Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space novel Chapter 368

Chapter 368: Chapter 280: Tideland Harvest

"Rely on the sea to make a living" is an old saying often spoken by coastal fishermen. In the fishing village, generations have gone to the sea, and even children as young as seven or eight know the best time to head to the sea.

With the tide receding, some rocks are exposed, and the beach and mudflat areas appear larger. Compared to a few hours ago, many old women, aunties, and children scattered here are rushing to the sea.

Nearby locals saw the couple running with smiles on their faces. They pointed to certain spots to alert the couple of dangers—perhaps the charm of smiles, or maybe because occasional sea-goers aren’t bothering anyone when sharing resources.

Zhang Guoqing saw this and chatted casually with these old ladies, praising them with a few compliments that made them laugh. Only then did he bid farewell with Zhou Jiao.

The scene before them was entirely different from Zhou Jiao’s imagination of carrying small buckets and shovels, digging for clams, fishing for crabs, and catching small fish in a relaxed and leisurely way.

At this moment, on the beach, in the mudflats, and on the rocks, everyone demonstrated their unique skills in gathering from the sea. The tools they used were diverse—iron spades, iron shovels, iron hooks, and even hoes. The young children quickly used bamboo tongs to catch shrimp and dig out cockles and clams with bamboo spikes.

Perhaps accustomed to it, the fishing villagers, regardless of age, showed no joy on their faces at their harvest. Everything is valued by its rarity; if abundant, it loses value.

Seaweed and sea grass, pushed ashore by the waves, were scattered all over the beach, along with sea cucumbers, though locals left them discarded underfoot.

Maximizing profit is known even by the young children. At this moment, slightly older children searched for valuable marine products on the rocks and mudflats.

When they found Zhao Dashan’s family, they were buried with their heads down, working diligently around an excavated hole with iron hooks and shovels.

Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao’s arrival attracted no attention from the family of three. In this cold weather, the family of three had red hands, reaching into the seawater in the hole to fish things out, showing great perseverance.

Zhang Guoqing joked, "Have you found any gold yet?"

"No gold, but there’s plenty of stuff, though. Why were you gone so long?" Zhao Dashan, startled, looked up and pointed to the full bamboo basket beside him.

Zhang Guoqing chuckled, "Found a driver who wanted to buy three boxes. It took him quite a while to settle accounts in the finance office. We waited quite a long time. Want to change places after this hole?"

"I’ve already told Old Wang to let everyone know to bring anything they want to sell to Old Wang’s house. Don’t go too far; it’s unsafe. Just play around this area."

Zhang Guoqing nodded, seeing Zhou Jiao had finished her conversation with Zhao Yuanyuan, he pulled Zhou Jiao about a hundred meters to the left. There was a place where rocks could block some sea wind.

The sea wind was like being cut by a knife against the face. Zhang Guoqing tried to shield the wind for Zhou Jiao, while quickly digging a few pits with an iron shovel. Whenever he found something, he’d throw it into the bamboo basket. His goal was to fill the basket quickly, regardless of quality. If they stayed out any longer, he worried Zhou Jiao’s health wouldn’t hold up.

Gradually, he sensed something was wrong; indeed, his wife was "smuggling" things out, which explained why it never filled up.

"Treat your wife like a daughter," was the advice an elder had told him in a previous life. To earn those words, he treated the elderly man to a Western meal, spending his scholarship for a school year.

"Smuggle," let her "smuggle" then. He had enough strength as long as his Jiao Jiao was happy.

Zhang Guoqing changed to a place specially chosen with a leeward location by the bottom of the rocks, asking Zhou Jiao to stand there guarding the bamboo basket. He quickly worked, picking and washing the finds in a wooden bucket before tossing them into the bamboo basket.

Watching him work hard, Zhou Jiao felt bored since she couldn’t use her hands. Looking at the oyster-covered rocks behind, she secretly climbed onto them.

Quickly, Zhou Jiao discovered the rock she climbed was close to another rock opposite. Between the two was a large water pit. Many marine organisms pushed up by the waves were mercilessly abandoned by the seawater, from basket-sized crabs to sea cucumbers crawling across the ground and rocks, along with sea urchins, starfish, octopuses, and various small fish.

Currently, creatures were scurrying all around, some already crawling out of the rocks. Without caring about being scolded, Zhou Jiao stooped and waved Zhang Guoqing over hurriedly.

The rocks were covered with oyster shells, incredibly sharp, enough to peel off a layer of skin if not careful.

Zhang Guoqing, startled, dropped everything and dashed up to her, "Jiao Jiao, when did you get up here? I just saw you behind me."

"Brother, look! I’ll give you the basket, and I’ll catch the escaping crabs. You be quick before someone else sees, or the things won’t be ours anymore."

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify