In the end, Pei Yao boiled down to nearly twenty catties of fine salt, enough for the family to eat for two or three years.
Pei Yao was too tired today, busy with all the running around, so Yun Niang cooked dinner for her.
Yunniang has also learned some simple dishes these past two days.
I simply boiled some kudzu root and some oysters to make a motherwort soup.
This motherwort was given to her by Qiaohui when she delivered the seeds at noon. She heard Qiaohui say that motherwort is a very good herb that can also be eaten as a wild vegetable. It is very good for women to eat, as it has the effect of replenishing blood and qi, and is very suitable for people like them who have been exiled for a long time and are deficient in qi and blood.
Yunniang naturally believed Qiaohui's words. When Qiaohui was still young, she loved reading books about all kinds of flowers, plants, and insects.
When she was little, she preferred to spend time with her grandfather, who was a royal physician, researching and processing herbs, and she learned about many herbs.
He also said that when he grows up, he wants to learn medicine from his grandfather to save lives.
However, as her grandfather grew older, he no longer had the energy to take care of his granddaughter.
From then on, Qiaohui never studied medicine again.
Xiao Xuan'er came back after playing enough during dinner. As soon as she got home, she started chattering nonstop.
She was talking about the funny things that happened to her today. The world of children is simple and beautiful; they can exaggerate even the smallest things a million times over.
It became a very interesting thing.
Xiao Xuan'er spoke with great enthusiasm, making everyone laugh.
After dinner, Pei Yichen and Pei Yao went to return Niu Qingshan's scissors.
Just then, Niu Qingshan finished eating, and Pei Yao, remembering the market day in a few days, chatted with him for a bit.
Pei Yao: "Brother Qingshan, do you usually have food stalls set up when you go to the market in Meilin Town?"
"Yes, most fishermen bring some of their seafood or mountain produce to town to sell."
The town's east side is the dock, where people also go to sell their goods. Many wealthy people's stewards or restaurant owners go there to buy seafood.
And occasionally, merchant ships would come by, and those caravans would select their fish there. The seafood there was the freshest, so even when it wasn't market day, the wharf was always bustling.
Qingshan recalled Pei Yao asking him when he was going to the market, and guessed that the girl probably wanted to sell seafood or something.
He then told Pei Yao the location of the dock.
Niu Qingshan quite liked Pei Yao. From the first moment he saw her, he felt that she was very different, with a cleverness in her eyes.
After spending time with her, I found that she was indeed a very generous and sweet-talking girl. No matter when she saw him, she would always call him "Brother Qingshan".
Unlike the other girls in the village who always called him "Big Bull,"
He hates being called "Big Bull"!
Pei Yao's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this.
The dock! Lots of people!
Pei Yao immediately had an idea. After saying goodbye to Niu Qingshan, she ran home.
Lying in bed that night, Pei Yao began to think about how she could make some money at the market three days later.
She considered selling fish or mountain products like the villagers, but there were bound to be many people selling fish at the dock, and they had boats, so their products would definitely be better than hers.
This is incomparable, and the products we sell don't have an advantage. Even if we can make money, it won't be much.
Pei Yao's head kept turning until she fell asleep, and in her dreams she was doing business at the dock in Meilin Town.
The next day, she got up very early, packed her little basket, and excitedly prepared to go to the beach.
Last night, after thinking for most of the night, she finally came up with a dish that best suited the ingredients she had.
It's spicy snails.
This spicy snail dish was her favorite from a past life; it's a must-order at night market stalls.
In the sweltering summer, a plate of tangy and spicy baby snails is truly appetizing and refreshing.
The family had a simple breakfast and then set off to go beachcombing. Pei Yao's main purpose today was to collect snails.
When they arrived at the beach, Pei Yao gave each of them one of the snails she had collected earlier as a sample.
Pei Yao explained, "Everyone will be picking up these long snails later; they're called 'nail snails'."
Chen Fang asked with some confusion, "Yao girl, why do you want to pick up these snails... snails? Even if they're all meat, they don't look very big."
Yunniang was also puzzled: "Yes, Yao'er, this doesn't look as meaty as clams and oysters."
Pei Yao smiled and explained to everyone, "Auntie, Mother, just trust Yao'er. I'll process it into a delicious dish called Spicy Snails. You'll know once you try it."
Upon hearing this, everyone had no further questions and began searching around the rocks using the snails they had.
While picking up snails, Chen Fang also picked up a lot of oysters, thinking that if she didn't have enough snails to eat when she got back, she could make some oyster soup.
There are many snails on the beach; they are almost an infestation.
Because there is so little meat, few local villagers eat it.
This was a good deal for Pei Yao; the whole family had filled a basket in no time, and Pei Yao also filled a basket.
It weighs several tens of kilograms.
Take it back and keep it in water for two days to let it purge the sand, and it will be ready for the market the day after tomorrow.
As soon as Pei Yao got home, she quickly started a fire and grilled a few skewers of kudzu root worms, then sprinkled some chili peppers and wild onions on top.
They rushed off to Uncle Niu's house in a flurry of activity.
It just so happened that Niu Qingshan was home, tidying up his fishing nets, and greeted Pei Yao warmly when he saw her coming over.
While panting, Pei Yao waved the grilled kudzu root worm skewers in her hand.
Niu Qingshan glanced at the burnt-smelling insect in Pei Yao's hand, puzzled.
"Is this roasted wasp larvae?"
Niu Qingshan was lucky once when he went into the mountains and found a hornet's nest.
That stuff smells amazing when it's roasted.
Each one was crispy and fragrant, and looked somewhat similar to the one in Pei Yao's hand, except it wasn't as big as Pei Yao's.
However, wasp nests are not common, not only because they are often located deep in the mountains and forests, but also because digging them up is risky.
There are many wasps guarding a wasp nest. If you get stung, it can be fatal.
So even if it's delicious, very few people will bother digging up a hornet's nest.
The hornet's nest that Niu Qingshan encountered back then was coincidentally hanging in a tree. Niu Qingshan found a very long, thin bamboo pole and poked it down from a distance. He then waited for two days to make sure there were no more hornets around the nest before daring to go back and retrieve it.
They kept some of the broken food for themselves and took the rest to town to sell.
These wasp pupae are not cheap; they sold for a lot of money. However, Niu Qingshan has only found them once in all these years.
Pei Yao handed it to him: "It's not a wasp larva, it's an insect I found in the vines a couple of days ago. It tastes really good, you should try it."
Niu Qingshan's lips twitched: "Insects? You can eat these?"
Even though Niu Qingshan wasn't afraid of insects, he still hesitated a bit before eating them.
Pei Yao noticed his hesitation, picked up a skewer, and took a bite.
“You really can eat them. People in my hometown eat these kinds of insects.”
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