Chapter 56: Huge coconut snail

Lin Xiuqing ran back quickly, panting, and handed the water bucket to Ye Yaodong.

Ye Yaodong took the water bucket and scooped up a bucket of seawater, asking curiously, "Why didn't Mother and the others come over?"

She blinked her eyes and said, "I didn't say anything."

Ye Yaodong chuckled, not stupid, right?

"Didn't they ask you what you were doing with the bucket?"

"I ran in in a hurry, took the bucket, and ran again. They asked from behind, but I didn't have time to answer, so I didn't respond."

"Oh!"

Seeing the grouper put into the bucket, Lin Xiuqing then opened the sack mouth and looked at their harvest. It didn't seem like there was anything extra?

"Didn't you look around again? Any harvest after I left?"

"The big goods are here, how could I bear to go elsewhere? Anyway, the tide is still receding, no rush. Just put the bucket here, no need to carry it around. Anyway, no one is out in typhoon weather."

She was about to lift the bucket, but hearing this, she had to put it down. Carrying half a bucket of water was indeed a bit heavy.

Ye Yaodong walked only a few steps before bending down to pick up a stone crab, muttering, "If I had known, I would have asked you to bring the fire tongs out. It would be more convenient to clamp crabs."

Lin Xiuqing said unhappily, "You didn't say so earlier."

"I forgot for a moment. I only thought of it when I saw the mud crab with the broken foot." Now there was no mobile phone to make calls.

The two continued to wander in the reef area. Seeing a stone that could be moved, they moved it. The harvest was also quite rich. They caught five or six stone porgies, not to mention stone crabs. In a short while, they picked up more than a dozen, and there were a few red octopuses. Ye Yaodong bent down frequently, and his waist was sore.

He stood up straight and twisted his waist. "Only 25 years old, why does it feel like my waist is useless?"

Lin Xiuqing's face turned slightly red as she rolled her eyes at him. "You have the nerve to say that."

"There's no one here, what's there to be embarrassed about."

It had indeed been frequent these past few days, and he felt like his body was about to be hollowed out. He really needed to rest at night.

"Huh~ there's a red octopus. Why is everything one by one? What to cook when I take it back? It's not even enough for a bowl."

"It's good to have it. Just blanch it all in a pot, it's easy."

"Hey~ there's another one here, enough to stir-fry a bowl with green peppers."

The couple chatted as they walked. Lin Xiuqing went from the surprise of discovering goods at the beginning to being calm and just taking a look now.

"A sea snail followed the waves up, why is it so big? Is it just a shell?" Lin Xiuqing watched as a wave pushed a super large sea snail that was almost as big as her head up. She didn't know if there was meat in it.

With curiosity, she kicked it casually, and the sea snail turned over directly. The snail meat on its head contracted.

There is meat!

She happily picked it up. This was almost as big as her head. This snail must be valuable!

"A-Dong, what kind of snail is this, so big!"

Ye Yaodong looked up indifferently, but his eyes widened. "Coconut snail?! So big?"

"Coconut snail?" It was hard for her, a mountain person, not to recognize it. Very few people in their village had seen such a big snail.

He couldn't care about the sack in his hand, threw it aside, and ran over in a hurry to take it. "Damn, such a big coconut snail, it must be three or four jin!"

"Is it very valuable?" Lin Xiuqing's eyes were shining.

"Whether it's valuable or not depends on whether there is a treasure in its belly? If there is no treasure, it can only sell for some money. If there is a treasure, we are going to make a fortune?"

She was confused and didn't understand. "What do you mean? What could be in its belly?"

"Fortunately, I'm here. If you were the only one who picked it up, you would have sold it directly!"

"Otherwise?" She became more and more confused, "What treasure is in its belly?"

"Not sure, you have to dig the meat out to know."

"Ah? Then if you dig the meat out, how can this snail be sold for money?"

"If you don't dig the meat out, how do you know if there is a treasure inside? Such a big snail, the shell also has collection value, and it can also be processed into handicrafts."

But compared to the treasure, what does this snail count for?

Fishermen by the sea generally know that any shellfish-like things caught must undergo "abdominal surgery" to see if there are any rare treasures hidden inside, especially the large ones.

Lin Xiuqing was anxious to death. He didn't tell her what treasure would be inside for a long time. "What exactly is inside? Pearls?"

Ye Yaodong smiled and said, "It hasn't been opened yet, who knows if there is any? I'll tell you after it's opened, to avoid being happy for nothing!"

She was so angry she stared!

"Then open it quickly!"

Ye Yaodong spread his hands. "No tools. Give me a scale hook and I can open it. Otherwise, I can only take it home and boil it to pick out the meat."

"Then wait until you take it home to open it."

He thought for a while. "Should I go to the small shop and borrow a scale hook?"

If a treasure is opened at home, it's hard to guarantee that others won't be tempted, and he was itching to see if there was anything inside right now.

"Okay! I'll go!"

"I'll go, you watch here. You've already run back and forth once."

"It's fine!" After saying this, she ran away. She was also anxious to know what was inside.

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to wait and study it on the spot. He couldn't tell if there was anything inside from the appearance. The snail meat contracted whenever it was touched, and it was still quite fresh.

If he wasn't afraid that using a hammer would stick the shell fragments to the meat and make it difficult to pick, he would have smashed it open directly, which would be more save-trouble.

While waiting, he took the coconut snail and wandered around, catching two more stone porgies and three stone crabs, all of which were thrown into the sack. The coconut snail was still held in his hand; he couldn't bear to throw this one into the sack.

Lin Xiuqing was anxious in her heart. When she ran back, she accidentally fell, and her knees were scraped. She walked over limping. Ye Yaodong saw it from afar and quickly greeted her.

"What's wrong? Fell?"

"Mm, it's fine, just scraped a little skin."

The knees of her pants were torn, and they were covered with damp mud. He couldn't help frowning and squatted down to roll up her pant legs to take a look, but she dodged.

"It's okay, I'll just mend the pants when I get back."

"Who cares about your pants? Roll up your pant legs and let me see."

"No need, I'm fine, you quickly take the scale and open this snail to see."

"Look at your knees first, this snail can be opened anytime..."

"Are you annoying? Hurry up..." Lin Xiuqing directly stuffed the scale hook into his arms, urging him.

Ye Yaodong had no choice but to open the coconut snail for her first.

The local method of taking snail meat from this kind of coconut snail is to hang its abdominal foot with a scale hook and hang it up for a period of time.

Because the spiral part of the coconut volute is short and small, and the internal organs are not firmly grasped and have no strength, after being hung upside down for a long time, the snail tail cannot bear the weight of the snail shell and will naturally loosen, leaving only the complete meat hanging on the hook. ===== CHAPTER 57 =====