Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 51: Giant Shrimp and Seafood in Gravy Sauce

Chapter 50

Giant Shrimp and Seafood in Gravy Sauce

The morning after, Xiaolin clung to Tianchen, refusing to let go. She wanted to sell grilled squid, but they hadn’t prepared anything, so they couldn’t sell that day. Seeing his niece throw a tantrum, Tianchen decided to take a break from studying and took her for a walk by the sea, not forgetting to bring some seafood sauce because he wanted to eat grilled shrimp.

Upon arrival, he lifted his niece from the stroller. Xiaolin walked towards her family’s cottage, which was nearly blown away by the wind, likely due to the snow piling up over the winter.

"Ah, little Xiaolin, Tianchen, are you out for a walk?" Chang Shen asked, busy processing the numerous buckets of squid, alongside Guo Lu who was doing the same.

"Yes, Brother Shen. You’ve got a lot of squid there, just after winter," Tianchen approached, peering into the buckets filled with squid.

"Indeed, so much that we couldn’t bring it all in one go. Haha. The Wu Zhong folks have been hauling from the boat several times but have been gone for a while now. Probably sneaking in a nap on the boat."

Tianchen chatted with Chang Shen and Guo Lu for a while. Xiaolin, seeing that they wouldn’t stop chatting soon, walked off to explore. The tide was unusually low today, almost half a meter lower than usual.

"Will there be anything to collect, I wonder?"

The plump child tiptoed around, examining the small rock pools that had emerged after the tide receded. They were filled with starfish, shells, and tiny crabs.

"Those are abalones, aren’t they? They’re everywhere," she grinned, excitedly picking up the single-shelled mollusks.

In her entire life, including a previous one, she had never eaten abalones. Her brief research showed they were highly beneficial, good for bones and joints, and rich in collagen. So, she decided to collect a lot, planning to cook them for her grandparents to help ease their knee pains.

"Xiaolin! What are you doing over there?" Tianchen shouted to his niece who had wandered off. Seeing her collecting something, he followed with a bucket borrowed from Chang Shen.

"Uncle, come quick!" Xiaolin waved lazily before bending down to collect more shells. There were so many she thought someone must have piled them up there. Just roaming around one spot, she had gathered more than ten.

"Whoa! There are scallops here too. What do they call these here?" The round-cheeked girl mumbled, trying to remember but couldn’t, so she just kept collecting scallops.

"Hmm, basil scallops sound like a good dish to try. Yummy."

By the time Tianchen reached where his niece was, he saw two large piles of shells. Thinking his niece would make some delicious dishes with them, he helped collect them until the bucket was full.

"What are you planning to make with these shells, Xiaolin?" The young man asked as he helped his niece collect shells.

"How about Raad Na? Crispy Noodle Raad Na with abalones. Oh! We can also make noodles from green bean flour. But let’s save that for later."

Tianchen looked at his niece, who was talking to herself, puzzled. However, the idea of abalone over crispy noodles sounded very appealing, even though he wasn’t exactly sure what it would look like. But he was certain that if it was his niece’s cooking, it would be delicious.

"And what about the other type of shell?"

"Stir-frying them with holy basil could be delicious, Uncle. Or grilling them with spicy sauce could work too."

"That’s a great idea! Let’s hurry and grill them."

Mentioning food gave Tianchen an energy boost. He waded through the shallow water, quickly collecting all the shells he could find. Xiaolin, seeing his enthusiasm, went off to explore elsewhere in hopes of finding more treasures.

The plump child wandered for a while until she spotted something moving under the seaweed and used a stick to poke around. When she got a clear view of it, she screamed out loud. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Ahhhhhh!! Uncle, come quick!" Xiaolin kept her eyes on the lobster without looking away.

"What? What’s happening!" Hearing his niece’s scream, Tianchen dropped the shells he was holding and rushed through the water towards the plump figure jumping on a small rock.

"There!" She pointed at the strange creature in a rock pool. It had long antennae and many legs like a shrimp, but it was much larger and more intimidating in color. Tianchen felt a shiver down his spine at the sight.

"What’s going on!" Chang Shen’s voice came from behind, causing the two relatives to turn around. Besides Chang Shen, Guo Lu and Ling Hing were also running over.

"Uncle Heng came too?" Xiaolin blinked rapidly.

"I just got here when I heard you scream. What’s happening? Are you okay?" Ling Heng stood panting, not unlike Guo Lu and Chang Shen, who had both dropped their knives and ran over.

"It’s nothing, Uncle. I just found a big shrimp."

"A big shrimp?"

"Is this a shrimp, Xiaolin?" Once Tianchen realized it was a shrimp, he picked it up.

The shrimp was so large that it barely fit in a man’s hand. Xiaolin watched the giant shrimp and swallowed hard, feeling incredibly lucky to be here. In her previous world, such a creature would be so expensive she couldn’t afford to eat it, but here, she could catch and eat it anytime.

"It looks uglier than any shrimp we’ve eaten before," Guo Lu grimaced, looking at the giant shrimp with revulsion.

Xiaolin laughed merrily at Guo Lu’s reaction, "Just you wait, once you taste it, you won’t be able to stop. Hehe."

"Could the three of you uncles help me catch some? It’s many times tastier than any shrimp we’ve eaten," Xiaolin pleaded.

"I love delicious food!" Chang Shen exclaimed. He began searching for the giant shrimp with vigor, laughing loudly when he finally caught one,

"Haha, got one!"

"I’ll try catching some too," Ling Hing eagerly joined in the hunt, excited at the prospect of something delicious.

The four men enjoyed themselves, catching more than a dozen giant shrimps. Xiaolin, who didn’t have to lift a finger, simply waited and then rode on her young uncle’s back to the shore.

The plump child stood instructing her uncles on how to prepare the giant shrimp – cutting off the antennae and legs, and painstakingly slicing open the back to remove the innards and feces. Then, they grilled them over the fire until they were succulent and aromatic.

"It actually looks quite appetizing," Ling Hing commented, eyeing the orange-cooked dragon shrimp.

"What’s going on here? It smells so good," came a voice from the dockside. It was Wu Zhong, Lei Shan, and Tian Yi, who had just walked over, looking exhausted from resting on the boat.

"Ah, so you’ve been lazing around for quite a while, huh? And just when there’s food, you come running," Guo Lu squinted at his friends. Hearing this, Lei Shan laughed and sat down next to the fire, playfully wrapping an arm around his friend’s neck.

"What’s the matter, you are possessive of the food?"

"Heh."

Xiaolin wasn’t paying attention to her uncles joking around. Her eyes were fixed on the large, juicy, orange shrimp, saliva almost dripping from her mouth.

Ling Hing chuckled softly as he noticed the little girl beside him. He picked up a cooked shrimp, placed it on a plate in front of the plump child, and handed her a pair of chopsticks,

"Here, eat this."

"Thank you, Uncle!" Xiaolin beamed, grabbing her uncle’s dipping sauce and pouring a bit onto her plate just enough for eating.

With the chopsticks, she picked up a piece of the bouncy shrimp, dipped it into the sauce, and then popped it into her mouth. The firm texture of the shrimp and its aromatic fat felt almost like floating in bliss.

"Mmm, yummy yummy!" The plump child chewed with closed eyes, causing the observing uncles to swallow their saliva enviously.

"Xiaolin seems to enjoy it a lot; let me try some too," Chang Shen said, picking up a shrimp for himself, drenching it in dipping sauce, and then taking a big bite. Experiencing the taste of the giant shrimp, his eyes widened in surprise.

It was indeed many times tastier than the smaller shrimp, just as the little niece had claimed!

"It’s so good! I’m going back to get some rice," Chang Shen put his plate down and ran off in a cloud of dust.

"Bring back a whole pot, A’Shen!" Wu Zhong yelled after him.

"It’s delicious!"

"It smells great, and the meat is so dense."

"Ah, this is the first time I’ve ever eaten something this delicious."

"Is there anymore?"

"We’ve only caught this much; how could it be enough?"

"Why don’t you catch some too!"

The plump child watched the chaos with blinking eyes, still chewing the shrimp meat, while Ling Heng kept handing her shrimp. The others were scrambling for the remaining shrimp. When Chang Shen returned, all that was left were empty shells piled in one corner, even the shrimp he had set aside were gone.

"You pack of dogs!!"

Chang Shen gave each of his greedy friends a smack on the head, including Tianchen, before chasing the group off to catch more giant shrimp. Meanwhile, Ling Hing and Xiaolin sat quietly, savoring the shrimp fat over rice with spicy dipping sauce, thoroughly enjoying their meal.

The shouting and commotion, along with the sound of arguments, echoed in the distance. Several buckets of squid were left unattended as no one seemed to care. Xiaolin, having only gotten to eat a single shrimp, invited Ling Hing to grill some fresh squid with dipping sauce.

"Is Xiaolin a little goddess of cooking or what? Everything she touches turns delicious," Ling Hing looked at the pale child with fondness.

"Hehe, I’m actually a little millionaire," the plump child giggled, squinting her eyes in amusement.

Another round of about twenty shrimp was grilled. Xiaolin, already full, requested two grilled giant shrimp to take back for her mother and grandmother, which her uncles quickly prepared for her. She asked for two but ended up with five.

After the plump child was full, she went off to play with the small crabs that had come up on the beach. Running around until she was tired, she then stopped to gaze out at the vast sea, comparing her past life to her current one.

This life was genuinely better. Full from eating? Then sleep!, then wake up to water the vegetables, and sometimes go out to sell stuff, without the stress of work or school like in her old world. It was indeed a place of comfort...

I don’t want to grow up anymore....

"Hehe, who doesn’t grow up, sigh," Xiaolin gazed far out, smiling contentedly at her peaceful new life.

In the late afternoon, the chubby child returned home, presenting the plate of shrimp to her grandmother. Zhang Ruo looked at the large shrimp in bewilderment but stored them in the kitchen since she and her daughter had just had lunch.

"The giant shrimp is delicious, sister-in-law. Xiaolin also brought back a lot of clams. She said she’s going to make stir-fried clams,"

Xiaolin relayed as she lay sprawled out, watching her uncle chat endlessly with her mother. With a hand on her rounded belly filled with shrimp and squid, it was as if she was telling it, "You had a delicious feast today, didn’t you?"

Feeling full and then sleepy, she yawned widely and rolled closer to her mother.

"You get sleepy right after eating, don’t you, you chubby kid?" Hui Ning pinched her daughter’s round cheek.

"Mmm..." The chubby child snuggled up to her mother and fell asleep.

In the late afternoon, Xiaolin woke up. Tianchen, having waited for a long time, came in to remind his niece about the stir-fried basil and the seafood gravy she had promised to make.

Upon hearing this, Xiaolin asked her young uncle to knead the egg noodle dough, while she and her grandmother went out to clean the abalone and scallops. Before that, she had also sent her uncle to catch some small shrimps and split several fresh squids to clean, planning to include them in the gravy as well.

"In the past, I couldn’t afford to eat these things," the plump child muttered as she cleaned the shells. Zhang Ruo just looked at her granddaughter, puzzled but didn’t ask any questions.

Having prepared the shells, squids, and shrimps, Xiaolin instructed her grandmother to stir-fry the juicy scallops with spicy basil, adding about three chili peppers. Meanwhile, she supervised the gluttonous uncle to fry the egg noodles until crispy, making several batches in case the gluttonous ones wouldn’t be satisfied.

Next was to thinly slice the abalone and cut the squid, preparing the pea shoots for the gravy as they didn’t have bok choy. The plump child prepared a cornstarch mixture and had already prepared the seasoning and eggs for convenience, to avoid wasting time seasoning them one by one.

"No bean paste," the plump child said with a forced smile.

Would her gravy be complete without it...?

With everything ready and the spicy basil dish finished, she told her grandmother to fry garlic, then add water and seasonings, followed by vegetables and meat. When it was cooked, they finished with the pre-mixed cornstarch, stirring continuously to mix the starch evenly and cook it thoroughly.

"It smells so good, Auntie," Tianchen approached, poking his niece’s belly as she stood on a chair, both of them eyeing the pan.

"I’m hungry," the plump child said, eyeing the appetizingly colorful gravy. Even though not all the ingredients were available, it still looked delicious.

"I’m hungry too."

The two cousins salivated for a while, and as soon as the gravy was ready, they hurried to prepare the crispy noodles on plates, then brought them to Zhang Ruo to ladle the thick gravy full of shrimps, squids, and clams over them. The gluttonous creatures in their stomachs roared out loud in anticipation.

"I smell something delicious!" Huison, who had just returned home, hurried into the kitchen. Seeing the unfamiliar dish in his niece’s hand, he quickly asked his wife,

"Make some for me too, please, A’Ruo."

Zhang Ruo glared at her husband but still scooped some onto a plate of crispy noodles for him. Tianrong, who followed later, got some too. The four gluttons of the house walked out with their plates, ready to devour their meals with ravenous hunger.

Zhang Ruo, carrying a tray with her and her daughter’s crispy noodles, looked at the four men shaking her head wearily before going back to grab a bowl of rice and a plate of stir-fried shellfish.

"It’s so good!" exclaimed Tianchen.

"Xiaolin, you should sell this!" Hui Song suggested.

"I’ll get some more," Tianrong decided.

As Xiaolin ate, she wriggled with delight. Remembering the grilled dragon shrimps, she yelled for her father to bring the plate of grilled shrimps from the cupboard. She picked up a shellfish and popped it into her mouth.

"Giant shrimp!" Tianrong’s shout caused Hui Song to quickly walk into the kitchen with his empty plate.

The father and son-in-law each grabbed a shrimp, along with their overflowing plates of gravy noodles, and sat down at the table to eat.

"What a mess this is," Hui Ning observed the four gluttons eating at different corners of the table, her eyes also glancing at the large grilled shrimp her husband had just brought out.

"We need to buy more rice, Rong. The rice we bought before winter isn’t much left," Zhang Ruo informed her son-in-law.

"I’ll buy some tomorrow," he replied to his mother-in-law while continuing to enjoy his shrimp.

‘Raad Na’ (Deep-fried noodles in gravy sauce with vegetables and meat of your liking)

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