Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

 Chapter 54 Going Sea Digging on a Typhoon Day

Need to bring a sack too?

Is there a lot of goods?

Lin Xiuqing followed Ye Yaodong to the seaside with some doubts. The tide had just receded a little, and looking at the waves rolling in layer by layer in the distance, it felt quite spectacular.

She had been married for five years and had never come to the shore during a typhoon. Either she was pregnant or taking care of the children.

"Isn't it nice? The beach here is quite beautiful."

It’s a typhoon day, and the seawater appears slightly yellow.

"We came here to see if there's anything to pick up, and won’t stay for long. Let's go down to the beach quickly and head back early. Who knows when it will start pouring rain?" Saying that, she started walking down to the beach.

Ye Yaodong shook his head as he watched her figure walk away. No sense of romance!

"Ah, there's actually something to pick up!" As soon as Lin Xiuqing stepped onto the beach, she noticed a huge clam at her feet and was pleasantly surprised.

He quickly took a few steps forward and exclaimed, "Did I lie to you? There really are things to pick up!"

Lin Xiuqing rolled her eyes at him and said, "It's not even that valuable, and you made me come out on a typhoon day just to pick it up. It would be nice if there were something better for me to pick up."

"Let's see if there's anything in a while. The waves are so big, it's hard to say there won't be any seafood washed ashore."

"Um."

After walking a few steps forward, she picked up another large clam. Lin Xiuqing's face lit up with joy. This was different from squatting down and struggling to dig for sand clams. This one didn't require any digging, and it was five or six times larger than a sand clam. The feeling of being able to find something just by casually walking around was wonderful.

Yaodong also bent down to pick up one. "Hey, I have one too, but it's not as big as your two.”

"Are there only clams to pick up?"

"Let's keep walking and see."

Based on his experience, during typhoon weather with big waves, there should be seafood washed ashore on the beach. That's why he disregarded the typhoon and brought her out when the tide had just receded.

"Fish... fish!" Lin Xiuqing excitedly pulled his arm and pointed to the waves ahead, "There..."

Ye Yaodong followed her finger and looked over. He saw a foolish-looking fish being swept up by the waves and jumping out of the water. After the waves receded, the fish remained stranded on the beach, still floundering around.

Lin Xiuqing quickly stuffed the clams in her hands into his arms and ran forward to try to pick up the fish. However, she found it very slippery, and as she held it in her hands, it slipped and fell down again.

Just as a wave was about to crash, Ye Yaodong quickly stuffed the clams into his pocket and rushed forward to kick the fish onto the beach. He then held his wife in his arms and used his back to shield her from the oncoming wave.

A big wave crashed onto his back, drenching him with a chilling sensation. The seawater dripped down from his forehead, and as for Lin Xiuqing, she was shielded in his embrace and remained untouched by the crashing wave. Only the seawater from his head dripped onto her face.

Lin Xiuqing blinked her eyes and looked at him with uncertainty. "Are you okay? Why did you... why did you shield me from the wave? You're all wet. Let's go back and change clothes…"

He wiped the seawater off his face and casually said, "It's alright, just take off the wet clothes. You go pick up that silly fish, it looks like it weighs around five or six jin. Let's bring it back. We'll marinate half of it and make fish fillet soup for lunch."

"Oh, okay then."

In fact, the scientific name of this fish is called Trachurus japonicus, or Japanese horse mackerel. However, the locals here call it silly fish or dumb fish. It is very affordable. In the future, people from their village buy it for five yuan per jin at the pier, while outsiders would buy it for eight yuan per jin. Nowadays, it might only cost around four to five cents.

As for why it is called silly, it is entirely because it is silly!

There is no fish more silly than this.

When fishing boats are sailing on the sea, this fish often jumps onto the deck by itself, offering an additional meal to the fishermen.

This kind of thing happens not just once or twice; it happens too frequently, so the local fishermen all refer to it as silly and dumb.

Lin Xiuqing tried several times but couldn't catch it. Every time she grabbed it, it would flick its tail and slip off onto the beach.

"You're so clumsy!"

Ye Yaodong shook the sack he took out of his pocket and opened it towards the silly fish, then gave it a kick and it went into the sack, along with a few clams that were thrown in as well.

"If I had known, I would have brought a bucket. Putting it in a sack means it's as good as dead."

"It doesn't matter if we kill it when we get back. Are you planning to keep it alive by filling a bucket with water? It's not something valuable. Let's go."

"All right."

Just a few steps further, Ye Yaodong keenly noticed a small portion of a golden tail sticking out beside a rock. He pulled his wife and said, "Look here..."

Lin Xiuqing instantly saw it too and exclaimed, "Ah, it's a big pomfret!"

"Mmm, it's a golden pomfret! It's quite a decent size, weighing over a jin. It's a pity it's not a white pomfret, those are delicious!" He said as he bent down and opened its gills to take a look. The gills were bright red, indicating it was fresh and had just died. It could be added to their sack.

Golden pomfret looks better than white pomfret, but it is not as valuable.

White pomfret has a delicate and tender texture, while golden pomfret has a relatively rough and firm texture. However, white pomfret is usually smaller in size, typically weighing less than 1 jin, while golden pomfret tends to be 1 jin or larger.

Once the weight of the white pomfret exceeds 6 taels, the price doubles. During the fishing ban period, it can be sold in the market for over 120 yuan.

It's good to have a harvest. Lin Xiuqing doesn't really mind whether it's a golden pomfret or a white pomfret. After all, they have just earned a significant amount of money. It's best to sell the collected seafood for money, and if it's not valuable, they can keep it for themselves. They won't be at a loss either way.

"It turns out there are a lot of things to be picked on typhoon days. If I had known earlier, I would have called my sisters-in-law to come along."

Ye Yaodong pouted, what would they do?

Be a third wheel?

The couple rarely had the opportunity to leisurely go out together. Since his rebirth, they hadn't had such a relaxed time alone. He never intended to invite others.

"Let's keep going, the tide has receded a bit more."

Just as he was about to follow the receding tide, the small pool of water beneath the rock where he found the golden pomfret suddenly rippled. "Wait a moment... let me move this stone and take a look."

"Is there something there?"

"It's possible. After the tide receded, these low-lying areas with rocks are more likely to have stranded seafood."

Lin Xiuqing also crouched down curiously to watch him move the rock.

"Ah, it's a little blue crab."

Ye Yaodong also saw it. It's indeed small, probably not even half a jin, but at least it's a blue crab, better than a stone crab.

"Do you dare to catch it?"

"Don't dare, I'm afraid of its big pincers."

"Just grab its back, it can't bite you."

He grabbed it and suddenly handed it over to her, startling her and making her lean back, sitting on the beach. "What are you doing!"

"Scare you."

Lin Xiuqing gave him a glare, patted her bottom, stood up, and walked ahead without paying any attention to him.

Ye Yaodong quickly threw the blue crab into the sack and followed her.

"Hehe, are you angry?"

"No, hurry up and search. The weather is turning cloudy again. It might rain soon."

The two of them kept bending over on the beach, following the tide, and they were all clams. Each one was big and satisfying to pick up.

Many times, as soon as they picked up a clam and put it in the sack, another wave would come crashing in. The clams would be washed up onto the beach, rolling around. If they were a step too slow, the clams might roll back into the sea with the tide.