Chapter 77: You can you up!

This sea fish looks about seven or eight catties heavy; the price can still go up a bit, which counts as a good start.

Working together, they put the fish into the water tank, filled it with seawater, and needed to keep it alive.

After settling that big guy, the two returned to the pond and began feeling along the edge.

Seeing the catch, Ye Cheng decisively activated his burst skill; it was already late, and not using it would be wasteful.

One net down, Ye Cheng hauled up two sea cucumbers almost as thick as an arm from below; seeing this dark, high‑grade haul, he got excited all at once.

"Xiao Hu, take the headlamp; there are more sea cucumbers below—wait for the water to clear, then go down and feel."

The two stood in the water, waiting for it to clear a bit, then switched on the headlamp and began searching the bottom with its strong light.

"I've got one," Xiao Hu said, carefully reaching down and pulling one up from the bottom—it was smaller than Ye Cheng's; he was used to this pattern, and since they were both gathering seafood, his finds were always one size smaller than Ye Cheng's.

Soon, Ye Cheng also saw down below two little treasures faintly moving.

He brought them up—sure enough, adorable baby sea cucumbers, plump and fleshy.

After dealing with those two sea cucumbers, Ye Cheng noticed something move in the pond's mud and instinctively poked it with his foot.

Sure enough, it retracted instantly—a crab.

Now Ye Cheng is old hand at handling crabs—press down, pick up, it's a matter of minutes.

A decent‑sized blue crab—fine, kid, you understand; you know I need money right now.

After feeling around in the pond for a while, they pulled up another dozen or so sea cucumbers, then came out when there was nothing left to feel.

Actually there were surely more down there, but without a pump it's really hard to hunt them out one by one.

From one pond they got a pig‑tooth fish, a blue crab, and twenty sea cucumbers—a decent haul.

The two set off for another pond, stepping on the reef.

After just two steps, Ye Cheng saw a huge sea snail crawling on the reef—grayish‑white, its shell studded with long spikes, useless really, and he snatched it up.

"Brother, a spider snail," Xiao Hu said with a hint of delight.

The spider snail is big, its meat delicious, comparable to the trumpet snail, and naturally its price is not bad either.

Ye Cheng happily put it into the bucket.

"Let's look some more; there might be more."

Sure enough, they crouched along the reef's lower edge and searched—sure enough, they found two more, each bigger than a fist.

After securing these high‑value finds, they headed to the next pond.

This pond is about the same depth as the previous one, and even a bit larger.

There's definitely something down there, but its size makes it a bit hard to catch.

They slipped in along the edge—sure enough, the seawater came up to below their knees.

As soon as they went in, the pond's sea life stirred—two black shadows shot past with a whoosh.

Damn, so arrogant—did they think my net was just for show?

The result proved...

At this point the net was a bit small...

In the end, they had no choice but to use the most primitive yet flexible tool—themselves.

Wearing headlamps, they dove into the water, half‑lying, and hauled the two catches up.

Two parrot fish with gorgeous colors.

Parrot fish are also called parrot‑beak fish because their mouth resembles a parrot's; they're carnivores, adept at eating sea urchins raw and breaking coral, and when Ye Cheng caught them just now he almost got bitten.

These two fish are a bit smaller than the blue‑clothed fish, about four or five catties; parrot fish are considerably cheaper than blue‑clothed fish, but even a tiny fly is meat, so Ye Cheng doesn't disdain them.

"Xiao Hu, I just saw a crab deep inside; take a look later—there's probably more."

The crab Ye Cheng saw was in a crevice of the reef, a bit deep.

He had to first probe with the net, wait until it bit the net, then pull it out a little, and meanwhile slip his right hand in.

A hard‑shelled creature—Ye Cheng felt a flicker of joy, about to grab it out.

Suddenly his hand hurt—he didn't know what had pinched him.

He cried out in pain and pulled his hand back.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Xiao Hu asked anxiously.

Ye Cheng lifted his hand—two rows of tooth marks on the rubber glove.

"Good thing I was wearing gloves just now—my brother's work rubber glove is super stiff; otherwise I'd definitely be bleeding."

He'd taken it specially from his older brother's place last time; there's no way around it—Ye Cheng realized some things can't be made up for by skill.

Fear is fear.

He can press down from above to grab a crab, but reaching into the crevice to feel around—dark and bare‑handed—is another matter.

Better not.

Xiao Hu pursed his lips: "Brother, you're being finicky—we seaside folks aren't afraid of a few crab pinches."

"You can you up!" Ye Cheng blurted out in English.

Xiao Hu stared, blank and aggrieved: "Brother, why are you speaking English all of a sudden—are you scolding me?"

"What the hell, I'm saying if you can, you do it."

"If I'm gonna do it, I'll do it."

Xiao Hu didn't demur; he bent over, reached in, and soon his face twitched—he yanked his hand out, pulling a crab from inside.

He got it out, but only by having it bite his finger as he pulled.

"Well, it's out—look, my finger's just a little red; what's there to fear?" Xiao Hu said, grinding his back teeth, each word deliberate.

That expression made Ye Cheng burst out laughing: "I'm telling you, Xiao Hu, if it hurts just yell—why are you toughing it out for anyone to see?"

Xiao Hu rolled his eyes, shook his hand hard with a couple of hisses, and said: "Brother, there's still another one in there—if there weren't two, I definitely wouldn't have gotten bitten."

"Alright, alright, then, Great Hero, keep going." Ye Cheng made the gesture of a great hero inviting death.

This time Xiao Hu reached down, and indeed he wasn't pinched; he also felt up a blue crab from below.

A male and a female, offense and defense both covered—no wonder they got bitten.

They're a good size; those two crabs could sell for quite a bit.

After catching these two big catches, the two began scooping shrimp in the pool.

There are plenty of shrimp down there; with a net, if you gauge the angle of its retreat and scoop it up, it's still a bit easier than catching fish.

They're all white shrimp—not very pricey, and the quantity isn't large either.

After scooping for a while, both grew too lazy to continue; it was a lot of work for just a few coins.

After feeling around in two pools in a row, both were drenched; the afternoon sun was about to set, and it was a bit chilly.

They didn't dare delay any longer, so they hurriedly split up to get to work.

Ye Cheng stood on a large reef; it was relatively high, and he jumped down carefully.

As soon as he landed, his foot slipped, and he instinctively braced his hand on a nearby reef.

He didn't expect a sharp pain to shoot through his hand.

Damn, I got pricked by something.

Ye Cheng turned his head to look, and his pupils contracted sharply.