Chapter 186: Digging, digging, digging in the vast sea

A Qing's harvest was also very large.

In the water there is buoyancy, yet the net bag still sinks to the bottom; not to mention on shore, he could only drag it to pull it up.

Mai Hangyu quickly stepped in to help.

He helped A Qing pour the abalone from the net bag into the snake skin bag, then threw the snake skin bag into the water to soak.

Lao Mai watched Wu An and A Qing walk into the water again, looking at the half-full snake skin bag of abalone, and clicked his tongue in amazement: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought they came to the sea to procure goods."

Mai Hangyu was also a bit worried: "Grandfather, could it be farmed abalone?"

Lao Mai shook his head: "Of course not."

"This is an uninhabited island, not under anyone's contract, where would farmed abalone come from?"

"Besides, look at these abalone; they are different from farmed ones."

Mai Hangyu listened and nodded in realization.

That's how it is.

Don't think that just because he grew up by the sea he actually played there much; his parents were strict with him from childhood, and school was filled with various cram classes.

Only when he reached college did he finally get to breathe.

He pretended to be spending summer vacation at college, but actually sneaked back to his hometown and hid at his grandfather's house.

He was idle and bored to death.

Then he met Wu An.

He felt he had found the truth of life; each day he woke up and opened his eyes filled with passion, and he looked forward to the future with anticipation.

Not like before, when he was confused, ignorant, and no longer had the rebellious mindset against his parents controlling his life direction.

Such a life is what he wants.

……

Actually, prying abalone is not fun and is quite tedious: walking in the sea to search, finding them, squatting down, using a shovel knife, scooping the abalone, and tossing them into the net bag.

Repeated over and over.

But.

Because they were prying abalone on the seabed, they needed to swim to the surface to breathe, then sink back down to search for abalone, which added some fun.

It was like playing a game.

Even when mining in a game, some people enjoy it endlessly and become addicted.

Why?

Because each dig yields a piece of ore, and that sense of harvest is very satisfying.

Wu An and A Qing feel just as satisfied right now.

Although these abalone are not farmed, perhaps because they have never been harvested, they are generally not small; when they encounter exceptionally tiny ones, they do not use the shovel.

So on average, each shovel yields abalone weighing about seven or eight taels.

What does that mean?

This shovel alone is worth at least seventy or eighty dollars!

At this moment, while prying abalone, A Qing shouted in his heart: "Eight! Ten! Eight! Ten!"

If he were to shout it out.

Those who didn't know would think he was swinging a hammer.

When the net bag was full, the two returned to shore one after another; at this moment the tide was still ebbing, not yet reaching low tide, and even if they reached low tide as the tide began to rise, it wouldn't matter.

They were already working in the water, and with calm winds and waves, even a rising tide would not be a big problem, plus they had ropes tied to their bodies.

With double protection, unless their luck value is completely exhausted, he and A Qing will definitely not stop.

A Qing handed the net bag to Mai Hangyu, then squatted on the ground and gasped heavily.

Tired.

Too tired.

Prying abalone itself is already very labor-intensive, not to mention having to hold breath underwater, which further increases the difficulty.

Not to mention A Qing, even Wu An was panting heavily.

The abalone from four net bags were poured into the snake skin bag, which was already bulging; estimated to weigh over a hundred catties!

He smoked a cigarette.

A Qing entered the water again.

Fortunately he was wearing a wetsuit; otherwise, just soaking in the seawater, regardless of fatigue, his body probably couldn't take it.

Another half hour or so.

The two went ashore.

This time A Qing was exhausted to the point of collapse, unable to pull up the net bag; Mai Hangyu went into the water to help, dragging both the net bag and the person ashore.

Mai Hangyu said: "A Qing, let me go down."

A Qing nodded.

Mai Hangyu was still quite excited; just thinking about it made him feel it would be interesting.

After changing clothes.

Mai Hangyu eagerly walked into the water.

They had originally planned to leave at five o'clock, but because they discovered abalone and also due to their luck value, they delayed until just before dark to finish.

Wu An took off his mask, lay flat on his back on the reef, letting the rising and falling waves wash over his body, and he couldn't be bothered to move.

He was so tired he didn't even want to move a finger.

Finally, Lao Mai couldn't stand it and pulled him to walk onto the reef.

Mai Hangyu also squatted on the ground, asking, "Brother, still doing it?"

"If we're doing it, I'll go get the Headlamp from the boat."

"I checked, the Headlamp is waterproof."

Wu An shook his head.

He had no strength to speak, and didn't want to speak either.

The Headlamp is waterproof, but it definitely cannot be soaked in seawater for a long time, and besides, it gets dark, so the danger level will increase a lot.

The key is, the Luck Value was just completely used up.

Without Luck Value, abalone becomes much harder to find; on one hand due to the Luck Value effect, on the other hand the abalone near the shore has already been completely scavenged, so to find more abalone one needs to go deeper into the seabed.

And the seabed situation is not all smooth sailing; the deeper you go, the more complicated it gets.

Today has already been perfect.

The 99 points of Luck Value were actually completely used up, and he was really looking forward to seeing how much money he could make today.

"Then let's head back."

"While it's not completely dark yet, hurry up and pack up."

"Tonight's boat ride will definitely be slower than when we came."

Lao Mai said while helping with the trawling net.

There were still two and a half Snake Skin Bags, and the four of us moved like ants relocating, taking several trips to transport the seafood and gear onto the boat.

Lying under the boat's canopy, Wu An and Mai Hangyu drank a lot of water, ate some snacks, and only then slightly recovered their strength.

Lao Mai asked, "Are we heading back to the Village dock or going to the Zhen Shang Ma Tou dock?"

Wu An thought for a moment: "First return to the Village dock."

"A Qing, when the time comes you'll disembark first and go home to rest."

"Can I trust you, Brother?"

A Qing shouted, "Brother, what are you talking about!"

Wu An smiled.

He looked at Lao Mai and said, "Lao Mai, I'll also get off the boat then."

"I and Hangyu will drive back, and we'll meet up at the dock later."

Whether he stays on the boat or not doesn't matter; getting off the boat can reassure his family, so they won't have to worry if they don't see him.

Lao Mai took the helm and replied, "Alright, it should take about four or five hours to get back to the dock."

"You can rest for a while first."

Mai Hangyu said, "Yeah, a nap should make us feel much better."

Wu An smiled: "It won't."

"After sleeping you'll feel sore all over."

A Qing nodded vigorously.

He knows this from personal experience.

Mai Hangyu couldn't help but grin wryly, feeling today as if his body had been drained, and he exclaimed, "Fishermen really are hardworking."

Lao Mai laughed: "Ordinary fishermen would beg to be this hardworking."

Everyone else laughed along.

This trip could be described as returning with a perfect haul; Lao Mai's fishing went very well, and Mai Hangyu even experienced the double joy of fishing and gathering from the sea.

Wu An and A Qing were more pragmatic, thinking they could make a big profit, and no matter how tired they felt, they were happy.