Chapter 227: She Remembers!
Chapter 227: She Remembers!
Jiang Xia saw Wen Wan rushing towards her.
Considering this person's character, which was hard to describe in words, Jiang Xia did something a child would do.
She ran a few meters away and drew a circle with an iron spade.
Flower snail shells were also easy to identify; wherever the sand was raised, there were usually flower snails.
Jiang Xia circled the area with the densest concentration of flower snail shells!
Then, she quickly swept her feet through the circle, stirring up countless grains of sand and revealing one flower snail after another.
So, when Wen Wan ran over, she saw Jiang Xia standing with her hands on her hips, waving a small shovel and laughing as she said to her, "All the flower snails within this circle are mine, so don't come near, I'll slowly collect them!"
Wen Wan: "..."
Shameless! She had seen shameless people, but never one as shameless as her!
Did she think the ocean was her backyard?
Or did she think they were playing house? Drawing a circle made it her home!
Wen Wan couldn't be bothered to argue with Jiang Xia; she didn't even want to speak to someone like her.
The beach was so big; if she was capable, she could draw a circle along the coastline!
If she was capable, she could set up a tent and make her home here!
Wasn't she rich? She could buy the whole beach!
Then she wouldn't even need to draw a circle!
Wen Wan grumbled to herself as she walked towards the rocky shore, first placing the crab trap.
Zhou Chenglei emerged from the water, saw someone on the rocks, and expressionlessly withdrew his gaze, looking towards Jiang Xia. Seeing her enthusiastically collecting something unknown, he reassuredly placed a butter crab into the bucket and then dived back into the sea.
Wen Wan also saw the butter crab Zhou Chenglei had placed in the bucket; it was so fat! The roe seemed about to overflow!
She quickly scanned her surroundings and then noticed the rope tied to the rocks, realizing where Zhou Chenglei had placed his crab trap.
She found a spot not too far from where Zhou Chenglei had placed his trap and threw down the few crab traps she had brought.
Then she went to the beach to collect flower snails.
Once the crab trap was placed, there was no need to worry about it; she could come back for it tomorrow.
Wen Wan, holding a small shovel, arrived at the beach and saw numerous flower snail shells.
Normally, this would be considered quite a lot, as one could find a snail within a few steps.
But compared to Jiang Xia's circle, it was pitifully few!
Wen Wan collected one, and Jiang Xia had piled up a bunch!
How was Jiang Xia collecting them?
She was using the small shovel to scrape the sand horizontally.
With each scrape, a pile of flower snails!
At least seven or eight with each scrape!
Those who didn't know might think these flower snails were hers.
Why else would they be gathered together?
Wen Wan was disbelieving and searched for a beach where a scrape would reveal a pile of flower snails.
But the further she went from Jiang Xia, the fewer snail shells she found!
She had no choice but to return to the area near Jiang Xia's circle to collect.
Jiang Xia's hands were tired from collecting.
There were too many to collect,
Impossible to finish collecting!
Jiang Xia's hands were aching, but she didn't want to stop.
With each scrape, she got about half a pound; this was all money!
Although flower snails weren't expensive now, only 5 or 6 mao per pound, but when weighed in bulk, even the cheapest could be a significant amount.
Collecting a hundred or two hundred pounds was as much as others made in a day at sea.
If it weren't for Wen Wan being there, Jiang Xia would have run home to get a rake!
The two worked hard, and after ten minutes, Jiang Xia poured a full bucket of flower snails into a plastic bag.
Wen Wan had only collected about a pound.
Seeing others succeed was truly frustrating!
Wen Wan continued to work diligently.
Before long, Zhou Chenglei came over with a water bucket.
"I'll do it, you take a break, and give me your shirt," Zhou Chenglei said as he put down the bucket.
Jiang Xia handed him the shirt tied around her waist.
Wen Wan looked at them both.
Zhou Chenglei quickly put on his clothes, not even bothering to take off his soaked vest.
After getting dressed, he grabbed an iron spade and started gathering snails.
Zhou Chenglei didn't scrape like Jiang Xia; instead, he dug them out one by one, and his speed was also quite impressive.
Jiang Xia went to the other side to continue scraping.
Rest was out of the question; if her hands got tired, she could just work at a slower pace.
The two of them gathered snails together, and the area Jiang Xia had marked off was shrinking at a visible rate.
After another half-hour, the couple had gathered two full plastic bags of snails.
Meanwhile, Wen Wan had only gathered a water bucket's worth!
The contrast was stark, and Wen Wan couldn't help but feel envious. Having lived by the sea for nearly twenty years, she had never seen so many snails on the beach! Nor had she ever seen anyone gather two full plastic bags of them.
And these weren't even farmed snails.
In her two lifetimes, this was truly the first time she had ever seen such an abundance of snails.
It was as if they had stumbled upon a snail's nest!
Suddenly, Wen Wan's movements froze.
She remembered! In her previous life, she hadn't seen this many snails, but she had definitely heard the villagers talk about Zhou Chenglei finding a snail's nest and discovering a great treasure!
At that time, she had only overheard a couple of sentences and didn't pay much attention to what he had found, as it didn't concern her. But the villagers had all praised his good luck back then!
It seemed like he had found some kind of jade, but it had been too long, and she couldn't quite remember what it was. She only vaguely recalled it being some sort of jade stone.
So, this beach not only had an abundance of snails but also a jade stone.
Could the two pieces of jade from her dream have been found on this beach?
Wen Wan couldn't help but start scraping frantically, imitating Jiang Xia's technique.
She hoped it wasn't within the area Jiang Xia had marked off!
Jiang Xia's hands were already tired and felt like they were about to give out.
Zhou Chenglei said, "You sit down; I'll take care of the rest."
Jiang Xia saw that the area she had marked off was almost finished, so she didn't insist. She walked over to the side of the circle she had drawn and sat directly on the sand, holding a small shovel and scraping carefully as she gathered snails slowly.
As Jiang Xia scraped, she suddenly uncovered a white object.
It somewhat resembled the edge of a seashell, but the texture also felt a bit like jade.
She now had a special fondness for seashells.
Jiang Xia began to dig carefully.
But the more she dug, the deeper and wider the hole became, and it still didn't seem like she would reach the end! Moreover, just from the exposed corner of the shell, she could tell that this was a massive one!
Jiang Xia continued to dig cautiously.
Jiang Xia sat in one spot, digging vigorously, which caught Wen Wan's attention again.
Wen Wan glanced over and saw a white object in the distance, resembling a seashell. It was buried so deep that it was likely dead, and she assumed it was just an empty shell, so she didn't pay much attention and continued searching for her jade stone.
As Zhou Chenglei gathered snails, he ended up behind Jiang Xia. He took a look, paused for a moment, then put down his bucket and started digging with Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia asked, "Do you know what kind of shell this is?"
Zhou Chenglei replied, "It should be a petrified chenqu."
Jiang Xia: "..."
Petrified chenqu?
The legendary court beads worn by second-rank officials during the Qing Dynasty?
Wen Wan: "..."
Petrified... chenqu?!
She remembered! In her previous life, that person had mentioned a petrified chenqu, not just any jade stone.
How could she have forgotten this?! She was so frustrated. How had Jiang Xia managed to find it first again?
Wen Wan took a look at what Jiang Xia was digging, and it was already outside the circle she had drawn!
Wen Wan ran over and asked directly, "Didn't you say that the snails within the circle you drew were yours and told me not to gather them? This is already outside the circle you drew, so this thing is mine. Why are you digging it out?"
Jiang Xia: (⊙_⊙)?
(End of Chapter)
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