The family returned to the beach in silence, and after washing their hands, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Mother Ye patted her chest and said with regret: "I actually encountered such a thing. Fortunately, you men are here. If it were just me and your little sister on this isolated island, we would be scared to death and dare not go forward."
Ye Huimei also nodded heavily, "Luckily, Dad and Third Brother didn't leave. I would have been scared to death if I had seen them."
"See if you dare to follow me next time?"
"It's not like we meet every day, and don't you and dad still have us?"
"Are you not afraid?"
"They are all buried. Of course I am not afraid anymore."
Ye Yaodong shook his head, his face was still pale and bloodless, but he still spoke stubbornly.
At this time, Father Ye took out a few pieces of yellow paper with talismans drawn on them from his pocket, and also took out a box of matches, "Dongzi, help hold it first, I'll scratch the matches, and we can all get rid of the evil spirits."
This was when he just got on the boat to get the incense and offerings. He took them together and put them in his pocket, intending to light two pieces of yellow paper to drive away evil spirits after burning incense.
Ye Yaodong helped hold the yellow paper. After Ye's father lit it, he took the yellow paper and circled it around his head three times, then around Ye's mother's head three times, then around Ye Huimei's head, and finally around himself. After circling around everyone's head three times, the yellow paper finally burned to ashes.
People living by the sea are really superstitious.
"alright."
Mother Ye frowned and said, "Let's go back and find someone to do a few good deeds (rituals) for a few days. Although it has already been buried, it's better to 'renew' it just in case."
"Is it unnecessary?" Ye Yaodong raised his eyebrows. It was already buried.
"What do you know? It's better to be safe than sorry. Although they say that everything will be fine after burying it, who can guarantee it?"
Father Ye shook his head and said, "Don't make trouble. Have you forgotten the crackdown in the past few years?"
Then he looked at Ye Huimei and said, "Go to the drugstore and buy some pearl powder when you get back. Take a little before going to bed at night."
"Dad, I'm not afraid anymore."
Ye Yaodong raised his eyebrows and looked at Ye Huimei, "Are you not afraid anymore? Then continue fishing?"
The smile on her face froze for a moment, "Haha, no...won't you just go back?"
Mother Ye spoke first, "Why go back? You finally came out, what time is it now? The sun is still hanging high in the sky. What does it matter if you bury it? The yang energy is strong in the daytime. Don't be afraid. Just dig a little more..."
Ye Huimei complained in her heart, it was because she didn't see it that she was fearless.
Father Ye also nodded, "Let's dig a little more, otherwise we won't have enough gas for a round trip. We haven't done anything wrong."
"Forget it, if you're scared, just go back. It doesn't matter, we've dug a lot." Ye Yaodong stopped teasing her because the little girl was timid.
"We can't leave now. The tide has receded and the boat is stranded. We have to wait until the tide rises in the afternoon before we can sail." Ye's father added.
Ye Yaodong turned his head to look at the sea surface, and it had really receded to the bottom. He looked at his watch again, and it was past 12 o'clock, the tide was at its lowest that day, and he couldn't leave. He was so busy that he forgot about it.
"Then I'll stay with my mother..."
"Don't force yourself. If you're scared, just rest aside."
Ye Huimei shook her head. "It's okay. I was a little panicked when I saw it, but now that I've calmed down, it's nothing."
"It's up to you. I'll go get the rice dumplings from the boat. There are some left from the steaming at night. They're still warm in the stove. Eat them and dig for a while. Then we'll go back when the tide comes in."
No one has any objection.
The tide had receded to the bottom, so there was no need to climb over the rocks. Ye Yaodong walked directly along the edge of the exposed reef on the beach, heading towards the fishing boat.
When he passed by and saw a large conch attached to the reef, he broke it off and held it in his hand. Looking down, he saw a cat's eye snail under his feet, and he picked it up as well.
The entire white snail meat was exposed, and it immediately shrank back when he caught it in his hand. He pressed it with his thumb, and a few splashes of water spurted out.
You can pick one up every few steps, so he picks them up and squeezes them along the way. It's a bit fun and relieves stress! It helps relieve your mood!
Before he even reached the fishing boat, his arms were already filled with various conches and cat's-eye snails. In fact, sea scouring is much more fun than fishing. He could pick them up one by one from the rock walls and in the shallow water, which brought him more surprises.
He also saw a lot of bubble holes on the way. He could conclude that there were either clams or mussels underneath, but he didn't have time to dig them out and couldn't free his hands to collect them.
In the shallows between the reefs and on the edges of the rocks, he saw many stone crabs, stone crabs, and a few small octopuses as he walked along, but as he had no containers to put them in, he simply skipped them.
I was just going to get some food from the boat, who would have thought I would see so much stuff on the road? I could only wait to get a bucket from the boat and pick it up as I walked.
But before he got close to the fishing boat, he saw that the boat was crawling with black creatures. In the sea not far from the fishing boat, there were a steady stream of black creatures swimming ashore towards the fishing boat. He was shocked.
From a distance, the black creature looked a bit like a manta ray, but not quite.
He ran forward quickly with a bunch of snails in his arms. When he got closer, he could see clearly what was swimming all over the bottom of the boat.
"Fuck... so many?"
He also took the time to throw the snail in his arms onto the boat and shouted at the top of his voice: "Dad, come here, there are couple mermaids here, lots of couple mermaids."
After shouting, he waded to the shallow water.
"Fuck, why are there so many of them suddenly? They're all surrounding the fishing boat?"
He bent down to pick one up, but saw that the horseshoe crabs were stacked two by two. In fact, it has another nickname called mandarin ducks in the sea.
Because usually they appear in pairs of male and female, and the larger female will carry the male on her back, and their habits are somewhat similar to those of the toad fish...
Another kind of fish that feeds on freeloaders.
He picked it up and looked at it, and found that he was not mistaken. Those surrounding the hull were husband and wife mermaids.
He threw the two snails stacked in his hands onto the boat, kicked away a few horseshoe crabs at his feet, and then approached the side of the boat. He casually threw the snails in his arms onto the boat, and then climbed up to get the bamboo basket.
"What? What is that?" Father Ye and the others were far away and couldn't hear it carefully.
"Come here."
Don’t think that because he kicked it a few times and treated it casually, it is useless and worthless. This thing is a living fossil in the sea!
But it’s the same era as the dinosaurs!
They were just blocking the way just now, and there were too many fishing boats surrounding them, so he treated them so casually.
Ye's father and the others thought something had happened and rushed over, but they saw him throwing a bamboo basket under the boat. Nothing unexpected happened, so they were relieved.
When they got closer, they also discovered something unusual around the fishing boat.
Ye's mother was the first to speak up. "What are those things surrounding the boat? That black mass looks like it's moving?"
"I don't know. It's pitch black and I can't see clearly. Come closer..." Father Ye said as he started running again.
"Ah? So many couple fish." He exclaimed in surprise.
"There are so many couple mermaids." Ye's mother repeated in surprise.
Ye Huimei didn't recognize it and asked curiously, "What kind of fish is this? It looks so grey and I don't think I've seen it before."
"This is a couple fish, actually called horseshoe crab. Its blood is blue, very special."
I heard that they can be used to treat cancer and can also be made into toxin reagents, because horseshoe crab blood can determine whether there are bacterial toxins that can cause shock or even death in people.
It is these reasons that have led to overfishing. In later generations, the number of horseshoe crabs has become small. The price of 1 liter of horseshoe crab blood is close to 100,000 yuan. It is not that rare now, but it can still be considered a free find.
"Hey... why are you asking so many questions? Eat two straw cakes each first, and then help catch them quickly." Ye Yaodong handed two to each of them and took two for himself.
After filling his stomach with a few bites, he threw down several bamboo baskets.
"How come so many of them suddenly appeared?" While eating, Ye's mother dragged a bamboo basket floating on the sea to her side.
She didn't actually expect to get an answer, she just muttered a few words with emotion.
Father Ye was also puzzled and asked: "I didn't see any when I came to the boat to get incense earlier. These seem to have just appeared not long ago?"
Mother Ye paused while chewing, looked around suspiciously, and said uncertainly: "Is this... is this the reward..."
"Ah... No way? So fast? That shouldn't be the case, right? Our sea transportation has always been pretty good..." Father Ye said uncertainly.
"I heard... I heard that after the body is buried, everything will go smoothly and everything will go smoothly... the luck will be especially good..." Ye's mother couldn't help but make the connection.
Ye Yaodong interrupted his parents' mysterious talk, "Don't think too much, they are just some married fish. Hasn't our family always had good luck? Ever since Dad caught a net of big yellow croaker, our family has had good luck."
"But your eldest and second brothers seem to have average luck."
"Maybe their shipping is not as strong as mine and my dad's. My dad and I are both strong in shipping, but we don't have to do anything, and fish will come to us..."
People living by the sea also pay attention to sea transportation. There is a saying that people who are strong in sea transportation will always encounter good things when they go out to sea. For such people, when they go out to sea, it is not people looking for fish, but fish looking for people.
As for those who work in the shipping business, they are bound to encounter unexpected situations whenever they go out to sea.
Maybe the fishing net suddenly breaks, maybe the machine breaks down temporarily, or maybe the paddle doesn't work. There are always unexpected emergencies.
This kind of people are not suitable for going out to sea, as they are prone to accidents. They may have no problems in daily life, but they will not be able to go out to sea. This is the impact of poor shipping.
Father Ye agreed with what Ye Yaodong said, "I think so too. Dongzi's shipping business is very prosperous. In other places, he has achieved nothing and is lazy and unserious all day long. But as long as he goes out to sea, his shipping business is very strong. Good things often happen to him during this period."
"So today's thing... can be considered a good thing?" Ye Huimei couldn't help but speak out.
"It depends on your choice. It can be a good thing or a bad thing. It's hard to say about luck. Anyway, we did a good thing."
Ye Yaodong patted Ye Huimei on the head and said, "Hurry up and work, don't let your head wander."
"All right."