Lin Xiuqing ran back quickly and handed the bucket to Ye Yaodong, panting.
Ye Yaodong took the bucket and filled it with sea water, and asked curiously, "Why didn't mom and the others follow us?"
She blinked her eyes and said, "I didn't say that."
Ye Yaodong chuckled. Isn’t he stupid
"Didn't they ask you what you were doing with the bucket?"
"I hurried in, took the bucket and ran away again. They asked me from behind, but I didn't have time to answer."
"oh!"
After watching the sea bass being put into the bucket, Lin Xiuqing opened the sack and took another look at their harvest. It seemed that there was nothing extra.
"You didn't look around again? Did you gain anything after I left?"
"The big cargo is here, so why would I want to go somewhere else? Anyway, the tide is still receding, so there's no rush. Let's put the bucket here first, so there's no need to carry it back and forth. Anyway, no one will come out during a typhoon."
She was just about to lift the bucket, but had to put it down again after hearing what he said. Half a bucket of water was indeed a bit heavy to carry.
Ye Yaodong took a few steps before he bent down and grabbed a stone crab, muttering, "I should have asked you to bring out the fire tongs. It would have been more convenient to grab the crabs."
Lin Xiuqing said unhappily: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I forgot about it for a moment, and only remembered it when I saw the little green crab with a broken leg." Now I don't have a mobile phone to make a call.
The two continued to wander around the reef area, moving any movable rocks they saw. They had a good harvest. Shi Jiugong caught five or six, not to mention stone crabs, more than a dozen of them were picked up in a short while, as well as a few red seals. Ye Yaodong kept bending over and his waist was sore.
He stood up straight and twisted his waist. "I'm only 25 years old, why do I feel like my waist is useless?"
Lin Xiuqing blushed slightly and rolled her eyes at him, "How dare you say that."
"There's no one here, so why should I be embarrassed?"
I have been doing it more frequently these days. I feel like my body is drained. I really need to rest at night.
"Hey~ There's a red seal, why are all the things there one by one? How can I cook it when I take it back? It's not even enough for a bowl."
"It's good to have them. Just boil them all in one pot and it'll be fine. It's also convenient."
"Hey, there's another one here. I can stir-fry it with green peppers."
The couple talked as they walked. Lin Xiuqing went from being surprised when she first discovered the goods to now being calm and just taking a look.
"A conch came up with the waves. How come it's so big? Is it just the shell?" Lin Xiuqing watched helplessly as a wave pushed up a huge conch that was almost as big as her head. She didn't know if there was any meat inside.
Out of curiosity, she kicked it casually, and the conch turned over, with the flesh on the top shrinking.
There is meat!
She squatted down and picked it up with joy. It was almost bigger than her head. This snail must be valuable!
"Adong, what kind of snail is this? It's so big!"
Ye Yaodong looked up disapprovingly, only to have his eyes widened. "Coconut snail?! So big?"
"Coconut snail?" It was hard for her, a mountain person, not to know what it was. People in her village had rarely seen such a big snail.
He didn't care about the sack in his hand, he just threw it aside and hurried over to take it, "Fuck, this big coconut snail, it must be three or four pounds!"
"Isn't it very valuable?" Lin Xiuqing's eyes sparkled.
"Whether it's worth money depends on whether there's any treasure in its belly. If there's no treasure, we can only sell it for a little money. If there is a treasure, we'll make a fortune."
She was confused and didn't understand, "What does that mean? What else could be in its stomach?"
"Luckily I'm here. If you had picked it up by yourself, you would have sold it right away!"
"What else?" She became more and more confused as she listened. What was the secret? "What treasure is in its belly?"
"Not sure. We have to dig out the meat to find out."
"Ah? If we dig out the meat, how can we sell this snail?"
"If you don't dig out the meat, how do you know if there are treasures inside? Such a big snail, the shell is also worth collecting, and can also be processed into handicrafts."
But compared to the treasure, what is this snail
Fishermen along the coast generally know that any shells or the like they catch must be "opened" to see if there are any rare treasures hidden inside, especially large ones.
Lin Xiuqing was so anxious that she didn't tell her what kind of treasure was inside for a long time. "What's in it? Pearls?"
Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "It hasn't been released yet, who knows if there is one? I'll tell you when it's released, so that I won't be so excited for nothing!"
She was so angry that she just stared!
"Then drive quickly!"
Ye Yaodong spread his hands and said, "I don't have any tools. Give me a scale hook and I can open it. Otherwise, I can only take it home and cook it and pick out the meat."
"Then you can open it after you get it home."
He thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I can go to the store and borrow a scale hook?"
If a treasure is found at home, there is no guarantee that other people will not be tempted, and he is now itching to see what is inside.
"Okay! I'll go right away!"
"Let me go, you stay here and watch. I've already run back and forth once."
"It's okay!" After saying that, she ran away. She was also anxious to know what was inside.
Ye Yaodong had no choice but to wait and study it on the spot. He couldn't tell from the outside whether there was anything inside. The snail meat shrank when touched, and it was quite fresh.
If he wasn't afraid that smashing the shell would get stuck to the meat, making it difficult to pick out, he would have just smashed it open to save trouble.
While waiting, he walked around with the coconut snail in his hand, caught two stone crabs and three stone crabs, and threw them all into the sack. He still held the coconut snail in his hand as he was reluctant to throw it into the sack.
Lin Xiuqing was anxious and accidentally fell while running back, scraping her knee. She limped over. Ye Yaodong saw her from afar and hurried to meet her.
"What happened? Did you fall?"
"Well, I accidentally tripped over a rock while running just now."
The knees of her pants were torn and covered in wet mud. He couldn't help but frown. He squatted down and wanted to roll up her trouser legs to take a look, but she dodged him.
"It's okay, just go back and mend your pants."
"Who cares about your pants? Lift up your trouser legs and show them to me."
"No, I'm fine. Hurry up and take the scale and open the screw to see."
"Look at your knees first. This screw can be opened at any time..."
"Are you annoying? Hurry up..." Lin Xiuqing stuffed the scale hook directly into his arms and urged him.
Ye Yaodong had no choice but to open the coconut snail for her first.
The locals extract the meat of this coconut snail by hooking its ventral foot and hanging it up for a while.
Because the spiral part of the coconut snail is short and its internal organs are not firmly grasped, it has little strength. If it is hung upside down for a long time, the snail tail will naturally loosen due to the weight of the shell, leaving only the intact meat hanging on the hook.