Chapter 16 Little Stone Crab...
The older child opened his eyes wide in surprise, holding his breath, worried that if he took a heavier breath, he would scare the little stone crab away.
"Second sister, second sister∽"
Erni casually flipped over the stones under her hands, mainly playing in the water. The stream water was warm and quite comfortable, and she didn't even bother to look closely at what creatures were underwater.
Hearing her younger brother's shout, she instinctively responded with an impatient tone, "What's wrong?"
"Keep your voice down, Second Sister, look."
Erni's gaze followed the direction Da Wa was pointing and saw a small stone crab that was completely unaware of the approaching danger.
She had seen crabs before, but one this small, only as wide as two of her fingers, was truly rare.
Erni immediately became interested and lowered her voice, "Be careful, don't make too much noise, I'll catch it."
As she spoke, she carefully dipped her hand into the water without causing a ripple.
Two hands kept moving closer to the little stone crab, and the older children watching from the side couldn't help but get nervous, afraid of making a mistake.
"Splash!"
Da Wa's worries were unnecessary. With a loud splash, Er Ni gripped the little stone crab's pincers tightly with one hand, holding it firmly in her grasp.
Wow! Second sister, you're amazing!
The eldest child, seeing the small, purplish-red stone crab, excitedly circled around his second sister.
Hearing the noise, Miya turned around to look at the two people's location and immediately spotted the small stone crab in Erni's hand.
Unconsciously, she recalled the scene from her childhood when she would deliberately search for stone crabs in the water to fill her stomach.
Looking back now, it tasted pretty good.
Therefore, when Miya noticed that Erni wanted to release the little stone crab, she couldn't help but mention it.
"I've eaten small stone crabs before. They taste pretty good when simply grilled."
"Really?"
The eldest child stared wide-eyed in surprise. The small stone crabs in front of him looked like they were all hard shells, and the edible parts probably wouldn't even be enough to fill a tooth gap. How could they taste good?
But he had to admit that he was really attracted by Mia's sales pitch.
Originally, he wanted to catch one to play with his new friends, but now he suddenly wants to taste the little stone crab.
Da Ni and Er Ni were also a little skeptical. Could such a small thing really be eaten?
The eldest child didn't care about anything else; once he was moved, he acted immediately.
He snatched the small stone crab from his second sister's hand and threw it into a small puddle by the stream.
"Ahhh! I want to catch so many! Sister Miya, teach me how to grill them later, I really want to try grilled crabs."
Before the words were even finished, the person excitedly took off their shoes, rolled up their trouser legs, and jumped into the stream.
"Thump!"
Erni quickly raised her hands to cover her face and body, and cast a threatening look at her reckless and forgetful younger brother.
"Big brother! What did you tell your mother when you left?"
The eldest child glanced down at his trouser legs, which were sticky with water at the bottom, smiled knowingly, and quickly stepped out of the water.
Miya hadn't expected her eldest child to be so reckless. What if he accidentally got sick and developed a fever?
In truth, it all started with her.
She quickly washed her bubble-covered hands in the stream, then hurried toward Da Wa, touching his calf. The icy touch startled her.
"Big brother! It's only early spring, and the stream is still cold. Go home and warm yourself by the fire before you come back, or I won't make you the roasted baby rock crabs you want."
“That won’t do!” the eldest child retorted without hesitation.
He saw that his two older sisters and his sister Miya all had the same reproachful look in their eyes, so he had no choice but to go home first.
Afterwards, Miya and Dani continued washing clothes, experiencing the benefits of using soap.
Soap not only produces a lot of foam and makes clothes look clean, but it can also leave a fragrance on clothes, and the more you scrub, the more you enjoy it.
When washing the borrowed military overcoat, Miya didn't hesitate to use plenty of soap, lathering the entire coat with fine foam.
Just then, the eldest child, who had been sent home to warm himself by the fire, suddenly made an excited sound from afar.
The three girls keenly noticed the change in the way the eldest child addressed himself and heard a dense throng of footsteps.
When he stood up, he saw that the eldest child was followed by a group of people who were not much older than him.
When the eldest child saw Miya, he became even more excited, waving his arms and legs, pointing in the direction of Miya to his friends behind him and introducing her:
"That's Sister Miya!"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked in the direction of Miya, their eyes gleaming.
Some people quickened their pace, eager to ask Miya about its authenticity.
"Sister Miya, I heard from Da Wa that your little stone crabs are especially delicious, is that right?"
After asking the question, Gou Dan subconsciously swallowed.
"It smells delicious when grilled, and it tastes like meat."
Before Miya could finish speaking, a chorus of exclamations arose from the group of children.
"Wow!"
"The taste of meat."
"I want to eat meat too! I want to eat meat!"
...
The children's somewhat wailing and howling attracted the attention of many people washing clothes by the stream.
"Sister Liu, I think I heard your dog's voice."
"It's not just Gou Dan, it seems like Tie Chui and Tie Tou are here too."
"What's so strange about that? These kids are always fooling around together. It's good that they're out playing, so they won't be neglecting their work at home."
"That's true."
These days, children are raised rather roughly; as long as their lives aren't at stake, parents are too lazy to care.
So after exchanging a few words, everyone immediately forgot about what they had just heard.
Meanwhile, upon hearing Miya's answer, the children excitedly rushed towards the stream.
Miya could only warn him repeatedly not to go into the water, otherwise she wouldn't let him eat the grilled baby rock crabs she made later.
Threatened by the delicious food, the children could only suppress their desire to go into the water, standing on the shore, searching for small stone crabs hiding underneath.
The eldest child was also among them, and firmly occupied the spot where the small stone crab had been found.
Soon, he found a new little stone crab and let out a long, excited cry.
"Alas!"
Erni really couldn't understand why her little brother was still so childish. Pointing to the small puddle beside her, she said, "Let's keep him in the water for now, or he might die."
"Oh, oh, oh," the eldest child finally snapped out of his excitement and looked down to see that his second sister had already caught the small stone crabs that covered the bottom of the puddle. He opened his mouth in surprise.
"Wow! Second sister, you are really amazing."
After the initial shock, Da Wa became even more determined to catch the small stone crabs, unable to tear his eyes away from the stream.
By this time, Miya and Dani had finished washing the clothes in their hands.
The only problem was that the military coat in Miya's hands was too heavy, and the two of them couldn't wring it out properly even working together.
The water, trapped inside the heavy military overcoat, was so heavy it almost knocked Miya's head to the ground.
"Watch out!" Da Ni dropped the basin in her hand and rushed over to support Mi Ya.
Miya struggled to steady herself, bracing her waist against the enamel basin, and smiled sheepishly, "It does seem a bit heavy."
"I think you should just dry it at my house. If you carry a basin up the mountain, you'll probably run out of energy before you even get halfway up."
Miya felt the heavy weight in her hand and agreed to Dani's suggestion.
The two appeared together in Da Ni's yard, carrying basins. The general's coat was hanging on a rope, and the water hidden inside the coat immediately dripped down.
The two looked at each other and smiled simultaneously.
Miya carried the remaining clothes home, hung them to dry under the eaves, fetched some matches, and returned to the stream.
When she arrived, she saw that the puddles on the shore were teeming with small stone crabs, which made her scalp tingle.
"That's enough! This is enough for everyone. Let's grill the baby rock crabs now."
Upon hearing the signal that it was time to eat, the children dropped what they were holding and rushed towards Miya.
This was the first time so many people had obeyed her commands, and Miya subconsciously made arrangements for personnel allocation.
"Big Brother, take a few people and go collect firewood."
"The rest of the sticks are for breaking off, the kind you can use to string the stone crabs together."
"Mission accomplished!"
The eldest child imitated the soldiers' salutes and led his friends to collect firewood.
A short while later, the children returned with their harvest.
Miya, Da Ni, and Er Ni strung wooden sticks on the little stone crabs, while the other children helped start the fire.
Soon, wisps of smoke drifted along the stream, and warmth spread from the fire to the surrounding area.
Even setting aside food, just being able to warm themselves by the fire and play with their friends is enough to keep the children excited all day.
Not to mention, as time passed, an indescribable umami aroma began to fill the air, captivating the soul.
The small stone crabs, originally purplish-red, gradually turned into an eye-catching orange-red color under the catalysis of high temperature.
Dog Egg stared at the little stone crab in Honeybee's hand, swallowing hard. The word "smells so good" kept pounding in his head.
Just when he felt his mouth was about to burst with saliva, Miya finally spoke.
"Alright, you can eat now. One for each of you."
Miya distributed the ten roasted stone crabs in her hand, and the children couldn't wait to grab the one they had their eye on.
The eldest child was the first to arrive, and being in a favorable position, he managed to snag the "biggest" one.
"Be careful, it's hot! Don't eat the black parts," Miya's voice warned.
The eldest child subconsciously stopped what he was doing and kept breathing on the small stone crab in his hand to lower its temperature.
Dog Egg, who was standing to the side, didn't care about anything else. He used his iron hands to ruthlessly pry open the shell of the little stone crab and took a bite of the few pieces of crab meat inside.
In an instant, a rich umami flavor filled the entire mouth, and the aroma seemed to vibrate in the air.
With his strong teeth, he bit and crushed the small stone crab in his mouth, then quickly swallowed it.
"It smells good! It smells so good! It's so delicious!"
Upon hearing this, the other children could no longer resist and followed Gou Dan's pace, quickly finishing off the grilled small stone crabs in their hands.
Da Ni and Er Ni sat quietly to the side, tasting the food and nodding in agreement with the children's praise.
Erni, in particular, was surprised that Miya had even eaten small stone crabs and made them quite delicious. She couldn't help but look at Miya with a hint of admiration.
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