Chapter 5

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t make sense of the situation, so she put it aside and seriously helped her cousin wash up. One bucket of water was definitely not enough for the two girls, and she was too lazy to go find her aunt for more water. Having just arrived in this world, she had already been through a day of turmoil, and her body, which was already weak, was exhausted.

“These two girls, after washing up, they don’t even call out, and they just fall asleep like this.”

Song Wenhui opened the window and used a cloth to wipe the sweat off her daughter and niece before taking the bucket outside. Knowing that the two kids were asleep in the room, the three adults in the house instinctively quieted down. Yin Huaishan was not home; he had rolled in the river to wash himself clean and was now drying off on the shore. He was currently weeding the patch of land in front of the house, thinking about clearing it to build a fence and maybe plant some vegetables.

Just as he had cleared half of the area, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching his house. He looked up to see a man and a woman coming towards him. The man was not very tall but was sturdy, wearing a short jacket that revealed his well-developed muscles, and his dark skin showed he was a fisherman used to years of sun and wind.

“Is this Brother Yin?”

“And you are?”

Yin Huaishan straightened up, thinking that he hadn’t seen these two people before today, when he heard the woman beside the man say, “We are from the old cow family up ahead. This is my husband, Daniu. Today, sister Huaixi went to our house; she saved our little Niu’s life, and we came to bring some gifts to thank her.”

As she spoke, she shook the two fish she was holding. Just as Yin Huaixi came out after washing up, she heard this and quickly declined.

“Sister Cuifang, I already took your duck eggs and vegetables; I can’t accept any more fish. What happened with Little Niu was just a small thing; it doesn’t warrant any special treatment.”

In the countryside, duck eggs were only slightly less valuable than meat, and having already taken the eggs, she couldn’t be greedy and take the fish too.

Mao Cuifang insisted on giving them, but the Yin siblings were unwilling to accept. In the end, Mao Cuifang had no choice but to give up on the fish and nudged her husband to hand over what he was holding.

“Brother Yin, if you won’t accept the fish, then please take this wooden bucket. It’s not worth much; every household has one.”

Before the siblings could say anything, Mao Cuifang continued, “Tomorrow at the hour of the rabbit, the tide will go out; you can go to the beach to collect some fish and shrimp to eat. Many people in the village will go. Do you want to go? If you do, I’ll come to call you when it’s time to leave.”

Collecting from the Sea!!

Yin Huaixi was overjoyed; how could she refuse? They had agreed to set off together, and she happily saw off Cuifang and her husband.

“What is ‘collecting from the sea’?”

Yin Huaishan, who had read extensively, had never heard the term before.

“Collecting from the sea is when you catch the sea creatures that can’t escape while the tide is out. Brother, it’s normal that you haven’t heard of it; I only learned about it from a miscellaneous book I stumbled upon.”

With the main house and yard being lonely and dull, it was quite normal for the ladies to read storybooks, so Yin Huaishan didn’t ask further. He thought he would go along tomorrow to have a look; perhaps he could bring back some fish and shrimp.

Twon kilograms of corn for five people was really not enough to eat. Without any income, they feared their food supply would run out soon. In the evening, the family boiled a pot of corn porridge, this time with less corn and more vegetable leaves, and added two duck eggs. While breaking the duck eggs, Yin Huaishan and his wife were pained, repeatedly saying that just one egg would suffice.

Yin Huaixi was also somewhat heartbroken, but she understood the importance of nourishment. Right now, their family was in a serious state of deficiency and needed nutritious food to recover. Only when they were healthy could they earn back other things.

Thus, the duck eggs were cracked into the porridge, and as she stirred with a wooden spoon, the egg liquid quickly separated into strands and set. Although there were no seasonings in the porridge, the family still found it quite delicious. After happily finishing their duck egg porridge, the mother and daughter walked back to their little house in the glow of the sunset.

The wooden bed boards in the small stone house had been taken for washing by the uncle in the afternoon and were now dry. Jiang Wan lay on the bed with a lot she wanted to say to her mother, but she was so tired that she fell asleep shortly after lying down.

Yin Huaixi locked the door and lay down next to her daughter, feeling restless until she held her daughter’s hand to feel secure.

She and her daughter had inexplicably come here, and they would probably live here for the rest of their lives. She would definitely take good care of her daughter and help the little girl grow healthy and chubby again.

The mother and daughter had a good night’s sleep, while the Cai family was wide awake until dawn.

Because the village chief had ruthlessly taken their house, the whole family of more than ten people had nowhere to settle and could only sleep by the roadside. They thought about borrowing a place to stay from their neighbors, but when the neighbors saw their faces, they immediately changed their expressions; those with good tempers simply closed their doors, while those with bad tempers yelled curses and even chased them away with sticks.

The Cai family’s reputation for being thick-skinned and shameless spread among the villagers on their very first day in the village.

As night fell and they had no choice, the Cai family could only find a relatively flat spot to settle down and rest for the night. Without a place to cook, they could only drink water to fill their stomachs, and each of them was so hungry they could hardly sleep, filled with hatred for Jiang Wan and her mother.

None of this affected the sleep of the mother and daughter, who slept soundly for five hours. When they woke up, their bodies finally felt less fatigued.

Jiang Wan got up and first stretched her arms and legs, then went to the basin to look at her current appearance, resulting in a big shock.

Is this a ghost?!

The original owner had truly suffered a lot; her cheeks were sunken in, and her eye sockets were much deeper. If the road to exile was any longer, she might turn into a skeleton.

“Wanwan, your Aunt Cuifang has come; we need to go!”

“Okay! I’m coming!”

Oh, my precious sea, here I come!

Jiang Wan hastily washed her face, wiping it dry with her sleeve as she quickly caught up with her mother’s footsteps.

At that moment, Yin Huaishan and his wife…

The preparations were also ready; their house had two buckets, plus the one sent by the Niu family yesterday, making a total of three buckets carried by the three adults.

Jiang Wan was very excited and moved closer to her cousin, linking arms with her.

“Cousin, I’ve read some miscellaneous books about collecting from the sea before. I’m sure I can do it! Later, I’ll take you to catch crabs~”

“Crabs?”

What are crabs?

Yin Ning, the young lady who had never stepped outside the door, had indeed never heard of them. As they walked, Jiang Wan gestured and explained to her cousin.

“Crabs have eight legs and a pair of big pincers, and they walk sideways. The books say that crabs like to hide in crevices between rocks and under the sand. We’ll go look for them carefully later.”

“Okay…”

The novelty of this intrigued Yin Ning, temporarily distracting her from her unhappy thoughts. The group soon reached the beach after passing through a grove of coconut trees.

At this time, there were already quite a few women and children at the beach. They either carried buckets or had baskets hanging from their waists, holding rakes, sticks, and other equipment, all very well-prepared.

“Today is not a big tide, so there may not be many fish and shrimp on the beach, but there are plenty of clams hiding under the sand, and I’ll teach you how to recognize them.”

Mao Cuifang was eager to befriend Yin Huaixi and was very enthusiastic. After leading the family a little further away from the villagers, she set down the wooden bucket and began to demonstrate.

“Look, where there’s a small hole in the sand, usually there’s a clam underneath. Just dig down a bit, and you’ll find something.”

The five of them surrounded Mao Cuifang, their eyes fixed on her every move.

Mao Cuifang brought a small shovel and easily dug into the sand with two scoops, uncovering a fan-shaped clam.

“See, this is it! This is the easiest one to find by our beach. If we take it back and keep it in a water basin for an hour or two, it will spit out the sand, and then we can cook it to eat. Don’t worry about the shell; just boil it in water, and it will open up easily. I just don’t know if you can get used to the taste of clam meat, as some people find it very fresh, while others think it’s a bit fishy.”

“I can eat it! I can eat it!”

Yin Huaishan exclaimed excitedly.

Having endured the hardships of exile, their family was so hungry they could have gnawed on tree bark, so they certainly wouldn’t complain about this edible treat.

The whole family stared at the flower clam with eager eyes.