Chapter 90 Spicy Baby Crabs

"Overcoming fear overnight is nothing unusual!"

"You...you're bullying me too much! Last night you made me fall and cut my arm, and it still hurts today. And today you talked badly about me to Brother Chao, trying to sow discord between us. You...boohoo!"

Before Yunxia could even retort, she started crying. Jiang Wu pulled her into his arms, staring at the crab in the little girl's hand with an unfriendly gaze.

Yesterday's claim of being afraid of crabs and lobsters was just an excuse; the real reason was that he looked down on country folk. "Yunxia, ​​the Jiang family treated you like a distinguished guest, but you turned out to be an ingrate. You eat, dress, and live at the Jiang family's house, and yet you still..."

"You leave things unsaid, you keep things vague and unspoken. Jiang Wu, finish your sentence. What have I done to wrong the Jiang family?"

"Hmph, you're the one who told me to say this: disrespectful to elders, impulsive, a habitual liar, gossipy, sowing discord, and plotting to harm his own sister!"

The boy grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, wishing he could grab a tree branch and teach the man a lesson on behalf of his father. He deeply regretted ever having considered the engagement.

"Bullshit! I know Yunxia better than you do. Jiang Wu, if you dare to talk nonsense again, come with me to the drying ground and we'll have a fight."

The drying ground, a place in the countryside where grain is dried in a concentrated manner, is very open and spacious, and during the off-season, it is the best place to arrange a fight.

Even though he only returned to the village twice a year, Jiang Chao's ruthlessness and viciousness in fighting had already spread throughout the village. This was all thanks to Liu Qing, whose image of him with a bruised and swollen face, carrying a half-basket of kiwis, and limping was deeply ingrained in people's minds.

"You're always fighting, Jiang Chao, are you a barbarian?"

"Ha, what a loser. If you don't dare to fight, then clear the way."

After saying that, he pushed him away and pulled Yunxia away in a long stride.

"Oh, shameless, a whole family bullying a little girl."

"Liu Qing, what do you know?"

"Brother Qing, have you been deceived by her hypocrisy?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Qing shuddered, as if disgusted by the cloying nickname. "Jiang Yue, is it fun to pretend to be a little white rabbit when you're a big bad wolf?"

"Waaah, Brother Qing, we grew up in the same village, how can you look at me like this?"

"Heh, only a fool like Jiang Wu would believe you're an innocent little pitiful person."

"Stop wasting your breath on them, Grandpa Liu is still waiting at home!"

Jiang Yue clenched her small hands tightly, glaring resentfully at the backs of the four laughing and joking figures.

"Moon, what's wrong with you?" Her expression was terrifying, like a vengeful ghost from a horror movie.

"Waaah, brother, don't you believe me either?"

"How could that be? Yue'er is well-behaved and sensible. Even with an injured arm, she still insisted on cutting grass to feed the sheep. You couldn't find such a good sister even with a lantern."

The girl wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, smiled faintly, took her brother's hand, and slowly walked away.

...

Chestnut Village, the Liu family's house, in the courtyard, under the big tree!

Several people held bamboo brushes and scrubbed the crabs with great effort.

Bai Ye sat to the side, watching them busy themselves. Not wanting to be a freeloader, he asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"

"No, you're a pampered young master from the city. If you get your fingers pinched by a crab claw, Grandpa will chase me for two miles with a broom in hand."

Seeing the boy's disappointment out of the corner of her eye, Yunxia quickly said, "Bai Ye, the snake venom in your body hasn't been cleared, and the crab claws are poisonous. Who can say for sure whether the two will clash? Um, there's not enough water. Could you please bring some more?"

The words, tinged with tenderness, washed away Bai Ye's gloom. He smiled and agreed, then got up to fetch water with a bucket.

"Wow, crabs are poisonous? You're really good at making things up!"

"Jiang Chao, you've misunderstood Xiaxia. Getting pinched by a crab claw is nothing to worry about; the worst thing is subcutaneous bleeding. If you don't prick it with a needle, it'll definitely ooze pus the next day."

"That's right, that's right!" Someone chimed in, and the feeling of Jiang Chao being humiliated was particularly delightful.

After a flurry of activity, the three buckets of crabs were finally cleaned.

Large crabs are steamed, medium-sized crabs are mixed with noodles and fried, and small crabs are directly put into the oil.

Inside the kitchen, Jiang Chao went back to his old job—stirring the fire!

Liu Qing and Yun Xia were busy at the stove, while Bai Ye kept Grandpa Liu company in the yard.

Half an hour later, sprinkle on salt, chili powder, pepper and other seasonings, and skillfully shake the iron basin to evenly distribute the seasonings on the small crabs. The final delicious dish is now complete.

With the shell and meat inside, one bite is crunchy, fragrant, and spicy. If you add a bottle of beer, it's pure bliss.

"Wow, a crab feast!"

"Grandpa Liu, try it! It tastes best when you catch it yourself."

Grandpa Liu took out his crab-eating tools, moving gently yet forcefully. In no time, the crab shell and meat separated perfectly. But instead of eating, he took the small plate and went inside.

“Every time he cooked a big meal, Grandpa would pick out a dish, put it on the table, and let Grandma eat first. They would reminisce for a while before he would come out wiping away tears.”

"Nonsense, who wiped away tears?" If the corners of the eyes weren't red, this statement would be more believable.

"Grandpa, you and Grandma have such a good relationship."

"If I don't treat her well, who will I treat well? Girl, pick up your chopsticks, eat while it's hot and crispy!"

"Okay!"

Crab meat is delicious, but peeling it is troublesome, so Yunxia only picks up spicy small crabs, one bite at a time, and her mouth is full of oil.

"A girl shouldn't have such poor table manners! Here you go!"

The small bowl was piled high with orange and white crab meat. Yun Xia raised an eyebrow and laughed, "What a hypocrite!"

"Not eating it? Give it back to me!"

Upon hearing this, he quickly turned around with the bowl in his hand, saying, "No way! There's no reason to take back something that's been given away."

As she spoke, she picked up a piece of crab meat and stuffed it into her mouth. Jiang Chao gave a disdainful snort and stopped arguing with her.

"Yunxia, ​​here!"

One bowl is never too little, two bowls are never too much. With a sweet smile, Yunxia took the small bowl, thanked Bai Ye, and began to eat with relish.

Jiang Chao secretly rolled his eyes at the boy, thinking to himself that yet another one was trying to steal his sister, and he'd better keep a close eye on Yun Xia.

After dinner, the group sat in the courtyard to cool off. The village chief, covered in sweat, came in carrying two large watermelons.

The strong smell of body odor was suffocating. Jiang Chao stood up and said expressionlessly, "I've been out all day. I have things to do at home. Grandpa Liu, I'll take my leave now."

After nodding, the old man left without looking back, taking long strides.

"Village chief and young man Bai, we have something important to discuss. You two come back to the house with me."

A few seconds later, only the two of them remained in the courtyard. Bai Ye sighed and said, "The chestnuts are of good quality, but... we still won't go through with the contract. Once they're ripe, we'll send someone to buy them at the market price."

"No, we already agreed beforehand that we'd sign a long-term purchase contract, and the truck can just pick it up when the time comes."

The boy shook his head and said helplessly, "Signing a contract involves too many variables. If either party breaches the contract, it will be very troublesome to handle. Village chief, can you guarantee that all the villagers are willing to go through the direct collection method? If one family makes a fuss, the entire industry chain will be damaged."

"It would be better to choose the second option: during the chestnut harvest season, set up a stall and buy chestnuts at market price. Villagers can just bring them over if they want to sell, which will save some growers from causing trouble."

As the head of a village, how could he not be observant and think that it must be some ignorant rascal who offended the young master from the city?