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

Upon hearing this, Chen Yang froze on the spot.

"Brother-in-law, you're not kidding, are you?" He swallowed hard, pointing to the huge thing on the ground.

"Isn't this just an old turtle? Why are you bringing up sewing machines?"

Wu Gang walked over and slapped Chen Yang on the back of the head.

"What do you know, kid? This is a hawksbill turtle, a Class II protected animal in China." Wu Gang said sternly.

"This thing is rarer than a panda in the sea. If you catch it and sell it, you'll get a lenient sentence of ten or eight years."

Chen Yang covered his head, his eyes wide open.

"Ten...ten years?" He was so startled that he took two steps back, keeping a safe distance from the hawksbill turtle.

"Let's throw it back right away. This isn't a gold nugget, it's a death warrant!"

Seeing Chen Yang's cowardly appearance, Wu Sui took this opportunity to give him a warning.

"Xiaoyang, we go out to sea to fish to earn money to support our families, not to go to jail."

Wu Sui's voice was steady, and every word he spoke carried weight.

"There are many wonderful things in the sea, but some things are red lines that you can't even touch."

He pointed to the tortoiseshell on the nail plate.

"Today is a living example."

"From now on, no matter how valuable the catch is on the boat, if it is a protected animal or violates regulations, it will be released immediately."

"If anyone dares to have any crooked thoughts because of greed, don't blame me for turning my back on them."

Chen Yang nodded repeatedly, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his back.

"Brother-in-law, don't worry, I'll definitely listen to you. If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west."

Wu Gang chimed in, "The second brother is right. We feel at ease with the money we earn; we won't get involved in these crooked ways."

With the rules established, Wu Sui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He turned to look at the giant hawksbill turtle, preparing to push it back into the sea with Wu Gang.

Just as he bent down and reached out to lift the hawksbill turtle's shell, the light swept across its carapace.

Wu Sui's hand suddenly stopped in mid-air.

"Wait a minute."

He moved closer and, using the bright light, carefully examined the hawksbill turtle's back.

Just now, in the water, the light was too dim, and with the splashing water, I could only see the beautiful patterns on the turtle's shell.

Now that it's pulled up onto the deck, Wu Sui noticed that the edges of the hawksbill turtle's carapace and tail are covered with large patches of barnacles.

Some barnacles are only the size of a fingernail, while others grow like small volcanoes, piled up in layers, almost completely covering the original patterns on the hawksbill turtle shell.

"Brother-in-law, what's wrong? What's that thing on there? It looks disgusting."

Chen Yang leaned over for a glance and frowned in disgust.

Wu Gang saw it clearly too and sighed.

"Barnacles, this hawksbill turtle must have lived too long and attracted these things."

"No wonder it struggled so hard in the water earlier, with such great strength. It must have been tortured to the point of no return."

Chen Yang was a little puzzled: "It's just a little growth, is it that uncomfortable?"

Wu Sui stood up and started rummaging through the toolbox.

"You thought barnacles grew on the surface of the skin?"

Wu Sui took out a flathead screwdriver and a small hammer, and walked back to the tortoiseshell's side.

"This thing is called a parasitic barnacle, and it specifically targets large marine creatures that swim slowly, such as sea turtles and whales."

He pointed with a screwdriver at a huge barnacle on the hawksbill turtle shell.

"Once they attach themselves, they secrete a strong acid that corrodes the turtle's shell."

"Then it will bury its roots deep into the flesh of the sea turtle, sucking its blood and eating its flesh."

"Over time, it's like the sea turtle is carrying a mountain on its back, it can't even swim, and in the end it's tortured to death."

Chen Yang grimaced as he listened, feeling an itch run down his body.

"This is too tragic, they're practically vampires."

Wu Sui squatted down next to the hawksbill turtle and patted its head.

"Big brother, Xiaoyang, you two go fishing, I'll take care of this big one."

"Second brother, what are you planning to do?" Wu Gang asked.

"Help it get rid of these parasites." Wu Sui tossed the small hammer in his hand.

"Since we've run into it, we can't just watch it get drained dry. Let's do what's convenient and consider it an act of kindness."

Wu Gang nodded, pulled Chen Yang back to the side of the boat, and continued to fiddle with their fishing rods.

On the deck, Wu Sui found a small stool to sit on and began to "lighten the load" on the hawksbill turtle.

This job looks simple, but it's actually quite dangerous.

Hawksbill turtles have an amazing bite force; if one bites you, you're guaranteed to lose a finger.

Wu Sui carefully inserted the flat end of the screwdriver into the gap between the barnacle and the tortoise shell.

"Old buddy, don't move! I'm saving you. If you bite me, I'll throw you in to feed the sharks."

As Wu Sui worked, he kept muttering to himself.

Strangely enough, the hawksbill turtle actually calmed down.

Its bright black eyes looked at Wu Sui, its limbs stretched out on the deck, motionless, as if it really understood Wu Sui's words and knew that this person was helping it.

"Knock!"

Wu Sui gently tapped the end of the screwdriver with the small hammer in his hand.

With a crisp "snap," a barnacle the size of an egg was pried up by its roots and fell onto the deck.

The bottom of the barnacle still bore a trace of dark red blood, from where it had pierced the tortoiseshell's flesh.

The hawksbill turtle's body trembled slightly, but it did not struggle; it only let out a low gasp.

"Bear with it, a short pain is worse than a long one."

Wu Sui quickened his pace.

"Tap! Tap! Tap!"

The sound of hammering echoed across the calm sea.

As the barnacles were pried off one by one, the originally ornate patterns on the hawksbill turtle's carapace were gradually revealed.

Cleaning these barnacles is actually quite a stress-relieving process.

Wu Sui worked hard and spent two hours cleaning the barnacles off the hawksbill turtle's carapace.

Next, he began cleaning the small barnacles off the hawksbill turtle's abdomen and limbs.

The meat in these areas is more tender, so Wu Sui moved even more gently, afraid of hurting it.

"Alright, mission accomplished."

Wu Sui threw down his tools, stood up, and stretched languidly.

A small pile of grayish-white barnacle shells, weighing about four or five pounds, had already accumulated on the deck.

Without these burdens, the hawksbill turtle looks much more relaxed.

It even tentatively crawled forward two steps, and its limbs were noticeably more agile than before.

"Big brother, Xiao Yang, come and lend a hand!" Wu Sui shouted towards the bow of the boat.

Wu Gang and Chen Yang put down their fishing rods and ran over.

Both of them were somewhat surprised to see the completely transformed hawksbill turtle.

"Brother-in-law, your skills are great! This turtle shell looks much shinier now," Chen Yang said with a smile.

"Stop talking nonsense and get it down here."

The three of them worked together to lift the hawksbill turtle by its two sides and slowly moved it to the side of the boat.

"One, two, three, let's go!"

At Wu Sui's command, the three of them exerted their strength simultaneously, pushing the hawksbill turtle into the sea.

"Brother, I saved your life. You're welcome. If any of your family members get barnacles, come find me again, and I'll help you get rid of them."

Whether the hawksbill turtle understood or not, it didn't immediately swim away.

It circled around the fishing boat, then suddenly stopped on the water. Its huge head popped out of the water and bobbed up and down twice in the direction of Wu Sui and the others.

"Hey, brother-in-law, big brother, look, it's nodding to us!" Chen Yang excitedly pointed to the sea.

Wu Gang was also stunned: "This thing is really intelligent!"

Wu Sui smiled and waved at the sea: "Let's go, be more careful next time."

This time, the hawksbill turtle didn't hesitate. It plunged into the water, and the huge black shadow quickly darted into the deep sea, disappearing into the darkness in no time.