Chapter 286: A Fruitful Harvest
Half an hour later, the five who had been busy in the river finally came ashore.
With a beaming smile, Ning Xiyue carried her basket over to the bamboo basket where they kept the crayfish.
With a “splash”, she poured all her hard-won catch into the basket.
The other four also returned with their spoils.
Chen Ye Chu’s basket was full; Liu Yao, Yu Zhiyu, and Ning Qingyuan’s straw hats were also stuffed with their own finds.
Everyone happily poured their collections into the big basket to tally them up.
“Whoa, that’s quite a lot — enough to fry up a plate, right?” Ning Qingyuan shook the basket a few times, inspecting the contents.
“More than enough! We could easily fry up a huge plate,” Ning Xiyue said, poking her head in to take a look.
There were quite a few crayfish inside — around five catties (2.5 kg) by estimation — enough for two full plates once cooked.
They had also caught some small crabs and little river shrimp. The crabs were green-shelled ones, not very big, the kind you could eat whole in one bite once fried.
The tiny river shrimp were even smaller — the largest barely the size of Ning Xiyue’s pinky finger — but with long legs.
These were local shrimp, their meat clear and glistening. Among them were also some millet shrimp — the kind used for drunken shrimp. Their translucent color was simply mouthwatering. Ning Xiyue had eaten one raw; to her delight, the meat carried a faint sweetness, incredibly tender and fresh.
She had woven a little grass net herself and scooped several times just to gather that handful — all for the yellow wine she had left over.
She planned to use them for drunken shrimp.
Of course, the basket also contained river clams — the second most abundant find after snails.
They’d even picked up three large mussels. These two types of shellfish were things Ning Xiyue had deliberately chosen to collect — mainly because she wanted the shells.
Eat the meat, save the shell — waste nothing.
Today’s harvest was indeed delightful.
“Alright, that’s about enough. Let’s head back.”
Satisfied, Ning Xiyue looked at the little crayfish and crabs wriggling around in the basket. While catching them, she had secretly placed a few live crayfish into her space pond; by next year, there would surely be plenty more.
“Okay, time to cook dinner. We’ve got quite the feast tonight — snails, crayfish, clams, and all these little river goodies. Leave the frying to me!” said Chen Ye Chu cheerfully.
He was very pleased with their trip, especially since they’d even found a crayfish nest. Now whenever they craved crayfish, they could come here to catch some — true crayfish freedom! Wild ones, too — they were bound to taste amazing.
“Let’s go, let’s go! I can’t wait to eat!” Liu Yao said excitedly, hoisting her basket onto her back.
The others packed up their things and prepared to head home.
“Come on, little sis — you carry this one for me; it’s lighter,” Ning Qingyuan said, handing her his basket, while he carried the heavier one full of crayfish.
Yu Zhiyu helped Chen Ye Chu carry the snails.
The five of them, who had come full of energy, now returned laden with trophies, happily carrying the day’s spoils back home — straight to the small kitchen shared by Ning Xiyue and Chen Ye Chu.
When they arrived, Ning Xiyue saw the three little chickens leisurely pecking around the coop, while Xiao Hui (the dog) and Xiao Bai (Chen Ye Chu’s dog) sat beside it, dutifully guarding them.
When Xiao Hui saw her coming, it ran over. Ning Xiyue smiled knowingly. “Good boy. I told you to watch the chickens, and you did just that.” She patted his head. “Well done, go play now.”
Ning Qingyuan then took a handful of snails from the basket and threw them into the chicken pen, smashing them open with a rock to feed the chickens.
To their surprise, the three chickens loved it — all scrambling to eat eagerly.
“Nice! Brother, you’ve got a real knack for raising chickens,” Ning Xiyue said, giving him a thumbs-up.
“Stay calm,” Ning Qingyuan replied modestly, washing his hands after leaving the coop. “You’d better hurry and learn how to brew wine. Leave this to us — by the time you’re back, dinner will be ready.”
“Oh, right — the brewing lesson!” Ning Xiyue checked the time; it was almost the appointed hour. She put everything down and got ready to leave, still calling out reminders: “Remember to use my yellow wine to cook the duck! Add plenty of side dishes — those flat noodles, potatoes, dried mushrooms, grab them all! And soak the little shrimp in yellow wine!”
“Got it,” Chen Ye Chu said with a laugh. “We’ll load up the sides, don’t worry. Now hurry — I’m counting on you to learn so you can help me brew some later.”
“Dinner’s in your hands, everyone — thank you!” Ning Xiyue waved and dashed off.
The remaining four watched her running figure disappear into the distance, smiling.
Once she was out of sight, Ning Qingyuan clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, I’ve got a suggestion: let’s cook in both kitchens. I’ll team up with Zhiyu here in my sister’s kitchen, and you two comrades can use Yechu’s. How about it?”
“I agree, let’s do that,” Chen Ye Chu nodded, then added his own proposal. “How about this: we’ll prep all the ingredients together first. Once the sides are ready, you two handle the duck and the drunken shrimp, and we’ll cook the rest. I’ll steam the rice on my small stove — sound good?”
“Fine by me,” Yu Zhiyu agreed immediately.
That had actually been the plan all along.
“Alright then, let’s get to it,” said Ning Qingyuan, opening the kitchen door.
The four began working in full swing.
Although the snails and clams had come from clean water, Chen Ye Chu still put them into a basin of fresh water to purge the mud and sand — saving them for last.
Then he found another basin to hold the crayfish and crabs.
Since there were many crayfish, Chen Ye Chu, Liu Yao, and Yu Zhiyu worked together washing them, removing the veins, trimming the heads, and cutting off the gills.
Meanwhile, Ning Qingyuan butchered the duck nearby.
He suddenly recalled how his sister once told him to cut rabbit meat into smaller pieces because it absorbed flavor better when stir-fried.
So he did the same with the duck — chopping each piece in half again, making the chunks smaller so they’d soak up the flavor and everyone could enjoy a few extra bites.
Before long, the whole duck was neatly prepared.
