Volume One, Chapter 12: Foraging by the Sea? What, you only eat fish and don't even know other seafood?

The next morning, Niu Er came carrying a bamboo basket to find Zhou Wu. Zhou Wu had been so excited the night before that he hardly slept. In his previous life, he often watched live streamers collecting seafood at low tide in short videos, so he was very interested in this kind of activity. He even stayed up all night making a clamp to catch blue crabs.

“Brother Wu, we have to hurry. If we’re slow, everything will be picked clean,” Niu Er urged anxiously at the door.

“Okay, okay,” Zhou Wu replied. Having never done this before, he could only follow Niu Er’s lead.

“Zhou Lang, I want to come too.”

“Sure.”

Just as the two were about to leave, Li Baiwei chased after them. She had heard Zhou Wu talk about this last night. She had been home alone all day lately and was feeling a bit bored, so she wanted to join. She expected Zhou Wu to refuse, but to her surprise, he agreed without hesitation.

Neither Zhou Wu nor Li Baiwei knew the way well, so they followed Niu Er. After walking for a while, Zhou Wu suddenly realized that the direction he had gone into the mountains before was actually the opposite side. No wonder he hadn’t noticed there was a coastline nearby.

Before reaching the shore, Zhou Wu’s mind was filled with images of gathering seafood, but when they arrived, he was stunned. Since he had traveled back in time, he had never seen so many people.

“There must be at least a hundred here. Has the whole village come?”

Zhou Wu stared blankly at the crowded shoreline.

“Brother Wu, didn’t I tell you? Today’s the monthly big low tide. The whole village counts on this day to catch something special.”

“Damn, then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

The three of them immediately joined the crowd combing the shore for seafood.

However, it wasn’t long before Zhou Wu noticed something strange. No one seemed to be picking up the oysters scattered all over the place. At first, he thought maybe everyone was tired of oysters, but seeing over a hundred people around and not a single one collecting oysters, that didn’t make sense. Oysters were a rare delicacy.

“Hey, Brother Wu, look! I caught a fish!” Niu Er called out happily from a small puddle ahead, holding a sea fish weighing about two pounds.

“Wow, Brother Niu, amazing!” Li Baiwei cheered beside him, but Zhou Wu still looked confused and voiced his question.

“Niu Er, do people in the village not eat oysters?”

“Oysters? What’s that?”

To Zhou Wu’s surprise, Niu Er didn’t even know what oysters were.

“This,” Zhou Wu said, pointing at the oysters clinging to the rocks.

“Brother Wu, you mean these ‘stone worms’? Can these things be eaten?”

Niu Er was even more puzzled. Could something that looked like a piece of stone be edible? Maybe Brother Wu was still dazed after falling from the tree last time.

“Damn it.”

It turned out they hadn’t grown tired of oysters—they simply didn’t know they could eat them. Starving while surrounded by such a delicacy was a real tragedy.

Amidst the astonished and bewildered looks of the others, Zhou Wu began gathering the huge oysters.

“Brother Wu, calm down! These ‘stone worms’ aren’t edible. Why are you picking them up?”

“Niu Er, tonight I’ll show you what real delicacy tastes like.”

Li Baiwei, curious as it was her first time at the beach and first time hearing about “stone worms,” thought that coming from a life of luxury, there was no delicacy in the world she hadn’t tried. She had never heard of these before, nor eaten them, so she figured they probably weren’t edible. But after spending a few days with Zhou Wu, she knew he wasn’t one to talk nonsense.

Soon, Zhou Wu’s basket was filled with oysters—each as big as a palm or even a shoe insole. He had only seen such specimens in videos before, nothing like the cheap three-for-ten-yuan street stall oysters.

“Next time, bring a small knife to open the oysters. Carrying them back with the shells is heavy and inconvenient.”

Zhou Wu’s basket was already full, waiting for Niu Er and Li Baiwei, but they seemed interested only in fish, ignoring other sea creatures completely.

Most of the day passed with little success after Niu Er’s initial two-pound catch. Then, Niu Er noticed a man not far away, whose fish hanging from his waist must have weighed at least ten pounds. The man was deliberately showing off in front of Niu Er, which annoyed him greatly.

“Hmph, what’s there to be proud of?”

“Exactly, we’ll catch a fish bigger than his for sure.”

Li Baiwei, still a young girl, couldn’t help but join in the teasing.

Suddenly, while Niu Er was feeling irritated and searching a puddle for fish, something attacked him. When he pulled his hand out of the water, a large blue crab was clamping down hard on it.

“Damn, am I that lucky?”

The blue crab was almost as big as Li Baiwei’s face. Niu Er wanted to crush it but was stopped by Zhou Wu just in time.

“Niu Er, don’t. This is a good catch.”

“Big brother, you’re telling me this sea spider thing is edible too?”

“Oh, it’s called a sea spider here, huh. That’s fitting. Niu Er, let me tell you, this is another rare delicacy.”

Zhou Wu took the large blue crab and put it into the basket. Without a rope, he pressed it down firmly with oysters to keep it from escaping.

Niu Er and Li Baiwei had grown somewhat accustomed to Zhou Wu’s eccentric choices and quietly stuck to just fish.

“Tide’s coming in, let’s go!”

Suddenly someone shouted. The people gathering seafood along the shore stood up, looked at the sea, and with reluctant expressions began heading back.

The tide rose swiftly. The mudflats that had been full of fish moments ago were now covered by the sea.

“Brother Wu, let’s head back. We did alright today—about ten pounds of fish.”

After the tide rose, there was no chance to gather more fish. Though Niu Er was a bit dissatisfied, there was nothing to be done.

“Brother Wu, let’s split the fish three ways. You and Baiwei take one portion each, and I’ll take one.”

“Here’s the deal: I’ll take those two fish, and you bring the rest home. Then go call your mother and sister over; we’ll have dinner at my place.”

Zhou Wu had already said earlier that he wanted to invite Niu Er to taste oysters and crabs that evening.

“Eat stone worms and sea spiders?”

Niu Er seemed worried whether they’d have enough to eat, but he didn’t want to offend Zhou Wu’s kindness, so he agreed. After all, the offer was sincere.

“There are fish too,” Zhou Wu reassured.

While Niu Er went home to fetch his mother and sister, Zhou Wu began preparing the meal.

“Zhou Lang, are these sea spiders and oysters really edible?”

“Don’t worry, I guarantee you’ll like them.”

Despite Zhou Wu’s assurance, Li Baiwei looked at the ugly creatures in the basket and couldn’t imagine how something so hideous could taste good.