Chapter 84: Wind Pulling Tight, Calling

Wu An was busy, also observing.

He was looking at the green crabs that had been caught, to see if any butter crabs were among them.

Butter crabs are still easy to recognize.

It's mainly the color.

But although he didn't know how many green crabs had been caught, he hadn't found a single butter crab.

A Qing and Wu Ping surely also knew about butter crabs; they've shown no sign so far, clearly they also haven't found any.

"Strange...... I remember Father's notebook wrote that when villagers found butter crabs, a scuffle broke out during the scramble, but Father was there then and promptly pulled them apart."

"What about this butter crab?"

He muttered, a single butter crab is worth at least a thousand or so, equivalent to ten green crabs.

There's nothing to be done if there aren't any.

With this many green crabs, it's already a huge fortune.

Approaching 4 a. m., this is when people are most tired; even the joy of "picking up money" can't overcome the body's physiological response.

Wu An picked while yawning.

Green crabs were getting harder to find; Wu An glanced at the system, saw his Luck Value was low, so he gave up the tongs and just added 1 point of Luck Value to his gloves.

He pretended to check A Qing and Wu Ping's harvest, and also gave each of them 1 point of Luck Value.

"Let's work another half hour then head back."

"The tide's coming in too; walking here we can't outrun the rising water, we need to act early."

Wu Ping said: "Fine, I see several snake skin bags are already full."

A Qing felt a bit regretful: "If I'd known, I'd have brought more."

"Or I could have my mom bring more snake skin bags."

Wu An shook his head: "Don't bother."

"The wind and rain are getting stronger; we have to go."

He had also just checked the typhoon's direction; it's heading straight for them.

They need to go home.

If the typhoon arrives before they get back, they might really be in danger.

People are greedy.

Working another half hour makes him a little anxious.

He fears that greed not being satisfied could lead to uncontrollable events, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

A Qing and Wu Ping nodded.

The two stopped talking and hurriedly lowered their heads to catch green crabs.

After his Luck Value ran out, Wu An kept busy a while; green crabs were clearly harder to find, taking great effort to locate, and in one puddle there were several green crabs—when he grabbed them, he almost got pinched.

If not for the gloves, he'd likely have drawn blood.

Wu Ping shouted: "A An, A Qing, these green crabs seem to have gotten smarter."

"You two be careful, don't touch them directly with your hands, use the tongs."

"Just now I almost got pinched."

The two replied in acknowledgment.

After a few minutes of work they finally found a green crab; Wu An shook his head and said: "Alright, let's head back."

Wu Ping said: "There aren't many green crabs left."

A Qing was so exhausted he didn't want to talk, plopping down in the mud and panting heavily.

The three trudged back with difficulty.

At first it was fine, but as they neared the shore, each of the two had to drag two snake skin bags uphill; even walking on the tidal flat was tough for them, let alone hauling those heavy bags.

Wu An looked and said: "This won't work."

"Brother, we should still make separate trips."

"You two pull in front, I'll push from behind."

"Otherwise we'll crawl like turtles and might not reach shore by dawn, and besides the wind and waves are growing stronger—I'm worried the typhoon is coming."

A Qing: "I'll follow Brother's lead."

Wu Ping also decisively: "Let's do as you said first."

This is indeed efficient.

After bustling for half an hour, they finally moved all the snake skin bags onto the motorcycle.

Wu Ping happily said: "Good thing we bought the bike; otherwise we couldn't have transported this."

Wu An smiled; he had been preparing for this all along, and seeing the several snake skin bags packed full, he couldn't help feeling overjoyed.

This haul is enormous.

The three packed up their gear, got on the vehicle, and drove toward the village.

Upon reaching Rocky Beach, fierce winds and huge waves struck; the waves were so big that even on that distant road they felt the spray hitting them.

Wu Ping's face changed: "I think the typhoon's here!"

A Qing's face also turned pale.

Wu An said: "Brother, don't panic."

"Keep steady speed."

"Lao Wu is closer; let's go there first."

As he spoke.

He took out his phone to call his sister-in-law, telling her not to worry, they were going to Lao Wu to avoid the limelight.

After hanging up, A Qing shouted anxiously, "Brother, I feel the car is floating."

Wu An comforted, "The three of us plus a carload of blue crabs, together weighing five or six hundred catties, will definitely stay steady."

Actually, he was also very nervous.

This really is making money at the risk of one's life.

Wu Ping was so nervous he couldn't bear it; in this situation he could clearly feel sweat all over his body.

They arrived at Lao Wu.

A Qing shouted, "Brother, why are the lights on? I remembered turning them off when we left."

Wu An said nothing.

Hearing the sound at Lao Wu's gate, the room door opened; it was sister-in-law Mei Yueqin, who called out, "Come inside, come inside, come inside first."

At that moment.

The wind was already very strong.

One felt as if standing would blow them away.

Wu An shouted with all his strength, "Sister-in-law, open the door fully, get the car inside."

A Qing jumped out of the car to help.

Moving the tables and chairs aside cleared just enough space for the car to enter.

"Bang."

Wu An drove the car in, but failing to control the accelerator, the front hit the wall; Wu Ping and A Qing together forced the door shut.

They fastened the lock pin.

The wind and rain noises immediately diminished greatly.

Outside, the wind blew the rain, which was like layer after layer of rain curtain constantly striking the doors and windows; the doors and windows emitted a "squeak squeak squeak" sound, the windows had been taped up and looked very sturdy.

After getting out of the car.

Wu An shouted, "Sister-in-law, why did you come to Lao Wu?"

"With this typhoon coming, you still ran out—don't you want to live?"

Mei Yueqin gave no response, pointing to the bed inside the curtain and said, "I brought clean clothes over, and I also prepared a thermos and a basin; you just wipe yourselves down and change clothes."

"Hurry up, don't catch a cold."

Nothing much to say.

Not mentioning the eldest and second brothers, speaking of adventure, for the three of us to go gathering seafood in this weather is even more adventurous.

There isn't much here at Lao Wu.

If she hadn't come over, the three of us would have just endured it barehanded; no matter how strong our bodies, we couldn't withstand it.

Wu Ping saw Wu An still wanting to speak; under Mei Yueqin's glance, he quickly pulled Wu An over. Besides clothes, there were also towels; Mei Yueqin had prepared everything thoroughly. The three used hot water to wipe themselves down, and the whole person felt like they had come back to life.

After changing into clean clothes that still smelled of the sun, it was so comfortable; looking at the few snake-skin bags on the car, there was also the exhilarating relief of a hard-fought victory.

Wu An had A Qing quickly call home to check in.

A Qing said, "I called."

"My mom said she wanted to come over, but I stopped her."

Wu An was uneasy; having learned from his sister-in-law's experience, he feared Aunt Li Juan might also come, so he took out his phone to call her, repeatedly explaining that everything was settled, and after the typhoon passed he would let A Qing go home.

He hung up the phone, saw Wu Ping and A Qing about to sort the blue crabs, and quickly said, "Let's eat first, then we'll work after the meal."