Chapter 58 Crayfish

There is a famous night market street in the old town of Lancheng.

There are no shops in the night market street, only stalls.

Moreover, the stalls here have been there for more than 20 years.

They witnessed the prosperity of the old city in the past, and also witnessed its decline after its rise in the new era.

The old town used to be the most prosperous place in Blue City during the day.

The current old town is the most prosperous place in Blue City at night.

The night market street is shaped like a "well".

The two streets are intertwined horizontally and vertically. Starting at four o'clock in the afternoon, stall owners have begun to set up their stalls one after another.

Starting at 5 pm, the street starts to come alive.

When night falls, the place will be crowded with people.

And on this street, there is a stall that has been selling beef offal for more than 20 years.

In addition to beef offal, this stall also sells crayfish.

This restaurant's beef offal and crayfish are famous for their delicious taste.

The beef offal is good, with a generous portion. As long as you don't come too late, you can basically get some.

However, the crayfish sold at this restaurant are limited every day.

I buy 90 kilograms a day.

Three flavors.

Spicy, garlicky and spiced.

The three of them have been studying in Blue City for three years.

I've only eaten crayfish here once.

And that time, I was lucky enough to eat it because the boss had some problems at home and opened the stall late.

After eating it just that one time, the three of them could not stop thinking about crayfish.

Unfortunately, I never get to eat it every time I come.

Today happens to be Monday, and many people are at work.

They thought that it wouldn't be too late to line up at three o'clock.

After all, I, Shao Yuan, returned to school at around one o'clock.

However, it is overlooked that many students are also on vacation.

So, I, Shao Yuan and the other two set off at around 2 o'clock and arrived on time at 3 o'clock.

As a result, there were already more than thirty people queuing up.

The three of us, Shao Yuan and I, immediately lined up at the back of the team, fearing that if we were a step behind, we would miss out.

Ding Lanlan stood in front of me, Shao Yuan, and Yu Shan stood behind me, just sandwiching me in the middle.

This is to prevent someone from recognizing me, Shao Yuan, while we are queuing.

I, Shao Yuan, looked at the team in front and couldn't help but worry.

"There are so many people ahead of us. By the time we get our turn, there won't even be a lobster shell left."

I, Shao Yuan, didn't wear a mask, but a black baseball cap. Pulling the brim down, it basically covered most of my face.

The sun is actually still very bright now.

So, there are quite a lot of people wearing hats.

Therefore, I, Shao Yuan, do not seem out of place.

"Yeah, I finally have some free time and came out so early. I didn't expect there would still be so many people."

Ding Lanlan also glanced at the team ahead and couldn't help but say with a bit of discouragement, "There are only about thirty people ahead of us, and each person is carrying 10 or 8 kilograms. There's no place for us."

These words happened to be heard by a young man in his twenties sitting in front of Ding Lanlan.

The young man turned around and said, "Don't worry, even if you're number 100 in line tonight, you can still have crayfish. After number 100, there's no chance anymore."

"Huh? Why?"

Ding Lanlan asked.

"Because Boss Niu is closing up shop tonight, he won't be doing any more. So, there will be a lot of crayfish tonight. But the quantity is limited. Each person can only buy three pounds. One hundred people, that's exactly three hundred pounds."

The owner of this stall is actually surnamed Wu.

It’s just because I’ve been selling beef offal for more than 20 years.

That's why everyone calls him Boss Niu.

"Why is he closing his stall? He's been selling beef offal for so many years, and his business is still so good."

I, Shao Yuan, have eaten so many beef offal, and his is the best.

The taste is also the most authentic.

When I heard that Boss Niu was planning to close his business completely, I, Shao Yuan, was more anxious than anyone else.

"Yeah. He can make four or five thousand in one night. It's such a good business, why not do it?"

If it were Ding Lanlan herself, she could do such a profitable business for the rest of her life.

Yu Shan couldn't figure it out either. He opened his eyes and looked at the young man in front of Ding Lanlan, waiting for his answer.

The young man sighed and said, "Boss Niu said his son gave him a grandson, so he's planning to retire and go back to take care of his grandson. You're really lucky to have caught Boss Niu's last day of business. I came here yesterday and heard about it from others."

Ding Lanlan touched her chin and said, "Retire and take care of grandchildren? I remember Boss Niu was only about fifty years old. His son got married so early?"

"Besides, now that he has a grandson, shouldn't he work even harder to make money and support him? I heard Boss Niu say before that he plans to work for another ten years to save money for his son to buy a house."

It is precisely because of this that I, Shao Yuan, cannot understand why Boss Niu suddenly wants to retire just to take care of his grandson.

"Retirement and taking care of grandchildren is just an excuse."

The young man put his left hand to his mouth, looking mysterious.

"Didn't Boss Niu take a break from his stall for more than ten days? I heard he was in the hospital."

"It seems he has stomach cancer, in the late stages. He doesn't have much time left to live. So Boss Niu simply gave up treatment and was discharged from the hospital. He will run the stall for a few more days and then close it down. He wants to spend his final moments with his grandson, son, and family."

"Stomach cancer?"

I, Shao Yuan, was filled with shock.

Boss Niu has a good temper and greets everyone with a smile.

Moreover, sometimes some customers forget to bring money and are willing to buy on credit.

I didn’t expect that such a good person would get stomach cancer.

So, sometimes, between the accident and the surprise, you really don’t know which will come first.

It was almost five o'clock at four thirty.

I haven’t seen Boss Niu arrive yet.

The line has already reached the intersection.

Everyone was wondering whether Boss Niu would not come today.

Boss Niu arrived late on his small three-wheeled vehicle.

Behind his car, there was another small tricycle loaded with crayfish.

The driver was Boss Niu's son. He was wearing a white shirt and shiny black leather shoes, looking like a white-collar worker in a high-rise building.

Boss Niu’s wife was also in the car.

After the family of three arrived, they smiled and apologized to the people in line for keeping them waiting.

Then start unloading the folding tables and chairs and prepare to set up the stall.

Seeing this, the people in the queue wanted to come forward to help.

But he was rejected by Boss Niu.

Boss Niu joked that this was his last time setting up his stall and he brought his son to work with him.

It also allows his son to know how he and his wife have supported him for so many years.

Actually, there is nothing much to do.

There are only three folding tables in total, and each table has six stacked small plastic stools.

Boss Niu's son took only a few minutes to set up the table and stools.

Boss Niu and his wife were busy with beef offal and crayfish respectively.

I, Shao Yuan, took a serious look at Boss Niu and found that although he was smiling, he seemed to be in good condition.

But if you look closely, you can still see that his face is a little pale. There is no blood in it.

After waiting for about ten minutes, everything was ready.

As soon as the lid is opened.

The aroma of beef offal instantly rose into the sky.

It drifted towards the street with the wind.

Immediately afterwards, the lid of the large barrel containing crayfish was also opened.

The spicy aroma, the garlic aroma, and the five-spice aroma also spread quickly.

The customers waiting in line all sniffed in unison.

Then they couldn't help swallowing their saliva, and looked greedy.

“It smells so good.”

"Yeah. I've eaten so many beef and crayfish, but theirs is the best."

"What a pity, Boss Niu is closing up shop tonight after finishing his work."

"I'll never be able to eat such delicious beef offal and crayfish again. What should I do next?"

"Just have it cold. It's not like beef offal and crayfish are going extinct. It's just that they won't taste as good anymore."

"Luckily I took some time off this year and came early."

"Oh my god, brother, I didn't expect you to ask for leave as well. What's your excuse?"

"I said my uncle is sick and I'm here to take care of him today."

"Haha, I also said that my uncle was sick and I took leave to take care of him."

"That's right. Aren't we all here to take care of Uncle Niu? It's just that we're not here to take care of his health, but to take care of his business."

The Han people are truly a magical country.

Sometimes they may come from all over the world and don’t know each other.

But once they talk about food and drinks, they can immediately become brothers and friends.

It is no wonder that those overseas countries call the Han people foodies.

Why?

Because the Han people know how to eat, can eat, and dare to eat.

Just look at this crayfish.

This alien species is rampant in foreign countries and no one can do anything about it.

As a result, when they arrived in the Han Dynasty, they were almost eaten to extinction.

In the end, professional breeding is necessary to meet the needs of the large group of foodies in the Han Kingdom.

In addition to crayfish, there are also alien species such as oysters and bullfrogs.

After arriving in the Han Dynasty, they were eaten so much that they had to rely on farming.

This is enough to prove how powerful the Han people's mouths and stomachs are.

Most people who line up buy their food and take it away.

There is rarely any sit-down eating.

After all, the three tables are not big and can hold very few things.

There were indeed a lot of crayfish today, and the amount per person was limited, so when it was Shao Yuan and the others' turn, there were still more than half left.

So, the three of us, Shao Yuan and I, decided to each have one flavor, three pounds of each. We bought them all.

Then he sat at a table nearby and prepared to eat.

When the three pots of crayfish were served, Shao Yuan immediately took out his cell phone and prepared to call Gao Fei to ask him to come over and eat crayfish.

After all, he and Yu Shan pooled their money together and bought me some shoes.

It’s not too much to treat someone to a meal of crayfish.

However, Yu Shan stopped Shao Yuan.

It is said that Gao Fei was invited to go out of town to attend a domestic comic convention.

Emperor Shao Yuan looked at the three plates of crayfish in front of him and said with regret, "That's such a shame. This is the last time I'll get to eat these crayfish and beef offal. I guess I can only take a few photos and send them to him so he can quench his thirst with the sight of the crayfish."

"Haha, this is great." Yu Shan gloated, "I'll take a few pictures too. After I finish eating the crayfish and beef offal, I'll send them to Gao Fei. He'll be so greedy."

As he spoke, Yu Shan picked up his mobile phone and started taking pictures.

Ding Lanlan saw that Shao Yuan and Yu Shan were taking pictures, so he also took a few pictures and prepared to post them on WeChat Moments in the evening.

There are three flavors of crayfish, all very delicious.

Each has its own characteristics.

The three of us, Shao Yuan and I, went to the store to buy beer.

This crayfish goes really well with beer.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that these three large pots of crayfish are very large.

However, the only edible part of the crayfish is the tail.

For three grown men like me, Shao Yuan, three pounds of crayfish each is not enough to fill their teeth.

So after eating crayfish, I ordered beef offal and noodles.

The crayfish have been sold out, and Mr. Niu and his family of three are now selling beef offal.

In the past, Boss Niu usually closed his stall around nine o'clock.

But tonight Mr. Niu plans to sell until twelve o'clock.

So, a lot of beef offal was prepared.

Many people know that Boss Niu will close his stall after selling out his products today.

So, many people rushed over to buy beef offal.

Boss Niu and his family of three are extremely busy.

But the smile on his face was particularly bright.

Boss Niu was busy with his work while chatting and laughing with the customers.

He doesn't look sick at all.

The three of us, Shao Yuan and I, ate and chatted, and before we knew it, night had fallen.

The street is already filled with food stalls, and all kinds of aromas are wafting in the wind.

There are more and more foodies coming out to the streets to look for food.