By the time Li Suisui and her sister returned from the old house, the sky had already darkened.
Wang Xiulian had been waiting on the little path.
“Suisui, why did it take you so long?”
Li Suisui couldn’t help but smile, recounting everything that had happened that day.
“That third aunt never behaved herself before the families split, and she still can’t behave now. Luckily, your grandparents have control over her—otherwise, she’d be completely unruly. Well, you must all be hungry; come inside and eat.”
Before night fully set in, the whole family gathered together and enjoyed a lively dinner.
At night, Li Suisui lay on the straw bed, listening to Li Niannian’s even breathing, slowly drifting off to sleep. Her mind was full of hopes that tomorrow would bring more good finds.
The next day, when they arrived at the beach, quite a few people had already come to gather seafood.
Some of them ran over to Li Suisui, chatting excitedly.
“Suisui, how much did the geoduck you found yesterday sell for?”
Li Suisui didn’t hide anything. “Two hundred wen.”
Upon hearing this, everyone inhaled sharply. Two hundred wen! That could buy over ten jin of pork, or dozens of jin of grain. How had they not been that lucky?
They continued chattering, asking Li Suisui where she found such good seafood.
She didn’t answer. Some cheeky ones tried to follow her closely, hoping to ride her luck.
Li Suisui was about to lose her patience when a clear, cheerful voice saved her.
“Ha ha! I caught a big crab!”
The sudden shout drew everyone’s attention away from her.
“Let us see! How big is it?”
“Look, at least four liang!”
“I think it’s five liang. Should sell for thirty or forty wen.”
Finally, peace returned to her ears. She brushed back the sea-swept hair and began her search for seafood in earnest.
She closed her eyes, silently chanting “Spiritual Eye, find seafood!” and opened them again. Within a 500-meter radius, everything was visible.
Ten meters out, a tiny crab scuttled by—too small, leave it.
Fifteen meters away, a razor clam peeked out—it looked decent. Collect it.
After picking the first clam, Li Suisui felt as if she had discovered a whole nest of them, and quickly gathered several more.
Before she knew it, she reached a rocky area.
Just as she stood up to rest, a large yellow croaker swam past the rocks.
Her heart leapt. A wild yellow croaker—and it looked at least five jin!
If she could catch it, she would make a nice profit.
The water was shallow enough to take a chance.
She set down the bucket and carefully stepped into the water, creeping toward the croaker.
Her heart raced—she was afraid it would escape.
When she was only half a meter away, she stopped, bent low, and waited for the fish to swim toward her.
At this moment, she regretted not bringing a net. They had one at home, and next time she’d be sure to bring all the tools she needed.
It came closer. Now!
She lunged, grabbing the croaker firmly.
“Ha ha! Got it!”
No matter how it thrashed, she wasn’t afraid. She had a firm grip on its gills.
Satisfied with this haul, she decided not to stay on the beach any longer.
She placed the croaker into her wooden bucket and called out to Wang Xiulian and Li Niannian in the distance.
“Mother, we’re going home!”
The two had been busy collecting sea snails, but hearing Li Suisui’s call, they hurried over.
“Suisui, what’s up? Did you catch something good again?”
“Big sister, what is it? Let me see!”
To avoid arousing jealousy, Li Suisui had covered the croaker with a piece of kelp.
Only when Li Niannian insisted did she lift the kelp.
“Wow, such a big one…”
Li Niannian hadn’t even finished exclaiming when Li Suisui covered her mouth.
“Remember yesterday? Don’t flaunt wealth. We can’t show off.”
Li Niannian looked around nervously. “Okay, okay! I’ll be quiet!”
“Let’s go home first. Later, we’ll sell it in town—it’s safer to convert it into money.”
Wang Xiulian gently wiped the water off Li Suisui’s face.
“Suisui, aren’t you cold? Look at you—soaking wet.”
“I’m fine, Mother. Let’s go home quickly!”
“Okay, let’s go.”
At home, Wang Xiulian proudly showed the yellow croaker to Li Erzhu.
“Xiulian, did you really catch this?”
Li Erzhu was astonished—he hadn’t seen such a large yellow croaker in many years.
“Father, my sister caught it. Mother and I couldn’t have done this. By the way, she said it weighs five jin. Could you help estimate if that’s true?”
“I’d say more than five jin—at least six jin.”
Li Suisui, having changed clothes, walked in.
“Father, how much does a yellow croaker of this size usually sell for?”
“Normally, we catch small yellow croakers. Price isn’t high—just two or three wen per jin. I don’t know the value of one this big. I’ve heard that elsewhere, a three-jin wild croaker sold for three hundred wen.”
“Then mine should fetch over five hundred wen!”
“That, I can’t be sure. Take it to the Xie family fish shop—they won’t cheat you.”
“I’ll go in a bit.”
After a simple breakfast, Li Suisui set off.
Just outside the village, she ran into a familiar face—her grandfather.
“Grandpa!”
“You’re carrying a bucket. Where are you going?”
“To town to sell fish.”
“Sell fish? What did you find at the beach today?”
“A wild yellow croaker. I told Father it should weigh six jin. Grandpa, I’m lucky, right?”
“What? A six-jin yellow croaker? Let me see!”
Li Suisui lifted the kelp covering the fish, revealing the yellow croaker inside.
Li Laotou’s eyes widened. “It really is a large yellow croaker! Such a valuable fish—how could your parents let you go to town alone? Aren’t you afraid someone might steal it?”
“Grandpa, Father is sick, Mother is pregnant—so I had to go alone! Besides, I covered it with kelp. Usually, no one notices such a big fish.”
“Even so, it’s not safe. Your parents couldn’t go, and we didn’t even know. Why didn’t they tell us? Don’t they think we’re family? They really are irresponsible.”
“Grandpa, don’t blame them. It’s my fault. I thought you all were busy and didn’t want to bother anyone.”
“Bother or not, we’re family. Don’t say that again. Give me the bucket—I’ll go with you to town.”
“All right, Grandpa.” Li Suisui handed over the bucket happily. With someone helping carry it, she was naturally delighted.