Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

     Chapter  29 Returning with a Full Load

Ye Yaodong walked down to the shallow water again, carrying his bucket. As he approached, he shouted to them, "Any luck, guys?"

"Does finding a cat's eye snail count as a catch?" said Ah Guang with a frustrated expression.

"It's better than nothing," he said as he walked towards Ah Guang and returned the bucket to him.

"I'm too embarrassed to hold such a big bucket when it's empty."

"Hahaha~" He also found it amusing. "No worries, just change your name when you go back!"

"Ah~ Let's not talk about it. It's a waste to burn firewood for just one snail. Just to make up the numbers for you!" He said as he tossed it into Ye Yaodong's bucket with a clank sound.

"Keep searching then. The tide has just receded, and it won't come back so quickly. There might still be some gains to be made."

"It doesn't matter. You guys carry on, I'll go explore the rocky reef and see if there's anything to pick up." Ah Guang shrugged and headed towards the edge of the rocky reef.

"I just checked this side of the rocky reef yesterday. I picked up most of the larger sea melon seeds and snails, and I opened all the available oysters. There probably won't be much left for you to find over there now."

"It doesn't matter, I'll just wander around. If there's nothing to find, I'll head back for a meal."

"Alright then, you have a look for yourself. With the sun shining so brightly, it's better to head back early and rest if you don't find anything."

"Um."

Yaodong looked around and realized that his friends had probably already searched the area. So he decided to walk towards the rocks closer to the shore.

Unexpectedly, as he took a few steps, he felt something hard under his foot. He squatted down and saw a small part of a cat's eye snail sticking out from under the sand.

He picked it up and as he scraped the surface with his thumb, the cat's eye snail exposed its soft flesh, full of seawater, unable to retract in time.

Sizzle~ Several streams of water squirted out~

He chuckled and called out to Ah Guang who was walking ahead, "Ah Guang, look, even though I'm following behind you, I still managed to find a large cat's eye snail."

"Damn it!" Ah Guang turned around and exclaimed, "I just walked past there."

Ye Yaodong tossed it into the bucket and said with a smile, "Looks like I've been lucky these past few days!"

"I shouldn't have come out today. It would have been more comfortable to stay at home and sleep. I'm really too full to go out to bask in the sun." He said as he walked around the reef.

Under the scorching sun, Ye Yaodong continued his treasure hunting on the beach. However, he didn't find any significant treasures this time. Gathering seafood from the seashore really relied on luck.

Forty years later, even with high tides, there weren't as many things to pick up on the beach anymore. There might only be some jumping fish, stone crabs, and large clams.

It's unclear what the exact reason is, but it could be due to overfishing in the oceans or pollution. Seafood has become scarce, and only on uninhabited islands can one find a relatively larger quantity of seafood.

As they watched the tide slowly rising, everyone started to think about heading back. It was already past one o'clock, and they were all famished.

"Let's go back. There probably isn't much left to pick up, and the tide is coming in," Little Xiao shook the bucket slightly and shouted to the group.

"Alright, let's go back. It's too hot out here."

"There wasn't much to pick up, Yaodong took them all."

Yaodong looked at his half-filled bucket and felt quite satisfied. "I didn't find much either, just some stone crabs and jumping fish. I think they should be enough for a bowl."

"You already have that tiger grouper, which is worth a lot. Today's trip wasn't in vain."

"And that nest of snow clams! If you sell it for money, you can buy two or three bowls of scattered seafood."

He smiled to himself, satisfied with his harvest today. With the high tide tomorrow, he could continue coming and test if his luck truly was good.

"Let's go, let's head back. My stomach is rumbling," he said as he casually kicked the large stone at his feet. He was ready to make his way back.

Little did he know, just as he was about to turn around, a tentacle emerged from beneath the rock, instantly widening his eyes in surprise. "An octopus?"

"Ah? You've found an octopus again?" exclaimed Ah Zheng, who was not far away, as he hurriedly ran over.

"It was hiding really well. If I hadn't kicked the rock, its tentacle probably wouldn't have emerged.”

"Let's catch it and see if it's a red-spotted octopus, a black-spotted octopus, or a white-spotted octopus. Judging by the size of its tentacle, it doesn't seem very big.”

In their local waters, there are three common types of octopus: white-spotted octopus, also known as webfoot octopus, which is very small in size but the most expensive and has the best texture; red-spotted octopus, which is of medium quality; and black-spotted octopus, which is the cheapest and doesn't have as good of a meat texture. Sometimes, it can be tough to chew.

He reached out along the tentacle and gave it a tug, pulling it out forcefully. "It was wrapped quite tightly. It's a black-spotted octopus, what a waste.”

"Well, it's better than not catching any like us.”

"Yaodong, you had some good luck today! Just before leaving, you managed to find a black octopus.”

"Look at your bucket, your haul for today is quite impressive."

Yaodong looked at the octopus tightly wrapped around his wrist. He tried to throw it into the bucket, but it wouldn't let go, so he had to use his other hand to pull it off and throw it in. However, once inside the bucket, its tentacles started wrapping around the edges, trying to climb out again.

"Darn it, it's really persistent. I'll have to hold onto it. Can you guys help me move that rock and see if there's anything underneath?"

"Do you think there might be another one underneath?"

With that being said, everyone still joined forces to flip the rock over and take a look underneath.

"I can't believe it, there actually is," he exclaimed in surprise. "Unfortunately, it's a bit small."

"Another black octopus, not bad at all. Having a catch is always a good thing!"

Crouching down by the side, he helped catch it and placed it in the hands of Ye Yaodong. "Alright, we can go back now. You truly returned with a full load today."

He grinned and laughed, knowing that he could have an extra meal tonight. Today's efforts were not in vain, as they had something to eat and some money to add to their pockets.

"You guys did pretty well too. Although you didn't find any valuable items, you managed to gather enough small things to make a meal or two."

Ah Zheng gave his bucket a little shake, "It's not bad, we have enough to make do. Huh, where's Ah Guang?"

Originally planning to tease Ah Guang a bit, he was surprised to find that Ah Guang was nowhere to be seen.

After he reminded them, everyone realized that Ah Guang seemed to be missing.

"Ah Guang walked around the reef area earlier but didn't find much, so he got frustrated and decided to head back first." It's not like it’s his fault he didn’t get anything. Ye Yaodong had already explored that area yesterday, so it's unlikely he would find anything worthwhile.

"Turned out it was a waste of time coming out here to sunbathe," said Ah Wei with a hint of schadenfreude.

"No worries, let's gather our findings and go to his place for a drink tonight," suggested Ye Yaodong.

Among friends, sharing and exchanging food is normal. Yesterday, he even managed to get a free meal from them.

“Sounds good! When we all put it together, we can have a decent spread on the table.”

“Let's call Fatty as well, but we can skip Haorzi if he's not at home.

"Fatty won't come for sunbathing, but he'll definitely come for drinking!"

"Let him bring two jin of homemade rice wine. It will be perfect."

"That's a good idea."

Everyone discussed and planned the dinner menu for the evening.

(end of this chapter)

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1. Turbo petholatus (猫眼蝾螺)