89: Food from Hell

Yang Dad and Mom also thought what Yang Qi said made sense. There was no reason to leave expensive sea cucumbers and abalones untouched to pick up some "cheap goods."

The two poured all the various conchs and oysters they had just picked into one fish basket. They carried another basket and started looking for sea cucumbers and abalones.

The harvest in shallow water areas was definitely not as good as in deep water areas. But some abalones could also be found on those reefs.

"Dad, don't pry off the small ones, we only want the large ones."

"Keep the small, take the large? Okay! I understand."

"Mainly because the small ones aren't worth much! Ha ha ha." Yang Qi replied with a laugh.

"The small ones aren't worth much? Then don't bother! In our hometown now, when they host banquets, they use abalones, I heard they're less than 10 yuan each. We should sell them even cheaper!"

Yang Dad suddenly felt that small abalones weren't so appealing anymore.

Yang Qi secretly found it amusing. He certainly didn't tell Yang Dad that the abalones served at banquets in their hometown were basically farmed. These, however, were wild, and the price was different.

After taking Bai Xue to Mom, Yang Qi took the oysters and various conchs Yang Dad had just pried off. He brought them back to setting sail and settled them.

He then decided to explore the resources around the island by himself.

The entire island seemed to be surrounded by reefs. Yang Qi drove the rubber boat, using his ability to navigate through the reef-filled areas, constantly circling around.

The underwater resources made him exclaim in admiration. Countless fish swam around the reef piles.

The seabed also hid countless crabs, lobsters, and other crustaceans. Various conchs, abalones, and sea cucumbers thrived in this sea area.

Mainly, this sea area was far enough from the coastline, about 180 nautical miles, almost reaching the open sea.

In addition, the island itself was not large, and it was surrounded by countless reefs and intricate, dimly visible submerged reefs.

These all became a protective umbrella for the creatures living in this sea area, preventing boats from approaching.

It could be said that apart from Yang Qi, who could see the underwater environment, basically no one could enter this area.

This was an undeveloped virgin land.

Yang Qi really couldn't resist the temptation of the large abalones on the seabed reefs. He dived again and pried off two net bags full of large abalones. Only then did he reluctantly leave this area and continue exploring forward.

Arriving at the east side of the island, there was a cliff face, as if carved by a knife.

The rubber boat looked so tiny beneath the cliff.

Yang Qi suddenly discovered that the crevices in the opposite cliff were covered with dense, white, pumpkin seed-like things.

Saying they were like white pumpkin seeds was a bit inaccurate, because besides the white, slightly grooved head, a pinkish-brown columnar body was attached behind, like a skinned chicken neck.

"Barnacles!"

Yang Qi had seen similar barnacles at Chen Tianming's place. Locals called them 'Buddha's Hand.' He heard they were quite delicious.

However, these were distinctly different from those 'Buddha's Hand.'

He tried to pry them with his hand, but they were quite firmly attached and wouldn't come off.

Yang Qi took out a screwdriver and pried off dozens, planning to take them home to taste.

Yang Qi drove the rubber boat around the island once.

This sea area was definitely a good place to set traps. He would come back with equipment after the fishing season opened. He believed he would have a full harvest then.

Returning to the starting point, he found Bai Xue teaching his parents how to tie crabs. Sure enough, they had caught quite a few crabs under some shore-side reefs, including swimming crabs and flower crabs.

The three fish baskets beside them were also basically filled with various conchs, abalones, oysters, and crabs.

"Oh! It seems you guys had a good harvest!" Yang Qi also praised them.

"Yes! We searched all the nearby shallow water areas. We only picked up some large individuals. We couldn't go into deep water!"

"Also, the tools weren't great, some large abalones couldn't be pried off."

Yang Qi laughed: "It's okay, next time we'll prepare professional tools and go to the deep water area to fish properly. My harvest this time wasn't small either."

Saying that, he took out the bag containing the barnacles.

"Dad, Mom, these are called barnacles, also known as Buddha's Hand. They're said to taste good, let's try them when we get back."

Yang Dad and Mom curiously leaned over to look. They had never seen such a thing before.

"Can this thing be eaten? It looks so strange. Like a dog's paw."

Mom said with some suspicion.

Yang Qi explained with a smile: "Don't mind its strange appearance, it's incredibly delicious!"

"Yang Qi Ge, these aren't Buddha's Hand." Bai Xue also leaned over to look and said excitedly:

"Auntie is right, these are goose barnacles, also called 'dog paw conchs,' much more precious than Buddha's Hand."

"Some people compare them to 'delicacies from hell,'"

"Because they all grow on cliffs, making them very dangerous and difficult to harvest. And because their taste is extremely delicious, they are called: delicacies from hell!"

"Sometimes, even if you see them, you can't harvest them. A few years ago, a young man from the neighboring village died after falling while trying to harvest these goose barnacles."

"The price of larger goose barnacles should reach around two thousand yuan per jin."

After hearing Bai Xue's introduction, everyone was dumbfounded, clearly shocked. Such an unassuming thing actually cost 2,000 yuan per jin.

"Son, are there any more of these goose barnacles over there?" Yang Dad asked.

"There are, but our tools aren't good enough, it's hard to pry them off."

Yang Qi answered honestly.

"Take me to see, can we get some more?"

"Okay! You guys wait here for a bit, I'll take Dad to see."

Yang Qi restarted the thruster, taking Yang Dad towards the cliff on the east side.

The father and son struggled for a long time before prying off over ten jin. Looking at the dense goose barnacles,

Yang Dad couldn't help but sigh: "The tools really aren't up to the task! A screwdriver isn't suitable for prying this thing."

Yang Qi also nodded repeatedly in agreement:

"Next time we come, we must bring proper tools. I forgot them this time. Luckily, there was still a screwdriver in the toolbox on the boat, otherwise, we wouldn't have gotten anything."

"Let's go, don't let Mom and them wait too long!"

"Okay! Let's go!" Watching his son drive the rubber boat back and forth on the return journey.

Yang Dad remained silent. He secretly thought:

"It's a good thing that my son is capable, why bother with what he has or doesn't have!"

Soon, the two returned to the landing point. Yang Qi loaded all the harvest onto the rubber boat first, then took Bai Xue back to the fishing boat.

No other reason, it was because the rubber boat was too small and couldn't carry enough weight, Yang Qi was afraid it would capsize!

They transferred everyone and everything to the fishing boat in two trips.

The group began to sort these conchs, sea cucumbers, and abalones, putting them into fish baskets, covering them with net bags, and sinking them into the live fish tank to keep them alive.