Chapter 75: Giving Little Crabs and Conchs

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Giving Little Crabs and Conchs

After finishing dinner, Ling Qianjun waited until dark. Under the guise of relieving himself, he slipped into the nearby woods and opened the Any Door.

Tonight, they were once again camping out in the wilderness. The moment he opened the door, he found the supermarket pitch black. Hua Buwan had not yet returned.

He was in no rush to head back. Since the recent events, the government officers had become quite lax with them. As long as they eventually returned, no one cared how long they were gone. Right now, the government officers were fast asleep, and the exiled prisoners were minding their own business. Everyone had formed a rare, unspoken understanding.

The people exiled alongside the Ling family were neither vicious criminals nor highly skilled martial artists. They were individuals punished for corruption or for taking sides in the Princes’ factional struggles. Aside from the Ling family, all of them were Civil Servants. Because of this, the government officers were even less worried about them escaping. Civil Servants had notoriously frail bodies and were mostly cowards who valued their own lives above all else.

During their afternoon rest, Ling Qianjun had made a special trip into the mountains. His luck was good; he found several of the herbs Hua Buwan had shown him in photographs. He purposely harvested some to bring over to her, as she had mentioned that she lacked these medicinal herbs and that he could bring them over to trade.

When Hua Buwan opened the supermarket door and turned on the lights with a CLICK, she saw Ling Qianjun sitting on a stool nearby, raising his hand to shield his eyes. He still wasn’t quite used to the sudden bright lighting. However, he was no longer afraid of it, and he quickly lowered his hand.

Hua Buwan walked in with a radiant smile, placing the bags in her hands onto the counter. "Come take a look. Jingjing and I went shopping today, and I brought back some little trinkets for you all."

"Oh?" Ling Qianjun’s tone was light and cheerful. He quickly walked over to her side and looked at the little items she was pulling out.

"These are little crabs I caught by the sea and some pretty seashells I found.

"And this is a conch shell I bought from a vendor on the beach. If you hold this conch to your ear, you can actually hear the sound of the ocean waves. Then, if you put your mouth right here, you can blow it like a horn."

Hua Buwan introduced the items one by one, then handed the conch shell to Ling Qianjun, prompting him to hold it to his ear and listen. It was Ling Qianjun’s first time seeing items from the sea. Overcome by a wave of curiosity, he took the conch and pressed it against his ear.

Sure enough, the rhythmic sound of crashing waves echoed from within. He looked at Hua Buwan in pleasant surprise. "It really does sound like the ocean waves! To think this conch shell is so magical."

Hua Buwan just offered a faint smile, staying silent. She wasn’t about to explain to Ling Qianjun that the conch produced sound because, when cupped over the ear, it isolated external noise and amplified the ambient air vibrations into a WHOOSHING sound reminiscent of the sea. Even without a conch, holding a cup over the ear would produce a similar effect.

She kept it to herself because she didn’t want to ruin this wonderful, poetic moment. She noticed that Ling Qianjun’s eyes were practically sparkling with delight.

"Take a look at these seashells and little crabs. I specifically picked out the prettiest ones for you so you can take them back and share them with your family. They’re very small, so carrying them around won’t be an issue," Hua Buwan said. She had even gone out of her way to buy a small plastic critter keeper to hold the tiny crabs.

Ling Qianjun had eaten crab before—it was a dish sometimes served at banquets—but he had never seen living ones, let alone ones this small. His interest was piqued. He shook the box slightly and watched the little crabs scurrying sideways. Imagining the pleasant surprise on his family’s faces when they saw these trinkets, he knew they would definitely love them. Hua Buwan was truly thoughtful.