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

Wu Sui slumped on the beach, panting heavily.

He shook his aching arms, feeling as if both shoulders were about to dislocate.

Wu Gang lay on his back beside him, limbs outstretched, his chest heaving like a bellows.

After resting for five or six minutes, Wu Gang suddenly turned over.

"Second brother, these are wild treasures! If you put these few in the big restaurants in town, Manager Liu and his team would probably fight tooth and nail for them."

Wu Gang wiped the water off his face and turned to look at Wu Sui.

"I just estimated that these eight fish weigh at least thirty pounds. How much would they cost?"

Wu Sui scooped up a handful of wet sand and rubbed it in his hands to wash away the stickiness from his palms.

"Wild turbot are rarely seen, but given the current market price, this quality should fetch at least a hundred yuan per kilogram."

"We've made back our fuel costs from today's voyage."

After hearing this, Wu Gang couldn't help but roll his eyes.

This isn't just about making back the money for gas; it's about making ten or twenty times that amount!

He turned his head, his gaze passing over the rocks and landing on the beach after the tide had receded.

Patches of tiny octopuses were still slowly crawling on the beach, some burrowing into sand pits, others blowing bubbles in puddles.

"Second brother, have you rested enough?" Wu Gang stood up and patted the sand off his buttocks.

"what?"

"What else can we do? There's a pile of money lying on the beach over there," Wu Gang said anxiously, stamping his feet and pointing to the sand.

"These tides are like money right in front of you, a gift from God. If you don't take them, you'll be struck by lightning."

Wu Sui was amused by his older brother's money-obsessed appearance.

Indeed, this trip to sea was not cheap, costing several hundred dollars for boat rental and fuel.

Although these mandarin fish are not as valuable per unit as turbot, their sheer quantity makes up for it.

If you collect it all into the bucket, it would be a very considerable income.

"Let's go, let's keep going." Wu Sui stood up, supporting himself on his knees.

The two returned the fish and the small octopuses they had caught to the boat or the water tank, then, carrying empty buckets, went back to the beach.

The tides were more active now than before. As the sun rose and the temperature on the beach increased, these little creatures emerged from the sand, trying to find shady puddles.

Wu Gang rushed to the front, plunging both hands directly into the mud and sand, attacking with both hands.

He didn't care about any techniques. Whenever he saw any movement, he would scoop up sand and seaweed with both hands, rinse them haphazardly in a nearby puddle, and then turn around and pour them into a bucket.

"Big brother, be gentle," Wu Sui said quickly, following behind and noticing Wu Gang's rough movements.

"This thing is very brittle, don't crush its head, or it will rot and the recycling station won't accept it."

He returned the words his older brother had just used to reprimand him verbatim.

"I know, I know what I'm doing," Wu Gang replied verbally, but his hands didn't slow down at all.

Wu Sui bent down and quickly swept his hands across the sand.

He specifically chose those plump, strong-feeted cephalopods to catch.

This thing feels slippery and sticky in your hand, and the suction cups on its tentacles can even stick to your fingers.

The two worked silently, neither speaking a word, the only sounds being the patter of their feet on the sand and the splash of Wangchao being thrown into a bucket of water.

After scratching for about half an hour, Wu Sui straightened up and rubbed his sore back.

He glanced at the rubble pit beside him, and an idea popped into his head.

"Brother, I need to talk to you about something." Wu Sui walked up to Wu Gang, carrying a half-bucket of sea snails.

Wu Gang was digging in a large puddle with his butt sticking out, asking without looking up.

"What's up? Hurry up and pick it up, don't waste time talking."

Wu Sui: ...

"Next time we go out to sea, let's buy a water pump from the farm machinery station in town and bring it with us."

Wu Gang stopped what he was doing.

He straightened up, wiped his hands haphazardly on his trouser leg, and frowned.

"A water pump? What's the point of buying that? It's so heavy, and it burns oil."

"Those high-horsepower water pumps sold at the town's agricultural machinery station must cost at least four or five hundred yuan each, right?"

Wu Gang looked disapproving. "We can go beachcombing with just two buckets and a shovel. Why waste money on that?"

Wu Sui pointed to the rocky pit where they had just caught turbot.

"Do the math. We spent almost an hour catching those turbot, didn't we?"

Wu Gang nodded.

"The water was too deep and murky, and the turbot were clinging to the bottom, so we couldn't see them at all and could only feel around."

"What if there are sea snakes or poisonous stonefish lurking in the water? Would we still want our hands?"

Wu Sui looked into his older brother's eyes and said, "If we had a water pump, we could just throw the pipe into the pit and pump it dry in half an hour."

Wu Gang paused for a moment, seemingly pondering the logic.

Wu Sui continued to explain it to him in detail.

"Once the water in the pit dries up, all sorts of fish, shrimp, and crabs that roam the bottom are jumping around in the mud."

"We can just pick them up with our eyes closed; we don't even need nets."

"It takes half an hour to pump water and ten minutes to collect the fish."

"With the time we save, how many more sea eels can we collect on this beach?"

Wu Sui patted the bucket in front of him. "How many buckets of oil could you buy with the money from selling all these extra mantis shrimps?"

Wu Gang finally understood.

"Okay, I guess I didn't think straight. I'll listen to you."

"Once we sell the goods when we get back, we'll immediately go to town and buy one!"

Having figured out the stakes, Wu Gang worked even harder.

He could almost see the scene after the water was drained, with the bottom full of big fish and crabs, and his hands moved so fast that they were blurry.

In less than an hour, the buckets the two had brought were full again.

The two waded through the seawater, making several trips back and forth to the ship's water tank, until they were so tired they could barely lift their arms.

As the sun rose higher, the moisture brought by the sea breeze was gradually dried.

The number of snorkelers on the beach is decreasing, as most of them have disappeared into the deep, wet sand to escape the high temperatures.

They only stopped when they had turned the beach upside down and could no longer find a single sea snail wandering around outside.

Wu Gang threw the last one into the bucket, then collapsed onto the ground, too exhausted to even speak.

Wu Sui calculated the results of the battle.

Roughly estimated, these tidal bores weigh at least 250 or 260 jin (approximately 125-130 kg).

"Second brother, the tide is coming in soon. Should we head back now, or go explore some other islands?"

After resting for a while, Wu Gang went to the beach and splashed water on himself.

Wu Suiqian simply went into the water and walked around to wash off the sand.

They had been out since 7 a.m., and the sun was already high in the sky. Both of them were starving.

Although going back now feels like a loss, it would be even more unprofitable if so much stock died.

"Brother, let's go back and sell the goods first. They're worthless if they're dead."

Wu Gang felt a little sorry for the cost of renting the boat, but he didn't say anything more.

Since the family split up, this younger brother seems to have really changed. He is now reasonable and articulate in his actions and words, and is no longer the unreasonable and meddlesome good-for-nothing he used to be.

Without realizing it, Wu Gang began to believe his younger brother's words.