Chapter 50: Five-man team prying oysters

"Cousin, you teach me, or I'll do it."

Yin Ning stepped forward, took away the awl and pushed Jiang Wan away from her position.

Jiang Wan didn't try to be stubborn. She went back into the house to find a piece of cloth and wrapped her hands around the three of them. Then she taught her cousin carefully and went to Xiaoman's house to borrow a chisel.

As a result, when Xiaoman heard that Yinzhu was also prying oysters at Yin's house, she immediately took a chisel and followed Jiang Wan.

Recently, she was almost suffocated by being locked up at home by her mother because of the appointment. Now that there was finally a chance for a few people to get together and talk, of course she wanted to go.

Xiaoman's mother was not worried either, as she had nothing to worry about the Yin family.

Just like that, Jiang Wan's lone oyster-peeling team turned into a team of four.

Oh no, it's a team of five. I almost forgot about Jinbao.

At this moment, Xiao Jinbao was reprocessing the oyster meat that they had pried out and picking out the broken shells.

Most of the children in the village start working at a very young age.

Xiaoman and Yinzhu were even more diligent and capable. Although they were talking, they did not slack off in their hands and opened the oysters much faster than the sisters.

"Yinzhu, the school in our village will open soon. Will you send Jinbao to study there?"

Xiaoman asked casually.

Yinzhu looked up in confusion, as if she thought she had heard it wrongly.

"When did the village have a school? How come I didn't know about it?"

Yin Ning paused, suddenly remembering that he had forgotten to tell Yinzhu about this.

After getting the conch back from the sea today, she went to Yinzhu's house. After that, she taught her how to cut clothes and she never left the house. Naturally, she didn't know the news that spread in the village.

"The village is already building a school. The village chief has spoken, and many people are helping to build it. I heard that Xiaoning's father agreed to teach in the village, so the village chief and others are in a hurry to build it."

Xiaoman didn't have any children in her family who could go to school, so she thought of asking her little sisters' families, but she didn't expect Yinzhu didn't know yet.

It took Yinzhu a while to digest these words. She turned around and stared at the Yinning sisters with shining eyes.

"Aning Xiaowan! Did Uncle Yin really agree to be a teacher in the village?!"

The two sisters nodded in unison.

"My father said that he wants 500 coins a month, which is shared by all the children. If there are more than ten or twenty children studying, it will cost about 40 to 50 coins a month."

"Then I'm going to send Jinbao there!"

Forty or fifty cents, not to mention adults, Yinzhu can earn that much money by fishing in a month. Not to mention the silver left by her parents.

In the future, Jinbao will not have to worry about housing, and she can afford the tuition fees.

"Jin Bao, can I send you to school?"

Xiao Jinbao beside him immediately shook his head.

"I'm not going. I want to help you raise ducks at home."

Yinzhu's nose felt sore, and she suddenly laughed again.

"The school is right in the village, and you don't have to go to the city. You can help your sister raise ducks after you finish your studies."

Little Jinbao seemed to be thinking about something.

"Is that so... can I make money by studying?"

All four of them were stumped by the question. Studying doesn't make money, but it costs money. And no one can guarantee that they will be able to make money after graduation.

Xiaoman was the first to react, and when she saw Xiaojinbao's expectant eyes she immediately nodded.

"Of course! There is an uncle named Bai in our village. He learned a lot of characters and was hired as an accountant by his employer. Later, he even brought Grandma Jinhua to live in the city."

"Sister Xiaoman, you are lying. I remember everyone in the village. There is no Uncle Bo or Grandma Jinhua."

Although little, Little Jinbao has a very good memory. He tried to remember who Grandma Jinhua was, but he couldn't.

"They left for the city a long time ago. You were not even born at that time, so you certainly didn't know about it. If you don't believe me, ask your sister. And the small stone house where your sister Xiaowan and her family lived was built by Uncle Bai for Grandma Jinhua after he made some money."

Jiang Wan's ears perked up when she suddenly heard information related to her landlord, Grandma Jinhua.

"Sister Xiaoman, have Grandma Jinhua and her friends ever come back since they moved to the city?"

"Grandma Jinhua has never come back, but Uncle Bai always comes to the village before the New Year to give New Year gifts to the tribe leaders."

Xiao Jinbao was listening at the side, and he tugged at his sister's clothes and asked, "Sister, is what Xiaoman said true?"

"It's true. Grandma Jinhua once gave me candy."

I still remember the sweet taste of Silver Beads. I was happy all day after eating them.

Xiao Jinbao was silent now. After a while, he made up his mind and said he wanted to go to school.

Uncle Bo was able to bring Grandma Jinhua to the city, and he also wants to make money to bring his sister to live in the city in the future.

I heard that life in the city is great, that there is no need to worry about typhoons or rainstorms, and that there are all kinds of delicious food and fun things to do. It is a place that the villagers always envy when they talk about it.

Yinzhu was in a very good mood. If she knew how to hum a little tune, she would definitely sing one right now.

The four of them worked together and pried out all the oysters in more than an hour. They filled a bucket, which weighed about thirty or forty kilograms.

"Xiao Wan, let me help you wash these oyster meats again. They are all covered with slime."

"No, no, just leave them here. Sister Xiaoman and Sister Yinzhu, thank you so much for coming today. I'll treat you to something delicious!"

Jiang Wan washed her hands, took out the jar from the cupboard, scooped a large bowl and placed it on the table.

It was hard work to pry open oysters. It would take her and her cousin at least two hours to do it. The young ladies were kind and she was very willing to make friends with them.

Good friends should share delicious food together.

At first, Xiaoman and Yinzhu were a little hesitant to eat it, but when they saw Jiang Wan and Yin Ning eating it bite by bite, they were no longer afraid.

Everyone in the village knows that Jiang Wan’s mother is a doctor. There is no reason why the food eaten by a doctor’s family would be poisonous.

You can’t stop eating this, especially Xiao Jinbao. Even though it’s so spicy that it makes you hiss and stick out your tongue, you still can’t help but pick up your chopsticks, and then quickly drink mint water to relieve the spiciness.

So when they left, Jiang Wan sent another bowl to each family.

After everyone left, Jiang Wan and her cousin carried the oyster meat into the kitchen and simply rinsed it with water.

"Cousin, we can't finish this much oyster meat in a few days, how about I go find an aunt in the village and buy two ducks to raise?"

"We need to buy the duck, but there's no rush right now. Let's cook the oyster sauce meat first."

Jiang Wan decided to make the oyster sauce today.

Yin Ning watched in shock as his cousin scooped oyster meat into the large iron pot ladle by ladle, and directly scooped in a small half.

My cousin cooks more than ten kilograms of oyster meat at a time!

She recalled the sticky feeling of the oyster meat in her hands and felt a little nauseous.

What if my cousin gives it to herself later?

"Don't worry, cousin. I'm going to use these oyster meats to make a seasoning. I also have ways to make the remaining oyster meat delicious, so don't worry."

Jiang Wan finally added water into the pot and started to boil it directly over the fire.

"That's it? Cook it right away?"

"Yes~"

The method of making oyster sauce is so simple and unpretentious.

According to records, the first person to make oyster sauce was a young man named Li from a small fishing village in Zhuhai.

In 1888, he was cooking oysters at home, but he forgot about cooking them. As a result, the pot was burnt and only a pile of oyster meat and thick and fragrant juice were left.

That's oyster sauce.