When the tide goes out, almost the entire sea is filled with people going to the sea. Especially on Qiongzhou Island, where people use the sea as their farmland and rely on the sea for their livelihood, there are countless people there.
In addition to the families of the military district’s family compounds, local villagers also went out with their families and their tools for fishing.
Ye Zhi had watched various videos on catching seafood on Bilibili before, and had made some strategies, but she just couldn't find a chance to put it into practice.
Ye Zhi was carrying a bucket filled with a can of salt, and also brought the iron tongs and shovel that Lu Wei had made for her two days ago. The shovel is used to dig out seafood from the sand, such as clams and mantis shrimps that like to burrow into the sand. You can use the shovel to dig them out.
Iron tongs are mostly used to pick up some aggressive seafood. Although those seafoods usually taste delicious, many of them are very aggressive.
She had had her fingers pinched by crabs before, and it hurt so much!
The pain was so severe that she ate three crabs in one go before she felt better.
In addition to crabs, there are other creatures in the sea that can pinch or sting people. If you can use clamps to catch them, don't use your hands.
Of course, Ye Zhi even wore gloves.
Ye Xiaoding, who was originally playing with Chen Zhian, ran back home when he heard that He Jinfeng was looking for Ye Zhi to go fishing, and begged Ye Zhi to take him with her.
Ye Zhi smiled and said, "Of course I have to take you with me! Anzi has gone, what are you doing at home alone? You also have to pick up some small fish and shrimps to feed the ducks."
Ye Xiaoding grew up by a creek and had never seen such a vast ocean. He was very curious and loved the ocean.
In fact, Ye Xiaoding had already learned to swim, but a stream is different from the ocean, and Ye Zhi would definitely not let him go to the beach alone. But now the tide is receding, and children from every family have gone out to help pick up some seafood to sell to the supply and marketing cooperatives or to the Seafood Transportation Bureau. Those seafood can then be sold inland.
Ye Zhi didn't expect Ye Xiaoding to pick up much seafood, he just raised two ducklings at home. Ye Xiaoding has been feeding the two little ducks these days. The ducks on Qiongzhou Island are also called sea ducks, and they like to eat small fish and shrimps left on the mudflats after the tide goes out. It's free feed, it would be a waste if you don't pick it up.
Ye Xiaoding was stunned for a moment and said, "I thought you didn't allow me to go to the beach! I want to pick up lots of fish and shrimp to feed my ducklings!"
Since arriving on Qiongzhou Island, what Ye Xiaoding hears most every day is: "You are not allowed to go to the beach!" Both his aunt and uncle would nag him like this every day. Later, Ye Xiaoding asked his friends who played with him, and they said that there were some water monkeys in the sea that specialized in catching children. It sounded scary and eerie.
How could he dare to run to the beach when he was so scared?
But every day when he went out for a walk, he could see the blue ocean from afar. It looked so beautiful!
He remembered the sapphire his uncle had mentioned. In such a beautiful ocean, could there really be water monkeys that catch children?
Ye Zhi smiled and said, "You can go, but you must be accompanied by an adult. You can't go alone, it's too dangerous."
The ocean is beautiful, but also dangerous.
We must have a sense of awe in front of nature.
He Jinfeng, who was standing by, also said, "That's right. Don't bully the mountains or the water." He Jinfeng paused, looked at the excited children, including Ye Xiaoding, Chen Zhian, and her two older children, and said, "If you dare to go by yourself, be careful of my stewed pork with rattan sticks! Do you understand?"
Ye Zhi had only heard of the phrase "braised pork with a rattan stick" these past two days. It means beating a child with a rattan stick.
Chen Zhian is much more naughty than Ye Xiaoding. His mother sent him from Guangzhou to be disciplined by He Jinfeng and her husband because she couldn't control him.
After arriving on the island, he started to have more fun. He Jinfeng would never tolerate him and would beat him if he was naughty.
There are a lot of vines on the island. They are tough, soft and long, and can withstand beatings.
Locals like this kind of rattan to weave into backpacks, chairs or fishing gear, which is very durable.
When Chen Zhian heard this, he immediately felt pain in his heart and nodded repeatedly: "Aunt, I know, I definitely won't go to the beach!"
Ye Xiaoding walked to Ye Zhi's side and whispered, "Don't worry, aunt, I won't go."
Ye Zhi heard this and said with a smile: "Of course you can't go. The sea is very dangerous. You and Anzi can't go too far into the sea. When the tide comes in, you are so young that you can't run faster than the sea water."
Ye Xiaoding nodded several times: "Aunt, you can't go too far, it's very dangerous!"
Ye Xiaoding wanted to tell Ye Zhi about the water monkeys in the water, but he knew that his aunt was always timid, and he was afraid that if she knew about this, she would not even dare to go to the beach!
He really wants to go to the beach now. In addition to picking up fish and shrimps for the duckling, he also wants to pick up those beautiful shells and send them to his grandparents and his brothers and sisters!
At most, he will just protect her secretly later!
Ye Zhi didn't know that there were so many twists and turns in Ye Xiaoding's little head, so she followed He Jinfeng to the beach.
Before they reached the beach, they heard the increasingly loud sound of waves crashing and the fishy smell of salty and damp air.
Several people couldn't help but quicken their pace, and Ye Zhi became more and more excited. She was already planning to go to the reef to see if she could find a crab to eat!
After coming to the island, Ye Zhi had eaten shellfish, squid, sea fish, and shrimp, but had never eaten crab.
I would be satisfied if I could catch two orchid crabs!
But just as they reached the beach, they met Li Shufen and Tian Qiuyun, who were also going to the beach with their children.
Tian Qiuyun's face has turned yellow these past two days because of the smiles of the military wives in the family compound, and it's all because of Ye Zhi.
So after seeing Ye Zhi, Tian Qiuyun curled her lips, nudged Li Shufen beside her with her shoulder, and said, "Let's go this way." After saying that, she showed a look of disgust.
Li Shufen's face looked a little ugly, but in fact she didn't dislike Ye Zhi that much.
It’s just because Lu Wei rejected her blind date a few years ago, so she doesn’t like them as a couple!
However, Tian Qiuyun had been mocked by Ye Zhi a few days ago, and because Lu Wei's mother sent a lot of things to Ye Zhi, everyone in the family compound knew about it, so other family members made some sarcastic remarks about whether she was jealous of Ye Zhi.
Now Tian Qiuyun was full of resentment that she couldn't vent, and she became even angrier when she saw Ye Zhi.
Li Shufen didn't want to join her camp, she just loved gossip.
But I ran into her just when I went out to catch some seafood, and we chatted until we arrived at the beach. Now I had no choice but to continue following her.
Besides, Tian Qiuyun grew up by the sea and had a lot of experience in fishing, so he could always bring back a lot of seafood.
Following her to go fishing and find some seafood shouldn't be considered as joining a group.
He Jinfeng had also heard about Tian Qiuyun's slander of Ye Zhi these past two days, and she didn't like Tian Qiuyun at the moment. Seeing them walking in that direction, she said, "Xiao Ye, let's not be with those meaningless people."
Ye Zhi could of course see what Tian Qiuyun meant. Seeing them walking to the right, Ye Zhi pointed to a group of reefs in the distance on the left, smiled, and said, "Sister He, why don't we go over there?"
Ye Zhi came here today with the sole purpose of catching crabs. Usually after the tide goes out, the crabs will hide under the rocks.
He Jinfeng nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you. I'm just here for a stroll anyway."
He Jinfeng works for the supply and marketing cooperative, so she basically has no shortage of meat and seafood. Today, just to have some fun, she brought Ye Zhi and a few kids out to play.
And it just happened to be in the opposite direction of Tian Qiuyun, which was also good.
I shouldn't encounter it again, it's an eyesore!
So the two of them walked towards the seaside on the left.
Li Shufen on the other end looked back and saw that Ye Zhi and He Jinfeng were indeed not walking in the same direction as them.
Tian Qiuyunye noticed this and sneered, "That reef is so dangerous. It turns out that inexperienced people are inexperienced. Just wait for the consequences."
Even Tian Qiuyun, who is so experienced, had fallen twice on the reef over there, and there was nothing special in that place except some conchs.
Ye Zhi led Ye Xiaoding, who was looking around, towards the reef. After the tide receded, the beach with sea mud was exposed, and it was sticky to walk on it.
But in the distance, a thick layer of gray-blue clouds pressed down on the sea level, and the edge of the clouds was shining with orange-red glow, which made Ye Zhi couldn't help laughing.
The sunset at the seaside is so beautiful.
Well, it’s a pity that I can’t watch such a beautiful sunset with Lu Wei.
Since returning to the team, Lu Wei has basically had very little free time. Even in the military camp, he has not had time to go home for lunch these two days.
He left a note early this morning saying he was going out on a mission, and didn't say when he would be back.
When he has a vacation, Ye Zhi plans to invite him to go fishing and watch the sunset together.
Just as he was thinking this, Ye Xiaoding ran over screaming, holding in each hand a large yellow conch with black spots. There was a piece of black and white snail meat at the mouth of the conch, which was slightly wriggling.
He held the conch high in front of Ye Zhi and said excitedly, "Aunt, look at what I picked up. It's such a big conch!"
Ye Zhi was also infected by Ye Xiaoding's excitement and smiled happily, "Wow, this is a coconut snail! Xiaoding, you actually found a seafood product so quickly, and it's so big!"
It was really big, bigger than the ones she had seen in the videos of beach hunting.
Ye Xiaoding looked at the two coconut snails in his hand and said in shock: "I have never seen such big snails, and they are yellow. How amazing!!"
In the past, Ye Xiaoding could only catch a few snails in the fields, but they were all black and covered with moss. There are also some white snails, but they are all very small and not colorful like the coconut snails. When I saw them today, I was so excited that I almost jumped up!
Chen Zhian, who was standing by, sneered when he saw Ye Xiaoding. "From what you said, I thought you found something rare. Isn't it just coconut snails? These snails are not tasty. I can't even bite them. Go a few steps forward and find some cat's eye snails and ring snails. There are a lot of them!"
When Ye Xiaoding heard what Chen Zhian said, the two little guys ran forward again. Not long after, Ye Xiaoding picked up something again. There was a loud noise and several children laughed and said, "Ye Xiaoding, you have never seen a big snake poop!"
Ye Xiaoding picked up a few more conches and waved to Ye Zhi: "Aunt, there are some trumpet conches here."
Suddenly, a group of children started making noise again.
He Jinfeng said, "Your little Ding is really well behaved. He is unlike the others in our family who love to make noises and won't stop unless they are beaten."
Ye Zhi looked at Ye Xiaoding's back as he bent over to pick up seafood and smiled, "They're just as noisy. What kid wouldn't be noisy?"
He Jinfeng: "Your Xiao Ding listens to you very well. He doesn't make a fuss like other children do, but he doesn't go crazy. Yesterday morning I saw your Lu Tuan taking him for exercise. Xiao Ding ran in a very good manner."
Ye Zhi looked at Ye Xiaoding who was playing not far away, showing a worried expression, and said: "Xiaoding has been without parents since he was a child, and he is actually very sensitive. This time when I said I would bring him here, he made a fuss for a while."
If she hadn't seen him crying and saying those words last time, Ye Zhi wouldn't have known that Ye Xiaoding had always known that her mother had married someone else. It would have been fine if he just knew it, but the child, who was only a few years old, actually hid the secret.
This really made Ye Zhi feel very surprised and sad.
If possible, Ye Zhi still hopes that he can be like this now, at least he still looks a little carefree like a child.
An unhappy childhood takes a lifetime to heal.
What would have happened to Ye Xiaoding if he had not come to Qiongzhou Island?
Ye Zhi couldn't imagine it.
So she never regretted keeping Ye Xiaoding by her side, and she sincerely hoped that Ye Xiaoding could be a truly carefree, playful and fun-loving child.
In fact, He Jinfeng had always been curious about why Ye Zhi and Lu Wei had a child right after getting married. So this is the case.
However, many people in the family compound help to support the martyrs' families, so this is not a big deal.
It can be seen that Ye Zhi and Lu Wei also care about Ye Xiaoding.
Ye Zhi is Ye Xiaoding's aunt. They have been close since childhood, so it is inevitable that she dotes on the child a little.
Although Lu Wei seemed to be mean to the child, He Jinfeng felt that Lu Wei did not treat Ye Xiaoding as an outsider.
Only when seeing others around will one be polite.
Besides, if he really treated Xiao Ding as an outsider, Lu Wei, a regimental-level cadre, could do anything else. Why would he waste his time accompanying the child to do exercises every day?
He Jinfeng smiled and said, "You and Lu Tuan are so kind to the child. He will feel it one day."
The two of them walked and chatted, and He Jinfeng also told Ye Zhi some techniques for catching seafood.
She took some salt and put it into the holes in the sand. After a while, white and tender clams emerged from the holes. Then He Jinfeng used the shovel to dig into the sand and the clams were dug out.
Ye Zhi looked at the small holes on the beach and followed them to dig in the direction of the reef beach. Soon, a large pile of plump clams were dug out. Each one was big and long. Ye Zhi had never seen such big clams.
In addition to digging out razor clams, Ye Zhi also dug out mantis shrimps. Each of the mantis shrimps was as thick as Ye Xiaoding's arm!
too! big! Only! !
The first thing Ye Zhi thought of was the salt and pepper mantis shrimp, such fragrant and fresh prawns!
He Jinfeng said, "These shrimps taste delicious, but they are a little hard to peel. Every time I cook them for my children, I have to help peel them. It's so annoying."
Ye Zhi smiled and said, "Xiao Ding has never eaten it. I'll dig a few back for him to try."
A few children came over at some point, and when they heard that Ye Zhi was going to make the shrimp for Ye Xiaoding, they laughed and said, "Ye Xiaoding, your aunt said she's going to make you mantis shrimp. You're going to pee after eating it tonight!"
Ye Xiaoding snorted: "I don't know how to pee, you guys do!"
A few children were chasing and fighting each other, and then ran to the pile of stones to pick up snails.
After hearing this, Ye Zhi asked with a laugh: "Isn't this a mantis shrimp? Why does it make you pee after eating it?"
What they mean by bedwetting is wetting the bed, but Ye Zhi remembered that Ye Xiaoding seemed to have stopped wetting the bed since he was 5 years old.
He Jinfeng explained: "Haha, no, we call them mantis shrimps because they pee like babies when they go out to sea."
I see!
Why are their names so weird?
Ye Zhi looked at the big mantis shrimps in the bucket and said, "So that's how it is. I thought I dug the wrong shrimps."
He Jinfeng: "Let's go to the front. I'll go get some kelp and make some kelp and mung bean soup tonight. I'll also look for oysters and scoop a few for my man to nourish him."
Seeing that several children were already walking towards the rocky beach, Ye Zhi walked over there carrying a small bucket filled with clams and mantis shrimps.
As soon as she walked over there, Ye Zhi found that the water on the rocky beach was so clean that she could see the bottom, with almost no impurities and pollution. The water quality was really very pure.
Because the water was so clear, Ye Zhi saw an orchid crab in the water at a glance!
Ye Zhi immediately became excited. She actually encountered a crab!
But before Ye Zhi could lower her claws, the orchid crab with long blue legs slithered into the crevice of the rock.
Good man, you still want to run!
Ye Zhi put down the bucket in her hand, put on gloves, bent down, and reached into the crevice of the stone with the long pliers in her hand. Immediately, she felt something struggling and clamped her pliers.
How can a tiny orchid crab be so powerful?
Ye Zhi clenched the pliers tightly and pulled hard, but it still didn't move!
Ye Zhi bent down and simply lay on the slippery black reef, looking into the wet cracks of the stone -
! ! !
What a big blue crab!
It was still gurgling with water, and its huge crab claws were shining green, but the bottom was bright orange, and it was clamping her claws.
He Jinfeng had just picked up some kelp and shoveled some oysters when she saw Ye Zhi lying on the reef with her butt sticking up, looking into the cracks in the rocks.
I didn’t expect that Ye Zhi looks a little thin, but her butt is actually big and round!
You can tell at first glance that she is a good fertile person.
He Jinfeng walked over and asked, "Xiaoye, what treasure did you find?"
Ye Zhi didn't even raise her head and responded, "Sister He, there are several blue crabs here, help me! They are so strong!"
Just now Ye Zhi thought there was only one flower crab and one blue crab, but after poking inside a few times, she saw two more, both of which were super big!
He Jinfeng heard it and said: "Ah? Blue crab? Let me take a look..."
He Jinfeng also lay down and looked into the crevices of the reef. Wow, there were several blue crabs spitting out water!
One of the big fat crabs even clamped Ye Zhi's claws and refused to let go.
Just when Ye Zhi was about to pull hard, He Jinfeng took out her pliers, put them in flat, clamped the crab's head and abdomen, and pulled hard. A blue crab bigger than Ye Zhi's face was clamped out.
He Jinfeng: "Oh, it's so big, it must weigh three kilograms, right?"
Ye Zhi looked at the big blue crab that was still showing its claws and fangs, her eyes widened. This blue crab was almost as big as a king crab!
It took two people working together to get the big blue crab into the bucket. The blue crab took up the entire bucket and it was almost full.
He Jinfeng wiped the sweat off her forehead, looked at Ye Zhi, whose face had also turned red with anxiety, and asked in disbelief, "Is there anything else in there?"
Ye Zhi nodded: "Yes, there are still a few!"
One crab fills a bucket, what should I do with the remaining crabs?
He Jinfeng looked at the buckets filled with kelp and oysters, and then said to the children who were shoveling snails nearby: "Chen Zhian, come here!"
Several children immediately ran towards He Jinfeng and Ye Zhi. Ye Zhi's heart almost jumped out of her chest when she saw Ye Xiaoding almost falling on the rocks.
"Be careful! Don't worry!"
He Jinfeng looked at their buckets, which were half full of various shells, and said, "Now, we are going to requisition your buckets. Go to the shore and pull some vines."
A large blue crab weighing several kilograms is baring its claws and teeth and may run out soon. Even if it doesn't run out, it may break its claws after struggling a few times, so it has to be tied up with some vines.
Ye Zhi looked at the increasingly thick clouds on the sea level and said, "Hurry up, it will be dark soon."
Ye Xiaoding nodded vigorously: "Yes, I'll go right away."
Ye Xiaoding didn't ask why, he just ran to the shore, and several children followed him.
Ye Zhi and He Jinfeng worked together to pick out the remaining few large crabs.
Each one weighs more than two kilograms! It was so big and fierce that it almost exhausted the two of them.
Finally, the two of them caught a female crab with a thick layer of yellow crab roe on its abdomen. Ye Zhi said without thinking, "Sister He, let's put this female back."
He Jinfeng glanced at Ye Zhi and said with a smile, "Yes, this one should be released, otherwise there will be no way to catch it in the future."
He Jinfeng has seen many people who come to catch seafood for the first time. No matter big or small, male or female, they take all the seafood they see home. They are greedy and ignorant.
But Ye Zhi didn't.
Just now, both of them caught a few small blue crabs, but Ye Zhi talked to her and put them back between the rocks.
This female blue crab now weighs two or three pounds, which is very big. If other people saw it, they would probably put it in a bucket and take it home.
He Jinfeng couldn't help but feel a little more favorable towards Ye Zhi.
This seemingly delicate girl is not only well-behaved and capable, but also has sharp ears and eyes. She is a kind child.
Soon, a few children pulled some vines over, and He Jinfeng skillfully tied the claws of the big crabs and threw them into the bucket.
They had just caught a total of three blue-legged flower crabs and four large blue crabs. Although Ye Zhi had seen the crabs first, if He Jinfeng hadn't helped, she was afraid that her iron pliers would have been snatched away by the three-pound large blue crab.
So Ye Zhi shared the blue crab with He Jinfeng equally, and the flower crab was given to the two Ye Zhis. Later, He Jinfeng gave her a lot of kelp and seaweed, filling the entire bucket.
After catching a few crabs, the two were so tired that they rested on the beach for a while. Then they were not greedy and walked home contentedly.
Tian Qiuyun and Li Shufen on the other side saw the two people returning home after only one hour of fishing, and couldn't help laughing and said, "Did they just pick up a bucket of seaweed to cook?":,,
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