Chapter 46: Sea centipede

Hearing Xiao Xiao slapped his forehead, "Damn... are we stupid? Just dump the goods in the bucket onto the boat! And we can free it up to continue packing!"

A-Zheng also suddenly realized, "That's right? Dump it onto the boat, everyone put it in the corner separately, and then take a sack to pack it when we go back."

"Damn, pig brain... everyone sat there for so long, just watching Dongzi dig alone."

"Go, go, go, go pick again. The boat fee and oil fee are very expensive. Can't come for nothing!"

After they went back and told Fatty and Chen Wei, both of them also reacted, and hurriedly dumped the goods in the buckets onto the boat, freeing them up to continue packing.

Ye Yaodong looked at them speechlessly. Anyway, he would just pack the two sacks full. As long as they weren't washed, these shellfish should be able to be kept for two or three days in a cool place.

If it weren't for managing the workers' food and drink, he wouldn't have picked so many. After all, there was no refrigerator, and if he picked too many, he couldn't finish eating, and it would stink. The ones he picked now were enough.

After a sack of juvenile shellfish was packed, it was his turn to sit and rest, watching them work.

Because the isolated island had no one involved, the shellfish adsorbed on the reefs were still very rich. It was impossible for him to pry everything back alone, and they went back again and there were still things to pick.

After sunbathing for a while and eating two corn brought out, seeing that the tide had receded so that most of the surrounding reefs were exposed, he picked up the large bamboo basket and fire tongs, and shouted at the group of people bending over on the reefs: "Comrades, the tide has receded. I'm going to look for treasure. You guys continue to dig yours!"

"MD, can't finish digging!"

"I'll dig for a while longer. If there are good goods, you shout loudly, and I'll go down again."

"Fine, then wait until I've looked for all the big goods, and then tell you." Ye Yaodong smiled and walked toward the shallow water area.

"Damn, not digging anymore, I'll also go down and turn around." A-Zheng carried a half-full bucket and jumped down, not preparing to go to the boat to dump it, fearing he would be a step slower. Anyway, these shellfish on the reefs couldn't run.

Just after jumping down, he heard Ye Yaodong's surprised voice.

"Damn~ Sea centipede!"

"What, where? Where is the sea centipede?"

"There is a sea centipede?"

Everyone was surprised and ran to Ye Yaodong's side. Only to see the mudflat exposed, crawling with densely packed sea centipedes.

Sea centipede, scientific name *Arenicola*, is a creeping animal that grows on the shallow mudflats of the southeast coast. Its most terrifying point is that its body shape is like a centipede, but it is non-toxic and has no attack power, and its legs are very short. Its food is also mainly seaweed and sea grass, supplemented by small shrimp and small fish.

"I fuck, this is too disgusting? So many"

"My goosebumps are all up!"

A large piece of sea centipede is wriggling. If a person with dense phobia sees this, they will be scared to death!

Fortunately, Ye Yaodong is not afraid

"Ah, no, no, no, it's too disgusting. Such a huge patch of them, it makes my scalp tingle. I don't want any."

"I don't want any either, I didn't bring gloves."

"My eyes are going blind from looking at them. I'm going to go wander somewhere else and wash my eyes."

"It really is a bit disgusting. Since you found them, you should go down and catch them yourself!"

One by one, they shook their heads and hurried off to the side.

Ye Yaodong rolled his eyes. "Look at you all. When it comes to eating, you're all for it, but when it comes to catching them, not a single one of you is willing to lift a finger."

"That's not how you put it. The way they look when cooked is completely different from when they're alive, okay? They're so densely packed, I'm about to throw up just looking at them. Anyway, you found them, so they're yours. Hurry up and go down!" After Ah Guang finished speaking, he quickly grabbed his bucket and ran off.

If he had to catch them, he'd catch them. It was better to keep them all to himself anyway. It was just that the bamboo basket in his hand wasn't very suitable for holding sea centipedes, so he ran quickly toward the boat.

He had to dump the seafood in his bucket onto the deck to clear the bucket for them. As he walked, he muttered, "How could so many sea centipedes have crawled out? Shouldn't they be in the holes under the mudflats?"

"Who knows? Maybe they're coming out to mate since it's the first of the lunar month."

Anyway, as long as there were some to catch, that was fine.

After emptying the bucket and giving it a quick rinse with seawater, he hurried toward the group of sea centipedes.

They were a bit disgusting, but it wasn't like he couldn't handle it. Besides, he was wearing gloves and wasn't touching them directly.

He grabbed a handful, and watching them struggle and squirm made him feel incredibly grossed out. He quickly put them into the bucket, and the surrounding sea centipedes seemed to be startled and began burrowing into the mud.

Ah, how could he let them get away?

Ye Yaodong sped up to grab all the sea centipedes that were still on the surface and hadn't reacted yet; the ones he didn't catch had all burrowed into the mudflats.

Looking at the small holes on the surface of the mudflats, he tried digging into one. Once he felt he had touched something, he gave it a gentle tug. This required patience and care.

He had to stop for a moment after pulling a bit to let the sea centipede's body contract before pulling upward again; if he was too fast, it would easily snap.

After digging out just a few holes, he lost the patience to continue; it was too much of a waste of time. There was already half a bucket inside, which he estimated to be about four or five jin.

He planned to go beachcombing first to see if there were any other good things, and he would come back to catch them slowly if he had time later. They weren't going anywhere.

After placing the bucket in a cool, shaded spot, he took his bamboo cage and fire tongs and ran toward Ah Guang, who was closest.

"Any harvest?"

"What do you think? If I had found anything good, I would've been shouting about it already."

"Fair enough. Looks like nobody else has found any big hauls either!"

He took a quick glance at Ah Guang's bucket: a few rock crabs and some small miscellaneous fish. "You should go dig for shellfish on the reefs; maybe you'll have a better harvest."

Ah Guang nodded as if it made perfect sense. "I think so too."

Ye Yaodong gave his shoulder a comforting pat, and after checking the positions of the others, he planned to walk a bit further along the edge of the isolated island's reefs.

In the short time he had spent catching sea centipedes, the tide had receded a bit more.

Since he had gotten off to a flying start on the mudflats today, he specifically headed toward areas with mudflats.

After the tide receded, the exposed parts of this isolated island were a mix of small sandy patches and mudflats. They didn't look very clean, and his feet would sink in with every step. He had only walked a few steps, and his legs were already covered in mud.

As he wandered around with his fire tongs, he saw a large green crab covered in mud, lying motionless on the surface of the mudflat, sunning itself?

It was camouflaged quite well, its shell caked in mud, and if he hadn't looked closely, he would have almost missed it. Ye Yaodong poked it with the fire tongs, and its large claws immediately began waving about in a threatening manner.

"Yo-ho, it's a female, and quite heavy. It should have red roe. I'd guess it's about a jin and a half. Not bad, not bad; I almost missed it."

His luck was truly good. He felt there must be goods on the mudflats; he had just been walking around and actually found something.