Rebirth of a fishing village: starting from Hua Axiang in Jiehu Village

Zhao Dahai got into the mangrove, bent down and walked five or six meters. There was a small puddle. To be precise, it was just a little water but it just emerged from the mud. It was a little muddy. The sun had completely gone down. In the mangrove It was pitch black, and it would have been impossible for my sharp eyes to notice that there was a blue crab hiding here, its entire body buried in the mud. When the flashlight swept over, it just happened to reveal its two eyes, which gave off a faint blue light.

Zhao Dahai picked up the blue crab and looked at it. It was not very big, only half a catty. He got it for thirty or forty yuan.

ah? !

Is the tide rising? !

Zhao Dahai emerged from the mangrove forest and immediately noticed that the water level in the trench was rising. He stepped hard a few times, and the mud under his feet began to squeak out. The tide is really starting to rise. There are indeed blue crabs in the mangroves and there are more and more of them, but making money is more important than life. It is not advisable to stay here for a long time and you cannot be greedy. Once the water rises, all the mangroves will be submerged, especially at night, which is very dangerous.

Zhao Dahai quickened his pace and walked forward along the small ditch. In half an hour, he arrived at the small open space. He picked up the mud snails and sea melon seeds that had been packed in the net bag. The net bag containing blue crabs was hung on the pole, and he found a hoe with a hoe. There is a place to hide. There are so many blue crabs. We will definitely have to bring them back tomorrow. There is no need to go out quickly. Water has already appeared in the mangroves. You have to hurry up. As fast as you can at this time. Go as fast as you can.

Zhao Dahai emerged from the mangrove forest, gasping for air. His whole body was covered with sweat. The sea breeze blew over him and he couldn't help but shudder. When he shined a flashlight on his feet, he saw that the sea water had reached his ankles.

Zhao Dahai shook his head. He was a little careless and ignored the time while catching blue crabs. Don't look at the fact that the water is not high now but it will reach his knees in twenty minutes. In half an hour and forty minutes, the mangroves behind you will be submerged. Next time, you must be very alert and pay attention to the time. You will never be able to sail like this again. Only by being careful can you sail the ten thousand year boat.

Zhao Dahai stepped on the rising sea water and walked to the shore. He put down his burden and rested while waiting for the sea water to rise. Then he carefully washed the mud snails and sea melon seeds. He just wanted to walk into the village with his hands and lowered his head. I looked at the net bag containing blue crabs in my hand, and remembered that I had caught crabs and tiger fish a few days ago. I turned a corner and walked in the dark on a road rarely used by people, the village pier, this There must have been a lot of people there, so I had to avoid it. Someone must have seen the blue crabs they dug while passing by. It took almost an hour longer to walk along the trail, but I didn't meet anyone along the way.

Zhao Dahai saw his grandma Zhong Cuihua standing at the door dozens of meters away. He quickened his pace and walked into the yard without saying hello.

"What happened?!"

Zhong Cuihua closed the door casually.

He put down sea melon seeds and mud snails towards the sea, picked them from the net bag hanging on the pole and handed it to Zhong Cuihua.

"Yo!"

"That's a lot!"

Zhong Cuihua picked it up, looked down, and saw that the heavy bag was full of blue crabs.

Zhao Dahai walked into the kitchen, carried the kettle, took a bowl, poured water, drank two bowls in big gulps, and wiped the corners of his mouth.

"Hey!"

"Isn't this true?!"

"Seven or eight of them are one or two kilograms, and there are five or six that are smaller, but they are all over half a kilogram."

"It's estimated that no one has entered the mangroves for a long time."

"The blue crabs are really good in size and there are quite a lot of them."

Zhao Dahai was very happy. After a hard day's work, the harvest was good. Nothing could be better than this.

Zhao Dahai told Zhong Cuihua that he had left the mangrove forest early and had waited for the seawater to come up to wash the mud and sea flower seeds. Mainly to avoid people, he took a long detour and came back at this time. Zhong Cuihua has lived in a fishing village all her life and is very aware of the time of the tide. The tide has risen and she has not returned yet. She is worried that something will happen and is very nervous, so she stands at the door of the yard.

Zhong Cuihua nodded. She was really anxious just now. She must take a detour to avoid people. On the first day when entering the mangrove, Zhao Dahai must not have gone all the way. No one knows whether he will be able to go in in the next few days. Find some more blue crabs. Otherwise, I will be happy with the news. When the tide recedes tomorrow, I don’t know how many people will go to the mangroves.

Zhong Cuihua carefully put down the blue crabs and walked into the kitchen. The meals she had prepared earlier were placed on the table in the courtyard, and the steamed pork belly exuded a tangy aroma.

Zhao Dahai took the bamboo basket from which the water was drained, filled it with the sea melon seeds he picked out and washed them. He heated a large iron pan and put in the oil. He took two garlic sea melon seeds and poured them down. After five or six minutes, they all opened their mouths and poured them. I bought some soy sauce and salt, put them on the table together, and then started eating with Zhong Cuihua. After walking in the mangroves all day, my stomach was already growling with hunger, and I ate quickly. After eating two large bowls of rice and a few pieces of salty pork belly, he slowed down, reached out and grabbed a handful of sea melon seeds, and put them into his mouth one by one. Even though the meat was not big, it tasted so delicious that it almost touched his tongue. Swallow it in your stomach.

Zhong Cuihua ate her meal in small bites and looked up at Zhao Dahai from time to time.

Zhao Dahai finished his meal, rested for half an hour, and started working. He took a large iron basin and took out all the blue crabs in the mesh bag. He removed the vines, tied them again with ropes, and checked them again. Make sure there is no problem in tying them tightly. Blue crabs are very ferocious and have a strong sense of territory. If several blue crabs are put together, they will definitely fight. If the claws are removed with the pliers, they will not be able to sell at a good price. They must be tied well and firmly, and no mistakes can be made. . A dozen blue crabs can be sold for hundreds of dollars. You have to save money to repair the fishing boat, so you can't be careless.

Zhao Dahai walked into the kitchen, put water in a large iron pot with a diameter of one meter, and boiled the fire. He walked out of the yard, took two mesh bags containing mud snails and sea melon seeds, put them under the faucet, poured water, and washed the mangroves. , I specially washed it twice at the beach, and rinsed it again carefully. Although it could not be very clean, it was certainly not particularly dirty. First, I put the mud snails and then the sea melon seeds with the mesh bag directly into the large iron pot of boiling water. Inside, more firewood was added to make the fire even bigger. They were all opened, scooped up, put them in big iron basins, and brought them to the main room. Grandma had been planting green flowers for a long time, and the two of them started to pick out the mud and the flesh of sea melon seeds. Worked until two o'clock in the morning.

"grandmother."

"It's quite late."

"go to sleep."

"I can take care of the rest of the work."

Zhao Dahai had asked his grandma and Cuihua to go to bed two hours ago, but he didn't agree and had to help him.

Zhong Cuihua nodded.

Zhao Dahai helped Zhong Cuihua go to the back room to sleep. He waited until he lay down and turned off the lights before coming out and continuing his work.

I packed the shells of the mud snails and sea melon seeds, went outside the house, found a few dustpans and cleaned them. I spread out the meat of the mud snails and sea melon seeds and put them in the yard to dry.

Zhao Dahai finished all this before taking a shower. It was already four o'clock in the morning. As soon as he lay down and fell asleep, the roosters in the village had already begun to come and go to see who was louder.