Chapter 1620 - 1582: Catching Crabs and Gathering Chestnuts (Part 2)

"Sister A-Tan, once you catch it, you need to toss it into the basket. This fish is slippery."

"I’ll help you catch it."

"Let me."

The three young boys flashed their white teeth in laughter, then caught a fish and brought it over to A-Tan.

"You guys keep them to eat at home. I’m just catching for fun," A-Tan said defiantly, finally catching a fish. Marcus Quinn pulled a piece of wild grass from the side, tied the fish’s mouth with it, and the fish obediently stopped struggling.

"This river is long, and although the wild carp are not large, they are very tasty. I’ll make you some carp soup when we get back," the man said in a deep voice, looking at her intensely, wiping the water droplets off her face with his sleeve.

"Okay. Marcus, there are so many autumn crabs here, let’s catch them and bring them back as ingredients for the Holiday Village," A-Tan said with bright eyes.

Marcus saw the way she looked at the crabs as if they were treasures and smiled gently, nodding. In fact, rural folks aren’t keen on eating crabs, so the crabs in the river are quite plump, and apart from the children, no one bothers to catch them. City folks, on the other hand, find many ways to enjoy eating crabs.

"Let’s make steamed crabs for lunch today," Marcus thought, figuring there’s no harm in letting A-Tan have two or three crabs a day.

Soon, Marcus and the three young boys had filled up a basket with autumn crabs, covered it with a woven lid, and carried a few carp out using wild grass.

Back at the Holiday Village, Auntie Shui was preparing breakfast. When she saw Marcus returning with a basket full of crabs and A-Tan holding a few carp, she quickly smiled and said, "Weren’t you going to the temple in the mountains? How did you come back with crabs?"

"Auntie, there are many crabs in the scenic area, steaming crabs is simple, so let’s add a crab dish for lunch. I’ll call Irving Spencer later to catch some more," Marcus replied with a smile.

"Wow, so many crabs? I’ll keep them in water," Auntie Shui said, pouring all the crabs into the makeshift pond, where there were still some fish from before.

A-Tan was all about catching crabs and fish now, this was her kind of hands-on activity, so she pulled Marcus along to catch more crabs, not even wanting breakfast.

Marcus grabbed a few warm buns for her, then went to find Irving. The two of them made several crab net bags, gathered Uncle Shui, Grandpa Weng, and Oliver Zolotov, and commandeered some manpower to head to the scenic area to catch crabs.

This time, they were well-prepared, each person carrying a woven bamboo basket. Grandpa Weng and Oliver Zolotov, although experts, hadn’t caught crabs before, and were more excited about it than A-Tan.

"Marcus, can this net really catch crabs? Isn’t it normally for making crab cages?" Grandpa Weng, in his fifties and nearing retirement, had been staying at the Holiday Village for a month, enjoying life so much that he seemed younger by a few years, like an old child. His son and daughter-in-law were worried and even came to check on him but left at ease after staying for two days.

"The river is clear, with pebbles at the bottom and shallow water, so this will do. We don’t need a crab trap," Marcus said with a gentle smile.

"Marcus caught a basket full of crabs by hand this morning," A-Tan proudly said.

Hearing this, Grandpa Weng and Oliver Zolotov became even more eager, each grabbing two buns and dragging Marcus and Uncle Shui into the scenic area.

Once inside the scenic area, while others were hiking and sight-seeing, their group was there to catch crabs and fish.

Following Marcus, Grandpa Weng and Oliver Zolotov went down to the river at the foot of the mountain and saw the one to two-meter wide river, crystal clear, not just crabs but even carp could be seen swimming about. In such a countryside where not even hens lay eggs and birds don’t poop, there’s gold scattered everywhere!

The two fifty-something-year-old men let out a strange cry, took off their shoes, and eagerly went into the river to catch fish and crabs. They had never caught crabs before, so unlike Marcus, they ended up getting pinched by the crab claws and cried out.

A-Tan watched from the bank, laughing heartily while eating a bun, following Marcus around like a little tail. Marcus saw her affectionate expression, his smile radiant, and his gaze softened as if water could drip from it. A man who’s been single for thirty years, used to solitude and reticent in most things, now has someone dear to his heart, giving him a direction to move forward and making everything sweet.

Marcus caught crabs swiftly while Uncle Shui quickly taught Grandpa Weng and the others how to catch crabs without getting pinched. The group chatted while catching crabs and fish, and after half an hour, they had filled four more baskets. The crabs were all plump with green shells, weighing up to 3 ounces for the females and 4 ounces for the males.