Chapter 48: A Boat Full of Shellfish

“My eyesight’s good. Quite a few of those crabs were covered in mud and hiding in the flats. I almost missed them.”

He admitted his luck was indeed good, but experience played a part too.

“I was pretty happy after catching one mud crab, but comparing it to yours now, it suddenly feels completely insignificant.”

A’Zheng shook his head gloomily.

“It’s fine. The tide hasn’t fully come in yet, so keep wandering around the mudflats. Huh? Where are Fatty and A’Guang?”

Xiaoxiao pointed toward the sandy area near the reef.

“There—Fatty’s taking a nap.”

Ye Yaodong turned and looked in the direction he pointed. Sure enough, Fatty was lying on the sand with his hands behind his head, his hat covering his face.

“Holy crap, he can sleep like that too? Is he a pig?”

“Isn’t he one already?”

Speechless.

Under such blazing sunlight, he could still use heaven as his blanket and earth as his bed. Truly unbelievable.

“A’Guang went to collect little abalones. He thinks the reef area suits him better.”

“Oh.”

He also spotted a figure sticking his butt up among the reefs.

“Then you guys keep searching. The tide still won’t rise for a while. I’m gonna rest a bit first.”

As he spoke, he headed toward the muddy patch where he’d caught the sea worms earlier. The half-bucket of sea worms was still there, so he could rest while continuing to catch some more.

Disgusting as they looked, they were a top-tier delicacy for gourmets.

Their village beach didn’t have these things. Since the tide still hadn’t come in, he could continue digging them out. He also wondered whether the dockside buyers would purchase them.

If not, no problem. As long as they weren’t killed, they could survive another two or three days. His family was large enough that they’d probably finish them within two days anyway.

One sea worm after another, some twenty to thirty centimeters long while others were only a few centimeters, were continuously pulled out from their holes.

“You’re still catching those? Aren’t they disgusting?”

Just hearing the voice, Ye Yaodong already knew it was A’Guang. Without lifting his head, he said,

“They’re fine one at a time. They’re just sea centipedes. It’s not like I’ve never seen them before.”

“You catching this many to sell, or for yourself to eat?”

“Depends whether Ah Cai buys them. Our docks don’t really have these things. If he doesn’t buy them, I’ll keep them for ourselves.”

A’Guang glanced at the bamboo basket beside him.

“There are mud crabs too? Pretty big ones. Not bad, you basically earned a full day’s wages.”

“Say this and you’ll die of envy. I caught seven in total. Two females and five males, all packed with meat.”

Ye Yaodong looked extremely pleased. He’d never expected the isolated island to be so rich in resources.

“What? Seven? What kind of dogshit luck is that?!”

A’Guang stared with disbelief and shook the basket slightly. Sure enough, several large crab claws could be seen underneath.

“A’Zheng and Chen Wei each caught one too. Wanna go look around some more? The tide still hasn’t fully risen.”

“I’m going right now! Tell me where you caught them!”

Ye Yaodong pointed in a direction.

“Over there. But I already searched most of that area. You can go farther out—I haven’t been over there.”

“Got it.”

A’Guang immediately ran excitedly toward the direction he pointed.

Once the tide started rising, it would come in quickly. Especially since it was already after the first day of the lunar month, the tide today hadn’t even gone out very far to begin with.

Ye Yaodong never expected that simple suggestion to earn A’Guang two mud crabs. One of them was enormous, even bigger than his own largest one.

When A’Guang returned, everyone else was filled with envy.

Xiaoxiao joked,

“Master Dongzi, when are you gonna give me some guidance too?”

“Seriously. If I’d asked exactly where you caught them earlier, maybe I’d have gotten a couple too!”

A’Zheng regretted it so much his intestines were practically turning green. Earlier he’d even been chatting with Dongzi.

Meanwhile, A’Guang looked like he’d gotten addicted and said regretfully,

“Damn, I went too late. I only found two before the tide came back in. The second one almost got swept back into the sea. Good thing I reacted fast.”

“That’s already pretty good. You’ve got two mud crabs now, while Fatty and Xiaoxiao don’t even have one yet. Honestly, if I’d known there were some over there, I’d have gone myself.”

After saying that with a grin, Ye Yaodong reminded everyone,

“The tide’s already coming in. Let’s pack up and get back on the boat.”

“Go, go, go! Time to head home. I’m starving to death.”

“Same here. My stomach’s completely empty.”

“Wake that dead Fatty up…”

“Just leave him here as a wild man…”

“You talking that loudly—do you think I’m deaf?”

Everyone joked and bantered while carrying their own buckets and tools back onto the boat. Only after everyone was aboard did A’Guang untie the ropes and use a bamboo pole from the boat to push away from the shore before starting the engine.

It was already three in the afternoon.

They’d been out since early morning, an entire day already. Everyone was exhausted, and the moment they boarded the boat, they sprawled out lazily in all kinds of positions.

“This reef gathering is actually pretty tiring. Good thing today’s haul was decent, otherwise it really wouldn’t have been worth it.”

Chen Wei twisted his neck as he spoke.

His personality wasn’t as lively as the others. Usually, while everyone else joked nonstop, he rarely spoke unless occasionally chiming in.

Fatty rolled his eyes.

“Why do I feel like you’re mocking me?”

“Hahaha, have more confidence—remove the ‘feel like’ part.”

Ye Yaodong burst into laughter.

The others couldn’t help laughing too.

“Fatty, you might as well not have come. Look at your fair chubby face—it’s already tanned dark.”

“What’s wrong with men being darker? Though honestly, it really was too hot and sunny. I’m not coming again next time.”

“Tomorrow helping out at Dongzi’s construction site will be just as sunny…”

Ye Yaodong quickly interrupted,

“Hey, no pressure at all. In this kind of weather, who actually enjoys working under the blazing sun? I’m not forcing anyone. Come if you want, don’t if you don’t.”

Fatty said awkwardly,

“I’ll see if I can help out a little.”

“It’s fine. Building a house isn’t a one- or two-day job. We already hired workers. You guys can just come whenever you feel like it.”

Everyone nodded. Helping occasionally would be enough.

After about ten more minutes of sailing, the boat finally returned to the docks and anchored properly. Everyone disembarked except Ye Yaodong, who stayed behind to watch the boat.

The others had gone home to fetch sacks for carrying the catch. The deck was piled with heaps of shellfish they’d gathered, and they also needed to bring handcarts because the load was far too heavy to carry manually.

While he waited, fishing boats continuously arrived at the docks one after another. It was already afternoon, so it was about time for the fishing vessels to return.

Everyone was from the same village, so naturally they all recognized each other. They greeted him one after another. Seeing the boat loaded entirely with shellfish, many asked curiously about it, but he casually brushed the questions aside.

Since the shellfish were common reef varieties, nobody thought much of them. They only found it surprising that there was so much of it filling the boat. Seeing Ye Yaodong unwilling to elaborate, they stopped asking, though they still couldn’t help taking a few extra glances.

Fortunately, these shellfish weren’t particularly valuable. Very few households in the village owned boats, and most were just hand-rowed wooden boats. Furthermore, everyone used their boats for fishing to make money. Otherwise, the surrounding isolated islands would’ve long been picked clean.

Not long after waiting, he spotted his mother appearing onshore. She was probably there to wait for his father.

Mother Ye also saw him and quickly called out while hurrying over.

“Why are you only getting back now? You’ve been gone all da—… Why are there so many shellfish?!”

Before she could finish speaking, she was already staring wide-eyed in shock at the boat piled high with shell-covered seafood.

(End of Chapter)