Beachcombing: The beach is full of amazing seafood, but my wife won't let me get out of bed!

Wu Sui turned around and greeted the two of them.

"Let's go back to the ship and bring the water pump down."

Chen Yang was completely bewildered and followed behind, stepping on the slippery rocks.

"Brother-in-law, didn't we come here to go beachcombing? Why are we bringing a water pump?"

Wu Gang patted the back of his head from the side.

"Don't you understand this? It's like a cesspool."

"After the tide goes out, there must be a lot of good stuff left in these big puddles. If the water is too deep to fish out, we'll just drain them and collect the rest."

The three returned to the boat and took down the water pump and tools.

"Slow down, slow down, your foot is slippery."

Wu Gang reminded him to make sure his foot was firmly planted before taking the next step.

Chen Yang, carrying water pipes and a net, was panting heavily from exhaustion.

"Brother-in-law, this thing is too heavy. We've gone through so much trouble, and if there's nothing in the pit, we'll be at a huge loss."

"Don't worry, when has your brother-in-law ever missed a spot?" Wu Gang adjusted his breathing and steadily supported the machine.

Wu Sui didn't have the strength to explain. The water pump was already heavy, and he also had to watch out for the slippery rocks under his feet.

After finally reaching the rocky area, the three of them put down the equipment and began to pant heavily.

Wu Sui got up and walked around the puddles.

With the radar in my mind constantly on, I finally chose a puddle that was about half the size of a basketball court.

On the radar screen, the green dots at the bottom of the pit were densely packed together, almost forming a cluster.

"Let's smoke this one." Wu Sui pointed to the puddle at his feet.

Chen Yang walked to the side and shone his headlamp over the water, which was completely dark.

This pit is not only large in area, but also deep; when the light shines on it, you can't see anything.

"Brother-in-law, this hole is way too big! How long are we going to have to keep trying?"

"Great talent produces great results. Enough talk, let's get to work."

Wu Gang quickly untied the rope on the water pump, lowered the inlet pipe to the bottom of the pit, and then lowered the outlet pipe into the sea outside the reef.

"Make way, everyone."

"Rat-a-tat-tat..."

The diesel engine roared, and the water pipe jerked violently, twisting a few times.

The murky seawater was instantly pumped up and discharged into the open sea with a clatter.

Chen Yang squatted by the pit, holding a powerful flashlight in both hands, staring at the water.

"Brother, is there really a big catch in this pit? The water looks perfectly calm to me."

Wu Gang took out a cigarette case, handed one to Chen Yang, and lit one for himself.

Chen Yang didn't think much of it and took the cigarette.

Wu Sui glanced at it unexpectedly and returned the cigarette to him.

Wu Gang seemed to only then realize that Chen Yang was only 18 years old this year.

Although it's common for people to get married at 18 in this area, it does seem a bit inappropriate for someone's brother-in-law to smoke for them.

Wu Sui didn't actually care whether Chen Yang smoked or not.

A man who doesn't smoke or drink is worse off than a dog.

To his surprise, Chen Yang had only been hanging out with his older brother for a few days when he started smoking.

This kid usually seems shy and doesn't talk much. Is he just pretending?

Wu Gang took a drag of his cigarette and quickly changed the subject.

"You don't understand, this is a natural trap."

"When the tide comes in, the seawater can completely submerge this reef, and fish and shrimp come in with the tide looking for food."

"When the tide goes out, the water flows outwards, and some greedy or lost creatures can't get out and get trapped in these pits."

Chen Yang nodded in sudden realization.

"No wonder my brother-in-law insisted on choosing the biggest pit. The bigger the pit, the more fish will be trapped."

"That's only one aspect," Wu Gang said, exhaling a smoke ring.

"The pit is deep and the water temperature is stable. Big fish are smart. When they sense that the water temperature is not right, they will go to the deeper water. This pit is their safe haven."

Chen Yang nodded repeatedly as he listened, his flashlight beam sweeping across the water's surface.

"If we can pull out a whole nest of giant grouper from here, we'll make a fortune tonight."

Wu Sui glanced at his watch and estimated the amount of water; it would probably take two or three hours to pump the pit dry.

Bored while waiting, Qian picked up the small bucket next to him.

"You guys keep an eye on the machine, I'll go wander around and see if I can find some snacks to go with my drinks."

Wu Gang waved his hand: "Go on, watch your step."

Wu Sui turned on his headlamp and slowly strolled along the edge of the reef.

Apart from that large crater, the radar screen was filled with scattered white dots.

Wu Sui didn't pick and choose. He walked to a spot of light, bent down, and used the iron hook in his hand to probe into the crevice of the rock.

A rather large snail was hooked out and fell onto the rocks.

Although this thing isn't worth much, its meat is firm. It's perfect for blanching or stir-frying with soy sauce when you get home, and it goes best with drinks.

After wandering around for more than ten minutes, Wu Sui specifically targeted those nooks and crannies.

He found a group of bitter snails gathered together under a rock covered with kelp.

Wu Sui squatted down and used both hands to grab handfuls of food into the bucket.

"These bitter snails are good for clearing heat and detoxifying. I've been staying up late and getting a sore throat lately, so I'll have my sister-in-law make some bitter snail soup for me."

He continued his search while muttering to himself.

Spicy snails, bitter snails, cat's eye snails, razor clams... I picked up more than half a bucket, and also caught two palm-sized stone crabs.

By the time Wu Sui carried the bucket back to the water pump, the water level in the pit had dropped by more than half.

The pit walls revealed rings of marks from being soaked in seawater, covered with oyster shells and seaweed.

Chen Yang rubbed his hands together excitedly and leaned in to look inside.

"Brother-in-law, look! There's movement underwater!"

Wu Sui walked over and looked in the direction of the flashlight.

The once calm water began to ripple, and dark shadows could be seen moving beneath the surface, stirring up clumps of mud and sand.

As the water became shallower, the scattered stones at the bottom of the pit were gradually revealed.

The motor noise gradually faded, the inlet pipe began to draw in air, making a "whooshing" sound, and the water flowing out of the outlet became intermittent.

"Alright, the water's almost gone." Wu Gang ran over and turned off the fire.

The roar of the diesel engine stopped abruptly, and the world finally fell silent.

Chen Yang couldn't wait to shine his flashlight into the bottom of the pit, eagerly preparing for a bumper harvest.

But when the beam of light swept across the bottom of the pit and he could see the things bouncing around, all the excitement on his face vanished.

There were indeed quite a few fish struggling in the puddles of various sizes at the bottom of the pit.

But there were no groupers he was hoping for; instead, there were only some strange-looking creatures.

Chen Yang curled his lip in disgust, his brows furrowing.

"What are all these things?"

His home is not near the sea, and the seafood he usually sees is mostly affordable varieties such as ribbonfish, sea bass, rock bream, and some shrimp and crabs.

He didn't recognize any of the fish in front of him; they all looked strange and unusual.

Under the flashlight beam, several strange fish, their bodies covered in bumps and their colors blending into the surrounding rocks, lay motionless in the mud and sand.

If they didn't occasionally open their mouths, you wouldn't be able to tell they were fish at all.

There were several fish swimming in the shallow puddle nearby, their dorsal fins fully extended, their long fins covered in colorful patterns, making them quite beautiful to look at.

The most numerous fish were small ones, about the size of a palm, splashing around in the muddy puddles, their bodies covered with dense spots.

"What bad luck!"

Chen Yang complained and waved the flashlight around.

"Brother-in-law, we've wasted our time pumping out this ditch. It's full of junk, not even a decent fish."

Wu Sui stood on it, the beam of his headlamp sweeping across the bottom of the pit.

Seeing the fish clearly sent chills down my spine.

Chen Yang felt he had wasted his time and was very unhappy.

Since we've already drawn tickets, we can't go back empty-handed.

"Well, even a mosquito's leg is meat, I can pick it up and eat it myself."

He slid straight down the sloping pit wall. Without even taking a net, he walked barehanded towards the strange fish covered in bumps.

"You're so ugly, I'll stew you!"

Wu had just finished putting away the water pump hose when he turned around and saw this scene.

Upon seeing what Chen Yang was about to grab, Wu Gang's face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat poured out in an instant.

"Don't touch it!"