After checking their undersides, Ye Yaodong beamed. "Two males, weighing over a pound together. Not a bad haul today. We can stew them to give the kids a little extra nourishment."
He glanced around and found a piece of hemp rope washed up on the rocks.
He deftly tied up the two mud crabs and hung them from his basket, then happily went back to prying oysters and Sea Melon Seeds off the rock face.
He had to do his best to finish the task his mother had given him, or he would have to listen to her nagging again. The tide would recede even farther tomorrow, so he could come out to forage along the shore.
The closer the rocks were to the water, the bigger the Sea Melon Seeds growing on them became. After prying off a few, Ye Yaodong checked the tide, then pulled his trouser legs all the way up to his thighs, intending to venture farther out. There should be more out there.
Most of the people foraging along the shore today had come for sand clams, so hardly anyone was searching the rock faces.
The yield here was low. Besides, people harvested these rocks during the spring tides on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month, leaving only half a month for things to grow. Few reached a decent size, so digging sand clams was more worthwhile.
Ye Yaodong followed the rocks outward and stopped only when the water rose above his knees. Then, with a patience he rarely showed, he slowly began prying oysters off the rock face.
The oysters here were a little bigger, as were the Spicy Whelks clinging to the stone and the Sea Melon Seeds growing in clusters.
Only the mussels, which grew in dense patches, were too small to harvest, each barely the size of his little fingernail.
Everyone was busy working with their heads down, and no one noticed how far out he had gone. That left him free to harvest in peace for a while.
As the tide gradually receded to its lowest point, he moved farther out bit by bit. He had not foraged along the shore in decades, and now his interest had been thoroughly rekindled.
He found the feeling of bringing in a haul rather addictive. The only problem was the scorching sun. He had forgotten to bring a straw hat.
At this point in his life, he had done so little labor that his face was still fair, without the dark tan of someone who lived by the sea.
But the prolonged exposure to the sun had turned his face red and left him sweating buckets. Only his lower body, submerged in the seawater, felt somewhat cool.
The tide reached its lowest point at half past ten. After a long while, it began slowly rising again, and he could clearly feel the water creeping up from his knees with each rolling wave.
Only when the water reached the tops of his thighs did he slowly start moving back toward shore. He checked his dipper along the way. It was a third full—not bad, enough for two bowls of oyster omelet. He also had half a basket of Spicy Whelks and Sea Melon Seeds.
After squatting for so long, Lin Xiuqing was feeling tired too. Seeing that her basin was already half full, she stood up to rub her lower back and thump her back, glancing at her second son as she did.
The little boy sat playing in the sand by himself, having a wonderful time. His head and face were covered in sand, and his drool had soaked a large patch on his chest. He kept grabbing handfuls of sand to play with.
He was being very well behaved. As long as he had something to play with, he neither cried nor fussed nor looked for his mother.
She looked around again but could not see her husband anywhere, and her brows knitted. Sure enough, she could not expect anything from that man!
Seeing her stand up, Mother Ye realized she was a little tired too and straightened to take a break. But when she looked toward the rocks and saw no sign of Ye Yaodong, her temper flared. "Where the hell has he gone now? He promised me he would gather the oysters, and the next thing I know, he's vanished."
"Mother, how can you believe anything Yaodong says? After all these years, when have you ever seen him do an honest day's work? Doesn't he always shirk and slack off, make a show of working for a moment, then fool everyone and run away?" Ye Second Sister-in-Law curled her lip in disdain.
Exasperated by her son's failings, Mother Ye said, "When we get home, I'll have his father break his damn legs. He never takes anything seriously!"
"With Grandma around? Forget it."
Mother Ye was at her wits' end. A perfectly good son had somehow grown into such a lazy glutton. Once they were gone, he really would starve to death.
Ye Eldest Sister-in-Law chimed in too. "Mother, you really can't let Yaodong keep loafing around like this. Who can support him for the rest of his life? Xiuqing? He's a grown man with perfectly good arms and legs, yet he does nothing and lives off his wife. Doesn't he feel ashamed?"
Ye Second Sister-in-Law continued, "Exactly. How hard must it be for Xiuqing to support a whole family on her own? Only someone as good-tempered as her could put up with it. What other woman could stand having a husband like that?"
Some of the women digging sand clams nearby joined in. "Dongzi really is out of line. He's been married for so many years. He's not a child anymore..."
"Someone really ought to give him a talking-to. He can't keep going on like this..."
Returning with a full haul, Ye Yaodong had only just followed the rising tide back onto the beach when he heard a group of women gossiping about him. His face darkened with anger.
These busybodies! Always sticking their noses into everything!
His wife hadn't even said anything, yet they couldn't shut up!
"What are you talking about? Where did I go? I've been right here the whole time!"
Everyone turned to him in surprise. They had assumed he had run off after barely staying a moment, never expecting him to still be there. Those who had been gossiping immediately looked sheepish.
They had never expected to be caught red-handed talking behind his back!
But a few felt they had said nothing wrong and spoke with righteous confidence instead. "Dongzi, we're saying this for your own good. A man should support his family. If you keep loafing around like this, do you expect your parents to support your wife and children for the rest of their lives?"
Ye Yaodong looked coldly at the woman speaking. "Auntie Zhu Hua, aren't you worrying a little too much? Which eye of yours saw me loafing around? Aren't I working right now? Are you talking with your eyes shut? No wonder your family's poor! You must have spent all your money getting your eyes treated!"
He was already used to being a scoundrel anyway. He might as well snap right back!
"What nonsense are you spouting? You're the one with bad eyes! Your family's the poor one! You can't even afford to build a house and set up separate households. You're a bunch of paupers, yet you have the nerve to call my family poor..." Auntie Zhu Hua refused to take that lying down. She stood with one hand on her hip and pointed her spatula at him with the other as she shouted.
Now it was Mother Ye's turn to get angry. "What are you pointing at? Who are you to curse my son? So what if my family's poor? Are we eating your rice? If your family isn't poor, what are you doing foraging here?"
"Does the sea belong to your family? Who are you to stop anyone from foraging?"
"It doesn't belong to my family, but it belongs to our village! You're from the next village over, and you still have the nerve to talk! My son was minding his own business and working hard out there. Who are you to criticize him..."
After his opening retort, Ye Yaodong said nothing more and simply stood watching. It was better to leave the exchange of insults to his mother. A grown man trading abuse with a woman was hardly a good look.
Besides, half the village was related to them, and his mother had never been outmatched when it came to the sheer force of her scolding.
With so many people around, mediators stepped in after only a few exchanges and urged both women to hold their tongues. It had not been much of an issue to begin with, just a few bits of gossip.
With people smoothing things over, the two women glared at each other once more, then stopped.
Auntie Zhu Hua felt there was no point staying any longer. The tide was coming in anyway, so she picked up her bucket and went straight home.
The atmosphere eased as well.
Before you continue