Volume One, Chapter 10: What Do You Mean "You Found It"? It's Not Even Yours.

“Are you from Dunhuang?” Ye Cheng suddenly asked.

“Huh? Dunhuang? Brother, I’m from our own village, you know that,” Xiao Hu replied, looking puzzled.

“If you’re not from Dunhuang, where do these murals come from? Get back to work.”

Xiao Hu took a moment to catch on. “Brother, why are you beating around the bush when you’re scolding me? You used to just say it straight.”

“Straight insults aren’t cultured.”

“Yeah, well, you only graduated high school and didn’t go to college, what culture do you have?” Xiao Hu muttered defiantly.

“You talk too much. Hurry up. There are footprints all over this area. If we dig according to them, there will definitely be something.”

Ye Cheng pointed to the stretch of tidal flats, which were indeed covered in numerous uneven footprints.

Digging for sea cucumbers was hard physical labor. After digging up more than a dozen, Ye Cheng was exhausted—having to look, dig, and squat repeatedly.

His thighs were still sore from yesterday, and today’s squatting was just as tiring.

“Brother, look what I found!” Xiao Hu suddenly called out excitedly.

Ye Cheng glanced over to see something similar in size to a sea cucumber, but thinner.

It was a sandworm, somewhat like a sea cucumber but truly slender and long, much like an earthworm, not as stout or dark in color.

Sandworms could be prepared in many ways—sandworm porridge, scrambled eggs with sandworm, stewed with tofu, or simply boiled. They were considered a delicacy along the coast.

Their price was not cheap, though with more farmed sandworms in recent years, prices had fallen somewhat.

“Not bad, keep going,” Ye Cheng encouraged.

He estimated that Xiao Hu had dug up over a dozen sea cucumbers following him, while he himself found one sandworm. He wasn’t sure if it was due to his system or just luck.

No matter, he pressed on.

There were quite a few creatures in this patch of tidal flats. Following a line of footprints, Ye Cheng found a cluster of small, dense holes.

He was delighted—if these all contained creatures, the harvest would be plentiful.

Without further ado, Ye Cheng crouched down and began digging. Unexpectedly, the first hole gave him trouble; whatever was inside, sea cucumber or sandworm, was firmly caught. Ye Cheng tugged twice but couldn’t pull it out.

“Damn, do they have teeth now?” he muttered under his breath.

He drew a line along the mudflat, estimating the location, then dug several times, deepening the hole to twenty centimeters.

By then, he could see with the naked eye another sea cucumber inside. It tried to escape, but Ye Cheng grabbed it firmly and pulled it out.

“Wow, this one’s thick!” Ye Cheng exclaimed.

This one was thicker than the two he’d found earlier combined.

“Brother, you must have some spirit,” he thought with satisfaction, tossing it into the bucket and moving on to the next hole.

In this small area, Ye Cheng dug up twenty sea cucumbers and ten sandworms, racking up fifty points.

The sun had risen, and the morning chill had lifted. Ye Cheng was beginning to feel warm.

He moved a few steps forward and discovered another string of small holes. “Xiao Hu, come dig here with me. I’ve got more over here.”

“Coming, brother!” Xiao Hu dashed over.

“Wow, brother, how did you get so many?” Xiao Hu exclaimed, looking at Ye Cheng’s bucket.

“No big deal, this isn’t much yet. Hurry up—there’s got to be plenty in this whole area. How many have you got? Let me see.”

Xiao Hu showed his bucket, which was nearly empty—just two lonely sandworms and a few green mussels.

Ye Cheng guessed that was the usual haul for a tide-harvest, while his was a bit excessive.

“All right, keep going. We’ll talk later. You start from there, and we’ll dig toward the middle together.”

They divided the work and resumed digging.

Ye Cheng’s catch rate was around seventy or eighty percent, while Xiao Hu barely reached twenty percent, sighing heavily.

By the time they finished, Ye Cheng’s bucket was more than half full, writhing with dense sea cucumbers and sandworms.

Luckily, he didn’t suffer from trypophobia; otherwise, seeing these wriggling creatures might have made him dizzy.

After about an hour, three people approached—it was Huang Hai and his group.

“Brother, Huang Hai and the others are here,” Xiao Hu warned, standing up and gripping his shovel tightly.

Ye Cheng stood as well, handed Xiao Hu a cigarette, and they both lit up, watching the uninvited guests.

“What, can’t dig over there anymore, so you want to come here?” Xiao Hu spoke first, brashly.

Huang Hai said nothing, but looked at their buckets. “Damn, you’ve got so many sea cucumbers and sandworms.”

Duan Yong and Yuan Jiansheng came over and couldn’t help exclaiming, “That’s a lot!”

“Just lucky,” Ye Cheng replied calmly.

Huang Hai glanced at the disturbed mud and sand, and the trail of footprints left by crawling sea cucumbers, nodding in agreement. “There’s a lot here.”

“We found this place,” Xiao Hu said defiantly, veins bulging in his neck.

“What do you mean you found it? It’s not your land,” Duan Yong retorted.

“Yeah, you think you own this place? Keep talking and I’ll deal with you, kid,” Yuan Jiansheng threatened, raising his shovel.

Ye Cheng’s face darkened; he stubbed out his cigarette underfoot, then looked up at Huang Hai.

“What? Want to fight over territory? Our tide-harvesting shovels aren’t just for show.”

He swung his shovel fiercely, sending mud and sand flying.

Xiao Hu rushed over to stand beside Ye Cheng, glaring at the three men.

Two against three wasn’t hopeless.

Such disputes were common in the village—fights over water, land, and homesteads. The rule was simple and brutal: whoever was more aggressive was in the right.

Ye Cheng knew if they backed down now, they’d be bullied forever.

Seeing the fierce stance of the two, Huang Hai forced a sheepish smile and waved his hand. “We’re all from the same village, no need for this. There’s plenty to dig; let’s share.”

“We have to go to work soon and will only dig for half an hour. No need to fight.”

“Fine, the tidal flats are big enough for everyone. Each digs their own area. But if you cause trouble, I won’t hesitate to fight—you know I don’t have a job anyway.”

“Ah Cheng, we’re all family. No need for fights. Here’s the deal: we dig on this side, you dig on that side. Let’s draw a line and not cross it.”

Huang Hai pointed at the ground.

His tone softened, and Ye Cheng, not wanting trouble, silently drew a line in the mud with his shovel.

“This will be the boundary.”

“Fine, that will be the boundary.”

Huang Hai stepped back, and his three companions began digging on their side.

Xiao Hu was still dissatisfied. “Brother, we found this place...”