Ebb and Flow

Low tide only lasts two hours. When the tide recedes, the tidal flats are exposed. The whole village went barefoot on the beach, picking up floating jade and fishing soil. When the tide rises, the beach disappears and no one can get out. Xu Su was seventeen years old and an orphan in the village. Grandpa died, leaving behind three mud houses, a pile of engraved shell pages, and two and a half pieces of jade in debt. The boat from the outer courtyard comes once a month to weigh, count, and collect rent. Remember one piece for heavy ones and half a piece for light ones. Grandpa's name, they had crossed it out. That day when he was flipping through his grandfather's belongings, the page in his palm suddenly felt hot. Four words appeared above it. He only recognized "sea" and "road". On the same day, the outer courtyard was closed to water. No one is allowed to fall within the pile line. But the things under the beach have begun to respond to him. People who have been in the water for a lifetime will have heavy bones. This is called osteoporosis. The seawater grows flesh for you, and when it grows into your bones, you can never pull it out again. One sinking, hard hand. Second, the bones sink. It sinks three times, and people can spend the night under it. After the second sinking, few come back. The sea medicine is black, packed in bamboo tubes and sealed with wax. One sinks one rod, two sinks two rods, the strength is doubled, and the ears also change. Lone households cannot buy medicine. The sinking of an isolated household is not counted in the village. He held two tubes in his arms, but there was nothing at the mouth. The shell he fished out had a mark printed on the inside. Three curved lines surround a square. It's the same as the one on the flag in the outer courtyard. As for the street under the water, there are three horizontal streets, two vertical streets, and one street in the middle. That's not a pit. That's where someone lived. I owe two and a half dollars. This month, he's turning it over.