"Bullshit! It's a perfectly good crab, where's the poison in it!"
Qian Xiaohua retorted instinctively, then proudly picked up the crab and showed it to everyone.
"I think you're just jealous that I caught a crab, that's why you said my crab was poisonous!"
Wang Xiuer didn't like hearing this and retorted, "Qian Xiaohua, don't talk nonsense. If Awan could have her eye on a little crab like you, are you blind to see her whole bucket of crabs?"
"Yes, this crab is indeed rare; it looks quite strange!"
Liu Sanniang carefully examined the crab on the small flower tongs and couldn't help but agree.
Qian Xiaohua looked completely incredulous. She shook the crab, which looked to weigh more than half a pound. "I, Qian Xiaohua, have lived by the sea for so long, but I've never heard of anyone being poisoned by a crab."
Are you all in cahoots with Fu Wan, trying to trick me into throwing away the crabs?
I'm telling you, no way!
After saying that, he glanced at Fu Wan triumphantly, then threw the crab into his bucket.
Well, it's hard to reason with a damned devil.
Fu Wan shrugged helplessly, picked up her things, joined Ye Xiaocui and the others, and then headed home.
"Wan, is that crab really poisonous?"
Fu Qing followed beside Fu Wan, her delicate face full of confusion.
Fu Wan nodded, explaining as they walked: "It really is poisonous. The crab Qian Xiaohua caught just now was a cooked crab. To be precise, it was a bronze-cast cooked crab."
The bronze-cast crab looks different from other common crabs.
Its body is covered in spots and is a deep brown, giving it a dangerous appearance. (Image of a bronze-cast, cooked crab – do not eat it!!) This bronze-cast, cooked crab also has another name: the cobra crab.
The name alone is enough to prove how potent its toxicity is.
"So, Qian Xiaohua brought the crabs home? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"
Ye Xiaocui couldn't help but interject. She hadn't seen the crab just now, but after hearing Fu Wan mention cobras, she could imagine how poisonous the crab was.
Qian Xiaohua brought the crabs home, either to eat them herself or to sell them to someone else. Either way, it would be fatal.
Before Fu Wan could say anything after hearing Ye Xiaocui's words, Wang Xiuer, who was standing next to her, hurriedly spoke up:
"Oh dear, what's that old saying? You can't reason with a damned ghost. It's not like I didn't warn her, but she just wouldn't listen. She even thinks that people are just after her crabs. What can I do?"
Ye Xiaocui sighed helplessly, "It's a human life after all. If this family eats that crab, it will be a real tragedy."
Although there had been some friction before, people are kind-hearted, and Ye Xiaocui and the others were unwilling to see these lives lost in vain.
Shen Dongsheng is unharmed, but the children are innocent.
"Never mind, I'll have the village chief go and take a look later."
After a moment of contemplation, Boss Fu, who was following behind, came up with a plan.
He himself didn't want to deal with Qian Xiaohua, let alone Shen Dongsheng, whom he hated to death.
After they arrived home, Ye Xiaocui took two large fish baskets and emptied all the crabs out.
“These crabs are quite plump. Quickly tie up the ones that need to be tied up, and then Ah Ming can take them to Fu San.”
Crabs are quite fierce, so it's inevitable that they'll fight in the bucket.
Fu Wan and Fu Ming picked out all the intact crabs and tied them with ropes, while they kept the ones with broken legs for themselves.
Although these crabs are somewhat damaged, they are all very lively and do not affect the taste.
"Hey, these blue crabs have such yellow bellies, they look delicious."
Fu Ming picked up a large blue crab and was about to tie it up when Fu Wan heard his mutterings and looked over.
These are indeed quite different from the usual blue crabs. Jiang Chunlan just caught a few of these too.
"How about we keep two of these yellow-bellied ones at home for dinner?"
Although Fu Wan doesn't particularly like crab roe, Ye Xiaocui and Boss Fu really enjoy it.
Ye Xiaocui knew immediately that her daughter was thinking of her, and quickly refused.
"No need, these crabs are big, it's much better to sell them for money!"
She said this almost subconsciously. They were used to saving money, so when they saw something nice, they almost reflexively thought about exchanging it for money.
But how much money can a crab be exchanged for? Fu Wan simply grabbed two yellow-spotted crabs and put them aside.
"It's decided then. I'll steam one and try it later."
After tying up the crabs, Fu Ming went to the backyard, pushed out the wheelbarrow, and then loaded the harvest from the beachcombing onto the wheelbarrow to head to Fu San's house.
However, just as Fu Wan finished preparing breakfast, Fu Ming returned pushing his cart with a strange expression.
"Ah Wan, that old woman from the Shen family is dead!"
What?
Fu Wan looked somewhat bewildered. "Who are you talking about?"
"That old woman from the Shen family, Shen Dongsheng's mother!"
Ye Xiaocui was tidying up in the kitchen when she heard this, and before she could even put down the kitchen knife she had just wiped clean, she rushed out in a hurry.
"Who died?!"
"Old Mrs. Shen is dead!"
How did she die?
Fu Ming pushed the car aside and then told him everything he had heard when he returned.
It turned out that Fu Ming happened to pass by Qian Xiaohua's old house on his way back with the cart.
However, to his surprise, the old house, which was usually deserted, was now surrounded by a crowd. Watching a spectacle is an innate hobby of the Chinese people, so Fu Ming stopped to listen in.
Who knew that this earshot would shock him so much that he almost tipped his wheelbarrow into the ditch.
Old Mrs. Shen is dead!
The villagers, unfazed by any bad luck, all gathered at the doorway, discussing the matter animatedly.
Through this back-and-forth conversation, Fu Ming pieced together the whole story.
This all started with that poisonous crab.
After Fu Wan and Qian Xiaohua argued, Fu Wan left, and Qian Xiaohua followed suit, carrying her seafood from the beach back home.
As soon as she got home, her son Fu Yaozu complained of being hungry, and his eyes lit up when he saw the crabs in Qian Xiaohua's basket.
"Mom, I want to eat crab. Can you steam a crab for me?"
Even though Qian Xiaohua was reluctant, she still picked out a medium-sized one.
She had initially reached for the top, ripe crab, but then, as if possessed, Fu Wan's words flashed through her mind, and in the end, she grabbed the smaller blue crab next to it.
After the crab was cooked, Fu Yaozu didn't feel the heat at all; he grabbed it with both hands and started eating it.
Just then, Shen Dongsheng returned from outside carrying a hoe. Seeing Fu Yaozu wolfing down his food, he frowned and asked Qian Xiaohua, "Did you bring my mother her food?"
He came back late from working in the fields today and assumed that Qian Xiaohua had already delivered food to Grandma Shen.
Unexpectedly, Qian Xiaohua shook her head and said irritably, "I just got back from beachcombing. Go by yourself if you want."
Shen Dongsheng was angry but helpless after hearing this, so he could only put down his hoe, go into the kitchen, pick up two cornbread buns, and prepare to take them to Old Lady Shen.
Unexpectedly, as he picked up the cornbread, he turned around and saw crabs in the bucket by the door. Thinking that his mother and he hadn't eaten these things in a long time, he couldn't help but swallow.
So Shen Dongsheng quickly threw the two crabs into the pot, steamed them, and then, fearing that Qian Xiaohua would find out, hid them in his pocket and hurried to the old house.
After suffering a stroke, Old Mrs. Shen was unable to get up, so when Shen Dongsheng arrived, he had to fetch water to clean the bedpan for her.
After cleaning the bed, Shen Dongsheng had to pour out the dirty water. Just as he finished, he turned around and found that Old Lady Shen had eaten both crabs he had brought with her own hands, leaving him none!
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