The children crowded around the stove, and Mother Ye could not shoo them away. Some even wanted to help tend the fire. Only after she scolded them did they move aside, fidgeting and craning their necks as they waited.
Lin Guangyuan asked curiously, "Do seabird eggs taste good?"
"They should, right? Chicken eggs taste good, so seabird eggs must taste good too."
"You've never eaten them?"
"Where would we get any?"
"Aren't you from the coast? You live by the sea and you've never eaten seabird eggs?"
"Who says people from the coast have to have eaten seabird eggs?"
They all chattered over one another.
Father Ye smiled. "Seabird eggs taste good. Seabirds are different from birds in the woods. They often lay their eggs right on the ground or among piles of rocks. You just have to get lucky. They're easier to find on islands."
Only then did Lin Guangyuan understand. "I was wondering why I found seabird eggs on the ground, whole nests of them. Sometimes I'd find a dozen or more at once, then another lot not far away, all on the ground."
Lin Mother said happily too, "You caught so many again."
"Oh, so you weren't going to gather squid. You were going to gather seabird eggs!"
"Then hurry up and ask him!"
He and Father Lin first carried the full sacks of shellfish beside them onto the boat while waiting for Lin Guangyuan.
"Because you're a clever idiot!"
But while he was washing, Ye Chenghai sneaked over.
"I want one too! I want a big one too..."
"I'm coming! I'm coming..." Lin Guangyuan's excited voice reached them from far away.
"Then how are you going to thank me?"
"They were annoying me yesterday. They wouldn't leave, and even when I chased them away, they flew