Li Suisui thought about some novels she had read about “spiritual eyes,” and unconsciously attributed her own special abilities to that category.
Excited, she hurried forward. The crab she had seen earlier was a good size—she needed to catch it before it got away.
The biggest danger in catching crabs was getting pinched, but with her spiritual-eye-like awareness, she didn’t fear it at all.
She carefully dug around the crab from behind in the sand, then swiftly and decisively grabbed it by its back.
Even as the crab thrashed, it couldn’t harm her in the slightest.
She weighed the crab in her hand and smiled broadly. “Not bad, this one should weigh about four taels.”
Placing it into her bucket, she continued her search.
In the two-foot-deep water ahead, a fish weighing three to four jin swam gracefully.
Looking at her small arms and legs, she quickly gave up on it.
The water already reached her thighs, and the fish was far too agile—she wouldn’t be able to catch it. For now, she could only grab stranded seafood.
Scanning the nearby shallow water, she spotted a plump geoduck poking its head above the sand about a hundred meters away.
A geoduck! Both in her past life and now, it was a highly valuable seafood.
Excited, she dashed over and dug it out from the sand.
“Excellent! This geoduck is at least four jin—I should get a good price for it.”
Her actions quickly drew the attention of other coastal gatherers.
“Look! It seems Erzhu’s eldest daughter has found a geoduck!”
“Really? Let’s go take a look!”
Soon, Li Suisui was surrounded by a crowd.
Some praised her luck; others asked where she had found the geoduck.
Wang Xiulian and Li Niannian, hearing the commotion, ran over as well.
“Suisui, you really found a geoduck?”
“Hehe, yes, Mother! Look—here it is. Not small at all!”
Wang Xiulian’s previous gloom lifted, replaced by a rare bright laugh. “Haha! It’s really big. Suisui, you’re so lucky today.”
Following her mother’s lead, the crowd echoed the praise, asking Li Suisui to point out the location so they could try their luck too.
Li Suisui couldn’t just reveal her best spots. She gave vague directions, then used the excuse of going to town to sell the geoduck to escape the crowd.
“Sister, it’s still early. Why don’t we look some more? With your luck, maybe we could find another geoduck.”
Li Suisui had already scanned the area—within a 500-meter radius, there was no more high-value seafood. Perhaps further away there could be more, but with so many villagers around, someone else would likely snatch it before she could. Better to be satisfied with what she had.
She shook her head. “One shouldn’t be greedy. I’m already happy with today’s geoduck. Besides, with so many people following me earlier, even if I went further, I might not get anything.
Oh, and I also caught a large crab—it should fetch a good price too. Look.”
“Wow, that’s a big crab!”
Li Suisui glanced at Wang Xiulian’s bucket. “Mother, what did you catch?”
“We picked up two small fish, five shrimp, and two little squid in the shallow water. I’ll make a soup for you when we get home.”
“Oh, I love your mixed seafood soup the most, Mother.”
The three of them laughed and returned home. Li Suisui changed into clean clothes and ate a few bites, then set off again with her small bucket.
At home, Lin Erzhu had already roughly estimated the value of the geoduck and crab. Both were in good condition; he believed they could sell for around 200 copper coins together.
Reassured, Li Suisui felt more confident. She didn’t want to walk all the way to town, so she stopped at the entrance of Gaojia Village to see if she could catch the ox cart from yesterday.
Her luck held—soon, Gao Laosan drove the cart out of Gaojia Village.
Li Suisui waved, and the cart quickly stopped in front of her.
“Little lady, are you going to town again today?”
“Yes, I am.”
Once the cart halted, Li Suisui climbed aboard.
Gao Laosan glanced at her bucket. “Goodness! A geoduck and a big crab. Little lady, you just sold a grouper yesterday, and today you’re bringing these high-value seafood. Who in your family is so lucky to catch such treasures?”
“Uncle Gao, if I told you I caught them myself, would you believe me?”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I? You’re clearly blessed. You even met someone like Lord Xie. Catching some seafood is nothing for you.”
“Uncle, is Lord Xie really that impressive? Why do you all treat him with such respect?”
“You don’t know?”
“Not really.”
“Well, then I’ll tell you. Lord Xie is the fifth son of the Xie family head, born to a concubine. Normally, he shouldn’t have been entrusted with managing the family, but in the end, the authority went to him.”
“Why? Is it because the Xie family head favored concubines over the wife?”
“What are you talking about? If Lord Xie had risen through favoritism, would the whole town respect him so much?”
“Then how did it happen?”
“Lord Xie earned it through his own talent. The Xie family head treats all sons equally, whether born to the wife or concubine. Lord Xie fought for his position through skill alone.
I still remember the management contest three years ago. Lord Xie not only excelled in business but also in fishing. He outperformed his brothers in every way.”
“Management contest? The sons of the Xie family have to compete for authority?”
“Of course! The family head devised it to select the best manager.”
Listening to Gao Laosan, Li Suisui’s impression of Xie Guoyuan improved even further.
A concubine-born son who didn’t slack off, gaining authority at seventeen, running the family business more successfully than even the family head himself—no wonder he was a star worth admiring.