Chapter 47: The Abundant Resources of the Isolated Island

Ye Yaodong continued to explore the area and soon spotted another green crab buried in the mud, with only its two eyes sticking out.

“Each one is better at hiding than the last!”

Luckily, his sharp eyesight caught it. He picked it up with the tongs and saw that it was slightly smaller than the previous one, weighing just over a jin (about 500g). It was a male crab—not bad at all!

After adding the crab to his bamboo basket, he searched more carefully, fearing he might miss something hidden under the mud. Whenever he came across rocks, he would move them aside to see if there was anything underneath.

However, this section of the mudflat was mostly dry, with little water. He overturned several rocks but didn’t find any stranded fish or shrimp. Undeterred, he patiently continued his search, knowing there was plenty of time since the tide had only recently receded.

After moving a few more rocks, he finally struck gold near a large stone—two big green crabs stacked on top of each other!

“What the heck! Caught you guys in the act, huh?”

He grabbed one with the tongs, and the other, still latched on, came along with it. Looking at their backs, it was clear one was male and the other female.

Both were green crabs. Ye Yaodong figured the island’s isolation, with no human activity or predators, allowed the crabs to climb onto the mudflats and bask in the sun after the tide receded, waiting for the next high tide to return to the sea.

Excitedly, he added both crabs to his basket and noticed a small patch of flat mudflat ahead, dotted with numerous small holes.

He hurried over, squatted down, and examined the holes. Unlike those on sandy beaches, which usually indicated clams, these holes suggested, based on his experience, the presence of razor clams underneath.

Razor clams are a type of invertebrate mollusk commonly found in intertidal mudflats. They have long, narrow, razor-shaped shells and can move quickly up and down their burrows, retreating into them swiftly when startled.

He muttered, “It’s a pity I didn’t bring any salt. If I sprinkled some at the openings, the clams would come out on their own. Now I have to dig them out by hand—what a hassle!”

Setting his fire tongs aside, he began digging into the holes with his bare hands. Thankfully, the clams weren’t burrowed too deeply and were relatively easy to extract.

After digging up a few clams, he noticed a rock nearby. Moving it aside, he discovered two mudskippers underneath. Without hesitation, he tossed them into the bamboo basket.

“Even the smallest harvest counts,” he thought.

With quick hands, he worked for another ten minutes, clearing the patch of holes and harvesting three to four jin (about 1.5–2 kg) of razor clams. Satisfied, he stood up, though his neck felt sore from crouching too long. His hands were dirty, so he couldn’t massage it and had to settle for twisting his neck around to relieve the tension.

He glanced at the others, who were scattered across the area, wondering how their hauls were going.

The sun was still blazing overhead, and the tide wasn’t going to rise anytime soon. With time on his side, he continued his search, occasionally picking up mudskippers here and there.

He ventured farther out, leaving the small mudflat and stepping into a shallow, sandy area with some seawater.

As soon as he entered the water, he sat on a large rock to wash the mud off his legs. The mud had dried and tightened his skin under the scorching sun, making it uncomfortable.

Just as he finished washing his legs, he noticed an antenna poking out from beneath the rock crevice.

“Well, well, you’ve walked right into my trap! Come on out.”

He put on his gloves, reached out, and grabbed it. “Oh, it’s a small white octopus!”

Tossing it into the bamboo basket, he reached back under the rock to feel around some more. “There’s more!”

He pulled out two more small white octopuses!

There’s a saying among the people of Fujian: Three small white octopuses are worth as much as a sheep!

“Other octopus species are sold by weight, but small white octopuses are sold by the piece!”

“Looks like I’ve scored myself a sheep!”

The abundance of resources on the isolated island was far better than what one could find near the docks. Circling the rock once more, Ye Yaodong spotted a few turban snails.

There weren’t many, just seven or eight, with their fleshy tops firmly attached to the rock. He pried them off one by one and tossed them into his hand.

Snails that cling to rocks usually have meat inside, whereas those floating in seawater are often inhabited by hermit crabs and contain no meat.

Since he had already reached the shallow waters, he decided to continue searching nearby.

“Hey, a rockfish…”

From the corner of his eye, he saw a red figure swimming among a pile of rocks. Walking quickly over, he confirmed it was a rockfish.

Rockfish typically live in rock crevices or holes in the sea. They can’t seem to survive without rocks. Regardless of water depth, rockfish will only appear at the bottom where rocks are present, feeding on the small shrimp below.

Setting aside his bamboo basket and tongs, Ye Yaodong freed his hands to carefully surround and grab the rockfish. Its dorsal fins had venomous spines, so he had to handle it with care.

The bright red rockfish was visually stunning, far more beautiful than the average fish.

Ye Yaodong felt a surge of joy—whether the catch was valuable or not, any harvest was satisfying.

The subsequent harvests weren’t as fruitful. By the time the tide began to rise, he had managed to catch just three rockfish, which would make a decent bowl of soup. He also had some mudskippers, stone crabs, a few miscellaneous fish, three large green crabs, and several turban snails.

Walking through the water, he made his way back to the rocky area where they had initially docked. The others were still wandering around, heads down, searching for more finds.

Ye Yaodong called out loudly, “The tide’s coming in!”

Everyone looked up briefly in his direction before going back to their scavenging. The tide might have started rising, but it wasn’t rushing in yet, and the boat was still stranded on the sandy shore. No need to hurry.

As he got closer, he shouted again, “Aren’t you guys hungry?”

“Who wouldn’t be? I’m starving,” someone replied.

“I’ve already eaten a few raw shrimp,” another added.

That made Ye Yaodong realize something. “I didn’t find any shrimp today.”

“What did you get then?”

“Three small white octopuses, three rockfish, a few stone crabs, some random snails, three or four jin of razor clams, and seven large green crabs…”

“Holy crap, seven green crabs? How big are they?” Xiao Xiao, who was closest to him, looked at him in disbelief.

“They’re all over a jin each. The biggest one is probably close to two jin!”

The largest crab was one he had found under a rock in the shallow waters just before heading back. If he hadn’t spotted it in time, the rising tide would have carried it back to the sea.

Azheng, filled with envy, exclaimed, “What kind of luck is this? Three or four jin of razor clams is already impressive, but you even found seven large green crabs? I only managed to catch one!”

“I found one too!” Chen Wei said as he walked over. “It’s pretty big, probably around 1.3 or 1.4 jin.”

“There seem to be a lot of green crabs here. Maybe it’s because it’s an isolated island, and fishing nets can’t reach this area. It’s still full of treasures.”

“I think so too. It’s probably because no one has come here before,” Xiao Xiao said, glancing at Ye Yaodong’s bamboo basket. “Yours is completely packed!”

“Dongzi’s luck has been exceptional these past few days! We’re all in the same area, but his haul is always better than ours.”