Chapter 154: Oysters

Early on the first day of the lunar month, just as the sky was brightening, Ye Yaodong climbed up full of energy.

While his wife was cooking breakfast, he first organized his things, only to find that there was only one sack in the house, and it was the one from the other day that held rice. The one for rice bran hadn't even been emptied.

"I'm going back to the old house to get a few sacks."

"Oh, okay."

Ye Yaodong had originally planned to go and return quickly, but when passing the road in the center of the village, he heard some women talking.

"... didn't even dare to step down. Went to dump the chamber pot early in the morning, and it was all over the ground."

"Exactly, didn't even dare to use the outhouse today..."

"Don't know who was so unlucky yesterday to actually fall into the pit. Fortunately, it was an adult and could climb out..."

"It's really laughable. How many years has it been since someone fell into the pit?"

He knew the village would be talking about it today. In the countryside, even the smallest thing could spread everywhere.

When he returned from the old house with the sacks and passed this road again, everyone already knew that it was Xu Laifu who had fallen into the pit last night.

Don't know how they found out, but many people were gloating, all saying that misfortunes never come singly and that it served him right.

Ye Yaodong was full of smiles, walking home with light steps. He still had to scour the sea after breakfast, and this time he was bringing Ye Huimei along.

Just now, his little sister knew he was going to scour the sea later and clamored to follow. If he didn't let her, she would grab his clothes and not let him leave.

Ye Mu also spoke up, saying that since she was idle at home anyway, if she wanted to follow, let her go play. Just be very careful when climbing the reefs and don't fall.

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to bring her along, telling her to bring her tools to his place after eating and then go to the pier together.

When they went out to the pier, Fatty, Xiao Xiao, and A-Zheng were already waiting there.

Seeing him bring his sister, they were a bit surprised and greeted them without saying anything. But when they boarded the boat, the three of them exchanged winks and whispered: "Tell A-Guang tonight. A-Guang should slap his thigh in regret that he didn't come today!"

"Tell him, must tell him tonight. He missed a great opportunity."

"Rowing away, what are you whispering about over there?" Ye Yaodong looked at the three people on that boat, whispering to each other. He had already pushed his boat away from the shore, and they were still motionless?

"Nothing, nothing, leaving now, leaving now."

"Holy crap, what did you put on your boat? Are you really planning to go to the island to live? Pots, bowls, and ladles are all brought? Did you bring rice too?"

He had just helped his sister onto the boat and hadn't paid attention to the things on their boat. He only saw it when he turned his head to urge them just now.

Fatty said triumphantly: "Didn't bring rice, brought sweet potatoes, and also brought a bucket of fresh water. At noon, we'll cook seafood noodles on the island."

"Okay, that works, Fatty. Eating, drinking, pooping, and peeing are life's major events! This glorious task is handed to you!"

Fatty rolled his eyes. "Knew you guys wanted to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor!"

"Chef, this is what you're good at!"

"Go, go, go, focus on steering your boat..."

Two small boats sailed away from the shore one after another. Originally, Ye Yaodong should have gone to collect the ground cage nets today, but he felt it wasn't very urgent. It wouldn't be too late to collect them on the way back after scouring the sea.

He steered in front, and the other boat followed behind. They were going to the small island he had scouted a few days ago. They were considered early today; it was only a little past six. The tide was receding, and the sea waves were still hitting the reefs.

The surrounding reefs were very steep, and the tide hadn't receded yet. The sea wind blew Ye Huimei's ponytail onto her face. She frowned and said: "Third Brother, are we staying on this small island today? But the reefs here don't seem easy to climb, and the wind is blowing the waves, hitting them, it's so dangerous."

"Who told you I was going to land on the island here? This is obviously not easy to climb. You can see it, can't I? I stopped to find that reef that looks like a scorpion. According to my observation last time, it's easier to land on the island there."

After speaking, he said to the three people on the other boat: "You guys circle around from the left, and I'll circle around from the right. Find out where it is?"

Not all islands have beaches exposed when the tide recedes. The reefs around some islands are hit by sea waves all year round. When the tide recedes, only the water level drops, but the tide still covers the beach.

Unfortunately, the tide on this island didn't seem to recede completely below the reefs. Only in the direction of the scorpion reef he had scouted last time, the tide level would be lower, and a shallow beach could already be seen exposed, but only a tiny bit.

After they parked the boat and got off, the water level receded a little bit more.

They looked left and right. Xiao Xiao frowned and said: "Dongzi, this island doesn't seem to work, right? Only this tiny patch has a beach and a pile of gravel, and the reefs are easier to climb. The surrounding circle of reefs is very steep. I guess even if the tide recedes to the bottom, there won't be a beach exposed, at most a tiny shallow water area."

"It doesn't affect anything. It doesn't have to have a large beach exposed. Shallow water area is fine too. Look, isn't there a mantis shrimp in the shallow water area ahead? The tide has just receded. When it recedes to the bottom later, we can go around. I estimate the water level should only be up to the calves. This seawater is very clear, so it doesn't matter if there is a beach or not."

Everyone followed his line of sight. There was not only a mantis shrimp, but also a stone crab that had crawled out from somewhere.

Ye Huimei happily took the hand net in her hand to catch them and harvested two little guys directly.

"It's over, I didn't bring a hand net. I didn't know this was a shallow water area, not a beach."

Ye Yaodong looked at Fatty speechlessly. "Told you, bring your tools completely. You didn't bring the key things, but brought a pile of pots, bowls, and ladles. Are you trying to make me laugh? Should we change to another island?"

"Forget it, save the trouble. I'll just go to the reef wall and dig, that's enough. I've already seen whole patches of oysters. This is my love. Other fish or nets aren't important."

"Is it oysters or sea oysters?" A-Zheng was also looking around carefully and pried open one that was a bit larger. "Hey, it really is oysters, and they're quite fat, full."

To outsiders, oysters and sea oysters are the same, but to coastal people, oysters and sea oysters are two completely different things, with essential differences.

Sea oysters are smaller in size, with rougher shells. Their meat is mostly light cyan, and there is less meat.

Oysters are larger in size, and their shells have a lot of silt. There is more meat, mostly white. The meat is plump and delicate, and the weight is much heavier than ordinary sea oysters. The umami is rich, and they taste more fragrant and satisfying than sea oysters.

Fatty said slightly triumphantly: "My eye for things isn't bad."

"Then what are we waiting for? Start working!"

Ye Yaodong also rushed forward to dig. The attraction of oysters to men is huge.

Only Ye Huimei rolled her eyes there, found a spot with wild small abalones around, and was just about to start digging when she saw a stone fish in the reef crevice.

She happily used the hand net on the side to catch it into the bucket. After tasting the sweetness, she also liked to find things in the stone crevices. Before long, there were two more stone crabs, two stone fish, and one green crab in the bucket.

She grabbed the big green crab and waved it at the men who were working hard, saying: "Third Brother, aren't you guys going to find something else? I've already found several stone fish, and a green crab."

"Ah? Several?" Ye Yaodong turned his head to look, but his hand was still digging there. As a result, he accidentally pried open an oyster, and a little slippery liquid flowed onto his hand. He also felt a foreign object in his palm.

He looked down in surprise. What is this?

Just for a moment, his pupils constricted. "Oyster pearl!"

"Oyster pearl?"

"What oyster pearl?"

"Oyster pearl? You dug up an oyster pearl?"

The three of them were digging not far from him. Hearing this, they immediately turned their heads in surprise. Coastal people all know that as long as it's shellfish, there's a possibility of producing pearls.

Ye Huimei also ran over from afar. "What did you find, Third Brother? Why are you so excited?"

Ye Yaodong happily picked up the milky white bead in his hand and looked at it. It was indeed an oyster pearl, the same color as the oyster.

Everyone saw it too. They all gathered around excitedly, looking at the bead he was pinching.

"Holy crap, you just pried it open casually and pried out an oyster pearl?"

"Let me see, damn, it's quite big and round, should be worth a lot of money."

"Envious to death. Don't know if the ones I just dug have pearls inside."

"Third Brother, your luck is so good."

Ye Yaodong handed the bead to them to see, and he looked at the oyster meat that had just dropped the bead. The meat was plump, occupying a full shell. The bead didn't fall out, and he wouldn't think about prying pearls out of oysters.

That "Third Brother" his little sister called just now was really well-called!

Fearing he would miss it, he stretched out his index finger to scoop the oyster meat that filled the shell.

"Holy crap, damn, there's another one!"

He happily dug out another one, milky white, the same color as the oyster meat.

"Ah?"

"There's more?"

"Holy crap, what kind of dog shit luck, two at once?"

Ye Huimei looked at it with envy. "Third Brother, you're going to get rich. I think yours is much rounder than Ye Ersao's. Ye Ersao's is a bit oval."

"And it was scratched with a knife!" Xiao Xiao added.

"Yeah, Ye Ersao was so sad."

Fatty rubbed his hands excitedly. "Don't know if there are pearls inside the oysters we just pried down."

A-Zheng also said with an itchy heart: "Should we pry a few open while digging to try?"

"Nothing to hold them... ah, there is... there's a bowl to hold them. Fatty, you're really witty today, you even brought a bowl!" Xiao Xiao patted his thigh happily, almost forgetting that Fatty brought it this morning.

"Hmph... when I brought it this morning, you guys laughed at me for going to a deserted island to live without any hesitation."

"Haha, can pry a few open now. Digging the meat out to cook noodles later is just right, and it won't be wasted."