Meanwhile, Mi Le had already helped Niu Niu put on her gloves and led her to an abandoned camping tent in the woods. The four little ones stood together, excitedly rubbing their hands. They were going to do something important. Like A Ming and his friends, they would use their clean baskets, which were supposed to hold treasures, to collect trash! Because in their hearts, a clean island and clear sea were the most precious treasures.
The baskets were soon filled. The four little ones, who had started the journey so clean, were now a bit messy. The ‘Treasure Hunt Team’ soon encountered A Ming and his group in the woods. A Ming was surprised when he saw them. When his gaze fell on the baskets filled with trash, his eyes inexplicably grew warm. No tourist had ever joined them before. This was the first time.
These four little ones were so young. The oldest probably hadn’t even graduated from kindergarten, and the youngest might not even know how to dress himself. A large mosquito bite had appeared on Su Youli’s arm, a red patch on his fair skin. The little guy seemed uncomfortable, frowning as he used his nails to scratch the itchy bump.
But before he could scratch, a stern-faced little boy stopped him. “There are germs on your hands. Don’t scratch. Let me put some cream on it.”
Everyone saw this scene: two little ones, one big and one small, huddled together. The older one, with a worried expression, carefully applied cream to the little curly-haired boy’s arm with a cotton swab. He really looked like a little adult taking care of his most treasured possession.
Mi Le was excited when he saw A Ming and his friends. He walked over with his basket. “Brother A Ming, look! I collected a whole basket of trash!”
The other ‘Treasure Hunt Team’ members also held out their baskets, standing on tiptoes to make sure they could see. A Ming was stunned. Such clean, beautiful baskets, and they were using them to carry trash. And all four little ones were wearing light-colored clothes, clean and pretty, but now they were dirty.
“Th-thank you,” A Ming managed, unable to say anything else.
The little ones had been outside for nearly two hours. Not only was the weather hot, but the woods were full of insects. The sounds of hands slapping mosquitoes rang out one after another. A Ming glanced at the little curly-haired boy who still wanted to scratch his arm and invited them all to his house. The group of children emerged from the woods together. The ‘Treasure Hunt Team’s’ initiative in picking up trash quickly bridged the gap between them.
The dark-skinned children enthusiastically helped them dump the trash from their baskets into the garbage bins and promised to wash the baskets clean for them once they got home. Most of the houses on the island were built with locally sourced materials, so each one looked a little different. A Ming’s family were all fishermen. Their house sat in a corner of the island, the closest home to the polluted sea.
Because they had lived there for generations, their house was one of the few old buildings that retained its original character. The outer walls were built from stones of various sizes, stacked and fitted together. Each stone had a story. Every one had been carefully selected from the beach by A Ming’s ancestors, each carrying the memory of time. The cameraman’s lens followed the children’s footsteps and focused on the outer wall of A Ming’s home.
Encountering A Ming and his friends had been a coincidence. Since they were going to film inside, the production team sent someone in to ask the homeowners for permission. Along the way, A Ming’s fondness for these four children grew even more. Perhaps because he hadn’t received recognition from off-island tourists in a long time, A Ming and his friends now felt that the ‘Treasure Hunt Team’ shared their love for the ocean.
With A Ming’s help, the production team was able to enter his home smoothly. Like a typical fisherman’s house, fishing nets and gear hung under the eaves. Several white plastic buckets sat in the yard, filled with freshly caught seafood. While the crew set up their equipment, the little ones crouched around a large red round basin, their four pairs of eyes fixed on the lobsters flipping and tumbling inside. Mi Le was the bravest. He reached into the basin, grabbed a lobster, and held it up high.
The water splashing from the struggling lobster startled the other three little ones. Niu Niu and Youyou both hid behind Qiqi, pouting and complaining: “Brother Lele, put it back!”
Mi Le grinned. He was strong and held the lobster tightly. Seeing them scared, he played even more enthusiastically, running toward them with the lobster raised high.
“Youyou, lobsters are cute! Look at its claws, aren’t they like weapons?”
Youyou ran, clutching his head and shouting for help. He hadn’t actually been that scared of lobsters at first; he even thought they were a bit cute. But now, the scary thing wasn’t the lobster, it was Brother Lele. The echoes of Brother Lele’s hearty, mischievous laughter filled the air. The little guy felt like Brother Lele had gone crazy. Inside the stone-walled yard, the crisp, innocent laughter of children rang out.
When A Ming came back out, he had changed into clean clothes. The fatigue and sweat from earlier were washed away. He sat upright on the clean stool the production team had prepared, with his family’s distinctive island-style house as the backdrop, ready to give an interview. Facing the camera for the first time, seven-year-old A Ming was also nervous, not knowing what to do with his hands.
The camera lens was dark and emotionless. The reason the production team had come to this island was because of a plea from a netizen, though not about environmental pollution. That netizen had come to the island to get over a breakup. Finding the local people simple and honest and the scenery beautiful, he messaged the show’s production team, strongly recommending they film here and promote the island.
The theme for this episode was ‘Little Ones and the Ocean.’ The chance encounter with A Ming was something of a wonderful adventure for the four little ones. Children raised in greenhouses learned about the seriousness of environmental pollution and were shocked by the garbage everywhere. Faced with the trash in the woods, these young ones didn’t run away. Instead, they voluntarily joined the clean-up crew. All good children. All good children.
The director smiled gently. “Don’t be nervous. Just answer our questions however you like.”
The four little ones who had been playing nearby now stopped. Grandma A Ming invited them to sit on a large stone. The four little ones sat in a row. Grandma A Ming raised her knife and sliced open a fresh watermelon, handing it out to them.
So each of the four little ones held a slice of watermelon bigger than their own faces and said in milky voices: “Thank you, Grandma.”
They ate their watermelon while watching Brother A Ming being interviewed, enjoying the cool sea breeze. It was just too comfortable!
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