An unexpected windfall

[Liang Yusheng novels

Ye Yaodong turned his gaze from the boats back to the rocks around him. They were densely covered in tiny mussels, little Sea Melon Seeds, and oyster shells with the flesh already dug out.

People had picked over these rocks far too often. Any mussels and Sea Melon Seeds of a decent size had long since been harvested, leaving only tiny ones about the size of a little fingernail growing on the rocks.

At that size, they were practically all shell. The meat probably wasn't even as big as a booger, so they weren't worth eating. Still, whenever the tide went out, there would inevitably be a few that had grown bigger.

People were already searching the rock faces with tools, and his mother was among them.

He went over for a look. His mother held a water dipper in one hand, with a small basket hanging from her wrist.

The dipper already contained a few shucked little oysters, while the basket held some slightly larger Sea Melon Seeds and small Spicy Whelks.

"Mom, you'll go blind staring at that dense mess. Why don't you go dig sand clams instead?"

Mother Ye pried at an oyster shell on the rock with a screwdriver as she replied, "There are enough people in the family digging those. If I get some oysters, I can make oyster omelets tonight. The children haven't had any in a while."

"There's barely anything here. Isn't our boat fixed now? Why not have Dad take you out to an island to gather them? Just dig sand clams for now. In another two hours, the tide will cover this stretch of beach again."

"Easy for you to say. The rocks on those islands are slippery, and it's hard to keep your footing. If a wave comes crashing in, one wrong move and I'll be swept into the sea to meet Mazu."

"Ha, it's not that bad. Just choose a calm day when the tide's out."

Mother Ye lifted her eyelids and gave him a sidelong look. "Then work out the exact date for me-when the sea will be calm, the tide will happen to be really low, and your dad and brothers will all happen to be free!"

"Huh? How would I know how to work that out?"

How could an ordinary mortal like him predict the wind and waves at sea?

Besides, how was he supposed to know when his dad and brothers would be free?

Mother Ye rolled her eyes at him. "If you don't know, shut up. Go find somewhere cool to sit, and stop getting in the way of my work!"

Ye Yaodong rubbed his nose. Was he really that annoying?

"How about I gather these for you, then? You can go dig sand clams."

His legs would ache if he squatted for too long, so gathering oysters from the rock face was a decent alternative. It wasn't as though he had trypophobia.

"You?"

"Yeah, let me do it. It's just shucking oysters and digging out Sea Melon Seeds. I'm good at that."

He might not be good at much else, but he had done plenty of this for fun when he was young. Skills he had learned wouldn't simply disappear with the passage of time.

Mother Ye looked him up and down, remembering how he had solemnly promised back in the house that once the household split, he would follow his two older brothers' example and become hardworking...

Had he actually meant it?

Had he turned over a new leaf?

"Fine, you do it. If you haven't gathered a bowlful for me by the time we go home, I'll beat you to death!"

"Oh, come on. I'll gather whatever I can. It depends on luck, too. How can I promise to get a whole bowl before we head back? These oysters are tiny..."

Without giving him a chance to object, Mother Ye hung the basket from his wrist and shoved the dipper and screwdriver into his hands. "Look carefully. I want a bowl of shucked oysters, a bowl of Sea Melon Seeds, and a bowl of snails, too!"

Ye Yaodong stared at her. Did she think he could conjure them out of thin air or something? Now she wanted three bowls.

"Dongzi, you didn't go out to have fun today? What brings you to the beach?" His eldest maternal aunt was also searching the rock face with a dipper in hand, and she asked curiously when she spotted him.

"Yeah, it's too hot. I didn't feel like going out!"

"Huh? And coming to the beach isn't hot? Look at that blazing sun!"

He hadn't picked a good excuse. A little embarrassed, Ye Yaodong said, "Ah, right. I just came out to have a look."

He had better get on with searching and stop chatting. He could gather some for a while, then head home for lunch when the tide came in.

These shellfish were also known as oysters. They grew on rock faces and were actually a kind of plankton.

During the breeding season, adult egg-laying oysters released mature sperm and eggs into the water, where fertilization took place. After drifting for a time as plankton, they attached themselves to other objects and settled, becoming Juvenile Shellfish. Then they slowly grew bigger. Pry off the shell, and the oyster flesh was inside.

When a boat stayed moored at sea for too long, Juvenile Shellfish would grow on its underside, too. People would usually prop the boat up and pry all the Juvenile Shellfish off the bottom to reduce its weight. They could also load them into baskets, carry them home, and shuck them for the meat.

The Juvenile Shellfish on this rock face were far too small. The flesh inside was just a tiny yellow-green blob that looked like snot. Only in the bigger ones could he make out the white of their bellies.

"What the hell am I shucking? They're so damn tiny. How long will it take to fill a bowl?" Ye Yaodong couldn't help muttering after opening one.

"If you want to eat, there's no helping it. There are so many mouths to feed at home. Every little bit counts. These aren't sand clams-you can't come out and gather them every day."

His eldest aunt answered him, then added earnestly, "Dongzi, you're a father of two now. You can't keep loafing around all day. It's time you found proper work. You've got a wife and children to support. Your parents can't keep feeding you until you're old."

"Aren't I working right now, Auntie?"

"Yes, working is good, but you need to earn money. And you can't just work for one day. Supporting a family takes years of steady effort. You're a man. You need to shoulder your duties and have a sense of responsibility..."

The lecture went on and on. Blah, blah, blah~

Ye Yaodong regretted opening his mouth. If he had quietly kept working, his aunt probably wouldn't have felt the urge to talk to him.

He couldn't very well snap back at her. She was his elder, after all, and everything she said was true and meant for his own good. But the endless lecture was giving him a headache. He would have been better off digging sand clams. How had he never realized his aunt could nag like this?

"Auntie, take your time here. I'm going a little farther out to have a look."

The tide had receded a little more, so he simply went to start searching the farthest rocks.

But his luck seemed pretty good!

As soon as he reached the rocks nearest the water, he spotted two little mud crabs among a pile of stones in the shallows ahead. His eyes immediately lit up. Now those were a good find!

He quickly set the dipper and basket aside and strode toward the pile of loose stones. Unaware of the approaching danger, the two mud crabs were still fighting with their big claws!

Ye Yaodong grabbed one in each hand by the shells on their backs and carefully pulled them apart, making sure their hooked legs didn't get tangled and break off.

A mud crab with missing legs was worth far less, though that didn't matter if you were eating it yourself.

Once separated, both mud crabs kept wildly waving their big claws. Getting pinched by one would be no joke-it could crack a fingernail clean through.