Chapter 13: The Harvest on a Windy Day

Returning home, his mother was still weaving nets. Seeing Lin Yu come back alone, she looked somewhat disappointed.

“Xiao Yu, where’s Er Ni? Why didn’t she come back with you?”

Lin Yu immediately smiled. “Mom, she went home. Why would she come to our place for no reason?”

“You’re such a child, how can you be so clueless? I can see clearly—Er Ni likes you. She’s a good girl. If you could marry her, I’d be so happy I’d wake up from a dream smiling,” Wang Yufen said.

But deep down, she knew this was somewhat unrealistic. Times had changed. In the past, a sack of sorghum rice could bring a bride home, and some families didn’t even ask for that—just the chance to be married off so they could have enough to eat.

Now, without a new set of clothes and bedding, how could anyone marry? Their family couldn’t afford those things. Thinking of this, Wang Yufen’s face darkened in an instant, feeling sorry for her son.

Noticing the change in his mother’s expression, Lin Yu immediately sensed it. With a wry smile, he comforted her, “Mom, there’s no rush to get married. Don’t worry, I can earn the bride price myself.”

“The wind’s getting stronger. You better go inside and weave. Where’s Yao Yao?” As he spoke, Lin Yu stepped forward to help tidy up. “Judging by this, the wind will blow for days.”

“Yao Yao fell asleep inside. The wind’s too strong now. Quickly block the doors and windows with something. Yao Yao’s sleeping in there; don’t let her catch a cold,” Wang Yufen fretted.

Their home was old and dilapidated. The once orderly adobe walls had crumbled in places, exposing rough stones and compacted earth inside. The foundation was visibly sinking, with large cracks appearing at the corners. The old doors and windows creaked loudly in the wind and couldn’t close properly. On windy days like this, they truly suffered.

It was one thing now, but winter was coming, and they had no idea how they’d get by.

There were no wooden planks or nails at home, so Lin Yu could only find some wood to prop up the doors and windows. He stuffed the gaps with straw and brushwood. The wind barely got in, but the inside was pitch black.

The house needed urgent repairs—more urgent even than clothes and quilts.

Sitting inside, Lin Yu felt a surge of determination. He couldn’t help but reflect—others who were reborn were often noble scions or cultivation masters, at least they had some sort of advantage.

But he had nothing. How frustrating.

Still, since he was here, he had to face the challenges head-on. He thought carefully about how to renovate the house. Since it was an adobe construction, the essentials were wood, straw, and thatch.

Straw and thatch were easy—any nearby farming village would have plenty, otherwise it would just be burned.

The real problem was wood: for beams, doors, windows, and interior partitions. Their small village had no lumber market. To buy wood, one had to go into the mountains.

But even in the mountains, buying wood wasn’t easy. Though land had been allocated to individual farmers, wood was controlled, and purchasing it required proper permits.

“Looks like I’ll have to ask the village chief for help,” Lin Yu thought quietly.

The strong wind blew all day and night with no sign of stopping.

The next day, at low tide, Lin Yu slung a fishing basket and rod on his back and headed out into the wind.

On windy days, the sea was rough. Fish, shrimp, and crabs got disoriented, some swimming toward the shore. In shallow water, they became helpless, often washed ashore by the waves.

This was the perfect time to pick up fish along the beach.

Yet after walking for over ten minutes, Lin Yu hadn’t seen a single fish. Just as he was wondering why, he spotted a large fish floating in a shallow pool some distance away, occasionally flicking its tail.

“A big yellow croaker!” Lin Yu’s eyes lit up. Quick as lightning, he grabbed the fish by the tail and pulled it out.

The big yellow croaker was a warm-water schooling fish. Strong winds could disrupt their migratory routes. Due to their body structure, they struggled in rough seas and were often pushed ashore.

Because they traveled in groups, finding one meant there were more nearby.

Sure enough, Lin Yu soon spotted five or six more, all weighing three to five pounds each.

He continued searching along the coast. By the time he reached the end of a rocky reef, the fish in his basket weighed over fifty pounds.

He was overjoyed.

Selling these fish would earn him a decent sum.

After gathering the fish, he went to Eagle Beak Reef, set down his basket, and found the rope of his crab trap caught in the crevices. He sighed in relief.

Eagle Beak Reef saw a lot of foot traffic, so he had worried his trap might have been discovered and taken.

But just holding the crab trap’s rope brought a smile to his face. He could feel the trap was much heavier. Of course, this wasn’t the time to celebrate yet—it could be filled with worthless stone crabs or other creatures.

The key was how many flower crabs were inside.

Pulling up the trap, it was packed full. Through the gaps, he could hear skittering sounds.

He opened the lid and immediately grinned from ear to ear.

Just from a quick glance, he saw three or four flower crabs, and there were surely more inside.

Finding an empty spot, he dumped everything from the trap onto the ground.

The first to tumble out were several majestic green crabs, their large shells like solid armor, colored deep blue-black like the ocean’s depths. Their big claws clicked in the air before they scurried off.

Lin Yu was quick, grabbing them back into the trap.

Green crabs were valuable too. Though not as prized as blue swimming crabs or flower crabs, their size and tender meat made them worth a good price.

Most abundant were the small, nimble sand crabs. They darted wildly as soon as they hit the ground, their sandy shells blending perfectly with the earth. Without careful observation, they were hard to spot.

Lin Yu paid them no mind.

His focus was entirely on the flower crabs, their vividly patterned shells strikingly beautiful—red, yellow, and blue intertwined like nature’s exquisite artwork. Unlike the bold green crabs, flower crabs stayed relatively still, occasionally waving their claws as if showing off their elegance.

High-end ingredients often required only the simplest cooking methods.

Flower crabs steamed in a pot were delicious beyond compare. Their meat was firm yet tender, bursting with fresh, subtly sweet juices that tasted pure and natural, free of any impurities. Every bite, from claw to body, was irresistible.

That’s why they were so beloved.

Besides the crabs, a few transparent shrimp and small fish were mixed in. The shrimp were finger-sized—unsellable but fine for eating.

Lin Yu tossed the small fish back into the sea.

The first trap’s haul was satisfying, though not overflowing. If the other five traps were as fruitful, the harvest would be substantial.

After all, even going out to sea didn’t guarantee such a catch.

Having finished there, he headed toward the second crab trap.

The second was at the Old Sand Mouth, where a man-made embankment stood. The cracks in the embankment were favorite hiding spots for flower crabs. However, Lin Yu had miscalculated here—only two flower crabs were caught, with the rest being sand crabs and small fish.

That trap was a wash.

Still, he did not lose heart.

After all, you couldn’t force these things.

But the remaining three traps brought great surprises. Each held ten to twenty flower crabs and several large green crabs—full to bursting.

Lin Yu was thrilled.

Counting it all, the five traps caught over fifty flower crabs and a dozen or so big green crabs—together weighing over thirty pounds. Adding the fifty pounds of fish, the windy day’s effort was far from wasted. The yield was impressive.

“Who says you can’t catch fish without a boat?” Lin Yu looked at his basket, his heart racing with excitement. Now he had the money for winter clothes and quilts.

Slung over his back, holding the crab traps, he was about to head home when suddenly he heard a splash.

It came from a rocky area across from him. Approaching and peering closely, his eyes widened.

“My goodness—a big mackerel over a meter long!”

“This is it—I’m going to get rich!”