Chapter 416: Invasive Species
Chapter 416: Invasive Species
Jiang Xia discovered a large hole, similar to the mouse holes she often saw in the fields, so she hesitated to peek inside.
Having heard that snakes and rats often shared the same hole, she feared there might be a snake inside.
Jiang Xia held Zhou Chenglei's hand, "What kind of hole is this? A mouse hole?"
Zhou Chenglei, taking advantage of the moment, held her hand and took a look.
"It's a crab hole," he said.
He squatted down to peer inside, and indeed, there was a large blue crab inside. "There's a crab."
Jiang Xia also squatted down, bending her waist and turning her head to look inside. "What a huge blue crab!"
A wild blue crab of this size could fetch two to three hundred yuan in modern times.
"Hmm," Zhou Chenglei said, picking up a shovel and digging out the sand from the hole.
The blue crab, sensing danger, tried to escape, but Zhou Chenglei quickly scooped up a shovel of mud and covered the crab's eyes, blinding it.
Jiang Xia immediately reached out from behind and grabbed the crab by its shell, lifting it up.
The crab, its vision restored, raised its large pincers again.
Jiang Xia tossed it into a net bag.
The couple continued to collect sea cucumbers and seashells, with one person prying with a hoe while the other bent down to pick them up.
Zhou Chenglei also spotted a conger eel but decided not to catch it, fearing that Jiang Xia might be scared. He led her away.
Jiang Xia, unaware, continued their activity. Suddenly, she spotted a green clam attached to a piece of rotten wood.
Jiang Xia picked it up and asked, "Zhou Chenglei, what's this?"
Zhou Chenglei took a look. "A sea scallop."
Sea scallops, also known as blue clams or mussels, were introduced species. In the north, people had already started farming them, primarily for export, and they were selling well.
Rumor had it that the sea scallops were easy to raise and had high yields.
However, Zhou Chenglei had not seen them in their local waters before.
Jiang Xia plucked the sea scallop from the rotten wood.
The sea scallop had foot threads that were tightly attached to the wood, and Jiang Xia had to use some force to pull it off before tossing it into the bucket.
"Do you think these sea scallops drifted across the ocean from the northern waters, or do they also grow in our nearby waters?" Jiang Xia asked.
Zhou Chenglei replied, "We should see if there are more of them on this beach. If so, I'd say they're also growing in our waters."
The couple continued walking, and soon they found two or three more sea scallops.
"I think our waters also have sea scallops," Zhou Chenglei said.
"Yes, next time we'll search for them on the reefs of nearby islands," Jiang Xia agreed.
Jiang Xia had an idea. She wanted to collect some young sea scallops, rent a beach in the village, and build some wooden stakes to farm them.
Sea scallops had an incredible reproductive capacity, producing millions of eggs in a single spawn.
They could harvest them within a year.
Additionally, they could also construct oyster stakes, hanging live oysters above and farming sea scallops below.
"Sounds good," Zhou Chenglei agreed.
After another half-hour of collecting, Zhou Chenglei, concerned about the rising tide, suggested, "Let's stop here for today. I'm worried about the incoming tide."
Jiang Xia agreed. The time between low and high tide was only a few hours, and it was likely that the tide would soon rise.
One should never underestimate the power of the sea. When beachcombing, it's essential to keep an eye on the tide to avoid being caught off guard.
If the tide was rising, it was time to leave promptly.
Although the tide hadn't risen yet, waiting any longer to return to the boat might be risky.
Zhou Chenglei tied up the bags of sea cucumbers on the beach with ropes and carried them with a hoe, holding the hoe handle with one hand and a bamboo chair and wooden board with the other.
He first loaded all these items onto the boat, then returned to the beach to carry Jiang Xia aboard.
Together with Zhou Fu, they hoisted the massive piece of sandalwood onto the boat.
Zhou Mu and Tian Caihua also lent a hand, and after a while, they finally managed to get the enormous log onto the boat.
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As they were hoisting the giant log, the tide was slowly rising.
After getting the log onto the boat, Zhou Chenglei set sail and left.
Zhou Fu and Zhou Mu stayed behind to clean the log.
Tian Caihua also helped with the cleaning.
The cleaner it was, the more money they could get for it, so they were determined to scrub it spotless.
Jiang Xia, feeling hungry, sat down to eat.
The log was almost clean, and the scent it emitted, now free from the smell of seaweed mud, was even more pleasant.
This time, they had ventured to a more distant sea area, and it took over two hours to sail back to the dock.
It was the time when fleets returned, and the dock was as bustling as ever.
After docking the boat, Zhou Chenglei first took Jiang Xia home, as he needed to go back and drive the tractor to transport the log home.
Zhou Fu and Zhou Mu stayed at the dock to sell the fish.
The boats of the first and second wives, as well as Zhou Yongguo and Zhou Kangping, had also returned and were still at the dock. They could help move the fish to the acquisition point for sale.
Zhou Bingqiang couldn't help but laugh when he saw the large log on their boat, "Yongfu, you brought back such a huge piece of wood. Are you planning to cultivate mushrooms with it?"
Zhou Fu replied with a proud face, "You're right! I did bring this wood back to cultivate mushrooms, and not just any mushrooms, but golden ear fungus, the kind that's worth its weight in gold!"
Some villagers joked, "Yongfu, did you run out of firewood at home? If you need some, come and get some from my place! I have plenty of wood. Why bother with the trouble of scavenging for firewood in the ocean? It's so heavy; you'll lose money on fuel costs!"
"Didn't you just finish building a new house? There should be lots of leftover wood from the floorboards. Isn't that enough?"
"Haha, you're right! My family lacks 'wealth', especially so. We don't have enough, so the sea sent us 'wealth'! When we burn this wood, it will be a fiery red fortune!"
On the first trip to the sea in the new year, they found a massive piece of firewood, which Zhou Fu considered an excellent omen! The coming year would be filled with abundant firewood and wealth, a year of fiery prosperity!
Li Father directly jumped onto Zhou's boat, leaned in to smell the giant log, and looked at Zhou Fu in disbelief, "In-law, did you find a piece of sandalwood?"
He couldn't believe it at first, but the scent was unmistakable!
Zhou Fu laughed and said, "You're right, in-law! Today, while beachcombing, Xia's wife accidentally discovered this giant log on the beach, and it turned out to be sandalwood!"
Zhou Bingqiang: "..."
Li Father: "..."
"You found it while beachcombing?" Li Father couldn't help but ask.
Zhou Fu smiled, "Yes!"
Li Father: "..."
If he had known, he would have gone beachcombing too!
Tian Caihua's heart sank as she realized that she had missed the opportunity. She had been collecting sea cucumbers next to the log and hadn't recognized it as sandalwood.
She wished someone else felt the same regret: "Yes! It was just lying on the beach, and we saw it as soon as we got off the boat. We didn't know it was sandalwood. It was Xia who sat next to the log and noticed the scent. It was you, in-law, who recognized it as sandalwood at first sight."
If one person felt regret, they all should feel it too! She felt like she had missed out on a million-dollar opportunity!
Didn't Li Xiu's father used to work at a wood factory?
If he had gone beachcombing too, he would have recognized it as sandalwood right away, wouldn't he?
(End of Chapter)
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