Early in the morning on the first day of the new year, as soon as it was bright, Ye Yaodong got up in high spirits.
While his wife was cooking breakfast, he tidied up his things, but found that there was only one sack in the house, which was the one used to hold rice that day, and the one used to hold rice bran had not been vacated.
"I'll go back to my hometown and pick up a few sacks."
"okay."
Ye Yaodong originally planned to go there and come back quickly, but when he passed the road in the center of the village, he heard some women talking.
“… I didn’t even dare to step on it. I went to empty the urinal early in the morning and it was all over the floor.”
"That's right, I didn't even dare to go to the toilet today..."
"I don't know who was so unlucky yesterday that he fell into the toilet. Fortunately, he was an adult and was able to climb out..."
"It's really hilarious. How many years has it been since someone fell into the toilet?"
I know that the village was discussing this today. In the countryside, even the smallest things can spread everywhere.
When he came back from the old house with the sack and passed this road again, everyone already knew that it was Xu Lai Fu who fell into the toilet last night.
I don't know how they knew about it, but many people were gloating over it, saying that misfortunes never come singly and it was a good thing that it happened.
Ye Yaodong's face was full of smiles as he hurried home briskly. After breakfast he would go fishing again and this time he would bring Ye Huimei with him.
Just now, his younger sister knew that he was going to go fishing in the market, and she clamored to go with him. If he didn't let her, she would pull his clothes and not let him go.
Ye's mother also spoke up, saying that she was doing nothing at home anyway, so if she wanted to go, she could go, but she had to be careful when climbing on the rocks so as not to fall.
Ye Yaodong had no choice but to take her with him and asked her to wait until after dinner, bring her tools to his place, and then go out to the dock together.
When they went out to the dock, Fatty, Xiaoxiao and A Zheng were already waiting there.
Seeing him with his sister, they were surprised for a moment. They greeted him but didn't say anything. But when they were getting on the boat, the three of them winked at each other and whispered, "Tell Ah Guang about it when you go back tonight. Ah Guang should slap his thigh and regret not coming today!"
"Say, I must go and tell him tonight that he has missed a great opportunity."
"The boat has already left, what are you still whispering about?" Ye Yaodong looked at the three people who were whispering to each other on the boat in confusion. His boat had already left the shore, but they were still not moving
"Nothing, nothing, I'm leaving now, I'm leaving now."
"What the hell, what did you put on the boat? Are you really planning to live on the island? You brought all the pots and pans? Did you bring rice too?"
He had just helped his sister onto the boat and had not paid attention to the things on their boat. He only saw them when he turned around and urged them.
The fat man said proudly: "I didn't bring rice, but I brought fried sweet potatoes and a bucket of water. At noon, we will cook seafood noodles on the island."
"Okay, sure, Fatty. Eating, drinking, defecating and urinating are the most important things in life. This glorious task is left to you!"
The fat man rolled his eyes, "I knew you guys wanted to just sit back and reap the benefits!"
"Chef, this is what you are good at!"
"Go, go, go, and concentrate on sailing your boat..."
The two small boats sailed away from the shore one after the other. Originally, Ye Yaodong was supposed to collect the trap nets today, but he felt that there was no need to rush. It would not be too late to go there after he finished digging out the nets.
He was driving in front and the other boat was following behind. They were heading to the small island he had visited a few days ago. They came out early today, as it was only a little after six o'clock. The tide was receding and the waves were still hitting the rocks.
The surrounding reefs were very steep, and the tide had not yet receded. The wind from the sea blew Ye Huimei's ponytail up to her face. She frowned and said, "Third brother, are we going to this island today? But the reefs here seem difficult to climb. The wind is blowing the waves and it's very dangerous."
"Who told you I'm going to the island here? It's obviously not easy to climb. You can see it, how can I not see it? I stopped to look for the reef that looks like a scorpion. According to my last observation, it's easier to get to the island there."
After that, he said to the three people on the other boat: "You go around from the left, and I'll go around from the right, let's find out where it is."
Not all islands have exposed beaches at low tide. The reefs around some islands are hit by waves all year round. When the tide is low, the water level only drops, but the tide still fills the beach.
Unfortunately, the tide of this island seems to never recede completely under the reef. Only in the area of Scorpion Reef where he visited last time, the tide level is relatively low, and the shallow beach can be seen exposed, but only a small part.
When they got off the boat after it docked, the water level had receded a little bit.
They looked around, and Xiao Xiao frowned and said, "Dongzi, this island doesn't seem to work. There is only a small area with a beach and gravel. The reef is relatively easy to climb, but the surrounding reef is very steep. I guess when the tide recedes, there will be no beach exposed, and at most a small diving area will be exposed."
"It doesn't matter. There doesn't have to be a large beach exposed. Shallow waters are fine. Look, isn't there a mantis shrimp in the shallow water ahead? The tide has just receded. When it recedes to the bottom, you can go around. I estimate the water level should be about calf-high. The sea water is very clear, so it doesn't matter if there is a beach or not."
Everyone looked in the direction he was looking, and saw that there were not only mantis shrimps, but also a stone crab that crawled out from somewhere.
Ye Huimei happily took the hand scoop net to catch them and immediately harvested two little guys.
"It's over. I didn't bring a hand net. I didn't know that this was a shallow area today instead of a beach mudflat."
Ye Yaodong looked at the fat man speechlessly, "I told you to bring all the tools, but you didn't bring any important things. Instead, you brought a bunch of pots and pans. Are you trying to make me laugh to death? Then do you want to change islands?"
"Forget it, I'll just go dig on the reef wall and that's enough. I can see whole fields of oysters. They are my favorite. Other fish and nets are not important."
"Are they oysters or mussels?" Ah Zheng was also looking around carefully, and pried open a larger one at random. "Hey, it's really an oyster, quite plump and full."
To outsiders, oysters and mussels are the same, but according to coastal people, oysters and mussels are two completely different things with essential differences.
Oysters are relatively small in size, with a rough shell, and their meat is mostly light green in color and relatively small in quantity.
Oysters are relatively large in size, with a lot of mud and sand on the shell. The meat is mostly white and relatively abundant. The texture is full and delicate. They are much heavier than ordinary oysters and have a strong umami flavor. They are more fragrant and enjoyable to eat than oysters.
The fat man said with a little pride: "My eyesight is not bad."
"So what are you waiting for? Get started!"
Ye Yaodong also hurried forward to dig excitedly. Oysters are very attractive to men.
Only Ye Huimei rolled her eyes there. She looked around and found a spot with wild small abalone. Just as she was about to start digging, she saw a stone abalone in the crevice of the reef.
She happily used the scoop net at the side to scoop them into the bucket. After tasting the sweetness, she also liked to look in the cracks of the rocks. After a while, there were two more stone crabs, two stone nine crabs and a blue crab in the bucket.
She grabbed the big blue crab and waved it towards the men who were working hard, saying, "Third brother, why don't you go look for something else? I've found several stone crabs and blue crabs."
"Ah? Several of them?" Ye Yaodong turned his head to look over, but his hands were still digging there. As a result, he accidentally pried open an oyster, and some slippery liquid flowed onto his hand. He also felt a foreign object in the palm of his hand.
He looked down in surprise. What was this
In just a moment, his orifice tightened, "Oyster Pearl!"
"Oyster pearls?"
"What oyster pearls?"
"Oyster pearls? You dug up oyster pearls?"
The three people were digging not far from him. When they heard what he said, they immediately turned around in surprise. People living by the sea know that any shellfish can produce pearls.
Ye Huimei also ran over from a distance, "What did you find, Third Brother? Why are you so excited?"
Ye Yaodong picked up the milky white beads in his hand and took a look at them in surprise. They were indeed oyster pearls, the same color as oysters.
Everyone saw it, and they gathered around him excitedly with the beads in his hands.
"Fuck, you just opened it casually and found an oyster bead?"
"Let me see, the grass is quite big and round, it should be worth a lot of money."
"I'm so envious. I wonder if there are any beads in what I just dug."
"Third brother, you are so lucky."
Ye Yaodong handed the bead to them to see, and then looked at the oyster meat from which the bead had just fallen out. The meat was full and filled the entire shell. If the bead had not fallen out, he would not have thought of taking the bead out of the oyster.
His younger sister really did a great job calling him "Third Brother" just now!
Afraid of missing it, he stretched out his index finger to pick up the oyster meat from the shell.
"Fuck, there's still one!"
He took out another one in surprise. It was milky white, the same color as the oyster flesh.
"ah?"
"besides?"
"Fuck, what kind of shit luck, two at a time?"
Ye Huimei looked at him with envy, "Third brother, you are going to be rich. I think your breasts are much rounder than Second sister-in-law's. Second sister-in-law's breasts are a bit oval."
"He was also cut with a knife!" Xiaoxiao added.
"Yes, my second sister-in-law is very sad."
The fat man rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "I wonder if there are pearls in the oysters we just pried off."
Ah Zheng was also itching to do so and said, "Why don't we try opening a few holes while we dig?"
"I don't have anything to put it in... ah, yes... there's a bowl to put it in. Fatty, you're really smart today. You even brought a bowl!" Xiaoxiao patted her thigh happily. She almost forgot that Fatty had brought one in the morning.
"Humph... When I brought you here this morning, you laughed at me for living on an isolated island."
"Haha, you can open some meat now, dig out the meat and cook it with noodles later, it won't be a waste."