The night was long and there was a cool breeze outside the house, but the house was hot and boiling. Even the moon blushed and hid in the clouds.
The next morning, after dinner, the couple left their three children to go to school and play on their own, and they went away to take care of themselves.
Ye Yaodong carried the bucket and whistled as he walked towards where the boat was docked. The wind was a bit strong on the shore. Although it was not time to wear a cotton jacket yet, he put on one when he came out because he was afraid of the strong wind on the sea. It was really a bit hot now.
He stretched out his hand and grabbed the collar to fan the air a few times, and turned back to urge, "Hurry up, are you ready? I told you to wear a hat and scarf when you came out, but you insisted on wearing them at the dock because you were afraid that others would not see your beautiful face."
Lin Xiuqing jogged while wrapping the scarf around her face and head, then put on her hat and stuck it inside so it wouldn't fall off.
"What are you talking about? I'm afraid that if I wrap myself up tightly and people see me walking on the street, they will think I'm weird. I'm just a dog with a mouth that can't spit out ivory all day long, and I'm irritated when I open my mouth to talk. I'm not going."
She stamped her feet in anger and was about to walk back. Ye Yaodong quickly ran up to hold her back, smiling and apologetically saying, "No, I was wrong. My wife is so pretty, you'd better stop covering her up and show us what a beauty is."
Lin Xiuqing was instantly amused by him and patted him twice with a smile, "Hurry up and get on the boat, you are still talking nonsense there."
"Don't I have to coax you first? How can getting on the boat be more important than coaxing your wife? You can only go to bed after you've coaxed her."
Lin Xiuqing didn't understand the hidden meaning of his words, but just glared at him a few more times. She was always talking harshly.
Ah Cai walked over slowly and looked at them with a smile, "What are you two doing out to sea at this time?"
"Nothing. She's a mountain girl and has never been to the sea..."
Lin Xiuqing secretly pinched his waist, and Ye Yaodong took a breath of cold air, and quickly changed his words, "… The traps can be collected, I'll go out to collect them, she is curious about what the sea is like, I'll take her out for a walk and see the sea…"
"The couple has such a good relationship."
"It's a must," he said, and then he pulled Lin Xiuqing back, "Let's go, get on the boat, the sooner we go, the sooner we can come back."
Lin Xiuqing hurriedly followed.
After arriving on the boat, Ye Yaodong lifted up his clothes and looked at his lower back. "A man's waist is very important. Stop pinching my waist all day long. You can pinch your arms next time!"
"Still talking nonsense. The boat is about to sail, so the sooner we go, the sooner we can return. I have two children at home, and they told me I couldn't go, but you insisted on dragging me out."
"Men and women working together makes the work less tiring. It's boring for me to go out to sea alone."
Ye Yaodong touched his waist and muttered a few words before starting the boat.
Lin Xiuqing stood beside him, watching him sail the boat curiously, and then looked around at the several boats that were docked on the shore but had not gone out to sea.
On the sea in the distance, there were also some small wooden boats working here and there.
Although she has been married for several years, she has never been to sea. She was either pregnant or breastfeeding a child. She feels it is quite fresh.
"Adong, which isolated island are we going to?"
"Look for something closer, preferably one that's higher up, has a beach, and isn't too steep. The tide is slowly receding now. The islands I dug at the beginning of last year are all pretty good, and I even found treasures there. I'll go take a look later. I haven't been here for a year, so the shellfish should have grown quite big. I just don't know if anyone from the nearby villages has been there."
"Do you think there will be pearls and such?"
"Pearls are not so easy to form. They are only possible on islands that have been unvisited for a long time. Don't count on them. It's good enough to pick up a treasure once. There are treasures everywhere. These are all side income. You still need more regular income."
"As for the legitimate income, I can only count on you as the head of the family."
"No problem. Serve me well and everything will be yours."
"Dead look!"
Ye Yaodong laughed heartily. He felt that he was not far from reaching the peak of his life. He had elderly parents and young children to take care of, and someone took care of everything for him on a daily basis. This was also a kind of happiness.
He hadn't visited the surrounding islands for a whole year, so he picked one at random and planned to go to the island where a sea turtle had laid eggs before. This sea turtle only lays one or two eggs, which are not as rare as pearls.
No matter where adult sea turtles roam, they will return thousands of miles to their "homeland" every year to lay eggs.
Lin Xiuqing looked at the island getting closer and closer, and felt inexplicably excited. "Is it here? Did you dig here last year?"
"We can't dig all here. We have to share the harvest equally. We can't just grab the wool of one sheep."
“That means they have dug here too.”
“Remember the turtle eggs?”
"Remember, it's right here?"
"Yes, but now that the weather is cold, it's past the turtle laying season. I wonder if there are any unhatched eggs."
He felt a little worried, as it was already November and there should be no shells left. However, he came to take a look on a whim, as he had originally intended to dig for shells.
"Hey, why are you driving this way?"
"The water level over there is too shallow. We can't get too close or we'll be forced to run aground and wade across. It's almost winter now. It's fine for me to go in the water, but you'd better not go in."
"Uh-huh."
After Ye Yaodong docked the boat, he helped her carefully walk over the rocks.
Lin Xiuqing looked at the reef under her feet. It was covered with densely packed water lilies. She resisted the urge to squat down and grab them.
“There really are so many.”
"Well, it's not easy to stand up here, and it's slippery. Let's go down and dig slowly."
"Um."
Ye Yaodong stepped on the edge and jumped down first, then carried her down.
"Just look around and dig up whatever you see. I'll go look around."
"What are you turning for? Looking for turtle eggs?"
"No, just look around. You can dig as you like. Don't worry about me. I won't go far. If you have any questions, just shout. I can hear you."
"oh."
Watching him walk forward, she obediently put on gloves, took out tools, and began to search on the surrounding reefs.
She knew what could be sold, what couldn't be sold, and what was delicious, and she planned to find the ones that could be sold first.
Ye Yaodong took a spatula and wandered around along the beach, digging in the sand from time to time. He aimed at the bubble holes and dug several holes with a shovel. They were all clams, but he was too lazy to pick them up.
When he walked outside into the mud, he dug up clams. He was a little reluctant to pick them up, but he picked them up anyway and threw them into the sack in his hand. He no longer cared about these odds and ends, unless there were a large number of them.
Ye Yaodong looked at the densely packed bubble holes on the ground and knew that there must be clams underneath. However, he felt that he had just arrived and there was no need to waste time on this, so he simply walked around to the side, planning to come back and dig if he didn't find anything better after walking around.
He carefully took a few steps back and walked towards the side where there were no bubble holes. If he stepped on it directly, he wouldn't be able to see the small hole, and if he came over to dig it later, he wouldn't be able to identify it.
Seeing a discarded bamboo piece nearby, he took it and stuck it on the side, which was equivalent to making a mark, making it easier to find when he came over later.
When we came back last year, the animals were so excited that they started to dig for shells on the rocks without stopping. We didn’t explore the surrounding area and went to a different island next time.
Today he can take a look around and see the situation before considering what to dig. Anyway, Ah Qing is already digging there with stars in his eyes, so he has a guarantee.
Walking to the side, he saw piles of sand that looked like poop on the empty beach next to him...
He thought that if the two boys saw it here, they would definitely shout excitedly that there was poop...
I dug with a shovel and found something that looked very much like a sandworm, and also particularly like a earthworm.
It has a round head, many tentacle-like things on its body, and a long and thin tail.
Ye Yaodong muttered, "Sand flies."
This thing is also called sea earthworm lure, and it looks not much different from the earthworm lure on land.
Local fishermen often say that whatever animals there are on land, there are also animals in the sea, such as seahorses, walruses, sea pigs, sea snakes, sea centipedes... There are earthworms on land, and of course there are sea earthworms in the sea.
Sandworms can also be called sea earthworms, but the two are different species.
The sand fly will dig a "U"-shaped hole under the beach, lie gracefully in it with its head and tail facing the two openings, then swallow the mud and sand containing microorganisms and organic matter from one end and excrete the nutrient-free mud and sand from the other end.
That’s right, just eat the buffet while lying down.
It is like the mouth is eating and the butt is pooping at the same time, eating and pooping at the same time, and the intestines are what ordinary people call straight.
That's how they create those little sand dunes; they're the poop of sand flies.
Some people like to be neat and tidy, so they arrange them in a very regular pattern, while others are more casual and arrange them randomly.
Ye Yaodong saw that on the right were the bubble holes of the clams he had just avoided, and on the left were the feces of sand bugs. The corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily. These creatures really liked to gather together, occupying their own territories without interfering with each other.
He was too lazy to dig this kind of stuff, so he just shoveled it twice and then skipped over it, stepping on the poop one by one. Seeing the lumps of poop sticking out on the beach, he really wanted to flatten them.
It was as if the beach had become flatter and he felt better.
It wasn't until he saw a stranded jumping fish on the beach that he stopped stepping on the poop and went to pick up the fish first.
Because the tide had just started to recede, the beach was not very large. He was walking around the island, and the beach was completely exposed. It would probably take another three or four hours.
He picked up some small stranded seafood as he walked around. They were of various varieties and not worth much, but they brought him happiness.
Until he saw a low reef at a 270-degree sharp turn in front of him, and there was actually a large puddle surrounded by those reefs.
This is revealed when the tide just goes out.