The bucket had originally been a little under half full of seawater, with all sorts of seafood inside. With another seven or eight jin of mud snails added, the water rose to seven-tenths full, making it look like quite a haul.
Ye Yaodong turned around with the bucket, intending to see where the dogs had gone, only to find them all digging holes not far behind him.
No wonder the last batch they had brought him had been nothing but clams, blood clams, and cat's eye snails. The first time, they had brought fish and mantis shrimp. So they had been slacking off here.
He walked toward the nearest little black dog and watched its front paws digging away expertly, without a moment's pause.
Before long, he saw a cat's eye snail shell exposed in the hole. A large chunk of its flesh, swollen with seawater, had not even had time to retract before the dog caught it in its mouth and brought it straight to him.
This time, the service was particularly attentive: it stuck its head into the bucket and opened its mouth, saving him the trouble of taking it by hand. The other dogs lined up one after another to stick their heads in and release their catches too.
Did this more or less count as enjoying the fruits of someone else's labor?
"Go find some stranded fish and shrimp. Don't just keep digging holes."
He had barely finished speaking when a little black dog caught his trouser leg in its mouth and tugged.
Having experienced this before, Ye Yaodong knew it wanted him to follow. He nudged it twice with his foot. "Where are you taking me? Lead the way!"
The little black dog ran ahead, and he followed, with the other four dogs trotting along