That night, some people spent most of the night at the police station, while others slept the most peaceful night of their lives in Fujia Village, even amidst the howling wind.
Because there were no guest rooms in the house, Fu Laoda was forced to share a room with Fu Ming, while Fu Fengying slept with Ye Xiaocui.
The next morning, Fu Wan and the children had just finished washing up when they saw Fu Laoda carrying a tree back.
"Dad, where did you get this coconut tree?"
Fu Laoda tossed the tree trunk aside, and only then did Fu Wan notice that Fu Ming, who was exhausted, was behind him.
"Oh dear, these were blown down by the wind last night. Several coconut trees fell down on the beach."
Perhaps it was because he was too excited about his sister's return, or perhaps he wasn't used to sleeping with his son, but Fu got up before five o'clock this morning.
As soon as he got up and saw that the wind and rain had stopped, he dragged Fu Ming to the beach to go beachcombing.
But perhaps due to the red tide, there were hardly any live creatures on the beach; neither crabs nor fish were fresh.
Fu Ming walked quite a distance before finding two palm-sized blue crabs under the mud and sand in the shallow ditch.
Most importantly, not long after, Village Chief Fu arrived. The old man immediately conscripted able-bodied men and detained all the men who had come to gather seafood.
What are we staying for?
Naturally, it involves cleaning up the dead fish and rotten shrimp on the beach.
You know, there's still some sun during the day. If these dead fish and rotten shrimp aren't picked up and disposed of, they'll attract a lot of flies, and they might even breed maggots.
The beach will smell terrible then, how will the villagers live there?
Yesterday morning, Village Chief Fu led some men from the village to clean up the dead fish and shrimp caused by the red tide. Based on last night's typhoon, he guessed that there would definitely be a lot of dead fish and shrimp washed ashore this morning.
He guessed right.
Even if Village Chief Fu didn't conscript men, Boss Fu still planned to pick up the fish and shrimp with Fu Ming and take them back to bury in the fields as compost.
Now that Village Chief Fu has arrived, along with many men from the village, everyone has been busy all morning and has finally restored the beach to its clean and refreshing state.
As for the coconut trees that were blown down by the typhoon, the old village chief took a closer look and found that they were all coconut trees that had grown in the village for decades. They would not survive if replanted, so he simply let everyone who wanted them take them.
Boss Fu traded the large blue crab that Fu Ming had picked up with someone else for a share, and in return, he got a whole coconut tree.
And so it turned out like what Fu Wan saw now. It took Fu Laoda and his son a lot of effort to carry the coconut tree back.
"Dad, no offense, but what are you trying to do with this coconut tree?"
"I'm exhausted, and it's not even as good as my big blue crab, at least it has some meat."
Fu Ming was extremely frustrated. That was the giant blue crab he had gone through so much trouble to find, and now Boss Fu had replaced it with a coconut tree that he couldn't eat.
Even for starting a fire, you still have to chop and dry the firewood.
Fu Laoda glared at him, and just as he was about to say something, Ye Xiaocui and Fu Fengying came back from outside carrying baskets.
They went to the field early this morning and dug up some sweet potatoes, planning to cook them later.
"Hey, where did this coconut tree come from?"
Ye Xiaocui frowned, put down the basket in her hand, and asked.
Boss Fu took a saw out of the house.
"I found it on the beach. The wind was so strong last night that it knocked down a tree."
Actually, it wasn't just the wind last night. There have been several typhoons lately, and I guess last night's wind was the last straw that broke the coconut tree's back.
Is there a core inside?
Ye Xiaocui quickly grabbed a kitchen knife from the kitchen.
Boss Fu sawed open the coconut tree, glanced at it, and said, "Yes, and it's quite big!"
The couple's back-and-forth conversation left both Fu Wan and Fu Ming completely confused.
What is the purpose of this coconut core?
Fu Fengying was also puzzled. She had been away from Fu Family Village for too long. Today, she walked around the village with Ye Xiaocui and found that the village had changed a lot.
Everything seems strange and wonderful to me.
Boss Fu moved very quickly. He deftly sawed off the lower half of the coconut tree and then used a kitchen knife to peel off the outer shell of the coconut tree.
In just over ten minutes, all that was left in his hand was a plump, white tree stump.
"Dad, can you eat this?"
Fu Wan immediately guessed Fu Laoda's intention: the core of this coconut tree must be edible, and it should taste pretty good.
Otherwise, Boss Fu wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to bring it back.
Fu Laoda scooped a ladle of water from the bucket next to him and washed the coconut core in his hand. Then he cut off a small piece and divided it into several pieces.
Then it was handed to Fu Wan and the others.
"Try it all, this is something you haven't been able to eat in decades."
Fu Wan took a small piece. The thing in her hand was pure white, with layers in the middle, as if it could be peeled off by hand. It was coconut core. (Image from the internet, please delete if infringing copyright) She put it in her mouth with some skepticism and took a bite. She thought it would be soft and mushy, but it was surprisingly crisp.
A unique sweetness immediately exploded in her mouth, not only with the rich aroma of coconut but also with an extremely sweet taste.
There was even a faint scent of fresh grass.
Moreover, the texture when chewed is just as intoxicating as sugarcane.
"tasty!"
Fu Ming finished the small piece of coconut kernel in a few bites. Now he finally understood why his father had traded his big blue crab for this thing.
Fu Fengying and Ye Xiaocui each took a small piece. Fu Fengying had never eaten it before, so she found it strange. Ye Xiaocui, on the other hand, ate it with a look of lingering enjoyment.
But what she reminisces about isn't the taste, but the beautiful days of the past.
"It really is exactly the same as what I ate twenty years ago."
Upon hearing this, Fu Ming's eyes widened immediately. "Oh, so you guys used to secretly eat this without telling me!"
This annoyed Ye Xiaocui, who couldn't help but lift him onto her back.
"Back then, your father and I had just gotten married, and you were still a nobody!"
Back then, a typhoon hit the village, and Boss Fu gave someone a sieve of sea cucumbers in exchange for a small piece of tree core.
I just wanted my wife to taste this stuff.
Coconut trees are long-lived and resilient. If it weren't for the typhoon, they wouldn't have perished, and the people wouldn't have had to eat the coconut core.
"Wife, there's still quite a few coconut tree cores left. Let's kill a chicken today and stew a pot of them with the cores!"
Boss Fu also thought about trying it when he had the chance because he saw that coconut tree cores were rare and he had heard that stewing chicken with tree cores was especially delicious.
However, coconut trees are the guardians of beaches, and every time people eat coconut cores, it's after a typhoon has ravaged the area.
So everyone has mixed feelings about the tree cores; they're delicious, but the cost is too high each time. Since the wind has already blown them away, all they can do is dispose of the coconut trees and plant new ones later.
Upon hearing that they were going to catch chickens, Ye Xiaocui agreed without hesitation.
The chickens at home only lay an egg every two or three days, so we just kill them to avoid wasting food.
Wangcai, on the other hand, seemed to understand, and even faster than Ye Xiaocui, quickly picked up an old hen from next to the chicken coop.
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