Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Blood Clam
The Cat Eye Snail’s flesh, much larger than its shell, was exposed. When startled, it would squirt water and shrink back inside.
Yun Jiao pinched its flesh, and it squirted water even more fiercely.
’That meat looks so tender.’
Yun Xiaowu knew what she was thinking with just one look.
"You can’t eat that."
Yun Jiao glanced at him, then turned her back without a word.
Yun Xiaowu leaned over. "I’ll stir-fry it for you when we get back."
Yun Jiao cheered up again. "Okay."
"This Cat Eye Snail is pretty big."
Yun Xiaojiu and the others ran over. "Jiaojiao, Fifth Brother, what are you guys doing here? Mom told us to watch you and make sure you don’t go into the sea."
"We didn’t go in. We found some spicy snails over here."
SPLASH...
A considerable commotion came from the sea’s surface, and everyone looked out over the water.
Yun Xiaowu said in pleasant surprise, "Huh? It’s that big sea turtle."
Yun Xiao Liu said, "What a huge turtle."
Yun Xiaoqi asked, "Brother, do you know that sea turtle?"
Yun Xiao Ba exclaimed, "Whoa... It’s swimming toward us."
Yun Xiaojiu said, "Turtle."
The sea turtle wasn’t afraid of people. It swam toward them with something in its mouth.
When they got a clear look at what it was, Yun Xiaowu yelped, "Holy crap, run! That turtle’s repaying kindness with evil—it’s brought a jellyfish!"
With that, Yun Xiaowu hoisted Yun Jiao onto his shoulder and took off running.
The sea turtle: ???
Its beady eyes stared reproachfully at Yun Jiao, who was being carried away.
’Didn’t you ask me to bring you something tasty?’
Yun Jiao struggled, flailing her short little legs. "Brother, put me down! That’s a present from the big sea turtle!"
Jellyfish Merfolk were edible, too.
She had eaten one before. It was crunchy and springy—a very nice snack for Merfolk.
Yun Xiaowu said, "Eat what? Dad said that thing is poisonous! Getting stung by a jellyfish’s tentacles hurts a lot, and it can even kill you!"
"Get that thing away from us! If it wants to repay a kindness, it could at least bring a fish ashore."
Standing far away, Yun Xiaowu pointed accusingly at the great sea turtle.
Yun Jiao puffed up with anger.
"Fifth Brother, can we really not eat it? If it’s poisonous, how come the turtle is fine after catching it?"
"Fifth Brother, why did it catch a jellyfish?"
"Fifth Brother..."
The questions came one after another.
Yun Xiaowu snapped, "I don’t know, don’t ask me!"
The sea turtle looked toward Yun Jiao, as if asking if she still wanted to eat it.
Yun Jiao’s eyes welled with tears. "I can’t eat it! My brother won’t let me!"
Seeing this, Yun Xiaowu quickly consoled her. "Jiaojiao, be a good girl. We’ll eat something else, not that thing."
The sea turtle: ’Then I’ll eat it?’
It lowered its head and gobbled down the jellyfish in a few bites.
This made Yun Jiao even angrier.
"I want scallops! I want a big fish!"
’If I can’t have the jellyfish, then scallops, fish, or sea snails will do.’
Yun Xiaowu and the others scratched their heads. "Jiaojiao, are you talking to it?"
Yun Jiao nodded.
"It can’t understand you. How could an animal understand what we’re saying?"
Yun Jiao’s childish voice was full of certainty. "It can understand."
The sea turtle had already turned and headed back into the sea.
Yun Xiaoqi sighed. "I wonder if it’ll come back again. It even knows how to show gratitude, bringing back a gift. Too bad we can’t eat that thing."
"Let’s go, let’s go back. Mom is calling for us."
Yun Jiao said, "I’m not going."
’She was still waiting for her food.’
"Be good, Jiaojiao. We’ll come back next time."
Yun Jiao glanced toward her mother. "It’s still early. Mom and Auntie are still digging."
"Yun Xiaoqi."
"Here, Fifth Brother!"
"Go tell Mom and Auntie that we’re foraging over here and won’t run off."
"Roger that!"
Yun Xiaoqi gave a playful military salute and ran toward Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei.
He came running back a moment later.
"My mom and our aunt said we have to watch Jiaojiao closely."
Yun Jiao pouted unhappily. ’Why is everyone keeping an eye on me?’
"Come on, let’s go check over there."
Taking Yun Jiao with them, they changed locations and ran toward the mudflats.
The bay’s mudflats were vast, and many people were out foraging here.
"Brother, I see a mud crab."
Yun Jiao ran behind them, also looking around for things.
Her eyesight was far better than an ordinary person’s.
She soon spotted a flower crab in a rock crevice.
"Fifth Brother, there’s a Flower Crab over there."
Yun Xiaowu immediately followed her pointing finger and poked around in the crevice with his tongs. Sure enough, there was an aggressive Flower Crab inside.
"Nice, it weighs a good few ounces."
Yun Jiao said, "Cat Eye Snail."
She had found another Cat Eye Snail.
The Cat Eye Snail was buried in the sand, creating a small mound.
"There looks like a shell over there, let’s go see."
It was a conch washed ashore by the tide, a pretty white color.
But when they picked it up, they found it was an empty shell with no meat inside.
Yun Jiao held the shell, which was bigger than her hand, and shook it. "There’s something inside."
Yun Xiaowu took the shell and gave it a hard shake. A few small tentacles poked out.
"Whoa, it’s a little white octopus."
They didn’t throw the conch shell away. It was very pretty, and Yun Jiao liked it.
"Jiaojiao has great luck and sharp eyes. You’ve found so much in such a short time. Point in another direction for us to search."
Yun Jiao closed her eyes and pointed randomly.
Her brothers actually took her in that direction.
A few minutes later...
"HOLY CRAP!!!"
"Wow! So many clams! How come these look different from the ones we usually eat?"
Yun Xiaowu quickly jumped into the small tide pool.
"You dummy, these are Blood Clams!"
Blood Clams are different from ordinary clams. Their flesh is red, making it look as if they’re bleeding.
This stuff wasn’t cheap, either.
"Hahaha... A whole nest of Blood Clams!"
Some of the Blood Clams had their shells open, revealing the tender-looking red flesh inside.
’They looked delicious.’
That was Yun Jiao’s assessment.
They excitedly gathered the Blood Clams, and Yun Jiao also stretched out her small arm to grab one.
Then, with her back to her brothers, she secretly pried it open and ate the meat inside.
’Delicious!’
’But she only ate one. The rest had to be sold for money.’
"Jiaojiao, did you just sneak a bite of something?"
Yun Jiao shook her head, adamantly refusing to admit it.
"You didn’t wipe your mouth clean."
Yun Jiao wiped her mouth, then continued to look innocently at her brother with her big eyes and shake her head. "I didn’t sneak a bite."
"You, honestly... how can you like eating raw seafood so much? Some of it has such a strong fishy taste, I can’t believe you can stomach it."
After gathering the whole nest of Blood Clams, they had a little over two pounds.
When they were done, they still weren’t satisfied. "Jiaojiao, point in another direction. Let’s keep looking."
Yun Jiao spun in a circle and pointed randomly. "Over there."
This time, they searched for a long while in the direction she pointed but didn’t find anything good. In the end, it was Yun Jiao herself, poking around randomly with her little shovel, who hit a shell.
A Moon Clam.
It was the size of her palm. The shell looked plump, with a light purple inner ring and a crescent-shaped white outer ring.
This kind of shell was very pretty.
"It’s a Moon Clam."
"Are there more?"
Yun Jiao stared at the inconspicuous little air holes in the sand, which were almost invisible if you weren’t paying attention. She took her small shovel and poked it in again.
This time she had to dig much deeper, but it was another Moon Clam.
"Look!"
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