Chapter Ninety-Four: Unearthing Something Valuable

Wen Jingxing was about to speak again, but Song Wanning shook her head. “Trust me.”

The other party clearly did not believe her, yet said nothing more.

Song Wanning lifted a brow. Why was he suddenly being so agreeable? She soon found out the reason.

Seeing that even the person involved had no objections, Li Weiwei naturally had nothing else to say either.

If the publicity for this episode was handled well, it could attract quite a few viewers to Song Wanning’s livestream.

That would, in turn, raise the variety show’s popularity once more.

After all the guests had drawn their identity cards, Li Weiwei sent them off to the destination to begin their tasks.

However, because of the competition rewards, only Song Wanning’s group did not need to rush.

So Li Weiwei delayed the livestream schedule for the two of them.

The last time Jin Jianyi drew the identity of a tide-gatherer, the livestream effect had been quite good. Li Weiwei thought that since the one who had drawn it this time was Song Wanning, and with weather like this, there would surely be even more people coming to watch.

Song Wanning was not in a hurry to begin her task, but she still went over first.

The spot for gathering by the tide was rather interesting; it was not in the same place where she had set up her stall last time.

Instead, it was a hidden inland sea tucked within the resort.

There was a stream about three meters wide there. Though the water was fierce, with the faint momentum of a great river, constantly feeding water into the inland sea. Song Wanning had nothing to do for the moment, so she followed the stream upstream.

Before long, she found the source of the water: it led to the very ocean she had seen when she was setting up her stall.

Because the place for gathering by the tide was not the true sea, but merely an inland sea formed by the local geography, Li Weiwei felt safe letting Song Wanning stay here.

Even if the ocean suddenly rose with the tide, it would not reach Song Wanning’s side at once.

By then, if things looked wrong, it would still be time to call Song Wanning and the others back immediately.

When Song Wanning saw the familiar snack street before her, she turned back to the inland sea.

She decided to come over and stroll around after work.

This time, only Song Wanning’s identity-card task point was by the beach; the rest were concentrated in the center of the resort.

Even Wen Jingxing could not remain by her side at all times.

So he had no choice but to send others in his place.

When Song Wanning returned, she saw that the staff member assigned to receive her had arrived.

But beside that person was another familiar face: Cheng Mu.

So that was it. Wen Jingxing had suddenly grown so at ease because he had sent someone to keep an eye on her.

Still, she did not mind much. Even though Cheng Mu had been sent by Wen Jingxing, he did not keep a constant watch on Song Wanning’s every move.

He simply appeared with the staff member, then disappeared, standing alone at a distance to watch the shifting weather.

The tide had not yet gone out, so Song Wanning could not begin the task.

The staff member took her around to explain the creatures that would appear along this stretch of beach, even teaching her how to catch them.

Song Wanning, who had always loved the sea, listened with great interest.

Once she saw what those creatures looked like, her delight only grew.

Who would have thought that the sea, which seemed so fierce and terrifying, could give rise to so many lovely little creatures?

And from the way the staff member described them, they even sounded delicious. She was already eager to taste them.

The other person also promised that if there was anything Song Wanning wanted to eat, she could simply take it away later.

Around noon, when the tide had retreated by half, the staff member told her that it was time to begin gathering by the tide.

Song Wanning put on her hat, pulled on thick gloves, and wore long waterproof boots before stepping directly into the seawater.

The moment she entered, the water felt icy enough to cut to the bone.

There was no sun today, and it was raining, so the weather was cold. But after standing in the water for a while, Song Wanning grew used to it.

Seeing that she was about to begin work, the cameraman set up his camera early and opened the livestream.

At first, Song Wanning could only catch small crabs and shrimp.

Whenever she spotted a little hollow or a cluster of raised sand mounds, she would take up a large shovel and dig into the pile.

In the livestream, everyone was laughing themselves silly.

The crabs: I’m tiny, all right? Do you really need such a huge shovel for me?

Wouldn’t Song Wanning be afraid of crabs!

Those crabs are definitely thinking, I really have no words.

Ah, this is my favorite kind of tide-gathering livestream! Praise the production team!

In truth, Song Wanning really was afraid of crabs.

She was not afraid of spiders with their eight fluffy long legs, but she was afraid of crabs that ran sideways and had two big claws.

To her, these things were novel, but also mysterious.

Still, Song Wanning did not go easy on them just because she was afraid. On the contrary, she caught quite a lot.

The reason was that the staff member had told her crabs were delicious, but there was not much meat.

In order to eat her fill, Song Wanning caught every one she saw.

Occasionally, she would even make lucky finds.

Because the water had not fully receded yet, all kinds of sea creatures still swam by from time to time. Whenever she saw fish, Song Wanning would scoop them up with a large net.

When she saw something she did not recognize, after a moment of hesitation she would still catch it. After all, what if it only looked strange but was edible?

Gradually, she learned to catch razor clams hidden in the sand.

Some were fat, some were thin; what they looked like depended entirely on luck.

And these things were cunning too, slippery all over, running especially fast in the sand.

Song Wanning was still wearing gloves, so at first she could not catch a single one. Even when she did catch one, it would be snapped in half.

At times she even wondered whether she had truly caught anything just now.

After trying several times, Song Wanning gained some experience. She even learned to use a deft touch, following the holes the razor clams had dug in the sand. At last, she managed to pull out a large, fat, and whole razor clam.

The viewers watching were even more excited and accomplished than Song Wanning herself.

Great! Finally, a whole one!

If it still did not come up soon, my obsessive-compulsive disorder would be driven mad, okay?

Why do I suddenly feel a strange sense of life being complete? Maybe this is what empathy feels like?

The person above is talking nonsense. You just got your OCD cured.

That razor clam would be delicious stir-fried.

As time passed, the water level kept dropping, falling from below the knees to around the ankles.

Many shellfish in the sand exposed little tips of themselves. Song Wanning took the chance to pick up quite a few conches, mud snails, and clams.

Whenever she saw a pretty shell, she would pick that up too.

But just now, Song Wanning spotted a shattered glass wine bottle buried in the sand. Her brows knit instantly. If someone accidentally stepped on that, wouldn’t they be in trouble?

She hurriedly bent down to gather up the fragments, and in doing so, she saw that beneath the sand was also buried a large shell with beautiful patterns.

The shell’s mouth opened and closed, and something bright shone from within. The light refracted into Song Wanning’s eyes, making her involuntarily shut them.

Huh! That looks like a pearl!

The End