Chapter 92: Who could not be happy?

A Qing said jokingly, "Ping ge, even if you came early, it might not help; we might not have luck as good as yours, brother."

Wu Ping said unhappily, "A Qing, you shouldn't say that."

"Go ahead and spit twice."

"If our luck isn't that good later, it might be because of what you said."

A Qing felt troubled.

He didn't dare to take on such a pot.

He quickly complied, spitting several times, and clasped his hands: "Goddess Mazu, the less you see, the stranger it is."

Wu Ping also chimed in: "Don't listen to his nonsense; the bad isn't effective, the good is."

Wu An sighed in amazement.

He didn't expect his older brother to be so superstitious.

But he could understand, after all he also lives here.

Around here, people still tend to believe in gods and buddhas, and the custom of sacrificing and worshipping deities is still quite prevalent.

Rather than calling it superstition, it's more like a spiritual belief or reliance.

Especially Goddess Mazu—no one fails to revere her.

In the future, their local god-parading activities will still go viral online, giving netizens nationwide a huge shock.

At that time, he could only see it online, and his longing for home was hard to control.

Could it be that a deity truly heard his prayer back then, allowing him to return to the present?

He dared not think too much, and could only hold reverence in his heart.

The three walked side by side.

Even so, the actually explorable range, the tidal flats on this side, are especially large.

Further west, part of the tidal flats belongs to the neighboring village, contracted by a villager for aquaculture.

It is fenced with nets.

A Qing said somewhat enviously, "Brother, if we could also enclose an area like them, we could slowly search."

Wu An smiled: "When we have money."

This place can also be contracted.

But the leased land can't just be left for gathering; you definitely need to raise seafood, and after a bit of development, the investment amount is not small.

For now, let's just honestly gather.

The three slowly walked forward.

A Qing's luck was not bad; he was the first to make a discovery, finding a family of three butter crabs, the largest weighing just over a catty, the smaller ones three or four taels each.

This nest alone is worth at least two or three thousand; if luck is good and the price higher, it could match a regular worker's monthly wages.

Soon Wu Ping also made a discovery, picking out the butter crab to look at, laughing so hard he couldn't close his mouth.

Following closely, Wu An also had a harvest.

The three slowly moved forward, and from time to time they would make discoveries.

Wu Ping happily said, "At this rate, the butter crabs we catch might sell for more money than the green crabs."

A Qing said, "That's for sure."

"One butter crab is worth eight or nine green crabs."

"I caught eight in just half an hour."

Wu Ping shouted, "Mine's about the same."

The two looked toward Wu An.

Wu An casually said, "Butter crabs aren't easy to find; I've only caught about twenty."

Wu Ping and A Qing rolled their eyes.

"And that's all?"

"That's twenty or thirty thousand!"

He thought and said, "Big brother, A Qing, why not let the sister-in-law and Aunt Juan come too?"

"Wild butter crabs are mutants, hard to come by; I reckon it's a one-time deal."

"With just us three we can't cover it all; better to call the whole family to search together."

"Try to catch as many butter crabs as possible before the tide comes in."

Wu Ping and A Qing nodded.

They naturally had no objections.

A Qing said, "My family also has a mud horse; let my mother bring it too."

Wu An nodded, had A Qing call Li Juan, and he called the sister-in-law.

At that moment.

Mei Yueqin had already returned home from her parents' house; her parents didn't delay, she put down the green crabs and came back.

She was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner, while Wu Yingwei had also returned home, not idle, stoking the fire by the stove.

Hearing the phone ring, Mei Yueqin wiped her hands with her apron, picked up, saw it was Wu An calling, and quickly answered: "Er zi, what's up?"

"Sister-in-law, are you busy preparing dinner?"

"Yeah, Dad's already back; when will you guys return?"

"Then don't busy yourself; well… let Dad make dinner, you ride your bike to the tidal flats here."

"Sure, sure, I'll be right over—how much more seafood have you caught?" Mei Yueqin said, delighted, letting her ride over surely meant a big haul.

"You go to the crossroads to pick up Aunt Juan, then park the bike a bit farther from the spot."

Wear a hat and mask, and put on clothes you don't usually wear.

Try to avoid people coming over; just keep walking down and you'll see us.

Mei Yueqin naturally agreed.

She hung up the phone, took off her apron, and said, "Dad, could you make dinner?"

Wu Yingwei instinctively took the apron and said, "This... fine, what are you going to do?"

Mei Yueqin: "The second son asked me to help."

Having said that, she ran out of the kitchen.

Wu Yingwei held the apron, watching Mei Yueqin speed out on her bike, at a loss for words.

The apron was tied.

He picked up the spatula.

This shows the family's standing.

Lao Meng came to visit; he also came over in the evening for a drink, and had come early to see if he could help, only to see Wu Yingwei cooking, which surprised him—how could this old fellow be in the kitchen?

Can you cook something edible?

Let me do it.

He hurriedly called out to stop Wu Yingwei and quickly walked over.

……

Meanwhile, Li Juan got the call, equally delighted, didn't dare delay, grabbed her things and ran to the seaside, where she happened to meet Mei Yueqin at the intersection.

Li Juan got in the car: "What good stuff did you find, calling both of us over?"

Mei Yueqin drove the car and replied: "Who knows."

"A An and the others are lucky; they might even encounter seafood more valuable than blue crab."

Li Juan exclaimed: "Goodness, I can't even imagine that!"

The two couldn't help but laugh.

The two arrived at the tidal flats, where some children were already heading back.

The weather remained overcast; around five o'clock, although the tide hadn't come in yet, the sky had already darkened, making seafood hard to find, so some kids were called home by their families.

After parking the car,

The two walked along the edge of the tidal flats, where there were mud horses to ride, and soon met up with Wu An and the other two.

Butter crab!

Good heavens, how did you find them?

"Last year someone caught two, heard they sold for several thousand; you've got 123... that's way too many!"

The two women chattered and hurriedly joined the search.

Wu An didn't hold back on Luck Value, maxing it out, which also happened to empty it.

Butter crab is high in value; the more Luck Value consumed.

At most an hour, and the Luck Value will be exhausted.

With the Luck Value boost, Mei Yueqin and Li Juan soon also had a harvest.

The two were overjoyed.

People living by the sea have hardly any feeling for gathering seafood; they're almost numb.

But under the stimulation of butter crab, they rediscovered the joy of gathering seafood from childhood.

You could easily pick up over a thousand coins on the ground; who wouldn't be happy?

As Luck Value decreased until exhausted, butter crab became harder and harder to find.

A Qing shouted from far away: "Brother, I haven't seen any butter crab for a while."

Wu Ping added, "Me too," looking anxious because the tide was coming in.

Wu An nodded, walked to the lowest point, turned and headed back: "Let's go back."

Nothing down there either.

"Four buckets plus a snake-skin bag, probably over a hundred catties."

Not bad.

Everyone nodded; although a bit disappointed, hearing Wu An say that, they all followed him back.

Wu An said: "Sister-in-law, Aunt Li, you two work a bit harder—pull the snake-skin bag around the edge back."

"We'll carry the empty buckets back the same way."

Wu Ping wondered: "Why is that?"

Wu An said: "If we're putting on a show, we might as well do it thoroughly."

"Besides, if people see the butter crab, it might cause trouble."

"This limelight isn't good to show."

Wu Ping suddenly realized, smiling with relief: "Good thing you still remember this; I've had butter crab on my mind all along and forgot about that."

Thinking, Wu An really has changed a lot; his thoughts are even more meticulous than his.