Chapter 82: No Time for Idle Talk

A Qing shouted, "Brother, the tide is ebbing."

Wu An nodded.

He glanced at the time; it was already 1:30 a. m., and the tide should rise at six in the morning, giving them plenty of time.

The premise is that the heavens must be favorable.

Wu An opened the Moji Weather app, tapped the "Typhoon" option, and on the typhoon page could see the current typhoon's information.

It was still far away.

A Qing asked, "Should we dig for clams here?"

Wu An shook his head, "No."

"Clams won't fetch much money."

"Let's go down."

A Qing's eyes lit up, "Brother, are you here for the green crabs?"

Wu An said, "Just taking a look."

"If there aren't any, we can still dig for clams later."

He didn't speak too definitively, lest his words sound too casual and scare A Qing.

The two stepped down, one foot deep, one shallow, and walked further down.

Ding—ding—.

Wu An's phone rang.

He took it out and saw it was a call from big brother.

Wu An's face fell, he hesitated a moment, then answered, "Brother, I said I went out to use the restroom, do you believe me?"

"…", Wu Ping was silent for a second, then shouted loudly, "A An, you want to die…"

"Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense," the big brother's words were cut off by Mei Yueqin.

Wu Ping paused, then continued shouting, "I don't care where you are, come back to me quickly!"

Wu An said, "A Qing and I are chasing the sea on the tidal flats, we can't come back."

"What kind of weather is this, you still chasing the sea with A Qing!" Wu Ping's voice rose a few notches; previously Wu An never did anything, he was always anxious and irritable, and his over‑eagerness was also frightening.

He could tell that his younger brother, no matter how he acted, was not a low‑maintenance person.

He was born with a destiny to trouble others.

Wu An was about to reply when A Qing, after walking a couple of steps aside, suddenly shouted excitedly, "Brother, I caught a green crab."

"Brother, I don't have time to chat," Wu An said, hurrying over to look.

Wu Ping, furious, said, "Alright, alright, just wait."

Wu An hurriedly said, "Brother, if you're coming, bring the motor tricycle over."

"Why ride a bike?" Wu Ping's tone was unfriendly, "Did you think I'm coming to invite you?"

Wu An felt something hard under his foot, instinctively bent down and reached to grab; the moment he caught it, his face lit up, and he quickly pulled his hand out of the puddle.

Looking closely, a large, mud‑covered green crab was clawing wildly in his hand.

He said happily, "Brother, I let you ride the bike to prepare the seafood."

"The more you say, the less it makes sense," Wu Ping, taking him as joking, asked irritably, "Let me ask again, are you sure you won't come back?"

Wu An said, "Since I'm catching a big green crab, I definitely can't go back."

"Fine, fine, fine, sneaking out at night to chase the sea, you… you kid…"

"Brother, stop scolding, I'm doing this to make money; if you want to come, you must ride a bike."

"…", Wu Ping angrily hung up.

Mei Yueqin still wanted to speak; seeing him hang up, she hurried, "Why did you just hang up? The second son really isn't coming back?"

Wu Ping stood up and said, "I'll go find him."

"Don't get up."

Mei Yueqin still got up, saw him heading to the shed to ride, and asked, "Why are you riding a bike to look for someone?"

Wu Ping said, "A An told me to ride."

"He said it several times."

"I also heard A Qing shouting that he caught a green crab; A An this kid is being reckless, but his luck lately has been pretty good."

Mei Yueqin, hearing that, nodded and said, "Alright."

"Whether it's for money or not, safety is still the most important."

"Driving there works, and we can return earlier."

She ran to open the gate, Wu Ping rode out on a motorbike, the engine roared, and as he passed, dogs kept barking; neighbor Duan Dajie heard and muttered, "What's the commotion next door?"

"Riding a bike at this hour of the night, it's not enough to show off even in the daytime."

"So you're just flaunting that you bought a car, huh?"

Wu Ping drove along the coastal road westward; there wasn't a single silhouette, even though the tide was low, no daring fisherman had left home.

Some people, half‑asleep, muttered in confusion.

"Who drove out?"

"Surely no one went to chase the sea?"

"Going or not?"

"Why go? The wind makes the windows slap, it's the middle of the night, not daytime; if you slip, no one will find you."

"Right, let's sleep, let's sleep."

Many villagers were chatting, not a single person got up.

This also gave the Village Committee cadres a chance to catch their breath; right now nobody has gone home, everyone is resting in the Village Committee, even the elder village head is in the Village Committee, serving as logistical support.

Everyone had been busy all day, and they were all exhausted to the point of being irritable.

"The typhoon is expected to arrive tomorrow."

"Fortunately, at this time no one is going to the seaside to gather seafood."

"This is no nonsense; who would want money over their life?"

Listening to everyone talk, Wu Yingwei took a sip of hot water.

He never expected that someone would actually be out gathering seafood in this weather, and it was his eldest son.

……

Wu Ping left his car by the road, continued walking toward the tidal flats, and upon reaching the uppermost beach, he saw two points of light down on the tidal flats.

He couldn't help but feel anxious: "How do I go down that far?"

He shouted loudly several times.

Wu An heard the voice, quickly waved to greet him; the two were far apart, so they couldn't hear each other's shouts, and after shouting several times he finally thought to call.

The call connected.

Wu An shouted first: "Brother, come down quickly."

Wu Ping asked irritably: "Guess why I came over here!"

Wu An said: "Brother, I don't have time to waste talking with you."

"There are too many crabs here; A Qing and I can't keep up, please come help quickly."

"Please hurry."

Wu Ping stared in disbelief: "Really?"

Wu An said a quick "hurry up" and hung up; just saying that wastes time, making him miss catching a crab, and each crab is worth one hundred eighty dollars.

Time is money!

Wu Ping came down, surprised and uncertain, took the tongs and gloves Wu An threw over, was about to say there were no crabs, when he saw A Qing reach into the puddle and, before even touching twice, pull out a large crab.

Looking at its size, it weighed about two to three catties.

After a brief moment of shock, he saw Wu An also catch one, swiftly tie it with a rubber band and toss it into the bucket; looking at the bucket, it was already almost full.

"Good heavens, there are... so many crabs!"

Wu Ping's face filled with shock, then he couldn't help but grin: "No wonder you brat refuse to leave no matter what."

Wu An didn't even look up: "Brother, cut the talk, hurry up and catch."

"Okay, okay, okay."

Wu Ping hurriedly squatted down, not acting randomly; seeing a hole with bubbles in the mud pit nearby, he extended the tongs there and indeed found a crab.

Then, using his hand, he steadily grabbed it out, and happily shouted: "I also caught one."