For dinner, Chen Zhiyao volunteered to be the head chef, while Yan Shuting and Grandma Chen, the two real chefs, assisted her.
The three of them chatted and laughed, and easily prepared five dishes.
Steamed grouper, steamed crab, stir-fried clams, cola chicken wings, and stir-fried lettuce are basically all dishes that Chen Zhiyao likes to eat.
As soon as the food was served, the mother and daughter started snapping photos with their phones.
Steamed grouper
Stir-fried Clams
Steamed Orchid Crab
After showing off on her WeChat Moments, Chen Zhiyao put her phone away and quickly went into the kitchen to serve rice.
"Eat, eat!" If you're not enthusiastic about eating, there's something wrong with your thinking.
At the dinner table, Grandma Chen and Yan Shuting fussed over Chen Zhiyao, piling all sorts of delicious food into her bowl.
Although Grandpa Chen and Chen Weiqiang remained silent, their smiles were practically overflowing; the family of five was enjoying a harmonious time together.
Aside from beachcombing, there's no other nightlife in the village.
After dinner, Chen Zhiyao was sent back to her room to sleep by her mother early.
The bedding on the bed had been aired out by Yan Shuting that morning, and it had a warm smell.
Chen Zhiyao was in a good mood and rolled around on the bed several times. Home was definitely the most comfortable place.
Listening to the croaking of frogs outside and the sound of distant waves, I drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
Chen Zhiyao slept exceptionally well, even dreaming that she was beachcombing and caught a huge little green dragon and many large green crabs.
It wasn't until she heard voices downstairs that Chen Zhiyao got out of bed full of energy.
I drew back the curtains, and the sun bathed the entire room in its warm glow.
Sunlight streamed through the window, dappling the bed, and the faint sounds of birdsong could be heard coming from the small hill behind the bed.
Looking at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window, my mood became exceptionally good.
A beautiful day begins!
"The weather is really nice today, perfect for going beachcombing."
Chen Zhiyao hummed a cheerful tune as she went downstairs. Her light steps made even her back view radiate happiness.
Ah Huang got so excited when he saw her that he kept jumping around her feet, almost tripping her up.
"Ah Huang, you're being naughty again."
Chen Zhiyao vigorously rubbed Ah Huang's fluffy head with both hands, her big, watery eyes smiling into crescent moons.
At this moment, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen came out of the storeroom with their tools, and the old couple were about to go out to go beachcombing.
"Grandpa and Grandma, are you going to go beachcombing? Wait for me, I want to go too."
Yesterday in her dream, she dreamed that she went beachcombing and dug up lots and lots of razor clams, as well as a small green clams weighing over a pound. Now she can't wait to go beachcombing again.
Grandma Chen smiled warmly, her tone as gentle as if she were coaxing a child:
"Okay, okay, you eat your breakfast first, we'll wait for you to go together, no rush."
Grandpa Chen silently turned around and went to the storeroom, where he took out another set of beachcombing tools.
Straw hats, gloves, buckets, nets, scooping nets, tongs, and shovels are all essential items for beachcombing.
Chen Zhiyao, with large mouthfuls of her mother's clam rice noodles, asked indistinctly:
"Where are my dad and mom? Have they already left?"
Grandma Chen, sitting to the side, looked at her granddaughter with a loving smile and said:
"They said a regular customer came to buy fishing gear this morning, and I heard he's very rich, so your dad went to the fishing gear shop early in the morning."
"Your mom went to the old house to let the chickens out and feed them. She'll probably be back soon."
Grandma Chen and Grandpa Chen were originally old fishermen in the village, and they had been fishing for most of their lives.
Over the past decade, the catch from fishing at sea has been decreasing. Sometimes, the money earned from a single trip is not even enough to cover the fuel costs.
Seeing that the elderly couple was getting on in years, Chen Weiqiang and Yan Shuting simply advised them to retire.
So three years ago, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen sold their fishing boat and leased the small hillside next to their old house to grow fruit trees and raise chickens.
Moreover, they dug a two-acre shrimp pond on their own land at the foot of the mountain and started raising shrimp.
The elderly couple usually raise chickens and shrimp at home, and in their spare time they go beachcombing with their old friends in the village. They live a pretty leisurely life.
As for the fruit trees on the mountain, they are still small and not yet ready to bear fruit.
On weekdays, Grandpa Chen would go to the old house to release the chickens in the morning and then put the little guys back in at night.
Now that their beloved granddaughter is back, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen are thinking of going to the beach to find some seafood for her to eat.
In the morning, everyone in the village went out to sea or to go beachcombing, so there weren't many people at the small shop and the courier station. Yan Shuting volunteered to let the chickens out to graze.
The entire Baisha Village is long and narrow. The Chen family's house is at one end of the village, while the seaside is at the other end. It takes more than 20 minutes to walk to the seaside, which is still quite far.
Having just finished breakfast, Chen Zhiyao hurriedly pushed her family's electric tricycle out.
Although these electric tricycles cannot be driven on the main roads of the county, they are quite convenient to use in the villages.
The electric car sped along, and in less than ten minutes, the three of them, grandfather, grandmother, and grandson, arrived at the beach.
The village is named White Sand Village because of its large expanse of white sand beach.
Beneath the blue sky and white clouds lies the boundless sea, with flocks of seagulls soaring freely over its surface. Everywhere you look, there is a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
White sand beach
Stepping on the soft, fine white sand, Chen Zhiyao truly felt that this place was more beautiful than any famous scenic spot.
The sound of waves crashing against the shore came from afar; the azure sea, like an enraged beast, was fiercely beating the coast.
waves
The tide is out now, and all sorts of delicious shellfish, fish, shrimp, and crabs are stranded on the beach as the seawater recedes, becoming food for people and seagulls.
The three arrived a little late. By then, there were already quite a few leisurely elderly people and thrifty women gathering seafood on the beach.
At first glance, it seemed that she was the only young person who had come to collect seafood.
But that's normal; the young people in the village have either gone out to sea to fish or gone out to work.
The sunlight shone brightly on the azure sea, as if sprinkling a layer of shimmering gold dust on the ocean, making it sparkle.
Chen Zhiyao, standing on the beach, also became a beautiful sight.
Looking at the boundless sea before her, she suddenly ran excitedly towards it.
"I'm back!"
Of course, what attracted her most was not the beautiful scenery in front of her, but the various delicious seafood.
Grandma Chen looked at her excited granddaughter with a kind expression, gently urging her on:
"Hurry up and go beachcombing, or all the good stuff will be gone."
At this time, Grandma Chen's old friends called her to go beachcombing together, and Grandpa Chen also went to the rocky beach to collect seafood, leaving only Chen Zhiyao alone.
"Tangtang, you're back! How many days are you staying this time?"
"The company went bankrupt, so I came back to rest for a while."
"You've been out of school for two years now, have you found a boyfriend yet? Would you like me to introduce you to someone?"
"No need, thank you."
"Tangtang..."
The villagers were very hospitable, and Chen Zhiyao's face stiffened from smiling; she really couldn't handle this kind of occasion.
They had no choice but to silently carry their belongings forward, and soon arrived at a sparsely populated beach.
There aren't many good things on the beach here. The most common items are shellfish, starfish, or small octopuses. People in the village don't really like coming here to go beachcombing.
A large beach with only three or four people scattered around.
At that moment, a little girl's voice rang in Chen Zhiyao's mind:
"Hello, I am the Beachcombing System, ID number 101. Would you like to bind to the Beachcombing System?"
When Chen Zhiyao realized that there was no one around her, she immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Where did that sound come from? Could she have encountered a ghost?
Seeing that she hadn't replied, the system repeated itself:
"Hello host, I am the Beachcombing System, number 101. You can also call me Xiaomeng. Would you like to bind to the Beachcombing System?"
This time, Chen Zhiyao finally understood. It was actually the system! This incredible wealth had finally fallen into her lap.
She had already said "I'll bind you right away," but she forced herself to swallow it back.
Chen Zhiyao took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down quickly, before asking:
"What is the purpose of this beachcombing system? Are there any mandatory tasks? Are there any penalties?"
She was a seasoned novel enthusiast, and many novels featured systems with mandatory tasks that would be punished if not completed. She didn't want such a deceptive system.
At this moment, a clear, childlike voice rang in Chen Zhiyao's mind again:
"The beachcombing system allows you to get more harvests and earn more money while beachcombing."
"This system has no mandatory tasks or penalties. After binding, the host can choose whether to upgrade, and upgrades require points earned during beachcombing."
Chen Zhiyao thought about it and found that the system was quite user-friendly and didn't seem to have any downsides, so she decisively chose to bind with it.
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