When setting traps in the shallow water near the beach, Ye Yaodong pushed the cart along the shore to carry the traps. He also picked up a lot of various big and small fish, shrimps, crabs and conchs. After just a short distance, he could no longer hold them all in his hands.
After the storm and high waves swept through the beach, a lot of remaining fish and shrimp were stranded. Last night they only picked them up around their own doorstep. Fish from places farther away were all caught in the net, and some were not blown back into the sea by the wind and waves.
He didn't know if the neighbors had come early to visit the place, as it was not yet fully light. If they had, they probably hadn't visited it thoroughly. He simply asked Lin Xiuqing to look around the beach first.
Anyway, he has already spread the net in the sea, and those scallops that escape will only fall into his net, and the shells that can't escape will still stay there.
Seeing him busying himself with this and that, Ye's father laid two nets in the sea, then went home to push out the cart to move the traps, and ran over to help.
"What's the point of putting the trap here?"
Ye Yaodong asked back, "Where can we put them? The typhoon has just passed and the waves are big outside. We can't put them outside. We can just put them on the shore. The tide is so high and we can catch some fish and shrimps when the waves come up."
"We can still catch some scallops that escaped. It's a pity that we don't have any other large fishing nets at home. It would be better to have a purse seine net. We can spread it out to ensure that the scallops can't escape."
"What a waste of time. There are so many on the shore, not just scallops, but also various shells and conchs. If you don't go over there to move them, how much can you catch in the sea?"
"You underestimated me, didn't you? There are so many shells on the shore, and they are so high. It would be great if half of them have meat. My net is specially used to catch scallops that can run, and there are also live ones. I might get a better harvest."
Father Ye didn't argue with him. If they wanted to release them, then let them go. Anyway, they had picked up a lot last night, and this morning they were one step ahead of the villagers and had already collected five baskets of shelled ones.
Maybe he could really catch a lot. He just saw that the scallops in the sea were moving particularly nimbly.
People from the village ran out in groups of two or three and then ran back to get tools, and also brought many of their family members and neighbors back.
Before we even reached the beach, we saw the coastline made of shells and were amazed.
It was a white curved line, piled up along the coast, forming a sharp contrast with the stones, silt, sea sand and turbid yellow sea water on the side, as if a white ribbon separated the sea water from the stones and silt.
Suddenly everyone was excited.
"Hey, you're right, there are really piles of shells..."
"Hurry up, hurry up, go over there, someone is already picking it up."
"There must be a lot of conches, and the big scallops can also be sold for some money. I can also pick up some oyster shells and open them at home..."
"Ah! Yellow porgy! There is a yellow porgy."
Just as we were about to jog to the beach, someone saw a yellow porgy, which was quite large. Now everyone started to pay attention to their feet and surroundings.
"Big white pomfret, there are two big white pomfret, they must have been washed up by the waves..."
"You're lucky... Oh my god, there are white pomfret here too... There's a small shark over there, it's so small..."
"This mantis shrimp doesn't have much meat, this oyster snail is big, ah... it's a hermit crab..."
"Ah... Spring fish, this big..."
"Wow, this one of yours is big, you can sell a lot..."
Before running closer, everyone couldn't wait to look around.
As they walked, they looked around to see if there were any good bargains around.
The prices of big white pomfret, yellow porgy, and spring fish are not cheap. They are all high-quality fish. Their appeal is no less than the low coastline made of shells. Picking up two of them may be worth more than a basket of shells.
Many people came out of the village one after another. After seeing other people's harvest, they were not in a hurry to run to the coast, but started searching around first.
The shell over there looks so long, you can dig it slowly, there is no rush. It is dark now and not many people have come here after hearing the news. Some of them are probably catching up on their sleep.
Ye Yaodong and his father were also placing traps and picking up items at the same time. When they saw something valuable on the beach, they would pick it up and throw it onto the cart.
It was quite impressive for them to come ashore occasionally and push the cart to pick up some traps. Before all the traps were put out, there were already a dozen good fish, a dozen conches, and some slightly larger miscellaneous fish on the cart.
There were also seven or eight blue crabs crawling around. These were picked up by him and his father on the shore, and some were caught by the waves.
There were quite a few swimming crabs on the shore, but they were dead, so he didn't want them anymore.
As the rain gradually stopped, the clouds in the sky began to rise, and the rising sun gradually emerged from the clouds in the east. The sky was bright, giving people a feeling of the sky clearing up after the rain and the day appearing after the clouds and mist, and their hearts felt open.
The news spread quickly in the village. At first, there were only a few people, but more and more people came later.
By the time Ye Yaodong spent an hour placing four rows of traps into the water along the coastline, the shore was already crowded with people picking up shells. It seemed that almost everyone in the village, except the elderly and children, had come.
There are still waves on the beach and the water level is high. Even though there is no wind or rain now, adults still won't let children come to the beach.
Just as Ye Yaodong was taking off his straw raincoat and walking towards the cart, he suddenly heard curses not far from the shore, one louder than the other, and it sounded like two women were cursing at each other.
Since they had finished their work anyway, he and Ye's father walked over curiously, and unexpectedly heard some familiar voices.
It looks like two women are fighting over a fish, or is it a grouper
"Who said you saw it first? It was obviously me who grabbed it first, it's mine..."
"Fuck you, you're blind and didn't see anything. I saw it first and walked over, then you discovered it and rushed over to grab it, but you couldn't get it from me, and it all went into my bucket. How dare you say yours? And you asked me to give it back to you. Is there shit in your head?"
"You shameless fat woman, it was you who pushed me with your butt..."
The fat woman interrupted her first, "Fuck, what's wrong with me being fat? You can't eat all this meat even if you want to. You're just a rib-eater, a washboard. I just touched you and you fell down to eat mud. Who can you blame?"
"That grouper is mine. I just caught it. I caught it first. You shameless fat woman, you stole it from me..."
"It's so funny. I saw it first, and you came over to steal it. How dare you say that? You even said I used my butt to butt you. You were lucky in your previous life to be able to give birth to a son with that butt. It's a good thing I didn't sit on you to death."
"Fellow villagers, please judge for yourself. I have it in my hands, but she pushed me away... This is our family's life-saving money, and my husband is still lying in bed taking medicine..."
Unable to win an argument, this woman could only wipe her tears and offer sympathy.
The fat woman looked at him with disdain, "Who is your man? Didn't you find another gangster to support your family?"
"People should be reasonable. Whoever finds it owns it. You can't steal other people's fish just because one of your men is in bed. And you still want me to give in to you. Why? I'm not your accomplice. I have to support you! Instead of arguing with me, you might as well go to the beach and collect more shells."
As they spoke, the fat woman softened her attitude a bit, stopped swearing, and planned to leave with the bucket.
“You can’t leave…” The woman saw her leaving, and kicked her bucket in anger and resigned herself, then put her hands on her hips and cursed, “You shameless fat ugly woman, if you want money, go sell yourself, you can make more money by spreading your legs… and you want to steal from me…”
The fat woman saw the bucket slip out of her hand and spilled all over the floor. Before she could react, she heard her mother cursing so harshly. She knew that this was not going to be a peaceful ending, so she turned around and slapped her.
Ye Yaodong stood outside the crowd and listened to the voices and scolding. The more he listened, the more familiar it sounded. Did it sound like the fat man's wife? There were only a few fat women in their village.
He stood on tiptoe and took a look, and wow, it really was the fat man’s wife.
The fierce woman grabbed the other woman's hair and slapped her twice. The other woman stretched out her hand and kept scratching the fat man's wife's face. The two women started fighting each other in an instant, and the people nearby came forward to separate them.
Half of the woman's face was covered in mud, but why did he feel that woman looked familiar? And they just mentioned the gang
At this time, Ye's father said, "Hey, you? Isn't that Ah Sheng trying to get a wife?"
Um?!
He instantly remembered that this was Wang Lizhen, the wife of his second cousin Ye Yaosheng from his second uncle's family.
This cousin is in his thirties. His wife has been married for more than ten years but has not been able to give birth to a child, not even a daughter. He has prayed to gods and Buddhas everywhere, seen doctors, taken folk remedies and drank talisman water, but nothing worked. Two years ago, she ate something that made her sick and poisoned herself to death.
As for Wang Lizhen, her husband went to work in the city last year and fell from a high-rise building and was half-dead. The medical expenses had exhausted the family's savings, and there was no one to support the family. So she asked her husband for consent and, with the help of someone, found a strong man to help support the family. The man was her second uncle's cousin.
The main thing is that this woman was able to give birth to sons. She gave birth to two in three years and three in five years. In total, she gave birth to three sons, but one fell into the sea and one fell into a well. Only one survived.
Ye Yaosheng has spent all his family's savings on medical treatment because his wife is infertile. Now at this age, he can't afford to marry a young girl. He will marry a widow or a divorced woman anyway, so he might as well find one who can give birth to a son.
From what he just said, the man is still alive. When he dies, Ye Yaosheng can marry her and continue living together. This is a trap.
This still exists these days, but it will become extinct in the future.
He also remembered that Wang Lizhen gave birth to three more daughters for his cousin and was fined or sentenced to death...
"Hurry up and help break up the fight. Why are you standing there like an idiot?" After recognizing the people, Ye's father also stepped forward to help break up the fight.
"How can I stop it... Just let those women mediate..."
Ye Yaodong looked at the two of them pulling each other back and forth, both of them were badly exposed, and they were about to tear their clothes off. How could he, a grown man, dare to step forward