Chapter 186: Going to the New Mudflat at Midnight to Gather Seafood

"Not even brushing teeth or washing his face, just eating." Jiang Yunxiang lightly scolded, went in to help gather Ye Cheng's clothes from yesterday out to wash.

"Right, sister-in-law, how much did I drink yesterday? Why am I so hungry?" Ye Cheng asked while eating, normally drinking a lot never made him this hungry.

Speaking of yesterday, Jiang Yunxiang gave a cold snort twice, "You, you're hungry, you threw up everything, then kept drinking, you were so vigorous, couldn't even stop the diarrhea."

"Ugh..." Upon suddenly hearing his own glorious deeds from yesterday, Ye Cheng could barely swallow his porridge.

"No way, was I really that vigorous yesterday?"

"Go smell it yourself, the courtyard and our rooms still reek of your liquor; I've aired it out for ages and it's no use."

Ye Cheng pursed his lips, "Alright, maybe it's true; better to be honest and pretend I didn't know."

"Don't overdo it today, especially don't go into the sea, got it? Sleep a bit more this morning, come over for lunch at my place, your stomach's surely hurt." After Jiang Yunxiang nagged a few sentences, she left with Ye Cheng's dirty clothes.

Ye Cheng finished eating, too lazy to wash his face, kept sleeping, couldn't help his headache.

That day Ye Cheng basically muddled through, only feeling better after dinner, then he had a moment to open the system and check:

Luck Value: 70+20

Points: 1250

Savings: 102,000, loans 40,000

Savings are a few thousand less, yesterday he treated guests and bought a lot of fireworks.

This luck value is not bad, Ye Cheng instantly felt sober; if he didn't go get something, he'd feel guilty.

He went to Xiao Hu's house; Xiao Hu's parents were there, and upon seeing Ye Cheng they teased, "A Cheng, you're awake? You drank quite a bit yesterday."

Ye Cheng also realized, yesterday he vomited three times, drank probably over two jin of baijiu, no big deal, considering his luck.

"Hehe, embarrassing, embarrassing, Auntie, where's Xiao Hu?"

According to the elder brother's saying, Xiao Hu didn't drink much yesterday, maybe about one jin; given Xiao Hu's tolerance, he's surely fine.

"Xiao Hu is here."

"Xiao Hu, A Cheng is here." Wang Aunt shouted loudly.

Only then did Xiao Hu come out from inside, his face ruddy; this guy really had nothing wrong with him.

"I haven't looked for you all day, and you haven't come looking for me either." Ye Cheng said.

Xiao Hu looked aggrieved, "No, brother, you slept like a pig, couldn't be woken, yet you blame me."

"Huh? You looked for me?"

"Well, my parents are both there, I went twice."

Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang quickly nodded, "Yeah, Xiao Hu originally said he'd pull you out to gather seafood, but you didn't wake up either time."

Ye Cheng rubbed his nose, "Alright."

"Take it, tonight we'll go gather some stuff to see; I've slept all day anyway."

"Okay, brother, wait for me, I'll get the gear."

Ye Cheng planned to go gather seafood today, so he brought only a shovel and net; he really didn't want to touch a fishing rod, we'll talk later.

The two carried the snakeskin bag and lifted two water tanks, then set off.

But just as they stepped out the door, Ye Cheng stopped, turned his head to Xiao Hu, "By the way, where are we going?"

Xiao Hu looked at Ye Cheng with bewildered eyes, "Brother, every time you pick the place."

"Well, I don't know where to go today either; the village entrance side obviously has no hope, never mind, you think of one."

Xiao Hu scratched his head, "Brother, I'm not good at this kind of thinking."

"Think slowly, no rush." Ye Cheng directly sat in the courtyard and lit a cigarette.

Xiao Hu scratched his ear and cheek, thought for a while, then muttered, "How about we go to that mudflat?"

Ye Cheng knew which mudflat Xiao Hu meant; leaving the village and walking a bit got them there, not the same direction as Liu Village.

There it's all muddy ground, and there's plenty of stuff.

"Fine, that's it, let's go."

Since it's not far out of the village, they didn't ride, just carried their gear and walked, arriving quickly.

Under the moonlight, silvery white light spilled over the mudflat, rippling waves, a scene of tranquility, perfect for gathering seafood.

This mudflat had more mud, fewer rocks; after stepping in a couple steps, their shoes were soaked with mud, they could hardly walk, so they simply took off their shoes and went barefoot.

Such an undeveloped mudflat usually has no broken glass, so going barefoot is no problem.

The two walked a stretch, set the water tanks on the ground, and began searching separately.

Gathering seafood on the mudflat means doing one thing: finding burrows.

Ye Cheng wore a headlamp, slowly scanning the mudflat; when he saw a small puddle, he stopped, crouched, and examined it closely.

This burrow is larger than those of the King Razor Clam and Sea Squirt, so there should be crabs inside.

Ye Cheng half-squatted on the ground, took out his shovel and dug along the burrow.

"Gurgle," the black sludge was squeezed out with a strange sound; Ye Cheng scooped up a big handful of mud and placed it aside.

After three consecutive digs, the burrow went down several centimeters, still the same size, and he saw nothing.

Digging further would require more effort, so Ye Cheng rolled up his sleeves, put on rubber gloves (to avoid bites), reached into the burrow to see if there was any catch, to avoid digging for nothing.

As soon as he slipped his forearm in, Ye Cheng felt something hit his hand.

Good, having a catch is good.

With a "pop," Ye Cheng pulled his hand out of the burrow, then raised his shovel and started digging.

At this depth, he widened the burrow a bit, then continued digging down.

This time he dug down nearly 20 centimeters; as soon as he brought out the mud, a blackish thing jumped out, swinging its tail trying to flee.

Ye Cheng pressed down with one hand, didn't expect this guy to be so slippery; as he twisted, it slipped from his grasp, so Ye Cheng quickly switched hands and pressed down again, finally holding it.

It was a fish; he brushed off the mud with his hand, saw clearly it was a Crab Tiger Fish.

Crab Tiger Fish, also called Chinese Mud Carp, also known as Earth Fish, Sturgeon Tiger, inhabits the mid-low tide zone of shallow seas, inner bays, and river estuaries with brackish water; the front part of the body is cylindrical, the rear part laterally compressed, and the back has black stripes.

Because it eats crabs, it is also called Crab Tiger Fish.

Crab Tiger Fish is a high-protein, low-fat prized edible fish. Its flesh is tender and delicious, fatty but not greasy, fresh but not fishy, and it is highly nourishing; there is a folk saying that 'one fish equals three chickens,' so it sells for a higher price, reaching over a hundred per catty.

Crab Tiger Fish are not large; they are usually only a few taels in size. This one in Ye Cheng's hand is estimated to weigh seven or eight taels, already considered a large specimen.

Ye Cheng placed this Crab Tiger Fish into the Snakeskin Bag; this fish has relatively good stamina and is not easy to die.

"Brother, what did you catch?" Xiao Hu walked over slowly.

"Crab Tiger Fish, dig here, there must be more." Ye Cheng said.

"There's also this, okay, I'll dig."

Upon hearing there were Crab Tiger Fish, Xiao Hu quickened his pace by a few steps.