Chapter 56: The Huge Coconut Shell

Lin Xiuqing quickly ran back, out of breath, and handed the water bucket to Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong took the bucket, filled it with seawater, and curiously asked, “Why didn’t your mother and the others come along?”

She blinked and replied, “I didn’t tell them.”

Ye Yaodong chuckled softly, wasn’t it obvious?

“They didn’t ask what you needed the bucket for?”

“I rushed in, grabbed the bucket, and ran out. They asked me, but I didn’t have time to explain, so I didn’t answer.”

“Oh!”

After seeing the bass fish safely in the bucket, Lin Xiuqing opened the sack again to check their haul. It didn’t seem like they had picked up much more.

“Didn’t you look around a bit more? Did you find anything after I left?”

“The big catch is here, I couldn’t bear to look elsewhere. Besides, the tide is still receding, no rush. Let’s just leave the bucket here, no need to carry it around. No one’s out in this typhoon weather anyway.”

She was about to pick up the bucket but decided to put it down again since half a bucket of water was a bit heavy.

Ye Yaodong bent down a few steps later, grabbing a stone crab, and muttered, “Should’ve told you to bring the tongs earlier; it would’ve been easier to pick up the crabs.”

Lin Xiuqing glared at him, annoyed, “You didn’t say earlier.”

“I forgot for a moment, I remembered only after seeing that little blue crab with the broken leg.” There was no phone to call at the time.

The couple continued to wander around the rocky area, moving stones to find any creatures. Their harvest was plentiful, with Ye Yaodong having caught five or six stone crabs and more than a dozen others in no time. His back was starting to ache from constantly bending down.

He straightened up and stretched his back, “I’m only 25, how come my back feels like it’s giving out?”

Lin Xiuqing, her face slightly flushed, gave him a reproachful glance, “You should be ashamed.”

“No one’s around, what’s there to be ashamed of?”

The past few days had been quite busy, and he felt like his body was being drained. He really needed a good rest tonight.

“Hey, there’s a red crab. Why are we only finding one of everything? It’s not enough for even one bowl of soup.”

“Having one is already good. Just cook them all in one pot, simple and easy.”

“Hey, here’s another one, we can stir-fry it with some green peppers.”

The couple walked along, chatting. Lin Xiuqing, from her initial excitement of discovering the treasures, had now become calm and only glanced at them briefly.

“Look, a sea snail was brought up by the waves. Why is it so big? Is it just the shell?” Lin Xiuqing watched as a huge sea snail, almost as big as her head, was pushed up by the waves. She wasn’t sure if there was any meat inside.

Curious, she gave it a nudge, and the snail flipped over, its flesh shrinking.

There was meat!

She squatted down happily and picked it up. This snail was almost bigger than her head! It must be worth something!

“Yaodong, what kind of snail is this? It’s so big!”

Ye Yaodong looked up, unconcerned at first, but then his eyes widened in surprise, “Coconut snail?! This big?”

“Coconut snail?” It was difficult for her to recognize since people in her village rarely saw such large snails.

He didn’t even care about the sack in his hand, tossing it aside, and quickly ran over, grabbing it, “Damn, this coconut snail is huge, it must weigh three to four pounds!”

“Is it worth a lot?” Lin Xiuqing’s eyes were sparkling.

“Whether it’s worth something depends on whether there’s a treasure inside. If not, we can sell it for a bit, but if there’s something inside, we’ll strike it rich!”

She was confused, not understanding, “What does that mean? What else could be inside its belly?”

“Good thing I’m here. If you had found it alone, you would’ve just sold it right away!”

“Why else?” The more she listened, the more baffled she became. “What treasure could be inside its belly?”

“Not sure. You need to dig out the meat to find out.”

“Huh? But if we dig out the meat, how can we sell the snail?”

“Well, if you don’t dig out the meat, how will you know if there’s treasure inside? Such a big snail, even the shell has value and can be made into a craft.”

But compared to treasure, what was this snail worth?

The fishermen near the coast knew that whenever they caught a shellfish or similar creature, they had to perform a “belly operation” to see if anything rare was hidden inside, especially if the creature was large.

Lin Xiuqing was anxious and impatient, still not knowing what treasure could be inside. “What’s inside? Pearls?”

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, “We haven’t opened it yet, who knows? I’ll let you know when I open it, so you won’t get your hopes up for nothing.”

She was so frustrated, glaring at him.

“Then hurry up and open it!”

Ye Yaodong shrugged, “I don’t have any tools. If I had a hook, I could open it. Otherwise, I’ll have to take it home, cook it, and pick the meat out.”

“Then we’ll wait until we get home to open it.”

He thought for a moment, “How about we borrow a hook from the shop?”

If they opened it at home and found something valuable, it might attract attention, and right now, he was itching to see what was inside.

“Alright! I’ll go now!”

“I’ll go, you stay here. You’ve already run back and forth once.”

“It’s fine!” She said, running off. She was just as eager to know what was inside.

Ye Yaodong could only wait, studying the snail. He couldn’t tell from the outside if there was anything inside. The snail’s meat contracted when touched and seemed very fresh.

If he wasn’t worried about breaking the shell and getting fragments into the meat, it would have been easier to just smash it open.

While waiting, he walked around with the coconut snail, grabbed two stone crabs and three stone crabs, and threw them all into the sack. He kept the coconut snail in his hand, unwilling to let it go.

Lin Xiuqing was anxious. On her way back, she tripped and scraped her knee, limping toward him. Ye Yaodong saw her from a distance and hurried to meet her.

“What happened? Did you fall?”

“Yeah, I tripped over a stone while running.”

Her pants had a hole in the knee and were covered with wet dirt. Ye Yaodong frowned and squatted down, trying to roll up her pant leg to check, but she avoided him.

“It’s fine, I’ll just patch it up when we get home.”

“I don’t care about your pants! Roll up your pant leg and let me see.”

“It’s okay, I’m fine. Hurry and open the snail.”

“Let me see your knee first. The snail can wait.”

“Are you annoying? Hurry up…” Lin Xiuqing stuffed the hook into his arms, urging him.

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to open the coconut snail for her.

In their area, when locals extracted the snail meat, they would use a hook to catch the snail’s foot and hang it upside down for a while.

Since the spiral part of the coconut snail is short, its internal organs aren’t held tightly, and it doesn’t have much strength. After being hung upside down for a long time, the weight of the shell would make the snail’s tail detach naturally, leaving the whole meat hanging from the hook.