The Dungeness crab — that was Jiang Hai's current target.
This species is quite famous in the United States and also holds a bit of a reputation in China, though it isn't particularly common there. Known as the "Yuanbao crab" or "steamed bun crab," it has a round, compact shape that looks rather charming.
More importantly, it's delicious. Its meat yield is especially impressive.
For comparison, the common blue crab — though not native to the Atlantic Ocean — already boasts a high meat yield of about 15%. That means a one-kilogram crab produces roughly 150 grams of edible meat. Don't underestimate that amount; the average swimming crab yields only around 10%. Yet the Dungeness crab surpasses them all, with an astonishing 24% meat yield.
However, these crabs are primarily found in the Pacific Ocean along the U.S. West Coast.
And Jiang Hai was in the Atlantic. By all logic, Dungeness crabs shouldn't be here.
But, just like how Argentinian red shrimp had somehow appeared in Antarctic waters, the presence of Dungeness crabs in his region no longer surprised him. Jiang Hai had discovered them long ago. Their numbers weren't abundant enough for commercial sale, but there were more than enough to eat.
After confirming their species, Jiang Hai dove down and began catching them one by one.
For someone unfamiliar with crabs, handling them underwater would almost guarantee getting pinched. But Jiang Hai wasn't just anyone. His reflexes and experience made the task easy.
He swiftly picked them up, one after another. These crabs, still alive in the sea, were heavy and plump — nothing like the hollow, half-empty ones sold inland.
It was a natural phenomenon: once caught, crabs stop feeding, gradually consuming their stored nutrients. By the time they reach distant markets, their bodies are nearly hollow.
This is true not only in China but also in the United States — anyone living far from the coast can hardly get truly fresh crabs.
But why do Chinese people eat crabs during the Mid-Autumn Festival? There's an old story behind it.
Jiang Hai wasn't sure exactly when the tradition began, but he suspected it dated back to the Tang Dynasty. The great poet Li Bai once wrote:
"Crab claws are like liquid gold, and the wine mounds resemble Penglai.
Let us drink fine wine and grow drunk beneath the moonlit tower."
Li Bai's verse compared the taste of crab claws to divine nectar — a delicacy worthy of immortality.
Later, during the Song Dynasty, the famous writer Su Shi was also a passionate crab lover. He once said, "If you don't visit Mount Lu, you'll disappoint your eyes; if you don't eat crab, you'll disappoint your stomach."
There's even a saying: "When the autumn wind blows, crab legs itch."
No one knows exactly when the custom began, but every year after the Beginning of Autumn, it's the perfect season to enjoy crabs. The first major festival following that period is, naturally, the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Jiang Hai guessed that the crabs admired by the ancients were likely river crabs — sea crabs weren't as common in those days.
But that didn't matter to him. Having fresh crab to eat was happiness enough.
After quickly catching over thirty Dungeness crabs, Jiang Hai moved on to search for abalone.
There was no shortage of them in his waters — all wild, not farmed — clinging tightly to the reefs and coral beds. With a sharp knife in hand, Jiang Hai pried them loose one by one, choosing only the largest specimens.
In no time, he had collected nearly sixty abalones. Both the crabs and the abalone here were astonishingly large. Typical Dungeness crabs weigh around three pounds, but the ones Jiang Hai caught all exceeded two pounds each. Altogether, more than thirty crabs weighed about seventy pounds.
The abalone were equally impressive — each weighing over half a kilogram. Sixty of them added up to another sixty kilograms. Together, Jiang Hai had gathered more than 130 jin (about 65 kilograms) of seafood.
For anyone else, that haul would've been impossible.
Carrying two heavy bags, Jiang Hai swam to the side of his boat and, with one powerful motion, hurled them aboard. Then he climbed up himself and took a deep breath.
Although he could breathe underwater, it always felt slightly suffocating — perhaps psychological. Breathing open air felt far more comfortable. After a short rest, he stripped off his wetsuit, dried himself, changed into his clothes, and piloted the boat back toward the dock.
Once docked, he loaded his two bags of seafood — along with the giant king crab — onto his four-wheeled scooter and sped home.
When he arrived, the women immediately came running to help clean and sort the catch.
Abalone and crabs were easy to handle — unlike other shellfish, they didn't need to be soaked in clean water to expel mud and grit. Otherwise, they'd taste terrible — half flesh, half sand.
Abalone are technically shellfish, but their flesh is thick, and only the meat is eaten. The viscera and other parts are discarded. Crabs, on the other hand, also feed in muddy areas, but since only the meat is eaten, it's not much of a problem.
As for the crab roe — well, sea crabs don't have any around Mid-Autumn Festival.
Sea crabs spawn in April and May, so only at that time are they full of roe. By September, they're all meat. River crabs, being land-connected creatures, mate in spring and lay eggs in autumn — which is why they have roe during Mid-Autumn.
Still, even if these sea creatures didn't need to purge mud, abalone shells had to be scrubbed clean. Dirt clinging to their outer shells could affect flavor.
Thankfully, with many hands at work, the job was finished quickly. Under Afra's lead, everyone helped wash and scrub the abalone until they gleamed.
Once everything was ready, Qi Ya checked the time and gave the order to start cooking.
"Jiang Hai, go pick up Tarak!" Galina called out. She had originally planned to fetch the girl herself, but seeing everyone so busy, she decided to pass the task to him.
"Alright!" Jiang Hai replied cheerfully. In Winthrop, he wasn't worried about anyone causing trouble for him.
Even though it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, American schools didn't recognize traditional Chinese holidays, so Tarak still had classes. Smiling, Jiang Hai stood up from the sofa, grabbed his car keys, and headed out.
Qi Jie and Qi Ya were very indulgent toward him. Feng Yunchen and Ai Xiaoxi were the same. In their view, there were things a man should do and things a woman should handle.
Housework and cooking, for instance, were women's responsibilities — men had no business interfering.
Jiang Hai, being naturally lazy, couldn't have agreed more. So whenever possible, he stayed out of the kitchen.
But when it came to picking someone up, he was happy to oblige.
He climbed into his trusty War Shield — a car that held deep sentimental value. It had saved his life twice before, and though he owned several vehicles, this one was undoubtedly the best. The Rolls-Royce he'd bought, on the other hand, was practically useless. Since purchasing it, he had driven it fewer than twenty times.
There was really no reason to. Jiang Hai neither entertained business partners nor needed to show off. Even if he wanted to, his War Shield was flashy enough.
He even considered giving the Rolls-Royce to Zheng Jin. As the general manager of his company, she deserved a luxury car anyway.
Lost in thought, Jiang Hai soon arrived at Winthrop's only high school. School was about to end, and a long line of cars already filled the area. Parking a bit farther away, he noticed several drivers glancing at him. They recognized him immediately.
After all, everyone in town had heard about his recent troubles. Seeing him casually waiting here meant everything had been resolved.
As he sat there, the bell rang.
American high schools are very different from Chinese ones. Classes finish early, and there are rarely evening study sessions. Students participating in extracurricular activities might stay longer, but generally, schools dismissed before 5 p.m. Those aiming for top universities usually studied at home or hired private tutors.
Tarak didn't need that yet — she was still catching up in class.
At Winthrop High, school ended at 4:30 sharp. About ten minutes after the bell, Tarak appeared at the gate, chatting happily with two girls — one black, one white — likely the close friends she often mentioned.
The moment she spotted Jiang Hai, her face lit up with a bright smile. Seeing her happy expression, Jiang Hai couldn't help but smile in return.