Chapter 375: Island Foraging, Giant Blue Crab

Mainly because it grows in a wide environment, lays many eggs and grows fast, so you can just pick them up at will—there's no need to farm them.

However, the mangrove clams Ye Cheng had seen before were relatively small; this one is only about half that size.

"These mangrove clams are big; let's grab some to take back—otherwise we're just idling."

There's nothing to be done; he's born to work and can't stay idle for a moment.

Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu then started picking them up separately.

No one seems to have come here, so there are plenty of mangrove clams—you can just pick them up at will.

In the distance, there was a large mangrove clam; as Ye Cheng walked over, he saw several bubbles rising from the mud beside it.

Taking a closer look, oh my, it's actually a blue crab.

Most of the blue crab's body was buried in the mud, with only its two large claws sticking out a bit, making it look quite large.

Ye Cheng carefully walked behind the blue crab and grabbed it from behind.

The blue crab struggled hard, but once its shell was gripped, it couldn't possibly escape.

After rinsing it twice in the water and picking it up, Ye Cheng couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

This blue crab is bigger than Ye Cheng's hand; the shell alone on its back is nearly 20 centimeters long, feeling heavy in his hand—estimated at about three to four catties.

This kind of blue crab isn't common domestically; it's mainly found in Southeast Asia, with a few in China but relatively rare.

Generally, they are fairly large, with the biggest said to weigh five catties; the one Ye Cheng holds is not small either.

"Xiao Hu, did you bring the rope?" Ye Cheng held up the blue crab in his hand to show Xiao Hu.

With something this big, if you just put it in a bucket, its eight legs would stretch out and it would simply walk right out; you need to tie its limbs.

Seeing what Ye Cheng had in his hand, Xiao Hu jumped in fright, then while pulling out the rope he remarked,

"It's way too big!"

"Yeah, it's a bit big; later you take a close look—I feel there are plenty here." Ye Cheng took the rope, tied up the big fellow, and tossed it into the bucket.

Now that they knew there were large blue crabs, they walked more carefully. As Ye Cheng stepped into the mud, a gurgling sound came out, black ooze bubbled up from beside his foot, surrounding his foot and at the same time revealing a large hole nearby.

A large claw protruded from the hole—this was a burrow dug by the blue crab.

Ye Cheng started digging from behind the spot, soon felt a hard shell, pressed down on it, and pulled the blue crab out from below.

Hmm, the size is good—this one is practically the elder brother to the previous one's younger brother.

There are plenty of blue crabs in this mud; basically every few meters you can see a crab burrow.

While one caught blue crabs and the other gathered mangrove clams, they soon filled up their containers, so they had to go back and fetch two water tanks.

They worked until sunset, and ended up filling four water tanks with blue crabs.

It's not that they caught a lot; it's mainly that each one is really quite large.

Ye Cheng glanced at the sky; it was already getting dark, so he called out,

"Xiao Hu, let's go, we're heading back."

"Ah, we're leaving already? I feel there are still plenty around here," Xiao Hu said, a bit reluctant to leave.

It's been a long time since they'd made money so directly, and hauling in a big haul always brings an inexplicable sense of pleasure.

"Let's come again next time; next time we'll invite Duan Shu along and clean out this whole area."

Xiao Hu reluctantly picked up a few more mangrove clams, then followed Ye Cheng toward the seaside.

The boat was still where they left it, and Da Huang had returned, lying on the deck looking listless.

"Brother, what's wrong with you? Didn't you get dumped?" Ye Cheng teased.

"Not heartbreak—I'm just fucking hungry. Come on, Da Huang, eat this sausage." Xiao Hu tore open a sausage, squatted down, and started feeding him.

And indeed, the guy lunged at it in one bite and happily started eating.

Ye Cheng couldn't be bothered to comment; this thing really lives up to the name Da Huang.

To make sure there were no issues, Ye Cheng deliberately dove down again to check; there were no big rocks ahead, so hauling it up should be fine.

After Ye Cheng surfaced, he slowly started the engine and then gradually increased speed.

As the throttle was slowly opened, the boat finally shuddered, lurched forward, and the sunken wood began to move as it was pulled.

On the way back, Ye Cheng drove very carefully, not daring to reduce speed at all, fearing the wood would sink and hit a reef, which would doom him.

Fortunately, there were far fewer boats along the way, so his speeding didn't cause any trouble.

This time they weren't heading to the dock but to the village; when they reached the sea outside Baiyun Village, it was already dark.

Ye Cheng stopped the boat; the shore was still nearly a hundred meters away, and he didn't dare get closer, not knowing what lay beneath the near‑shore waters—if they ran aground it would be a big problem.

After stopping the boat, the timber slipped off into the seabed; Ye Cheng went down, untied the rope, placed a marker, then drove the boat back to the dock.

By the dock, the lights were already blazing.

Those who should have returned had done so; those who should go out hadn't yet—it was a leisurely moment.

As Ye Cheng pulled ashore, besides the usual buyers He Lao Ban, Zhou Lao Ban, and Lin Lao Ban, several other bosses gathered around.

"Well, you bosses sure have a lot of free time today," Ye Cheng greeted with a smile.

"We've long heard that Old Two, you always have good stuff on your boat; we came to see for ourselves," said Wu Lao Ban, a veteran of the dock.

"Sorry to disappoint you bosses, we didn't get any good catch today."

Ye Cheng's main focus today was that piece of timber; indeed, he hadn't done proper fishing.

"No way—you're trying to fool us again, kid. If you had no catch you'd have been back long ago; you wouldn't still be waiting till now." He Lao Ban exposed Ye Cheng's lie in one go.

Damn, this old guy really knows himself well.

If he hadn't caught anything, Ye Cheng would indeed have returned early this morning; it's almost 8 o'clock now—no one would believe he was just wandering around outside.

Several bosses heaved Ye Cheng's water tanks out with all hands, and when they opened them, everyone was shocked.

"Holy crap! Such huge blue crabs."

"This... this is about three or four catties, good lord—it's bigger than my hand."

"It's still bigger than your hand, even bigger than your face."

Several bosses stared at the four boxes of blue crab, drooling.

"Lao Er, I want this blue crab."

"No, Boss Wu, who wouldn't want this blue crab? Everyone wants it, you still want to keep it all for yourself?"

"Yes, yes, we all want it."

Seven or eight people stared at Ye Cheng, making him feel a bit embarrassed.

"In that case, gentlemen bosses, we're all businesspeople—there's one rule in trade: the highest bidder wins. I'll package these four boxes of blue crab right away; you name your price, how does that sound?"