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Chapter 657: Tide Pooling
Chapter 657: Tide Pooling
Zhou Ying was the first to notice her father's return and excitedly exclaimed, "Dad! I'm taking Sister Ruan tide pooling!"
Zhou Ying now referred to Ruan Tang as Sister Ruan.
Zhou Chengsen smiled at his daughter, "Good, have you eaten?"
"Just finished. Grandma saved some food for you, remember to eat it!"
"Okay."
Ruan Tang glanced at him; the wind was strong today, messing up his hair. He always smiled gently at his daughter, softening his rugged features.
Zhou Chengsen met Ruan Tang's gaze, his smile still warm, "Dr. Ruan, it's been a while."
Their eyes met, and Ruan Tang's heart fluttered slightly. She quickly looked away, "I have tomorrow off, so I thought I'd come tide pooling with my colleagues. I happened to run into Xia Xia in the city and came with them. I hope I'm not intruding."
So he felt it had been a long time too?
They hadn't seen each other for a month.
This month, Ruan Tang found herself thinking about him often, wanting to see him. When her colleagues mentioned wanting to go tide pooling at the beach, she decided to come along.
She, who usually kept to herself, rarely initiated activities with her colleagues.
On her days off, when her colleagues organized outings to go shopping, watch movies, or hike, she would decline, preferring to stay in her small apartment, read a book, or cook something to comfort her tired body from work.
She wanted to see him and confirm her feelings.
Zhou Chengsen smiled, "Not at all, you're welcome to come tide pooling anytime."
Ruan Tang's heart fluttered again, and she softly replied, "Thank you."
Two nurses then appeared, pulling Zhou Zhou out.
Zhou Zhou called out to his uncle, and they greeted him with smiles, "Hello, Zhou Zhou."
Zhou Chengsen smiled and nodded, "Hello, you're welcome to come with Dr. Ruan anytime. Bring your colleagues and friends too. I'll take you if I'm free. The beach here is rich with seafood."
The nurses laughed, "Don't worry, we'll come often! We won't be shy!"
Zhou Chengsen chuckled, "You don't need to be."
Zhou Ying interjected, "Dad, stop talking! We're going tide pooling! It'll be dark soon!"
Everyone laughed.
Zhou Chengsen chuckled, "Go ahead, be careful and don't go into deep water."
"Got it! Do you still treat me like a kid? I'm all grown up!"
Zhou Chengsen sighed, remembering how he had taught her to be brave and face everything as she grew up. She often quoted this back to him.
"Let's go, Sister Ruan, Nurse Sister!"
The three were pulled away by the children.
Influenced by the adults, the Zhou family children were very hospitable and enthusiastic to their guests.
After walking a few dozen meters with Zhou Ying, Ruan Tang looked back.
Zhou Chengsen was pushing his bicycle into the yard.
She wondered if he would join them later.
Zhou Chengsen parked his bicycle.
Zhao Cheng Lei came out of the garage with his tide pooling tools.
"We're eating first. The food is in the pot, keep it warm."
"Alright, I'll join you later."
Zhao Cheng Lei called to Jiang Xia inside, "Xia Xia, are you ready?"
Jiang Xia had just changed the children's diapers and replied, "Coming!"
She then told her daughter, "You and the grandparents will go to the beach later. I'll collect some large clams for you to eat."
She would eat them and pass the nutrients through her milk to the children, so it was as if they were eating them too.
Zhou Fu and Zhou Mu spent little time with the children, only holding them when they weren't sleeping or working. They would soon return to the capital city.
The elderly couple had many grandchildren and granddaughters, all raised by them. Only the triplets, whom they might see once a month, required careful identification each time to tell them apart.
It was their youngest son and his wife who had given birth to the triplets, so naturally, they were especially cherished. If it weren’t for the fact that they were still nursing, the grandparents would have insisted on keeping the triplets at home to raise themselves.
Zhou Mu reminded them, "Lei, bring a few more shovels. There have been a lot of sandworms on the mudflats lately."
Grandpa and Second Uncle's wife also went to the beach to forage.
Grandma didn’t join them; digging for sandworms was too hard on her back.
She and Zhou Fu took the children for a walk along the beach.
Soon, everyone was out, except for Zhou Chengsen, who hadn’t eaten yet.
It wasn’t a major tide today, but there were still quite a few people foraging on the mudflats.
Probably because of the abundance of sandworms.
To dig for sandworms, you had to know how to identify their eyes.
Zhao Cheng Lei taught Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang, "You can tap the sand with the shovel, and the sandworm eyes will spray water. The same goes for clams."
Zhao Cheng Lei demonstrated by striking the sand heavily with his shovel, and a couple of small holes immediately started to spurt water.
The surface of the mudflats was slightly damp, so digging for sandworms involved digging holes and filling them with water.
"When digging for sandworms, use the sand to surround the hole and block the water from flowing in. Follow the sandworm’s burrow as you dig..." Zhao Cheng Lei dug while explaining.
After about seven or eight strikes, he finally saw the head or tail of a sandworm, which Jiang Xia couldn’t distinguish.
"You can’t pull the sandworm too hard, or it will break. It’s best to pull and release, making it less alert, and then yank it out quickly." Zhao Cheng Lei bent down, reached into the hole, and pulled out the sandworm by its tail.
Jiang Xia watched as he dropped the finger-length, flesh-colored sandworm into the bucket.
Knowing that Jiang Xia was afraid of these creatures, he didn’t give her one.
Nurse Li said, "It looks like a roundworm from a human stomach!"
Jiang Xia: "..."
Nurse Su: "Hey, can you use a different word? You’re making it sound so disgusting. How are we supposed to keep digging?"
"I’m just being accurate!"
In those days, raising children wasn’t as refined as it is now. They didn’t wash their hands before eating, and they often ate food that had been nibbled on by flies, so many children had roundworms.
People often came to the village to sell flower tower candy to help children get rid of worms.
Zhao Cheng Lei told them, "If you don’t want to dig for sandworms, you can go over there and rake for snails. Some people are already doing that."
Zhou Ying couldn’t dig for sandworms; they were too deeply buried and required a shovel. She said to Ruan Tang, "Sister Ruan, Nurse, let’s go over there and collect snails!"
Zhou Zhou: "I don’t want to dig for sandworms either."
The two nurses quickly agreed, "Sure! Let’s go collect snails!"
They didn’t want to dig for sandworms either.
Jiang Xia stayed behind and dug for sandworms with Zhao Cheng Lei.
Zhao Cheng Lei asked her, "Aren’t you scared?"
Jiang Xia: "Don’t underestimate me. I’m not afraid of anything except snakes!"
Zhao Cheng Lei laughed, "Digging for these is tiring. You should go collect snails."
"No, I’ve never dug for sandworms before."
Jiang Xia had eaten sandworms before and found them quite tasty.
She liked them.
Zhao Cheng Lei let her try: "Wear gloves, or your hands will get blisters."
Jiang Xia put on the gloves and started tapping the sand with the shovel to find sandworm eyes.
Once she found one, she began digging.
Digging for sandworms wasn’t easy; they were deeply buried, making it a lot of work.
After about seven or eight strikes, she finally saw a sandworm retreating into its hole.
Jiang Xia: "You pull it out."
Zhao Cheng Lei squatted down to help.
Zhou Chengsen finished eating and came over. Seeing his wife and husband digging for sandworms, he didn’t disturb them and walked toward his daughter.
But as he got closer, his expression changed: "Come back!" (End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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