Chapter 18: There's so much stuff on this island? How did I not notice?

If he's late, Xiao Hu's second uncle will probably lose his temper.

The two were practically running on the beach picking up seafood, bending down to glance, picking it up if there was something, otherwise moving on.

Ye Cheng felt he had never been this tired before; speaking of which, he used to fail long-distance runs at school, but now he actually runs with such energy.

It seems that in college from now on, they should do it this way: pay money for passing the run, and I guess everyone would pass.

"Brother, we're running out of time, let's go quickly," Xiao Hu shouted.

"Alright, let's go."

Each of them carried a snakeskin bag on their back and held an empty bucket in hand; there was no choice, if they started running, the sea cucumbers would probably tumble out.

Wang Haisheng had already been waiting for nearly ten minutes, and the boss had been waiting so long he got anxious.

"Lao Wang, are those two relatives of yours reliable or not? If not, why not give them a call?"

Wang Haisheng laughed embarrassedly, "Boss Qian, those two youngsters don't have cell phones."

Boss Qian, being older, was also speechless upon hearing they had no phones.

Although mobile phone fees aren't cheap nowadays, not having a phone is still rare.

With no phones, they could only wait; the two boredly cast out two fishing rods again—since they were idle anyway, there are fish by the seaside.

"Xiao Hu! A Cheng!"

Wang Haisheng jumped onto the beach and shouted, his voice carried by the sea breeze, but there was no response for a long time.

"Damn it, these two brats, I won't bring them out next time," Wang Haisheng said regretfully and went back onto the boat.

Just after boarding the boat, Wang Haisheng saw two figures burst out of the island's forest, covered in leaves, constantly howling, with something unknown on their backs.

Boss Qian heard the commotion, turned around, and was startled, almost falling over, "Hurry up and leave, Lao Wang, these are savages, natives, they'll kill people."

"Natives?" Wang Haisheng pictured the kind of forest natives who wield spears and grunt nonsense, rumored to actually eat people.

Another boss was also terrified, urging Wang Haisheng to start the boat quickly.

Wang Haisheng's legs went weak from fright, "Damn it, when did natives show up here? Have you registered the transient population?"

He climbed to the helm, turned the key, and started the boat.

Seeing Wang Haisheng start the boat, the two ran even faster, shouting as they ran,

"Uncle, uncle, don't leave, I'm Xiao Hu!" "I'm Xiao Hu!"

Wang Haisheng blinked, "Xiao Hu?"

He took a closer look, "Wow, it really is."

His nephew and Ye Cheng, for some reason, were covered in mud spots and had a few leaves stuck to them; this guy bursting out of the forest really did look like a native.

"What have you two been up to? Did you dig up a pirate's treasure, still carrying a sack, looking like savages?" Wang Haisheng shouted angrily.

"Uncle, it's just some stuff from gathering at the sea," Xiao Hu explained while tossing the snakeskin bag onto the boat and climbing aboard.

Ye Cheng also got on the boat; after boarding, he flopped onto the deck, gasping heavily, and now he doesn't want to say a word.

"Damn it, even during the Spring Festival travel rush I never ran this fast; my lungs are about to burn out."

"Now that everyone's here, let's leave quickly; it's not early anymore," Boss Qian urged.

Wang Haisheng acknowledged, then the boat slowly moved onto the sea surface, heading toward the village.

Seeing the two's large sacks, Wang Haisheng boredly asked, "What did you gather, so much of it? Mussels or scallops?"

Xiao Hu has become shrewd now; he first glanced at Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng didn't speak, first lit a cigarette to give his lungs a boost.

"Uncle, it's just a bit of stuff from gathering at the sea, what could it be?" Ye Cheng said lightly.

"Come on, let's take a look, we're curious too," Boss Qian said, moving closer.

"Come, let me show you our catch too—sea bass, black seabream, not bad, right?" Boss Qian opened the water tank, inside lay four or five fish.

Sea bass and black seabream are common marine fish, not expensive, but still decent.

Boss Qian was obviously pleased with his catch.

For a fishing enthusiast, whether it's expensive or not doesn't matter; what matters is having something to eat.

Boss Qian's companion also opened the water tank, inside were several fish of various sizes.

"You two bosses are skilled, catching this many," Ye Cheng gave a small compliment.

"Hahaha, that's because Lao Wang brought us to a good spot—just go down and there's something to bite," Boss Qian laughed happily.

"Come, little brother, let us see what good stuff you have; if there's fresh produce, we'll buy some to take back, just in time for a seafood feast."

Hearing Boss Qian might buy, Ye Cheng felt moved, skipping the middleman would naturally let him sell more.

He gave Xiao Hu a look; Xiao Hu fumbled in the snakeskin bag and pulled out a sea cucumber, "Well, we got some sea cucumbers."

Boss Qian looked astonished at the sea cucumber in Xiao Hu's hand, reached out to take it, examined it closely, weighed it, and said, "Not bad, this sea cucumber is wild, and this big."

"This is still the small one," Xiao Hu boasted proudly.

"Then how big do they get? Let us see, we'll buy some," Boss Qian became interested.

Originally just wanted to look, but upon discovering this good merchandise, naturally felt tempted.

"Exactly, exactly, our Boss Qian isn't short of money—if there's goods, just bring them out, it won't take anything from you," Boss Qian's companion also began to envy, urging from the side.

"Xiao Hu, take it out and show it to the two bosses," Ye Cheng said.

"Well, give you guys a water tank, pour it out and see what's there, maybe something's hidden," Wang Haisheng also got itchy.

With Ye Cheng's word, Xiao Hu no longer held back—this was his second uncle's boat, not a pirate's, so he wasn't afraid.

He somewhat awkwardly lifted the snakeskin bag, tightened its mouth, and dumped everything in one go into the water tank—with a splash, the whole bag of seafood went in.

"Damn! Abalone!"

"And there's the king razor clam."

"Not bad, this abalone is big enough."

Let me see, this King Razor Clam is really fat.

This sea cucumber is thicker than the one I just had—damn, did you guys go loot the Dragon King?

Boss Qian couldn't help but curse.

The boat's operator, Wang Haisheng, was dumbfounded—was his nephew out gathering seafood?

You're not going to the seafood market to wholesale, are you?

Boss Qian and his companions excitedly squatted down, each picking them up to look; his few sea fish paled next to a box.

"Little brother, did you really gather this from the sea?"

"That's right, my older brother still has more; you see, when we went up to the island we had nothing." Xiao Hu was very pleased.

"Boss Qian, it's indeed wild, different from farmed," a companion of Boss Qian whispered.

Wang Haisheng glanced at Ye Cheng's snakeskin bag—about the same amount—and asked, "Xiao Hu, does this island really have this much?"