Chapter 11: Selling the Blue Crabs (Please Save!)

At this moment, the Ye family also saw Ye Yaodong’s haul. Ye Mother, surprised, was the first to speak: “You caught two blue crabs?”

As she spoke, she squeezed them and said happily, “They’re quite firm. Together, they should weigh over a pound. We can sell them for a couple of coins!”

“What are you selling for? Just bring them home to eat!”

“All you think about is eating! You wasteful child! Your wife works all day and barely earns a coin, and you want to eat these two blue crabs!” Ye Mother glared at him and slapped him several times.

Ye Yaodong took two steps back to avoid his mother’s hands; her palms were calloused from years of hard work, and it hurt when she hit.

“Mom, I wasn’t thinking of eating them myself. It’s rare to catch two blue crabs. I thought I’d stew them for the kids at home to have a little something good…”

Ye Mother’s expression immediately softened, and her tone became gentler. It was nice that he thought of the kids. “There are so many kids at home; how can two crabs be enough for anyone?”

“One crab for each of them would work, and they can have a sip of soup too!”

“With so many kids, it’ll just turn into a crying and fighting match. These crabs are worth something; we should sell them. Your father also left a few swimming crabs yesterday and a pound of small shrimp; they can eat those.”

Ye Yaodong frowned. The two blue crabs together weighed just over a pound, and according to current prices, they would only sell for a little over a coin, which was too cheap compared to the later years.

Blue crabs are also called sturgeons, and the cultivated blue crabs are referred to as vegetable sturgeons.

In the future, wild blue crabs at the docks are quite cheap but still sell for 150 per pound, and you can’t even buy wild ones in the market; all the market has are farmed ones, also selling for 150 per pound.

Seeing him furrow his brow, Ye Mother quickly gestured to him, snatching the rope. “I’ll take them to the dock to sell; you wait here. Also, dig up some sand clams while you’re at it; the tide is about to come in.”

This fool! His wife works so hard for little money, and he finally caught two blue crabs, but instead of thinking about selling them to give her some money to save, he wants to share them?

Ye Yaodong watched as his mother quickly walked towards the shore and had no choice but to give in. A little profit is better than nothing; at least money is worth something now, and selling them is better than nothing.

Lin Xiuqing saw her mother-in-law hurry off to sell the blue crabs and felt relieved. Those two blue crabs could be equivalent to her making several days’ worth of fishing nets.

Everyone has their own selfish motives. Her husband was naturally lazy, unlike her older and second brothers who could earn money. She didn’t want to share this unexpected extra income with everyone.

Seeing Ye Mother’s actions, Ye Ersao pouted but didn’t say anything; she also needed to sell her catch, squatting down to continue digging.

Ye Dazhao, however, became somewhat curious. “Yaodong, where did you catch the blue crabs? No wonder I didn’t see you just now.”

“Over there!”

After the earlier incident, he had no desire to talk to these people. He casually tossed his head in the direction and walked towards his wife, glancing at the basin beside her that was almost full.

“Nice haul; you’ve dug up quite a lot.”

Lin Xiuqing smiled faintly. “Not bad, but it’s a pity the tide is coming in. We’ll have to wait until night for the tide to go out; we can only come back tomorrow.”

She glanced at his pant legs, which were rolled up high, then looked at the rocks over there. “Did you dig these out beyond the tide?”

At least she gave him a smile, and Ye Yaodong nodded. “Yeah, there wasn’t much on the nearby stone wall. The sea clams and snails were tiny, so I went out a bit. I guess those strange-looking big rocks blocked me from view, so you didn’t see me.”

He really has become diligent? He actually worked hard for so long? No wonder no one saw him nearby; he went out to the tide.

“These sea clams and spicy snails are still a bit small,” she said, reaching into the basket to rummage through.

“I’ve tried my best to dig up everything edible. The sea clams are fine; they open up on their own when cooked. Don’t be fooled by their small size; they should be meaty enough. The snails are a bit small; let’s take them home and let the kids smash them with stones to steam with scallions.”

“What’s that? Scallion oil? Do you need to use oil to cook snails? Just boil them in water and eat the meat! Where did you get that method? Do you really need oil to eat snails?”

Lin Xiuqing frowned, looking at him in disbelief. She truly didn’t understand how expensive basic necessities were until she had to manage a household!

“Uh… haha… I heard it somewhere; let’s just blanch them instead,” Ye Yaodong chuckled awkwardly. He was used to the cooking methods from later years and momentarily forgot that they were using lard now, which wasn’t the way to go.

Fresh seafood can just be blanched; their family usually opts for that way to avoid spending on seasoning.

Lin Xiuqing shot him a strange glance and then squatted down again. “Your mother isn’t back yet. I’ll dig a bit more; you can take our son to the shore to wait.”

“Alright!”

Just then, he didn’t want to work anymore! His feet felt uncomfortable after being in the water for too long.

Ye Chengyang had buried both his feet in the sand and was giggling away. Ye Yaodong picked up the child, holding him under his arm, and carried his haul back to shore.

As soon as the child was tucked under his arm, he started wailing, flailing his limbs and shouting, “I want to play, I want to play! No, I want to go home!”

“The tide is coming in; everyone has to go home!”

“No, no! Yangyang wants to play!”

“We’ll come back next time. There’s corn at home; don’t you want to eat? If we get home late, your brothers and sisters will eat it all.”

As soon as food was mentioned, the child stopped struggling and instead said, “I want to eat, Yangyang wants to eat!”

Once they reached the shore, Ye Yaodong set him down on a rock and said, “Sit quietly and wait for your mother to finish digging, then we’ll go home together.”

“I’m hungry…”

“You weren’t saying you were hungry while you were playing! Just wait for me!”

Ye Yaodong was used to his two sons’ complaints and occasional backtalk after decades of raising them. Now, seeing his son so small and soft-spoken, he felt a bit unaccustomed to it—the contrast was too great, and he couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for him…

Ye Chengyang pouted, looking pitiful and on the verge of tears. Just then, Ye Mother walked by, along with Ye Yaopeng and Ye Yaohua, who had just tied up the boat.

Ye Mother immediately felt a pang of sympathy. “What’s wrong, Yangyang? Did someone bully you? Tell Grandma, and Grandma will hit them!”

With a solid backing now, Ye Chengyang immediately opened his mouth and cried loudly, “Dad, it’s Dad!”

Ye Mother pretended to hit Ye Yaodong twice. “Grandma has already helped you hit your dad. Now be good and stop crying.”

Ye Chengyang immediately closed his mouth and stopped wailing. His tears were easily retractable, leaving just a bit of moisture on his eyelashes, a faint sign that he had been crying.

Ye Yaodong couldn’t help twitching the corners of his mouth!

What a brat!

No wonder he was so unlikable when he grew up!

“Grandma, I’m hungry! Corn!”

“Alright, we’ll go home and cook right away.”

After calming her grandson, Ye Mother called out to her daughters-in-law on the beach, “Time to go home! Stop digging; it’s getting late, and we need to eat.”

The three daughters-in-law were already hungry, their stomachs rumbling. When they heard their mother-in-law call, they each grabbed their buckets and headed ashore since the tide was rising.