Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 460 - 458: Going to the Tidal Flats Together
After finishing breakfast, Lin Wanwan picked up a large wooden bucket, stuffed a big sack in it, and headed out with her maid Hong Yan and Kunlun.
Xiao Chong and his guard Shuqi also went out with them, followed by little Qingyu, who brought along the lynx, mute girl Ajing, Kunlun slave Ali, and Song Sulan, with Sun Chuyao and a male servant named Wu Wanqing bringing up the rear.
Wu Wanqing, like Sun Chuyao, used to mingle around the docks before being with Lin Wanwan, living a drifting and rootless life.
During the time when the County Government strictly rounded up beggars and vagrants for labor service, he sold himself into Lin Wanwan’s household as a servant.
In the whole Mao County, for people like Wu Wanqing, there were only two good places to go: either get recruited into the gang of ruffians by the County Government or enter the manor of the Village Lady Le’an for employment.
Lin Mansion, as a newly rising noble house lacking familial backing, relied on purchasing servants from the market, unlike other nobles who mostly have born servants, providing an opportunity for these vagrants to seek refuge.
Compared to the group of servants watching the house in Xiaoxi Town, staying at the Lin Family Manor residence is naturally slightly monotonous, since there is no place for entertainment in the countryside. But those who stayed at the countryside residence have higher wages and better food treatment.
Now Lin Wanwan keeps a lot of humans and animals; besides the vegetables grown in her own field, several vegetable and meat vendors from Wanghai Town have established long-term cooperation contracts with Lin Mansion, delivering goods to Lin Mansion every day at dawn.
Occasionally, Sun Chuyao would personally go out and purchase supplies, and Wu Wanqing is one of Sun Chuyao’s effective assistants for handling affairs. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Like now when Lin Wanwan and her daughter go beachcombing, naturally as ones accustomed to the docks and coast, Sun Chuyao and Wu Wanqing must follow.
Their task is not to gather seafood but to ensure the safety of the two mistresses.
Although every Lin Family Manor clansman joining the beachcombing is adept at swimming, they are not completely focused on contractor safety. Relying on them poses risks, definitely needing their own people to be vigilant constantly.
Xiao Yixun ultimately didn’t come to beachcombing, as she despises sunlight and crowds; the bustling beachcombing event is something she wouldn’t partake in.
Lin Wanwan, little Qingyu, and Hong Yan all wore straw hats, considered sun hats, while the other maids didn’t follow, staying home to work.
Such a large house requires daily cleaning, courtyard plants need maintenance, there’s plenty of household matters that can’t be managed without people.
Now little Qingyu already has a personal female guard, Ajing, so Yun Shang doesn’t need to accompany constantly and stays home handling affairs; she also oversees the inner court and storeroom.
Walking all the way to the seaside, clansmen occasionally stopped to greet Lin Wanwan and Xiao Chong.
Today there aren’t many people beachcombing, just some old, weak, and wounded. Comparatively, the yield from beachcombing is less urgent than the work in the workshop, while most of the able-bodied have boarded boats for fishing.
Lin Wanwan asked Xiao Chong, "Cousin, can you swim?"
While rolling up his sleeves, Xiao Chong replied, "I know a bit."
"What about Shuqi? Can he swim?"
Carrying the wooden bucket, Shuqi heard the question directed at him and promptly replied, "Yes, my lady, I can swim a bit too."
"That’s good; otherwise, I’d have to ask brothers Mengjin and Mengxing from the workshop to escort you."
"That’s unnecessary."
Xiao Chong gazed at the beach ahead, revealing a slightly confident smile.
He said he knew a bit as modesty; actually, he often swam in the lotus pond in his courtyard as a child, being good at swimming, and with his Inner Strength enhancement, he could dive and swim underwater for a hundred meters without a problem.
The sun was just rising over the sea at this hour, a mere morning twilight, with the tide not fully receded, and waves continuously crashing against the coastal rocks.
Not all beaches during the moon’s half-tide reveal their entire surface. Most beaches along Mao County’s coast don’t completely emerge.
The beach suitable for seafood gathering at Lin Family Manor isn’t pure sand but rather a stone beach where pebbles outnumber sand.
The water level needs to continue receding to reveal a complete sandy beach, but here the tide has never gone down that far.
Even so, gathering seafood is viable. Now with the tide just starting to recede, the water level barely covers the ankles, requiring taking off shoes and walking barefoot, using hand nets to scoop.
Mao County’s seawater has always been yellow and muddy with low visibility, even during the Great Tang thousand years ago.
This isn’t due to severe pollution but because the silt carried by the Yangtze and other rivers is enormous, sedimenting in the estuary, hence the high sand content in the seawater makes it appear yellow-brown.
Thus, this area is filled with stories of the sea turning into fields, many land areas built by silt accumulation.
Not only Mao County, but Hai City also exhibits this; even now, much of Hai City remains undersea in later generations.
"Cousin, let’s go to the rocky area to dig for oysters; now in November, it’s the best time to eat oysters!" said Lin Wanwan, after observing and pointing to the rocky area.
"Okay, I’ll listen to you, cousin." Xiao Chong never combed beaches before, naturally doing whatever Lin Wanwan said.
"Ajing, Ali, Sun Chuyao, protect the young lady while she’s scooping shrimp in this shallow area, don’t go further down, understood?" Lin Wanwan feared encountering rogue waves again, not letting little Qingyu follow.
"Understood!" Sun Chuyao bowed and assured, "Do not worry, my lady, I will closely guard the young mistress."
"That’s good."
Little Qingyu knew she had to heed her mother’s direction while beachcombing, or she’d be led back to shore in no time, so naturally, she didn’t oppose.
Anyway, she already spotted several shrimp at her feet, happily using the hand net to scoop them.
After arranging little Qingyu, Lin Wanwan, with Hong Yan, Wu Wanqing, Kunlun, and Xiao Chong and his attendant quickly climbed to the rocky area.
Lin Wanwan set to digging a large one, pried it open with her tools, and exclaimed happily, "What a plump oyster!"
Oysters are the same as mollusks or oysters, different names for the same thing, and coastal people in Mao County mostly call them mollusks.
Lin Wanwan popularized this item in Mao County; initially, apart from coastal dwellers, others didn’t like it.
She used the reputation of Sun Lao’s successor to advertise it medically as kidney-supportive and invigorating, coupled with its indeed tender meat, perfectly fitting the culinary tastes of Tang people fond of eating raw fish, thereby swiftly opening its market.
"Hey! Gentleman, gentleman, look here, a large patch of abalone!" Shuqi also found something valuable.
"What are we waiting for? Let’s dig!" Lin Wanwan kept working, urging Xiao Chong.
"Alright." Xiao Chong, beachcombing for the first time, hadn’t gotten into the groove yet, mimicking Lin Wanwan by prying at protruding rocks, successfully revealing an oyster, which lifted his spirits.
Due to his lack of experience in prying open oysters, Xiao Chong accidentally split one, causing the slimy liquid inside to flow onto his palm, feeling an odd sensation.
