The eldest child quickly covered his buttocks and said, "You, stepmother, you hit someone. I will tell Dad."
Ning Tang was amused. "Go ahead and sue me. Go now and ask your dad if he's willing to let me take you to the beach."
Of course, he wouldn't want to. Big Boy pouted and said, "Well, it's a deal. We'll be good this time and you can take us there next time."
Da Wa thought about it and thought that if they were obedient this time, Ning Tang could take them to go sea fishing next time, which would be a good deal.
The three of them could still distinguish between going to the sea once and going to the sea every time.
Ning Tang snorted, "It depends on your performance."
Mrs. Luo watched Ning Tang bickering with the three kids, laughing so hard she couldn't stop. "You guys are really making me laugh to death."
She didn't expect that Ning Tang got along with the three children of the Shen family in this way at home. The three of Da Wa even dared to talk back to Ning Tang. They didn't act like elders anymore, but got along like friends. Anyway, she had never seen a family get along like this on the entire island.
Ning Tang asked Sister Luo, "Sister-in-law, do we need to bring any tools when we go to the beach?"
She remembered the day she first arrived on the island, she saw Mrs. Luo wearing a pair of plastic rubber shoes and holding a bucket and pliers.
"Yes," said Mrs. Luo, "see if you have any rubber shoes, a bucket, and a pair of pliers or a crowbar. Oh, and a small bag of salt."
The three children all had rubber shoes, so Ning Tang wore his own plastic sandals. Ning Tang found four buckets, one big bucket and three small buckets. He didn't have a crowbar and only one pair of pliers, so he used fire tongs instead. As for salt, there was some in the kitchen, so Ning Tang took half a bag.
By the time everyone was ready, it was already four in the afternoon, and since it was getting late, they quickly set off for the beach.
It was a long way to walk from the military family compound to the beach, but the two adults, Ning Tang and Mrs. Luo, didn't think it was a big deal, and the three children didn't even complain. They must have known they were going to catch seafood, and they were so excited that they didn't care about anything.
When he arrived at the beach, Ning Tang was immediately mesmerized by the scenery before him.
Looking out, the blue sky meets the sea, the water and the sky are one color, and fishing boats pass by from time to time on the sea. From a distance, they look like a few small black dots. On the golden beach, the waves hit the black reefs, making bursts of pleasant waves sounds. How can one word "beautiful" describe it?
Ning Tang took off his shoes, stepped barefoot on the soft sand, opened his hands into a trumpet shape, and was about to shout towards the sea.
"ah--"
Ning Tang turned around and saw that the noises came from three children. They were even more excited to see the sea than Ning Tang. If they had not remembered Ning Tang's instructions, they would have probably been having fun.
Mrs. Luo noticed Ning Tang's happiness and smiled, "Your reaction is just like when I first saw snow in the north. I was so excited."
Ning Tang also smiled and said, "Don't blame me for being excited. This sea is really beautiful."
She walked to the beach, grabbed a handful of sea water, and the azure water flowed through her fingers. "I have never seen such a blue sea." It was even more beautiful than sapphire.
Ning Tang was not bragging. She had been to the beach before, but she had never seen a sea as blue as the one on Hailang Island. This kind of blue really made people feel happy from the bottom of their hearts.
Although Ning Tang was excited, she did not forget the important matter. She looked at Sister Luo with sparkling eyes and said, "Sister Luo, let's go to the beach now."
"Okay, let's catch some clams first," Mrs. Luo replied.
"Where are the clams?" Ning Tang looked around.
Mrs. Luo pointed to the beach below her feet and said, "The clams are right here."
Da Wa puffed up his cheeks and said, "Sister Luo, you are lying. There is only sand here, no clams."
Mrs. Luo was amused. "Big boy, Mrs. Luo doesn't lie." She pointed to the holes on the beach that were as thick as an adult's thumb. "The clams are right here."
Erniu lay on the beach and peered into the hole, "Sister Luo, where are the clams? Erniu can't see any."
"Silly girl, you definitely won't see it if you just look at it like this." Mrs. Luo said, "You need to use the salt you brought to catch these clams."
Catching razor clams with salt? This was the first time Ning Tang had heard of it.
She couldn't connect the three things, salt, clams and holes, so she looked at Mrs. Luo with half belief and half doubt.
Mrs. Luo didn't explain. She took out the salt she had brought and poured a pinch of it into a hole on the beach. "Look carefully."
Ning Tang and the three children stared at the hole in unison. After a while, a clam with a light brown shell came out of the hole, just like it was poked out of a sand hole.
Ning Tang opened his eyes wide in surprise, "So salt can be used like this!"
Mrs. Luo picked up the exposed clams and threw them into the bucket. "Yes, catching them this way saves effort, but it's a bit wasteful. Most people don't bother to do that. They just focus on the sand holes and then use a shovel to level the sand and dig out the clams. But it's also easy to break them."
The eldest child raised his hand and said, "Stepmom, I want to catch clams too!"
Ning Tang handed him the salt and said, "Catch a big one and take it back to your father to make a dish of stir-fried clams with green onions and ginger."
Big Boy took the salt, picked a hole in the sand with great interest, squatted beside the hole, and carefully poured salt grains into it.
After a while, a razor clam emerged.
The eldest, second, and third daughters excitedly high-fived each other and cheered, "Yeah, we caught some clams!"
Ning Tang held the clam in her hand. The clam that Da Wa caught was as long as her palm, and it was fat and big. It was not an exaggeration to call it the king of clams.
She praised him generously, "Well done. Now the task of catching razor clams will be handed over to you three. Any questions?"
The eldest, second, and third children imitated Chen Lie's behavior, holding the buckets and saluting crookedly, and shouted, "No problem!"
The three children were catching razor clams on the beach. Ning Tang turned to ask Sister Luo, "Sister Luo, where can we find abalone?"
Compared to clams, abalone is definitely more interesting to her.
"We have to go over there to catch abalone." Mrs. Luo pointed to the reef not far away.
Ning Tang nodded and said to Da Wa, "Dai Wa, your sister Luo and I will go to the reef ahead to catch abalone. The three of you stay here and catch razor clams, okay?"
The eldest child was catching the fish with great enthusiasm. He waved his little hands and said, "You guys go ahead. We promise not to run around."
Ning Tang was still worried, so he picked up some branches and circled an area for them. "You can only move around in this area. If I see you running to the sea, I won't bring you here next time."
Erniu pouted, "Stepmother, we are not children anymore, we won't run around."
Ning Tang pinched her little face, "Erniu, let me remind you, you are only five years old. If you are not a child, who is the child?"
Ning Tang's few words of advice were actually in vain. The black reef was only twenty or thirty steps away from where the three children were picking clams, and they could reach it in a few steps.
With Mrs. Luo helping to keep an eye on them, the safety of the three children is guaranteed.
Mrs. Luo smiled and said, "Xiao Ning, don't worry too much. The three children are smart and will call for help if anything happens. This beach is full of people going to the beach, and if others notice something is wrong, they will lend a hand."
It's almost evening now, and more and more people are coming to the beach to catch the seafood, with almost one person every ten steps.
Ning Tang felt relieved and climbed onto the black reef with Mrs. Luo.
Picking abalone is different from catching razor clams. Abalone is not as well hidden as razor clams, but you still need to observe carefully for a while to find their hiding places.
Abalone with dark green-brown shells are attached to reefs of various sizes on the shore, almost blending into the reefs. If you don't look closely, it's easy to overlook them.
"Wow, this abalone is quite big." Mrs. Luo exclaimed in surprise. She quickly picked up a piece with tongs and threw it into the bucket. "Let's pick it up quickly, otherwise there will be too many people to pick up later."
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