Chapter 548: Candy
Chapter 548: Candy
As Tian Caifua rushed over, she saw Jiang Xia picking up a large shell.
Although it was just a shell, it was big and beautiful. If she wasn't mistaken, this was one of the four famous shells, the Treasure Shell.
Jiang Xia wasn't sure, so she placed it in a bucket to avoid damaging it.
Tian Caifua ran closer, and Jiang Xia asked her, "Sister-in-law, what kind of shell is this?"
"It's a Treasure Shell. Many people like to buy these to display in their homes, saying they bring wealth and good fortune. Yours is so big, it should be worth quite a bit. But don't sell it; keep it at home!" Tian Caifua glanced at the contents of the burlap bag and her eyes widened. "You really have good luck! You found so many Trumpet Shells."
Jiang Xia smiled. "There should be more. You can look around too."
Tian Caifua quickly walked away.
Jiang Xia continued walking and soon found a cluster of Red Shells.
These shells were delicious!
Jiang Xia used both hands to pick up seven or eight Red Shells and put them in the burlap bag.
She also found a Pearl Oyster.
Tian Caifua couldn't help but say, "This can't be one of our Pearl Oysters, right?"
After saying that, she spat for good measure. "Spit, spit, spit... It definitely isn't!"
"..."
Jiang Xia looked at the Pearl Oyster, which was covered in algae and other debris. "No, our Pearl Oysters are regularly cleaned. They wouldn't be this dirty."
Tian Caifua took a closer look. "You're right! I gave them a bath just half a month ago. They wouldn't be this dirty. This one is wild! I wonder if it has a pearl? It looks pretty old."
"I don't know", Jiang Xia replied and continued walking, picking up a couple more Red Shells.
A few more and she'd have enough for a meal!
Jiang Xia scanned the area.
Tian Caifua saw a large lump in a pile of seaweed and ran over, picking up an Ornate Shell!
Jiang Xia glanced at it and smiled. "Sister-in-law, you have good luck!"
"I'm just following your good fortune! This shell isn't as valuable as yours, but it has meat inside", Tian Caifua said with a grin.
Jiang Xia continued walking and found a few more Red Shells partially hidden under the seaweed.
She gathered them all up!
Ha, today's happiness was indeed brought by the shells.
Onward!
Today, there were many shells, mostly Red Shells and Spicy Shells, with a few Wheeled Shells as well.
...
Before she knew it, Jiang Xia had filled half a burlap bag.
The beach was getting busier, and the pile of shells was quickly divided among the people, who then moved over to this area.
The men weren't interested in the seaweed and went to look for other things to collect.
Most of the people who came over were women.
Jiang Xia took the opportunity to say, "If anyone picks up kelp and can't finish it, you can sell it to me. Unwashed kelp is five cents a pound, and cleaned kelp is ten cents a pound."
Someone immediately asked, "Do you want Coral Grass and Wakame?"
Jiang Xia shook her head. "No, just kelp."
She noticed that while there was a lot of kelp, there wasn't much of the other types, so she didn't want to bother with them.
Just kelp would do.
So the women focused on collecting kelp!
Cleaned kelp was ten cents a pound, and who wouldn't want to grab it?
Picking up ten pounds would earn them a day's worth of fishing net weaving.
With so much kelp now, picking up thirty or forty pounds would be a breeze.
The children were very enthusiastic, as ten cents meant a lot to them.
Jiang Xia walked the green beach, collecting half a burlap bag of shells and a few pounds of kelp, and decided to head back.
She glanced at where Zhao Cheng Lei was.
Zhao Cheng Lei and Zhou Chengsen were working together to retrieve the nets they had set up the previous night.
Jiang Xia walked over to them.
They quickly finished and Zhao Cheng Lei walked over to Jiang Xia, taking the bag of shells from her.
Jiang Xia looked at the contents of his bucket, which included some shells, prawns, and a few orchid crabs. She smiled and asked, "How many bags of shells did you collect?"
"Six."
"Good haul. Let's go home."
"Not going to collect more?"
"No, I'm afraid the children will wake up."
"Then let's go back."
The three of them walked up the beach, pulling the bags of shellfish on the cart.
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The Zhou Family
The triplets had woken up, and Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying were sitting in front of the stroller, playing with them.
Zhou Fu stood by the side, watching.
Zhou Mu was busy cooking in the kitchen.
Suddenly, a villager shouted from the courtyard, "Yongfu, are you home?"
Zhou Fu instructed Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying to watch over the younger siblings and then walked out, "I'm here. What's up?"
"My mom slipped in the courtyard just now and wants to borrow your tractor to take her to the clinic."
Zhou Fu replied, "Sure, no problem. I'll get the tractor right away."
Zhou Mu was washing rice and quickly asked, "How serious is it? How could she be so careless?"
"The courtyard has a lot of moss, and the ground is slippery after the rain. She slipped and fell, couldn't get up, and kept crying in pain. We tried to help her, but she couldn't stand. We don't know how serious it is, so we want to take her to the clinic."
"Can't stand up? That must hurt a lot! The courtyard should be cleaned regularly; otherwise, the moss will make it slippery. When you get older, you become more clumsy." Zhou Mu always kept the courtyard clean, especially when Jiang Xia was heavily pregnant, not daring to slack off for even half a day.
"I was just being lazy for a moment."
Zhou Fu took the keys and drove the tractor out from the backyard.
Zhou Youxing said, "Yongfu, I can't drive the tractor. Can you take us there?"
Zhou Fu glanced at Zhou Mu.
Only his wife was at home. Could she manage alone?
Zhou Mu said, "Go ahead! Xia and the others should be back soon. Zhou Zhou and Ying can help take care of the younger ones."
"Alright, I'll take a detour to call Lei and the others back."
Zhou Fu drove the tractor to help take them to the hospital.
Zhou Mu glanced back inside and saw Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying reading a picture book to the triplets.
The three children listened quietly, occasionally moving their limbs, their eyes following the pages as the sisters turned them.
Zhou Mu continued cooking.
After a while, Zhou Ying felt a bit thirsty and went to get a drink. Seeing the candy on the table, she felt like having some and took two pieces of White Rabbit Milk Candy, giving one to Zhou Zhou.
The two sisters talked to the triplets while eating their candy.
The triplets watched their sisters' mouths smacking.
Zhou Ying thought the younger siblings looked hungry and wanted some candy too.
With the candy in her mouth, Zhou Ying felt guilty for not sharing, so she said, "Should we feed the younger ones some candy too?"
Zhou Zhou replied, "But Auntie said they're too young, don't have teeth, and can't eat anything besides milk."
Zhou Ying said, "Eating candy doesn't require teeth. They can just lick it."
Zhou Zhou: "..."
"But can the younger ones eat candy?"
"These milk candies are made from milk. When they dissolve, they turn into milk. Why can't they eat it? Adults don't let us eat too much candy because it can rot our teeth. But the younger ones don't have teeth yet, so there's no worry. We can let them lick it. They look so hungry watching us eat. They might cry if they don't get any." Zhou Ying opened her mouth to show Zhou Zhou the melting candy: "See, it's just milk."
It seemed right, but something still felt off, and Zhou Zhou couldn't pinpoint what.
Zhou Ying took three more pieces of milk candy, unwrapped them, and held them to the younger sister's lips with her fingers, "We won't put them in their mouths. We'll just hold them and let them lick, so they don't choke. Like this."
Zhou Ying placed the candy on the younger sister's lips, and the little one's mouth started moving, first instinctively sucking, then more eagerly as she tasted the sweetness.
"See, the younger sister loves it."
Zhou Zhou thought the younger sister did love it and also held a piece of White Rabbit Milk Candy for the younger brother to lick.
After washing the vegetables, Zhou Mu felt something was off. It was too quiet.
Could the three little ones have been put to sleep by Zhou Zhou and the others?
She dried her hands and walked in to check.
(End of Chapter)
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