Chapter 18 Little Smart
“Hey!”
“Second Grandpa!”
“Why are you walking so fast?”
“It’s dark . Be careful to fall on your butt.”
Zhao Dahai closely followed Zhao Shi, who was walking quickly forward with his head down.
“Hmph!”
“Are you short-sighted?!”
“Can’t you remember what happened with the Crab Tiger Fish last time? !”
“You can catch blue crabs secretly in the forest. You don’t have to pass by the small dock to go back to the village.”
Zhao Shi stopped, blowing his beard and staring.
"Hehehehe."
"Second Grandpa."
"Am I really that stupid?!"
Zhao Dahai smiled, This was because he was angry that he had just passed by the pier carrying blue crabs. Zhong Shizhu and Liu Bin must have entered the mangroves when they saw it.
"Second Grandpa."
"When the tide goes out and the tide goes out, I have walked through all the mangroves that can be walked in one tide."
"Blue crabs have territory."
“Where there is one blue crab, it is unlikely that there will be another blue crab at the same time.”
“Where one blue crab was caught, it is unlikely that there will be another blue crab in a short time. Crab appears.”
"Zhong Shizhu or Liu Bin or someone else in the village entered the mangroves?!"
"How can there be anything good to gain?"
Zhao Dahai told Zhao Shi that tonight was his second time Entering the mangroves, I searched all the nearby trenches, and picked them up again at night. There must have been some that slipped through the net, but not many. What if Zhong Shizhu and Liu Bin knew that they caught a lot of blue crabs? Into the mangrove? It is possible to find one or two that can kill three or four. In half a day or even a whole day, the harvest like this is not as good as going out to sea to fish.
“Hmph!”
“That’s pretty much it.”
"It's getting late."
"Hurry home."
Zhao Shi looked a little better, waved his hand, turned around, and walked onto a small road.
Zhao Dahai knew that this was for his own good, and most people would not say such things to him. After waiting for a while, Zhao Shi was out of sight before turning around and walking quickly towards his home.
Zhao Dahai walked to the door of the yard, and Zhong Cuihua opened the door and walked out.
"Grandma."
"I'm back."
Zhao Dahai shouted, jumped the burden into the yard, and put it down.
Zhong Cuihua looked at the blue crabs in the two mesh bags and smiled from ear to ear.
Zhao Dahai carefully opened a separate mesh bag and took out the butter crab.
"Ouch."
"This is a good thing."
Zhong Cuihua weighed it in her hand and found that it weighed seven or eight taels per pound and could be sold for four to five hundred yuan. It would take ten days and a half to make this amount of money by weaving your own fishing nets.
Zhao Dahai saw Zhong Cuihua turning over and over with the butter crab. He was very curious and smiled. He picked up the net bag containing mantis shrimp and hairy clams and walked into the kitchen. The rice was already cooked. When the stove is hot, just stir-fry. Wash the shrimps, clams, and stone crabs. Heat the iron pot and add oil. Put it all in. Cover and simmer over high heat for five minutes. Open the lid and let out a stream of steam. When it came up, the whole kitchen was filled with the freshness and sweetness of seafood.
Zhao Dahai brought the food to the main room, placed it on the table, and shouted to Zhong Cuihua to eat. "Big Fish."
“When are we going to sell these blue crabs?!”
Zhong Cuihua asked Zhao Dahai while eating.
Zhao Dahai took a mantis shrimp, peeled its shell, and put it in Zhong Cuihua's bowl. He was about to go sell blue crabs early tomorrow morning when a gust of wind blew in from outside, which made him shiver.
“Hee hee hee.”
"Grandma."
"No rush. No rush."
"I'll sell it in two days."
Zhao Dahai shook his head with a smile.
Zhong Cuihua was a little strange. She just looked at it and saw the full bucket she caught last time. Blue crabs can be raised for a long time, but the longer they are, the thinner they become and cannot be sold at a good price. It is better to sell them as soon as possible.
"Grandma."
"When I came back just now, there were already white-headed waves at the pier."
"The wind is blowing harder and harder."
"This It is unlikely that there will be fishing boats out to sea for a few days.”
“You can get a better price by selling it two days later.”
Zhao Dahai pointed to the sky outside the door as he spoke. It was gloomy and pitch black, and the wind blowing was a bit cold enough to scratch his bones. The weather was bad and there were no fishing boats out to sea for fishing. There were not many fish, shrimps and crabs on the market, and the prices were rising. The same fish, shrimps and crabs can be sold for a quarter or even a third more money. Other fish, shrimps and crabs cannot be kept. The vegetables are different and can last for ten days and a half. It is no problem to wait for a day or two.
Zhong Cuihua thought for a while and nodded. The sky has indeed changed.
Zhao Dahai looked at Zhong Cuihua after finishing the meal and wanted to continue weaving fishing nets. This was not possible. It was okay to do some work to pass the time. He couldn't stay up late. Half coaxing and half forcing, he helped Zhong Cuihua walk into the back room. After lying down, he returned to the main room and continued eating.
The small fishing village by the sea is not prosperous and has fewer opportunities to make money, but there is really no shortage of small seafood on the table.
Mantis shrimps, stone crabs and hairy clams have hands and feet. You can get one or two pounds by just walking around the beach, which is enough for a good meal.
Zhao Dahai walked through the mangroves for most of the day, exerting great physical exertion. He ate in large gulps, including mantis shrimps, stone crabs and hairy clams.
Zhao Dahai finished his meal, cleaned up, and walked out of the yard. While he was cooking, Zhong Cuihua had already put all the blue crabs in the mesh bag into the big bucket. After checking it, there was no problem, and poured a little sea water on it. , blue crabs do not need to be fed, but they must be kept moist. Dehydration will cause the meat and paste to fall off and even die.
Zhao Dahai looked up at the sky. It was as black as the bottom of a pot. The wind was getting stronger and colder.
“Come on. Come on.”
“Let the storm come harder!”
Zhao Dahai muttered and carried the bucket with blue crabs into the main room. If it rained and got wet, everything would be ruined. These are not things that can survive in fresh water.
Six o'clock the next morning.
Zhao Dahai got up and took a look in the back room. Zhong Cuihua did not wake up. He turned around and walked softly to the main room. He saw a big bucket with blue crabs. He thought about it, took two and walked in. In the kitchen, cut it in half, lift the lid, stir the gills, rinse with water and cut into pieces, turn on the fire, put oil in a large iron pot and stir-fry, wash the rice, stir-fry together for a while, add water, boil on high heat for two minutes , put the sliced ginger in, add some salt, turn it over, put out the fire, cover it with a lid, and then go to wake Zhong Cuihua up.
“Huh?”
“You kid. Did you cook it and eat it?”
Zhong Cuihua looked at the cooked blue crab porridge and froze for a moment.
"Hee hee!"
"Grandma!"
"I woke up in the morning and saw two half-dead. Let's just cook them."
Zhao Dahai knew that grandma Zhong Cuihua had lived a hard life in the past two years, and because she was getting older, she had to eat something good from time to time. Blue crab porridge is delicious and nutritious, just right. You have to eat it when you want to make money. Blue crabs that cost seven or eight taels each can only be sold for a few dozen yuan. Zhong Cuihua would definitely stop them when she saw them.
Zhao Dahai filled a bowl full of cut blue crabs and porridge and placed it in front of Zhong Cuihua.
Zhong Cuihua shook her head. The blue crabs had just been caught from the mangroves for two days. She had seen every one of them, and there was no way they were half dead. This was what she said because she wanted to eat well.
(End of this chapter)