Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

  Chapter 48 A Boat Full of Shellfish 

"I have sharp eyes. Several crabs were covered in mud, hiding in the mudflats. I almost missed them.” He admits that he has been lucky, but his experience also played a part.

"I was initially happy when I caught a blue crab, but now, seeing the comparison, it's just a small achievement. I'm no match for you," sighed Ah Zheng with frustration.

"No worries, the tide hasn't risen yet. Let's explore the surrounding mudflats a bit more. By the way, where are Fatty and Ah Guang?"

Little Xiao pointed towards the sandy beach near the reef and said, "Well, Fatty is taking a nap over there."

Ye Yaodong turned his body and looked in the direction pointed out by Little Xiao. He saw Fatty lying on the sandy beach with his hands behind his head and his hat covering his face.

"Damn, how can he sleep like that? Is he a pig?"

"He's just a pig, isn't he?"

Speechless!

To be able to sleep like that under the scorching sun, using the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed, he’s truly amazed by him!

"Oh, Ah Guang went to pick up abalones. He thinks the ones on the reef are more suitable for him."

"Oh!” He saw someone bending over on the reef. “Well, you guys continue searching. The tide won't rise for a while. I'll take a break for now."

As he spoke, he walked towards the area where he had previously caught the sea centipedes. There was still almost half a bucket of them left. It was a perfect opportunity to take a break and continue catching more.

Although they may appear disgusting, these creatures are considered a delicacy for foodies.

Since their village beach doesn't have these creatures, he can take this opportunity while the tide hasn't risen yet to continue digging for more, and then he’ll see if the pier would be interested in buying them.

If the pier isn't interested in buying them, it's not a problem. As long as he doesn't kill them, he can keep them for a couple of days. With a large family like his, they probably won't last three days anyway. They'll most likely be consumed within two days.

One by one, he caught the sea centipedes from their burrows. Some were as long as 20-30 centimeters, while others were only a few centimeters in length. He continued to pull them out of the holes, one after another.

"You're still catching them? Aren't you disgusted?"

Upon hearing the voice, Ye Yaodong recognized it as Ah Guang's. Without lifting his head, he replied, "It's not a big deal to catch them one by one. They're just sea creatures, like underwater centipedes. It's not like I haven't seen it before."

"Are you catching so many to sell? Or for eating?" 

"We'll see if Ah Cai is willing to buy them. After all, our pier doesn't usually have these creatures. If he doesn't want them, we'll keep them for ourselves."

Ah Guang looked at his own bamboo basket beside him and said, "There are also large blue crabs. Aren’t they quite large? The harvest is good, and I can barely earn a day's wages”

"Man, I envy you. I caught seven of them, two females and five males, and they all have a lot of meat," said Ye Yaodong proudly. He had never imagined that the island would have such abundant resources.

"What? Seven? What kind of damned luck do you have!" 

Ah Guang couldn't believe his eyes and shook the bamboo basket in disbelief. Sure enough, he saw several large pincers at the bottom.

"Ah Zheng and Chen Weieach caught one as well. Do you want to go around and try your luck again? The tide hasn't fully come in yet."

"Go, I'll go right away. Just tell me where to find them!"

"Over there," replied Ye Yaodong, pointing in a certain direction. "But I've already explored most of that area. You can go a bit further, I haven't ventured into that particular spot."

"Got it."

Ah Guang eagerly ran in the direction pointed out by Ye Yaodong. As the tide was starting to rise, it would soon reach its peak. Moreover, it was already past the first day of the lunar new year, so the water level hadn't receded much today.

Ye Yaodong didn't expect that his suggestion would result in such a harvest for Ah Guang. He managed to catch two blue crabs, one of which was exceptionally large, slightly bigger than the largest one Ye Yaodong had caught.

When Ah Guang returned, the others couldn't help but feel envious of his catch.

Little Xiao jokingly said, "Master Dong, when will you give me some guidance too?"

"Yeah, if only I had asked you earlier about where to catch them, maybe I could have gotten two as well!" Ah Zheng regretted it so much, he was just chatting with Yaodong earlier.

Ah Guang, on the other hand, savored the experience and said with a hint of regret, "Ah, I went there too late. I only found two before the tide started rising. The second one almost got washed away by the water, but luckily I was quick enough to catch it."

"It's still good; you managed to get two blue crabs at once. Fatty and Little Xiao didn't catch any yet. If I had known about that spot, I would have gone there myself," Ye Yaodong said with a smile. Afterward, he reminded everyone, "The tide has come in; let's pack up our things and get on the boat."

"Let's go, go home; I'm starving to death."

 "Me too, I'm so hungry."

"Wake up Fatty first..."

"Just leave him here and let him live in the wild..."

"Don't speak so loudly, am I deaf? Did I not hear you?"

Everyone playfully made jokes and carried their buckets and tools onto the boat. Afterward, Ah Guang untied the rope and used a bamboo pole on the boat to create some distance from the shore, then he started the engine.

Now it's already three o'clock, and it has been a long day since they set out early in the morning. Everyone is exhausted, and as soon as they got on the boat, they slouched or leaned in different spots.

"It's quite tiring to go fishing in the sea, but luckily today's harvest was good. It was worth coming here," Chen Wei said, rubbing his neck.

He wasn't as lively as the others and usually didn't engage in their banter. He was more reserved and spoke only occasionally.

Fatty rolled his eyes, "Why do I feel like you're mocking me!"

"Hahaha, have some confidence and remove the word ‘feel’," laughed Ye Yaodong.

The others couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Hey, Fatty, you might as well not have come. Look at your white, chubby face, it's all tanned."

"Who cares if men get a little tan? It's just that it's really hot and sunny. I won't come next time."

"Tomorrow we're going to help out at Yaodong’s homestead, and we'll still have to endure the sun..."

Ye Yaodong quickly spoke up, "Hey, no pressure! It's scorching hot out there, and I wouldn't expect anyone to be eager to work under the sun. I'm not forcing anyone, so it's up to you whether you want to come or not."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Fatty said, "I'll see how things go and try to help out a bit."

"It's alright; building a house takes more than just one or two days. We've hired workers for the job, so you guys can just take it easy."

Everyone nodded in agreement. After all, they were willing to help out if needed, depending on the situation.

After a journey of about ten minutes, the boat arrived and was docked. Everyone disembarked one by one, leaving only Ye Yaodong on the boat, keeping an eye on it.

They were going back to fetch sacks to pack their goods. On the deck, there were several piles of shellfish they had collected. They also planned to bring a cart to make transportation easier, as the load was quite heavy and difficult to carry all the way home.

During his wait, several fishing boats started arriving one after another. It was already afternoon, and it was about time for the fishing boats to return.

Since they were all from the same village, they were familiar with each other. Everyone greeted him as they saw his boat filled with shellfish. They showed curiosity and asked a few questions, but he evaded their inquiries.

Seeing that the shellfish were common on the rocks, everyone didn't find it particularly surprising. They were more amazed by the sheer quantity of shellfish filling the boat. Since Ye Yaodong didn't seem willing to share more information, they refrained from asking further and simply stole a few more glances.

These items aren't worth much. There are few families in the village who own boats, and most of them are small wooden boats operated by hand. Besides, everyone's boats are primarily used for fishing to make a living. Otherwise, the surrounding islands wouldn't have anything left.

After waiting for a short while, he saw his mother appear on the shore. She must be there to wait for his father.

His mother also spotted him and hurriedly called out, running towards him. "Why did you take so long to come back—why do you have so many shellfish?" 

Before she could finish her sentence, she was taken aback by the sight of the boat filled with shellfish. Her eyes widened in astonishment.

(end of this chapter)