Chapter 157 - Sandworm (2/2)

Madam Liu looked at her pair of daughters with a smile and said, “Go and take a look with Shanhu! Just think of it as getting some fresh air.”

Her two daughters, one usually stayed at home to tend the vegetable gardens and watermelon fields, while the other one was always selling braised food at the docks. They seldom had the chance to interact and play with their peers. Madam Liu felt pleased, yet her heart also ached, to have two sensible daughters. Fortunately, her husband’s leg had recovered now, and her eldest son had also recuperated from his injuries. Their family wasn’t like before when they wished that each person could split in half and work like two people. It was time for her daughters to relax and make some friends.

Yu Xiaocao was quite interested in the sandworms. She knew that, in addition to its medicinal value, sandworm also had high nutritional value. If they were cooked well, they would definitely taste very good. Although sandworms weren’t as valuable as sea cucumbers, shark fins, and abalones, they tasted delicious and tender. They weren’t inferior to sea cucumbers and shark fins.

She enthusiastically took the little spade from her father, picked up a little bucket, and called Xiaolian to go to the seaside with her. Xiaolian decided to accompany her upon seeing her younger sister’s rare sense of excitement.

Zhou Shanhu had been waiting with a basket near her house. Her older brother, Zhou Shaohua [1] who was usually out selling goods and rarely home, was standing beside her. Zhou Shaohua was around the same age as Qian Wen and Third Young Master Zhou. It might be due to him following his father around throughout the year, but his skin was slightly tanner than the other two. Also, with the Zhou Family’s more prominent facial features, he looked a little older than his actual age and had a slight feeling of a young man. But of course, he was still slightly lacking when compared to Zhao Han!

Ay! It had been over ten days since Brother Han returned to the capital. She really did somewhat miss the days when he was around!

“Quickly, quickly! If Tongren Medicine Hall collected enough, then all our efforts will be in vain!” Zhou Shanhu had a slightly eccentric personality. She talked in a noisy and bustling manner, like a little sparrow.

Under the little girl Shanhu’s urging, the four people quickly reached the seaside. There were many busy figures on the beach along the coast.

“Aiya! It’s so cold!!” Zhou Shanhu frowned and complained. She was wearing straw sandals, so her feet quickly got wet from the seawater.

Xiaocao was wearing the deerskin boots that she asked Third Young Master Zhou to get for her. The boots were well-made and completely waterproof. However, the deerskin boots being soaked in the seawater was seriously a little distressing. Xiaolian wore boots made of shark skin, which were also quite water resistant.

Zhou Shanhu looked at the sisters enviously and whispered to her older brother, “It would be great if our father can also catch a shark and make a pair of boots for me!”

Zhou Shaohua chuckled and said, “Stop dreaming! There are less people over there. Let’s go there!”

Yu Xiaocao had never dug for sandworms before, so she took a shovel and randomly dug in the sand. Xiaolian didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry as she stopped her, “There’s a trick in digging for spoon worms. You can’t dig so recklessly. When looking for spoon worm, you need to find the small holes caused by the worms first. Look, those tufts on the beach are the holes made by the spoon worms. When digging, walk lightly and dig fast. Otherwise, the spoon worms will swiftly hide even deeper at the slightest movement. Also, don’t dig straight down. You should dig at a large angle from the surface of the beach.”

Xiaocao picked up the shovel and worked hard to dig into the worm hole. She had to dig very deep before she managed to dig out a plump sandworm. The sandworm had a slippery body, like a fatter version of an earthworm, and looked quite creepy.

“We were too loud earlier, so this spoon worm hid very deeply. Let’s spread out. Be careful when digging!” Xiaolian put the sandworm into Xiaocao’s little bucket, picked up another basket, and walked towards another direction.

Xiaocao continued to walk along the seaside, and soon found another hole in the sand. She put down her bucket and dug hard. After dug a very deep hole, she prone on the beach with her face against the sand and stretched her hand to search inside the deep hole. Her body and face were covered in sand when she finally caught the sandworm that was trying to slip deeper into the sand.

‘So hungry! If only the sandworms could come out by themselves… Wait! Don’t I have a cheat—the little divine stone—in my hands?’

[Humph! You’re giving me such a low-level task again! It’s such an insult to my dignity as a god!!] A golden light shone from the multicolored stone on Xiaocao’s wrist, and it slowly transformed into a cute miniature kitten. It held its head high as it paced on the beach in a haughty manner.

Xiaocao touched its head with her sand-covered hands, but her hand was slapped away in disgust. Its golden pupils were widened as it screamed, [So dirty! You actually touched my holy and pure fur with such dirty hands. You’re seriously looking down on this Divine Stone!!]

“Dirty? Mhm, it is a little dirty. Wouldn’t it be clean after taking a bath?” Yu Xiaocao grinned mischievously. While the little golden cat wasn’t paying attention, she picked it up by the back of its neck and threw it into the sea.

[Yu! Xiao! Cao!! This Divine Stone will make you regret what you did to me today!!] The little golden kitten couldn’t use its power in front of so many people, so it flew in a parabola and fell into the sea.

[1] He was named Zhou Wenhua in earlier chapters, but the author changed his name to Zhou Shaohua.