Chapter 107

Seeing him so caught up in his joy that the fish was nearly dead, she quickly reminded him, "This fish still looks alive—you should put it in a bucket of seawater to keep it alive; live ones are worth more."

Ye Ye Yaopeng finally snapped out of his excitement, "Yes, yes, you're right—I was so happy I nearly forgot."

Seeing how weak the fish had become after being away from him so long, he hurriedly placed it in the shallow tide pool among the rocks, then dumped everything out of the bucket at his feet and asked Ye Yaodong to quickly fetch him a bucket of seawater.

"Hurry up—I'll wait here."

"Mm."

He handed the sack to his wife to watch, then kicked off his shoes and ran toward the nearby tide, just as he filled the bucket with seawater—he spotted a coconut shell clam rolling with the waves, his heart leapt, he tossed the bucket aside, rolled up his pant legs, and stepped into the water.

The seawater barely reached his calves when he scooped up the coconut shell clam; compared to the one at home, it seemed smaller, but size wasn't the standard for judging whether it held a Melo pearl.

He happily carried it ashore, never expecting that he had missed the olive snail yet still stumbled upon another coconut shell clam.

After handing the bucket to his elder brother, he pulled his wife out of the crowd—just this short while, it felt like everyone on the beach had gathered to see the olive snail.

"What's the rush? I haven't finished looking yet—your brother hasn't even put the fish in the bucket."

"Look what I've got!" He pulled the coconut shell clam from his trouser pocket and showed it to her; she was instantly delighted.

"Ah! Coconut shell clam!"

"Mm, put it in the sack—we'll borrow a scale later and crack it open."

Lin Lin Xiuqing nodded eagerly like a chick pecking grain, clutching it lovingly, reluctant to put it in the sack, "Let's go home now—I see more and more people here, and there's nothing left worth picking up."

"Mm."

Having missed the olive snail, he was completely out of spirits—he wanted to get home early and crack open those few premium clams.

"First, sell the green crab—otherwise, if it gets bitten by a mosquito on the way home, it'll die and be worthless."

To take a shortcut to the dock, they cut straight across the beach, and along the way picked up many large, glossy clams.

After passing through the tidal flat, they also gathered several large sea clams—the clams were especially big, each as large as a woman's fist.

So they simply fetched another bucket of seawater to keep them alive; judging by how many clams Ye Ye Ersao had picked up, others must've gathered plenty too—they'd last two days, so they needed to be kept alive.

Unexpectedly, after crossing the beach, the bucket they'd just filled was now packed with the clams and sea clams they'd picked up on the spot, and several Shi Zilu and stone crabs they'd tossed into the sack.

"The bucket's full of clams—the seawater's about to spill—don't carry it back and forth. Stay here and watch it—I'll take the green crab to A Cai and come right back."

"Alright."

Besides one giant clamshell, they had two imperial Tang Guanluo and one coconut shell clam—today, the only valuable catch was the single green crab.

Ye Yaodong took out the giant clamshell and the green crab and walked toward A Cai; the imperial Tang Guanluo and coconut shell clam had a chance of yielding pearls, but even the largest clamshell could never grow a pearl.

Because of its well-developed salivary glands, it secretes proteolytic enzymes.

This clamshell was quite large, so A Cai generously paid one yuan per jin—it sold for three yuan and ninety fen; combined with the green crab, he earned five yuan today—quite good.

With money coming in, Ye Yaodong's spirits lifted again; he handed the receipt to his wife to keep, slung the sack over his shoulder, and lifted the bucket in one hand.

Lin Lin Xiuqing followed behind, wanting to help carry the bucket, but he refused.

"It's too heavy—you can't lift it."

"You just said it's heavy—let me share the load; we'll carry it together. It's not close walking back from here." She firmly gripped the bucket's handle.

Ye Yaodong's lips curled upward, his eyes filled with deep tenderness; he shifted his hand slightly and lifted with her.

It really was heavy…

When they got home, only the old lady and his two sons were there—everyone else had gone to the beach, and the children were at school.

【To be honest, I've been using Wild Fruit Reading to follow updates lately—easy to switch sources and reading modes, multiple voice options, available on Android and iOS.】

The two sons spotted them and rushed forward, one in front, one behind, throwing themselves at their legs, spilling water from the bucket.

"Get out of the way, don't stand in the way."

"No! I want a hug! Mama, hug me!"

"I want Mama too!" Ye Ye Chengyang, seeing this, let go of his father's leg and squeezed in front of his mother to compete for affection.

Ye Yaodong sighed in relief and hurriedly carried the bucket inside.

Lin Lin Xiuqing hugged one and held the other as they followed in, "While everyone's away, let's crack open the clams."

He was equally eager, "Mm, crack open the coconut shell clam first."

They used the old method—on the way back, they'd stopped by the small shop and borrowed a scale, then hooked the meat on top of the coconut shell clam.

The old lady also curiously leaned over, "You picked up a coconut shell clam today? Decades ago, someone in our village cracked open a Melo pearl—it was bought cheaply by the landlord."

"Ah? Was it later seized?"

"Yes—during the struggle against landlords ten or twenty years ago, everything was confiscated; no one knows where it ended up."

"What a pity… that precious treasure…"

After chatting with the old lady for a while about events from over a decade ago, the coconut shell clam's shell finally fell off under everyone's watch, landing on the ground.

She picked it up eagerly, peered inside—but her smile instantly vanished.

"Nothing?"

"Mm, nothing at all!" she said, disappointed.

The old lady chuckled, "Don't be disappointed—it's normal not to find one. Over the years, others in the village have found a few, but no one's ever cracked open a Melo pearl. These things are rare—they say out of thousands, maybe one yields a pearl."

"Yes, the chance is too low—I never really expected it."

Ye Yaodong smiled; they already had one, so if this one didn't yield anything, so be it.

He hadn't expected to crack open another—just since he'd found it, he couldn't not try.

What if?

Last time, it was that "what if!"

Now that there's none, we can slice it up and stir-fry it—perfect to cook together with the imperial Tang Guanluo in one big dish!

His gaze shifted with his thoughts to the two Tang Guanluo—he'd only ever seen them, never eaten them; slurp—

"Boil these two directly—cook them first, then pick out the meat; smashing the shells would be wasteful."

"Mm, I like these two conch shells; I'll collect them."

While Ye Ye Ersao was boiling water to cook the conch, Ye Yaodong, having nothing else to do, took the scale to return it.

On the way back, he happened to meet his eldest brother, second brother, and a few others, so he curiously asked, "How heavy was that West Star Grouper, and how much did it sell for?"

Ye Ye Yaopeng said cheerfully, "One jin six liang, eight yuan! He said this one is rarer than a bass."

Ye Yaodong pouted; that local tycoon was too cunning, and his eldest brother was too honest.

"Let's go, go back and open the Tang Guanluo. Second Sister-in-law picked up two as well, and Aqing is already boiling water; let's open them together and see."

"Ah, okay, okay..." Ye Ye Ersao quickened her pace.

PS: The chapter order is wrong; chapter 107 was posted first, and 106 is behind it. I will contact the editor to fix it immediately, but he might be resting. Babies might have to wait until tomorrow to read, or adjust the reading order themselves.

I'm truly sorry!