Chapter 531: Chapter 531: Doesn’t Want to Train, Only Wants to Babysit
Ji Jian’s words successfully dispelled Qin Jiu’s eagerness to volunteer to go onto the rocks. So, after reminding them to stay safe, he watched as Ji Jian and Yi Chichi headed to the rocky outcrop to collect seaweed.
From afar, it seemed like there was only one sheet of seaweed, but upon reaching the rocks, they discovered there were several.
The largest was two to three meters long and of excellent quality, perfect for taking home and drying into good seaweed.
"This must have been blown here from somewhere else."
Ji Jian was all smiles as he collected the seaweed. Yi Chichi was pleased too. Seaweed was something that wasn’t really missed until seen, and then it seemed alright to eat.
You could use it to make soup or a cold seaweed salad. The taste wasn’t bad either.
However—
"Should we pry some oysters to take back?"
This rocky area was rich in resources, not only covered with oysters but also teeming with barnacles.
Especially the barnacles in the crevices between the rocks, which were large and meaty, looking delicious.
I want to eat!
Ji Jian glanced at the oysters, feeling tempted.
It had indeed been a while since they had oysters. "Let’s pry some, just enough for today."
Yi Chichi agreed, she didn’t plan to pry too many either.
They didn’t have a fridge at home, not even ice, so prying too many would mean leftovers would spoil if not eaten in one go.
She had no interest in extracting and drying the flesh; it was too much trouble.
This stuff was all over the rocks and wasn’t worth much.
If you wanted dried oysters, you could just go to the purchase station, where it wasn’t expensive.
Or you could buy them from the locals.
There was no point in making things difficult for themselves.
So, after collecting the seaweed, Yi Chichi called Zhou Lan over to help teach Qin Jiu how to gather from the sea, and she and Ji Jian went to work prying oysters.
Both were skilled at prying oysters, and with all the necessary tools, their prying wasn’t exactly fast but by no means slow.
When they had pried enough, Ji Jian paused to check their haul, "That’s about enough, these should be enough for the three families to share."
Yi Chichi turned back at his words and saw they had quite a bit, so she also stopped.
"That should be enough."
Afterwards, they packed up and went down the rocks to find Zhou Lan and the others.
Zhou Lan was a diligent and responsible mentor, teaching Qin Jiu about sea gathering with seriousness. And given that the area was secluded enough, and with it being a weekday when not many locals or military families were out, their haul was quite substantial.
When Yi Chichi and Ji Jian found them, Zhou Lan had just pulled out a large conch.
"Oh my, today I’m in luck, I even found such a large conch."
Qin Jiu had also just grabbed a red-lipped conch and was about to share the news when he saw Yi Chichi and the others coming over with a glance, face lighting up in joy, "Aunt, when did you arrive?"
"We just got here."
As she spoke, Yi Chichi’s gaze fell on the conch in Zhou Lan’s hand.
"Sister-in-law, do you recognize this conch?"
The more she looked at it, the more it seemed off; it resembled a heart conch.
Zhou Lan shook her head, "I don’t recognize it."
But that didn’t dampen her joy in the least, "Anyway, they’re for eating, it doesn’t really matter if I recognize it or not."
"...It might be poisonous."
Yi Chichi couldn’t be certain it was a heart conch, as she wasn’t a native coastal resident and lacked complete knowledge of the various conches.
She could recognize common edible conches like fragrant snails and cat-eye snails.
Conches with high toxicity like heart and drupes, she’d only seen in online images, never in real life.
Still, adhering to the principle of safety first, she advised, "Sister-in-law, don’t eat conches you don’t recognize. If they’re poisonous, it could be deadly."
Zhou Lan, "..."
Zhou Lan looked at the conch in her hand, then at Yi Chichi, her expression a bit twisted, "Conches can be poisonous?"
"Yes."
She nodded, "The ocean has many poisonous creatures, like sea snakes, so poisonous conches are also reasonable."
Ji Jian was also stunned, "No one ever told us that."
"You guys don’t often go sea gathering with the locals."
Every gathering trip had locals with locals, and military families with military families.
Those who didn’t like crowds paired up in twos or threes.
But regardless of how it was done, military families and locals going sea gathering together was rare.
Since joining the military family, Yi Chichi had never seen locals and military families gathering together.
In the gathering process, possibly sharing a smile or greeting was the extent of the interaction, with little more exchange.
Military families’ sea gathering experience couldn’t compare to local natives.
"Trust me, just toss that conch, safety first."
Zhou Lan was someone who listened to advice; hearing this, she decisively discarded the conch in her hand, then lamented, "How could such a large conch be poisonous."
"Chichi didn’t say it definitely was poisonous."
Ji Jian corrected her, Zhou Lan waved it off, "That’s not important, just don’t pick things you don’t recognize next time."
Saying that, she looked at Qin Jiu, "Little Qin, maybe you should toss yours too."
"He doesn’t need to, his is a red-lipped conch, non-poisonous."
Qin Jiu beamed and quickly handed his conch to Zhou Lan, "Aunt Zhou, this is for you."
"No need, keep it yourself, let your aunt make it for you to eat when you get home; Aunt Zhou doesn’t need your conch."
She had a pretty good haul today, lots of turbot, plenty of various shellfish, and also a little grouper, making for a very fruitful gathering.
"Let’s go; the tide will soon rise, better head back to the safe zone."
You can talk once you’re back in the safe area, no rush to chat here.
Over ten minutes later, once they reached the safe zone, the four began dividing the day’s haul; the oysters and seaweed were split among the three families, and Zhou Lan and Qin Jiu’s haul was the same.
Of course, individual tastes varied. For example, Yi Chichi liked scallops, so she wanted more of them.
Zhou Lan’s family loved conch, so that’s mainly what they took.
Ji Jian wasn’t picky, content with whatever was available.
The little grouper was given to Yi Chichi because Wen Yi was starting solid foods, and grouper was tender with few bones, ideal for Wen Yi to eat.
The turbot was also good, but Qin Jiu had picked up one, so this one went to Ji Jian.
Everyone was quite satisfied with these arrangements.
So, they returned to the residential area with laughter and chatter, and on the way ran into Yang Qing showing her cousin around. After exchanging a few words, Yi Chichi and the others headed home, while Yang Qing and her cousin continued their walk.
After walking a while, Ji Jian couldn’t help but glance back at the receding pair of sisters, and after a moment of silence, finally spoke—
"It’s not appropriate for Yang Qing to bring her cousin to her home."
Yi Chichi remained silent, but Zhou Lan spoke without reservations, "Whether it’s appropriate or not is not up to us; if Yang Qing thinks it’s fine, then it is."
Worried Ji Jian might offend someone, she cautioned, "Don’t say this in front of her, you might provoke her anger."
Ji Jian didn’t think Yang Qing was someone who couldn’t take a hint, but she wasn’t willing to test human nature either.
"I know, I’m just saying it to you all."
Qin Jiu glanced at Yi Chichi, and seeing her silent, chose to stay quiet himself, wishing he were deaf.
Fortunately, the topic was dropped quickly, though the next one wasn’t to Qin Jiu’s liking either.
Because Ji Jian suddenly asked Yi Chichi, "Should Xiao Jiu train with Yuan Chu and the others?"
Qin Jiu suddenly felt out of sorts, "Do island kids have to train during summer break too?"
Back in Beijing, his grandfather would throw him into military training whenever free, and now on the island, he still had to train, so why had he come to the island in the first place?
"Aunt, I don’t want to train, I just want to babysit."
