Qin pointed to the house, "Whether we've made a fortune or not, you can tell at a glance. Look, my house is about to collapse. I was just thinking of borrowing some money from you to repair it. How much can you lend us? We're relatives, so please lend us whatever you can to help us get through this difficult time."
Upon hearing that she wanted to borrow money, Cao San Niang was unwilling to linger any longer. She changed the subject, made an excuse that she had something to do, and ran away, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Qin spat and muttered, "What the hell? I wouldn't even give them a second glance if we bumped into each other normally, and now they're trying to pull the 'relatives' thing!"
Seeing that Old Lady Mo was looking outside, he said to her, "Mother, don't worry about her, she's a selfish person."
Old Mrs. Mo looked worried. “In the future, there may be more than one Cao San Niang coming to our door. We will have income, and there may be some people who are jealous and cause trouble. You must be careful.”
Qin nodded, indeed, people's hearts are hard to fathom.
Old Man Mo immediately convened a small meeting, which was attended by everyone from Mo Yunmei, who was lying in bed, to Mo Dongcheng.
The main focus was on Cao San Niang's visit to the door, emphasizing that while one should not have the heart to harm others, one must be wary of others, reminding everyone to be vigilant and not to talk about family matters with outsiders, as they would be unable to provide a clear explanation no matter who asked.
They thought that after reminding and warning everyone, they would know what to do and nothing serious would happen, but they overlooked one person.
Su Nanxi felt that the Mo family wouldn't get rich unless a few major events happened. The village was full of poor people, and if one of them suddenly became rich, the villagers would feel unbalanced, and their true nature would be revealed.
However, she didn't care. It was something she was bound to experience sooner or later, so she just let nature take its course.
She took a nice afternoon nap, then fed the chickens and watered the vegetables. In the evening, she took a bath and did laundry. In the night, she cooked an egg for her cheap husband, and another day passed.
Time always flies. In order not to attract attention, Su Nanxi did not let the chickens, ducks and rabbits out for the next few days. Instead, she released chicken coops, eggs and duck eggs, as well as a lot of fruit. Anyway, she had already been to the mountains, so she was in the mountains.
The children didn't have much to eat, so they loved fruit. It was sweet and sour, and after eating it, they would all say, "Thank you, Auntie!"
The children grew even closer to Su Nanxi.
Su Nanxi thought that Mo Qinghe also liked fruit, so she would always pick out the best fruit, wash it, and give it to him.
Seeing how well Su Nanxi prepared the food, Mo Qinghe didn't want to disappoint her, so he always finished it. Su Nanxi, seeing that he always ate it all, assumed he liked it and started giving him different kinds of food.
Of course, only Mo Qinghe received this treatment; everyone else ate common fruits.
After Su Nanxi delivered fruit to Mo Qinghe, she mobilized a group of children to wash snails and remove their tails.
The children don't know what to do with it, but that doesn't stop them from having fun. Playing and working together is indeed very interesting.
Once everything is ready, blanch the snails in boiling water with scallions and ginger to remove some of the muddy and fishy smell and also to remove the suckers. Rinse them twice with cold water, drain them, then stir-fry ginger, garlic, and chili peppers in a hot pan with hot oil. Finally, add the snails and stir-fry, then add soy sauce, salt, and wine. Add water and simmer for 15 minutes. Add perilla leaves and simmer briefly. Reduce the sauce over high heat and plate!
Because Su Nanxi added chili peppers, and these children had never eaten or smelled chili peppers before, they were choked by the smell and ran away in panic. So Su Nanxi could only add fuel to the fire while stir-frying.
Ugh! She only added two chili peppers to a huge pot of snails, and she's already choking on the spiciness!
Did she finish wrapping them herself in that time?
A table was set up in the yard, and Su Nanxi placed the platter on the table, filling two large basins.
She first pushed Mo Qinghe over, asking him to invite everyone to come and eat together.
When everyone came over and saw that it was snails, and it had a pungent smell, no one touched it.
Zhao asked, "Mute girl, these snails are covered in mud, can we eat them?"
Eating it is the same as eating mud, isn't it?
Isn't it better to eat mixed grain rice? Why do we have to eat mud?
Su Nanxi didn't respond. She took the toothpick from Mo Qinghe's lap and started eating it herself.
Calling it a toothpick isn't quite accurate, as it's a bit thick, but fortunately, one end is pointed, which helps pick out snail meat.
Don't let the rough appearance of the toothpicks fool you; it took Mo Qinghe a whole day to carve them, and he only managed to make a dozen or so. He thought they would be very useful, but when he saw Su Nanxi using them to eat snails, his lips twitched involuntarily.
Seeing that Su Nanxi was eating with great relish, the others hesitated to start eating.
Mo Qinghe spoke up, "Give me some."
Su Nanxi put some on a plate for him.
The two of them ate as if no one else was around, slurping their food as if it were delicious.
Qin couldn't resist any longer, so she sat down and started eating. Once she tasted it, she ate faster and faster.
The others couldn't wait any longer and started eating.
No one spoke in the yard except for the sounds of snails sucking and shells colliding, which grew increasingly frequent.
In the end, only some ingredients remained in the two large bowls.
"I never knew snails could be cooked so deliciously! There's no muddy taste at all, and no dirt or sand. It's so good! I want to eat more!"
"Yes, it's spicy and really satisfying to eat. I want to keep eating it, it's like I can't stop."
"The snail meat is chewy and bouncy, it's so delicious! I'm going to go snail hunting tomorrow, snails are free, and I can eat them often!"
A group of people started chattering and discussing it, even mentioning that they wanted to sell it.
Su Nanxi hadn't had enough to eat yet. These people were initially hesitant, but they went crazy while eating, not much different from the aunties who were scrambling to buy things at the supermarket!
Luckily, she had the foresight to scoop out two plates, one for herself and one for Mo Qinghe, otherwise she probably wouldn't have been able to eat even ten snails!
Mo Qinghe was still not satisfied and kept thinking to himself, how come the snails that nobody wanted became a delicacy in his wife's hands? Could it be that this was the way they were eaten where she used to live?
As everyone chatted, they asked Su Nanxi how she did it. Su Nanxi was helpless; how could she explain it? It couldn't be explained in a few words, and besides, she couldn't say a word at all.
So he used Mo Qinghe's hand to speak.
The two became increasingly in sync. Mo Qinghe could understand most of what Su Nanxi wanted to express, and with his guessing and imagination, he could basically reconstruct what Su Nanxi was saying.
"Are you saying that we've learned how to sell our goods to restaurants and teahouses?"
Su Nanxi nodded.
Of course! Snails are delicious, but the process is quite complicated, labor-intensive, and time-consuming, especially removing the snail tails. Without tools like pliers, it's difficult. If I sell them myself, I can only do so at a stall. Most customers have low purchasing power; if the price is too high, no one will buy, and if the price is too low, I'll lose money.
Restaurants and teahouses are different. People who can enter such places have considerable spending power and are not short of money. They treat it as entertainment and something new, so they can sell it at high prices.
She couldn't speak, so they had to learn how to do it and discuss it themselves.
After Mo Qinghe's explanation, everyone understood and couldn't help but admire Su Nanxi even more. As expected of someone from a prominent family, her knowledge and perspective were truly different!
Mo Yunmei, inside the house, saw everything that happened in the courtyard. She was furious; they had food but no one brought her any! She banged on the bed, but no one came to check!
She also wants to learn how to handle snails!
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