Chapter 36 The Mermaid's Song
In the end, the four of them sat around in the courtyard, enjoying the cool evening breeze of early summer and eating hot crayfish.
Su Yun cooked one pot of spicy food and one pot of garlic-flavored food.
After a period of diligent cultivation, the chili peppers and garlic sprouts in Su Yun's vegetable garden finally grew to maturity, yielding a bountiful harvest.
Therefore, with the support of the ingredients, this crayfish dish is fragrant and exceptionally tempting.
Before the meal was even served, Wanwan impatiently reached out to grab the lobsters from the bowl.
Su Yun, who had just taken out a bowl, swiftly slapped the other person's thieving hand away with a pair of chopsticks.
"Ouch, that hurts! Su Yun, you!" Wanwan winced in pain and pulled her hand back, glaring angrily at Su Yun. "Why did you suddenly hit me?!"
Su Yun said slowly and deliberately, "You mean you don't want to eat lobster?"
Wanwan's eyes were fixed on the bowl of tempting crayfish, and she immediately launched into a triple denial: "No, I didn't, I don't know, hmph, who said that? It certainly wasn't me."
"You're not allowed to steal any food. The night breeze hasn't come yet."
"Hmph, why does it take so long to take a shower?"
"You don't care, we can only eat together once everyone is here."
"Oh!" Wanwan responded listlessly, staring longingly at the dishes on the table, no longer stealing any food.
Tonight's meal was plentiful, with two large bowls of crayfish and a grilled tilapia. Su Yun specially spread the fish out, marinated it thoroughly, skewered it on bamboo sticks, and grilled it over charcoal until it was crispy and fragrant without adding oil.
Then place the fish on a stainless steel plate and pour in the prepared sauce.
Recently, Su Yun figured out a way to make sauce. He put half a bowl of salt and half a bowl of sugar into a pot and melted them. Then he added well water, a few pieces of chopped garlic, and boiled it. Finally, he filtered out the excess residue. A homemade sauce that looked no different from soy sauce was ready. It tasted salty and sweet, with a hint of garlic. Su Yun tasted it and thought it was pretty good, so he used it for grilling fish this time.
After pouring in the sauce, Su Yun then chopped the pickled bamboo shoots, perilla leaves, scallions, garlic, chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and green beans.
A colorful array of ingredients was spread all over the grilled fish, and then the iron pot was placed back on the small stove to continue grilling.
Wait until the sauce is just simmering, then cook the ingredients and let the caramelized fish slowly absorb the flavors, releasing a delightful aroma.
Just smelling the food made Wanwan's mouth water, and she kept muttering to herself, "Why is Yefeng so slow? The food is getting cold."
Actually, it had only been on the table for three minutes, and the food was still steaming hot, when this guy couldn't wait any longer.
Shepard, on the other hand, remained calm. Although her eyes were sparkling and she was also very expectant, she still gracefully lay by the pool, only glancing at the room occasionally.
Finally, after Wanwan reached out to steal shrimp for the fifth time, Yefeng finally "arrived late." He hurriedly finished his shower and came without even drying his hair, still dripping wet.
Seeing the resentful look in Wanwan's eyes, he suddenly felt a little embarrassed and whispered, "Actually, you didn't have to wait for me..."
Actually, Ye Feng was late because he was gathering firewood on the mountain, and his clothes were covered in dust from carrying the firewood, so Su Yun let him take a shower first.
Su Yun naturally disagreed with his statement and put a large piece of fish into his bowl. "Of course not! Food tastes better when eaten together. Besides, you've worked so hard today~ Here's the fattiest piece for you, hehe."
Looking at the fish in the bowl, Ye Feng felt a warm feeling in his heart, and the slight sourness from the afternoon dissipated with the wind.
"Hmm, it's not hard work."
Seeing Su Yun start eating, Wanwan, not wanting to be left behind, quickly grabbed her chopsticks and said, "Hmph, why did you start eating first? I want to eat grilled fish too."
Unfortunately, Wanwan's hands were unusual, and her chopstick skills were poor. After struggling for a while, she finally managed to shakily put the grilled fish into her mouth. As soon as it entered her mouth, she cried out, "Ah, it's so hot! But it's so delicious!"
Wanwan ate the grilled fish while calling out. As a mermaid, she was more tolerant of cold than humans and preferred ice, but she couldn't tolerate excessively hot temperatures.
The freshly baked fish is absolutely irresistible, yet I love it so much.
"Let it cool down a bit first, don't eat it yet!" Su Yun quickly handed her some water.
She took the water and gulped it down, refusing, "I don't want it, you'll all be finished eating soon!"
"What's the rush? There are still three on the stove!" With a bunch of foodies at home, Su Yun had prepared a sumptuous meal well in advance.
Even so, Wanwan refused to give up, desperately shouting that it was too hot while stuffing grilled fish into her mouth.
In contrast, Shepard was much more refined. Because she couldn't leave the pool, the table was moved to the edge of the pool. Su Yun and Ye Feng sat down, while Wanwan, being in good health, was fine with slight dehydration, so she lay down on a wooden tub and stool.
Shep was sitting quietly by the pool, her white hair falling loosely to her temples, peeling shrimp with graceful movements. She would occasionally feed Wanwan a few shrimp. Compared to the strongly flavored grilled fish, Shep preferred to eat shrimp, and her shrimp-peeling skills were superb.
Even more skilled than her, a professional shrimp peeler, Su Yun had observed closely. The other person's fingers were very slender and covered with a layer of fine scales, making them very hard and unafraid of lobster shells. Moreover, the fingertips were very sharp; with just a light stroke, the shrimp shell could be easily peeled open, revealing the complete shrimp meat inside.
Her movements were simple and fluid, and Su Yun couldn't help but applaud her.
Sensing Su Yun looking at her, Xue Po looked up and smiled slightly, "What's wrong? Do you want some?"
Su Yun nodded hurriedly, indicating that watching the beautiful woman peel shrimp made him want to eat more and more.
After saying that, he fed the crayfish in his hand to Su Yun.
Su Yun, who was suddenly fed by the goddess, felt so happy. She happily swallowed the lobster and felt light as a feather, as if she had arrived in heaven.
Seeing Su Yun enjoying her meal.
Shepherd was very considerate and asked, "Want some more? Shampoo will peel another one for you?"
Just as she was about to agree, feeling ecstatic, two sharp gazes shot towards her.
One came from the evening, the other from the night breeze.
The two men stared intently at Su Yun, one fierce and the other astonished.
Stared at by the two beams of light, Su Yun could only chuckle awkwardly and repeatedly refused, "No need, no need, I'll eat some grilled fish first."
The gazes from the other side softened slightly. Sigh, things have become increasingly difficult at home lately. The pet cat is jealous, the outsider is fierce and refuses to get along, and the only one they like can't be approached freely.
Su Yun sighed.
Alas, life is hard! What can relieve my worries but a midnight snack!
So they continued to bury themselves in the front lines of eating crayfish.
When they devoured all the crayfish, grilled fish, and even the vegetables prepared later.
I was so full I could barely walk.
They all slumped in their chairs, rubbing their bellies to help their stomachs digest slowly.
"It's so delicious!"
Wanwan looked at the large pot of leftover lobster sauce with lingering reluctance, feeling it was a great pity.
"Don't you want this broth?"
Su Yun originally wanted to just pour it out, since the vegetables had been boiled several times and they didn't taste like anything anymore.
"Yeah, there's nothing we can do with it, and there's no rice. Otherwise, lobster sauce with rice would be really delicious."
"Rice?" Wanwan's eyes lit up. "Is it millet rice? I know where to find it. Shall I take you to pick some tomorrow? Then we can make rice with lobster sauce?"
"Ah? You actually found rice?" Su Yun's eyes lit up, and he was very excited. My God, it's amazing that rice can be found nearby.
"Yes, when I went to catch crayfish today, there was a whole patch of them over there. It's not far from where the crayfish burrows are. Will we still be able to eat crayfish tomorrow?"
Upon hearing about the rice, Su Yun immediately perked up. "No problem, no problem, as long as you can really take me to find it."
"Okay, let's go together tomorrow."
After eating and drinking their fill, everyone was so full that no one wanted to move. So they all slumped in their chairs, looked at the stars, and chatted.
Today is a bright and sunny day. The summer breeze kindly blew away the thin clouds, revealing a clean and beautiful night sky.
It resembles a clean, soft piece of blue velvet, densely studded with tiny diamonds.
"The stars are so beautiful!"
Gazing at the shimmering Milky Way in the sky, Su Yun couldn't help but marvel at its beauty.
We've grown accustomed to the city's polluted air and perpetually gray skies.
I've forgotten how long it's been since I last saw the stars of my childhood.
This reminded her of many things from her childhood, when her grandmother would often sit in the courtyard with her, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan, to enjoy the cool air.
A cool summer breeze rustled through the treetops as the little girl nestled in her grandmother's arms, gazing up at the beautiful starry sky.
"One star, two stars, three stars..." At such a young age, she couldn't possibly count how many stars there were in the sky.
Grandma never stopped her; she always looked at her with such a gentle smile and taught her where to start counting...
The past has passed like flowing water, but the beautiful memories will remain forever in our hearts.
Although life inevitably involves suffering, the beautiful things, like the stars in the sky, comfort us through the long night...
Before we knew it, the night had deepened.
The gentle mermaid leaned against the pond, softly humming a melodious tune:
The stream flows to the ocean
The wind blows in all directions
Even the stars have drifted away from you.
In the vastness
do not be afraid
Don't be sad.
Please believe that there will always be someone who will...
Over the hills
Crossing the ocean
Coming for you
Over the hills
Crossing the sea
I only came for you.
...
Shepard's voice was ethereal and beautiful, carrying an indescribable depth of emotion...
Su Yun was completely captivated by her singing...
Even Wanwan, who is usually very talkative, became quiet, and the three of them listened blankly to the mermaid's ethereal and beautiful singing.
Forgot all your troubles
Forget all worldly affairs.
I only remember that night, under a sky full of twinkling stars, the mermaid girl's beautiful and melodious singing lingered in my heart for a long, long time...
After an unknown amount of time, Su Yun couldn't hold on any longer and drifted off to sleep to a gentle lullaby. It was just like many years ago when she was looking at the stars and counting them, and then she would fall asleep without realizing it, and finally be gently carried home by her grandmother.
Grandma is gone now, but there seems to be no need to worry. In a daze, I found myself enveloped in a warm embrace, soft and fluffy, with a temperature she was familiar with.
So she let down her guard, nestled close to that warm chest, and finally fell into a deep sleep.
The mermaid finished singing her last song.
Ye Feng turned to look and saw that Su Yun had already slumped into the recliner, fast asleep. She was curled up in a small ball, her brows furrowed, as if she were a little uneasy. He bent down and gently picked up the restless girl. Her brows furrowed even more, and she mumbled something, showing a slight tendency to struggle to wake up. Ye Feng gently pulled her into his arms, lifted her up, and held her close to his chest. The girl nestled against his chest like a little hamster finding its burrow, sleeping soundly.
Seeing the girl trust him so much and sleep so sweetly in his arms, Ye Feng couldn't help but gently touch her soft cheek with his lips, as if comforting a cub, and whispered with infinite tenderness and affection, "Goodnight."
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