“Cicada… cicada…!”
Before dawn, the back mountain was already a scene of lively activity, with cicada calls and bird chirps interweaving.
After two days of exploration, Li Haochen no longer needed to call out to enter or exit the space; his thoughts were enough. However, what frustrated Li Haochen was that he couldn't bring any items into the space.
"Alas, I thought I could use it as a transport warehouse, but I can't bring anything in."
Li Haochen sat on the reef in the space, sighing. His gaze drifted over the crevices where mussels were being farmed.
Suddenly, a flash of light shot through his mind, and he quickly ran down to look.
"The mussels have already grown byssal threads?"
Li Haochen was overjoyed and exclaimed excitedly, "Since mussels can come in, other marine life should be able to as well. If that's the case..."
Li Haochen looked at the vast reefs and beach, his eyes gleaming with ambition.
"This place will become my natural seafood farm!"
Exiting the space, Li Haochen picked up his bamboo basket and small iron hook and headed towards the reef area by the sea.
"Haochen, so early?" Li Dejun called out from behind, dressed in similar attire.
"Uncle Dejun, you're early too. Why aren't you going out to sea today?" Li Haochen asked curiously.
"Your sister Lian and the others are coming back today. My grandson likes to eat conch, so I'm out to gather some to take back, hehe!" Speaking of his grandson, Li Dejun’s face was always beaming with smiles; he was happy all day long.
Upon reaching the beach, many figures were already busy. After greeting Li Dejun, Li Haochen found an area with few people and walked towards it.
"The harvest is getting smaller and smaller."
Li Haochen looked at his bamboo basket, which contained only a few "general's hats" (a type of shell), a small handful of "warty lychee conch" (small spicy conch), and a few "rock-clamping conch" dug out with the iron hook. There wasn't much else.
He changed locations again. This time he found some new varieties. Li Haochen wasn't aiming for any specific type of conch; everything he encountered was his target, regardless of size.
After several hours of work, the faces of all the tide-gatherers were filled with joy. A good harvest always brought such delight.
Li Haochen looked at his full basket of catches and smiled in satisfaction.
"Haochen, how was the harvest?"
Seeing the joy on Li Dejun’s face, Li Haochen could easily guess his successful catch. He held up his basket and chuckled.
"Uncle Jun, my luck was pretty good today."
"Hehe, the tide is coming in. Let's head back!" Li Dejun said, looking at the water that was nearing his ankles.
Li Haochen turned and stopped after taking a step. He rummaged through his bamboo basket and placed a green crab weighing about half a pound into Li Dejun’s bucket.
"Uncle Jun, take this back for Xiao Yang to eat."
Seeing the green crab, Li Dejun reached out to take it back to Li Haochen, saying in a rather stern tone,
"You child, quickly take it back and sell it!"
Li Haochen pressed Li Dejun’s hand and said sincerely, "Uncle Jun, when I was studying, Sister Lian treated me like her own brother. This little thing is nothing. I'm leaving now, Uncle Jun, I have to go out to sea again!"
Watching Li Haochen's figure, elongated by the rising sun, Li Dejun shook his head with a hint of regret.
"What a sensible child. Why do troubles always find him? Alas!"
Returning home, Li Haochen poured the small, full bamboo basket of his catch onto the ground, sorted them by type, packed them into small bags one by one, and then, carrying over a dozen small bags, he smiled and entered the space.
"Where are the conch?"
Li Haochen stared with wide eyes at his empty hands and cursed, "Damn it, are you messing with me?"
Coming out of the space, he looked at the more than ten bags of conch on the ground and felt an urge to cry.
"Alas, for the grand plan, human transportation it is!"
Li Haochen scooped up handfuls of conch in each hand, entered the space, and placed them by the reef. This way, going in and out, it took him more than half an hour to bring all the conch into the space.
"Although I've discovered the space's function, I still need to work hard. The conch from just now wouldn't amount to much even if they grew for ten years. If I had sufficient funds, I could consider acquiring some seafood to bring in."
Li Haochen shook his head, stopped thinking about it, grabbed his gear, and returned to the reef area where he had discovered the round pearls two days prior.
"Plop…!"
Li Haochen quickly dove down, heading straight for the crevice where he had found a large patch of mussels before.
"Good, no one has been here."
Li Haochen quickly pried the mussels from the crevices, scoop by scoop. Soon, the entire net bag was filled. However, Li Haochen didn't take them all, leaving the smaller ones to continue growing; in half a year, another large patch would grow.
Diving and surfacing, Li Haochen shuttled back and forth between the seabed and the surface, his harvest gradually increasing. What made him happiest was catching six large whelks in the southeast direction.
"Hahaha, has my luck improved since getting the space? These whelks can sell for at least a thousand yuan!" Li Haochen said, holding up a large whelk weighing two pounds and smiling.
Back on shore, the pier was already crowded with people. Various roles involved in seafaring life wore happy expressions: those who went out to sea, second-hand dealers, merchants, and individual buyers. Everything revolved around the "sea," all thanks to the ocean's bounty!
"Haochen, how was the harvest today?"
Li Zijian, a second-hand dealer, had sharp eyes. Seeing Li Haochen coming ashore with a large bag from afar, he rushed over without delay.
"Uncle Zijian, have you had a good haul today!"
As Li Haochen spoke, he opened the mouth of the net bag, revealing several prominent large whelks, which attracted the attention of other second-hand dealers nearby. They all ran over, eager to grab them, their eyes fixated on Li Haochen.
Li Zijian, standing beside him, watched Li Haochen nervously. Seafood transactions weren't based on who came first but on price; the highest bidder won.
"Young man, how about I buy these whelks for 280 yuan per jin? I can guarantee no one else will offer a higher price." The second-hand dealer speaking was at the front.
Upon hearing the price, the other dealers had no choice but to retreat. Li Zijian also shook his head with a wry smile, preparing to leave.
"Uncle Zijian, aren't you buying them anymore?"
"Haochen, I…!"
Li Haochen saw Li Zijian's hesitation and directly said, "Boss, I'm sorry, but these are all reserved for Uncle Zijian."
"Haochen, you…!"
"Uncle Zijian, we're all from the same village, no need to be so formal."
"Okay, okay, brothers!" Li Zijian patted Li Haochen's shoulder and laughed with relief.
Li Haochen picked out three smaller whelks and some smaller mussels, selling the rest to Li Zijian. When he received the money, he was so excited and nervous that he couldn't believe it.
"1175 yuan? Am I dreaming!"
Clutching the "huge sum," Li Haochen grinned foolishly for a long time.
As he was about to leave, Li Haochen stopped at a stall selling small clams. Looking at the fingernail-sized clams, the corner of his mouth curved upwards.
"There must be hundreds of them per jin! If I farm them in the space for a year, it'll be a stream of cash, hahaha!"
"Boss, weigh me 3 jin!"
…
Back home, Li Haochen anxiously held a large handful of small clams and mentally entered the space. However, looking at his empty hands, he let out another helpless, wry smile.
"The seafood I bought still can't come in? Oh, space, space, why are you so loved and hated? Well, I'll just have to cook a big pot of clam and winter melon soup later…!"