Before dawn, a huge rock stood in the middle of the sea, covered with white, shell-like objects that, upon closer inspection, resembled fingers.
However, Mingjing couldn't get too close, because the rock stood in the middle of the sea, too far from the shore. She had to swim there, which was about two kilometers away.
Her intuition told her that it was no ordinary thing.
"I'll go take a look."
Mingjing put down the bucket and plunged into the water, swimming towards the large rock.
The sea was quite rough today. Mingjing dived underwater, and her legs seemed to grow fish tails as she moved forward rapidly.
The colorful corals and small fish underwater are indescribably beautiful, but there aren't many reefs. Mingjing thinks that setting up a fish trap here would be a good idea.
As they approached the rock, Mingjing was somewhat awestruck.
The rock was large at the top and small at the bottom, its depth embedded in the sand was unknown, but it was firmly rooted in the mud and sand, and its surface was covered with a dense mass of oysters and various shells.
The most common type is the tiny white barnacle, which grows in large numbers and is shaped like a chicken's foot. A clear mirror can tell that it is a goose barnacle.
These barnacles don't have much meat, but they're very expensive in the market. They're great for making soup, and because they look like chicken feet, they're also called sea chicken feet or Buddha's hand snails.
Goose barnacles like to grow on rocks, and this is the first time Mingjing has ever seen so many.
Judging by sight, the huge rock in front of me was as wide as a mirror with its arms outstretched, and the densely packed rocks on it weighed at least three or four hundred pounds.
After seeing clearly, Mingjing quickly returned to the shore.
"Sis, how are you?"
“Buddha’s hand snail,” Mingjing said calmly, wiping the water from her face.
"What? Buddha's Hand Snail?" Mingyue exclaimed excitedly, turning her head to say, "Dad, come quick, Buddha's Hand Snail!"
Mingyue was so engrossed in shoveling abalone with his shovel that he couldn't hear her voice at all, especially with the big waves. He looked up and saw her standing in front of him, waving and calling out something.
"Dad, that's about it. These are all little ones now. Ours must weigh fifty or sixty pounds," Mingliang said, lifting the snakeskin bag to estimate.
Ming Dahai stood up, straightened his back, and walked towards Mingyue carrying the snakeskin bag.
"What good stuff did you see this time?"
It was only when I entered the Minghai Sea that I heard about the sea chicken claws, and I looked at the rocks in the middle of the sea in shock.
"My God, is all that white stuff?"
"Dad, what's the price of bergamot?"
Mingjing was soaking wet. She gathered her damp hair and felt a chill in the sea breeze.
"At least one hundred yuan per pound."
They only encountered large quantities of goose barnacles in aquaculture or deep-sea trawling; this was the first time they had ever seen so many.
"Dad, I've checked. There are no rocks over there and the water is very deep. We can sail there."
Ming Dahai nodded, "Get on the boat and let's go take a look over there."
On the ship, Mingjing sat on the deck and reached out to rummage through the snakeskin bag.
"Mingjing, open one and see if there are any abalone pearls?" Mingliang grabbed a large abalone with a dagger and made a cut. Mingjing didn't even have time to speak.
"Oh dear, what a waste, this one's pretty big," Mingliang said with a hint of regret, turning around to throw it into the sea to feed the fish.
"These don't have abalone, let's sell them."
How did you know?
"The Goddess of the Sea appeared to me in a dream," Mingjing blurted out, spouting nonsense.
As the boat approached the rocks, Ming Dahai was stunned.
"So many barnacles? We're going to make a fortune! Let's get this done."
The Ming family members stood on the deck and reached out to pick the barnacles, but the barnacles clung tightly, and Mingjing's hands hurt from digging them out, so he had to use a shovel to shovel them away.
As Mingyue struggled to open the bag, a large number of barnacles tumbled into it.
Farmers usually use machines to collect barnacles from top to bottom, which is fast and saves effort. When they manually collect barnacles, Mingjing is exhausted and her back and arms ache.
Several people took turns working on it, but the barnacles seemed to grow on their own. They were dug up one crop after another, but the number of barnacles never decreased. Mingjing alone went through two burlap sacks.
After working for two hours, it was already broad daylight, and Mingliang's arms were terribly sore.
"Dad, take a rest, I can't even lift my arm."
The sack was heavy and could only be placed on the deck. Mingliang tried his best to hold the sack opening close to the rocks.
"What use are you? A lot of barnacles have fallen into the sea, worth at least several hundred dollars," Ming Dahai said impatiently.
"Dad, that's enough. There's not much left in the middle. The top is too high for us to reach, and we can't go down into the sea to fish for it."
The rock was huge, about two meters high, and they could only shovel the middle part. So far, they have removed at least several hundred kilograms, which should be worth several thousand yuan. They have definitely made back their investment in fuel.
"What a pity." Ming Dahai didn't want to give up. With a quick thought, he unscrewed the net head, attached a sand shovel, and reached out to hook down the barnacles on the high place.
But there was only one net, so Mingliang and Mingda took turns scooping up the barnacles.
The higher areas have been mostly cleared; they can't reach any higher. The barnacles below have been replaced with a landing net for Haidilao.
The group spent an hour and ate nearly 500 jin (250 kg).
It was already broad daylight.
“Dad, stop working, let’s go, we really can’t reach the top.” Mingjing looked up.
As the boat approached the rocks, Ming Dahai, holding a long iron shovel, stood on tiptoe and tried to reach the top. When the wind blew, the tip of the shovel could not provide any leverage and swayed precariously.
Helpless, Ming Dahai gave up. "If I can't reach the top, can't I reach the bottom? This stuff is too expensive. I'll take whatever I can get."
Ming Dahai threw down the shovel and jumped into the sea with a splash. He surfaced and wiped his face. "Mingliang, come down with a bag. There are a lot of barnacles down there."
Mingjing had no choice but to go into the water as well. It was indeed easier to retrieve the fish underwater than from above. The three of them worked together to circle the pillar and managed to retrieve nearly 100 jin (50 kg).
They were too exhausted to continue, so Mingjing went aboard to help drag the sacks up the boat.
It was noon by the time everything was finished. Mingjing lay exhausted on the deck, the sun so bright it hurt her eyes.
"Let's go check out the islands," Ming Dahai said enthusiastically, climbing onto the boat and turning the rudder to adjust the direction.
Mingjing, who was sleeping on the deck, twitched her lips weakly. Making money was addictive, but she was exhausted.
The island wasn't very big, so there wasn't much to see. The boat stopped not far away, and Ming Dahai jumped off. At that moment, he looked like a vibrant young man.
The three Ming siblings followed behind, dragging their feet like old people.
The tide had receded most of the way off the island, revealing some land and rocks. Strangely, Mingjing and his group had been wandering around for most of the day without seeing a single crab.
"It's strange that there's nothing on this island. That shouldn't be the case," Ming Dahai said, scratching his head in frustration.
"Hey, why does that tree over there look so strange, Dad?" Mingyue asked curiously, pointing to a huge tree not far away.
Mingjing looked in the direction of Mingyue and saw that the tree in front of him was much larger than normal trees, and something seemed to be growing on the trunk, like a mushroom cloud.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com