Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

        Chapter 46 Sea Centipede

Little Xiao slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Damn... Are we stupid or what? We could have just emptied the bucket onto the boat! It would have freed up space for more!"

Ah Zheng also realized, "You're right! We could have poured it onto the boat and spread it separately in the corners. Then, when we get back, we can use a sack to pack them."

"Damn, pig brains... sitting there doing nothing while Yaodong was digging all by himself."

"Let's go, let's go! Let's go pick some more. The cost of the boat and fuel is expensive, we can't come all this way for nothing!"

When they returned and told the news to Fatty and Chen Wei, the two of them came to their senses and hurriedly dumped the contents of their buckets onto the boat, making space to continue digging.

Ye Yaodong looked at them speechlessly. Anyway, he filled up the two sacks, it would be fine. As long as they weren't washed and kept in a cool place, these shellfish should be able to last for two to three days.

If it weren't for the need to provide meals for the workers, he wouldn't have collected so much. After all, without a refrigerator, if he collected too much, it would spoil before they could finish eating it. The amount he had collected so far was enough.

After the oysters' sack was full, it was time for him to sit back and rest while watching the others work.

Since the island was uninhabited and undisturbed, the reefs were still rich in attached shellfish. It was impossible for him alone to collect all the items, so even when they returned, there will still be plenty of things to be dug.

After sunbathing for a while and eating two corn cobs they brought along, he noticed that the tide had receded, revealing most of the surrounding rocks. He picked up the large bamboo basket and tongs and shouted to the others who were bending over the rocks, "Comrades, the tide has gone out, and I'm off to do some treasure hunting. You guys keep digging!"

"Damn it, there's no time to waste!"

"I'll keep digging for a while longer. If you find something valuable, just shout, and I'll come down."

"Alright, let me finish searching for the valuable ones first, and then I'll let you know." Ye Yaodong chuckled and rolled up his pants before heading towards the shallow water area to continue his search.

"Damn it, I'm not waiting anymore. I'm going down too," said Ah Zheng as he jumped into the water with his half-filled bucket, without bothering to empty it onto the boat. He didn't want to miss out on any more opportunities. After all, these shellfish on the island couldn't escape anyway.

As soon as he jumped in, he heard the excited voice of Ye Yaodong.

"Damn~ Sea centipedes!"

"What? Where? Where are the sea centipedes?"

"There are sea centipedes?"

Everyone ran to join Ye Yaodong in astonishment, only to find the exposed mudflats crawling with countless sea centipedes.

The sea centipede, scientifically known as clamworm, is a type of marine polychaete worm found in shallow mudflats along the southeastern coast. Its most remarkable feature is its centipede-like appearance, although it is non-venomous and non-aggressive, with short legs. Its diet primarily consists of seaweed and seagrass, supplemented by small shrimp and fish.

"Damn, this is too disgusting, right? There are so many of them."

"I've got goosebumps all over!"

A large cluster of sea centipedes wriggling like that would scare the living daylights out of someone with trypophobia!

Fortunately, Ye Yaodong wasn't afraid of these creatures. "This is a good catch, everyone, be quiet and gentle when catching them, don't let them all slip back into the mudflats.”

"Ah no, no, no! It's too disgusting. Seeing such a large group makes my scalp tingle. I don't want to."

"Me neither. I didn't bring gloves." 

"My eyes are going blind. I'll go somewhere else and wash my eyes." 

"Yeah, it's quite disgusting. Since you discovered it, you can go ahead and catch them yourself!"

One by one, they shook their heads and quickly moved away to the side.

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes and said, "Everyone is eager to eat, but when it comes to catching them, no one is willing to lend a hand."

"That's not how it works. The cooked ones look completely different from the live ones. It's too overwhelming for me with all these sea centipedes crawling around. Since you found them, they're all yours. Go ahead and catch them quickly!" Ah Guang said and hurriedly picked up his bucket and ran away.

He decided to catch them by himself, thinking it would be better to enjoy them alone. However, he realized that the bamboo basket he was holding wasn't suitable for collecting sea centipedes. So he quickly ran towards the boat.

He had to pour the seafood from the bucket onto the deck and free up the bucket. As he walked, he muttered to himself, "How come there are so many sea centipedes crawling out? They should be in their burrows under the tidal flat, shouldn't they?"

"Who knows, maybe it's their mating season these few days."

Anyway, it’s good to catch it.

After emptying the bucket, he quickly rinsed it with seawater and eagerly headed towards the swarm of sea centipedes.

It was a bit disgusting, but he could tolerate it. After all, he was wearing gloves and didn't have direct contact with them.

He grabbed a handful of sea centipedes, watching them wriggle and struggle, and felt a strong sense of disgust. He quickly placed them into the bucket, and the surrounding sea centipedes seemed startled and started burrowing into the sand.

 Ah, how can he let them run away?

Yaodong hurriedly increased his pace and managed to catch all the remaining sea centipedes that were still on the surface. The ones that hadn't been caught had already burrowed back into the mudflat.

As he looked at the small holes on the surface of the mudflat, he reached out and tried to dig into one. He felt something touch his hand, so he gently pulled and tugged. This task required patience and carefulness.

He would pause for a moment after pulling a section, allowing the body of the sea centipede to contract, and then continue lifting it upward. If he moved too quickly, there was a risk of breaking them.

After probing a few holes, he grew impatient and decided to move on. It was taking too much time, and the bucket was already half full, estimated to be around four to five jin of sea centipedes.

He decided to go around and see if there were any other valuable goods to collect. He would come back later to continue catching the sea centipedes at a more leisurely pace. After all, they would still be there.

After placing the bucket in a shaded area, he grabbed the bamboo basket and tongs and headed towards the nearest Ah Guang.

"Any findings?"

"What do you think? If there were any good things, I would have shouted about it already." 

"That's true. It seems like nobody has found anything good!"

He glanced at Ah Guang's bucket and saw a few stone crabs and some small miscellaneous fish. "You might want to try digging for shellfish on the reef. You might have better luck there."

Ah Guang nodded earnestly. "I think so too. I'll give it a try."

Yaodong patted his shoulder reassuringly and, after glancing at the positions of the others, decided to walk a bit further along the edge of the isolated island's reefs.

While he was busy catching sea centipedes, the tide had receded a bit more.

Since he had such a successful start on the mudflats today, he decided to head towards areas with more mudflats.

In the areas where the island was exposed after the tide receded, there were small patches of sandy beaches as well as mudflats. They didn't look very clean, and with every step he took, his feet would sink into the mud. After just a few steps, he had already slung a leg full of mud.

As he wandered around with the tongs, he noticed a large mud-covered blue crab lying motionless on the surface of the tidal flat. As if it’s basking in the sun?

The crab, cleverly camouflaged with mud, almost went unnoticed if he didn’t look carefully. As Ye Yaodong used the tongs to pinch it, the crab's large pincers immediately snapped and waved vigorously in response.

"Hey, it's a female crab. It feels quite heavy, and I think it has roe. It should weigh around one and a half jin. Nice catch! I almost overlooked it."

Yeah, luck is on his side today. It seems like there are treasures to be found on the mudflats. Just casually walking around and he stumbled upon this gem.