Chapter 34: Going out to gather seafood at night

However, this Ye Cheng is strange—how did he change so much? Before, whenever he saw himself, he would flee far away, utterly terrified.

Now, when he looks at himself, it's just like looking at an ordinary person.

After walking far enough, Xiao Hu caught up and asked, "Brother, is that all you're going to say? The village chief definitely won't mess with them."

"Nonsense, I know that. It was the village chief who had them do it—how could he possibly go after them? At most he'd give them a scolding and that'd be it."

"Then what's this about?"

"'Just to gross them out. I'm off—now I feel relieved, going home to eat and sleep.'"

During the day, with nothing to do, Ye Cheng went to his older brother's house to play with his little nephew. Dou Dou now finds Ye Cheng affectionate because Ye Cheng buys him snacks.

"'A Cheng, don't keep buying him snacks, or he won't eat his meals,' Jiang Yunxiang said, pouting."

"'Kids should eat now while they can; when they grow up, poor health might keep them from eating.'"

"'Mm, Uncle Two, I like eating chocolate,' Dou Dou said in a cute little voice."

"'Fine, Uncle Two will buy you Dove next time.'"

"'Dove? Is that a foreign brand?'"

"'Yeah, it's a foreign brand, so fragrant—one bite fills your mouth with aroma.'"

Jiang Yunxiang shook her head helplessly beside him; this uncle had changed too fast, to the point of being hard to believe.

"'A Cheng, have lunch here before you go back—you're on your own, no one to cook for you.'"

"'I'll go back to eat, sister-in-law—do you have any dishes left? I'll take some home.'"

Jiang Yunxiang said that, but Ye Cheng felt embarrassed; besides, she was his sister-in-law, an outsider, and with his older brother away he feared the villagers would gossip.

Jiang Yunxiang urged him to stay a bit longer, but in the end Ye Cheng scooped some pickled vegetables from her jar to take home—this stuff keeps well and goes great with rice.

With money and nothing else to do, Ye Cheng rode his bike alone to the market by the dock to buy some meat and dried tofu, and he deliberately bought a piece of intestine.

Intestine used to be food for the poor, but its value has risen over time.

A bowl of pork intestine noodles starts at 28 dollars, and that's without a few extra dollars.

Now it's fine—this bit of intestine cost Ye Cheng six dollars.

Cleaning the intestine is troublesome because it contains a lot of fat.

Some people like eating it with the fat still in, thinking it needs the oil to be flavorful.

But Ye Cheng doesn't like that; he wants it cleaned before eating.

Back home, Ye Cheng first turned the intestine inside out a bit, then poured water in; under the water's weight, the whole intestine flipped smoothly, exposing the internal fat.

This needs to be torn off bit by bit; Ye Cheng carefully cleaned the fat intestine, then turned it back and dusted it with starch to remove the surface slime.

He cut the intestine into chunks and heated up an oily pan.

There are many ways to eat intestine, basically two: either stir-fry it raw, or cook it first and then braise or stir-fry.

Stir-fried raw intestine—that was Ye Cheng's favorite in his past life; its chewiness can't be matched by other dishes, especially when paired with pickled vegetables—it's superb.

He heated the oil to over 80% hot, the pan already smoking; Ye Cheng scooped a spoonful of raw oil, tossed the intestine in, then dropped it into the pan.

With a splash, oil blossomed instantly in the pan, the intestine curled up; Ye Cheng counted eight seconds, then lifted the pan and scooped the intestine out.

Eight-second intestine is the tastiest at that timing, but the oil temperature must be high.

The rest is simple: stir-fry the pre-cooked intestine with pickled vegetables, add some chili powder, thicken with starch, lay the curled intestine slices in the pan, and they gleam golden.

Dig in!

A bottle of beer, a bowl of rice, a plate of intestine—this little life is truly great.

After the meal, Ye Cheng even mixed the intestine's broth into his rice; it was delicious—there's nothing else to say but that the intestine bites crisp, a unique texture nothing else can replace.

After eating, Ye Cheng spent the afternoon tidying the yard; the vegetable plot on the left was nearly done, and he planned to buy some seedlings to plant, while the fish pond on the right could wait for now.

After dinner, Ye Cheng played with his phone for a bit and then lay down.

At 9 p. m., Ye Cheng's phone alarm rang; he sat up, looked at the pitch-black night sky outside, and thought, Since you all finished your daytime sea-gathering, I'll switch to nighttime.

Ye Cheng gathered his things and also took a big flashlight; although there was moonlight at night, it wasn't bright enough.

At 9 p. m., most villagers were already asleep; those still awake were crouched at home watching TV, and even Li Quezi had shut his door.

Ye Cheng walked to Xiao Hu's window and tapped lightly three times—this was the signal they'd long agreed on, the same one they used when they used to get up to no good.

"'Brother? Is that you?' Xiao Hu whispered."

"'Yeah, come out—we're going sea-gathering.'"

Hearing 'sea-gathering,' Xiao Hu shot up with a whoop, flung the window open, and exclaimed excitedly, 'Brother, I thought you weren't going today!'

"'Not going to just stand there sucking northwest wind—hurry up and come out, keep it quiet.'"

Xiao Hu was already a pro at this night-out routine; he slipped out in under two minutes, ready with his gear.

"'Let's go—see what this night's tide can bring in.'"

The two walked under moonlight, and from the roadside grass came occasional insect chirps—truly, only in the countryside can you hear such natural sounds.

The beach was deserted; it was too late—even those who usually gather seafood at the 8 p. m. tide had already gone home.

Unlike those modern streamers, who can stay up all night as long as they have money.

Ye Cheng didn't plan to go into someone else's area to gather seafood; today he'd just gone to the village chief to complain, making the chief unhappy, and if he now crossed the line, the chief would surely seize the chance to cause trouble.

The two carried their big flashlights down onto the beach.

As soon as Ye Cheng stepped down, he saw a crab sneaking out, looking left and right, then about to run.

It wanted to run, but it had thought too much; Ye Cheng stepped on it with one foot, pinning it down to see what kind it was.

He'd thought it was a stone crab, but when he picked it up and looked, it wasn't.

This crab was a bit smaller than the blue crab he'd caught yesterday, and its claws differed—blue crab claws are plump and round, whereas this crab's claws are slender and elongated.

Its eight legs were also thin; the whole body resembled a shuttle—this is a razor clam crab.

There are many varieties of razor clam crab; common ones are the razor clam crab, red-star razor clam crab, orchid crab, and red-flower crab.

Among them, the swimming crab looks the most ordinary; the red-star swimming crab has dot-like spots on its back resembling three eyes; the Orchid Crab's claws and legs are orchid-colored; the red-flower crab's shell bears patterns.