or five turtle eggs and tossing them into the fire, they poked at the fire with sticks, turning the eggs occasionally.
Thankfully, they all smoked, bringing their own matches.
Sitting on the beach, feeling the salty sea breeze, it would have been perfect if the sun wasn’t so scorching!
As the four of them sat on the beach, chatting while waiting for the turtle eggs to roast, they appeared quite content.
The fire grew stronger, and after about fifteen minutes, the mud was completely dried out, and the turtle eggs were nearly done.
They carefully fished out the turtle eggs and went to the beach to fetch a bucket of seawater to douse the fire.
“It smells good. I’ve never had turtle eggs before.”
“They’re good for your vitality, eat more!”
Xiao Xiao rolled her eyes. “You’ll be a groom soon, you should eat more. I’m not lacking in that department!”
As they bantered, Ye Yaodong pried off the mud from the turtle eggs.
He weighed them in his hands because he was afraid they might be hot before peeling off a bit of the eggshell and sucking it directly.
It had been many years since he had eaten roasted eggs like this.
“Hmm… why is it not solid? Is it not cooked?” Xiao Xiao stared in surprise at the milky egg white before quickly taking a sip, not wanting to waste any.
“No way, after all that roasting, the mud is dried, yet it’s not cooked?”
A Zheng, doubtful, hurriedly peeled the shell.
Liquid flowed out, and he quickly leaned in to suck it, only to find it wasn’t solid at all.
A Guang looked at the turtle egg in his hand and at the damp pile of mud on the ground. “Since we just put out the fire, let’s start a new one? Or just drink it; half-cooked is still edible.”
Just as Ye Yaodong took a sip of the egg white, he disparagingly looked at the three simpletons. “Sea turtle eggs never solidify; they always remain liquid after being cooked. Only the yolk solidifies. Let me show you.”
He held the turtle egg, which he had taken a big sip from, to let them see, and only then did they believe him.
“Wow, the yolk is solid, but the egg white isn’t! We thought it wasn’t cooked!”
“Learned something new!”
“Wait, how do you know this, Dongzi?”
“Isn’t it because I’ve seen more than you?”
“Cut it out!” After their playful shenanigans, they began eating heartily, as it was already noon, and their stomachs were empty.
As they ate, Ye Yaodong remarked, “I heard sea turtle eggs are one of the eight delicacies.”
“No way? Just this?”
“Then aren’t our sea turtle eggs rarer than regular turtle eggs?”
“Aren’t they similar?”
“Can what comes from the sea be compared to what’s on land?”
And so another debate began…
After eating five turtle eggs, Ye Yaodong got up, brushed off his pants, and grabbed his bucket to get back to work, not caring about those three fools.
“Wow, Dongzi, you’re done so quickly?”
“Quick? Cut it out!”
Seeing him finish so fast, everyone began to wolf down their food, grabbing their buckets and tools to follow.
“Don’t follow me, scatter! Find your own!”
“Following you means we’ll find something.”
“Following me just means you’ll end up with nothing, what do you think you aren’t my little helpers?”
“That’s true, alright then, lead the way!”
“Get lost!”
With no one trailing him, Ye Yaodong felt more relaxed.
He specifically searched the shallow waters and soon filled half a bucket.
Although it wasn’t anything too precious, he was content since he had already caught a big haul, and these would just be side dishes.
After poking around for a while, intending to change locations, he noticed plenty of bubbles on the sand beneath his feet.
He tried digging, but didn’t find any clams, thinking they must be razors again.
Thankfully, he was well-prepared this time.
With half a bucket already, he decided to head back to swap it for an empty bucket and pick up some salt.
Upon returning, he scraped away a layer of sand from the beach, and the bubbles became more visible.
He opened a small jar of salt and sprinkled a little into a hole.
In no time, the little razors surged out of the holes one by one, standing perfectly upright.
Ye Yaodong happily pulled them up, filling his hand. “This method is definitely efficient!”
All along this stretch had been the same kind of bubbles, so he kept using the same technique and cleared this little patch in no time, easily pulling out five to six pounds within ten minutes.
He shook the bucket, planning to find another spot for valuable items.
However, just as he reached a large rock, he spotted a snake writhing in the water below!
His pupils contracted, and he couldn’t help but swallow nervously, quickly backing up a few steps while calling out, “A Guang, A Guang, come quickly!”
“What’s up? Did you find something good again?”
Upon hearing his call, A Guang excitedly hurried over, with the others also coming over in curiosity.
When they saw, “Oh, it’s just a sea snake! You chicken, why don’t you dare catch it?”
“You come here, you come here! I can’t deal with this, you’re the one good at catching snakes.”
“Watch me! Dinner will be on everyone tonight!”
“This one is over a meter long!”
“Be careful; sea snakes are very poisonous.”
“It’s fine; that’s what the fire tongs are for! I don’t have to use my hands directly.”
Before he had even finished speaking, the fire tongs clamped down on the snake’s head, and it twisted and thrashed violently.
“Get a sack to put it in.”
“Looks really creepy! Why not just smash its head and kill it? We didn’t bring enough sacks anyway; no need to waste it on a snake.”
“That works too! Anyway, we’ll stew it when we get back.”
After dealing with the sea snake, A Guang quickly cleaned it up a bit, then placed it in the small boat, covering it with a banana leaf.
“There are so many banana trees on this island.”
“Are there any bananas?” Ye Yaodong looked up, but couldn’t see from this distance.
“There are quite a few, but they’re too high and not ripe enough to pick. Forget it.”
“Let’s come back next month.”
A Guang waved dismissively. “It’s just bananas! There are plenty on my back hill; next month we can just pick a bunch from the mountain.”
Next month he could pick some; a bit would be good since he had plenty of kids and no one could resist wanting a bite, especially since his wife liked eating bananas.
Ye Yaodong still felt jitters from earlier with the sea snake, so he changed spots.
To his surprise, beneath a rock, he found a massive blue crab!
“Wow, this must weigh at least three pounds!”
He was overjoyed; could this be the king crab? Such a big wild blue crab was rare in this day and age.
“What three pounds? What big find did you come across?”
Holding the crab by its back shell, Ye Yaodong raised it high for everyone to see. “Blue crab! A huge blue crab! I’ve never seen one so big! Its shell is bigger than my face! This is definitely the king crab!”
“Wow…”
Instantly, all three exclaimed, having never seen such a large blue crab before!
Ye Yaodong gleefully placed the big blue crab back in the bucket, but it grabbed the edge of the bucket with its big pincers and wouldn’t fit in.
Worried he might break its pincers, he carefully coaxed it off, then placed it in the bucket, but it only tilted precariously, with several legs still moving, trying to crawl out.
Feeling around in his pocket for a sack, he decided to store it there for now, thinking he could empty the sack out later if he needed more space.
It turned out that he hadn’t found anything good until now because this was waiting for him.
After finding this big crab, Ye Yaodong quickly found three more flower crabs, each weighing over half a pound.
He was thrilled; these were so much better than rock crabs.
In the shallow waters by the rocks, the variety of crabs and rock crabs was plentiful.
After collecting a few, he simply carried two buckets; one for rock crabs and miscellaneous items, and the other for various crabs!
He kept his head down for a long time, and his neck was sore.
Occasionally, he needed to lift his head and twist it, but as soon as he looked up, he spotted clusters of sea chicken feet in a crevice on the steep slope above.
Huh? There are sea chicken feet here?
Surprised, he quickly set down his bucket.
Not wanting to waste more time on the beach, he pulled out his sack, determined to collect the sea chicken feet first.
The scientific name for sea chicken feet is goose-neck barnacle, but they are also known as “seafood from hell,” having once taken Europe by storm, with many places showcasing them, yet he had never seen any near their dock.
They grow on rocks in tidal zones constantly battered by waves, and this environment gives them a fresh, sweet taste with high trace minerals.
In their area, they had only seen Buddha’s hand/pen stand, which looked very similar, making it easy to confuse them at first sight.
However, upon closer observation, the goose-neck barnacle has a long stem resembling a swan’s neck, while the Buddha's hand/pen stand has a shorter stem and is green.
Given that he had come all the way here, he certainly couldn’t let this chance slip by.
Though digging them out from the rocks was challenging, he had no choice but to get them out.
After cleaning out this small patch, Ye Yaodong didn’t rush to dig elsewhere but continued searching for goose-neck barnacles; these were worth 200 euros a pound, equivalent to about 1500 yuan.
Higher quality goose-neck barnacles could even sell for between 4000 to 5000 yuan.
As for now… he thought to himself with a smile…
Let’s see; if they aren’t worth anything in this era, he’d just keep them for himself.
He also wanted to experience what “seafood from hell” was like!
Clusters of Buddha’s hand caught his eye, and he distinguished them well; while outsiders might think they all looked alike.
To avoid any mix-up, he planned to separate them later; even just picking them would take some time.
If there weren’t many goose-neck barnacles, he could toss them into the bucket with the turtle eggs.
But after searching the surrounding rocks for a while, he only managed to dig out about five to six pounds.
The others were curious about what he was looking for and peeked into his sack.
A Guang asked, “Are you looking for Buddha’s hand? Aren’t there plenty of them here?”
“Who told you this is Buddha’s hand? Go away, go away, and just focus on your own digging.”
“What’s in your sack isn’t Buddha’s hand?”
“Goose-neck barnacles! Ever heard of them?”
“What nonsense is that?”
“I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Cut it out! I’ve filled nearly a sack full!” A Guang shook his sack proudly, since today was a rare occasion where he collected more than Ye Yaodong.
“Just work hard! I’ve got five sacks; once you fill up yours, you can help me fill mine!”
A Guang stared wide-eyed. “Damn, do I have to help you dig too?”
“Not only you! The three of you filling your own sacks also need to help! You’ll still need me to hold the boat to get back!”
Xiao Xiao and A Zheng turned their bodies to glare at Ye Yaodong, realizing he had this sneaky plan!
No wonder he had been so leisurely, just wandering about!
“How unreasonable! We only brought two sacks each, and you have five, yet you’re just strolling around instead of working! You’re looking to recruit us as your laborers!”
So annoying!!
Ye Yaodong laughed mischievously. “What’s the big deal? I’m trying to recruit you as my workers! So, what’s it gonna be?”
“Deal! I’ll work you to the bone!”
He leisurely pulled out the receipt from earlier and waved it in triumph. “Over 400 yuan!”
Xiao Xiao immediately put on a smiling face. “It’s just five sacks! There are four of us; if we all pitch in, we’ll fill them in no time. What’s the difficulty here?”
A Zheng also patted his chest confidently. “Of course we’ll fill five sacks before the tide comes in!”
A Guang cast a resentful glance at the receipt in his hand. “Ah, under the eaves, one can’t help but bow!”
“Haha, glad you understand! Didn’t want to resort to such measures!”
Ye Yaodong reveled in his victory, putting away the receipt and hastily began digging again.
If they delayed any longer, they wouldn’t fill the sacks before the tide arrived.
(End of Chapter)