Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Abalones on the Island
Shen Yunlian poked her forehead in mock annoyance. "Oh, you. You just knew your dad would fall for that."
Yun Jiao’s lips curved up, her voice soft and sweet as if she were cooing, "Mom, Dad, you’re the best."
’It’s not like she wanted to cry, but wasn’t it the fastest and most effective way to get Dad and the others to take her along?’
And just like that, by throwing a little tantrum, Yun Jiao successfully earned the right to go out to sea with her dad and little uncle.
But there was no cover on the boat, and with the sun beating down, everyone was afraid she’d get sunburned.
While they were at home gathering their things, she was huffing and puffing, hugging a roll of gunny sacks and trying to drag it outside. Shen Yunlian chased after her with a conical straw hat.
"Jiaojiao, what are you doing with so many sacks?"
Yun Jiao said, "To put things in! We’re definitely going to find lots and lots of stuff to bring back."
She was very confident in herself.
Shen Yunlian held her in place. "You don’t need this many. Quick, put on this hat and don’t take it off. There’s no shade out at sea and the sun is very strong. Don’t get sunburned."
Their little girl’s skin had been nurtured to be fair, soft, and dewy, as smooth and tender as a peeled egg. If she got sunburned, the whole family would be too heartbroken to sleep.
Yun Jiao stood obediently and let her mom put the hat on her.
The hat was a little big, which made her look even tinier.
From the adults’ perspective, it looked like a straw hat had sprouted a pair of short little legs and was walking around—like a cute, chubby little mushroom.
Yun Linhe chuckled and took the sacks she was struggling to drag.
"Here, your uncle will carry these."
Yun Jiao adjusted the hat on her head. "Okay."
Then, her short little legs busily trotted along behind the adults.
Once everything was ready, Yun Jiao sat in the wooden boat, waving her little hand to say goodbye to everyone.
With two people rowing now, it was much easier than one person doing it alone, as they could take turns.
There weren’t many schools of fish near the coast, but Yun Linhai had still gone to borrow a cast net for the day. You never knew, right? What if they got lucky and ran into a school of fish? They would die of regret if they didn’t have a net ready.
Not long after they set out, the sea turtle on the boat eagerly jumped into the sea. It swam a circle around the fishing boat before surfacing near where Yun Jiao was sitting, as if greeting her.
"Go find something to eat on your own."
Yun Jiao told it, leaning over the side of the fishing boat.
The sea turtle quickly dove into the sea and disappeared.
Yun Linhe said, "I wonder if it’ll come back."
’That turtle seems pretty smart.’
"Dad, there’s a small island over there."
There were many small islands nearby, but almost no one ever went to them.
Those who had boats went out fishing. After all, foraging on the islands wasn’t very cost-effective. Even if there was anything on them, it was mostly young shellfish or sea snails. Those oysters, clams, and snails didn’t sell for much; they had little meat, and their shells were ridiculously heavy, making it far less profitable than fishing.
And those without boats couldn’t get there anyway.
Right now, for instance, Yun Linhai was more inclined to go a bit farther out and cast his net.
But seeing his daughter’s sparkling, expectant eyes, he steered the boat toward the island anyway.
"Alright, let’s go take a look. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find something good."
The little island wasn’t far, and they arrived soon after.
Yun Linhai found a spot to moor the boat.
The two adults got off first, then lifted Yun Jiao down as well.
Yun Jiao was wearing little rubber water shoes. The island was covered in many sharp rocks, and you wouldn’t dare walk on them in regular shoes or barefoot; one careless step could leave your feet covered in cuts.
"Jiaojiao, walk slowly. Dad will hold your hand."
Yun Jiao, carrying her little bucket, shook her head. "Dad, I can walk by myself."
The two adults could only follow behind and keep a close eye on her.
Though Yun Jiao’s legs were short and she walked slowly, she was steady on her feet.
’She had spent quite a bit of effort practicing how to walk, after all.’
"Dad!"
As she walked up a rocky outcrop, Yun Jiao’s sharp eyes immediately spotted something crawling all over the rocks in the distance.
"Abalone."
That’s right, it was a whole cluster of abalone.
Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe took one look and were stunned.
"It really is abalone!"
They immediately scooped Yun Jiao up and hurried over, walking much faster this time.
Yun Jiao didn’t struggle.
When they got there, the two men were beside themselves with excitement.
"Such a huge patch of abalone, and they’re not small either."
"Quick, start prying them off! Jiaojiao, you go over there. It’s a bit flatter."
Yun Jiao agreed in her sweet voice and scurried over on her short little legs.
Then, with a grunt of effort, she started prying the abalone off the rocks with her hands.
The abalone here came in all sizes. The larger ones were about the size of her little fist, while the smaller ones were the size of a wild bird’s egg.
Of course, there were even smaller ones, but there was no need to take those. They left them to see if they would continue to grow.
"This one’s huge!"
Yun Jiao had found an exceptionally large one, weighing an estimated half a jin.
Not far away, the smiles never left Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe’s faces. They were absolutely thrilled.
"It’s a good thing we came to this island. I never expected there to be so many abalone here."
"And a lot of them are a good size, too."
They were happily prying off abalone, but of course, they didn’t forget to turn and check on Yun Jiao from time to time.
"Dad, it’s full."
Yun Jiao’s bucket was very small, and it was already filled to the brim with abalone after just a short while.
"I’ll go get the gunny sacks."
’He was so glad for his daughter’s foresight in bringing so many sacks onto the boat.’
’Jiaojiao was simply their little lucky star.’
While Yun Linhai went to get the sacks, Yun Jiao kept searching for and prying off abalone.
In total, she found two large abalone that were about half a jin each, and a few others that, while not as big, still weighed three or four liang.
And there was a huge pile of smaller ones.
The straw hat was getting in the way, obstructing her view a bit.
So Yun Jiao just took the hat off.
The sun was intense. Yun Linhe was drenched in sweat, and Yun Jiao was also sweating a little, her small face flushed and rosy.
"Jiaojiao, why did you take your hat off?"
Yun Linhai came over carrying the gunny sacks. Seeing Yun Jiao’s flushed little face, he worried she would get sunburned.
Yun Jiao shook her head. "Don’t wanna wear it. It’s uncomfortable."
"But this sun..."
"I’m not scared."
She stubbornly refused to wear it, so Yun Linhai could only compromise.
"If it starts to feel bad, you have to put the hat on."
"Okay."
"You found two abalone this big?!"
"These must be two-head abalone."
Yun Linhai often worked at the docks, so he knew some of the jargon used for abalone.
The bigger the abalone, the more valuable it is, and the "head count" is determined by how many it takes to make one jin.
Two abalone to a jin is a "two-head," and three to a jin is a "three-head."
Most of the abalone in the patch they’d found were "ten-head," meaning they weighed about one liang each.
Yun Jiao picked up one of the two-head abalone.
"Dad, I want this one."
Yun Linhai was speechless.
’His daughter really knew how to pick them. That one alone had to be worth more than ten yuan.’
"Alright, it’s yours."
Yun Linhai agreed readily. ’If it weren’t for his daughter, they wouldn’t have even come to this island. What was one abalone, anyway?’
After putting the other abalone into a gunny sack, Yun Linhai quickly rejoined the great abalone-prying army.
The scorching sun couldn’t possibly dampen their enthusiasm.
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