"Oh dear! The beachcombing is over, and my filefish is gone!"
The third child wailed.
Ruan Meng laughed heartily and reminded her third brother, "Look at Brother Song, those two buckets of seafood he just delivered? See what's in them?"
Ruan Zheng's eyes lit up, and he quickly carried the wooden bucket over.
To get a closer look, both buckets of seafood were poured into a wooden basin.
There's abalone, sea cucumber, clams, shrimp, octopus, and two swimming crabs!
The third brother pointed at the swimming crab and asked Ruan Meng, "Little sister, what's this?"
Ruan Meng explained, and seeing her expression, the third brother swallowed hard. "Is it delicious?"
Ruan Meng nodded, and the third brother pleaded, "Little sister, your third brother is hungry again..."
Ruan Meng chuckled. She had never caught swimming crabs before. The Song family knew that they must have been told by the villagers, so they brought them over.
Third Brother's request is simple, isn't it?
After cleaning the blue crabs, Ruan Meng cut them into small pieces. Using the last bit of oil, she fried the crab pieces until fragrant, then added millet peppers, scallions, ginger, and garlic. After stir-frying, she added a little salt and soy sauce...
The delicious aroma filled the room, and even the second son, who wasn't hungry at first, started to crave food.
Ruan Meng served the food in small bowls, giving each person two pieces, and giving her third brother two extra pieces.
My older brother used to eat very little, but ever since Ruan Meng started cooking, his appetite has improved a lot.
When we ate filefish that evening, my older brother ate half a bowl of rice. Now that we've been given blue crabs, he hasn't refused them either.
This surprised and delighted both the sister-in-law and Ruan Meng.
"How about it?"
Ruan Meng asked.
"oops!"
The third brother, still wanting more, exclaimed, "It's a pity there's no rice! Otherwise, I could have eaten two more bowls!"
He licked his fingers as he spoke.
The second child nodded repeatedly, "It smells so good! The crab meat is even sweet! It's really great!"
"younger sister!"
The second child couldn't help but ask, "Are these swimming crabs very rare? Will we still be able to eat them?"
Ruan Meng laughed and said, "Swimming crabs are a common seafood, and they're at their fattest this season. If we can find any while beachcombing, I'll cook them for my brother and sister-in-law!"
The second and third sons nodded with satisfaction.
The eldest sister-in-law also exclaimed, "Little sister, what do you think? When Manager Xiao Kai comes the day after tomorrow, if we let him try this, wouldn't we be able to sell another dish?"
Ruan Meng laughed and said, "One dish? Not enough!"
"Let's go beachcombing tomorrow and try to collect as much seafood as possible, then cook it into other dishes and sell them to him!"
As previously agreed with Manager Yu, the dipping sauce would be provided once every three days for the first half of the month.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Kai arrived just yesterday, and the very next morning, he appeared in Fengjia Village again, this time by horse-drawn carriage.
Ruan Meng and her second and third brothers put on their gloves and were getting ready to go beachcombing.
Hearing the sound of a carriage, I thought I had misheard.
"Small regular script!"
Ruan Meng walked over with her second and third brothers, asking, "Why are you here today?"
Liu Jie was still driving the carriage, and he and Xiao Kai laughed as they unloaded the bundles from the carriage.
"Here! I've brought you this!"
"I almost used up your oil and sugar yesterday, and I was worried you wouldn't have enough, so I quickly sent them over!"
Ruan Meng asked doubtfully, "Actually, it doesn't make a difference if it's just one more day. Aren't we supposed to pick up the goods tomorrow?"
Xiao Kai explained with a smile, "I ate too many candied bananas yesterday, and used up all your oil and sugar. I'm sorry, so I rushed to deliver it."
"Originally, I planned to buy it with my own savings, but Manager Yu wouldn't allow it, saying that the restaurant would give it to the young lady as a gift."
"The young lady is going to develop a dish, so please provide some oil and sugar, which will also be used by the He family restaurant."
Yesterday, a lot of oil and sugar were indeed used. Since Manager Yu and Xiao Kai both said so, Ruan Meng did not refuse.
Upon opening the bundle, they found five jars of oil, five jars of sugar, three jars of salt, and two jars of soy sauce.
Very generous, very well prepared.
"Thank you, Xiao Kai, and please thank Manager Yu for me too!"
Ruan Meng handed the jar to her second and third brothers and thanked them.
Xiao Kai tentatively said, "Since I've come all this way, the shopkeeper asked me to inquire if they can make some dipping sauce today, so I can take some back with me."
"We placed orders a couple of days ago, and business was booming. Although the shopkeeper told customers that supplies would be available every three days, we still get inquiries every day."
Every day, Ruan Meng cooks the oysters into oyster sauce on the same day to ensure freshness.
Xiao Kai's request is not complicated; all he needs to do is prepare the sauce.
As Ruan Meng prepared to go back and was mixing the sauce, Xiao Kai volunteered to join her in beachcombing...
He and Liu Jie both lived on the island. Ruan Meng wasn't worried, so she gave them each a glove and a wooden clip.
Xiao Kai and Liu Jie looked on with curiosity and followed the third brother to the beach, where they heard the second brother shouting into the house.
"Don't worry, little sister, I'll take good care of them for you!"
Ruan Meng, who was originally very steady, suddenly trembled upon hearing this.
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