Chapter 26: Freshwater Clams

Jiang Mixia stood up. “What’s wrong?”

“I saw something strange,” Song Jingyun rolled up his sleeves a bit higher and then reached into the river.

With a splash, Song Jingyun retrieved a fan-shaped object from the water.

“What’s this?” Jiang Mixia approached to take a look. “A clam?”

“Is it good to catch these?” she asked.

Song Jingyun scratched his head a little sheepishly. “They’re easy to catch, and there are more inside. Look, my dear.”

As he spoke, Song Jingyun retrieved another freshwater clam to show Jiang Mixia.

Jiang Mixia just looked on.

“I meant to say, this is a clam, a freshwater clam”

“Oh,” Song Jingyun examined the two unattractive, slightly bluish-black objects in his hand. “The name is strange, and they don’t look very appealing.”

“Can we eat them?”

“Yes, they can be stir-fried or used in soups. They taste even fresher than fish and don’t have any bones,” Jiang Mixia explained. “But we need to clean them thoroughly. Once you pry open the shell and remove the innards, the clean clam meat inside can be cooked.”

Edible and tastier than fish.

No need to go through the trouble of spearing them.

Song Jingyun’s eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he began picking up freshwater clams, tossing them onto the riverbank. He collected seven or eight before stopping.

The bamboo basket was already half full of fish, and now with these sizable freshwater clams, it was almost overflowing.

“Let’s go home,” Jiang Mixia said, taking the carrying pole to hook the wooden buckets.

Song Jingyun glanced at the size of the buckets, then tested their weight and finally himself, putting down the bamboo basket and taking the carrying pole from Jiang Mixia. “I’ve got this.”

“Are you sure?” Jiang Mixia recalled the last time her husband had struggled to carry the bamboo, her face filled with skepticism.

“I’ve been eating so much lately; I’ve got some strength,” Song Jingyun said, flexing his arm.

Even though Song Jingyun’s arms weren’t much thicker than Jiang Mixia’s, to be honest, he had indeed grown a bit stronger compared to before. He had even grown a bit taller. His face had filled out, lacking the previously frail appearance and instead exuding a youthful vitality appropriate for his age. Clearly, he had visibly grown.

Jiang Mixia blinked.

Following the principle of allowing Song Jingyun to try without much risk of failure, she, though somewhat skeptical, placed the carrying pole onto Song Jingyun’s shoulder.

She then single-handedly lifted the nearby bamboo basket.

Song Jingyun placed the carrying pole on his shoulder, took a deep breath, and with a “hey,” lifted himself up. He swayed a bit but quickly steadied himself and took a few steps.

It worked out. Though not entirely stable, the water in the buckets didn’t spill, and Song Jingyun felt confident that he could manage the weight of the two buckets.

His confidence surged, and with his head held high, he walked towards home.

Not bad.

Jiang Mixia nodded in approval. Her husband now had the strength to help with some physically demanding tasks. As a wife, she suddenly felt a sense of joy at her husband’s growth.

She hung the bamboo basket over her left shoulder and followed along with a beaming smile.

Jiang Youcheng and Liu Shi had become accustomed to Song Jingyun catching plenty of fish. However, seeing so many freshwater clams this time did surprise them.

While they were aware of the existence of freshwater clams in the river and had picked them before, encountering such large clams, and picking so many of them at once, was a first.

“These clams are quite large. I bet they have a lot of meat,” Liu Shi said happily, fetching a wooden basin and scooping in some clean water to allow the clams to expel the river sand.

Fresh clams needed to soak in saltwater for at least two days, be thoroughly cleaned, and then soaked in boiling water before they could be used for cooking. Breaking the shells, removing the gills and intestines, and retaining the clean and tender clam meat required skill, as freshwater clams weren’t something they regularly ate, and Liu Shi wasn’t experienced in handling them.

Seeing the situation, Jiang Mixia stepped in to help, leveraging her advantage of strength. Using a hatchet to create an opening, she inserted a kitchen knife through the gap and with a strong push, the shell of the freshwater clam opened smoothly, allowing Liu Shi to remove the clam’s innards.

“Ah!” Liu Shi suddenly exclaimed.

“What’s wrong? Did you cut yourself?” Jiang Youcheng, who had been busy weaving needle and thread baskets nearby, quickly set aside his work and rushed over to inspect Liu Shi’s hand.

“It’s not a injury,” Liu Shi hastily explained, then glanced around to ensure no one was nearby before revealing what she held tightly in her hand.

Upon seeing the item in Liu Shi’s hand, even Jiang Mixia was taken aback.

“Is this… a pearl?” Jiang Mixia picked up the small cylindrical object from Liu Shi’s hand and examined it carefully. She nodded and confirmed, “It’s a pearl.”

It wasn’t particularly large, slightly smaller than a soybean, and not perfectly spherical, more oval-shaped, but relatively tidy without any irregularities. Overall, it was in good condition.

The discovery of pearls in freshwater clams was something Jiang Youcheng and Liu Shi had heard of before.

In Jiang’s village, there had never been a case of finding pearls in clams, but it had occurred in Sun’s village several years ago. A young woman, impoverished and unable to feed her family, would spend her days by the river, catching fish, collecting shrimp, and picking freshwater clams in the hope of filling their empty stomachs.

One day, among the clams she collected, she found a pearl the size of a soybean. She sold it for a good sum of money, bought land, and built a house, ensuring her family never went hungry again.

As a result, in the years that followed, many people would go to the river every day to collect clams, causing the clam population to dwindle. Despite the increased collection, no one ever found another pearl.

It was rumored that the family had found some money but kept it a secret, claiming they had found a pearl instead. This caused the clam collectors to gradually decrease, and eventually, they stopped altogether.

However, today, Song Jingyun had found a pearl inside the clams he collected. Jiang Youcheng and Liu Shi exchanged glances and nodded in unison.

“Let’s go inside,” Jiang Youcheng’s voice trembled slightly as he carried the wooden basin containing the freshwater clams towards the house.

As he entered, he stumbled over the threshold, nearly falling.

The basin still held six or seven clams, and the four of them worked together to open them. In total, they found three pearls. The largest was about the size of a small peanut, quite large but not perfectly round. The smallest was similar to a mung bean, small but perfectly round.

As they all gazed at these three pearls, the family fell silent for a while. It all felt somewhat unreal.

Finally, Jiang Mixia broke the silence, “Shall we take them to the county town tomorrow to see how much they’re worth?”

“Yes, let’s go and see how much we can sell them for,” Jiang Youcheng and Liu Shi nodded in agreement.

Pearls weren’t useful for everyday consumption or use. The only way they could be truly valuable was if they were exchanged for silver.

Song Jingyun interjected, “Then…”