1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 10: Flying Bei

When we walked back, it was almost dark.

The tide was rising and small waves were rolling in from time to time, slapping his rubber boots affectionately like an old friend.

Even through his rubber shoes, Liang Ziqiang could feel the sand on the beach, its unique looseness and smoothness.

This moment of tranquility and relaxation was broken the next second.

"Damn it! It's just a rising tide, how can it cause flying sand and rocks?!"

Liang Ziqiang watched helplessly as a stone twice as big as his fist flew up from the ground on the sand right in front of him.

After it landed on the ground, it did not stop completely, but jumped several times in succession.

Subconsciously quickening his pace, he stepped forward and took a look, and saw that Liang Ziqiang was happy.

This is not a stone, it's clearly a huge shellfish!

Because it was dark, from a distance it looked like a piece of stone.

The clam in front of me looks quite colorful, with an oval shell with smooth spiral patterns and regular grooves.

Where the shell opens, it looks like a foot is sticking out.

Just as Liang Ziqiang bent down to check, the foot shrank and stretched, and it seemed like it was about to "run away" again!
This is... a bird shell?!

Before it could run away again, Liang Ziqiang quickly reached out and pressed it.

The bird shell, which had put in all its effort, failed at the last moment. Its entire body shook emotionally. It was probably cursing "Ma Mai Pi"?
Liang Ziqiang picked it up and took a closer look. He was now completely sure that it was a bird shell!
Not only its appearance can prove it, more importantly, the bird shell is a rather peculiar creature. There is no other seashell family that can run and jump like it.

The foot muscles of the bird shellfish are particularly developed. When in the sea, it loves to exercise. It jumps, leaps, hops and flies in the sea at any time.

This is how the name "Niaobei" came about.

Unexpectedly, even on the beach, this guy continued to run wildly, as if he was never going to stop exercising.

Holding the bird shell that was much bigger than his fist, Liang Ziqiang still found it somewhat incredible.

In the waters around them, this thing is far less abundant than other shellfish, and most of the time it does not come ashore.

Such a big bird shell was delivered to my hands by the tide. Is this considered lucky?
He quickly put the bird shells into his bait bucket and prepared to take them home.

Bird clams are slightly more expensive than ordinary clams, but not much more expensive, and their prices are not as high as shrimps and crabs.

But that's just under normal circumstances! It's grown to the size of two or three fists. How can such a bird be normal?
Such large clams are excellent ingredients for making sashimi.

Although he didn't know how much it could be sold for, he was sure that the price was much higher than that of ordinary clams.

After returning home with the bucket, the eldest brother Liang Tiancheng was upset when he saw the big thing in his bucket:

"You can go out and cast a net and pick up something? What kind of clam is this? It's different from the usual ones. It looks like... a cockle?"

The cockles that elder brother mentioned are actually bird clams, just with a different name.

Liang Zifeng came over to take a look after hearing this:
"I've seen cockles before, but they're not this big!"

In the end, it was Liang's father who stepped forward to take a look and gave an authoritative appraisal:
"What else could it be but cockles? I've caught cockles of similar size before. I'll keep them for now and take them to Zheng Liu's place tomorrow to see if I can sell them for a few bucks per pound!"

Although the meat of the bird clams is particularly tender and delicious, and it is absolutely delicious if stir-fried, Liang's father still thinks of the fact that it can be sold for several dollars at the first sight.

"Okay, then when we collect all the crabs and shrimps from the nets tomorrow morning, we'll take them all to Zheng Liu's place. I'll go collect the nets early tonight, don't be too late, or some bastard will steal them again!"

Liang Ziqiang quickly agreed with his father's idea.

"Yeah, in my opinion, Yang Laizi is a pervert!" The eldest brother Liang Tiancheng was very annoyed when he thought of Yang Tie.

"Then you should go to bed early. You will have to get up in the middle of the night to collect the nets. If you don't sleep well, it will delay your work during the day!" Liang's father didn't think much about it and let Liang Ziqiang go to bed first.

Lying in bed, Liang Ziqiang felt a little nervous when thinking about what he was going to do secretly in the second half of the night.

But since I had already made the decision, there was no point in thinking too much. Thinking this way, I finally managed to fall asleep in a daze.

Subconsciously, I didn't dare to sleep too deeply, mainly because I was afraid that if I missed tonight, I would no longer have the chance to stop my father and my older brother and younger brother from going out to sea.

There was only one day left before they planned to go out to sea.

Tonight is his only chance. If he fails, what happens next will no longer be under his control.

I didn't sleep deeply to begin with, and woke up quickly in the second half of the night.

He sat up from the bed and glanced at his younger brother Liang Zifeng as he got out of bed. He didn't know whether the guy was asleep or half awake.

"I'm going to collect the trap nets." He still said hello.

Liang Zifeng made a nasal sound, which might be considered as an answer.

Liang Ziqiang went out carrying a flashlight.

But he did not turn off the flashlight immediately. Instead, he let his eyes adjust slowly and walked forward in the dark.

Instead of walking towards the place where the ground traps were placed, he walked further away and came to the small pier where his fishing boat was moored.

There is more than one place to park fishing boats in the village, but Liang Ziqiang knows exactly where his old boat is parked. This impression is so deep that it is like a brand in his memory that time cannot erase or erase it.

There were more than a dozen fishing boats moored there, not evenly spaced. The rhythm of the tides slapped against the boats, and the sound was amplified by the quiet of the night, making it seem a bit noisy.

The fishing boat rose and fell, swaying in the tide and sea breeze.

After making sure that there was no one around, Liang Ziqiang turned on the flashlight and shone it one by one, looking for his own fishing boat.

It was indeed not difficult to find. Firstly, it was slightly smaller than other stores, and secondly, the name "Liang Defu" was written on it.

Liang Ziqiang got on the boat gently and stood on the boat for a while before taking action.

The boat was empty, even the throwing net had been taken home by my father after he returned from the last voyage.

Such an empty little wooden boat suddenly opened the floodgates of memory, and too many memories of my youth came to mind.

In Liang Ziqiang's memory, it was always being repaired every now and then, either when it was out to sea or when it was undergoing minor repairs.

I think it was when I was fourteen or fifteen years old that I followed my father to go out to sea for the first time.

Year after year, I didn't know how many times I rode it with my father and brother, traveling across the endless waves.

Every time I go out to sea, I am filled with anticipation as I break through the waves and head towards the sea;
Casting a net in the sea and watching the joy of fish big and small jumping;

When I returned, all my fatigue disappeared when I saw the smoke rising from the cooking fires.

This boat fed their family, but eventually sent their father and brother to the bottom of the sea...

After a moment of confusion, Liang Ziqiang quickly gathered his thoughts.

After getting off the boat, he walked directly to the bollard on the shore.

The boat was tied to the bollard with a thick rope, which prevented it from drifting into the sea.

Without any hesitation, he untied the rope...

Thanks for the reward from "苍子咬书" yesterday. A daily life at the seaside with love, taste and story. Please read the latest chapter. Thank you again, dear friends!


(End of this chapter)