As for the vegetable stalks, Ye Cheng cut them into sections, put them in a bowl, sprinkled some salt on them, and then squeezed them hard with his hands.
Water spinach has hollow stems; when you grab it like this, the round stems turn into long strips.
After absorbing the salt, the vegetable stalks changed from crisp to soft, and their color turned yellowish-green.
Ye Cheng set the vegetable stalks aside and let them marinate for a while.
The braised pork with radish was ready. When Ye Cheng opened it, he saw that much of the broth had evaporated, and the other half had been absorbed by the radish.
Since he was alone, Ye Cheng didn't have many rules. He simply picked up a piece of radish with his chopsticks, blew on it to cool it down, and took a bite. It was full of broth, with the aroma of meat and the unique sweetness of radish. He had to admit, the radish that Widow Zhang grew was really good.
After the braised pork was served, Ye Cheng stir-fried the water spinach leaves. He just stir-fried them briefly, and the leaves quickly changed color. There was nothing he could do; his firepower was limited. If it were a restaurant's fire, Ye Cheng could have really turned them green.
Next up are the stems of water spinach, which my mother often made when I was little, and Ye Cheng loved to eat them as a child.
The pickled vegetable stems were rinsed with water to remove some of the salt, then put into a pot, added some chili peppers, stir-fried briefly, and then taken out of the pot.
Ye Cheng prepared three dishes in half an hour, which can be considered quick and easy.
The rice wasn't ready yet, so Ye Cheng opened a bottle of beer to tide him over. He started by eating the vegetable stalks, which were soft yet chewy. They were also salted and had a mild, spicy flavor – a perfect accompaniment to rice.
One person, one bowl of rice, one bottle of beer, one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, with some extra money in their pocket—this is a pretty comfortable life.
Finally, it's nighttime, and I can lie in bed and play on my phone.
It took some getting used to to such a small screen at first. There are very few mobile games available now, except for the famous Snake game.
Ye Cheng played this a lot during class back then. It's simple and easy to learn, but it's hard to get a high score.
After playing for a while, Ye Cheng got bored. He thought, "I need to come up with some more entertainment next time, otherwise I'll be bored tonight."
Ye Cheng slept well that night, finally paying off the debts his family owed. Although he only had a few hundred yuan left, it was enough for the time being.
......
Luck value: 60
Points: 56
As the new day began, Ye Cheng checked the system. His luck value of 60 was decent; he should be able to reap a good harvest today.
However, remembering what Widow Zhang said yesterday that Chen Jinhai might make a move, Ye Cheng was somewhat worried.
"Brother, are you finished eating? If you are, it's time to get to work."
Before we'd even finished our meal, Little Tiger came over again.
"Aren't you tired at all?" Ye Cheng was speechless.
"Brother, who would complain about being tired when it comes to making money?"
"Okay, okay, wait a minute. At least let me finish my noodles first, then you can sit down for a while."
As Xiao Hu sat down, he happened to see the cabbage that Widow Zhang had brought. "Brother, you bought vegetables again?"
"It was given to me by Widow Zhang."
Speaking of Widow Zhang, Xiao Hu whispered, "Brother, I don't think this woman is good. She's always flirting with men. Don't let yourself get hooked up with her."
Ye Cheng tapped it with his chopsticks, "What does a little brat like you know?"
Xiao Hu scratched his head unhappily. "Well, I'm telling the truth. Lots of people in the village say they've slept with her, you wouldn't have either..."
Xiao Hu stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence because Ye Cheng had already raised his chopsticks.
"I've told you to think things through all the time. What does Widow Zhang do? She's a woman with a child and no proper job. If she doesn't mingle with you lecherous types, how does she make a living? Once you understand that, it's good. Society isn't that simple, nor is it that dark."
Xiao Hu listened to Ye Cheng's words with a frown, then muttered, "Brother, I feel like you're different now."
"What's different? Am I more handsome?" Ye Cheng picked up the bowl and took a sip of the noodle soup. It was egg noodles cooked that morning. No one dared to drink instant noodle soup unless they were 18 years old.
"No, I feel you're more hypocritical than before."
Pfft! Ye Cheng sprayed a mouthful of egg drop soup onto Xiao Hu's face.
"Damn it! When have I ever been hypocritical? I treated you to the best of everything and you called me hypocritical." Ye Cheng was speechless.
"Yeah, I feel like the person who used to take me to steal things was the real you. People these days are all about morality and righteousness."
Of course, the movement inside has been replaced.
“This is called growth, growth, not hypocrisy,” Ye Cheng said, raising his voice. “Alright, it’s pointless to argue with you.”
"Now I'm asking you, are you going to go beachcombing with me, you hypocrite?"
"Go, go, bro, I feel like I've grown a lot too," Little Tiger said with a smug grin.
"Then go wash the dishes." Ye Cheng slyly pushed the bowl to Xiao Hu.
Xiao Hu jumped up immediately. "Brother, it's just washing dishes, you have to let me do it."
After saying that, the kid rushed inside.
Damn, at least you were careful and reacted quickly.
Xiao Hu is rather naive, which sometimes reminds Ye Cheng of his time in the university dormitory, when everyone was young and didn't have any other thoughts.
Even after eating instant noodles, all sorts of bets can be started over who washes the dishes—playing games, cards, arm wrestling, and whoever loses has to do the dishes.
However, there is an unwritten rule: if you flick a cigarette at someone, they'll happily go do the dishes.
Xiao Hu finished washing in no time and came out as if to show off, "Brother, I'm done, let's go."
"Okay, I'll go in and get a bottle of water."
Ye Cheng walked to the kitchen, took a look, picked up the bowl from earlier, touched it, and his expression changed drastically.
He yelled, "Damn it, Wang Xiaohu, did you wash the dishes without using dish soap? There's still oil in them!"
"Brother, you still need to eat lunch anyway, why wash it so clean?" Xiao Hu said as he ran towards the door.
"Then you'll still poop after you eat it. What's the point of eating it? Stop right there!"
...
After playfully fighting for a while, the two packed their things and went to the beach.
As soon as Ye Cheng arrived at the village entrance, he sensed something was amiss. Duan Yong and his group looked at them with amusement, holding small blue crabs in their hands and smugly shaking them.
"Brother, what are they doing? I get the feeling they have bad intentions."
Ye Cheng wasn't sure either, but judging from the situation, it didn't seem like a good thing. Coupled with what Widow Zhang had said yesterday, he had a bad feeling.
"Let's go to the beach first," Ye Cheng said.
The two ignored Duan Yong and his companion, and walked straight towards the beach. Behind them, Duan Yong shouted, "Going to go beachcombing again? There's nothing left."
When Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu reached their own neighborhood, they immediately understood what Duan Yong meant.
The entire rocky beach was turned over, and many rocks were flipped over.
"Brother, Duan Yong and his gang came here to steal our stuff. Damn it, they've gone too far, coming into our territory like that."
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