Chapter 168: Sister-in-law's Worry

"It's A An, I heard you've been doing well gathering seafood lately..." Wu Yingjin greeted him, suddenly thinking of something, and said: "These sandworms couldn't be the ones you dug up, could they?"

Wu An nodded.

"That's great, I heard this stuff is quite nourishing; I want to get some to try, I won't take it for free, I'll buy it." Wu Yingjin said with a smile: "Give uncle a half-price."

Wu An picked up the bag of sandworms, laughing, and said: "Uncle, saying sandworms can treat kidney deficiency is just spreading a rumor."

"Definitely an intelligence tax."

"How could someone as smart as you fall for this?"

His shout was quite loud, drawing the attention of nearby vendors and passersby.

Seeing Wu Yingjin, a village person joked: "A Jin, did I hear right? You have kidney deficiency? Really or fake?"

"In the county, you're probably not lacking in flashy fun."

"How did you suddenly come back?"

"Could it be that you're stealing someone's wife?"

"Hahaha."

Everyone laughed uproariously; Wu Yingjin's face turned green then white, he didn't expect Wu An to suddenly shout like that, catching him off guard.

"I'm not."

"I don't have."

"Don't listen to this brat Wu An spouting nonsense."

He hurriedly shouted.

But everyone still laughed, not believing his excuse at all.

Wu An also put on an "I just realized" look, shouting: "Right, right, right, it was me spouting nonsense; my uncle definitely doesn't have kidney deficiency."

"This 'no silver here, three hundred taels' only made everyone think he was trying to cover up and drawing more attention."

Wu An looked at Wu Yingjin and asked: "Still want to buy?"

Wu Yingjin's face turned as black as possible, he waved his hand, muttered "I'll buy your ass," then turned and walked away, getting faster amidst everyone's teasing.

Gu Anran also followed him away.

She needed to go home first, put her things down, and also tell her grandmother, so the old lady wouldn't worry.

On Wu An's side, he also bought some seafood from Lao Xie, mainly shrimp and crab, with many varieties: striped shrimp, black tiger shrimp, peepee shrimp, flower crab, and some small mixed fish; skewered and grilled, they're very delicious.

He didn't buy much of each, but altogether it was still quite a bit.

He carried the seafood toward Lao Wu's house, while A Qing first went home, put the sandworms there, and would bring beer when he came back.

Returning to Lao Wu's house.

Wu An threw the seafood into a basin, soaked it in salt water, then hurried back home; coincidentally, his sister-in-law Mei Yueqin was cooking, so he asked her to also prepare the sandworms.

"You're not staying to eat?"

"No thanks."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing much." Wu An saw his sister-in-law wanting to ask more, so he could only say: "I told A Qing we'd have some barbecue and beer tonight."

"Something's off; I don't think it's that simple."

"Sister-in-law, you're like Conan, alright, you can't fool you, Gu Anran is also coming tonight."

"Ah?" Mei Yueqin exclaimed, somewhat excitedly saying: "Then you bring people to our house, I'll make some of my specialty dishes for her."

Wu An had a headache: "No need, she said she wants to show off her skills tonight."

"That won't do; when someone comes to your door, there's no reason to let the guest do the work."

"She doesn't treat herself as a guest."

"That's also inappropriate; before anything's even settled, you're making someone cook—are you looking for a wife or a maid? People will know and gossip."

Wu An scratched his head, thinking that even being gossiped about wasn't so bad.

He said: "She wants to show off a bit; let's give her a chance."

"What does she want to show off?"

"Chasing me, as the saying goes, to conquer a man you must first conquer his stomach; she might be trying to win me over that way."

"Pah, hurry up and go take a mirror to look at yourself."

"Sister-in-law, just don't worry about it."

"Well... alright, don't drink too much tonight; you need to personally escort that young lady home, so her family won't worry."

"Got it."

"Don't mess around, stay steady."

"... Oh."

"How about you, sister-in-law, go stir-fry two dishes?"

"Really not needed."

Wu An hurried out the door; the sister-in-law going to stir-fry two dishes is a pretense, actually she's tailing him.

"He's not..."

"Alright."

"The sister-in-law's worry is not without reason."

"……"

"Back at Lao Wu's house again."

A Qing and Gu Anran had already arrived; the latter saw him and greeted: "Wu An, you and A Qing handle these, I'll prepare the seasonings."

Wu An hurried over and started cleaning the shrimp and crab.

Besides grilling, Gu Anran also prepared to deep-fry the shrimp crab, coating it with a special batter; eating it, it's crispy outside and tender inside, the neighbor's kids seeing it would surely cry from hunger.

Besides preparing to deep-fry, there is also salt-baking.

Not having enough stoves, A Qing directly grabbed a few bricks, stacked several bricks together, and a simple stove was built.

Wu An focused on preparing the barbecue.

On the contrary, A Qing was the busiest, having to prepare this and that, maybe even being ordered around by Wu An; after finishing, he still ran to the neighbor's firewood pile and moved a few pieces of wood.

A simple bonfire was thus made.

Wu An saw it turned out well, took a photo and sent it to Yu Kai Lang.

On duty at the station, Yu Kai Lang, who had just finished eating instant noodles, upon seeing it let out a blood-curdling howl on the spot, scaring Lao Liu, who was napping, to fall straight off his chair; he angrily asked: "What's this, why are you howling?"

Yu Kai Lang pointed at his phone and said: "This kid Wu An prepared a seafood feast, grilled food, drank beer, and even set up a bonfire for fun."

"Calling me to go?"

Lao Liu said: "Then let's go, I can handle the duty alone."

Yu Kai Lang looked at the instant noodle box in the trash can, sorrow flooding back: "I'm full of instant noodles."

"……" Lao Liu hesitated a moment, then said: "How about I go instead for you?"

Yu Kai Lang: "……"

Lao Liu was obviously joking; he could only comfort Yu Kai Lang that there would be another chance next time.

An hour later, Gu Anran had already prepared a tableful of seafood feast.

Wu An's side also had the charcoal ready, the seafood placed on top to grill; he only needed to watch it.

"We can start eating now."

"Today is way too abundant, wow wow wow."

"Thanks for the hospitality, brother and sister-in-law."

"I'm done, you guys help yourselves."

A Qing was extremely excited, picked up a bottle of liquor and gulped it down, counting as a start.

Wu An told him to slow down, don't drink too much, or he won't be able to finish the dishes.

Gu Anran had already started peeling the shrimp, removing the shells, then placing the meat in a bowl in front of Wu An; Wu An also didn't stand on ceremony, picked it up, dipped it in sauce and stuffed it into his mouth, then also peeled two for Gu Anran.

You come, I go.

"Come, let's drink."

"Okay."

Gu Anran raised his cup, the two clinked, Wu An took a big gulp, Gu Anran took a small sip, his face already gradually turning red.

"Can't drink alcohol?"

"No, occasionally I can have a bit; I get flushed when I drink."

Gu Anran touched his face, already feeling warm; his normally fair complexion now showed pinkish red, especially attractive, Wu An couldn't help but glance twice more.

At this moment.

The sky had turned completely dark, as if only a faint light from the Lao Wu bonfire remained; the three people seated at the table ate and drank heartily, their laughter and joy spreading with the sea breeze, intertwining with the wave sounds to form a unique melody for this seaside night.