"Oh my god, crabs, crabs everywhere! Crabs all over the ground!"
"Stop standing there, hurry up and pick it up!"
Before the villagers realized the typhoon had stopped, they picked up as much as they could.
There are so many crabs, probably scared away by the typhoon, and they're looking for shelter right now!
"This crab doesn't look like a swimming crab, nor does it resemble a mud crab; it looks more like a stone crab!"
Fu Wan used fire tongs to pick up a crab, glanced at it, and then threw it into the bucket.
Compared to mud crabs, stone crabs are not only brownish-red like stones, but their shells also have more pronounced serrated edges, and their meat is plumper, firmer, and more chewy. (Image of stone crab from the internet). Another delicious variety of stone crab is the red-shelled crab, which is what Fu Wan caught while beachcombing during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The next day, Ye Xiaocui steamed it, and Fu Wan ate a couple of bites; the flavor was indeed much more delicious than swimming crabs and mud crabs.
At this moment, Ye Xiaocui and Fu Ming didn't care what kind of crab it was; the mother and son were unusually in agreement and swung their claws at any crab they saw.
Its main selling point is speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness.
Occasionally, a clever crab might escape quickly, but they're too lazy to chase it. There's no way around it; there are just too many crabs to catch them all.
"Amin, Wan!"
A shout suddenly rang out on the quiet beach. Even though Fu Liang lowered his voice considerably, Fu Wan immediately heard her name.
Recognizing the figures in the distance, she quickly waved. Sure enough, Fu Liang and Jiang Chunlan also walked over quickly with their tools.
"Xiaocui, I went to your house to look for you, but when I saw that the door was locked, I knew you must be at the beach!"
Ye Xiaocui didn't have the energy to chat with her old friend, so she quickly urged her, "Chunlan, hurry up and pick them up, or there won't be any left when those villagers come!"
She had originally planned to call Jiang Chunlan, but then she thought about her old friend's personality and realized they would definitely meet on the beach.
Upon hearing Ye Xiaocui's words, Jiang Chunlan thought of the old women in the village who could even pluck all the sea cucumbers, and her scalp tingled instantly.
"Okay, okay, I'll pick them up right away. Wow, there's so much roe in these big blue crabs!"
Jiang Chunlan caught her first crab near the nearest reef. The crab weighed about a pound; she couldn't pick it up with tongs, so she had to use her bare hands.
After catching it, she habitually glanced at the crab to see if it was male or female, but to her surprise, she found that the female crab's abdomen was bright yellow, and the roe inside seemed to be overflowing.
"Huang Duoduo is great, Huang Duoduo is so delicious!"
Although Ye Xiaocui was busy with her own things, she absolutely did not let her old friend's words fall on the ground.
Jiang Chunlan nodded, agreeing that this was indeed the case.
While some were catching crabs, Boss Fu, carrying a snakeskin bag, was picking up sea cucumbers from the ground.
These sea cucumbers don't roam around like crabs, so he quickly filled most of the bag.
The group had been working for less than half an hour when they heard footsteps coming from the road next to them.
Someone's coming!
Sure enough, fishermen who make their living from the sea are never slow to react.
"Wow, Boss Fu, your family is really fast! You've already started picking them up!"
The one speaking was Liu Sanniang, the wife of Village Chief Fu. When Fu Laoda heard someone calling, he straightened up to greet her.
"Auntie, don't say any more, hurry up and pick them up!"
Liu Sanniang didn't come alone; her son Fu Jian and his wife followed behind her.
Young people don't chatter as much as older people. While Liu San Niang was greeting them, Fu Jian and his wife had already started picking up the seafood on the ground.
They deliberately avoided getting too close to Fu Ming and his group, because beachcombers also have a sense of territory.
Although they are all unclaimed items, there is a first-come, first-served principle. If neither side is willing to back down, it can easily lead to disputes and even fights.
The Fu family wouldn't be so domineering. They had already picked up quite a lot, and besides, they had a fairly good relationship with Liu San Niang's family, so they wouldn't bother with such things.
Not long after Liu San Niang and her group arrived, Wang Xiuer came running over with Fu Qing.
Upon seeing Fu Qing, Fu Wan specially invited her over and asked her to catch stone crabs with her.
About ten minutes later, the sky began to lighten in the east, and the villagers gradually arrived with their tools.
As more and more people gathered, and the crabs became increasingly scarce, Fu Wan decided it was time to head home.
Crabs taste best when they're fresh. Now that I'm back, I can steam a few crabs and cook some porridge for my family's breakfast.
"It's good that you came early! Boss Fu, you must have over a hundred pounds of crabs here!"
A villager nearby was filled with regret, realizing he had slept too soundly.
When they arrived, all that remained on the beach were dead fish that had been washed ashore by the waves; they were no longer fresh because of the passage of time.
There were still crab claw marks on the beach, and now seeing Boss Fu carrying seafood and preparing to go back, I couldn't help but regret that I got up too late.
Oh dear, I should have come out when the water was released in the middle of the night. I was too scared when I heard the wind howling like ghosts outside, and as a result, I missed out on so much seafood!
Although the price for buying back crabs is not high, about 70 cents per pound, if it's 100 pounds, it's 7 yuan.
Seven yuan is enough for my family to eat pork for a long time!
Fu Laoda didn't seem to care about the villagers' comments; he just smiled at them.
"There are quite a few crabs under these rocks. If you look around, you should be able to find quite a few."
They had only managed to catch about half of the crabs on the beach before, the other half had escaped. However, the crabs didn't go too far; most of them hid in mud burrows under the rocks.
So if they search patiently, they can definitely catch quite a few.
Hearing what Boss Fu said, everyone perked up. Qian Xiaohua happened to be among the group, but as she was picking things up, she ended up behind Fu Wan.
Fu Wan picked up the bucket and was about to go back from the edge of the trench when someone next to her picked up a rock. Then a shadow rushed towards her, and she reflexively stepped on it.
"These are my crabs!"
Qian Xiaohua put down the rock in her hand and started yelling at Fu Wan before she even stood up.
Fu Wan raised an eyebrow speechlessly, "You think it's yours just because you say so? Then I could say it's right under my feet!"
Qian Xiaohua was about to throw a tantrum when she heard this, when she heard Ye Xiaocui's voice from not far away.
"Ah Wan, we have to go back, the two children will wake up soon!"
Fu Wan responded and then walked away. It was just a crab; she didn't care about it. She just wanted to annoy Qian Xiaohua.
As soon as she lifted her foot, Qian Xiaohua immediately grabbed the crab.
Even fire tongs were useless!
The speed of their movements left Fu Wan speechless, but when she casually glanced at the crab, she was so shocked that she almost dropped the bucket in her hand.
"This crab is poisonous and cannot be eaten!"
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