Chapter 9: An unexpected harvest

Ye Yaodong turned his sight back from the boat and looked at the surrounding rocks. There were densely packed small mussels, small clams, and oyster shells that had been dug out of their meat.

The rocks here have been visited too many times every day. The slightly larger mussels and clams have long been dug out. Only the extremely small ones, about the size of the little fingernail, are still growing on the rocks.

Such small ones are only shells, and the meat is probably not as big as a booger. They cannot be eaten, but every time the tide recedes, some will inevitably grow up.

At this moment, someone is searching on the stone wall with tools, and his mother is one of them.

He stepped forward and took a look. His mother was holding a water scoop in one hand and a small basket hanging on her wrist.

There are already some small oysters in the water scoop, and there are also some slightly larger clams and small spicy snails in the small basket.

“Mom, this densely packed area is blinding, why don’t you go dig sand clams.”

Ye’s mother used a screwdriver to pry the oyster shells on the rock and said, “There are so many people in the family, we have dug enough. I can dig some oysters to make fried oysters at night. The children at home haven’t eaten them for a while.”

“There’s not even a little bit here. Hasn’t our boat been repaired? Can’t we let Dad take you to the isolated island to dig? Now let’s dig sand clams. In two hours, the tide will fill this beach again.”

“It’s easy for you to say , the rocks on the isolated island are very slippery, and it is not easy to stand. If the waves hit, I will be swept back to the sea to see Mazu. “

“Aha, not really, just choose a day with calm wind and low tide.”

Mother Ye raised her eyelids and looked at him sideways, “Then calculate for me what month and date, when the wind is calm, the tide will just go down, and your father and brothers will be free!”

“Ah! How can I calculate this?”

The wind and waves on the sea are not something that a mortal like him can calculate!

What’s more, how does he know when his father and brothers are free?

Mother Ye rolled her eyes at him, “If you don’t know, shut up, go wherever you want, and don’t delay my work!”

Ye Yaodong touched his nose, is he so annoying?

“How about I help you dig? You go dig sand clams?”

His legs are sore from squatting for so long, so he can dig oysters on the stone wall. He doesn’t have intensive phobia anyway.

“You come?”

“Yes, I’ll do it. It’s just opening oysters and digging clams. I’m good at it.”

Nothing else works. He played a lot of these when he was young. The skills he learned will not be forgotten with the passage of time.

Mother Ye looked him up and down, thinking of what he had just vowed in the house that he would learn from his elder and second brothers to be diligent and hardworking after the separation…

Is he serious?

Has he changed his personality?

“Then I’ll let you do it. If you don’t dig a bowl for me after we go back, I’ll beat you to death!”

“Oh, you can only dig as much as you can. It depends on luck. How can I guarantee that I can dig a bowl before I go back? The oysters are only a little bit big…”

Mother Ye hung the basket on his wrist without saying anything, and stuffed the scoop and screwdriver into his hands, “Search carefully, pry out a bowl of oysters, dig a bowl of clams, and dig out a bowl of snails for me!”

Ye Yaodong stared. Is he going to change, or what? He was asked to dig three bowls.

“Dongzi didn’t go out to play today? Why did you come to the beach?” His aunt was also looking for it on the stone wall with a scoop, and asked curiously when she saw him.

“Well, it’s too hot, I don’t want to go out!”

“Ah? Isn’t it hot if you come to the beach? The sun is so strong!”

Ye Yaodong was a little embarrassed because he didn’t find a good reason. “Ah, yes, just come out to take a look.”

Let’s hurry up and find it. No more chatting. I’ll dig for a while and wait for the tide to rise. It’s just in time to go home for lunch.

Oysters, also known as oysters, grow on stone walls. They are actually a kind of plankton.

During the breeding season, the parent body of oviparous oysters excretes mature sperm and eggs from the body. The sperm and eggs are fertilized in the sea water. After a period of floating life, they attach to other objects and solidify into juveniles. Then they grow up slowly. The shells are pried off, and the inside is oysters.

When a ship is docked in the sea for a long time, juveniles will grow under the ship. Most people will prop up the hull, and then pry off the juveniles on the bottom of the ship to reduce the weight of the hull. By the way, they can also put the juveniles in a basket and pick them back to open oysters.

The young oysters on the stone wall are too small. The oysters that are opened are only the size of a fart, yellow-green, and look like snot. Only when they are bigger can you see the white on their belly.

“What the hell, they are so small, how long will it take to fill a bowl!” Ye Yaodong couldn’t help muttering after opening one.

“There’s nothing I can do to eat. There are so many mouths to feed at home. I’ll dig as much as I can. This isn’t a sand clam, and I can’t dig it every day.”

His aunt responded, and then said earnestly: “Dongzi, you’re the father of two children, you can’t be idle all day, you should find a proper job, your wife and children need you to support them, and your parents can’t support you until old age.”

“Am I not working, auntie!”

“It’s right to work, but you have to make money, and you can’t just work for one day. It takes years to support your family. You’re a man, you have to take responsibility, you have to have a sense of responsibility…”

The endless preaching, blah blah~

Ye Yaodong regretted speaking out. If he had kept silent, his aunt probably wouldn’t have wanted to talk to him.

He couldn’t say anything back. After all, he was an elder, and what he said was right and for your own good. However, he was a little overwhelmed by her endless talk. He might as well go dig for sand clams. How come he didn’t know that his aunt was so eloquent?

“Aunt, you dig slowly here. I’ll go out a little and take a look.”

Just as the tide receded a little, he simply started looking from the farthest rock.

But his luck seemed to be a bit good!

As soon as he walked to the rock closest to the tide, he saw two small blue crabs in the pile of rocks in the shallow water ahead. His eyes lit up immediately. This was a good thing!

He quickly put the scoop and basket aside and walked a few steps towards the pile of gravel. The two blue crabs didn’t know the danger was approaching, and they were still fighting there with their big claws!

Ye Yaodong grabbed the shells on their backs one by one and carefully separated them to prevent their big hooks from getting tangled together and breaking.

The value of a blue crab with a broken leg is greatly reduced, but it is okay to eat it yourself.

The two blue crabs were separated and were still waving their big claws. If they were pinched, it would be terrible and the nails would be broken directly.

End of Chapter 9