Without further ado, the three of them grabbed their tools and started opening the blind boxes.
When Fu Ming saw that no one was giving him any tools, he immediately became anxious.
"Give me a tool, I want to try it too!"
Ye Xiaocui was initially concerned about Fu Ming's leg, but when Fu Wan saw her brother's anxious expression, she immediately handed him the tools she was holding.
It's good to be busy. Fu Ming has been lying in his room for so many days. If he doesn't find something to do, he'll easily become depressed.
The four of them buried their heads and started shucking oysters. Oysters have hard and sharp shells, but if you're good at it, you can find an opening, make a cut, and pry it open. It's much easier.
After working for several minutes, there was already a small pile of oyster shells around the four of them, but they still hadn't seen a single oyster.
"Oh, what a pity! If we hadn't opened it, we could have sold it to Fu San and made some more money."
Ye Xiaocui felt a little regretful, as the basin in front of her was already half full of oyster meat.
"It's alright, Mom, we'll eat these oysters ourselves!"
Fu Ming was so busy that he broke out in a light sweat. Seeing Ye Xiaocui's regretful expression, he simply washed the oyster meat he had just opened and stuffed it into his mouth.
The people living by the sea are used to eating directly, without needing soy sauce or anything like that. As for wasabi from later generations, they've never even seen it.
Ouch!
Fu Ming was chewing on the oyster meat when he felt something hard pressing against his teeth. Then, under the watchful eyes of the others, he spat out a pearl the size of a peanut.
"Hey, there really is!"
Fu Ming was overjoyed, holding the pearl and examining it from all angles.
Fu Liang looked at the pearl with envy, and his hands moved faster.
"I want to drive to Pearl too!"
This time, Ye Xiaocui didn't worry about wasting oyster meat. Putting everything else aside, these two pearls alone were probably worth the price of all the oysters today.
Fu Ming held the pearl, examining it from all angles, clearly delighted. Fortunately, he hadn't chewed it too hard, leaving no obvious marks on the pearl's surface.
"Ah Wan, I'm saving this for you."
Fu Ming carefully handed the pearl in his hand to Fu Wan. He knew that the family's income depended entirely on Fu Wan, and as her older brother, he could only keep his gratitude in his heart for now.
Fu Wan didn't stand on ceremony and simply put the pearls away. "I'll ask Uncle Fu if he knows anyone I can sell the pearls to buy meat for the family!"
Ye Xiaocui disagreed somewhat, "We have fish and meat at home every day, why buy more meat! Keep these pearls and make some jewelry when things calm down!"
"Otherwise, it's good to keep it as a keepsake for Lingling in the future!"
Although 1985 wasn't as turbulent as the 1970s, ordinary people would be happy for a long time even if they only had a new hair accessory, let alone jewelry.
As for yellow and white things, they are never seen. If they exist, each family hides them away, not daring to show them to others.
Fu Wan didn't even look at the few small beads in her hand. Oyster beads were far less precious than Melo beads. If she wanted to keep any, she would keep a few. Selling these small beads was no problem at all.
As they were talking, Ye Xiaocui opened two small pearls, and Fu Wan and Fu Ming opened three in succession.
As for Fu Liang, who had terrible luck, he didn't get a single one.
"It's bright, it's okay. If I don't get any, I'll give you these two."
Ye Xiaocui treated Fu Liang as her own child, and the two pearls were no problem.
"Auntie, no need. Things from the sea are all about fate. If I don't have them, it just means my heart isn't sincere enough. Tomorrow, my mother and I will go and offer incense to Mazu, and she'll surely bless me!"
Fu Wan was amused by Fu Liang's confident appearance, but the next moment, Fu Liang touched the round lump in the oyster meat in his hand.
He was so excited that his hands were trembling, and he accidentally cut himself on an oyster shell.
But that didn't stop him from carefully taking out the round lump. It turned out to be an oyster bead the same size as the one Fu Wan had obtained before, and it also faintly shimmered with a pink light.
"I knew it! Goddess Mazu still favors me!"
Fu Liang was excited and kept admiring the pearls.
Now that everyone had gotten their hands on some oysters, they were even more motivated.
Before 1 a.m., all the oysters that had been carried back to the yard had been shucked.
Fu Wan put the pearls together and counted them; the four of them opened a total of twenty-nine pearls.
But the oyster meat alone probably weighs sixty or seventy pounds.
Ye Xiaocui was suddenly at a loss. What should she do with the oysters? Drying oyster meat requires the sun.
Now the clouds have gathered again, obscuring the stars and making it impossible to tell what the weather will be like tomorrow.
Fu Wan washed the pearls in her hands. "Mother, why don't we use these oysters to make oyster sauce?"
Oyster sauce is a traditional seasoning, and oyster meat is a key ingredient. Adding a little oyster sauce to noodles or when cooking meat elevates the flavor to another level.
That's all we can do.
The group tidied up the things in the yard, and Fu Wan took out 5 pearls and the money Fu San had given her for the fish earlier.
"Brother Liang, these five pearls are yours. If you want to sell them, leave them with me for now. If you have other uses for them, take them back."
"And here is the bill Uncle Fu settled for me yesterday. We earned a total of 263.8 yuan from our last voyage. After deducting taxes and fuel costs, we each received 128.5 yuan."
Fu Liang waved his hand at the stack of money in Fu Wan's hand, "Wan, I'm a rough man, all I know is physical strength. Last time we went to sea, you were lucky, and since you went at sea, I only contributed some of the labor."
"Just give me fifty, and two pearls will do. You can sell one for me, and I'll take the other one back to my mother."
After saying that, he scratched his head sheepishly, because his mother had never seen Pearl before.
Fu Wan knew Fu Liang was an honest man; otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to cooperate with him before. But she wasn't a cunning landlord either, and she wouldn't do anything to exploit people.
Moreover, Fu Liang's family is also struggling financially; they are one of the few families in the village that still live in a mud-brick house.
Adobe bricks are bricks made from special clay. In the past, Fujia Village used adobe bricks. Houses built with those large adobe bricks were not as sturdy as those built with blue bricks, and they were prone to leaking if it rained for a long time.
"Ah Liang, take it if you want, or don't come to my house again."
Ye Xiaocui said without turning her head as she cleaned the oyster meat.
Fu Liang reluctantly accepted the money, but he only took one hundred coins and a pearl, and then ran home as if he were being chased by a ghost.
Fu Wan and Ye Xiaocui had no choice but to pack up the rest of their things and go back to their room to sleep.
Fu Liang's return home startled Aunt Jiang, who was home alone. She lit a kerosene lamp and groped her way out.
"Ah Liang, is that you back?"
Fu Liang responded softly, then stuffed the money in his hand into Jiang Chunlan's hand.
"Mother, keep this money. We'll save some more and build a brick house!"
Jiang Chunlan was startled by the stack of unpaid bills in her hand. "Where did this money come from? Did you go and do something bad?"
He then reached for a broom to hit him.
"Oh my god, this is what I earned from my last trip to sea with Awan. Here, keep it!"
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