Teeming with Life

With a sack in one hand and a hand net in the other, he continued wading into the water.

"Oh, sea, oh, sea, the place where I lived, the sea breeze blew, the waves surged..."

"If the sea could bring back a love from long ago..."

Chen Haichao hummed as he worked. He couldn't remember the lyrics, so he went straight into a medley. Seeing the little fellow keeping him company on the shore, he felt his lot in life wasn't quite so hard after all, and the more he worked, the more energetic he became. Sure enough, work was best done with at least two people.

He kept an eye on Chen Xiaoqi on the shore, too, and saw that the little rascal was quite brave. After feeding fish to the chick, he went to feed the big bird as well. The bird gave the fish a flick with its long beak, sending it flying, and he nearly lost his footing.

Yet he foolishly picked the fish back up and squatted down to continue feeding the chick.

Chen Haichao felt he could hardly bear to watch.

Just as he shook his head with a smile and threw himself back into his work, a rapid flurry of splashing came from the sea. It wasn't the sound of waves, but the sound of countless wings beating against the water.

He instinctively looked up at the sea farther out and saw the flock of hunting cormorants darting across the surface. From time to time, they struck the water and paddled with all their might. Some plunged straight beneath the surface, while others closed in from the outside.

Spray flew across the sea as though the water were boiling. A school of fish, big and small, leaped out of the water, gradually moving toward the shore.

The fish and shrimp in the water around his feet, previously scattered, suddenly began to gather in ever greater numbers, just as they did when drawn to a flashlight at night. Each scoop of his net brought up twice as many.

Chen Haichao's eyes lit up with excitement. Taking advantage of the fish and shrimp gathering so densely, he hurried to scoop them up. This made things easier for him.

As he scooped them up in a hurry, he heard several more cries. The flock of cormorants glided with their wings skimming the sea, occasionally raising their heads to call as they drove the school of fish toward the shallows.

The rushing school of fish leaped at the surface, their scales flashing silver in the sunlight as they surged toward the beach together.

The water around his feet, no deeper than his knees, was instantly filled with all kinds of fish, shrimp, and crabs. Then a wave swept in, washing them all onto the beach, where they were stranded.

Once on the beach, the crabs scrambled in every direction. Fish big and small flopped about on the sand without water, while shrimp big and small lay still, the feelers beneath their bellies curling and twitching.

What a lively sight, all these fresh fish and shrimp teeming with life! Here I come!

"Chen Xiaoqi, get down here and help me pick up the fish and shrimp!"

Chen Xiaoqi's eyes lit up at once. "I'm coming, big brother!" he shouted.

He had run two steps before he remembered he'd left Xiao Ba behind. He turned back for the nest and, eyeing the big bird watching him like a hawk, picked it up fearfully and carefully. Only when he saw that the bird hadn't pecked him did he feel a little more at ease.

When he started trotting, the big bird flew ahead of him. Only after he put the nest on the beach and went to pick up fish did it stand beside the nest again, preening its feathers with its beak.

Chen Haichao glanced over and called to him, "Make separate piles. Put the fish together, the shrimp together, and the mantis shrimp in another pile. Don't touch the crabs." He was afraid the crabs would pinch his hands.

"Got it!"

Like an ant moving house, Chen Xiaoqi grinned as he trotted happily across the damp, newly exposed beach. Sure enough, following his brother had been the right choice.

With the nest at the center, he sorted the fish, shrimp, snails, and shellfish he picked up into separate piles within a meter-wide circle.

Chen Haichao scooped with even greater enthusiasm, tossing everything he caught into the sack regardless of type. He would sort it when he washed it back home.

Great! This is fantastic!

The flock of cormorants kept driving seafood from the sea onto the beach, and he benefited from standing in the shallows, since it all passed right in front of him.

He should have brought Chen Xiaoliu along to pick things up too. It felt as though Chen Xiaoqi couldn't keep up, and the sea cormorants were driving the fish in at just the right time.

After filling one sack in a flash, he dragged it ashore, tied the mouth tight, and set it beside Chen Xiaoqi.

Like a busy little bee, Chen Xiaoqi had already picked up several big piles of fish, shrimp, snails, and shellfish. He was thrilled.

"Big brother, why are so many fish and shrimp coming onto the beach today? There are so, so many! I can't pick them all up."

"Those big birds drove them in. Never mind them. Let's snatch the prize first."

He took another empty sack and waded back into the water, racing against time. Who knew whether the seabirds would keep going after driving in this batch, or when they would stop?

Both of Chen Haichao's sacks were soon bulging, with shrimp and fish spines poking through. If someone accidentally fell onto a sack, they'd have plenty to cry about.

A steady stream of fish, shrimp, and crabs was still surging toward shore through the shallows, and he was beginning to worry that he had nothing left to put them in.

"Xiao Qi! Go home and bring a few more sacks, and tell Dad to bring the handcart while you're at it."

"Huh? Oh!"

Chen Xiaoqi looked at his spoils on the beach, reluctant to run home, but his brother had spoken. He had no choice but to squat down and stroke Xiao Ba's head.

"Xiao Ba, watch the fish here. I'm going home for a bit, but I'll be right back."

The cormorant chick rubbed its head against his palm.

Chen Xiaoqi reluctantly drew back his hand, then took off toward the shore. Before he had run a hundred meters, he shouted excitedly, "Dad's here!"

"Dad, big brother said to bring a few sacks..."

Father Chen stopped the handcart and said with a smile, "I brought them, I brought them. Did your brother catch much?"

As he spoke, he lifted him onto the handcart and pushed it along.

"So much, so much! Big brother is amazing! There's so, so much on the beach. I picked up so, so much too..." Chen Xiaoqi chattered excitedly, showing off his spoils.

Father Chen was pleasantly surprised to hear it, and when he reached the beach, he was stunned. In the short time Chen Xiaoqi had been away, another great mass of small seafood had washed ashore and been stranded, covering the beach.

The natural resources really were abundant these days. Even along the shallow coast, there were vast quantities of all kinds of small seafood.

When Chen Haichao saw his father arrive, he waved him over and told him to hurry and help. The sack in his hands couldn't have been any fuller.

There was a jumble of everything, though small shrimp probably made up a third, and there was a bit of everything else. There were almost as many mantis shrimp as small shrimp. Since they had all been driven ashore, naturally he scooped up everything he could.

"Yaoshou! How are there so many?"

He pointed at the sea cormorants still busy out on the water. "That flock of seabirds drove them in. Pick them up faster on shore and sort them by type. Give me a sack; I can scoop them up faster in the sea."

"Dad, look! Xiao Ba found its mom and dad. Big brother says they're Xiao Ba's mom and dad." Chen Xiaoqi tugged at him and pointed to the big bird preening beside the nest.

Father Chen glanced over curiously, then paid it no more attention. What mattered to him were the sorted piles of fish, shrimp, snails, and shellfish in front of him.

After a couple of perfunctory remarks, he set him to work.

"Go pick up more of those stranded fish and shrimp. I'll put these in sacks first."

Although none of it except the dried shrimp could be sold for money, it was all edible and fresh. They could take it home and give some away, too. It was New Year's Eve, so they could add another two or three dishes to the meal.

Father Chen looked toward the sea, a little excited. "These birds seem pretty useful. They can even drive a whole lot of goods ashore."

"We happened to catch them at it. We'd be fools not to take what's free. Hurry up. Once they're done, they'll probably come ashore to eat or carry it back to their nests to stockpile."

"How much could they possibly eat? We can leave those worthless fish for them to eat their fill."