Chapter 26: Gathering by the Sea

In recent years, many families have seen their standard of living improve, so not everyone is willing to go scavenging by the sea. Besides, with the sun beating down, isn’t it more appealing to stay home and earn money by weaving fishing nets?

And anyway, scavenging by the sea doesn’t make money—it just puts food on the table.

As Ye Yaodong walked home, he only saw a few people with tools and buckets here and there.

When he reached the corner, he saw the women from his family with the children in tow, a lively group.

“Are you headed to the dock or the beach by the road?”

Lin Xiuqing stopped with their youngest son in her arms and replied, “Mother said we should go to the dock. Your friends are waiting for you to gather by the sea—they’re at the door.”

“Got it. You go on ahead; I’ll catch up soon.”

Ye Yaodong jogged towards home. His friends were sitting at the shady entrance, their legs stretched out, and called out teasingly as they saw him approach.

“Oh, look at Dong-ge getting all diligent, helping out with the weeding even in this heat!”

Panting, he caught his breath in the shade and fanned himself. “It’s my own new place, so of course, I’ve got to pitch in.”

Azhen spoke up, “When does construction start? If you need help, just say the word—we’ll give you a hand.”

“Help me instead of working at home? Your mom wouldn’t beat you with a stick?”

“Nah, she’d just call me hardworking! Besides, we’re all brothers. If my family needed help, you’d pitch in too, wouldn’t you?”

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes, muttering to himself, “Too much motherly love spoils a child.”

Not that he wasn’t a bit of a ‘spoiled child’ himself!

“Alright, I’ll call you if I need help. You’ve all got your tools, right? Wait for me a sec; I’ll go grab a hook, a bucket, and a hat—too much sun out there.”

“Hurry up, or everything’ll be gone by the time we get there.”

“On it!”

He dashed inside, couldn’t find where the hook was, so he just grabbed a pair of tongs from the stove and rushed back out. His grandmother called after him, holding a bamboo canteen. “Dongzi, take some tea with you.”

He turned back to take the bamboo canister from her. “Thanks, Grandma. You go back now! Just stay indoors or at the entrance to stay cool. Don’t go out back if the ground’s wet—it’s slippery.”

“Alright, alright~”

“I’m off then!”

The five of them each carried their buckets and tools, heading to the dock, full of excitement.

Xiaoxiao said eagerly, “It’s been a couple of years since we went gathering by the sea.”

Azhen chimed in, “More than that, right? Ever since you all started getting married, we’ve hardly gone out there.”

“No problem; today, we’re reliving old times. Let’s pick up the pace.” Feeling a surge of hope in his new chance at life, Ye Yaodong’s whole attitude had turned positive.

Seeing his energy, everyone picked up their pace to follow him.

When they arrived at the dock, there were already plenty of people on the beach, young and old, with his family making up the largest group!

The adults were busily shouting, forbidding the kids from going past the tide line and only letting them play on the beach.

Chapter 26: Gathering by the Sea

Ye Yaodong’s two sons saw him approaching and shouted excitedly, “Dad! Dad! Mom, Dad’s here too!”

Lin Xiuqing looked up at her husband, who had finally arrived. She was just glad he hadn’t tried anything funny last night. “I see him. You stay by my side, don’t go wandering off.”

Ye’s eldest sister-in-law couldn’t help but comment, “Yaodong’s really turned over a new leaf these days!”

“Who knows how long he’ll keep it up?” the second sister-in-law retorted with a scoff. “Maybe he’s just excited to be back out gathering by the sea. It’s only a matter of time before he reverts—old habits die hard!”

“Well, at least he’s showing up. Better than always being nowhere to be found,” chimed in the eldest sister-in-law.

“If he doesn’t start putting in some effort and show responsibility, let’s see who’ll take care of him once the family splits!”

Ye Yaodong heard his two sisters-in-law gossiping as he approached and couldn’t help but frown. Women sure loved to talk!

“Dad, where are you going? Mom says not to go into the deeper water.”

“I’m going to catch fish and crabs. You stay here and help dig for clams. Don’t follow me.”

The kids reluctantly stopped, watching longingly as he headed down the shore. If there weren’t adults around, they would’ve been swimming by now.

“Let’s split up and see who catches more.”

“Deal!”

Looking for crabs, fish, and shrimp was more of a game of luck and nowhere near as productive as clam digging, so most people didn’t bother. But Yaodong was motivated by his success the day before with two green crabs, and he went straight for an area with rocks.

Lifting a large rock with his fire tongs, he was thrilled to see his efforts rewarded—a large mantis shrimp!

“Oh wow, I found a mantis shrimp! I’m in the lead!” He quickly clamped the still-wriggling shrimp and held it up for the others to see.

His friends turned in surprise. “Not bad! You’ve got some luck—finding a mantis shrimp right away!”

Mantis shrimp were large and striking in appearance, with a vibrant pattern of stripes across their bodies and a fan-like, patterned tail. When cooked, they developed a distinct nine-segmented white pattern, and their meat was fresh and springy. Yaodong loved eating them, and this early success filled him with satisfaction.

“Now I’m feeling competitive; I’ll need to catch a few myself.” Xiaoxiao kicked a nearby rock on impulse and was surprised. “Oh! A mudskipper? Didn’t expect that from just a random kick!”

“You two already have catches? We can’t be left behind—come on, let’s split up and start searching!”

They had all started off with the idea of just passing time, but now their interest was sparked.

As the tide receded, fish and shrimp often got stuck behind rocks on the exposed seafloor, unable to return to the ocean until the next tide. They tended to gather in the shallow pools and tide flats around the rocks, making it an ideal spot for foraging.

They all had plenty of experience, so they instinctively searched for spots with rocks and water-filled depressions.

Yaodong felt his luck was holding. Just a couple of steps away, he spotted two stone crabs hiding beneath a big rock.

“Caught two more! Shame they’re not green crabs, but I’ll take what I can get.”

Stone crabs had reddish-brown shells with red speckles, large red claws, and a thick, rocky appearance. They were typically found under rocks near the low tide line or on sandy, muddy bottoms covered with seaweed.

He quickly used the tongs to clamp the two crabs hiding under the rock and tossed them into his bucket, then moved on to search further.

In the undeveloped 1980s, their village’s beach was still pristine, untouched by modern development. The sea was abundant with life, and a simple walk along the shore at low tide usually yielded something to take home.

As for how much they would catch—that depended on the tides and their luck.