"Shanlong was cooked by Mingliang yesterday, and we didn't eat a single bite. Go find your Mingliang!" Old Man Qian blinked guiltily.
Mingjing sneered, "Those pine dragons cost a lot of money. You say you didn't eat them, but you have no proof. Since my brother went to your Qian family to be a son, consider it as a wedding gift."
Old Man Qian stared with wide eyes, "What gift? I never agreed to take him as my son. I tried to drive him away but he wouldn't leave. What could I do? He helped me with this and that, all of which he did voluntarily."
“My brother really wanted to be your Qian family’s son-in-law. Your family accepted my brother’s 30,000 yuan, so consider it as your agreement. Our Ming family is marrying off our son.”
"I only want your beat-up motorcycle, nothing else. My brother is now the Qian family's son-in-law, how about it?"
Old Man Qian trembled with anger upon hearing this, and retorted, "Nonsense! I've barely ridden that motorcycle; it belongs to my son. How could I give it to you?"
"I never agreed to let Mingliang become the Qian family's son-in-law, so it doesn't count! I can't get rid of him, there's nothing I can do!"
Ming Dahai stepped forward and said calmly, "Brother Qian, it's a fact that your Qian family accepted 30,000 yuan from us. If you don't want to, then take out the 30,000 yuan."
"He doesn't want to get married, and he doesn't want to pay back the money—isn't that a scam?"
"If you agree, give us the motorcycle; that would be a proper dowry. Otherwise, we'll report you to the police for marriage fraud!"
Old Man Qian was terrified. His eyes darted around three hundred and sixty times, but he still couldn't come up with a good idea.
Once the money is in their pockets, it's impossible to get it out again.
But if they don't pay back the money, the Qian family's reputation will be ruined, and how will Qian Jiu'er ever get married?
"Grandpa Qian, can you ride that motorcycle? It's probably covered in dust by now. If it sits for a few more years, it'll be scrapped and nobody will want it. Mingliang can eat, drink, and work."
"We'll give you a big, fat grandson next year, what more could you want? You either give us money or a motorcycle, or we'll call the police."
Old Man Qian had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, "We'll return the 30,000 yuan to you, but you have to give us some time to raise the money. Jiu'er's mother was sick a few days ago, and we spent the money."
"Everyone heard that, just three days! Otherwise we'll call the police!" Mingliang said, carrying an oil drum into the house.
Old Man Qian angrily flung his sleeves and walked home.
Upon learning that Mingliang would not be marrying into the family, Sun Yunmei finally felt relieved and said with a smile, "Mingjing, let's quickly prepare the oysters and visit your uncle's house on the way."
The lobster and blue shrimp were supposed to be delivered yesterday, but Mingjing was busy and couldn't go, so they've been kept in the water. Today the weather is nice, so I'll go check on them.
Moreover, she also had something to discuss with Sun Yang. Her mother and uncle were very important to her, and she didn't want to keep dragging things out about Mingliang.
Ming Dahai placed the pearl oysters in a basin, closed the door, and began to sort through them.
"Dad, not every pearl oyster has a pearl. Are we selling meat or pearls?" Mingyue was troubled.
This pile of pearl oysters weighs at least 100 pounds, but the pearl yield is extremely low. If they are all opened, there won't be many pearls, and yesterday's work will have been for nothing.
“Selling oysters is not profitable if only one out of ten oysters is a pearl. Let’s sort them by size.”
Mingyue sat in the yard sorting oysters. Mingjing, tormented by the dense array of oysters, got up and said, "Mom and Dad, it's noon. I'm going to cook."
She hadn't cooked in a long time, and her points hadn't been updated either, so she thought about getting some new equipment.
The jellyfish skins I picked up yesterday were put in the fishing tackle shop for refrigeration by Mingjing. Today, I'll simply make a cold jellyfish salad.
"Mingjing, where did you get this jellyfish? I didn't see it yesterday." Sun Yunmei became suspicious when she saw Mingjing processing such a large sheet of jellyfish skin in the kitchen.
"It was too late yesterday, so you didn't notice. I found a large jellyfish, so I'll make a cold dish with it today."
Sun Yunmei didn't ask any questions and kept her head down, preparing the oysters. As she was doing so, Sun Yunmei felt something was off.
Wild oysters typically grow on rocks, are solitary, large, and do not like to crowd together, while farmed oysters usually grow in clusters.
For example, two or three oysters might stick together. This is related to the farming environment. Farmed oysters are generally not very big and prefer to live on nearshore reefs.
She often sucks on two or three oysters together. Could it be that they are different varieties and therefore different habits?
Sun Yunmei has been going to the beach for many years, and this is the first time she has found this strange.
Inside, Mingjing skillfully sliced jellyfish, adding soy sauce, vinegar, scallions, ginger, and garlic. Since she wasn't used to eating raw seafood, she specially rinsed it in the pot.
That big piece of jellyfish made up a whole basin, and we also cooked a pot of rice.
"Congratulations, host, you have gained 200 points."
Jellyfish isn't a famous dish, so the points it earns aren't high either. Mingjing doesn't care; she plans to change her gear and go fishing for bigger fish that night.
"Mom and Dad, let's finish eating first, then we'll get it done."
Mingjing brought out the food.
She was a little worried because there were so many oysters and it would probably take a long time to collect them.
"No, the oysters can be stored, but the lobsters can't. We need to get them ready quickly and take them to your uncle."
Mingjing sighed, "I'll go deliver them. You guys stay home and pick out the oysters."
That was her fault, and she had to apologize in person.
"Are you sure you can do it?" Sun Yunmei felt uneasy.
Recalling the last time, Sun Yunmei looked worried.
"It's okay, Mom. Don't worry, I'm going to apologize this time. I'll go right after dinner, and we won't argue."
Mingjing started eating first; the jellyfish was crunchy and tasted quite good.
"By the way, Mom, we've made some money, and the neighbors are all envious these days. If you're too busy, ask them for help and give them some money for their hard work."
Ming Dahai nodded; his family couldn't possibly finish processing all these oysters today.
“You can call your second uncle’s family too, just don’t give them money. We’re all family, why bring up money?” Mingjing instructed.
Sun Yunmei chuckled, "You silly child."
"That's right. My second uncle has a lot of family members, so it would be best to call that chubby little Afu along. He's fat and can do a lot of work."
Mingjing ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, then picked up the basket and the wooden bucket and headed towards Sun Yang's house.
As Old Wang passed the convenience store, he was eating sunflower seeds and reading a magazine about beautiful women when he saw Mingjing. He spat out the sunflower seed shells and called out, "Mingjing, are you going out?"
"I heard that you have two mobile phones, and you made more than 10,000 yuan selling lobsters yesterday. You also raise chickens and ducks. Is that true?"
Mingjing cursed Huang Daguang for his loose tongue, then laughed and said, "It's fake, only a few thousand."
"I don't believe you! What are you holding?" Seeing the police officer's wariness, Old Wang grinned, "I saw Zhang Fan come back, you guys...?"
"Don't disgust me, Uncle Wang. I have nothing to do with him. You should eat less chicken chin in the future." Mingjing rolled her eyes and left.
Sun Yang's family lived on the other side of the island, and usually no one paid any attention to them. Mingjing walked to the beach and poured some seawater into the wooden bucket.
At noon, the waves rolled in on the beach, the coconut trees by the roadside wilted under the scorching sun, and the salty sea breeze was also filled with heat.
Mingjing's face was flushed from the sun, and it took her half an hour to reach Sun Yang's house.
At that moment, Sun Yang's family had just finished eating. Sun Yang's twin daughter, Su Yan, was playing jump rope at the gate of the yard when she saw Ming Jing and turned to run home.
"Dad, the monkey is here again!"
Mingjing: ? ? ? Her?
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