With a few people working together, it only took about ten minutes to neatly arrange two buckets of cleaned squid on the bamboo strips.
Fu Wan stood up and, together with Fu Ming, carried the bamboo strips to a sunny spot in the backyard.
Drying squid at this time is also very simple: just cut the squid open, remove the internal organs, and then clean it thoroughly.
The cleaned squid need to be soaked in salt water for ten minutes, then taken out and drained, and then laid out one by one on bamboo strips.
Bamboo products are best for drying squid because they are better at evaporating and filtering the water from the squid.
The sun was shining brightly today, and Ye Xiaocui was thinking that she would dry the squid in the sun all day, and then turn it over and dry it for another day tomorrow.
After that, you don't need to worry about the front or back. Dry it until it's about 80-90% dry, then put it in a cool, shady jar and take it out whenever you want to eat it.
After the group finished preparing the dried squid, it was soon lunchtime.
Ye Xiaocui was the first to enter the kitchen to prepare lunch. Since there were a lot of leftover seaweed buns and steamed buns from the morning, she didn't steam any more rice.
Today's lunch was mostly seafood. While Fu Wan was putting squid in the backyard, she turned her head and saw that many chili peppers in the vegetable garden had turned red.
She simply picked a whole bag of green and red peppers; the red peppers were used to braise fish, and the green peppers... were also great for stir-frying with eggs.
This green pepper isn't very spicy, and the scrambled eggs have a slightly spicy flavor. Fu Ling's favorite way to eat is a bite of egg followed by a bite of steamed bun.
Because she was tired of boiled mantis shrimp, Fu Wan steamed them with garlic for lunch.
The mantis shrimp were deveined and arranged on a plate, then a layer of stir-fried garlic and chili was poured on top. Fu Wan only put the prepared mantis shrimp into the boiling water.
After steaming for five minutes, take it out, add some prepared scallions, and drizzle with a little hot oil. The aroma is so enticing that Fu Ming immediately gave it a thumbs up.
"Wan, that's amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!"
And it's arranged so meticulously!
Even state-run restaurants aren't all that great.
Fu Wan chuckled. This was something she had learned when she went out to eat in her later life. Local fishermen rarely had the opportunity to eat mantis shrimp, and most of them sold them but couldn't bear to eat them themselves.
Even if we occasionally leave a few, we just blanch them and give them to the kids; there's never a chance to go through all that trouble.
While steaming the shrimp, Fu Wan also steamed some conch, mantis shrimp, and pomfret, and heated up the steamed buns and mantou she had made that morning.
After Fu Ming helped carry all the dishes out, Ye Xiaocui then stir-fried some green peppers with eggs.
The table was laden with food. Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu were still engrossed in the TV when the dishes were served. Without being called by the adults, the two little ones ran to wash their hands and prepare to eat.
"These shrimp are so beautiful!"
Being a young girl, she fell in love with the garlic mantis shrimp at first sight because of its excellent appearance.
However, this did not affect their eating. Although Fu Wan added a little chili, it was only a tiny bit.
Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu, who were able to sneak spicy snacks, didn't find them spicy at all. The two children ate with buns in one hand and vegetables in the other, without even lifting their heads.
The mantis shrimp and conch were simply steamed. Ye Xiaocui peeled two shrimp, her face full of a kind smile.
"Hey, come on, have a shrimp."
Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu took the bowls, and afterwards, they smiled at Ye Xiaocui.
"Thank you, Grandma!"
Although the two children are still elementary school kids who have just started school, their ability to imitate is top-notch.
Qin Mingzhu was the first to pick up a shrimp, peel it, and put it in Ye Xiaocui's bowl, and Fu Ling followed suit. Ye Xiaocui couldn't stop smiling, while Boss Fu was incredibly envious.
Why don't you peel one for Grandpa?
Seeing Boss Fu begging for shrimp like a little kid, Fu Wan felt helpless.
Fu Ming scoffed at his father's attempts to win favor; he could have finished half a steamed bun in that time.
"Mom, try dipping the shrimp in this soup, it tastes pretty good."
She gestured to Ye Xiaocui, who tried it. And let me tell you, the mantis shrimp and conch dipped in the mantis shrimp soup tasted absolutely delicious.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the lunch.
Even Wangcai had picked up a lot of shrimp shells and hid them next to his bowl, as if waiting for some old friend.
After Fu Laoda cleared away the dishes, Fu Wan let Fu Ling and Qin Mingzhu go inside to rest.
Fu Ming ate a lot and couldn't sleep, so he simply found Fu Wan's harpoon again to see if he could fix it.
The weather is cold now, so Fu Wan has no intention of going into the sea. Besides, ever since her speargun broke, she has been using a bamboo harpoon.
Seeing Fu Ming busy at the door, Fu Wan thought for a moment and decided to take a knife and join in, starting to make a spare harpoon for herself.
After finishing his tidying up, Boss Fu strolled over to Fu San's place. The fish he had sold yesterday had been sold early this morning, and he was going to settle accounts with Fu San.
Ye Xiaocui wasn't idle either; she went to Jiang Chunlan's place to check if her squid had been dried yet.
A group of people were busy working when Fu Wan suddenly heard the voice of the old village chief, Fu.
"Whose dog is pooping all over the road? Clean it up right now! And these chickens, take them back and lock them up!"
Aunt Sun from next door didn't understand. "Village chief, what's going on here? My chickens are eating perfectly fine outside. Why are you making me lock them up?"
"Don't worry about that. Lock him up today and release him tomorrow. Hurry up, I need to go check on my next target!"
After finishing his speech, Village Chief Fu strolled over to Fu Da Laizi's house. He stood on tiptoe and looked into the yard, and he almost fainted from anger.
This isn't even a proper yard; the town's scrap metal yard isn't this messy.
Heaven knows what kind of junk Fu Da Laizi put in his house!
"Big leper, big leper!"
Fu Dalaizi was sleeping in bed when he heard someone calling him, and he turned over impatiently.
Who is it?
"Hey, village chief! Hurry up and tidy up the things in the yard. It's such a mess, you'll fall and kill yourself!"
After finishing his sentence, Village Chief Fu shook his head and went to the next house. This Fu the Lazybones, I thought he would turn over a new leaf after coming back from the police station, but after only a few days he was back to his lazy and good-for-nothing ways!
Fu Wan listened intently, while the old village chief looked genuinely nervous.
Fu Ming felt a chill run down his spine when he saw his younger sister secretly laughing.
"Wan, what are you laughing at?"
"Huh? I wasn't laughing at anything. I just heard the village chief talking to someone!"
Fu Ming was filled with doubt upon hearing this. How come he didn't hear the village chief speaking?
He picked at his ears, but still couldn't hear anything.
At this moment, Wangcai, who was lying next to the yard sunbathing and sleeping, suddenly perked up its ears and rushed to the gate with a wary look on its face.
Fu Wan and Fu Ming looked over and saw that there was no one in front of their house, but the villagers who were mending fishing nets under the tree had run off to watch the commotion.
A group of seven or eight strangers walked from the village entrance. The leaders were wearing military overcoats, which attracted the attention of many villagers who were mending fishing nets under the trees.
Fu Wan sensed someone was coming, so she quickly put down what she was holding and went outside.
"Brother, let's go see who's here."
As soon as the two arrived at the door, they saw a group of people coming towards them from not far away.
Fu Wan didn't recognize the middle-aged man in the lead, but standing next to him was none other than Zhao Gang, whom she hadn't seen in a long time!
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