Chapter 50 Soft Shell Crab
Chapter 50 Soft Shell Crab
"Brother, I am familiar with this area. You take a look around while I go into the water to put the cans." Chen Yongwei said as he quickly took off his clothes, rolled them up into a ball and stuffed them into the backpack, then picked up one end of the rope and was about to go into the water.
"Come back and take off your trousers before going." Li Changle said as he stood under a large protruding rock, put down his backpack and began to take off his trousers. "It would be great if we had a boat so we wouldn't have to go into the water."
Chen Yongwei walked under the rock and said, "Brother, you are really particular. I never brought pants to change into before when I went into the water. In such a hot day, they dried up in a short time after I put them on."
Li Changle glanced at him and said, "Silly boy, you are young and hot-tempered now, so of course you can't feel any discomfort. When you are older and get rheumatism, you will know how serious it is."
There are many old fishermen in the fishing village. Due to being in a damp and cold environment for a long time, they have suffered from rheumatism. Not only is it painful, but the older ones even have difficulty in moving.
"I know about rheumatism. I heard that the pain is very unbearable and you can't even walk. I don't want to get that disease."
Chen Yongwei took off his trousers and revealed his red floral briefs. It looked like he went to the sea frequently, and even the skin on his thighs was tanned like a loach.
Li Changle pointed at him and laughed, "You show-off guy, why are you wearing such flowery pants?"
Chen Yongwei looked down and grinned, "What are you afraid of? I'm not wearing it outside!"
Li Changle smiled and nodded, "Yeah! As long as you like it." After all this time, it turned out that this guy was a man who looked honest on the outside but was actually a coquettish and shy person on the inside.
The two men each pulled one end of the rope and went into the water. When they reached waist-deep, they dived into the water. After swimming about a hundred meters, they thrust the bamboo pole firmly into the mud and sand under the water and secured it.
The lead weights at both ends of the fishing rope sank, and the plastic can floating on the sea surface bubbled. After the can was filled with water, it sank to the bottom of the sea.
He swam to the side for a while and put another fishing rope full of plastic cans into the water.
The two men went ashore naked, wearing only their trousers. Li Changle saw two arm-sized conchs on the beach and happily went forward to pick them up.
The conch is a shellfish belonging to the family Conchidae, class Gastropoda. Its Chinese name is the long conch, and some people call it horn conch, large horn conch, or large conch.
Conch shells are relatively large, with a layer of earth-brown velvety shell on the surface. Many ancient ethnic groups used large conch shells as horns, the most common of which was the large conch.
The giant conch has more meat and tastes delicious.
In Li Changle's previous life, he went to a barbecue restaurant with the captain, and his favorite dish was charcoal-grilled conch.
The owner of the barbecue restaurant uses a variety of ingredients such as peppercorns, diced fat, ginger, green onions, and rice wine to grill the meat. After it is cooked, the juice inside bubbles and sizzles.
The delicious flavor of the snail meat is released after being grilled over charcoal, and it makes your mouth water.
The roasted snail meat is fresh, fragrant and has a long aftertaste, which contrasts sharply with the tenderness and sweetness of the blanched conch.
"Brother, the gong maker charges fifty cents for each one."
"I won't sell it. I'll take it back and eat the meat. I'll give the shells to Xiaohai and Xiaozhou to play with."
"If we want to give them something to play with, we need to grind off the yellow layer to reveal the milky white shells."
"Go back and do it slowly."
Li Changle returned to the big rock and quickly put on his clothes. Chen Yongwei also came back.
At this time, the heavy rain had stopped and the sunset glow had appeared. The rain during a typhoon is like this, coming and going quickly, and it is also a sign of the approaching typhoon. "Brother, how many octopuses do you think will live in these two hundred jars?"
"I don't know, I'd be happy if I got half of it."
"Half of them have 100 of them. Those who row out to sea to lower earthenware jars only have 40 or 50 at most. They say that sometimes most of the jars have goods in them."
Li Changle put the sack into the backpack and looked at the plastic can floating on the water in the distance. After it was filled with sea water, it sank to the bottom of the sea.
"That's even better. If half of these two hundred jars are occupied by octopuses, he can go buy a few hundred more tomorrow and fill the entire reef beach with jars."
"Then we can earn several yuan every day just by collecting cans!" Chen Yongwei admired him very much, "Brother, no wonder everyone says you are smart, look at those people who didn't think of using plastic cans."
'That's because those people, unlike your brother, have lived an extra life!'
Li Changle looked at the honest guy, thought about it and warned: "After you collect the jars, no matter what you get, don't tell outsiders, understand?"
"I know, those people are like green-headed flies, they will follow as long as there is a little profit to be made." Chen Yongwei put the bamboo hat in the backpack and picked up the bucket, "Brother, let's put the backpack here and go to the puddle to have a look."
"okay!"
The two men got a stone and put it in the backpack, then walked towards the shallow puddle behind the rock. The water in the big puddle was too deep and they could not see anything at all.
When they reached a shallow puddle, Li Changle saw a green shrimp and was about to catch it with a scoop net. But before he could do anything, Chen Yongwei pulled him back.
He pointed excitedly at the stone in the puddle, "Brother, look there."
Li Changle looked in the direction he pointed and saw the blue crabs next to the stone. "Fuck! A pair of blue crabs. Hurry up and grab them with your pliers. They will hide under the stone and will be hard to catch later."
"Oh oh!" Chen Yongwei went into the water with pliers and walked to the rock. He saw two crab shells at a glance. He picked them up and turned back excitedly and shouted, "Haha, brother, these are two crabs that have just shed their shells."
"Great! We are lucky to have met each other. When I found the yellowfin croaker, I had a feeling that we would catch something good today!"
Li Changle didn't even bother to catch the prawn, and went over to take the crab shell from his hand, "Hahaha! We're still a pair, something that only happens once in a thousand years has happened to us... What fucking luck! "
He searched all the words in his mind and came up with this sentence. He felt that it was because of his lack of culture that none of them could accurately describe the excitement he was feeling at that moment.
Crabs molt 13 times in their lifetime, growing a little bigger each time. They also shed their gills, food sacs and internal organs at the same time.
After molting, the crab is soft all over and without a trace of dirt. The meat of the soft-shell crab is extremely tender and delicate, and you can eat it with the shell.
Soft-shell crabs are precious because they are hard to come by, mainly because their new shells are only soft for a few hours and gradually harden after being in the water for several hours.
"Brother, they have retreated back into the cave." Chen Yongwei looked at the excited Li Changle, pointed at the stone with pliers, and poured a basin of cold water on his head.
"...You, you, you bastard!" Li Changle was glad that he was still young and did not have high blood pressure, otherwise, after being treated like this by him, his blood vessels would most likely burst.
He raised the crab shell in his hand angrily, "This thing is dead and can't run away. Why don't you pick it out first before asking me to see the crab shell?"
Chen Yongwei looked at him frustratedly, "I was so happy that I just wanted to share it with you!"
(End of this chapter)