Back To the Small Fishing Village In 1982

        Chapter 56 The Giant Coconut Snail

Lin Xiuqing hurriedly returned, panting heavily, and handed the bucket to Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong took the bucket and filled it with seawater while curiously asking, "Why didn't Mom and the others come with you?"

She blinked her eyes and said, "I didn't say anything."

Ye Yaodong chuckled softly, thinking she wasn't that naive.

"They didn't ask you why you needed the bucket?"

"I rushed in, grabbed the bucket, and ran back quickly. They asked me from behind, but I didn't have time to respond."

“Oh!"

As she watched the grouper being placed into the bucket, Lin Xiuqing opened the sack and took another look at their harvest. It seemed like there wasn't much additional catch, was there?

"You didn't look around a bit more? Did you catch anything after I left?"

"The big catch is here; why would I want to go elsewhere? Besides, the tide is still receding, so there's no rush. Let's leave the bucket here for now; no need to carry it around. After all, no one is venturing out on a typhoon day."

She was about to lift the bucket, but upon hearing his words, she had no choice but to put it back down. Carrying the half-filled bucket was indeed a bit heavy.

Just a few steps into the walk, Ye Yaodong bent down and grabbed a stone crab, muttering, "I should have asked you to bring the tongs earlier. It would have been more convenient for picking up crabs."

Lin Xiuqing replied irritably, "You could have said it earlier."

"I forgot for a moment. It was only when I saw the blue crab with a missing leg that I remembered." Now there's no phone available to make a call.

The two of them continued to move around the rocky area, lifting any movable rocks they came across. Their harvest was quite plentiful. Lin Xiuqing caught five or six sea ruffe, not to mention the stone crabs. In just a short while, they picked up more than a dozen of them, along with a few red-spotted crabs. Ye Yaodong kept bending down repeatedly, and his back was starting to ache.

He straightened his body and twisted his waist. "I'm only 25 years old, but why does it feel like my back is already giving up on me?"

Lin Xiuqing's face slightly blushed as she gave him a teasing look. "You've got some nerve."

"There's no one around, so what's there to be embarrassed about?"

These past few days have indeed been quite busy. He feels like his body is being drained. He really needs to rest and relax tonight.

"Hey~ There’s a red crab. Why is everything found one by one? How can we cook it when it's not even enough for a bowl?"

"It's good enough to have it. We can just boil them all together for a simple steamed dish. It's convenient too."

"Hey, there's another one here. We can stir-fry it with green peppers for a dish.”

As the couple walked and chatted, Lin Xiuqing went from being excited about the discoveries to now calmly glancing at them without much reaction.

"There's a seashell being carried by the waves. It's so big! Is it just the shell without any meat inside?" Lin Xiuqing watched as a wave brought a gigantic seashell, almost the size of her head, onto the shore, unsure if it contained any meat.

With curiosity in her mind, she casually kicked it, and the seashell flipped over, revealing the retracting snail meat.

There is meat!

She excitedly squatted down to pick it up. It was almost as big as her head. This seashell must be valuable!

"Ah Dong, what kind of seashell is this? It's so big!"

Ye Yaodong raised his head, not expecting much, but his eyes widened in surprise. "Coconut snail? So big?"

"Coconut snail?" It was difficult for her, being someone from the mountains, to recognize it. Even the people in their village rarely saw such a large snail.

He didn't even care about the sack in his hand and threw it aside. He hurriedly rushed over and took it from her, exclaiming, "Damn, such a big coconut snail! It must weigh three to four jin!"

"Is it worth a lot of money?" Lin Xiuqing's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Whether it's valuable or not depends on whether it has any treasures in its belly. Without any treasures, it can only fetch a little money. But if it does have treasures, we're going to make a fortune!"

She listened with a puzzled expression, not understanding. "What do you mean? What could possibly be inside its belly?"

"Fortunately, I'm here. If you had found it alone, you would have probably sold it right away!"

"Otherwise?" She became more confused as she listened. "What kind of treasure does it have in its belly?"

"Not sure. We'll have to dig out the meat to find out." 

"Ah? But if we dig out the meat, how can we sell the snail?"

"If we don't dig out the meat, how would you know if there are any treasures inside? With such a big shell, it also has collector's value and can be crafted into artwork.

But compared to treasures, what significance does this snail hold?

The fishermen along their coastline generally know that whenever they catch shells or similar things, they perform a "surgery" by cutting them open to see if there are any rare treasures hidden inside, especially if they are large in size.

Lin Xiuqing was becoming increasingly anxious. After all this time, he still hadn't mentioned what treasures might be inside. "What's inside? Pearls?”

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "We haven't opened it yet, so who knows if there's anything inside? I'll let you know once we open it to avoid getting excited for no reason!"

She was so angry that she stared daggers at him!

"Then open it quickly!"

Ye Yaodong spread his hands, "I don't have any tools; give me a fishing hook, and I can open it. Otherwise, we can only take it home, cook it, and pick out the meat."

"Then let's wait until we get home to open it."

He thought for a moment and said, "How about going to the small shop and borrowing a weighing hook?"

If the treasure is revealed at home, it's hard to guarantee that others won't be tempted. Besides, at this moment, he's feeling a bit restless and itching to see what's inside.

"Alright! I'll go right away!"

"Let me go. You stay here and keep watch. You’ve already made a round trip just now."

"It’s no problem!" After saying that, she ran off. She was also eager to find out what was inside.

Ye Yaodong could only wait in place while studying it. From the appearance, it was not clear whether there was anything inside. When he touched it, it would retract a bit, indicating that it was quite fresh.

If he wasn't afraid of getting shell fragments stuck to the meat and making it difficult to pick, he would just smash it open directly, which would be more convenient.

While waiting, he wandered around with the snail in his hand. He also caught two sea ruffe and three stone crabs and threw them all into a sack. However, he couldn't bear to throw the snail into the sack; he kept holding onto it.

Lin Xiuqing was anxious and accidentally tripped and fell while running back. She scraped her knee and walked over limping. Ye Yaodong spotted her from afar and quickly went to meet her.

"What happened? Did you fall?" 

"Yeah, I tripped on a rock while running just now."

Her pants had a tear at the knee and were covered in damp soil. He couldn't help but furrow his brow and crouch down, intending to roll up her pants to take a look. However, she evaded him and moved away.

"It's okay. Just go back and mend the pants, and everything will be fine."

"Who cares about your pants? Lift up your pant leg and let me take a look."

"No need; I'm fine. You quickly take the weighing hook and open the snail to see what's inside."

"Let's first take a look at your knee. We can open the snail anytime..."

"Why are you being annoying? Hurry up..." Lin Xiuqing directly shoved the weighing hook into his arms and urged him on.

Helplessly, Ye Yaodong had no choice but to first open the snail for her.

For this type of snail, the locals have a method of extracting the meat. They typically use a weighing hook to suspend it by its flesh, allowing it to hang for a while.

Since the spiral part of the coconut snail is short and its innards are not firmly grasped, lacking strength, when it is suspended upside down for a long time, the tail of the snail cannot withstand the weight of the shell and naturally loosens, leaving only intact meat hanging on the hook.

(end of this chapter)

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