Chapter 23: Real clamming

A Qing grew displeased: "Brother, I wondered why they were being so polite to us."

They have no good intentions.

If they follow us, our luck will turn bad.

Wu An smiled: "Just consider it gaining experience."

Let's aim to dig half a bucket, then stir-fry it for a late-night snack, drink beer and eat seafood—absolutely awesome… huh… looks like there's a big catch.

After a few digs with the sand shovel, they unearthed a sea snail bigger than a fist by a round; seeing it, several nearby villagers hurriedly sped up.

Without any system boost, the harvest was quite ordinary—this is normal; today is a neap tide, and besides, this beach gets swept clean every day.

Being able to dig up a big sea snail is already enough to make everyone envious.

Although the harvest was ordinary, the feeling of exploring the unknown is also quite interesting.

Continuing forward, the rake dug up nothing, but he stepped on something; Wu An paused slightly, bent over, and reached down to grab it.

It was an octopus, not small; catching a few more would fill a plate.

Huh… not bad luck.

A Qing saw it and couldn't help saying: "Brother, I've only dug up over thirty clams so far."

Wu An shrugged: "It's a bit little, but I can't help."

Keep digging.

Keep moving forward.

Although this side of the beach doesn't have much seafood, it's easy to walk and dig, not tiring; compared to the mudflat over there, it's practically like playing.

Except for the heat.

Looking at the not‑far‑away seawater, he restrained the urge to swim.

Bystanders hearing the brothers' conversation rolled their eyes, silently cursing them for showing off.

They even played along.

Is this still little?

Then theirs must be pitifully little.

Before the two arrived, they thought today's catch was decent; after all, it's a neap tide, and usually they'd work half a day and still not do as well as today.

The two had only been there a little under an hour, yet they'd already dug more than the others did in an hour; still, they complained the haul was too little.

Who can we reason with about this!

When goods compare, they get thrown away; when people compare, they die.

By the time they'd dug from Yellow Sand Beach all the way to Rocky Beach, Wu An had already collected half a bucket of seafood, mainly clams, then sea snails—three in total, each not small, likely worth some money.

There were five octopuses, restless in the bucket, constantly trying to crawl out.

A Qing's haul was slightly less than his, but still far better than the surrounding villagers'.

A Qing asked: "Brother, should we keep going?"

Wu An nodded: "Continue."

The tide's coming in; at most we have an hour left.

As he spoke, he lifted a rock; water beneath formed a small pool, and a stone crab, feeling threatened, brandished its claws at him.

Hand it over.

Wu An reached out, grabbed it in one motion, and tossed it into the bucket.

The stone crab wasn't big.

It's not worth much; this thing is everywhere on the shore, and people here don't really like to eat it—hard shell, little meat—but fried it's crunchy; a larger stone crab, with its claws removed, boiled and pickled, makes a small snack.

A Qing lifted a small rock and grabbed three at once; their size suggests they're a family of three.

At that moment.

The tide had already risen.

The two kept turning over reef rocks while catching stone crabs; occasionally a few tiny fish could be seen under the rocks, but they were too small for Wu An to bother with; as the tide rose and returned to the sea, it would let them grow big.

After an unknown amount of time, someone on shore shouted at the two of them.

Only then did Wu An and A Qing realize the tide had risen to their ankles.

Hurry up the slope.

Upon reaching the shore, a villager shouted: "You two don't value your lives!"

Money isn't made like that!

I guess I believe your words about turning over a new leaf.

Just now it was so dangerous.

Everyone started shouting all at once.

On this side of Rocky Beach, as the tide rose, the footing became unclear; a slip could send one sprawling into the water, and any bump could cause trouble.

A Qing scratched his head: "I got a bit carried away, just focused on moving rocks and grabbing crabs."

Wu An thanked everyone, automatically tuned out the chatter accusing them of showing off, and cheerfully followed the crowd to the pier.

He glanced at the brimming bucket of seafood; A Qing truly lived up to being his mouthpiece—his words were spot on: fishing and gathering seafood so easily immerses one completely, and in the face of the joy of harvest, fatigue, heat, danger—all are cast aside.

Real clamming is just like this.

A Qing said: "Brother, you're amazing—this bucket is full, while I only have half."

Everyone else's is even less.

This is pretty heavy; let me carry it.

Saying that, he snatched Wu An's bucket away.

Wu An didn't object either; since A Qing wanted to perform, he certainly had to give him the chance.

Besides, the two buckets were carried separately, the force was evenly distributed, so carrying them wasn't that tiring.

A few peers of similar age couldn't stand A Qing's belittling, walking behind and pointing at the two, whispering to those nearby.

"What are you showing off for?"

"Yeah, it's just a little more than we have."

"Before, didn't someone say they used a cart to haul their catch when gathering seafood?"

"That's too exaggerated, it sounds fake at first listen."

"Maybe those two are just talking nonsense on purpose."

A Qing heard it and said, "Brother, they say I'm showing off—what am I showing off about?"

Wu An smiled and couldn't be bothered to respond.

No matter what the crowd said, they couldn't avoid the fact that he and A Qing were gathering seafood; he actually hoped they would gossip, so his father would hear sooner about what he was doing.

This is far more convincing than if he told his brother and sister-in-law.

Even so.

He had already sunk into the mud before, so now whatever they say is just praise for him.

They arrived at the dock.

They headed straight to Lao Xie's purchasing stall.

For now there's no better substitute, so they had to make do.

Mainly, he lacked suitable transportation; otherwise he could go to town to look around, maybe find a better place to sell seafood.

At this time the dock is quite busy.

In front of Lao Xie's stall, a few villagers were selling goods; seeing the two approach, Lao Xie smiled and greeted, "You two are really diligent."

"Look at your dry lips."

"I'm busy; go get water from the fridge yourself."

Wu Anle thanked with a chuckle, had A Qing set down the water buckets, went inside and fetched two bottles of 'Jingle' from the fridge, and the two drank them down in one go.

After gathering seafood for nearly three hours, he hadn't felt it while working, but now that he'd stopped, he was really thirsty and tired.

Those few vendor villagers were unhappy: "Lao Xie, what do you mean?"

"You're giving water to those two rascals and still nitpicking with us, wasting breath."

Others also shouted, "You actually let those two rascals into the house."

"Be careful, someday they'll empty out your house."

"You've got a big heart."

Lao Xie lifted the straw hat Wu An had placed on the water bucket and said, "Don't say I'm being snobbish."

"If you could bring in this haul every day."

"As long as you come, I'll guarantee to send a bottle of water first."

The few speaking villagers saw the bucket brimming with seafood, instantly fell silent, and secretly cursed those two rascals for their good luck.