"Then what are you doing here?" Widow Ma pouted, clearly not believing it.
“I threw a few fish traps here yesterday. I clearly remember putting them here. How come they’re gone?” Mingjing shouted at the top of her lungs.
She clearly remembered that it was tied to the railing, and the rope was more than ten meters long. Now there was a gap in the railing, and the rope was gone.
"Could it have been stolen?" Widow Ma thought smugly.
"I think the waves were too big, and the railing couldn't withstand the weight. It probably broke and fell into the sea," Old Wang joked.
A group of people stood still, not going out to collect seafood, but watching the Ming family looking for cages. They had been there for a long time, but they didn't encounter many, instead getting bitten by horseflies quite a few times.
Since we can't find it anyway, it's better to watch Mingjing make a fool of itself.
Mingjing was fed up with these people watching them like surveillance cameras, but she couldn't very well tell them not to stay there, so she could only turn her back and touch the cage.
The three Ming siblings were groping in the sea when, after a while, Mingliang shouted, "I found it!"
Where?
As Mingjing turned around, her foot slipped, and she lost her balance, falling into the seawater. Her ankle seemed to have been cut by a rock, and the seawater stung.
"A clear mirror!"
"Sister! Are you alright?" Mingyue, who was closest to her, was the first to run over and support her.
Mingjing shook her head and got up by herself. "It's alright. There are a lot of rocks down there, and it's too slippery. You guys stay here and don't move."
Many of the rocks on the beach were covered in moss, and the seawater made them even more slippery. Not wanting any of the three of them to get hurt, Mingjing bent down and rubbed her ankle.
It looks like I bumped it.
"Mingjing, what's wrong with you?" Mingliang asked, a look of concern on his face for the first time.
"It's alright, pick up that cage and see if it's there."
Mingliang bent down to pick up the cage, but it was stuck firmly in the crack between the rocks. He dared not pull it, afraid of damaging the fishing net and losing the fish.
"The fishing net got stuck on a rock."
Mingjing bent down and carefully cleared away the surrounding stones. Mingjing slowly waded over to help, holding the fish trap in one hand and clearing away the stones with the other.
The octagonal cage was large and heavy. Just as it was lifted out of the water, its bright eyes widened in surprise, "There's..."
"Cough cough cough!" Mingjing pretended to cough, and immediately threw the cage into the water.
"How is it? A stone, right?" Widow Ma stood not far away, staring intently at the group.
The waves at the beach were still quite large and loud, making it impossible to see or hear what Mingjing and the others were doing, but judging from Mingliang's movements...
They figured there was nothing good in it, otherwise why would he have thrown it away?
"Damn it! It's all rocks!" Mingliang cursed loudly.
Mingliang whispered, "First, throw this octagonal cage onto the low rocks over there. It's too far for them to touch or see."
"Alright!" Mingliang picked up the octagonal cage with difficulty, submerged it in the water, and threw it onto a low rock on the side with a lot of strength.
"Two snakeskin bags should be enough for us. Mingyue, stay here and watch over things," Mingjing instructed, and continued walking forward.
She placed all five octagonal cages not far away; they should all be able to be found.
"Let's go take a look over there."
Mingjing waded through the water, thinking about the large animal in the cage earlier, and didn't feel any pain in her feet. She figured her luck must have stayed there.
"Mingjing, you mean you can't find the others?"
Mingliang blurted out something inappropriate, and Mingjing retorted, "Shut your stinking mouth! Don't you know Murphy's Law?"
"What law? Who is Mo Fei?"
Mingjing said irritably, "You can shut up now!"
Fishermen generally speak auspicious words at sea, believing that unlucky words will come true. For example, they say that you should not flip fish over when eating it.
They firmly believe that such a thing would cause a maritime accident, so they usually say auspicious words, which can also be considered a form of psychological suggestion.
"Oh," Mingliang realized he might have said something wrong and stopped talking.
The two searched in the sea for a long time but couldn't find the first cage. Mingliang remembered that the cages were tied up in order, but now the bars were gone, and she could only feel around randomly.
Just as Mingjing was about to give up, she touched a net-like object that resembled an octagonal cage.
The octagonal cage seemed to be weighed down by a rock. After moving the rock, she carefully lifted the octagonal cage, glanced at it, and saw the cargo just as it emerged from the water.
Just like the last one, but bigger than the last one, Mingjing thought that if she found all six, she could build a villa tomorrow.
"My God, what incredible luck to find an abalone this big?"
"This conch is so beautiful, and it's quite big too. It must weigh at least three pounds. There's also a sea bass, which must weigh five or six pounds!"
Far from the shore, Mingjing emptied the contents of the octagonal cage into a burlap sack, soaked it in water, threw the octagonal cage into a bucket, and carried it forward.
After walking only a few steps, Mingliang was exhausted. The seafood was still alive, and with the octagonal cages and the seafood taking in water, the heavy ones were too heavy to drag along.
There are reefs on the seabed, and if you're not careful, you might tear the snakeskin bag and release the seafood. Mingjing takes out his mobile phone.
The mobile phone was wrapped in two layers of plastic bags, and when the plastic bags were removed, it was dripping wet.
"Mingliang, go help Mingyue set up that trap. I'm going ashore first," Mingjing said, glancing in Mingyue's direction.
Several men were wading through the water towards the bright moon.
Mingjing nodded, picked up the snakeskin bag and walked back. When she reached a dry spot, the bag became even heavier.
Halfway there, Mingjing, fearing he would attract attention, stopped and called Mingdahai to ask him to bring a truck over to collect the goods.
Ming Dahai was at home figuring out how to spend money on house repairs when he received a call from Ming Jing. His heart skipped a beat as he answered, "What happened?"
"Dad, bring the car over, it's too heavy to move."
"Found it? Looks like quite a lot. I'll head over now. Do you need a snakeskin bag?" Ming Dahai got excited when he heard there was some goods.
Could it be a king crab or emperor crab? If so, we're really going to make a fortune!
"Yes, bring two more, and also boil some hot water. We'll be at the spot where we put the cages last time."
"Okay, I'll be right there."
Ming Dahai hung up the phone and went to change his beachcombing gear. Sun Yunmei thought that there was still a whole kettle of hot water left. It had been boiled in the morning, but no one had taken a sip before running off. It would come in handy.
The two hurried to the beach. Mingjing reinstalled the phone and dragged the snakeskin bag up the beach, while Mingliang finished setting up the octagonal cage on Mingyue's side and came ashore.
"What are you three siblings doing pulling so many stones? Why are you being so secretive?"
Widow Ma craned her neck to peer over the sacks belonging to the group, wishing she had hooked eyes to see what was inside.
"What kind of stone is this? It must be a big one. Those guys are cunning; they must have something good!" Old Wang said, pursing his lips as he went to greet them.
When Old Wang stepped into the bright room, his jaw nearly dropped in shock.
"My God! Such a huge octopus? And a flower crab, as big as a hand, and that sea cucumber must weigh two pounds each."
"Then there must be something good in your sack, Mingjing, you still say it's just stones!"
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