Chapter 23: Encountering A Giant Sea Turtle
Shen Yunlian hit her son again.
“If you want to sing, go sing yourself. Jiaojiao’s voice is tender, and if it gets ruined, I’ll have no end with you.”
Wang Mei also put her hands on her hips, “You all act like big bosses. What are you listening to songs for? Hurry up and dig.”
A group of boys immediately scattered and started digging in the sand.
Wang Mei handed Yun Jiao a light small bucket and a small wooden shovel.
This small wooden shovel was custom-made for her at home.
“Jiaojiao, you go play to the side.”
“Can I go into the sea?” She stared at the seawater over there, restless.
“Jiaojiao can already swim, amazing.”
“You cannot.”
It was obvious that both adults did not allow her to take risks.
“Children cannot go play in the sea, otherwise, if a wave comes, they’ll be swept away. It’s very scary.”
Yun Jiao turned her head, these were words she didn’t like to hear.
She squatted on the ground and poked the sand with her small shovel, looking a bit sulky, like a round, puffed-up fugu.
Wang Mei couldn’t resist and rubbed her cute, fluffy little head.
“Jiaojiao is so good, so cute.”
Yun Jiao:………
Her poking action became more forceful.
Crunch…
She poked something.
Her little hands dug it out, and it was a pretty small stone.
Blue, good-looking.
She threw it into the small bucket and changed direction to continue poking.
This time she dug out a sand clam.
Owoo, she threw it into her mouth.
“Jiaojiao, what are you eating again?!”
Yun Jiao crunched, and Yun Xiaowu ran over and dug the sand clam out of her mouth.
“Why are you so greedy, putting everything in your mouth.”
Yun Jiao pursed her little lips and stared at him.
Yun Xiaowu: “Stupid, you have to at least pry open the shell. But this sand clam has a lot of sand in it, won’t it get stuck in your teeth if you eat it?”
Yun Jiao nodded: “It’s not delicious, not as delicious as the scallops from the sea.”
“Let’s go, if we can’t go to the sea, I’ll take you to find sea urchins. You can eat those raw, and we can take them back for Grandma to steam with eggs.”
Yun Jiao’s eyes immediately lit up.
However, sea urchins weren’t easy to find. They were near the tide line, and after searching around the reefs for a long time, they didn’t find any sea urchins, but they did find a small white octopus, which is an octopus.
There was also a green crab that was estimated to weigh about three taels.
“Sea urchin, sea urchin, where are the sea urchins?”
Yun Jiao heard a strange voice.
She glanced at the sea surface, her dark blue pupils could see very far, even very clearly.
Because of this, she saw a giant sea turtle swimming towards them.
“Sister, come here quickly, I saw what looks like a sea urchin over there.”
Yun Xiaowu held her little hand and walked towards the reef beach opposite.
“It really is.”
The spiky, black sea urchin was stuck in a crack in the rock. Yun Xiaowu didn’t dare to grab it easily, as being pricked by its spines was very painful.
He used fire tongs to pick out the sea urchin.
“Jiaojiao, you play here, I’ll open the sea urchin for you.”
“But, don’t go into the sea.”
Yun Jiao said “oh,” and pointed at the snails clinging to the reef.
“Fifth Brother, spicy snails.”
Yun Xiaowu took out the scissors from the bucket and snipped at the sea urchin’s spines.
Hearing this, he looked in the direction Yun Jiao was pointing.
“Heh, it really is, and there are quite a few.”
They were densely attached to a small patch on the reef, and some were not small in size.
Spicy snails are a type of small brown snail. Their shells look very hard, and they got their name because they have a slight spicy taste when eaten.
He hadn’t noticed them earlier because he was focused on the sea urchin.
“It’s a bit steep over there, Jiaojiao, don’t go. Wait for me to finish opening this sea urchin, then I’ll go over.”
He cut off the sea urchin’s spines and then cracked open the sea urchin shell, revealing the fresh sea urchin roe inside.
“Here, you can eat this.”
Yun Jiao took the sea urchin, and Yun Xiaowu suddenly took out a wooden spoon from his pocket.
Yun Jiao:………
Fifth Brother was really well-prepared.
She sat on a clean small reef and used the spoon to dig out the sea urchin and eat it.
Yun Xiaowu, like a monkey, scurried to the reef where the spicy snails were, picking up the larger ones and dropping them into the bucket with clinking sounds.
Yun Jiao glanced at him, lowered her head to eat the sea urchin, and then glanced at a certain giant sea turtle peeking out from behind the reef, looking sneaky and suspicious.
Yun Jiao waved: “Come here.”
The giant sea turtle looked at Yun Jiao with its doudou eyes for a few seconds, then slowly moved to her side.
The sea turtle’s head and tail were longer than hers, and its shell, which was larger than the family’s foot basin, was covered in barnacles.
“Do you want me to help you remove these barnacles?”
The sea turtle’s shell is very hard, it is their best protective shield.
Barnacles growing on the shell would not cause them life-threatening harm for a while, but if they grew too many, the sea turtle would be like carrying a heavy load while swimming in the sea, which was also a form of damage to their shell.
In fact, not only sea turtles but many creatures in the ocean are troubled by barnacles, such as enormous whales.
The sea turtle seemed to understand Yun Jiao’s words and actually nodded.
Yun Jiao didn’t have any suitable tools in her hand to remove the barnacles from the turtle’s shell, so she rummaged through her brother’s bucket.
Then she took out a shovel.
It was a bit big for her to hold; this was Yun Xiaowu’s sand-digging shovel.
She held the shovel and began to pry off the barnacles on the turtle’s shell with effort.
“I’ll remove the barnacles for you, and you have to catch fish for me.”
Yun Jiao spoke to the sea turtle on her own, “We need delicious ones.”
The sea turtle lay there quietly.
When Yun Xiaowu returned after picking spicy snails and saw.
“Holy crap!!!”
Yun Jiao poked her furry head out from behind the giant sea turtle, her big eyes looking at him.
Yun Xiaowu ran over: “No, where did this giant sea turtle come from?!”
Yun Jiao said in a childish voice: “From the sea.”
Yun Xiaowu wanted to say something, but when he met his sister’s clear eyes, he closed his mouth.
He wanted to say that his sister, you were also brought by a sea turtle.
However, their family members told them to mention it less. They raised Yun Jiao as their own child, and often bringing it up might make Yun Jiao think they were reminding her that she was found.
“Jiaojiao, what are you doing?”
Yun Jiao raised the shovel: “Shoveling barnacles.”
Yun Xiaowu rolled up his sleeves: “I’ll do it.”
The two of them cleaned the barnacles off the sea turtle’s shell. Yun Xiaowu touched the giant sea turtle’s shell.
“Done. I don’t know if you’re the same sea turtle from back then.”
In people’s eyes, sea turtles all look alike except for the species, so it’s hard to distinguish.
The sea turtle’s head rubbed against Yun Jiao’s hand, then it moved to the seaside and entered the sea with the incoming tide.
Yun Xiaowu stood by the sea for a while: “If only we knew where the sea turtle laid its eggs.”
Sea turtles can’t be eaten, but their eggs can be.
And they are very nourishing.
Yun Jiao tilted her head, her little hands supporting her chin thoughtfully.
“Let’s go.”
Yun Jiao shook her head and refused: “We have to wait.”
The giant sea turtle had promised to bring her something.
She held Yun Xiaowu’s hand and suddenly saw a small bulge on the beach not far away.
She walked over and dug it up with her finger.
It was a cat’s eye snail.
