"I've got sharp eyes. Several of the crabs were covered in mud and hiding in the mudflats. I almost missed them." He admitted he'd been lucky, but some of it had come down to experience, too.
"I was pretty happy about catching one mud crab, but compared to your haul, it suddenly doesn't seem like much. Mine's nothing next to yours." A-Zheng shook his head glumly.
"It's fine. The tide hasn't come in yet. Go have another look around the mudflats. Huh? Where are Fatty and A-Guang?"
Xiao Xiao pointed toward the beach beside the rocks. "There-Fatty's taking a nap."
Ye Yaodong turned to look where he was pointing and saw Fatty lying on the beach with his hands behind his head and his hat covering his face.
"Holy shit, he can sleep here? Is he a pig?"
"Isn't he?"
Unbelievable!
Under that blazing sun, he could actually make the sky his blanket and the ground his bed. Ye Yaodong had to hand it to him!
"A-Guang went to gather little abalone. He figured the stuff on the rocks suited him better."
"Oh!" He spotted a figure on the rocks with his backside sticking up. "Then keep looking. It'll be a while before the tide comes in. I'm going to take a break."
As he spoke, he headed toward the patch of muddy sand where he'd caught the sea centipedes earlier. The bucket he'd almost half filled was still there, so he could take a breather and then catch some more.
Disgusting as these things looked, gourmets considered them an exquisite delicacy.
There weren't any on the beach in their village. While the tide was still out, he could dig into a few more holes and catch some. He wondered whether anyone at their wharf would buy them.
It was fine if they wouldn't. As long as he didn't kill them, they would keep for two or three days. With so many people in his family, he doubted they'd last three days anyway. They'd polish them off in two at most.
He pulled the sea centipedes out of their holes one after another. The long ones measured twenty to thirty centimeters, while the short ones were only a few centimeters long.
"You're still catching those? Don't you find them disgusting?"
Ye Yaodong recognized A-Guang's voice and replied without looking up, "It's fine when you catch them one at a time. They're just centipedes from the sea. It's not like I've never seen them before."
"Are you catching so many to sell, or to eat yourself?"
"I'll see whether A-Cai takes them. We don't get these at our wharf, after all. If he won't buy them, I'll keep them to eat."
A-Guang glanced at the bamboo basket beside him. "You've got mud crabs, too? Pretty big ones, at that. Not a bad haul. You've just about made a day's wages."
"You'll be green with envy when you hear this. I caught seven-two females and five males, all nice and meaty." Ye Yaodong was rather pleased with himself. He hadn't expected this isolated island to be so rich in seafood.
"What? Seven? What kind of crazy luck is that!"
A-Guang's eyes widened in disbelief as he gave the bamboo basket a shake. Sure enough, he could see several large claws at the bottom.
"A-Zheng and Chen Wei caught one each, too. Want to take another look around? The tide isn't all the way in yet."
"Yes! I'm going right now. Tell me where you caught them!"
Ye Yaodong pointed out the direction. "Over there. But I've already covered most of it. You can go a little farther out. I haven't checked that area."
"Got it."
A-Guang eagerly ran in the direction he'd indicated. Once the tide started rising, it would come in quickly. Besides, it was already past the first day of the lunar month, and the water hadn't receded very far today.
Ye Yaodong hadn't expected his casual suggestion to net A-Guang two mud crabs. One was enormous, even a little bigger than his largest.
Everyone was envious when A-Guang came back.
Xiao Xiao teased, "Master Dongzi, when are you going to give me a few pointers?"
"Yeah! If I'd known, I would've asked where you caught them. Maybe I could've gotten a couple, too!" A-Zheng bitterly regretted it. He'd been chatting with Dongzi earlier, too.
A-Guang, meanwhile, was hungry for more. He said regretfully, "Ah, I went too late. I only found two before the tide came in. The second one almost got washed out to sea. Good thing I was quick."
"That's good enough. You've got two mud crabs just like that, while Fatty and Xiao Xiao haven't got any. If I'd known there were some over there, I would've gone myself." After saying that with a smile, Ye Yaodong reminded everyone, "The tide's coming in. Let's pack everything up and get aboard."
"Come on, let's go home. I'm starving!"
"Me too. My stomach's practically flat."
"Wake that fat bastard up..."
"Just leave him here to live like a savage..."
"You're talking so loud. You think I'm deaf and can't hear you?"
Bantering back and forth, they each carried their buckets and tools aboard first. Then A-Guang untied the rope and used the boat's bamboo pole to push away from shore before starting the engine.
It was already three o'clock. They'd been out since early morning-a whole day by now-and everyone was exhausted. Once aboard, they slumped into seats or leaned against whatever they could.
"Foraging along the shore is pretty hard work. Good thing we got a decent haul today. At least we didn't come for nothing," Chen Wei said, rolling his neck.
He wasn't as outgoing as the others. With them constantly joking around, he usually stayed quiet and only spoke up now and then.
Fatty rolled his eyes. "Why do I feel like you're taking a dig at me?"
"Hahaha! Have a little confidence. Drop the 'feel like,'" Ye Yaodong said, laughing.
The others couldn't help laughing, too.
"Fatty, you might as well not have come. Look at that fair, chubby face of yours. It's all tanned now."
"What's wrong with a man getting a little darker? But it really was too hot, and the sun was too strong. I'm not coming next time."
"You'll still be out in the sun helping at Dongzi's house site tomorrow..."
Ye Yaodong quickly spoke up. "Hey, no pressure. In weather this hot, who wants to work under the sun? I'm not forcing anyone. Come or don't-it's up to you."
A little embarrassed, Fatty said, "I'll see how things go and come help out."
"It's fine. Building a house isn't a one- or two-day job. My family's hired workers already, so just do whatever suits you."
Everyone nodded. They'd help out a little when they could.
After a little over ten minutes, the boat reached the wharf. Once it was moored, everyone went ashore, leaving Ye Yaodong aboard to keep watch.
They were going home to fetch sacks for their haul. Several piles of shellfish they'd gathered were heaped on the deck. They also needed to bring a handcart; otherwise, everything would be too heavy to carry home on shoulder poles.
While he waited, fishing boats began coming in around him one after another. It was afternoon already, so it was time for the trawlers to return.
They were all from the same village, so naturally they knew one another. Everyone greeted him. Seeing his deck covered in shellfish, they asked a few curious questions, but he brushed them off with vague answers.
It all looked like the usual things found on the rocks, so nobody thought it was anything special. There was just so much of it-a whole boatload. Seeing that Ye Yaodong didn't want to say much, they stopped asking, though they couldn't resist taking a few extra looks.
It was only because this stuff wasn't worth much. Few households in the village owned boats, and most of those were small wooden ones propelled by hand. Besides, everyone needed their boats to fish and make money. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been anything left on the surrounding isolated islands.
He hadn't waited long before he saw his mother appear onshore. She must have come to wait for his father.
Mother Ye spotted him, too. She called out and hurried over. "Why are you only getting back now? You were gone a whole... How did you get so much?"
Before she could finish, her eyes widened in surprise at the shellfish piled all over the boat.
Before you continue