Chapter 643 Steamed River Crab
There wasn't even a night watchman in the large kitchen.
Bai Cha found a peeler and deftly peeled the sweet potato.
"Although they are all sweet potatoes, they taste different. The white-fleshed sweet potatoes from the north are very sweet, but they have some stringy things inside, while the yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes from the capital are so sweet that they ooze oil when roasted."
Bai Cha swallowed hard as she spoke. She was a girl from the village, and her family was not well-off. In the past, they would add sweet potatoes to brown rice to make up the difference so that her family could have a little more to eat.
After eating too many sweet potatoes, she experienced acid reflux. She thought that if she became successful in the future, she would never eat them again.
"In the capital, one can easily get tired of eating too much meat and fish. Sweet potatoes are a good thing."
Lin Yuesha cut the sweet potato into triangular pieces and searched high and low for a long time before finally finding the oil drum in the corner.
The master and servant worked together in the large kitchen, and after a while, footsteps were heard at the door.
"Miss, someone's here."
Bai Cha paused, her hand holding the firewood stopping abruptly.
"It doesn't matter who comes. The manor is busy preparing for my father's wedding. Besides, as the mistress of the Lin family, what's wrong with me eating a few sweet potatoes?"
Lin Yuesha gestured for Bai Cha to calm down, and upon seeing the cooks, she preemptively reprimanded them for their negligence.
Just because Lin Shusheng's marriage is important doesn't mean others don't need to eat and drink!
"Lin Yuesha, that's all you've got."
After a series of footsteps, Lin Yue'e appeared at the door with her pipa, and said sarcastically, "If you're going to steal food, at least eat something good. I heard they brought a lot of prawns from the seaside, but you're just stealing sweet potatoes!"
Being too short-sighted means you're destined to be poor your whole life. Being timid and fearful means you can only protect yourself in this mansion, but you'll never have a good life.
"Sister Yue'e, I really want to be successful, but all the ingredients are locked up. Where am I supposed to find them?"
It's the middle of the night, and Lin Yue'e isn't sleeping. She's gone to the kitchen again. Maybe she's hungry too.
Seeing that Pipa was carrying a bucket covered with a cloth, Lin Yuesha asked, "Did you bring food?"
"Miss Moon Sagashie, it's a censored censorship."
Pipa placed the bucket on the ground, opened the cloth covering it, and used an oil lamp to illuminate it. The river crabs inside, exposed to the light, swarmed in a dark mass.
Mid-Autumn Festival is the peak season for crab roe, and river crabs are even plumper and more delicious in the ninth month of the lunar calendar.
"The lady had a fondness for this, so she raised them in the rice paddies of the estate. Miss went to the farm today and caught a bucketful."
After Pipa finished speaking, she skillfully put on thick gloves and used long-handled tweezers to pick up the first female crab. Lin Yuesha estimated that it weighed three or four ounces, and the river crab was waving its claws and crawling around wildly.
"Ouch, it fell!"
The pipa was not caught, and the crab, as if seeking revenge, climbed up the pipa's skirt.
"Get rid of it, get rid of it!"
Seeing this, Lin Yue'e picked up a spatula from the side and tried her best to stir it, but the crab just wouldn't fall off.
This little guy can definitely draw blood if he grabs someone. Lin Yuesha, as a former victim, was also shocked.
"This servant is here!"
At the critical moment, Bai Cha stepped forward. She reached out, grabbed the two sides of the crab shell, and flung it into the oil pot where sweet potatoes had just been fried.
The high temperature prevented the crabs from even struggling, and their outer shells immediately turned red.
"They died such a horrible death."
Lin Yuesha stared in disbelief. The fire below was still burning brightly, and the river crab was being fried alive. She thought of the legendary tortures in hell, such as climbing mountains of knives and being thrown into boiling oil.
"So, Lin Yuesha, you're just a hypocrite. Since we're going to eat them anyway, who cares how these crabs died?"
Dead river crabs cannot be eaten; they must be cooked while they are still lively and jumping around. The Yao family in the mansion has a unique way of making spicy crabs, while Pipa only knows how to steam them.
"Yes, so we'll share half of them when we meet. You can't possibly finish all these crabs."
Lin Yuesha offered her freshly made candied sweet potatoes in exchange.
Freshly cooked candied sweet potatoes are a bit sticky, so you need to dip them in cold water. The sugar strands on the outside immediately become crispy, making a crunchy sound when you eat them.
Bai Cha ate a small plateful before stopping, thoroughly enjoying herself. She turned her head and saw that Lin Yue'e, who had just been looking down on sweet potatoes, had a completely empty plate in front of her.
We'd almost finished eating the candied sweet potatoes, and the steamed river crabs were just coming out of the pot.
Upon opening the steamer lid, the river crabs had already turned red.
Lin Yuesha prepared some vinegar and some black tea. She and Lin Yue'e set up a table in the kitchen and ate while listening to the rain outside.
This was the most harmonious moment Lin Yuesha had shared with Lin Yue'e since arriving at the Lin residence.
Lin Yuesha couldn't wait to blow on the hot crab, open the crab shell. The female river crab's top shell was plump, full of crab roe. If you can't finish it, you can scoop out the crab roe separately and make crab roe sauce, which is excellent for porridge or noodles.
"Did Father ask you to buy some decorative items for my cousin's wedding room?"
Lin Yue'e broke off a crab leg and took the initiative to start a conversation.
“It’s not just me, it’s also Yao Da’s. Father let her manage the money.”
It's not a big secret, Lin Yuesha doesn't mind telling anyone.
"The Yao family's people are my mother's people, and the remaining silver in the household's accounts also belongs to my mother."
Lin Yue'e revealed a contemptuous smile. The Lin family had become addicted to living off their wives, and they thought it was perfectly reasonable for them to use this money to prepare a wedding room.
"The old lady has been in charge of the household for a long time. Perhaps Miss Qin will take over the management of the household after she marries in."
The wedding day is just around the corner, so there's no point in saying anything now.
"It's useless, and I can't stop anything, but do you think my cousin can be the wife of the Prefect of the Capital with a clear conscience?"
Lin Yue'e put down the crab and couldn't help but chuckle.
"You're so young, yet you're always being sarcastic. You know I don't understand you, so just say it directly."
Of course, she couldn't feel at ease. Qin Nanyan's original intention was to resist the marriage. Who would want to marry an old man who had just lost his wife less than a month ago and was already arranging to remarry?
"Zhou is dead, and my cousin is still unaware."
Lin Yue'e took a sip of black tea. She deliberately kept quiet and concealed the truth until news of Zhou's death came out, at which point she would tell Qin Nanyan the truth.
It would be so satisfying if the cousins could take revenge together!
Qin Nanyan is a great help. She is lurking by her scumbag father's side. As long as she pays attention to the details, she can catch her father's mistress.
Perhaps the scumbag father took advantage of Qin Nanyan's young age and used this as an excuse to let his mistress into the family.
"How could that be? Wasn't she rescued from hanging by a maid in the manor?"
Lin Yuesha was filled with doubt and uncertainty. The Qin family had kept this news a secret from the outside world, and even Lin Yuesha had only deduced it from the ice transport, so she couldn't be entirely sure.
"She was rescued, but she drank arsenic to stop her cousin's marriage."
Lin Yue'e showed no expression. She had been dead for several days, and the Qin family had been trying their best to hide it, waiting to find an excuse to announce it after the marriage.
“I went to the Qin residence every day, asking to see my maternal grandmother, but she pretended to be sick and deliberately refused to see me.”
The Qin family was, after all, the maternal family of Qin Shi. Although her mother had passed away, the Qin family was not without capable people, and she was definitely more well-informed than Qin Nanyan.
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