When Chen Lie discussed cooking with Ning Tang yesterday, he did not avoid the three children, and all three children heard it. Before Chen Lie left in the morning, he took the two older children, Da Wa and Er Niu, to give them some instructions, so the three of them knew that Ning Tang would make lunch today.
But even though they knew it, it was already 11 o'clock in the morning, and Ning Tang still showed no sign of getting up to cook. The eldest, second, and third children's stomachs were growling with hunger.
Ning Tang was teased by the eldest child for a moment, and turned around, looking at the three of them helplessly, "If I weren't your stepmother, I would definitely beat you up."
Whose naughty kids are these?
But there was no way. She had agreed with Chen Lie yesterday that she would cook lunch.
Since he had agreed, Ning Tang was not one to go back on his word. He got up, packed up and prepared to go to the vegetable market.
Ning Tang took the money and notes left by Chen Lie and looked at the sunlight outside the house. It was still as bright as usual. She sighed, took out a straw hat from the house and put it on her head. After taking protective measures, she set off.
The eldest child watched her leave and waved, "Stepmother, please come back soon. Erniu and I can still handle it, but Sanwa is starving."
Ning Tang snorted through his nose as a sign of agreement.
She walked a few steps and suddenly remembered that Chen Lie had told her yesterday that if she wanted to buy vegetables, she had to go to the vegetable market in the west of Hailang Island, but she didn't know the directions and didn't know the way.
I had no choice but to go back to Shen's house and take Da Wa with me. "I don't know the way. Take me there."
The eldest child touched his rumbling stomach, sighed like a little adult, and walked ahead, "Follow me."
The two of them, one big and one small, walked for about half an hour and arrived at the vegetable market.
The vegetable market on Hailang Island is actually a piece of land about the size of a football field. There are many fishermen and vegetable vendors wearing straw hats and gloves squatting in front of vegetable baskets and shouting to sell vegetables.
Ning Tang didn't rush to buy vegetables, but took a look at them first.
It was noon and the morning market was over. There were not many people buying vegetables, but there were still a dozen or so people scattered around.
Ning Tang noticed that several people only paid money when buying seafood and did not give any tickets at all.
She asked Da Wa, "Don't you need a ticket to buy fish here?"
Da Wa had rarely been to the vegetable market, let alone buying vegetables. He shook his head and said truthfully, "I don't know."
It seemed like asking him wouldn't tell him anything, so Ning Tang simply walked up to a fisherman setting up a stall and asked him, "How much is this swimming crab per pound? Do you need a ticket?"
The fisherman laughed and said, "Swimming crabs are eight cents a pound, no ticket required."
"How much?" Ning Tang was stunned, thinking she had heard wrongly.
Swimming crabs are only 8 cents per pound? How is that different from free?
The fisherman patiently repeated, "Eight cents a pound, no ticket required."
He looked at Ning Tang for a few times. Seeing that she was a stranger, spoke with a northern accent, and was quite pretty, he explained a few more words, "Our place is different from the inland. Inland seafood is expensive and requires tickets. But our Hailang Island is by the sea. The seafood we catch every day can circle half of the island. Besides supplying the army with the bulk of it, the higher-ups allow us to trade the rest to supplement our family income and develop the economy."
Another vegetable vendor came over and said, "Don't even mention swimming crabs. The same goes for other seafood. There are so many small seafood in the sea that we don't even want to eat them. It's just that June isn't swimming crab season, so there aren't many caught, so we only sell them for eight cents a pound. By August, September, and October, no one wants them even at five cents a pound."
In the vegetable market, chicken, duck, beef, mutton, agricultural products and vegetables are expensive and require tickets. Seafood is cheap and doesn't even require a ticket, it's like it's free. No wonder most of the dishes Chen Lie cooked yesterday were seafood.
Ning Tang slapped his thigh, he really came to the right place!
She looked at the swimming crabs in the basket. They were quite large and still alive. She decisively took out 40 cents and said, "Give me five pounds!"
After buying swimming crabs, Ning Tang bought prawns at two cents a pound and swordfish at five cents a pound. He was so happy shopping that he didn't want to leave.
Seeing that Ning Tang seemed to be buying up all the food at the market, Da Wa quickly stopped her and said, "Stepmother, you bought enough, enough for us to eat."
Ning Tang then withdrew his hand with a feeling of being unsatisfied.
After returning home, Ning Tang steamed all the seafood.
These seafoods are easy to steam. Even Ning Tang, a kitchen novice, spent less than half an hour to prepare three dishes after figuring out how to use the Shen family's wood-burning stove.
Steamed swimming crab, boiled shrimp, and steamed mackerel, three dishes. Because Ning Tang bought a lot, they looked very impressive when they were served on the table.
The three children were starving. They were born and raised on the island, so they didn't need to be taught how to eat seafood.
The eldest boy stretched out his little hand and grabbed a swimming crab, and quickly cut it open.
Erniu stared at the swordfish. Swordfish had few bones and a lot of meat. Ning Tang removed the fish bones and was not worried at all that Erniu would get a fish bone stuck in her throat.
Sanwa was young and greedy, so he grabbed a prawn and stuffed it into his mouth without even peeling the shell. He bit the prawn head a few times, but he didn't get the prawn meat. Instead, his bib was covered with saliva.
Ning Tang couldn't bear to see this, so he took the prawn from his little hand, peeled off the shell, and handed the red and white shrimp meat back to him.
Although Sanwa is young, he has good teeth and the shrimp meat is tender. He grabbed the shrimp and ate one in three bites.
Ning Tang didn't need to worry about the eldest and second daughters, so he just kept an eye on the third child. When he finished eating the shrimp, he would peel another one for him, and then feed him a mouthful of mackerel with the bones removed and shredded crab meat from time to time.
Erniu kept talking, and her eyes were also busy. She saw how Ning Tang took care of Sanwa, and said, "Stepmother, you still have a conscience."
Ning Tang's forehead throbbed, and he really wanted to beat up this unfortunate child. "Thank you for the compliment."
Da Wa had crab meat in his mouth and spoke unclearly, "Why praise her? This is what she should do. Don't forget who slept until eleven in the morning."
Ning Tang was indeed at fault in this matter. She had promised Chen Lie to go grocery shopping at ten o'clock, but she didn't get up until eleven. It took her one and a half hours, nearly two hours, to buy groceries and cook, and she didn't have dinner until one o'clock. "It's my fault, okay?"
Big Brother nodded and said that this was pretty good.
Ning Tang sighed as he gathered up the crab and shrimp shells, "Do I have to go grocery shopping at 10 o'clock from now on? This is killing me."
Big Boy said, "How about you go buy groceries at ten o'clock? It takes an hour to buy groceries and another hour to cook. We can have dinner at twelve o'clock, which is just right."
Ning Tang stared at Da Wa and Er Niu for a while, which made them both feel scared.
Erniu rubbed the hair on her hands and said, "Look at what we are doing."
Ning Tang sighed to the sky, "I wonder when you two grow up and can go shopping for me and cook."
In response to her were the funny faces of Da Wa and Er Niu.
After dinner, Ning Tang obediently rolled up his sleeves to wash the dishes.
At noon, she and her three children had lunch together. They didn't use many bowls and chopsticks, and the food was mostly seafood, not very oily, so the bowls and chopsticks were easy to wash.
It was not yet three o'clock when we finished washing the dishes, and the three children were starting to feel sleepy after their meals.
Erniu took out a mat from behind the door and spread it on the floor of the living room. The three children covered themselves with a quilt and took a nap on the floor.
Seeing the three children sleeping soundly, Ning Tang also felt sleepy. She lay down on the rocking chair in front of the window and fell into a dream.
Shen Lie saw this scene when he returned home.
Ning Tang was lying on the rocking chair, while Da Wa, Er Niu and San Wa were sleeping on the mat. Da Wa frowned and punched, not knowing what he was dreaming about. Er Niu rubbed her nose, and San Wa turned over with his calves resting on Da Wa.
"You're back." Ning Tang woke up when he heard footsteps.
Shen Lie lowered his voice for fear of waking up the three children, "Yeah."
Ning Tang glanced at the wall clock. It was only half past four. "You came back early today."
Chen Lie was worried about Ning Tang being at home with the three children, so he hurried to the vegetable market and then hurried back home. He arrived home at 4:30. He coughed and said, "Training ended early today."
Ning Tang didn't know whether he believed it or not, so he changed the subject and said, "Go cook when you get back."
At noon, they had steamed and boiled seafood. Although it tasted delicious, it always felt bland in their mouths. So as soon as Chen Lie came back, Ning Tang urged him to cook.
Chen Lie entered the kitchen and did not see a basin full of dishes like yesterday. He then looked at the chest of drawers and saw that the dishes were all washed clean. He curled his lips in satisfaction.
The three children were awakened by the smell of food.
Da Wa woke up the earliest. When he opened his eyes, he saw Shen Lie busy in the kitchen. His eyes lit up, "Dad!"
"Yeah." Chen Lie responded and handed him a bowl, "Take this to fill your stomach."
The eldest child took the bowl and saw that it was a bowl of lard residue sprinkled with sugar. He immediately laughed and asked, "Is it New Year's Day today?"
"It's not Chinese New Year, but it's better than Chinese New Year." Chen Lie said, "To celebrate your stepmother coming to our house, I'll make a few more dishes today."
So that's how it is. The eldest boy curled his lips and showed dissatisfaction on his little face.
Shen Lie glanced at his face and asked, "Why, you don't welcome your stepmother?"
Not really. The eldest boy stuffed his mouth with lard crumbs, trying to keep his mouth occupied so that he wouldn't have to speak.
Seeing him like this, Shen Lie became interested.
He looked around the living room. Ning Tang was collecting the mats that the three children had slept on, and wasn't paying attention to this side. He pulled the eldest child over and asked him quietly, "What do you think of your stepmother?"
Da Wa swallowed the lard residue and said, "It's okay."
Chen Lie asked, "What did you four have for lunch today?"
The eldest boy counted on his fingers, "Steamed swimming crab, steamed Spanish mackerel, steamed prawns."
Chen Lie raised his eyebrows. Although they were all steamed, they were quite rich, and these were the more expensive seafood in the market.
There was only Ning Tang and three children at home. He thought Ning Tang would just make a casual meal, but he didn't expect her to cook three dishes, and from what the eldest child said, the portions were quite large.
Chen Lie: "Then you said it's okay, isn't this good for you guys?"
Da Wa recalled how Ning Tang almost bought out the entire market, "Okay, she's quite generous, but—"
Chen Lie pinched his little face and said, "I knew you were going to say but."
Big Baby puffed up his cheeks and said, "But, Dad, you told her to go buy groceries at ten o'clock, and she slept until eleven o'clock this morning. Including buying groceries and cooking, we didn't have dinner until one o'clock."
Shen Lie nodded, "Then have you told your stepmother?"
Da Wa paused and said, "I said it."
Chen Lie: "Then what did your stepmother say to you?"
Da Wa thought for a moment and said, "My stepmother promised us that she would go shopping for groceries at ten o'clock tomorrow and cook for us at twelve o'clock."
Chen Lie clapped his hands and said, "That's it."
He rubbed Da Wa's head and said, "Shen Da Wa, what did I teach you? Look at people's strengths, help them in their difficulties, and remember their kindness. When you look at people, you should look at their strengths, not just their weaknesses. You said your stepmother got up late and was late in cooking for you. What about you three? Did you help her cook? If you had given her a hand, wouldn't we have to wait until one o'clock? We could have dinner at twelve o'clock."
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