After Chen Fang and the others left, it was still early, and the tide hadn't receded yet.
Pei Yao took out the purslane she had cleaned yesterday and washed it.
This purslane grows near water and is rarely dusty; a simple wash with well water is all it takes.
Then blanch them briefly in hot water. After blanching, cut them into small pieces about four or five centimeters long. This will make them easier to dry later.
After cutting it, spread it out to dry on the banana leaves that Pei Yao had laid out in the yard.
When it's about 80% dry by the afternoon, process it again.
After Pei Yao finished doing all that, she and Pei Yichen grabbed their things and headed to the beach to go beachcombing.
Yunniang won't participate in today's beachcombing activity; she'll continue cutting fabric and making clothes at home, mainly because the clothes everyone is wearing are just too tattered.
Pei Yao wrapped her head tightly with a breathable cloth, and then urged Pei Yichen to wrap his head up as well.
These two pieces of cloth for wrapping the headscarf were specially sewn by Yunniang from scraps of cloth given to her by the shop owner who used to sell cloth.
It looks like a messy jumble of pieces, but it's actually quite practical.
After the two finished getting ready, they ran into Qiaohui and her son, who were also planning to go beachcombing, as soon as they stepped outside.
Today, since there was no need to set up a stall and Qiaohui wasn't busy, she went straight to the beach to collect some seafood.
Pei Yao greeted them and then walked with them to the beach.
There were significantly more people at the beach today than before, including many villagers. Everyone was collecting snails, scallops, and sea urchins.
These villagers heard from Da Niu yesterday that the Pei family was buying these things, and the price was decent. Anyway, there were tons of scallops and snails on the beach when the tide went out, and they couldn't possibly pick them all up.
If it can be sold for money, why not?
After Pei Yao went down, she parted ways with Qiao Hui and the others, and led Pei Yichen straight to that black bay.
Pei Yichen obediently followed. Ever since Pei Yao told him that the seaweed there was all edible and could be sold for money, he did not stop Pei Yao from going there at all.
"We've arrived." Pei Yao adjusted the small basket on her back, put one hand on her hip, and pointed proudly with the other at the large expanse of black seaweed that had been exposed due to the receding tide.
The seaweed grows so densely that it seems to stretch as far as the eye can see.
"So much! How much would this cost if we sold it?" Pei Yichen couldn't help but exclaim. His reaction at this moment was exactly the same as Pei Yao's reaction when she first came and saw this patch of seaweed.
Its mouth was wide open, big enough to fit an egg.
After their initial shock, the two siblings didn't waste any time and quickly grabbed their tools to harvest the seaweed that had spilled out from the rocks and beach.
"We'll harvest the big ones first, and leave the small ones for later when they're bigger, so we can have a continuous supply of seaweed to eat."
Pei Yao continued speaking while her hands kept wielding scissors, while Pei Yichen chopped with a kitchen knife.
Although she loves eating seaweed sprouts, she also understands the rules of nature very well and will not harvest them indiscriminately.
Pei Yichen had just cut off a large piece of seaweed, looked up at Pei Yao and replied earnestly, "Okay, I know."
Pei Yichen understood what his cousin meant. Whether it was collecting seashells or other marine life, Pei Yao would only collect the grown ones and release the small ones back into the sea to let them continue to grow.
She picks plants too, but never harms the trees.
My cousin said that only by respecting the life of nature can we receive feedback from nature and obtain a continuous supply of food from it.
My cousin also said that this is a rule that people who live by the mountains and the sea should know.
Without rules, nothing can be accomplished.
The kelp in this bay is plump and large, with each piece being about one or two meters long, making it a bit difficult for the two siblings to pick it up.
Pei Yao's basket was rather small; it couldn't hold more than three or four large pieces of seaweed. Pei Yichen was slightly better off, managing to fill his basket with about a dozen pieces, but it was still full and couldn't hold any more.
The fresh seaweed was not only heavy but also took up a lot of space; the two of them filled their baskets to the brim, and they were also holding five or six pieces in their hands.
This amount is negligible compared to the vast expanse of seaweed.
The two had no choice but to put the seaweed they had picked into a clearing between the beach and the woods, where a few palm trees grew sparsely.
Pei Yao found a few banana trees a little inside the woods, cut off a few large banana leaves with a knife, and spread them on the open ground.
Then we'll leave the seaweed they picked here for now.
The two continued picking seaweed.
They made trip after trip back and forth like this, and once they had picked enough seaweed, they would transport it back here. The time when the tide recedes is limited, and they both wanted to pick more seaweed to take back with them.
The two stopped chatting and worked frantically in silence, knowing that this was all money.
They were quite fast, and soon they had picked a small pile of seaweed.
Only after the tide had fully risen did the two stop what they were doing, put the last basket of seaweed back on the open ground, and sit down to rest.
This open space is some distance from the seawater after high tide, so even at high tide the seawater won't be able to reach it.
After resting, the two looked at the result of their excessive effort—a small pile of seaweed had somehow grown into a huge heap—and fell into a long silence...
With such a huge pile, how to move them back has become a major problem.
"Cousin, if we have to move this all at once, we'll be exhausted..."
Pei Yichen looked at the huge pile of seaweed. He had been so busy picking it that he had completely forgotten to think about how to move it back home.
Pei Yao frowned as she looked at the pile of seaweed.
He fell into deep thought.
Taking the seaweed back like this is definitely not a good idea. The fresh seaweed is so big and heavy that you can't carry much in one trip.
Moreover, the beach is not close to home; it's about a half-hour walk away.
If they had to carry them back under the scorching sun, one trip after another, not only would Pei Yao and Pei Yichen, those two children, be exhausted and sunburnt to death, but even two strong adult men would probably suffer from heatstroke.
If someone suddenly suffers from heatstroke, it can be very dangerous, especially given the difficulty of accessing medical care.
As Pei Yao was thinking, a sudden inspiration struck her.
If they can't take the fresh seaweed with them, could they dry it on the beach and bring it with them?
This way, the dried seaweed is not only easy to bring back, but it's also very easy to store.
Dried kelp can still be eaten even after five or six years if stored properly.
Without further ado, Pei Yao got up and led Pei Yichen into the woods behind them.
Pei Yichen was still a little confused, not knowing why his cousin suddenly ignored the pile of seaweed and brought him directly into the woods.
"Cousin, are we just going to leave that pile of seaweed behind?" Pei Yichen asked in a low voice, somewhat uncertainly.
As Pei Yao walked, she looked for plants on the ground and explained to her younger cousin, "Guan, it's not practical for us to carry them back like this, so I plan to dry them and take them back with us."
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