Still, he had heard that shipworms tasted something like razor clams and squid tentacles, with a texture close to blue mussels and the fragrant fish oil of steamed grouper. They were springy yet tender, with a hint of sweetness, and none of that unsettling nastiness lingering behind.
But...
Heh... getting past that mental hurdle was no easy task.
Ye Yaosheng crouched down too and copied him, picking at an opening a few times, but all he scraped off was a patch of wood shavings. There was no sign of a shipworm.
He had no idea how much sea chicken feet were worth. Those shelled things held no appeal for him at all. He would rather have shipworms...
"We'll have to wait until we get back and split it open with an axe. We won't get any by picking at it like this."
"While we're still on the way, let's pry off this ring of sea chicken feet on the outside first."
While he was picking at the hole, Ye Yaodong had already broken several off by hand.
Ye Yaosheng knew that by sea chicken feet, he meant the barnacles along the boat's edges and sides. "I'll go get a couple of screwdrivers."
"They're in the toolbox in the boat cabin."
"I know."
Ye Yaodong also went over to fetch a bucket, ready to hold them.
By his estimate, even if they pried them all off, they probably would not quite fill a bucket-some ten-odd jin at most.
There were empty shells among them too. More juvenile shellfish and reticulated barnacles grew near the bottom, while there were only a few inside the boat.
Bare hands were no match for tools. The reason humans had evolved into higher animals was that they could use tools.
With screwdrivers to pry them off,