After the bonfire barbecue, the five fairies sat on the soft sand, drinking wine and chatting about the interesting aspects of life, their laughter frequent.
They hadn't eaten much at the barbecue, it was more for the atmosphere. Everyone saved room for the late-night snacks.
It was the thirteenth day of the lunar calendar today, and the tide wouldn't start rising until past ten o'clock. Although it wasn't a significant low tide, it had exposed several dozen meters of tidal flats and reefs.
At nine in the evening, Chen He and Liu Dehui, wearing headlamps and carrying buckets, were on the beach catching the main ingredient for their late-night snack: sand crabs. With two previous experiences, they were confident in their harvest.
Li Haochen had also brought all his gear, but his target was the tidal flats and reefs below the beach.
Wearing thick-soled water shoes, Li Haochen could fearlessly venture into the tidal flats and reef areas.
To have any luck in these areas, one had to search under the rocks. Of course, not all rocks had treasures. You had to look for those with small tidal pools or caves underneath. Also, don't focus solely on the large rocks; often, things found under smaller stones would surprise you more.
"Got something, hehe!"
Li Haochen moved a basketball-sized reef rock, and underneath, in the tidal pool, he saw a sleeping swimming crab, of a decent size.
He opened his iron tongs, slowly approached the center, then quickly pushed and clamped, tossing it into the bucket. The swimming crab was immediately startled awake, its two tiny, red bean-sized eyes standing straight up. Terrified, it immediately raised its two large claws, ready to defend itself, its eight legs splayed as it moved, its gaze never leaving Li Haochen.
Li Haochen smiled, turned his head, and shone his light towards a nearby reef. Just as he was about to reach for it, Murong Yanran walked up from behind. She looked at the crab in the bucket with a flashlight. "It's so small, there's no meat to eat."
"Why are you here? Don't get your clothes dirty."
"It's okay, I'm wearing the water shoes you bought."
"This is called a swimming crab. This size is considered large, and its meat is firm and sweet."
Li Haochen continued searching while explaining. Murong Yanran was like a diligent, model student, asking questions about everything she found curious. Li Haochen was like a marine encyclopedia, knowledgeable and eloquent, which completely captivated her.
"Ooh, a little octopus! ... Yanran, come here, I'll catch a fun pet for you."
Octopuses are also called蛸, and they are divided into true octopuses and common octopuses. True octopuses are more common in southern China, while common octopuses are concentrated in the north. The small octopuses that people eat in live streams online are common octopuses.
Large octopuses are usually made into dried products, called "dried eight-legged octopus" or "dried octopus." They also have the function of nourishing blood, invigorating qi, astringing, and promoting tissue regeneration. Therefore, in southern China, during the postpartum confinement period, octopus, papaya, and peanut soup is stewed and consumed.
Li Haochen crouched down and flipped over a reef rock about the size of a washbasin with his hands. A small octopus, about the size of a thumb, was attached to the bottom of the rock. Its eight little appendages twitched slightly. The bright light of the headlamp disoriented it, and it immediately lifted its little claws to burrow into the tidal pool below.
Li Haochen wouldn't allow that. He quickly reached out, pinched its head, and pulled it out. It immediately began to gently wrap its eight arms around him, the sensation quite interesting, like being sucked.
Cute things always attract girls; this is an eternal law. Upon seeing it, Murong Yanran's face lit up with a radiant smile. She quickly transferred the little octopus to her hand. Looking at the adorable little creature, she immediately turned and walked towards the beach, likely to share this joy.
As expected, not long after, melodious laughter could be heard from the beach.
After Murong Yanran left, Li Haochen continued to search for various treasures. Every living creature escaped his grasp: small sea anemones, mantis shrimp, small white eels, and even red worms in the mud.
Seeing that he had collected quite a few species, Li Haochen glanced towards the shore, turned off his headlamp, and plunged into darkness. It was pitch black, very safe, and then he smoothly slipped into his space, discarded his catch into the sea, and quickly emerged.
He turned on his headlamp and continued searching. After more than an hour, Li Haochen had made five trips to deposit marine life. What made him happiest was sending in over a dozen small green crabs and seven or eight gobies. There were also many swimming crabs and stone crabs. Although the numbers were not large, after half a year in his space, they could reproduce. Year after year, the population would become very large, like a money-printing machine. Of course, this was all contingent on him being able to find them in the vast, boundless ocean of his space.
He searched for a while longer. Seeing that the seawater had already reached his ankles, Li Haochen picked up his catch and walked back. The tide was rising quickly; in less than twenty minutes, it had reached the edge of the beach.
Li Haochen placed the bucket on the edge of the beach, washed the black mud clinging to his hands and feet with seawater, and then carried his haul back to the campsite.
"How was your harvest?"
"Not bad, hehe!"
"Holy crap, you call this 'not bad'?"
"Let me see, wow..."
Chen He and Liu Dehui were startled by the full bucket of crabs. Looking at the seven or eight sand crabs they had managed to scrape up after nearly two hours of effort, they felt an urge to jump into the sea and feed the fish.
Li Haochen took a sip of water, preparing to start cooking the sand crab porridge. He walked over to pick up their bucket, and upon seeing the meager number of sand crabs, a dark line appeared on his face.
"Ahem, well, there weren't many sand crabs tonight. I guess someone might have visited this island."
"Yes, yes, that must be it."
The two of them, speaking in unison, put their arms around each other and walked off whistling.
"Those two unreliable guys. Alright, if no sand crab porridge, then seafood porridge it is."
The crabs in the bucket had already been washed clean with seawater. A few large spoonfuls of fresh water were added to rinse them before they could be put into the pot. Li Haochen poured all the crabs into the large iron pot and picked out a few of the largest green crabs and a dozen or so sand shrimp to make the porridge.
A few minutes later, a rich seafood aroma attracted everyone who was playing cards. Seeing a large pot of bright red crabs and a fragrant seafood porridge, they couldn't resist. They grabbed them with gusto and started eating.
Seafood, seafood, it's all about the freshness. Straight from the water, without any fancy cooking techniques, the most primitive and direct methods allow you to taste that freshness.
Everyone ate without any regard for their image, licking their lips and sucking their fingers, their stomachs stuffed.
While everyone was resting on the ground, drinking tea to aid digestion, Chen He and Liu Dehui walked over carrying two large bags.
"Fairies, we're going to set off fireworks, hehe!"
"Fireworks?"
The girls' interest was immediately piqued, and Xie Baolian was no exception.
Chen He laid out all the fireworks: sparklers, sky rockets, aerial shells, and a whole lot more.
The most popular among them were the sparklers, colorful and close at hand.
Murong Yanran picked up two sparklers and pulled Li Haochen to a distance. After lighting them, they each held one and happily twirled, like dancing angels. When they burned out, she walked over, hugged Li Haochen's neck, and smiled, "Beautiful?"
Before Li Haochen could answer, Murong Yanran kissed him.
A kiss that made the stars drunk!