Chapter 28: Catching the Tiger Grouper

“Whoa, this fish is slippery as hell!”

Ye Yaodong had just poked it out from under the rock and reached to grab it, only for it to dart away and slip right back underneath.

The rock was too large to move, so he could only keep jabbing the fire tongs into the gap to force it back out again.

A’Guang squatted down beside him, holding out his bucket toward the crack beneath the rock.

“My bucket’s empty anyway. Borrow it first and catch the fish.”

Seeing the completely empty bucket, Ye Yaodong couldn’t help laughing.

Everyone else had at least caught something, but A’Guang’s bucket was still totally bare.

“Alright, let me use it first.”

A’Zheng’s eyes curved into slits with laughter.

“A’Guang must feel miserable inside, but he still has to force a smile. What a loyal brother!”

“Haah…”

“Hahahaha!”

Listening to everyone continue teasing A’Guang, Ye Yaodong grinned while stirring around under the rock with the tongs.

But the tiger grouper stubbornly refused to come out.

“Go check the other side. Maybe it swam out over there?”

“It’s here! Here! It swam out this side! Pass me the bucket!”

“It’s pretty big too.”

“Looks like at least one or two jin.”

“Dongzi really stepped in dog shit luck.”

Xiaoxiao grabbed the bucket from A’Guang and scooped toward the tiger grouper in one smooth motion.

Got it!

The fish splashed straight into the bucket.

“Done! Caught it!”

Several heads immediately crowded over the bucket, staring at the lively fish inside with envy all over their faces.

Buying one wasn’t impossible for them.

But the fun of shore-hunting came from personally catching seafood yourself.

The satisfaction was completely different.

And this wasn’t just any fish.

It was a tiger grouper.

Everyone silently cursed Ye Yaodong’s outrageous luck.

“There’s too little seawater in the bucket. Add more, don’t let it die.”

A’Wei said, “I’ve only got two mudskippers. Dump them into your bucket and use mine to fetch water.”

Xiaoxiao chuckled.

“Then I just earned myself two fish.”

After filling the bucket halfway with seawater, Xiaoxiao handed it back to Ye Yaodong.

“So what’re you gonna do? Keep it to eat or sell it?”

“Sell it, obviously! If I brought it home to eat, my mother would curse me to death and probably break my legs too. Yesterday I wanted to keep those two little green crabs to eat, and she already scolded me nonstop. She only eased up after I said they were for the kids, but even then she still made us sell them.”

This tiger grouper was worth far more than those little green crabs.

If he stewed it at home, not only would his mother scold him, his wife would probably stay angry for several days too.

Might as well sell it for a few yuan and hand the money to her.

Better than watching her spend an entire day weaving fishing nets for less than one yuan.

Though he didn’t know how much savings his wife currently had, he knew it definitely wasn’t much.

“Yeah, better sell it. The older generation hates wasting money on food or clothes. This thing’s over a yuan per jin. A fish this big could sell for three yuan, equal to three or four days of weaving nets. Cooking it would be way too wasteful.”

“Exactly. Cheap seafood is fine to eat casually, but this should definitely be sold.”

“While it’s still alive, hurry and take it to the buying station. That’ll also give us a chance to look for some big catches ourselves. Otherwise all the good stuff just ends up in your bucket while I go home empty-handed!”

Since everyone agreed, Ye Yaodong nodded.

“Alright, you guys keep playing here. I’ll be right back.”

A’Zheng laughed mischievously.

“It’s fine if you stay away longer. Honestly, it’s even fine if you don’t come back at all. We don’t need you here!”

Ye Yaodong laughed and cursed him.

“Bullshit. You’re just jealous my luck’s too good. Without me around, you guys definitely won’t find anything valuable.”

“Scram! Scram!”

Grinning, he carried the bucket toward the group digging for clams and found Lin Xiuqing.

He set the bucket down beside her.

“I caught a grouper. A tiger grouper. Take it to the buying station and sell it.”

“Huh? A tiger grouper?!”

Lin Xiuqing’s eyes lit up in surprise as she looked into the bucket.

“It’s huge!”

“What tiger grouper? Third Brother, you caught a tiger grouper?”

Even Mother Ye walked over in shock.

“A tiger grouper?”

The surrounding women immediately gathered around too, chattering all at once.

“It really is a tiger grouper!”

“Where’d you catch it? Such good luck!”

“There are rock crabs too?”

“Oh wow, even snow clams…”

“Dongzi, where’d you find all this stuff? How come we never see anything like that?”

“Whenever we go below the beach, we only ever find a few mudskippers and rock crabs. A’Dong’s luck is incredible.”

Ignoring everyone’s amazement, Ye Yaodong only spoke to Lin Xiuqing.

“Empty out a bucket and transfer the fish. Then take this tiger grouper to the buying station and sell it. This bucket belongs to A’Guang, I need to return it and go look around some more.”

“Okay.”

Lin Xiuqing smiled brightly and immediately began enthusiastically emptying her clam bucket.

Ye Yaodong estimated the tiger grouper would only sell for around three yuan anyway, so he couldn’t even be bothered to go to the station himself.

After transferring the fish into his wife’s bucket, he picked up the empty bucket and prepared to head back down the beach.

“Wait a second!”

Mother Ye stopped him.

“Aren’t there snow clams in your bucket too? If there are a lot, take them out and let Xiuqing sell them too. Why’re you still carrying them around?”

“Huh? The snow clams too?”

“Of course! Anything valuable gets sold.”

Mother Ye took his bucket and weighed it in her hands.

“These ones are almost as big as fish balls. Looks like more than a jin. That’s another one or two yuan. What else would you do with them? Eat them?”

“Alright… then let’s sell them too.”

Actually, Lin Xiuqing had wanted to suggest it earlier, but she’d been afraid he’d get upset.

After all, he’d already handed over an entire tiger grouper.

Now that Mother Ye said it, she happily reached for the bucket.

“Careful. Those rock crabs will pinch you.”

Ye Yaodong stopped her from reaching in and pulled the rock crabs out himself first, pinning them beneath his foot so they wouldn’t crawl away.

Only then did he remove the snow clams and toss them into the bucket with the tiger grouper.

“There, happy now? Just a few worthless rock crabs, sword shrimp, mudskippers, and one kuruma prawn left. A single prawn won’t sell for much anyway.”

Mother Ye nodded in satisfaction.

“You’ve had pretty good luck these past two days. Most people can search these beaches for years without ever finding a tiger grouper. Go look around some more. If you find anything valuable, bring it over and let your wife sell it.”

“As if it’s that easy to find one. You think they grow like cabbages? It’s only because there’s a good tide these two days that there’s stuff to pick up at all. Whatever you find depends entirely on luck. It’s not like the whole beach is overflowing with treasure.”

Otherwise would A’Guang still be walking around with an empty bucket?

Seeing several women nearby looking tempted, he quickly added that explanation.

Otherwise they might stop digging clams and all rush down to hunt seafood too, and then there’d be nothing left for him.

His luck really had been unusually good lately.

“I’m just reminding you because if I don’t, you’ll waste everything you catch!”

Mother Ye glared at him irritably.

As if she didn’t know it depended on luck.

She knew perfectly well how much seafood this beach usually had.

“Didn’t I bring everything over already? How did I waste it…”

“Go, go. Hurry and head back down.”

Sigh.

Even after turning over all the valuable catches, his mother still nagged him nonstop.

Changing his family’s opinion of him really wouldn’t be easy.

But it didn’t matter.

In his previous life he’d lived until sixty-five before dying.

That meant he still had decades ahead of him now.

He could take things slowly.

Bit by bit, they’d eventually get used to the new him.

(End of Chapter)