Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

Chapter 47 Abundant Resources on the Isolated Island.

He continued to wander around and noticed another blue crab not far away, buried in the sand with only its two eyes visible.

"They just keep getting better at hiding!"

Luckily, with his good eyesight and sharp vision, he picked it up and took a closer look. This one was slightly smaller but still weighed over a jin. It was a male crab, and it looked pretty good!

He put the crab into the bamboo basket and became more meticulous in his search, fearing that it would be covered by the mud and he'd miss it.

Whenever he came across rocks, he would deliberately move them aside to see if there was anything beneath them.

However, the area he was searching was a mudflat with very little water. He broke several rocks but didn't find any stranded small fish or shrimp. He didn't get discouraged and continued his patient search. After all, there was plenty of time since the tide had just receded.

After moving several rocks, he finally spotted two large blue crabs stacked on top of each other by the side of a big rock!

"Wow, they're having a showdown! You guys really know how to amaze me!"

He picked up one of them, and as a result, the other one got stuck on the other. Upon examining their backs, he confirmed that indeed, one was male and the other was female.

They were both blue crabs. Ye Yaodong speculated in his mind that it was likely due to the island being deserted. With no human activity or threats, the crabs would crawl onto the mudflat to relax and bask in the sun after the tide receded. They would then return to the sea when the tide rose again.

After excitedly putting both crabs into his bag, he noticed a small stretch of mudflat not far ahead. It appeared to be relatively flat, and its surface was covered in numerous small holes.

He took a few quick steps forward and then crouched down. Unlike the small holes on the sandy beach surface, which are inhabited by sand clams, based on his experience, he deduced that beneath these holes were likely razor clams.

Razor clams are a type of invertebrate mollusk commonly found in the sandy mud of the intertidal zone. They have long, narrow shells shaped like razors and are capable of rapidly moving up and down within their burrows. When startled, they quickly retract into their burrows.

He muttered to himself, "It's a pity I didn't bring any salt. Otherwise, I could sprinkle some around these holes, and the razor clams would come out on their own. Now I have to dig them out myself; what a hassle!"

Setting aside the tongs in his hand, he proceeded to dig into each hole with his bare hands. Fortunately, the razor clams weren't buried too deep, making them relatively easy to extract.

After digging out a few razor clams, he noticed a nearby rock and casually moved it aside. To his surprise, he discovered two jumping fish. He quickly tossed them into the bamboo basket as well.

No matter how small a mosquito’s legs are, they still count as meat. At least it can be considered a harvest.

With nimble hands and feet, he diligently dug for over ten minutes, emptying all the small holes in that area. By his estimation, he had collected around three to four jin of razor clams. Satisfied with his harvest, he stood up.

Having crouched for too long, he felt his neck becoming sore. His hands were dirty, making it inconvenient to massage the area. Ye Yaodong decided to twist his neck a bit and took the opportunity to glance at the people nearby.

Everyone seemed to have scattered around, and he wondered how successful their harvests were.

He looked up at the sun, which was still glaringly bright. Judging that there was still plenty of time and the tide wouldn't rise too quickly, he decided to continue searching for more, occasionally picking up a few jumping fish along the way.

As he continued walking, he gradually moved away from the small mudflat and entered the area of shallow water and mud.

As soon as his feet touched the seawater, Ye Yaodong sat on a large rock, intending to wash off the mud from his legs. The mud stuck to his skin and would dry up quickly under the sun, making his skin feel tight and uncomfortable.

Just after washing his feet, he noticed an antenna poking out from under a rock crevice.

"You've fallen into my grasp! Come out!" he exclaimed. Putting on gloves, he reached out and grabbed it. "Oh, it's a small mantis shrimp!"

After tossing it into the bamboo basket, he continued to reach under the rock, attempting to dig further. "There's more!" 

He grabbed them, and upon closer inspection, he realized there were two more small mantis shrimp!

There's a saying among the people of Fujian: "Three small mantis shrimps are worth a sheep on top!"

While other types of seafood are typically sold by weight, small mantis shrimp are usually sold individually.

"I've got a sheep!"

The resources on the isolated island were indeed much more abundant than at the pier. As he circled around the rock, he spotted several snails.

There were only about seven or eight of them, and their flesh was stuck to the rock. He simply broke them off one by one and threw them into his hand.

The snails that stuck to the rocks usually had flesh inside, while those that were submerged in seawater often lacked meat.

Since he had already reached the shallow water area, he decided to take a look around and explore the surroundings.

"Ah, sea ruffe..."

Observing a red figure swimming near the pile of broken stones, Ye Yaodong quickly took a few steps toward it. It turned out to be a sea ruffe.

Sea ruffe fish typically inhabit crevices between rocks or stone caves in the ocean. They seem to have a strong affinity for rocks and will only appear and live in areas with rocks at the bottom, regardless of the water depth. They rely on the small shrimp at the bottom as their source of food.

He set aside the bamboo basket and tongs, freeing up his hands. With both hands surrounding the fish, he carefully grabbed it. He was cautious of the poisonous spines on its fins and handled them with care.

The brilliantly red Sea Ruffe was indeed a sight to behold, much more beautiful than most other fish.

Ye Yaodong was in a good mood. Regardless of the value of the catch, any kind of harvest always brought joy.

From then on, the harvest was not as plentiful. Until the tide began to rise, he managed to catch only three sea ruffe, just enough to make a bowl of soup. He also caught some jumping fish, stone crabs, a few miscellaneous fish, and three large blue crabs.

Wading through the water, he walked towards the reef where they had disembarked. The others were still looking down and wandering around. Ye Yaodong shouted loudly to them, "The tide is rising!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice for a moment but then continued to look down. The tide was indeed rising, but it hadn't reached the point where the boat was stranded on the beach yet, so there was no need to panic.

As he approached, he shouted again, "Aren't you hungry?"

“Who wouldn't be hungry? We're starving."

"I've already eaten several shrimp raw."

He hadn't noticed, but indeed, he didn't find any shrimp among his catch. "I didn't find any shrimp."

"Then what did you find?"

"Three small mantis shrimp, three sea ruffe, several stone crabs, a mix of various snails, three to four jin of razor clams, and seven large blue crabs..."

"Damn, you found seven large blue crabs? How big are they?" Little Xiao, who was closest to him, looked at him incredulously.

"They're all over a jin, and the biggest one is probably close to two jin!"

The biggest one was found under a rock in the shallow water area as he was walking over. Fortunately, he spotted it; otherwise, when the tide came in, it would have returned to the sea.

Ah Zheng enviously exclaimed, "What luck you have! Not only did you find three to four jin of razor clams, but you also managed to pick up seven large blue crabs? I only found one."

"I also found one! It's pretty big too; it should be around one to one and a half jin," Chen Wei said as he walked over.

"It seems like there are quite a lot of blue crabs here. I wonder if it's because of the isolated island and the fact that fishing nets can't reach this area. It's quite abundant."

"I think so too. It's probably because no one has visited this place before," Little Xiao commented as he glanced at the bamboo basket in Ye Yaodong's hand. "Yours is packed full."

"Yeah, Ye Yaodong has been really lucky these past few days! Same place, but he always manages to get more than us." 

(end of this chapter)

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