The women on the beach were working hard to paddle shells into their buckets and were chatting excitedly while working.
They talked about how strong the typhoon was last night? How bad is the leak at home? What was damaged by the typhoon? Or what was blown away by the typhoon? What fish or other good things did others pick up just now? What was even more surprising to them was that they actually ran when they saw scallops.
"I've lived to this age, but I never thought these scallops would run away. We have to paddle faster, or they will all run away."
"Who said it wasn't? This is the first time I've seen a scallop run, and run pretty fast at that."
"I thought it wouldn't move, just like the sand clam, but I didn't expect it to run..."
"Hurry up and dig, otherwise every time the tide comes in, a bunch of scallops will run into the sea..."
"Wow, wow, it can even turn?" a woman said excitedly, pointing at the scallops that were opening and closing in the sea to escape.
This is called living a long time to see!
Most scallops live in the shallow seabed about a few hundred meters below the low tide zone. The catch is relatively small, and it will take a few years for people to start breeding them.
It is rare in daily life, and people don’t know that scallops can actually run.
Ye Yaodong also saw it, and it turned 180 degrees and ran away. He scooped it up, and the scallop lying on the sieve instantly became obedient and pretended to be dead and didn't move.
The women looked at Ye Yaodong standing in the water and only caught about ten fish. They were immediately puzzled.
"Why don't you use a dustpan or winnowing basket? How many can you hold?"
He didn't explain much, just said that there was no dustpan or winnowing basket at home and they were redundant.
"Then you can also take a washbasin!"
The old man next to him understood, "He caught live scallops. Although we caught more, there were a lot of empty shells, as well as oysters, clams, and other worthless ones. It's hard to say which one is more."
The woman was also tempted when she saw him catching scallops. Since there were few scallops caught, even though they were all shells, a pound of large ones could be sold for 30 or 40 cents, and small ones could also be sold for around 30 cents. The shells have weight, and a few large ones could weigh a pound. The quantity was very considerable.
Although there are many people on the beach, it is still easy for a family to pick up several hundred kilograms and take them back, and they can sell them for a hundred yuan, which is a huge income.
The woman nearby was also tempted to try to fish out those fish that were heading into the sea. She raised her bucket, only to realize that her bucket was watertight and she could not fish any fish out.
The young man next to him also went into the water with a dustpan, but after a while he felt too tired. He kept bending over and standing up, but it was not as easy as squatting there all the time.
And what he scooped up was just a little bit, not as much as what those people around him pulled into their arms, it was simply incomparable.
After a while, the young man gave up and continued to attack the shell coastline. He felt that it was faster and more likely to get fish this way along the shore.
He also said this to the women, and everyone thought it made sense. They could also catch more shellfish by paddling along the shore.
Ye Yaodong didn't care and just continued to fish.
The tide kept washing there, and the living scallops gradually followed the tide into the sea. The ones piled up next to them were either dead, fleshless, or pressed underneath and unable to move.
His father, mother and wife were all there picking shells, so there was no shortage of all kinds of shellfish, so it would be better for him to catch more and sell them for money.
It’s just right for one person to catch all the fish, and if there are any fish that slip through the net, you can see if the ground trap can catch them.
Some people were looking at the ground trap nets being washed by the waves in the shallow water, and were discussing who put them there.
Those who came early could see that it was him and his father who released it, but those who came late could only hear about it from others.
Just then, someone saw him fishing in the sea, moving slowly along the coastline, and asked him about it.
"Yaodong, I heard that you put these traps in the sea earlier. What can there be on this coast? The typhoon has passed."
"Yeah, how much stuff can be put in the trap? If we were going to put it in, we should have put it in yesterday during the typhoon. We could have had more stuff..."
Ye Yaodong straightened up, clenched his fists, pounded his lower back, and looked up at the sky. The sky was glowing red before, and the sun had already come out, but now it hid in the clouds again. Today was overcast and the clouds were particularly thick. Fortunately, there was no sun, so it wouldn't be too hot.
He twisted his hips and looked at the old ladies. "With a typhoon and big waves, they can be blown away in a few seconds. Big trees can be uprooted, not to mention this trap."
I didn’t know how the typhoon had affected the village. I was busy on the beach as soon as I opened the door in the morning. I didn’t even have breakfast, nor did I go around the village or visit the old house.
"It should be placed outside. The bigger the waves, the more cargo will come in..."
Without him saying anything, the others refuted, "The typhoon has just passed, who is going to go out and cast the nets? The waves outside are much bigger than those on the shore. We have to wait at least two days."
"I just said it casually..."
"When are you going to collect these traps? Maybe you can catch some scallops."
"It's sure to catch some fish. Yaodong, your brain works very quickly. Everyone just came out with their dustpans and you've already set up the traps."
"We live close by, our new home is right by the beach... I don't know how much we picked up this morning... Oh? Yeah, how many fish did you pick up this morning?"
This question hits the nail on the head.
Ye Yaodong smiled, showing his white teeth, "We didn't pick up much this morning, so others don't know."
Those things in his house were all picked up last night.
Hurry up and work, because you have to pull the fish from home to the dock to sell later. There is no ice, otherwise the fish will go stale if left for too long.
He walked and fished along the coastline. When he saw someone familiar, he greeted them and chatted with them. He happened to walk up to the fat man and his wife, and the fat man was still being scolded.
When the fat man saw him, he felt like he saw a savior, "Dongzi, did you put these traps? When will you collect them?"
"Let's take a look. Let's collect it the day after tomorrow. We just put it out this morning. I guess the tide will go down the day after tomorrow and it won't be so full anymore."
The two fishing nets can be collected later.
"You can earn a lot from this, right?"
"Isn't it the same for you? You're paddling much faster than I can."
That’s why others didn’t follow his example and go back to get traps to set them off.
How fast can it be rowed like this? How much time would it take to run back to get the trap and put it back into the sea
There are so many people here now. By the time you put up the traps, half of this shell coastline will have been moved away by the villagers. How much faster would it be if you just squatted on the shore and paddled there instead
The fat man nodded in agreement. "That's right, it's just that there seem to be more empty shells and other shells. We'll have some to choose from when we get back. My wife will have to work hard then."
Ye Yaodong laughed, "Now you know what I mean by that?"
The fat man’s wife gave him a fierce look and said, “You can carry a sack for other women and make them suffer.”
"Uh..." Fatty was too guilty to say anything and quickly changed the subject, "How was your house last night? Was there a big leak?"
"The house didn't leak last night, but I don't know what happened to the old house. I was worried yesterday so I brought my parents here."
The fat man said enviously: "The new house is still good. We didn't sleep all night, and the rain wasn't so heavy this morning. We just dozed off for a while before being called out..."
The fat guy was afraid of being pestered by his wife, so he just found random topics to chat with Ye Yaodong.
Ye Yaodong also cooperated very well.
There is strength in numbers!
The villagers were like a swarm of locusts, they had not slept all night but were still energetic, each of them was as if they had been injected with chicken blood. The long coastline almost disappeared in just half a morning, and the sacks and bamboo baskets behind them had been filled with it.
Ye Yaodong also straightened his aching back and looked at his watch. It was only around nine o'clock. With so much money, these people can really endure!
Everyone had a bright smile on their face, covering up the dark circles under their eyes, and they asked each other how many bags and baskets they had grabbed.
Some of them were reluctant to stand up and were still picking up the leftovers on the shore. Their buttocks were wet from the sea water and they were still squatting there, looking very funny. When they stood up, only the part where they were squatting was wet, and the part above the waist and below the buttocks was dry.
The same goes for Ye's father, Ye's mother, Lin Xiuqing, and everyone else.
When they pushed the cart back home, a bunch of children gathered at the door. The old lady was watching with a whip. When they saw them coming back with wet butts, they all laughed at them.
"Mom and Dad peed their pants~"
"Dad and mom are so embarrassed that they peed their pants~"
"Grandpa and grandma also peed their pants~"
“Hahaha~”
"Go away, go away, get out of here, you are hated by people and dogs!"
"Dad, why didn't you pee your pants? Everyone did!"
"Yeah, Uncle San, why didn't you pee your pants?"
"Hahaha, Dad is definitely not in a hurry to pee..."
Ye Yaodong glared at them and said, "Help me pick it up later, and I will be merciful and not beat you."
"A little bit~"
A group of children were giggling and hanging around a few adults, talking about whose pants were wet more and who peed more. It was really speechless.
When the adults helped each other carry the shells down, they cried out, "There are so many~"
“So many shells~”
"I'm rich~"
"Ahh, can we go to the beach and pick them up? Are there any left?"
"It seems to be gone, there is no white line anymore, it has all been moved away..."