Sea Foraging: I Was the Poorest in My Fishing Village, Then a Treasure Basin Made Me Rich

In 1983, Li Jianjun is so poor that even his pants are patched.

He marries into a small fishing village. His wife feels sorry for him but has no say in the family, his mother-in-law despises his poverty and curses him every day, and his sisters-in-law look at him as if to say, “How can someone be this useless?”

Worst of all, the old Wang next door calls him a “good-for-nothing freeloader” in public, making the whole village burst into laughter.

Then one day, while gathering seafood along the shore, a wave knocks him into the water. After swallowing a few mouthfuls of seawater, he discovers that he can see right through it.

To him, the seabed is as clear as his own kang bed.

He can see where the sea cucumbers are, where the abalone are hiding, which reef has a three-pound lobster clinging beneath it, and even what treasures lie inside a sunken ship half buried in the sand.

From then on, Li Jianjun isn’t just gathering seafood. He’s “picking up deliveries.”

The people who mocked him fall silent, those hoping to curry favor with him line up, and his sisters-in-law gather around him every day: “Brother-in-law, are you going to the beach tomorrow? Take me with you!”

Li Jianjun: I just want to make my fortune in peace. Could you all please stop being so enthusiastic?