Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 983 Not Eating Shells

Geng Hui said, "I won't go to Xidu this time. I'll go after the various companies are mostly built. There's no point in me going there before then. I'll stay home with Li Na and Chen Xiao to work on these things. Sister Liu brought over the relevant rules and regulations of the supply and marketing cooperative a few days ago, so we can refer to them."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Then let Li Gengsheng go with him. I plan to have him in charge of the finances at Xidu for a while; he's reliable. You can make the arrangements later and call him back then."

Chen Hui said, "Should we call them back to Harbin?"

Xiao Wei smiled and said, "Yes, he'll have to go to Bingcheng first. I plan to set up a financial audit team in the future and put him in charge. That will save Geng Hui a lot of trouble."

Geng Hui said, "He is indeed reliable, but his personality is a bit too much for me; he's too serious."

Chen Hui said, "His personal safety needs to be ensured, otherwise he might offend people."

Xiao Wei said, "That's for sure. We'll leave this to Gao Zhijun. Xiao Hui, what do you think? Should we take Old Wu?"

Chen Xiao said, "I feel we should take him. We should take him as long as he's willing to come. We lack people like him, and the procurement of daily necessities is quite important."

Chen Hui said, "I support my wife." He reached out and took Chen Xiao's small hand.

Xiao Wei was caught off guard: "Holy crap!"

Geng Hui chuckled.

Chen Hui, holding Chen Xiao's hand, said, "After the warehouses are built, the instant noodle factory is built, and the supermarkets and convenience stores open, think about it, isn't the procurement of daily necessities important? Rice, flour, cooking oil, fruits, vegetables, local specialties and groceries—how much time and money would it take to have people handle everything themselves?"

Geng Hui looked at Chen Hui in surprise: "That's really the case."

Chen Xiao reached out and scratched Geng Hui: "What kind of look is that? Huh? What kind of look is that? Are you looking down on my eldest son?"

"What's wrong with Xiao Xiao Hui?" Chen Xiao's mother's voice came from behind, startling Chen Xiao. Xiao Wei and Geng Hui burst into laughter.

Chen Xiao turned her head and looked over: "Mom, why are you here now? Is something wrong?"

Chen Xiao's mother said, "If you have nothing to do, come over and play mahjong with your Aunt Zhang, and see my grandson, is that not allowed?"

Chen Xiao looked back: "Where's my dad? You, did you and Dad get angry again? Did you two fight?"

Chen Xiao's mother said, "Who wants to fight with him? Why would I bring him along when I go out?"

Chen Xiao put his arm around his mother's shoulder and said, "Yeah, we don't want to fight with him. Come on, tell me, what did he do to you this time? You've even skipped cooking and come all the way here." (In Northeast China, "you this guy" doesn't mean "you this guy," depending on the context.)

Chen Xiao's mother felt a little embarrassed by what Chen Xiao said, so she glared at him but didn't say anything.

Chen Hui said, "Mom just came over to play mahjong, why are you asking so many questions? Isn't that right, Mom? Tonight we're having big crabs, from Yangcheng, the best ones." He waved the bag in his hand.

Chen Xiao's mother leaned over, opened the bag, and took a look: "Wow, this is really big! This is... you know, a hairy crab? Where did you get it?"

Chen Hui said, "The company bought some to share with everyone as a belated Mid-Autumn Festival treat."

Chen Xiao's mother said, "How much? It's not cheap, is it?"

Chen Hui said, "They cost a few yuan each, which isn't expensive. They're about the same price as toads."

Frogs are already being sold individually now, usually a female for eight yuan. (Inside a restaurant.)

(Old Ning once made the most amazing dish: two frogs, sixteen yuan, and you couldn't refuse to make it. He ordered two.)

Chen Xiao's mother said, "That's not expensive? My goodness, we can't afford it. Did all the employees get a share?"

Chen Xiao said, "We split them all, one for each of us, just to try something new."

Chen Xiao's mother said, "That's right. It's better to leave out a group than a single person. You have to be fair and impartial in everything you do, or there will be trouble sooner or later."

Upon reaching the main building, Xiaowei's mother stood at the kitchen door holding Xiaoxiaohui. Aunt Wang and the cook were busy inside, while Xiaowei's father and Uncle Wang sat in the living room talking and watching TV. Xia Maosheng was nowhere to be seen; he was probably in his room watching Xia Gengsheng, otherwise Aunt Wang wouldn't have had time to prepare food.

"The Qing family is here." Xiaowei's father stood up and greeted Chen Xiao's mother. Chen Xiao's mother said, "We were just sitting around doing nothing, so we came to see my grandson."

Chen Hui carried the crabs to the kitchen, turned to Xiao Wei and said, "How should we cook them? You do it or not?"

Xiao Wei said, "I'll do it, this thing is too much trouble. Auntie, find me a toothbrush."

Aunt Wang peeked into the bag and said, "Crabs? What's the trouble with these? Leave it to me, just steam them. You can chop some ginger." She went to find a basin, filled it with water, sprinkled some salt, and poured the crabs in.

Xiao Hong ran downstairs, jumped up, and hopped onto Xiao Wei's back: "What's my mom doing?"

Xiao Wei caught her and said, "Crab, from Yangcheng."

Xiao Hong climbed down from Xiao Wei's back, ran over, squatted down to look, and reached out to touch it. Aunt Wang said, "Don't untie the rope, or it will run away. This thing is hard to catch."

Xiao Hong said, "This thing is so pitiful, it gets eaten and then tied up."

Chen Xiao said, "Aren't people bound hand and foot before they're beheaded?"

Chen Xiao's mother patted Chen Xiao on the shoulder: "You're making a mess of everything."

Little Hong looked up and asked Aunt Wang, "Isn't this supposed to be steamed? Why is it soaking?"

Aunt Wang said, "Put it in salt water and let it vomit for a while, then it will be clean."

Xiao Wei said, "Don't you brush it? We always use a toothbrush to brush the seams of the shell."

Aunt Wang said, "It's all just for show, the kind of fancy restaurant stuff. What's the point? Parasites just come off with a toothbrush. They'll spit it all out, they don't even eat the shell. A quick steam at high temperature and everything's fine. You don't need to do all that at home. Go chop some ginger, pick the tender kind."

Chen Hui said, "Hey, why isn't my son looking for me and his mother today? He didn't even react when his maternal grandmother came."

Xiaowei's mom turned halfway around to show Xiaoxiaohui to everyone. The little guy's drool was dripping from the corner of his mouth. He was waving his arms and legs and trying to pull Xiaowei's mom to look into the kitchen. Xiaowei's mom said, "Now you know how to look for food. You guys are not as interesting as food."

Chen Xiao said with a twitching face, "Weaning is easy, but I'm sad because the baby won't cling to me anymore. I'm useless to him now, so I've switched to a different diet."

Everyone laughed, and Xiao Xiao Hui pointed to the kitchen and said to Chen Xiao, "Mommy. It smells good." He jumped up and down excitedly a few times.

Xiaowei's mother quickly hugged her child tightly, laughing and saying, "Look at him, look at him! He's so happy every mealtime. He'll be a foodie someday, this little rascal. Are you done yet? We're getting impatient."

The cook smiled and said, "It's almost done, let me check." She glanced at the steamer on the stove and said, "It's ready, it's ready, don't rush, little one, it'll be done soon."

I put on gloves, took the bowl out and placed it on the stove, and scooped a little bit of meat sauce from the small bowl next to it onto the steamed egg in the bowl.

(End of this chapter)