Chapter 83: Best not to ponder the sea's affairs

What's the value of this "blue crab passing through"?

Just find a small puddle, stick the tweezers in, and you'll hit a hard crab shell; then reach in and grab—you'll get one every time.

A single small puddle can yield at least three or four blue crabs.

On this tidal flat, the small puddles are like stars in the sky, too many to count.

Wu Ping felt like he was dreaming: "How can there be so many blue crabs!"

Wu An casually said: "Maybe it's because a typhoon is coming."

Wu Ping scratched his head: "Usually there's a lot of seafood after a typhoon passes, but this typhoon hasn't even arrived yet—how did it drive all the blue crabs here?"

A Qing shouted: "Ping bro, stop thinking so much."

"Who cares."

"Maybe it's a gift from Goddess Mazu."

Wu An also said: "Better not ponder too much about the sea."

Wu Ping nodded, thinking it made sense.

Making a living by the sea depends on luck.

Walk two steps forward, spot a small puddle, immediately stick the tweezers in, and you'll catch one each time.

The only hassle is that after catching them you have to tie them up, which takes a bit of effort; he hasn't done it much, so he's a bit slower than Wu An and A Qing.

But since there are so many to catch, his speed picks up.

Practice makes perfect.

Practice is the teacher.

Without exaggeration, the number of blue crabs he tied up in just half an hour exceeds what most villagers tie up in half a year.

A Qing and Wu An poured the blue crabs from the bucket into the snake skin bags, then tightened the bag mouths and tossed them aside; A Qing said with some worry: "Bro, I only brought six snake skin bags—I don't know if that's enough."

Wu An smiled and said: "It should be enough."

He casually tossed the caught shuttle crabs aside, throwing them a bit farther so they wouldn't interfere with catching more blue crabs later.

Wu Ping also felt fortunate that, having listened to Wu An's advice, he had brought the motor tricycle over; otherwise he'd have to call Mei Yueqin to bring the vehicle.

"Bang."

The tweezers went down and hit a stone.

He shouted: "There's a stone here, with blue crabs underneath."

Wu An shouted without turning: "Bro, don't waste the effort."

"Come over to our side—there are plenty of blue crabs."

"I feel the wind is getting stronger; let's make haste."

Wu Ping hesitated a moment, heeded the advice, abandoned the puddle, and walked toward where Wu An and A Qing were; he hadn't taken two steps before he started bending over to catch blue crabs.

Indeed, there are far too many.

This is practically like picking up money!

Moreover, we can't pick them up fast enough.

……

On the other side.

Mei Yueqin waited left and right, checked the time—half an hour had passed; even if she walked over, they should have been back by now.

Watching the wind and rain outside, Mei Yueqin's heart was in turmoil.

After waiting another ten or so minutes, Mei Yueqin called Wu Ping.

It took a while to connect; she anxiously asked: "Why haven't you come back yet?"

Wu Ping gave a wry smile: "We can't come back."

"There are so many blue crabs here, I'm joining in the catch."

"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe here."

Mei Yueqin said impatiently: "The typhoon is said to be coming, so you'd better hurry home."

Wu Ping said: "I know, I know."

Mei Yueqin immediately knew it was just placating: "If you don't come back, I'll come find you."

Wu Ping thought for a moment and said: "Sure, come over."

"Bring some snake skin bags; we only have six here, and I'm not sure if that's enough."

"I remember we have crab-tying rope at home; I'll bring it all."

"Better safe than sorry."

Mei Yueqin didn't know what to say; she felt that going there would be like the Calabash Brothers rescuing their grandfather—perhaps a one-way trip.

Pah pah pah

What am I thinking?

She quickly stopped her wild thoughts; that's inauspicious.

Just as she was about to hang up, she heard Wu An's voice over the receiver: "Sister-in-law, don't come."

"Boil hot water at home."

"When we go back, we need to rinse ourselves well with hot water."

"And prepare something to eat and drink."

After this hour of high-intensity "money-picking" work, it feels like both dinner and the instant noodles eaten earlier have been digested, leaving a sensation of hunger.

He didn't want Mei Yueqin to come; right now the tidal flat is hard to walk on—taking two steps requires great effort, and they're already straining, let alone Mei Yueqin.

Moreover.

His Luck Value totaled 55 points, distributed among three people, with no one having even 20 points; after applying it to the clips and gloves, at most it could support about three hours of work time.

It's mainly because blue crabs are expensive, and the consumption of Luck Value is also high.

If they were catching razor clams or similar, they might not even use it up after a whole day's work.

So even if his sister-in-law came, there would be no extra Luck Value to give her; although there are plenty of blue crabs and they could be caught with eyes closed, doing so would increase the risk.

Using the clips and gloves boosted with Luck Value, it almost never happens that they get pinched by blue crabs.

It would be better to let his sister-in-law handle 'logistics support' at home; they're working hard in the wind and rain, working up a sweat, and if they come home without a hot meal prepared, they might fall ill.

Wu Ping followed up, saying, 'What A An said also makes sense.'

'Don't worry.'

'Just stay busy at home.'

Wu An shouted, 'Sister-in-law, we'll be back home in at most another one and a half hours.'

Mei Yueqin thought for a moment and said, 'Alright.'

'Then you must be sure to stay safe.'

After hanging up, she hurried to the kitchen to get busy.

On that rainy night, the whole village was pitch black; only two spots had faint lights: the Village Committee, where someone smoked and someone slept snoring, the whole house filled with smog.

The other place was the Lao Wu Jia.

……

The wind and rain grew stronger.

Wu An stood up, twisted his waist, feeling sore and painful, hearing his bones crackle all over, and inexplicably felt a bit refreshed.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and saw it was already 3:30 a. m.

After working nonstop for nearly two hours, he looked at A Qing and Wu Ping; their movements were noticeably slower, clearly exhausted as well.

'Big brother, A Qing, take a break.'

'Rest a few minutes then continue.'

He shouted loudly.

Wu Ping and A Qing stopped; they were utterly exhausted, not caring about anything, anyway they were completely covered in mud.

The three sat down on the ground; as soon as they sat, A Qing let out a strange cry and pulled two blue crabs from the mud where they had sat.

He shouted with a gloomy face, 'Damn, there are so many blue crabs—I sat on two of them with my butt!'

Wu Ping and Wu An laughed loudly.

'Don't throw them away; let's keep them to make porridge when we get home.'

'Yeah, they're fresh since they just died.'

While talking, the three weren't just resting; they hurried to drink water, A Qing couldn't keep off cigarettes, his craving hit, and he took out a cigarette wanting to smoke.

As a result, his hands shook so badly he couldn't manage to light it even after a while.

'Damn, I'm not smoking.'

A Qing saw Wu An resume work, tossed away the cigarette, and joined him in working again.

The wind and rain grew stronger.

They had to seize every second.