Once Xu Milu finishes dealing with Honghe Technology, the construction of the villa in Xingning Village will be almost complete. Since the entire villa uses antique-style architecture, there is basically no need to worry about formaldehyde. At the latest, the villa will be fully completed in three months.

As usual, she went for a walk and found that the construction progress was indeed impressive. Even the artificial lake she had specifically requested on the back mountain had been almost completely dug, with only landscaping work remaining.

—It’s called a “lake”, but judging from Xu Milu’s eyes, it’s big enough for Ah Chou to run around in as he grows bigger and bigger.

Xu Milu took a stroll and just as she was about to leave, she bumped into Xu Lanjuan's two children. The Xu family also had a son and a daughter: the older brother Zhou Nian and the younger sister Zhou Yue.

Both children were carrying small red buckets—the same kind of plastic red buckets that villagers use when selling grapes. The children usually liked to carry them around to play, and sometimes they would dig for wild vegetables or touch snails.

Hello, Sister Xu.

"Sister Xu!"

Both children were happy to see Xu Milu. Zhou Nian inherited his father's personality and was a little shy, while Zhou Yue was like Xu Lanjuan and could chat with anyone.

"Sister Xu! Look! My brother and I caught these on the mountain!"

Zhou Yue couldn't wait to show Xu Milu her "trophies" in the little red bucket: gray crabs, no bigger than a bottle cap, were densely packed in the wooden bucket, occasionally scraping against the bucket wall and making a "squeaking" friction sound. At first glance, it looked like she was carrying a bucket of spiders.

—This is the level of fear that can kill someone with trypophobia or spider phobia on the spot.

Xu Milu burst out laughing at the sight of it:

"These are mountain crabs? I always thought we didn't have them here—did you go to the mountains? The roads are slippery in the mountains, remember to bring an adult next time you go."

Crabs are omnivorous animals that feed on aquatic plants, benthic animals, organic debris, and animal carcasses. Many people think that crabs only exist in lakes and seas, but there are also "mountain crabs" that live in mountain streams and rivers.

Mountain crabs don't grow very big; the largest is no bigger than a ping-pong ball. Once caught, they are cleaned and fried or used in soup, making them a delicious and popular mountain delicacy.

Zhou Nian pointed to the artificial lake and shook his head:

“I didn’t take Yueyue to the mountains. During this time, they were digging a lake and diverting water from the mountains. A lot of mountain crabs have flowed down with the water. Many children in the village went to pick them up. My grandfather also said that he hadn’t seen these things for many years.”

Xu Milu looked up and saw that there were indeed many people catching crabs barefoot on the other side of the mountain pass. There were adults and children. The water flowing down from the mountain was shallow and barely reached their ankles, so it was fine for the children to play there.

The two children exchanged a glance, shoved the red bucket in their hands into hers, and ran off, Zhou Yue shouting as she ran:

"Sister Xu, here, have this. I have plenty more at home. My grandma invited you to our house for dinner the day before yesterday!"

The more the parents talked about it, the more the children learned from what they saw and heard. They understood that what Xu Milu did was good for the village, and the two children would express their gratitude in their own ways.

Xu Milu was both amused and exasperated. The bucket of crabs felt heavy in her hands, and she couldn't help but feel a warmth in her heart. After thinking for a moment, she decided not to refuse the two children's lovely "gift".

...

...

Although autumn is the best time to eat crabs, Xu Milu has a cheat code. She went to the Journey to the West world and came back with two full loads of hairy crabs tied to straw.

—With Mo Xuan as my witness, this is definitely a genuine Dongting Lake hairy crab.

Mountain crabs are pitifully small, with thin shells and legs and hardly any meat. Xu Milu has her own way of preparing them: she washes the mountain crabs with a brush, cuts off their intestines and gills, coats them with a little starch, and deep-fries them. When the crab shells turn red and the crabs coated in starch turn into an enticing golden yellow, they are ready to be served.

The fried crab shells are incredibly crispy, and inside there are strands of snow-white crab meat. Dipped in a little salt and pepper or chili powder, it's so delicious that the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes, leaving a lingering, fragrant crab flavor.

As for the hairy crabs, Xu Milu plans to use them to make crab roe oil.

Her seventh senior brother, Zhao Yu, specializes in Suzhou cuisine, and Xu Milu learned this recipe from him.

Separate the crab roe and crab fat from the steamed crab and set aside. Cut a piece of pork fat into cubes and slowly render it in a pot until it becomes small cubes of lard. Leave a little lard in the pot, add scallions and ginger slices and sauté until fragrant. Pour in the crab roe and crab fat, cover with Shaoxing wine and simmer until cooked. Finally, add chicken broth and pepper to taste, drizzle with lard and store in a jar.

In Suzhou dialect, "秃" means "only" or "alone," and "秃黃黃" means that this dish is different from crab roe sauce which contains crab meat; it only contains crab roe.

This dish perfectly embodies the Chinese people's attitude of "being meticulous in food preparation"—only a little crab roe or crab fat can be extracted from a single crab, and it is extremely luxurious to use no crab meat. Only through careful selection and meticulous cooking can one obtain such a smooth and delicious crab roe.

The cooked crab roe is golden in color, with a few orange-red crab roe grains inside. The delicious crab roe is soaked in the rich oil, bringing out the top-notch freshness of this dish.

Such a top-notch delicacy can be best enjoyed with just a bowl of freshly steamed rice, showcasing its unparalleled elegance. It's hard to imagine anyone being able to resist the temptation of a hot, fragrant bowl of delicious crab roe rice.

...

...

Taking advantage of the free time, Xu Milu made several jars of crab roe oil to prepare, as it is preserved with lard and has a long shelf life.

Xu Minian has less than half a month until the college entrance examination. He has been living at the school during this time. Liu Hongmei brings him meals every day in different ways. Xu Milu happened to have time today, so she drove to the school to deliver the meals.

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