Chapter 233 Li Meili's hospitality, I'm full
Zhang Baiyan laughed and said, "Aunt, there are only three of us. We can't finish what my little sister mentioned. I don't have anything I want to eat either."
"That won't do! It's so rare for me to come to my aunt's place! Since you don't want to say anything, I'll make the decision myself!" Li Meili pointed to the pond and said, "It draws seawater in, and there are some sea fish in it. You can go fishing later, and I'll cook what you catch. I'll also make you a seaweed and oyster stew, which is also a specialty of my place. Everyone who comes here will order it."
Zhang Wanwan nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, that's it. My mom's cooking is not authentic, so I eat what my aunt cooks!"
These words made Li Meili very happy. She couldn't sit still thinking that her beautiful and capable niece liked her cooking skills.
While Li Meili was cooking, the three of them each carried a small basket and went to the strawberry garden.
Yu Yunfei looked at Zhang Wanwan jokingly and said, "I didn't expect that our Wanwan is also a first-rate flatterer. Just now I saw that my aunt was so coaxed by you that she wanted to open her heart to you!"
“Hahahaha,” Zhang Baiyan laughed so hard that tears almost came out. “Yun Fei, you don’t know, this girl is the best at this. There is no elder in my family who doesn’t like her. Sometimes I can’t sit still after listening to her. I feel that she has no moral integrity!”
Zhang Wanwan was furious and glared at Zhang Boyan. "You're still blaming me! If my family wasn't poor when I was young, I wouldn't be like this if I wanted to coax adults to give me more food! Besides, the crying child gets the milk. How many candies have I gotten for you with this mouth since I was a child? You don't even know how to thank me!"
Looking at Zhang Wanwan's background, Zhang Baiyan was suddenly stunned, and his heart felt sour and uncomfortable.
Yu Yunfei stopped worriedly, turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhang Baiyan shook his head and smiled faintly, "I just heard what that girl said just now, and thought about some things in the past, and I felt a little uncomfortable."
Yu Yunfei was stunned for a moment, then patted Zhang Baiyan's arm soothingly, "It's all over!"
Seeing Zhang Baiyan's reaction, she realized that what Zhang Wanwan had said about her family being poor in the past was true. However, she did not ask any further questions, nor did she want to expose other people's scars. When she turned her head, she saw Zhang Wanwan already buried in the pile of strawberries, picking them happily with her butt sticking out. She hurried over to follow.
Squatting down to take a closer look, Yu Yunfei couldn't help but exclaimed, "Wanwan, the strawberries here are really good, did you use something?"
Zhang Wanwan knew what she meant by that and shook her head, "No, this is a new variety. I asked the professor for it. Now many strawberry varieties in China are imported from abroad, mostly from Japan. This is a new variety bred by a research institute in the northwest. It has not been widely promoted yet, but it has been planted in the experimental fields there for three years. It has stable properties and is highly resistant to diseases and pests, drought and cold, juicy and sweet, and big red. It is not like the early varieties that are extremely easy to rot when ripe, so I asked for some for my aunt. It turns out that this variety of strawberry is quite adaptable to the environment here.
I'll ask them about how they prepare it while we're having dinner, and bring some back for the professor to try when I return to school."
Yu Yunfei gave Zhang Wanwan a thumbs up and said admiringly, "Wanwan, I think you are really amazing and courageous! And you understand the ways of the world. I wouldn't dare to take such a risk! And you even remembered to send it to the professor. No wonder Professor Zhang loves you so much, there is a reason for that!"
Zhang Wanwan laughed twice and didn't respond.
Because the strawberries were big, Zhang Wanwan's basket was full after just a while. Zhang Baiyan had almost finished picking as well, so he stood up and said, "I'll carry them back. Yunfei only has half a basket. You guys can continue playing. I'll come back later to carry more."
They both nodded in unison, not being polite at all.
In the end, the three of them each picked a basketful, weighing about nine pounds.
Li Meili was cooking nearby. She glanced at the food and said, "There's well water over there. You can shake it up to wash your hands. The well water is warm now and won't freeze your hands. After washing, rinse them with warm water over there and you can eat."
Zhang Wanwan turned her neck and asked, "Auntie, how do you grow these strawberries? Do you use any pesticides?"
Li Meili shook her head. "I dare not. We only sprayed it once or twice before the fruits were ripe because we were afraid that the leaves would get sick from insects. Later, your uncle saw that this kind of strawberry did not attract insects or get sick very often, so he stopped using it. We only fertilized it afterwards. When the fruits were about to mature, we only watered them. We would leave it alone if it rained occasionally. Can you smell the pesticides when you go to the fields now?"
The three of them shook their heads.
"That's right. We haven't sprayed pesticides since the harvest. You can eat it without worry. To be honest, we don't dare to use pesticides even if there are insects. Many of the customers are children. Children don't care much. Some of them pick the fruits from the fields and put them into their mouths without washing. We are afraid of that too!" Li Meili sighed and said, "Fortunately, Wanwan got a good variety, which saved us a lot of trouble!"
Zhang Wanwan replied with a playful smile: "Aunt, I asked the professor to help me make it. When school starts, I will have to ask you for some to bring back for the professor to try."
"Of course I should!" Li Meili's reaction, as if that was how it should be, made everyone else laugh.
Zhang Boyan took a basket of strawberries to wash, while Zhang Wanwan went fishing with Yu Yunfei.
Yu Yunfei was eager to catch one or two fish so that Li Meili could have a snack for them, but after fishing for a long time, he caught nothing. Instead, Zhang Wanwan caught a palm-sized fish first, which made Yu Yunfei very depressed.
However, neither of them got any harvest afterwards. Li Meili was at a loss whether to laugh or cry when she saw the small fish, so she went to the back and killed a bigger fish to make fish soup for them.
The three of them sat outside the shed, enjoying the warm winter sun and eating the strawberries they picked themselves. It was such a pleasure.
At noon, Li Meili prepared food and asked them to come over to eat. The three of them enjoyed another unique farm meal and filled their stomachs.
It was almost one o'clock when Zhang Baiyan suggested leaving.
Just then some guests came over, and Li Meili didn't have time to greet them, so she carried two more baskets of strawberries and put them in their car and said without hesitation: "Take them home and eat them, and come back tomorrow to play. Auntie is busy, so I won't send you off!"
Zhang Baiyan did not refuse. He thanked him and drove away.
The two women who had eaten too much on the road snuggled up to each other and felt drowsy.
Zhang Baiyan saw their expressions in the rearview mirror and smiled, then turned down the music. After a while, Zhang Wanwan and Yu Yunfei fell asleep.
(End of this chapter)
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