"Sister, is that man handsome? His dad is quite good-looking," Mingyue said, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.
Mingjing poked Mingyue's forehead. "You, stop thinking nonsense and come in to start the fire and cook."
Abalone congee, a seafood dish, has become the top choice for breakfast in Mingjing.
Two palm-sized abalones were cleaned, cut into pieces, and seasoned with pickled soybean paste, a staple in every household on the island.
Next, slice the pork belly into thin slices, fry them in a pot to render the lard, add the seasoned abalone and stir-fry, then add half a bowl of water and simmer to make a thick broth.
Rinse the brown rice and put it in a pot. Add water to cover the rice, crack in five eggs and stir. Cover and bring to a boil. Finally, add chopped green onions.
Mingyue raised her head, sniffed, and swallowed. "Sister, it smells so good."
"Hurry up and wash your hands and eat." Mingjing removed the firewood from the bottom of the pot, and a bell rang in her ears.
[Congratulations, host, on successfully making the seafood porridge. Reward: 200 points]
Seafood porridge doesn't earn many points anyway, and since it's just breakfast, Mingjing didn't pay much attention to it.
Since Ming Dahai and his wife wouldn't be back for a while, Mingjing and Mingyue started eating first.
"Where did Mingliang go?" During dinner, Mingjing suddenly felt that the house was much quieter. Looking around, she realized that she hadn't seen Mingliang for a long time.
As soon as he finished speaking, Mingliang came in from outside the door, dripping wet, with several red and swollen spots on his cheeks, and staring at Mingjing with a resentful look in his eyes.
His father refused to teach him how to catch abalone, so he went into the sea in a huff. He didn't catch any abalone, but instead encountered some sea snakes. He was so frightened that he swam back, but his face was scraped by the rocks, and he survived.
"Brother, let's eat," Mingyue called out timidly.
"Mingjing, did you manage to catch any abalone on your recent voyage? I heard you sold quite a few abalone to Song Laosan," Mingliang questioned as he stepped forward.
"We caught some, but unfortunately there were no abalone pearls," Mingjing said, serving seafood porridge without even lifting her eyelids.
“You must have touched Baozhu, Dad is just biased,” Mingliang muttered, then turned and went back into the house.
Mingjing ignored him, sat down by herself, and drank a bowl of seafood porridge.
After dinner, Mingyue cleared the table, while Mingjing, feeling bored at home, went out for a stroll.
"Mingjing, you kissed a man on the ship yesterday. How did it feel?"
Several middle-aged women under the tree, holding palm-leaf fans, grinned when they saw Mingjing.
"You'll know once you get home and give your man a kiss," Mingjing retorted irritably, then turned and walked towards the beach.
Several middle-aged women burst into laughter and began to discuss Mingjing in hushed tones.
"This girl is getting more and more capable. She caught so many wild abalone all by herself, and they were all huge."
"What good is her talent if she's still a promiscuous woman? She kisses a man in front of so many people. Let's see who dares to marry her. She'll be cheating on you sooner or later."
"Exactly, she's so young and shameless. Her father-in-law came to her door and then left. I bet she didn't like him and got dumped."
"Oh dear, she'll never be able to get married. Such a grown daughter is stuck in our hands."
“I heard that Ming Jing caught a lot of abalone yesterday. I think he must have found quite a few abalone pearls. The Ming family must have made a lot of money this time.”
"Ming Dahai is really foolish. He neglects his son and passes on his skill of touching abalone to his daughter. His daughter will get married sooner or later, and the Ming family's good days are coming to an end."
Mingjing listened to the teasing of the older women behind her, sneered, and decided not to bother with it. She found it pointless to argue with unworthy people about such a trivial matter.
Mingjing strolled around the village, attracting many glances and greetings from passersby.
"Mingjing, I heard you touched Baozhu yesterday. Your father-in-law is rich too. You're going to climb the social ladder now, aren't you?"
Old Wang stood in the convenience store and asked Mingjing a question.
"Uncle Wang, when did you learn to gossip like those old ladies?" Mingjing said sarcastically, his voice filled with impatience.
The news spread quickly, and now everyone in the village believes she touched Baozhu. Mingjing didn't bother to explain and turned away.
"I didn't say that, your second uncle said it. Actually, I don't like your second uncle either. Didn't you touch Baozhu? Your second uncle must have been furious."
"You also hate my second uncle?"
"Of course, your second uncle is very stingy. A few times he broke the fishing net himself, but he insisted that my stuff was bad and made me pay for it. We argued about it several times, but I could only suffer in silence for the sake of business."
Mingjing nodded. "I didn't touch Baozhu, but it's true that Second Uncle is probably having a hard time right now."
Ming Dashan is a sensitive person. If he knew that Bai Jiwen was going to give them 200,000 yuan for buying cell phones, he would probably be extremely jealous.
"Really? Mingjing, you're your second uncle's nemesis!" Old Wang leaned on the windowsill, his face full of excitement.
"Uncle Wang, you've got some good stuff again?" Mingjing walked closer and looked up to see several fishing rods hanging on the back wall, which weren't there last time he came.
Old Wang chuckled, "The weather's been nice lately, so a lot of people are coming to the island to fish. I've prepared a few extra fishing rods. Are you interested?"
“It’s free.” Mingjing raised an eyebrow.
Those fishing rods aren't as good as the ones in her fishing tackle shop; she might consider giving them away for free.
Old Wang's face stiffened, then he said with a half-smile, "Little girl, don't learn from your second uncle, always thinking good things. Tell me, how did you catch that big fish?"
"Just lucky, I'm leaving." Mingjing knew that if they continued talking, her family's wealth would be revealed.
After strolling around the village, Mingjing sat by the sea and enjoyed the sea breeze for a while. She saw several children carrying baskets up the mountain and became curious.
"Hey, what are you guys doing up there?"
"We're picking fruit. The wild peaches on the mountain are ripe, and Mom and Dad said we can pick some to take home," the little girl, with her dark skin and tall stature, said in a clear voice.
"I'm going too!"
Mingjing had never been up the mountain before. The original owner disliked the mosquitoes and the rugged paths, so she was not familiar with the mountain. It would be good to have a few children as guides.
The mountains on the island are not high, just raised hills covered with lush vegetation. The islanders rely on fishing for a living, and few are willing to farm.
The Ming family was too poor, and Mingliang was always betraying his family. Ming Dahai had no choice but to cultivate land on the mountain and grow some rice to make a living, becoming the only fisherman on the island who farmed.
Normally, apart from the Ming family, few people are willing to go up the mountain, so this narrow path is almost entirely made by the Ming family on foot.
Standing halfway up the mountain, Mingjing could see a waterfall cascading down like a silver river in the distance, and the mountain breeze carrying water vapor blew on Mingjing's face.
A feeling of comfort and exhilaration lingered in her heart.
Further up, Mingjing arrived at the source of the waterfall, a wide and clear stream with a rapid current. She stopped and took a careful look at the water.
Several river crabs lay quietly beside the rocks, while bighead carp swam leisurely in the river.
On the island, no one eats freshwater fish, so there are an abundance of fish and shrimp.
Mingjing was a little excited. She loved eating river delicacies, especially crayfish, which were rare treasures and not cheap in the north.
It's a pity she didn't bring any equipment today; she'll have to come here specifically to hunt next time she has time.
Upon reaching the mountaintop, Mingjing saw a field of golden wheat, half of which had been harvested. A gentle breeze rustled the wheat as Mingdahai bent over to cut it.
Sun Yunmei was busy working in the field when she looked up and saw Mingjing standing at the edge of the field.
What are you doing here?
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