"See this figure-eight shaped hole? That’s where the razor clams are hiding."
As he spoke, Third Uncle squeezed a bit of crushed salt onto the spot. The clam, irritated by the salt, quickly emerged from the sand.
Jiang Si was happily collecting them when He Ping’s excited shout came from behind her.
"Sisters-in-law, come quick! There’s a whole bunch of swimming crabs in this crevice!"
"Where? Where?" At the mention of swimming crabs, Jiang Si immediately abandoned her clam-digging.
"Here, here!" Following He Ping’s pointing finger, Jiang Si squinted and looked.
Good heavens, had they stumbled upon a swimming crab nest?
There were at least twenty of them, each weighing around half a kilogram.
No wonder Weidong had been staring at her in confusion earlier while she was digging for clams.
Thinking this, Jiang Si quickly pulled out her tongs.
Thankfully, she’d brought plenty of tools—otherwise, she’d be kicking herself right now.
But the crevice in the reef was too deep. No matter how she stretched, she couldn’t reach them.
"Give it to me. I’ll handle it."
Seeing Huo Tingzhou approach, Jiang Si swiftly handed the tongs over.
And honestly, having long arms was a real advantage.
Within minutes, Huo Tingzhou had scooped up every last crab from under the reef.
"Lao Huo, the grill’s ready. Bring some stuff back so we can start steaming," Regimental Commander Xiao called, hands on his hips.
Hearing this, Jiang Si quickly dumped the clams, razor clams, and swimming crabs she’d collected into a bucket.
"Auntie, here you go!"
Weidong and Weimin had been wrestling with octopuses the whole time, and what they brought back were all tiny ones.
These didn’t even need gutting—just a quick rinse would do.
Meanwhile, Ding Xiang and Xu Mingjuan arrived with their own bucket. The two had gone to the shallows to catch fish and had already netted half a bucketful.
The fish weren’t big, but they were fresh.
"Hey, where’s Sister-in-law Hu?" Jiang Si glanced around. Where had Teacher Hu gone?
"Mom—!"
Realizing their mother was missing, Weidong and Weimin immediately started shouting.
"Here, here!"
Hu Meili popped up from behind a distant reef. "There’s a ton of gooseneck barnacles here. Wait a sec—just a few more scoops and we’ll have enough."
"Oh, does anyone want sea urchins?"
She glanced down—there were plenty of sea urchins clinging to the rocks below.
At the mention of sea urchins, Jiang Si immediately raised her hand. "Sister-in-law, wait for me! I’m coming!"
"Take it slow."
Huo Tingzhou wanted to follow, but Jiang Si stopped him.
If he came along, how was she supposed to secretly stash sea urchins into her space?
Besides, it was just a short distance—what could possibly happen?
"Go tend to the grill. I’ll be careful," she reassured him with a glance.
When she climbed down, Hu Meili reached out to steady her.
Good thing she did, because when Jiang Si saw the reef’s underside covered in gooseneck barnacles, her scalp prickled, and goosebumps erupted all over her body.
Suppressing her discomfort, she quickly looked away. "Sister-in-law, where are the sea urchins?"
"Over there."
Hu Meili pointed. "There’s a whole bunch. Be careful—the rocks are slippery, so don’t fall."
Jiang Si nodded.
Following Teacher Hu’s direction, she soon found a large cluster of sea urchins.
In this era, sea urchins weren’t popular. Even when found during beachcombing, no one bothered with them, so they’d grown enormous over time.
Jiang Si compared one to her fist—they were nearly the same size.
Unlike fish or crabs, sea urchins didn’t scurry away. They clung obediently to the rocks.
If not for their spines, Jiang Si would’ve ditched the tongs and used her hands.
After gathering several dozen—enough for everyone—she discreetly began storing extras in her space.
Further ahead, there was another huge patch.
Just as Jiang Si marveled at the endless bounty, she noticed something odd—a bloated, pale object wedged beneath a massive reef.
"What’s this?" She frowned.
After brushing aside the sea urchins and debris clinging to it, her pupils constricted in shock.
It was a woman’s corpse!
The body was horrifically swollen from seawater and repeated impacts against the rocks.
The exposed skin was ghastly white and wrinkled, the features so distorted they were unrecognizable.
Though Jiang Si held her breath the moment she saw it, she couldn’t stop herself from retching the next second.
Only after vomiting everything she’d eaten that morning did her stomach settle slightly.
When Hu Meili noticed her pale, shaken expression upon returning, her heart sank.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"I’m fine. Let’s head back."
Since Hu Meili was pregnant, Jiang Si didn’t want to frighten her and kept quiet.
Once ashore, she pulled Huo Tingzhou aside.
"I found a woman’s body down there. Go back to the base and contact the police."
"A body?" Huo Tingzhou’s face darkened with concern. No wonder she looked so ill.
"I’ll manage. Don’t worry about me."
Jiang Si checked the time. "The tide’s rising in an hour and a half. Hurry, or they might not recover the body."
Unsure if the county police had a coroner, she added, "If they don’t, ask them to borrow doctors from the hospital."
Huo Tingzhou grasped the urgency. "Got it. I’ll go now. You rest."
With that, he rushed to the car.
The others were puzzled. "The meat’s grilled, the seafood’s steamed—where’s Lao Huo (Regimental Commander Huo) going?"
There was no hiding it. After sending the kids away, Jiang Si shared what she could.
The mood instantly soured at the news of a corpse.
Following Jiang Si’s suggestion, He Ping and Deputy Regimental Commander Lei drove the women and children back to the family quarters in two separate vehicles.
Jiang Si would’ve left too, but as the witness, she had to stay for the police statement.
Fortunately, the officers arrived quickly.
They’d been told about a severely decomposed female body found on the shore, but seeing it still startled them.
"Captain, she’s... even her own mother wouldn’t recognize her like this. How do we proceed?"
"Yeah, there’s nothing on her to ID her."
"We don’t even know her name or age. This case is impossible."
Captain Sun’s brow furrowed. "What did the doctors say?"
"They estimated the time of death was about five days ago, based on decomposition."
"Have you checked recent missing persons reports?"
"We have."
The young officer said, "Not just in the last five days—there hasn’t been a single report of a missing woman in our county for the past month."
"What?" Captain Sun couldn’t help but look up sharply. "None?"
"Not a one."
Just then, the interrogation room door swung open. The moment Jiang Si stepped inside, Captain Sun suddenly smacked his forehead—how could he have forgotten about her?
