Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Meeting the Sea Turtle Again
At the current price of 50 cents per jin for sea wolves, the sea wolves alone sold for $65.50.
As for the other fish, Mr. Yun decided to keep three black porgies, all of them weighing over three jin.
After all, they had a large family and had also hired people to help build their house. Black porgy was inexpensive, meaty, and made for a respectable dish.
Besides the three black porgies, they sold the rest of the scad and made another $8.50.
They had earned $74 today!
The Yun family’s faces instantly lit up with joy.
This was far more than what most professional fishermen earned.
Typically, a day of fishing in coastal waters would only bring in about twenty or thirty dollars.
And that was on a lucky day. On an unlucky day, they might only catch a few worthless small fish and shrimp, too few to sell for any real price.
It was safe to say their haul had made quite a few people envious.
"Come on, let’s go home."
Granny Yun reminded them, "When we get home, we need to cut some red paper to paste on the boat. And we have to find a chance to visit the Mazu Temple and the Dragon King Temple to pay our respects."
Most people living by the sea were believers of Mazu. In Bailong Village, they worshipped both Mazu and the Dragon God. Now that they had bought a boat, it was only natural to go pray for safe voyages and bountiful catches.
No one had any objections to this.
Once they were home, the two women of the house wasted no time, immediately grabbing scissors and red paper to get started.
Yun Jiao watched from the side.
The task was simple: cut the red paper into squares and write the character for ’fortune’ on them.
They did the same thing during the New Year. Last year, Yun Jiao had also dipped a calligraphy brush in ink, her little hand guided by her third brother to write a wobbly, plump ’fortune’ character on the red paper.
Now, her third brother was guiding her again as her small hand held the brush, writing another ’fortune’ character on the freshly cut red paper.
This time it was much better than the last, but it was still just as plump.
It was actually quite cute.
"Alright, tomorrow we’ll go paste these ’fortune’ papers on the boat!"
The family was full of cheerful harmony, but it was clear their wish to paste the papers on the boat tomorrow was not to be.
A typhoon rolled in that night.
A small typhoon like this didn’t have a major impact on the villagers’ lives, but the bad weather meant it wouldn’t be suitable to go out to sea tomorrow.
However, these typhoons were often accompanied by a high tide, which meant the beach would probably be bustling with activity tomorrow morning.
"Let’s get to sleep. We’ll get up early tomorrow morning to go beachcombing."
Inside the house, pots and pans were placed under the leaky spots in the roof. While it poured outside, a light rain fell inside their room.
"When will our new house finally be finished?"
Tucked in their beds, Yun Xiaowu and his brothers whispered amongst themselves.
Yun Jiao, nestled between them, slowly closed her eyes.
The next day, they rose in a hurry long before dawn. The sky was still dim and it was raining outside, but they still got up.
Yun Jiao got up too.
"Jiaojiao, you should sleep a little longer."
The adults were getting up early for beachcombing, but they hadn’t planned on taking the little ones.
Yun Jiao shook her head, rubbing her eyes with the back of her chubby hand. Her voice was soft but firm. "I want to go too."
The smell of the morning tide was strong. The environment, which might feel damp to others, was just right for her.
"Wait, we want to go too."
"Fine, let’s hurry."
Yesterday’s typhoon must have washed up plenty of good things from the sea.
The family hurried toward the beach, encountering other early-rising families along the way.
As people who lived by the sea, they all knew the situation perfectly well. No one wanted to miss out on valuable treasures that could be sold for money.
"Let’s split up and search."
Yun Xiaowu said, "Jiaojiao will come with me."
"Be careful. Don’t take your little sister into crowded areas, and don’t get too close to the water."
Crowded spots at a time like this meant competition. People could get into a big fight over a single fish.
"Which way should we go?"
Remembering how Yun Jiao had found a great haul by just pointing randomly before, Yun Xiaowu looked at her expectantly.
Yun Jiao tilted her head and, under her brothers’ hopeful gazes, pointed in a direction.
"Let’s go! We’re off!"
The typhoon had indeed washed up a lot of goods. They were able to pick up plenty of small fish and shrimp along the way.
"Whoa, what a huge sea snail!"
"There’s another one over here."
This one was as big as their palm.
The beach was covered in a patch of sea snails.
The sky was still a bit dark and there weren’t many people around. They grabbed their burlap sacks and began frantically gathering them.
"Keep it down! Don’t attract anyone else."
Yun Jiao also stood on the sand with her pant legs rolled up, squatting down every now and then to pick up a large sea snail.
Besides the regular sea snails, there were also other kinds mixed in, like Cat Eye Snails, babylon snails, and even some with especially beautiful shells, like the murex snails.
The murex snails were white, with a serrated, skirt-like edge and more jagged points on top of the shell.
Their color and shape were much prettier than ordinary sea snails.
Yun Jiao found five murex snails all by herself.
"We’re done picking them up. This must be a whole sackful."
It probably weighed over a hundred jin.
With snails, though, the shell weighed much more than the meat. Still, they sold for a lot more than regular fish.
"Let’s keep looking. It’s a good thing we brought the sacks today. This many sea snails must be worth a lot of money."
Gleefully, they continued their search, dragging the sack of sea snails behind them.
It was a bit cumbersome, but no one minded. They certainly weren’t ready to leave just yet.
This time, Yun Jiao toddled ahead on her short little legs.
Soon, her sharp eyes spotted something golden tumbling in the waves near the shore.
Her eyes lit up, and she veered off and ran toward it.
"Jiaojiao!"
Her brothers quickly chased after her.
"Holy crap, are those large yellow croakers?"
"There are three of them! Quick, grab them!"
Yun Jiao was the first to dive, pinning down one of the yellow croakers.
The others quickly grabbed the other two.
Their clothes were soaked, but the reward was huge.
Although these three yellow croakers weren’t as big as the ones the sea turtle had given them, together they had to weigh five or six jin.
Soaked to the bone, Yun Xiaowu and his brothers couldn’t stop laughing with delight.
Yun Jiao’s hair was wet and stuck to her chubby little face, but it did nothing to diminish her delicate cuteness.
"Jiaojiao, you’re amazing! You could see them from so far away."
If Yun Jiao had a tail, it would have been wagging from all the praise.
Suddenly, a sound came from the sea, and Yun Jiao lifted her head to look.
Her brothers thought she had spotted another big catch.
"Turtle," she said.
Just then, Yun Xiaowu and the others also noticed the large creature emerging from the sea.
"Oh, it’s a sea turtle."
The sea turtle rode the waves over to Yun Jiao and nudged her hand with its head.
It knew where there was a super big fish.
Yun Jiao’s eyes lit up. "Where?"
The sea turtle moved back into the water, signaling for Yun Jiao to follow.
Yun Jiao glanced at her brothers. "The turtle wants me to follow it."
Truthfully, she was itching to go into the sea herself.
"No way!"
All of her brothers refused, hugging Yun Jiao tightly and glaring at the sea turtle. It was as if they saw it as a turtle-trafficker trying to abduct their little sister.
The sea turtle: ’???’
’You guys are being ridiculous.’
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