Chapter 47: First Time Going to the Sea

“We’re going to go catch seafood tomorrow morning. Xiaolan, do you want to come with us?” Qian Xiaolan’s eyes lit up instantly, and she nodded frantically, “Yes, yes, I love catching seafood.” Unfortunately, Qingshan Village was still a two-hour walk from the beach, so she had only gone a few times. Now it was good. The Xiayu Brigade where they were now was a fishing village. She could go catch seafood often.

After they agreed on a time, Wang Yufeng went home. Just as she left, a few other sisters-in-law and aunties came over. Each of them brought some vegetables. Qian Xiaolan gratefully accepted them and gave each of them some fruit candies or orange cakes as a thank you.

When Qian Xiaolan went into the kitchen, she found that Gu Yanqing had almost burned the rice. He had also steamed the meat in the rice cooker. She took a bite and gave Gu Yanqing a thumbs up, “Not bad. Steaming pork belly like this is quite fragrant.”

Gu Yanqing immediately beamed. “I learned this from my comrade. Unfortunately, we don’t have any steamed meat powder. Eating only steamed meat can get a bit greasy.”

Qian Xiaolan smiled. She cut a small piece of dried seaweed and soaked it in warm water. Then, she washed three or four potatoes, peeled them with a spoon, cut them into strips, soaked them in water, and set them aside. Then, she cut the seaweed into strips and continued to soak them.

The rice was cooked. She scooped it out and put it in a porcelain basin. She scooped out the rice crust and put it in a small bowl. Qian Xiaolan casually tasted a piece. It was crispy, with a full rice flavor and a burnt aroma that lingered on the tongue.

Gu Yanqing saw her enjoying it and took over the task of washing the pot, letting her sit and eat. Rice crust was best eaten hot, so Qian Xiaolan didn’t hesitate. She stuffed a piece into his mouth and sat by the stove, eating.

Their dinner was simple, two dishes and one soup: steamed pork belly, stir-fried potato strips with vinegar, and a seaweed soup. After dinner, the couple took a walk around the yard to digest their food before going back to their room. They had been tired from the car ride for the past two days, so they didn’t feel like doing anything and went to bed.

The next day, when Qian Xiaolan woke up, Gu Yanqing was already gone. There was a note on the pillow, “Wife, I’m back at the military unit. Breakfast is warming in the pot. Remember to eat it. Also, be careful when catching seafood. I’ll be back around evening.”

Qian Xiaolan smiled and got out of bed. After washing up and eating breakfast, she packed her things, and Wang Yufeng appeared outside the courtyard.

“Xiaolan, let’s go!”

“Hey, Sister-in-law, wait for me. I’ll be right there.” Qian Xiaolan replied, picked up the tools she had prepared last night, and went out.

The group of people going to catch seafood was huge. Almost everyone in the village who wasn’t out at sea, from old people to children, had come out. When they reached the beach, the tide had receded a little. Wang Yufeng pulled Qian Xiaolan and rushed forward.

“Let’s run to the front. We can get the good stuff when the tide goes out completely.”

Qian Xiaolan let her pull her to the water’s edge before stopping. “Okay, this is the spot. You know how to find things, right?”

Qian Xiaolan nodded. Wang Yufeng warned her again, “Don’t walk into the water. Be careful of the waves splashing and knocking you over.”

Qian Xiaolan nodded in agreement. Wang Yufeng then pulled back a distance, feeling reassured.

Qian Xiaolan smiled, lowered her eyes, and scanned the ground at her feet. Then, she saw a small mound of sand. She squatted down and took out her small shovel to dig. It was a plump cat’s eye snail.

Qian Xiaolan grabbed the cat’s eye snail, cleaned the sand from its mouth, and then squeezed it hard. The water almost sprayed in her face. It was so satisfying.

After her first catch, Qian Xiaolan quickly found a second one. Hey! That guy hiding behind the seaweed, showing off his long legs, I see you. Come out!

Qian Xiaolan mumbled to herself, her hands moving quickly as she pressed down the seaweed and grabbed the creature. It was a large octopus.

The octopus was startled when Qian Xiaolan caught it. It immediately fought back, its eight legs with suction cups immediately wrapped around Qian Xiaolan’s hand. If her hand got sucked, it would be uncomfortable. Luckily, Qian Xiaolan was prepared. The moment its legs wrapped around her, she squeezed her fingers hard, pinching the octopus’s eyes. The legs immediately loosened. Qian Xiaolan quickly threw the octopus into the bucket and continued to look for her next target.

Hehe, another octopus hiding half its body under the seaweed. Qian Xiaolan accepted it without hesitation. Wow, another cat’s eye snail, and a scallop. Wow, wow, this whole area is full of clams.

“On the big beach, I dig, dig, dig, dig out a clam, then dig out a razor clam…” Qian Xiaolan moved quickly, humming a song softly. She was in high spirits. In no time, she had filled half a bucket.

Wang Yufeng saw that she had been in one place and hadn’t moved. She called out to her, “Xiaolan, don’t stay in one place. The tide is going out. Come over here.”

Qian Xiaolan replied loudly. She found two more octopuses hiding in the sand and three cat’s eye snails before she got up and went to Wang Yufeng.

“Xiaolan, how much have you caught?” Wang Yufeng curiously looked into the bucket and was immediately surprised. “You’re amazing! I only caught a fish that was two fingers wide, two octopuses, and a few cat’s eye snails.”

Qian Xiaolan laughed, “Maybe I’m just lucky.”

“Hmm, you’re really lucky.” Wang Yufeng agreed. Wasn’t luck a big part of catching seafood?

The two of them chatted for a while and then lowered their heads to look for seafood again. Qian Xiaolan was standing by the intertidal zone①. The waves were lapping at the shore, bringing in small fish, shrimp, seaweed, and seagrass. She wasn’t interested in any of them. After finding another octopus, Qian Xiaolan suddenly remembered the detection function of her space.

So, she squatted down, closed her eyes, and activated her space detection function. She ignored the small fish and shrimp, crossed out the seaweed and seagrass, and also crossed out people, seawater, sand, and various tools. She blocked out anything too far away, only displaying a radius of one li (about half a mile). Finally, what appeared in Qian Xiaolan’s mind were: a sea eel almost a meter long, a blue crab the size of a palm, a sea bass as long as her arm, an octopus with a head the size of an egg, and a flatfish wider than a man’s shoe sole… Unfortunately, all these good things were in the water o(╥﹏╥)o

Qian Xiaolan could only look for seafood that was closest to her and within reach. For example, when a wave came crashing in, she quickly grabbed a flatfish that had been knocked unconscious. It wasn’t big, maybe a pound or so, but it wasn’t small either.

After catching the fish, she ignored the envious and jealous stares around her. She turned and ran away. Amidst the gasps of the crowd, she stepped down, grabbed some seaweed, and skillfully tied up a blue crab before throwing it into the bucket. Then, she looked around and picked up another blue crab from the water on the other side.

Her non-stop operation left the people around her stunned.

Qian Xiaolan finally experienced the joy of catching seafood. She didn’t care about their thoughts and continued to search for seafood on her own. Until she heard that familiar voice.

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[Popular Science①: The intertidal zone is the area of the shoreline between high tide and low tide, which is the area that is submerged when the tide is at its highest and exposed when the tide is at its lowest. The area above the intertidal zone, where seawater droplets can reach the shore, is called the supratidal zone.]