The waves were getting rougher and rougher, and in the pitch-black night, Fu Wan could clearly see a woman rising and falling with the waves.
Even those who could swim dared not venture forward, because the waves were too large to see clearly, and no one wanted to take the risk.
Fu Wan put the bucket on the ground. "Mother, I have to go and save that person."
Others hesitated to go down because the waves might hit their faces and cause the rescuers to choke on water. But Fu Wan had no such concerns. She jogged a few steps, then, like a nimble fish, swam with the waves toward the drowning person.
"Who jumped down!"
Someone shouted, "Are you out of your mind? Don't turn back and end up getting yourself killed before you can save the person!"
"It's Wan'er from Xiao Cui's family!"
The woman who had collapsed to the ground immediately knelt down before Ye Xiaocui, pleading, "Sister-in-law, thank you so much, thank you so much!"
Ye Xiaocui quickly stepped forward to help her up, and only when she got closer did she realize that it was Widow Wang from the end of the village.
She sighed, "My Wan'er is a good swimmer, let's see if she can save your daughter. If she can't, don't blame me!"
Widow Wang's face was streaked with tears and snot. Upon hearing this, she was about to kowtow again, "I'll be content if someone saves her. If it happens to implicate Wan'er, I'll give you my life, sob sob sob..."
Fu Wan was unaware of what was happening on the beach. The waves were so big that she had to swim several times before she could finally touch the woman's arm.
Only when they got closer could they see that it was Fu Qing from Aunt Wang's family.
The seawater splashed so hard that Fu Qing couldn't open her eyes. She felt someone grab her arm; the temperature of a human body was completely different from that of a fish.
She used all her strength to hug the person's waist, and Fu Wan also took the opportunity to pull her by the back of her clothes and swim towards the shore.
The waves kept crashing against the shore. Just as one wave was about to knock her out, Fu Wan used its momentum to her advantage and was slammed hard onto the beach.
"Ouch..." That really hurts!
Several elderly women waiting on the beach quickly grabbed a tarpaulin and wrapped the two people up. One of the women, who knew first aid, checked and found that neither of them was seriously injured.
Liu San Niang, the village chief's wife, then instructed several strong women to take the two men home, and then loudly called for everyone who was going to gather seafood to go home.
Ye Xiaocui followed behind, carrying her own belongings, her quick steps revealing her anxiety.
"Auntie, I'll get your things for you. You go back and make some ginger soup for Awan to warm up."
When Ye Xiaocui saw that it was Fu Liang, she nodded in agreement, put down her things, and started running home.
Fu Wan didn't actually feel cold; she was just stunned by the wave that had hit her.
By the time she came to her senses, several older women had already lifted her up, one on each side. She was too embarrassed to admit that she could walk, so she could only pretend to be stupid.
When I got home, there was still some hot water in the kettle that I had just boiled that night.
Ye Xiaocui quickly poured a bowl for each of the older women, then chopped some ginger, added hot water, and brought it over to Fu Wan.
Fu Wan didn't want to drink it because of the pungent smell, but Ye Xiaocui was watching her closely, so she didn't have a chance to pour it out. Helpless, she endured the smell and drank half a bowl. The older women then said their goodbyes and went home.
It was already two or three o'clock. Fu Wan went back to her room, took a quick shower with water boiled by Ye Xiaocui, and then changed her clothes before going out.
When they went outside, they found that Ye Xiaocui was still awake and was picking out abalone with a flashlight.
"Mom, why are you still picking and choosing these abalone?"
Fu Wan dried her hair, while Ye Xiaocui was too busy to even look up. "The big abalone are valuable, but the small ones are worthless. I'm thinking of keeping them for myself."
Fu Wan then remembered that the price of abalone was only one cent more expensive than sardines, which was indeed not worth it.
She dragged a small stool over and started picking through the items with Ye Xiaocui. Since she had already stayed up all night, she figured she might as well finish sorting things out before going to sleep.
Otherwise, without ice, all these abalone will die, which would be a waste of all the time she spent picking them up all night.
She didn't know how long she had been tidying up when the rooster next door crowed. Fu Wan stood up and stretched. The sky was already turning a pale white.
"Alright, we've picked out about two buckets, which should weigh several dozen kilograms."
Ye Xiaocui also stood up, rubbing her lower back. "I'll take it to Fu San right away so he can sell it for a good price this morning."
Fu Wan also stepped forward, mentioning the abalone and wanting to go along, but Ye Xiaocui picked up the carrying pole next to her and said, "I can carry it. You tidy up here and go to sleep!"
Seeing Ye Xiaocui hurriedly picking out abalone and leaving, Fu Wan quickly tidied up the small abalone on the ground, poured half a bucket of seawater from the yard to keep them in the water, and then washed her hands and went back to her room.
I was so tired that I stayed up all night.
Ye Xiaocui, carrying abalone, avoided other people's doors and made her way to Fu San's door. Fu San had just gotten up to brush his teeth and go to the dock to collect fish. Seeing Ye Xiaocui's appearance, he knew that this aunt probably hadn't slept all night.
"Sister-in-law, what brings you here? You should just let me know next time, and I'll come to your house in the morning to pick out what you need myself, so you don't have to come all the way here!"
Ye Xiaocui said with a smile, "Last night I went to the beach with Awan and picked up some abalone. They look pretty big. Could you take them and see how much money you can get for them?"
Fu San turned off the lights in the house, then glanced at the abalone in the bucket. "Sister-in-law, where did you get these abalone? How come they're so big?"
How could they not be big? She picked out all the small ones. Each of the two buckets of abalone weighs two or three ounces, and the big ones probably weigh five or six ounces.
"Sister-in-law, you'll definitely get a good price for these two buckets of abalone!"
Fu San could imagine how happy the restaurant owners were that they hadn't seen an abalone this big in a long time.
Ye Xiaocui nodded repeatedly and let Fu San weigh the abalone. The bucket of abalone, which weighed two or three ounces each, weighed forty-eight pounds after removing the weight of the bucket. The bucket of abalone, which weighed more than half a pound each, weighed forty pounds.
It weighs a total of 88 jin!
Fu San rubbed his hands together and wrote down a note indicating the weight of the abalone for Ye Xiaocui. "Sister-in-law, I'm not sure how much this abalone will sell for, but I guarantee it will be more expensive than regular abalone. Abalone prices have gone up recently, so I'll try to sell as much as possible. How will we settle the bill when I get back?"
Ye Xiaocui couldn't possibly refuse; she trusted Fu San's character.
Before leaving, she added, "When you come back from town today, please bring me 20 jin of flour, and also buy me some ribs and meat. I'll give Ah Ming and Ah Wan some nourishing food."
Fu San readily agreed, and then called his wife, who had just come out of the room, to help carry the abalone.
Lin Qiuju, still half-asleep, was startled by the abalone. Watching Ye Xiaocui's departing figure, she whispered, "Was this sent by Awan's mother?"
Fu San nodded. "Keep your voice down and move it inside quickly. With abalone this big, we can make a fortune today."
Lin Qiuju slapped his arm, "You should earn less too. Your sister-in-law and the others have it tough too. Fu Ming's leg will take some time to heal. I'm afraid the mother and son stayed up all night to catch those abalone."
"A steady, long-term approach is key; you can't be too dishonest in business."
Fu San nodded, "How could I not know? I'm even his relative, why would I betray my own family!"
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