Chapter 29: Returning Home Fully Loaded

Ye Yaodong carried his bucket back toward the shallow waters and shouted to the others as he approached.

“Any catches, you guys?”

“Does one moon snail count?” A’Guang looked utterly depressed.

“Better than nothing.”

Ye Yaodong walked over and returned the bucket to him.

“It’s so empty I’m embarrassed to even carry such a big bucket.”

“Hahahaha!”

Even Ye Yaodong found it funny.

“It’s alright. Just change your name when you get back!”

“Ah… we’ll talk about it later. One snail isn’t even worth the firewood needed to cook it. Here, I’ll donate it to your count.”

As he spoke, he tossed the moon snail into Ye Yaodong’s bucket with a clunk.

“Keep looking. The tide’s only just gone out, it won’t rise again that quickly. There might still be more stuff.”

“Whatever. You guys continue. I’m gonna wander around the reef wall and see if there’s anything there.”

A’Guang shrugged and headed straight toward the rocky reef at the far edge.

“I already cleaned out that reef wall yesterday. All the bigger shellfish and snails were picked clean, and I pried out every oyster worth opening too. You definitely won’t find much there now.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m just taking a look around. If there’s nothing, I’ll head home early for lunch.”

“Alright then. Up to you. It’s scorching hot, so if you don’t find anything, go rest early.”

“Mm.”

Ye Yaodong noticed the nearby area had already been searched thoroughly by his friends, so he simply moved closer toward the rocky shoreline.

Unexpectedly, after only a few steps, he felt something hard under his foot.

Squatting down, he saw the tip of a moon snail barely poking out from beneath the sand.

Picking it up, he rubbed and pinched the soft flesh protruding from its opening before it could retract.

Psssh—

Several streams of seawater sprayed out.

He chuckled and shouted toward A’Guang ahead of him.

“A’Guang, look at this. I followed right behind you and still found a moon snail. Pretty big one too.”

“Damn it!”

A’Guang turned around, saw it, and immediately cursed.

“I literally just walked past there!”

Ye Yaodong tossed it into the bucket and grinned.

“I think my luck’s been pretty good these past two days.”

“I never should’ve come out today. Sleeping at home would’ve been way more comfortable. I seriously ate too much and came out here just to roast under the sun.”

While grumbling, A’Guang continued toward the reef area.

Under the blazing sun, Ye Yaodong continued his treasure hunt across the beach.

But after that, he didn’t find any more major catches.

Shore-hunting really depended entirely on luck.

Forty years later, even during big tides, beaches no longer had this many things to gather.

At most, there’d be some mudskippers, rock crabs, or a few large clams.

Who knew why?

Maybe overfishing.

Maybe pollution.

Seafood stocks had clearly declined.

Only uninhabited islands still had plentiful marine life.

As the tide slowly crept back in, everyone gradually started wanting to head home.

It was already past one in the afternoon, and they were starving.

“Let’s head back. Probably nothing much left to find now that the tide’s coming in.”

Xiaoxiao shook his bucket and called out to everyone.

“Alright, alright, going back now. It’s too damn hot.”

“There wasn’t much to pick up anyway. Dongzi already collected all the good stuff.”

Ye Yaodong glanced at his half-full bucket and felt pretty satisfied.

“I didn’t find much afterward either. Mostly just rock crabs and mudskippers. These should still make a decent bowl.”

“You already got that tiger grouper. That alone made the trip worthwhile.”

“And that whole nest of snow clams too! Totally worth it. Even the random seafood scraps can make two or three dishes.”

He smiled.

Tomorrow would have an even bigger tide.

He could definitely come again and see whether his luck really was this good.

“Let’s go. I’m starving.”

He casually kicked a large rock by his foot and turned to leave.

But the moment he turned around, a tentacle slowly stretched out from beneath the rock.

His eyes instantly widened in delight.

“Octopus?”

“Huh? You found an octopus too?”

A’Zheng, who wasn’t far away, immediately ran over excitedly.

“It hid really well. If I hadn’t kicked the rock, its tentacle probably wouldn’t even have come out.”

“Pull it out and let’s see whether it’s a red octopus, black octopus, or white octopus. That tentacle looks pretty thin, probably not very big.”

Their local waters commonly had three kinds of octopus.

White octopus, also called “watch tide octopus,” was the smallest but the most expensive and tasted the best.

Red octopus came next.

Black octopus was the cheapest, with tougher meat that was often nearly impossible to chew.

Following the tentacle, Ye Yaodong reached inside and tugged hard.

“It’s clinging tight. Black octopus. Trash.”

“Still better than us. We haven’t caught a single one.”

“Dongzi, your luck today is insane. Even when leaving, you still found an octopus.”

“Look at your bucket. Today’s haul really isn’t bad.”

Ye Yaodong stared at the octopus tightly wrapped around his wrist.

He tried tossing it into the bucket, but it refused to let go.

He had to use his other hand to pry it off and throw it in.

But once inside, its tentacles immediately latched onto the bucket wall as it tried climbing out.

“Damn, this thing can climb. Guess I’ll just hold it. Help me move this rock and see if there’s another one underneath.”

“You think there’s another whole nest?”

Though they said that, everyone still helped tilt the rock aside together.

“Holy crap, there actually is another one!”

Ye Yaodong was delighted.

“Too bad this one’s smaller.”

“Another black octopus too. Still, a catch is a catch.”

Xiaoxiao crouched down and helped grab it, placing it onto Ye Yaodong’s hand.

“Alright, now we can really head back. You seriously returned fully loaded today.”

Ye Yaodong grinned broadly.

Tonight they could definitely add extra dishes.

Today’s outing had absolutely not been wasted.

They had food to eat and money to earn.

“You guys didn’t do too badly either. Even without premium catches, all the small stuff together can still make one or two dishes.”

A’Zheng weighed the bucket in his hand.

“Not bad, I guess. Not the best, but better than some. Huh? Where’s A’Guang?”

He’d originally wanted to mock A’Guang a bit, only to realize the guy was nowhere to be seen.

After he mentioned it, everyone else finally noticed A’Guang had disappeared too.

“He wandered around the reef earlier and found nothing, got depressed, and went home first.”

Well, obviously he found nothing.

Ye Yaodong had already swept the place clean yesterday.

“Came out just to get sunburned.” A’Wei snickered gleefully.

“It’s fine. Let’s pool our catches together tonight and go drink at his place.”

Ye Yaodong suggested it casually.

Among friends, eating your food today and mine tomorrow was completely normal.

After all, he’d mooched an entire meal there yesterday too.

“Sounds good. Put everything together and it’ll actually make a decent feast.”

“Call Fatty too. Rat’s not home, so forget him.”

“That fat bastard wouldn’t come out to get sunburned, but he’ll definitely show up if there’s drinking!”

“Tell him to bring two jin of homemade rice wine too.”

“Perfect idea.”

With everyone talking over one another, the evening’s drinking feast was quickly arranged on the spot.

(End of Chapter)