The seaside is rich in resources; as the tide recedes, in addition to the beach, food is also exposed.
Clams and razor clams hide in the mud.
Many women who go beachcombing have already come to dig for seafood.
Take advantage of this time to dig around; the larger ones can sell for a few cents, and if you're lucky, you might even find some seafood that's been blown ashore by the rising tide.
"Wow, sister-in-law, look, there's a whole litter here!"
Zhou Chunmei dug it open with a shovel and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "There's so much! There's just too much!"
Each clam was about half the size of an egg, making Zhou Chunmei so happy she wanted to jump for joy. She had gone beachcombing countless times and had dug up large clams before, but she had never been this lucky before.
It's a whole nest, a nest of big clams.
Hearing the exclamation, Li Xue leaned over to look and couldn't help but exclaim, "You're so lucky today! Hurry up and pick it up, everyone heard the noise and is looking over here!"
Whatever is found in the ocean, belongs to whoever picks it up.
Zhou Chunmei's commotion made many people turn their heads to look. If Zhou Chunmei had been slow, someone else would have snatched it away, and she would have been crying then.
Zhou Chunmei snapped out of her daze and said excitedly, "Yes, yes, I was so happy I forgot."
Zhou Chunmei grinned from ear to ear, her hands moving swiftly to grab and pick, filling the two buckets she brought almost halfway up.
Li Xue dug around too, and after she dug one out, she was also very excited. She whispered, "Chunmei, I dug up a nest too!"
Having learned from Zhou Chunmei's example, Li Xue became calmer and spoke softer.
The excitement and joy in the eyes of the two sisters-in-law were palpable.
Both of them seem to be having exceptionally good luck today.
Li Xue quickly picked up the clams and threw them into the bucket. Listening to the 'thump thump thump' sound, she felt that it was the most beautiful sound in the world.
The two of them quickly ate five or six pounds of clams, which naturally attracted attention.
Several women had already come over with shovels.
"Su family, I was wondering why I couldn't find any clams after digging for so long. Turns out all the clams have come to your area."
The woman said with a grin, and squatted down to dig just two meters away from Li Xue and Zhou Chunmei.
Zhou Chunmei and Li Xue looked at each other, both seeing the word 'speechless' in each other's eyes.
But they couldn't say anything. That's how things are at the beach. If you see someone else is lucky, you can go and pick up some too if you're shameless. These things are only worth a few cents a pound anyway, and digging them up takes time.
Most of them only come to dig when they have too little to harvest at home.
Or perhaps it's children, girls in their teens, or those whose husbands died in shipwrecks. They live off the sea and naturally spend their days by the sea.
This woman's husband died in a shipwreck, so she would come to the beach whenever the tide went out, and would go and mooch off whoever was lucky. She was strong-willed and often got into arguments with others.
"Sister-in-law, let's go look somewhere else."
Zhou Chunmei winked at Li Xue.
Li Xue instantly understood what she meant and said, "Okay."
The two sisters-in-law left carrying the buckets.
The woman glanced at them, silently thanked them, and then bent down to dig.
She knew that doing this would be annoying, but she had two children to raise, and how could she survive without being thick-skinned?
This clam really shows that if she were quick, she might have earned a dollar or two today.
"Tao Tao's mom is quite pitiful too."
After walking a distance, Zhou Chunmei sighed and said.
She felt disgusted by the shamelessness of women, yet also a pang of sadness. She couldn't help but project herself onto the situation, thinking that if Su Chengguo hadn't been protected by the dragon ten days ago, Tao Tao's mother would be her future self.
"No one can say for sure what's in a person's life. I think that place up ahead looks good; there are lots of razor clams there. Let's go take a look."
Li Xue understood Zhou Chunmei's feelings and changed the subject.
Anyway, everyone has their own destiny. There's a saying that goes, "The poor should focus on their own well-being, while the rich should help others." Li Xue remembered it after reading it.
For her, all she wants now is to live her own life well; she has no power to do anything about other people's lives.
"Okay, I wonder if I'll have any good luck."
Zhou Chunmei's emotions came and went quickly.
The two men shoveled away the surface mud and sand and saw many air holes, which made them extremely happy.
"Sister-in-law, this is a clam nest!!!"
This time, Zhou Chunmei learned her lesson and didn't scream loudly.
She had attracted Tao Tao's mom's attention because she was too excited and loud, and she didn't want to attract her attention again.
"We've really come in lucky; this area is enough to fill a whole bucket."
Li Xue was also very excited; this was incredibly lucky.
It was so good that she couldn't believe it.
But with air vents right in front of us, it would be foolish not to seize the opportunity.
Take out the salt shaker and squeeze it in little by little; the razor clams in the clam hole seem to have smelled a magic elixir and come out.
The two of them took turns drawing the bamboo shoots, just like peeling bamboo shoots.
In less than half an hour, the bucket was full.
It seemed they had caught all the razor clams in the area. The two women straightened up and rubbed their aching backs.
"Sister-in-law, I've never been so happy, it feels so great!"
Zhou Chunmei watched Li Xue excitedly express her joy. These were all money! She was willing to endure the hardship of picking up money, no matter how much it was, even if it broke her back.
"Me too. Let's dig around here a bit more and see if we can find anything else. If we don't find anything, we'll go back."
Li Xue glanced at the sun and estimated it was past ten o'clock; the sun was getting increasingly hot.
They had a bumper harvest, and they could go back now, but they could also dig a little more.
"good."
The two hit it off immediately, covered the bucket with a tarpaulin, and started digging again after walking a short distance.
They thought finding a clam nest and a razor clam nest was the pinnacle of their luck, but after a few shovelfuls, they dug up a blood clam nest.
"Sister-in-law, we've struck it rich!"
Zhou Chunmei looked at the blood clams and almost thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest.
Blood clams are delicious and very nutritious.
Restaurants and eateries in town all love these things.
What excites Zhou Chunmei is that the money they earn by going to the beach in their spare time is their private property.
This money can be used to support your parents or to buy yourself some nice clothes or jewelry.
The mother-in-law is generous with the public funds, but the living expenses of the whole family are a considerable sum, and the parents-in-law are used to being frugal.
Having money in your own hands and the power to control it is a very happy thing.
Li Xue and Zhou Chunmei were both grinning from ear to ear, picking up one and throwing it into the bucket every now and then.
The sound had changed from 'thump thump thump' to a muffled 'tap tap tap'.
The two buried themselves in digging, because they had found a nest, and all they needed to do was dig around it to get something.
Before long, both of their buckets were full.
"Let's take this to Liu the fishmonger, sell it, and then go home."
Li Xue said to Zhou Chunmei with a smile.
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