Chapter 51 The Seaside
☆
Outside the door, She Ning was dressed in brand-new clothes, with a rosy complexion. She walked along arm in arm with her friend, smiling broadly as she spoke, clearly looking like she was doing very well.
Peering through the crack in the door, Lin Xiufang's face was cold and her eyes were dark. Looking at her bright smile, she almost ground her back teeth to powder. Why could She Ning's family live better and better, while her family was getting worse and worse?
In the courtyard, Lin Xiufang used to pay the most attention to her image, always liking to comb her hair neatly and then wrap it with a plain-colored headscarf. Now her hair was messy and casually draped over her shoulders, her clothes were wrinkled and covered in stains, clearly indicating that they hadn't been washed in a long time.
Since her son, She Yaozu, was arrested by the police station, she has been running around town every day, busy trying to find people to help her and pull strings. However, the case has had too much impact and the consequences are too serious. The town directly transferred the case to the province for handling. The people she contacted did not dare to offer any help. In the end, she spent a lot of money, but the matter made no progress.
After a while, her family had a lot of complaints. Seeing that she was still unwilling to give up and was running around outside every day without doing any work, She Lao Er She Weiqiang made a harsh statement, telling her that she either had to stay at home obediently or continue to run around outside and go back to her parents' home.
Lin Xiufang was genuinely afraid that She Weiqiang would keep his word. Having spent most of her life with him, she knew his temperament well; he valued his reputation above all else.
Moreover, he had always looked down on his petty thief son. After She Yaozu was arrested, he repeatedly warned his family not to mention him, and even declared that he had no son at all.
Lin Xiufang's heart was broken. That was her son, whom she had carried for ten months and given birth to with great difficulty. He was the most obedient, sensible, and filial son. He was just a little young and playful. He hadn't lost any of those things, had he? Why should he have to spend the rest of his life, more than ten years, in prison?
He's only eighteen.
The family is full of heartless people; Yaozu only has her. Lin Xiufang realized that she had seen through the true colors of her family. She swallowed her anger and resentment, hiding her grievances and lying low.
She had kept it well hidden until today when she saw She Ning, seeing her glamorous and happy life, her anger and hatred surged, and the words Luo Xiaoling had said before flashed through her mind.
She Ningke's family!
Ever since that little girl fell into the water and recovered, her husband Yaozu has been plagued by bad luck. He's constantly getting injured or bleeding, and now he's even in jail.
The better she does, the worse her son Yaozu does; she must have sucked away Yaozu's luck!
Only one of She Ning and She Yaozu can survive.
Logically consistent, Lin Xiufang understood. She turned around, ran to the woodpile in the yard, picked up the wood-chopping knife from the wood, raised it, and walked fiercely toward the door.
After being threatened by She Weiqiang, Lin Xiufang has recently changed her behavior, no longer mentioning She Yaozu's matter, and working hard with everyone every day. Everyone thought she had let it go.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Hearing the commotion, She Lili came out of the house. Her heart was broken. She rushed forward, grabbed her hand, snatched the wood-chopping knife from her hand, and threw it far away on the ground.
"Is your only son, She Yaozu, unimportant to you, and everyone else unimportant?"
"Have you ever thought about me and my older brother?" she shouted, her voice trembling with tears.
"Aren't you all doing fine? But my poor Yaozu, I don't even know what's happened to him now!" With her wood-chopping knife taken away, Lin Xiufen saw that she had been exposed and had no way to continue, so she shouted back defiantly!
"You're hopeless!" She Lili looked at her with disappointment. She had known all along that she only liked She Yaozu, but she still held onto hope that she would notice her.
That's ridiculous.
“Stubborn to the end, you still think you’re helping him? She Yaozu’s fate is entirely his own fault, and you bear half the responsibility for how he turned out this way!” In the past, she had kept quiet out of consideration for her feelings, but now She Lili had come to terms with it.
"You unfilial daughter! Did I give birth to you just so you could make me angry? Get out, get out of here!" Unable to reason with her, Lin Xiufen resorted to crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide, throwing a tantrum and acting like a rogue.
She Ning was unaware that such a scene had unfolded at She Lao Er's house. She took Wang Weiwei's arm, led She Ni, and walked home with He Xiaoyan and Lin Qian.
After being nourished by the rice, the little squirrel's condition improved considerably. Today, She Ning specially moved it from the bedroom to the yard to bask in the sun.
The warm sunlight shone into the bamboo basket, and the little one slept soundly, his belly bulging.
"Ah, it's so cute." Everyone squatted beside the bamboo basket, and Wang Weiwei exclaimed as she looked at the dog sleeping soundly. Then she turned to She Ning and asked, "Can I touch it?"
She Ning met the expectant gaze of He Xiaoyan next door, and nodded. "It's sleeping soundly, it's okay."
After receiving a clear answer, Wang Weiwei and He Xiaoyan carefully placed their hands on the squirrel's back and gently stroked it.
The sleeping squirrel seemed to sense this tenderness; it stirred slightly but didn't wake up, only letting out a soft purring sound.
After watching the squirrels, they moved on to the next activity.
When they went to the beach, She Ning prepared a small bucket and a shovel for each of them, packed up all the picnic supplies, told her grandmother, and then they headed to the beach.
The weather today is exceptionally good, neither hot nor cold, with a clear blue sky and a few white clouds hanging in the air.
On the beach, the golden sand glittered in the early morning sun. Lin Qian and He Xiaoyan hadn't been to the beach much before, and as soon as they saw the waves, they couldn't wait to take off their shoes and drag She Ni to the beach to wade in the waves.
She Ning and Wang Weiwei chose a spot under a coconut tree, spread out their picnic blankets, and laid out all their picnic supplies.
Today is Saturday, and there are quite a few people playing on the beach. Many families have brought their children to play. Wang Weiwei is a natural with kids and quickly became friends with them. The small buckets and shovels that She Ning asked them to bring came in handy at this moment.
Build sandcastles, dig sand channels, catch fiddler crabs, dig for clams...
When they had played enough, She Ning told them to rest on the tablecloth and watch over their things while she took a small bucket and pliers and went to the rocks.
"Ah Ning, I want to go too!" Seeing She Ning go to collect seafood, Wang Weiwei immediately raised her hand to follow.
She Ni glanced at the fragrant roasted chicken wings in her hand, and the pile of delicious food on the tablecloth. She then looked at She Ning, her little face full of dilemma. Food and beachcombing, it's such a difficult choice.
Lin Qian and He Xiaoyan, who were sitting on the tablecloth, waved their hands to indicate that they would not go. They had just had a bit too much fun with Ta Lang and wanted to rest for a while.
"Xiao Ni, why don't you stay and help your sister entertain Sister Lin Qian and Sister Xiao Yan?" Seeing that she was having trouble making a choice, She Ning suggested, "I'll cook something delicious for you tonight."
She Ni nodded and happily accepted the decision.
"Sister Lin Qian, Sister Xiao Yan, eat this, it's so delicious!" After recommending the family bucket of chicken to them, She Ni took a bite of the chicken wing in her hand.
She Ning makes chicken wings in honey and slightly spicy Orleans flavors. The honey-glazed chicken wings are bright red, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. When you bite into them, the chicken bursts with juice. They are coated with honey and have a perfect balance of sweetness and savory flavor, making them ideal for children.
The Orleans flavor is a marinade that She Ning made herself. Compared to the marinade recipes of later generations, hers was a simplified version, but it still tasted great. It had a slightly spicy flavor, and after being coated with honey, the roasted chicken wings were golden brown with a caramel color. The skin was crispy, and the chicken inside was tender and juicy. The spicy and sweet flavors intertwined, and it was neither oily nor greasy, leaving a lingering aftertaste.
She Ning used four chickens for this family bucket. The chicken wings and drumsticks were enough for four people, while the chicken breast was cut into small pieces, minced, and mixed with mashed potatoes to make McNuggets. French fries were also included.
As soon as the lid of the bucket of whole chicken was opened, the aroma instantly filled the entire beach. People playing on the beach couldn't help but stop what they were doing, look up, and sniff the source of the delicious smell.
She Ning led Wang Weiwei to the vicinity of the reef. She had never been here before. The oddly shaped reefs were piled up randomly, and many mussels grew on the reef walls, each of them quite large.
“Ah Ning, these mussels over here are huge! Shall we dig some up and roast them?” Wang Weiwei looked at the plump mussels on the rock wall, eager to try with a shovel in hand.
“We don’t eat them this season,” She Ning said, pressing down her eager hand and explaining, “Mutants from April to June often contain toxins that can cause poisoning if eaten.”
Many cases of mussel poisoning have occurred in later generations. She Ning used to enjoy mussel, tofu, and cabbage soup. After seeing the news, she even went to look up some related information.
Mussels themselves are not poisonous; the poisoning in humans is mainly caused by paralytic shellfish toxins (PSPs) they contain.
PSP is produced by the overgrowth of single-celled algae in seawater. Filter-feeding shellfish such as mussels ingest these toxic substances while filtering seawater, and their immune system cannot eliminate them, so they accumulate in their bodies.
After PSP poisoning, the human body will experience symptoms such as muscle paralysis in the limbs, headache, nausea, salivation, fever, and rash. In severe cases, it can lead to respiratory arrest, and as little as 0.5mg can be fatal.
According to tests, late March to June each year is the high-risk period for excessive levels of paralytic shellfish toxins in mussels. During this period, seawater contains a large number of toxin-containing single-celled algae. These toxins are highly heat-resistant and difficult to eliminate during cooking. Even high-temperature cooking cannot guarantee complete removal of the toxins.
PSP is extremely toxic, and there is currently no effective antidote. For safety reasons, it is best not to collect, buy, sell, or eat mussels from the end of March to June.
"Ah Ning, you know so much." Wang Weiwei was stunned, her eyes wide. She scratched her head and finally smiled and praised, "When I used to come here to go beachcombing, it was just for fun. I would pick up whatever I could find, and I wasn't even sure if it was edible."
"I really enjoy eating them, so I know more about them," She Ning said modestly. She looked at the rocks, her eyes lit up, and then she said, "We can't eat mussels, so we'll eat these."
The inverted cones, with sharp tops and flat bottoms, clump together on the rocky walls. She Ning picked out the larger ones, saying to Wang Weiwei as she did so, "These goat's hand snails are delicious steamed, boiled in soup, or blanched. The meat is firm and flavorful. Pick some to take home, and I'll show you how to cook them at noon."
After collecting the basil, She Ning and Wang Weiwei collected some starfish and crabs. She was quite lucky; she even caught two octopuses and a palm-sized blue crab weighing at least a pound in a nearly dry pit.
With a bumper harvest and it getting late, they headed back. When they saw the tablecloth in the distance, She Ning and Wang Weiwei were both startled.
Under the coconut trees, a group of people were huddled around a tablecloth, and no one could see what was happening inside. Could something have gone wrong?
Carrying the bucket, She Ning quickened her pace and stepped forward.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
