Chapter 20: Dragon-Phoenix Soup

After a lot of effort, Ye Yaodong finally plucked all the chicken feathers and cleaned the chicken.

"Alright, I've processed the chicken. Who's cooking? Hearing Xiao Xiao? Fatty?"

Hearing Xiao Xiao didn't even raise his head and said, "Let Fatty go, Fatty is better at cooking than me. My luck is booming right now, I'll clean up after eating!"

"Fine! Dongzi, you come take his place!"

Ye Yaodong shook his head. "Don't want to play, no point. Playing cards is fine!"

"How to play with six people? How about fishing for crabs?" A-Guang suggested.

"No point, it's all about luck, no technique at all. You guys play, I'll just watch."

"Huh? Changed your nature? Not playing Pai Gow, not fishing for crabs either?"

"Someone always has to do the work, otherwise what are we going to eat in a moment? You guys play your game, I'll go help Fatty."

"Did you take the wrong medicine today? Actually so diligent?"

One sentence after another, even being diligent was questioned. Ye Yaodong said irritably, "I'm in a good mood today, conscience discovered, is that okay?"

"Then hurry up! Call us when it's ready!"

Fatty was already in the room with a knife, chopping the chicken with a loud thumping sound. Seeing him come in, he said, "It's a good thing Azheng brought a chicken, otherwise, with only a little over a jin of snake, where would it be enough to eat? Not even enough to fill the gaps in our teeth! I went home earlier and took two pork ribs, thinking of stewing them with the snake, we can mix them together in a moment."

"Cook the other things first before stewing the Dragon-Phoenix Soup. Cook more soup, scoop an extra bowl of meat for Azheng to take back."

"No problem."

A big rooster of five or six jin, with a snake of over a jin, plus two pork ribs, cooked into a full, big pot.

The moment the fragrance drifted out, the others couldn't sit still. After finishing a round, they threw the cards in their hands and all gathered around the stove.

"Is it ready?"

"So fragrant!"

"Haven't eaten snake for a long time, actually miss it quite a bit!"

"Can we eat yet? I'm starving. Three meals of porridge a day, two pees and it's gone."

Ye Yaodong brought over a soup bowl. "Wait a moment, scoop a bowl for Azheng first, let him take it back for his parents to eat while it's hot."

"Ah, right, right, right, scoop a bowl for Azheng to take back first."

Azheng felt a bit embarrassed. "A small bowl is enough, there are so many of us!"

"There's a big pot, enough to eat. There are other dishes, specifically cooked a bit more soup, the essence is all in the soup."

After scooping for Azheng, everyone else filled a bowl and sat at the table to eat.

They didn't put any nourishing medicine in the Dragon-Phoenix Soup, just stewed it clear with ginger and rice wine. After everyone ate a bowl, they started moving the seafood on the table.

A-Guang fiddled with the sea clams on the plate, picked one up and said, "Are the sea clams and sand clams dug today? Dongzi dug them today? No wonder Little Whistle went to find you this morning and you weren't home. They're quite fat for being so small."

"Dug them for a whole morning, hot as hell. The tide will recede further tomorrow. Do you want to go? Occasionally going to pan for seafood is quite interesting."

A-Guang agreed immediately. "Alright, anyway, being idle is being idle."

"Too full, and on a hot day, having to run to the beach to get tanned, not going!" Fatty refused immediately. His family wasn't short of food or drink, so he wouldn't go to the beach to get exposed to the sun.

"I can't go. My wife told me to go back to her maiden home with her tomorrow. Her mother's health isn't very good," said Rat, who had always had little presence.

Chen Wei was quite enthusiastic. "I'll go. Haven't been to the beach for a while. There's a tide these two days, I'll bring a hook and go see if there's anything to pick up."

"Definitely, I hit the jackpot today and picked up two green crabs of five or six liang while hitting oysters by the rocks. The tide will recede further tomorrow, let's go take a look when the tide recedes."

"Alright, actually picked up green crabs. Worth one or two yuan, a worker's daily wage. Luck is not bad."

Azheng and Hearing Xiao Xiao also agreed to go to the beach together tomorrow.

The time they spent facing each other was longer than the time they spent facing their wives at home, and many times they liked to gather together for activities.

"How much is this mantis shrimp per jin today? The small ones are quite fat, actually have red paste!" Ye Yaodong asked A-Guang while biting.

"3 mao 5 fen."

"Ah!?"

He recalled, it seemed this was the price in this era!

Last September, ah no, September of '21, this kind of small mantis shrimp of 5-7 centimeters, the pier acquisition was only 3 yuan, and the big ones were only 30 yuan. But the market didn't have this price. The acquisition price and the selling price had a huge gap.

Thinking about it, this price was considered reasonable.

"Picking them is 3 mao 5, not picking and just dumping is 3 mao. I picked all the ones with red paste."

The others also casually picked one up and broke the mantis shrimp's neck. They really all had red paste!

"Your eye for detail is quite good!"

A-Guang didn't take it to heart. "What's this? I originally wanted to pick a bit more, but A-Cai at the pier saw that I picked so accurately and went back on his word, wouldn't let me pick, only allowed dumping, otherwise he wouldn't sell! If he won't sell, he won't sell. I look at these and they're about enough."

"All are dishes for drinking, pity there's no wine!" Fatty peeled the shell with regret.

"Didn't drink enough yesterday, got scolded by my wife when I went back, my hand was pinched blue in two places by her, almost didn't let me get on the bed to sleep."

"If your wife doesn't let you on the bed, you can find a mistress, go sleep at the mistress's place, see who she cries to!"

"Pfft~ Mistress, almost couldn't even marry a wife, hanging out with you guys all day, reputation is ruined. It's a good thing I already have a wife and children."

Azheng said mischievously, "Damn, no wonder A-Guang and I still can't marry a wife, it turns out it's all because of you guys. Damn it, hurry up and compensate us with two wives!"

A-Guang also cooperated and said, "That's right, the long night is slow, you guys are sleeping sweetly holding your wives, pity A-Guang and I are lonely and can't sleep~"

"Then you two just make do and hold each other. Anyway, once the light is off, cover your head with the quilt, in the dark, the difference isn't that big..."

"Pfft, the difference is huge!"

Azheng shamelessly stuck his butt out and patted it, saying, "Compare what, front or back, I'm big, no doubt!"

"Pay attention, my younger sister is still here!" Seeing his two younger sisters carrying bowls and returning to their rooms in embarrassment, A-Guang hurriedly spoke up to stop them from saying anything more excessive!

"Eat, eat, eat, say less rogue talk, save it to say to your wives when you go home!"

"Dongzi, heard your father caught a net of yellow croaker yesterday, sold for over a thousand, got rich. Are you going to go out to sea with your father next?" Chen Wei asked curiously.

"Do I look like someone who would go out to sea?"

"Doesn't look like it!"

"You look like a kept boy!" Fatty laughed loudly.

"Mm... soft rice is indeed quite delicious, quite fragrant!"