In the end, Mr. Li could not escape the temptation of money.

He gritted his teeth and agreed.

"You're only allowed to pick them up in front of your house, you absolutely can't go far!"

Li Jinyin wanted to say, "What could you possibly find in this tiny patch of land right in front of your house?" But then she thought, "What if my dad won't even let me out the door if I say that?"

So he stopped haggling, readily agreed, and went out with the bucket.

Seeing his excited expression, Old Master Li was afraid that he might disobey orders in the field, so he immediately said, "I'll go with you!"

This means we have to keep an eye on him.

Li Jinyin objected, "What are you going there for? You're so old, what if you catch gonorrhea?"

One was worried about his son, and the other was worried about his father, so the two were at an impasse.

As the wind and rain subsided, Li Xiangdong's fear faded, but the golden-eyed sea bream he had just seen piqued his curiosity.

"I'll go with Brother Li! I'll keep an eye on him for you!"

After thinking about it, Grandpa Li agreed.

He helped Li Xiangdong put on a raincoat and rain boots, and then gave him a long series of instructions, "Stay right at the gate of the courtyard, don't go out, come back after picking it up for a while..."

Li Jinyin ignored his father's nagging, opened the door first, and stepped into the wind and rain.

Li Xiangdong followed closely behind, holding a flashlight.

The yard was full of water; if you stepped in, the water would probably reach your ankles.

Li Jinyin had already rushed outside the door, the headlamp on his head shining brightly.

Li Xiangdong saw Li Jinyin bending down to pick something up. When he got closer, he gasped.

Oh my god!

The beach in front of the gate was covered with a dense layer of conches, shells, and all kinds of fish, sea cucumbers, crabs and the like.

Outside, besides Li Jinyin, several other neighbors also came out to collect seafood.

However, there weren't many people on the island, and with so much seafood swept ashore by the waves, everyone was busy picking up the valuables.

For example, the large, shimmering white pomfret in front of us is quite valuable, so it attracts the attention of most people.

Li Xiangdong watched for a while, and his heart started itching to do the same, so he went back and got an iron bucket to start picking them up.

He picks up whatever he sees.

Clams, crabs, sea cucumbers, scallops—we quickly filled a bucket.

At this moment, Li Jinyin also filled a bucket with silver pomfret. The two of them went home together and then walked out again.

Li Jiabao was eager to try it and strongly requested to go out and collect seafood as well.

Seeing that the rain outside had subsided considerably, Grandpa Li decided to take the group of children who were eagerly waiting inside out of the house.

With so many people around, everything near the Li family's door was quickly picked clean.

Looking towards the sea not far away, one can see black waves piled up one after another, crashing onto the shore.

Fish and shrimp swept ashore by the waves are then swept away by the receding water, in a never-ending cycle.

Some people were bold enough to keep walking towards the sea, hoping to find a big catch.

Grandpa Li saw it at a glance and immediately shouted loudly at the person.

"Zhan Qing—Zhan Qing—come back quickly—don't go any further in—"

The person seemed not to hear and walked further and further away.

Grandpa Li was a little worried and said to Li Jinyin, "Zhanqing has gotten fish in his eyes, we need to call him back quickly."

Before he could finish speaking, a wave crashed over him, the seawater slamming against Zhan Qing's back and sweeping him into the sea!

"Holy crap!"

Li Jinyin shouted that something was wrong and rushed into the sea.

His family and Zhan Qing's family were neighbors. He lost his mother when he was young and grew up drinking Zhan Qing's mother's milk. The two were like brothers.

Now that Zhan Qing has been swept away by the sea, he went to save him without thinking.

Grandpa Li was also anxious, so he quickly went to call on the neighbors who were farther away to help.

Li Xiangdong frowned, immediately ran back into the house, grabbed a rope as thick as a child's arm and a fishing net, and then ran towards Li Jinyin.

As he ran, he reminded Ning Ruoruo to quickly bring the children inside.

The incident happened suddenly, but Li Jinyin did not lose his composure.

Facing the towering waves, he anxiously scanned the sea surface with his headlamp.

At this moment, the other neighbors also ran over.

Grandpa Li, panting, asked, "How...how is it? Can you see any figures?"

Li Jinyin shook his head with a stern face.

The neighbors, still shaken, chattered among themselves, saying, "Zhanqing caught several big-eyed chickens just now; he picked them up from inside."

"That's it, what a big-eyed chicken, the people have all been swept away by the waves."

"What should we do about Zhan Qing's mother? Her health is already poor. If she finds out that Zhan Qing is in trouble, she'll be worried sick!"

"Hey, let's see. Zhan Qing is a good swimmer; maybe he can swim back."

"The waves are too big today!"

"..."

Although everyone was very anxious, no one dared to take the risk.

Just then, Li Jinyin swept his headlamp across the water and saw a figure bobbing up and down on the surface of the sea.

Li Jinyin shouted excitedly, "Zhan Qing! That's Zhan Qing, isn't it!"

Others looked over but couldn't see very clearly, but at this point they had no choice but to try anything.

Seeing that Li Jinyin was about to go into the sea, Li Xiangdong quickly stopped him, "Tie the rope around your waist and use the fishing net to pull him back!"

"ah?"

"What do you mean, 'huh'?! With waves this big, how can you catch him?!"

Li Jinyin was just too anxious, but he quickly understood what Li Xiangdong meant.

Soon, the neighbors tied one end of the rope around their waists and stood together as a safety anchor for Li Jinyin as he went into the sea.

After thrashing about for an unknown amount of time, Li Jinyin stumbled back to shore, with another person still trapped in the fishing net behind him.

That person was Zhan Qing.

The crowd was overjoyed and pulled harder, dragging the two people to safety.

Zhan Qing was completely exhausted. He choked on several mouthfuls of seawater and it took him a long time to slowly wake up.

Upon hearing his explanation, everyone realized that he had seen a lively, bouncy golden-eyed snapper, and just as he was about to catch it, it was swept away by the wave.

Before long, it was pushed up by the waves again.

Before he could swim towards the beach, something got tangled around his calf, rendering him immobile and causing him to swallow several mouthfuls of seawater.

Fortunately, he was a good swimmer; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to wait for Li Jinyin and the others to rescue him.

Old Master Li gave Zhan Qing a severe scolding, spitting all over his face.

Zhan Qing was in the wrong, but he wasn't angry. He silently wiped the spittle off his face.

After all that, it was past midnight, and everyone was exhausted.

Coupled with Zhan Qing's perilous experience, he immediately lost all interest in collecting seafood.

After all, no matter how much money you have, if you lose your life, who will spend the money?

After a few more brief words, everyone went home to rest.

The next day, Li Xiangdong woke up and looked out the window. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still overcast.